Cycling UK Forum

Psamathe wrote: ↑28 Nov 2022, 11:11pm I have no idea how effective it has been (as I wouldn't hear the warning beeps when in the supermarket).

There's a video (or maybe more than one?) on youtube showing someone defeat an Abus alarm box. Basically, get at it with your tools until it beeps at you. Wait a moment for it to settle down, then go for it again. I think it took two or three goes to get the box off.

Obviously slows the thief down (which is half the battle, I understand), but certainly not theft proof.

PH wrote: ↑23 Nov 2022, 9:59am The key retention decision already mentioned is the big one,

For me the clincher was imagining locking the bike and putting the key in my pocket. I felt chances that a loose key would fall out of my pocket next time I bent over to tie a shoelace would be much higher than losing a whole keyring of keys. That outweighed the practicality of never again arriving at the shops and realising I'd left my keys at home.

Sweep wrote: ↑22 Nov 2022, 7:59am Are they easy to fit?
Is it just a matter of choosing a unit for the size of wheel ? - have the idea that there are several variants.

Yes, generally no problem fitting them. I looked at the Abus versions, and the various sizes were mainly to accommodate different tire widths (presumably to leave less of a gap to get a jack in).

You also need to decide whether to get one with a key that can only be removed when locked (and is captive when the lock is open), or one where you remove the key after locking/unlocking. I went for the Abus so I could share the key with various other Abus locks in the household.

And there are different security levels and weights.

They bolt onto the underside of the seatstays, so shouldn't interfere with rim brakes. If your bike doesn't have braze-ons for the bolts for the frame lock, you can get jubilee clip type thingies to attach it. The holes for the bolts in the lock are about 5mm long, so can accommodate different widths between the seat stays.

The actual connection to the bike doesn't need to be secure since when the lock is closed you can't remove the back wheel from the frame without spreading the rear triangle (I think that's how it would work).

Just installed one of these on my bike (everyday utility/tourer) because I thought the combination of frame lock with chain would be more suitable for the various varieties of wheelbender bike racks all the shops near me have.

The frame lock itself seems pretty solid, haven't needed to take an angle grinder to it yet, so can't comment on that, but the chain aspect is a little disappointing. After watching a few videos on Youtube where boltcroppers made easy work of the 6mm chain by Abus, I decided to go for the 8mm version. The 80cm length is too short to do much other than loop around a lamppost, so I went for the 100cm chain (it has an eye at one end to loop round itself so you don't need to go there and back again with your chain). Disappointingly the bit you stick in the lock to secure it is counted as part of the 100cm chain length, so it's often a struggle to take the chain down to the bottom of the back wheel where the bike rack is, and it's impossible to loop around the front wheel if you want to take in the rack.

Another, smaller problem is that the frame lock weighs in at 800g, and if you add nearly 2kg for the 100cm 8mm chain, then I've got about 5lbs extra weight on the back of my bike (the chain is kept in a small saddle bag), which along with a Rohloff hub makes my bike very back heavy. I plan to find a frame bag to store the chain further forwards.

If you're thinking of adding a chain, the Abus frame locks will also take the Trelock chains (and presumably vice versa), but the thorn on the Axa chains are too short for Abus and Trelock. Trelock do a longer (and even heavier) 8mm chain. I think it was 140cm long and about 2.5 kg in weight(!)

So while I appreciate not having to get a D-lock through my chainstay and down to the rack (chain oil and dirt all over the lock, and then my fingers, every time), I wish the Abus chain was just 10cm longer. And a bit lighter.

I just use a squeezy water bottle to clean the chain and the brakes (if necessary). Everything else can wait until it rains

beeb wrote: ↑10 Nov 2022, 8:02am Big thanks for taking time to respond, really appreciated.

No bother. Looking forward to picking up tips from what others have to say. Enjoy your trip to Germany!

I've never found a way to predict what kind of place any given campsite in Germany is, other than laboriously checking each site on the interweb, or zooming in on online maps / satellite photos to see how big the place is.

There's definitely a trend (over the last 20-30 years) towards bigger sites with more facilities, but small, cosy sites with nothing much more than a small toilet block can still be found in both east and west.

Having said that, if you see Waldcampingplatz in the name (forest campsite) in the East, those are usually quite nice places, with the pitches between trees rather than on a manicured but compacted lawn. Although the Waldcampingplätze can be fairly large, they're quite spread out so don't feel cramped at all.

Personally, I look for Biwakplatz (bivouaks) and Wasserwandererrastplatz (water tourist rest spots - for canoers and kayakers). These vary from free to 5€ per head, usually have a picnic bench, toilets (often portaloos) and a water pipe. They can be hard to find (they're marked on waterways maps by Jübermann, see below), or the map on this page has most of the ones I know of personally, so may be fairly comprehensive: https://trekkingtrails.de/trekkingplaetze/.

This site also includes a lot of the sanctioned Biwaks and Wasserwandererrastplätze, but also many random picnic tables and shelters which are definitely in the category of wild camping: https://campwild.org/

Finally, I also look up whether I might be passing a Kanuverein (kayak/canoe club) Clubhaus - they often have space for a tent or two, sometimes have a full campsite (eg an excellent one in Passau). I've spent many pleasant evenings at canoe clubs, drinking beer with the members; they really get the whole bike tour thing. A map of the canoe clubs is here https://www.kanu.de/DER-DKV/Vereine/Kar ... 52086.html, although you'll need to check the website of each to see whether they have a Clubhaus or land on which you might be able to camp. Again, the Jübermann maps are very helpful here, showing whether a club can accommodate tents along with suggestions for wild camping as well as showing established campsites - but the maps are expensive and only really of use if you're touring on the water or sticking close to the water (cycle routes along the rivers and canals are marked on the newer editions of these maps): https://www.juebermann.de/shop/category ... erkarten_9. These clubhouses aren't always open - so if you want to be sure they're happy to receive you then phone ahead.

So to summarise: when planning, I first check for bivouaks and Wasserwandererrastplätze, then for a local Kanuverein and only then do I look at 'normal' campsites.

PS sometimes campsites are marked on maps - particularly the kind put up on the roadside by local authorities, but when you get there the site is only for Dauercamper - long term statics.

Cyclewala wrote: ↑9 Nov 2022, 2:38pm However, I can’t get my head round planes bad vs ferries/trains good. Ferries and most trains are diesel powered which is derived from oil. Even those trains that run on electric, that electricity often comes from burning gas.

Sure, compared to land travel, ferries are pretty bad in terms of emissions (not as bad as cruises, but modern ferries usually have lots of space per passenger, which ups the emissions per passenger-mile).

Trains are pretty efficient, much more so than cars. Newer electrics are way more efficient than old diesels, and electrification on the continent is way more advanced than in the UK.

A big problem with planes is that the carbon relevant emissions happen higher up in the atmosphere, where (according to the IPCC) they can have three times the impact as emissions at sea/ground level.

So in our case, London to Kalmar one-way, we get the following CO2 equivalent emissions per person:

• 64kg CO2e for train (using Eurostar rather than ferry)
• 142kg by car (with 2 people travelling, ie 284kg for the whole car)
• 350kg by plane (the factor for emissions higher in the atmosphere is counted as 1.48 on this site)

figures from http://www.ecopassenger.org/bin/query.e ... 0&OK#focus Sadly, this site doesn't allow for calculations using ferries, but DEFRA calculates emissions at 22.54 grams of CO2 per passenger km for ferry foot passengers.

Seeing as we need to be getting our annual CO2e usage to below 2 tonnes per person per year (from memory, the IPCC may have come up with new figures), a return flight to Kalmar would take up a third of our annual budget - and that's before the NHS, the military and the government take their cut.

So if we decide we really need to go somewhere exotic (eg Sweden) for our annual hols, and don't want to set out from our doorsteps then trains are clearly the best way to get there.

PS according to cycle.travel it's about 1600km from London to Kalmar, so not impossible to cycle door to door.

Kalmar County may not be the most stunning part of Sweden (never mind of Scandinavia), but is well worth a tour and I think your offer could be really useful to anyone who hasn't been to Sweden before, is unsure of where to go and what to expect.

Having someone knowledgeable nearby, perhaps with bikes to hire (as you said you were thinking of) and offering to help arrange accommodation: priceless.

Hi Jon, please don't think we're piling on you (I get that it could feel that way). You seem to have sparked a discussion that we (as a society, as residents on this earth, as members of this forum ...) need to have, and that's a good thing.

As for your offer - I for one appreciate it, and I doubt anyone thinks otherwise. You're dead right - cycling in Sweden is so much more enjoyable than in most of the UK, it's a beautiful country and worth exploring. I've already said I plan to come to Sweden again, and I've taken pains to point out how that can be done in a potentially enjoyable and interesting way by using ferries and trains, a route that is do-able for most of us.

So thanks for offering to support people to come to your corner of the world, and thanks for prompting a discussion on our responsibilities to our world, even if it is tangential to your initial posting.

Jon in Sweden wrote: ↑8 Nov 2022, 9:50pm Given that the majority of people on this forum use cycling as a substitute for many or most car journeys, I think we can be cut a little more slack on the flying front.

We're encouraged to think that way, what with all the talk of 'offsetting' and 'net carbon', (not to mention the fact it's about 100 times easier to jump on a plane with our bikes than spend two days on ferries and trains with multiple tickets and changes). Nevertheless, doing less of 'bad' thing A (driving) doesn't give us the right (or an excuse) to engage in 'bad' thing B (flying once a year), particularly when a 'less bad' thing is available (train, ferry).

We might have got away with that if we'd started changing our economy 40 years ago when the writing on the wall was first visible to all. But we didn't, and short-haul flights (ie within Europe) are objectively one of the low hanging fruits when it comes to quickly reducing our emissions.

Galactic wrote: ↑7 Nov 2022, 7:26am So if you're thinking of taking Jon up on his offer and want to take your bike in an unpacked state, you can get there by train

Completely forgot about the new night train from Hamburg to Stockholm. Nearest stop to Jon's neck of the woods is Alvesta (about an hour away), where the night train arrives at just after 6am. Return journey leaves at 9pm. So not too uncivilised. And yes, it takes bikes.

There are problems with getting rolling stock certified in Denmark at the moment, so there's only couchettes available - but that should be sorted in the next few weeks, providing both cheap seats (urgh!) and more expensive but comfortable sleepers. At some point the service should be extended to Brussels, making it easy to get to via Eurostar (if they ever start taking bikes again!).

foxyrider wrote: ↑7 Nov 2022, 5:28pm You don't need to go to Berlin for Rostock

This is definitely the case - but it's not necessarily a longer journey (in terms of hours on the train and numbers of changes) and Berlin is a nice place to break overnight if you wish (Rostock is also nice, just different).

Jon in Sweden wrote: ↑6 Nov 2022, 2:34pm The most annoying bit about Sweden is SJ's (Swedish national rail) implacable hatred to bikes - this limits rail travel with bike to the southern counties. The second most annoying thing is that the (non-SJ) Berlin-Malmö/Stockholm sleeper doesn't take bikes any more.

Just to be clear - the trains in the southern counties of Sweden do mostly take bikes. It's perfectly possible to get your bike to Jon In Sweden's corner of Sweden - the easiest is probably the Oresundtag https://www.oresundstag.se/en from Copenhagen or Malmö - they have lines to Kalmar, Göteborg and Karlskrone.

So if you're thinking of taking Jon up on his offer and want to take your bike in an unpacked state, you can get there by train (eg ferry to NL, then Hamburg-Copenhagen-Kalmar, or via Berlin and ferry from Rostock or Sassnitz).

Currently thinking seriously Sweden (Skane, Smaland, maybe further) for next year's summer hols, will check out your facebook page.

As others have said, getting there is a pain (I don't fly any more), but am now planning to do ferry to NL, IC train to Berlin, either cycle or train to Rostock (depends on time) then ferry to Ystad/Trelleborg, or possibly up to Nynäshamn. A reasonable and not too stressful trip with a nice break in Berlin.

I'm sorry, I'm unlikely to pay for an organised cycling holiday (I enjoy the planning bit, not to mention having the freedom to change my plans whilst underway and making use of the everymans' right to wild camp), but am always on the lookout for tips about where to go/avoid (I've heard the west coast is pretty full of tourists and cycle-tourists?), mapping (old-skool paper maps) options etc etc.

The most annoying bit about Sweden is SJ's (Swedish national rail) implacable hatred to bikes - this limits rail travel with bike to the southern counties. The second most annoying thing is that the (non-SJ) Berlin-Malmö/Stockholm sleeper doesn't take bikes any more.

Good luck with the idea!

G