Cycling UK Forum

Mr Parker wrote: ↑5 May 2025, 9:34am To calculate chain length I would use length of chainstays in inches (X2), plus 1/2 number of chainring teeth, plus say 3/8 of sprocket teeth, plus some extra links for derailleur. Can anybody clarify or elaborate on this for me please?

this is a very rough approximation because the chain does not wrap round both sprockets exactly 180 degrees unless they are the same size. Also, the top and bottom runs are diagonal and this makes a difference too. There are several online tools to help you. FWIW when setting the chain length on derailleur gears, it is much the best thing if you make it such that the big-big combination is easy to select, even if you never intend to actually use it.

Nearholmer wrote: ↑4 May 2025, 10:57am Another thing to think about is rim width.

If the rims were originally selected to suit very wide tyres, so are very wide, they might lead to very narrow tyres (by which I mean in this context 40mm and below) coming up a strange shape in cross-section, increasing the probability of grounding and pinching. I know others are much less conservative about these things than I, but the c1.75-2.25x rim width thing isn’t a bad guide to getting a decent shape on the inflated tyre.

I am still concerned that I could go too small or too big for a gravel tyre on this bike.

In the example here https://www.bananaindustries.co.uk/prod ... 8282163573

there are smooth tyres of this type in 42mm and 47mm. Which would be better? I only want these for light gravel, not going over large rocks as in the Marcher Castle Way.

The rim width of these wheels is c25mm, I would guess: the exterior width is 28mm. Could you explain the calculation above: based on 25mm rims, a 47mm tyre comes out at 1175 and a 42mm at 1050. Say, I go for the 42mm how can I visualise the 10.5 cms? With a tape measure on the existing tyre, perhaps? (Presumably it is all pretty approximate, depending on design of the tyre?)

I would get a SIM card in the first country you arrive in and use that. The phone will continue to work in the other EU countries you visit, as there is a roaming agreement that lets all EU citizens use their phones in other EU states as if they were in their home country.

The cost will vary, so you may want to get a better deal in the second or third country you visit. Just research the best deal in county in which you start.
L

Well done there. They would look good worn as cycle tops too. Get a tandem.

Richard,
Maybe I did not express myself well enough, but the cyclists riding towards me two abreast on the narrow one track road I was referring to used the whole road width. Not the A378, a much smaller road near Ham. Approaching a blind corner they might hear a car coming towards them but they would not know that another cyclist was riding towards them until almost head to head.

Rjb, that is the section of road I mentioned, but going in the opposite way to your video. IMHO it is safe for a car to overtake cyclists on the RH bend climbing out of Langport as there is a good sight line, but not a little further on where the road swings left, which is why I held back. Vehicles are allowed to cross a solid white line to pass a cycle which is moving at less than 10mph. To ride side by side there seems unnecessarily dangerous for all concerned - as the riders I saw probably realised so were correctly riding one behind the other. My first post was to praise how they were riding.

Not Miami but I have cycled across Florida as part of a San Diego to Daytona beach ride. I didn't find Florida any better or worse than anywhere else in the USA. I suppose like anywhere else route choice helps. I used either very quiet rural roads, bike trails of wide roads with ample shoulders. No traffic problems.

My time in Florida was mid May and I found it to be perfect shorts and T-shirt weather. I use a long sleeved running top and a brimmed hat for sun protection.

As already said when you are cycling there is almost always a constant breeze which keeps you cool in most conditions.

. I can recall one day in Kansas where on a long straight road the tailwind seemed to be directly behind me and matching my speed so I has the very unusual experience of riding in apparently still air at 15mph or so for a few miles. .

c.t uses OpenStreetMap campsite data now too - it’s much, much more complete than it used to be and is arguably now better than the old Archie’s database. The Archie’s data is in there still but with a health warning that it may be outdated.

Irongorge Camping is great, I stayed there about 10 years ago on a cycle tour when they were quite new, and then stayed in the 'Peapod' three years in a row with my mum - in her 80s had been forced to give up camping!

al_yrpal wrote: ↑4 May 2025, 4:29pm They are all Liberals down here Pete.
It was you who are inferring that its Reform voters who are all dim. And, you are evidently surrounded by them up there - Landslide Lincs...

You are awful.....!

Al

Except, it would seem, you Al.

As well as cycling I have to use a car, and as a car driver it annoys me when cyclists ride side by side unnecessarily…..
Not so today. I drove up behind a group of around 10 cyclists, one behind the other, riding out of Langport to the West. The road there is uphill, with poor visibility ahead, but their group riding style with gaps between riders allowed the car ahead of me to safely overtake. I held back, waiting for the next clear section of road, but they then turned right down the road that follows the River Parrett…..with good signals and the rear rider giving me a friendly wave.

If only we all could ride like that!

Such a contrast to the idiots riding side by side whom I came head to head with (almost literally) a few weeks back around a blind corner on a narrow nearby road. I was cycling in the opposite direction and my only option was to shout loudly and ride between them. I felt like Moses as they parted to either side. While the law may allow cyclists to ride abreast (but only where it is safe to do so), too many push their luck.

Rant over.

Hi there would you be able to post your grasshopper ? Thanks mark

mjr wrote: ↑4 May 2025, 10:18am

TrevA wrote: ↑19 Apr 2025, 1:15pm I’m a member of the Facebook group that feeds information into the Cycling Cafes Map.

Why's it mainly on fascistbook and will the data survive the admins giving up, if they ever do?

I've been burnt too many times contributing to cycling things that have then packed up and vanished with no one else able to rescue the work.

No guarantees that it will last, but it’s a useful resource while it does.

Why Facebook? Well it’s so easy to share information on there. I’m not a huge fan of it myself, but it is useful for stuff like this and you don’t need any specialist knowledge to set up and run a Facebook group.

There’s also a Cafe Map on the Notts CTC website

http://www.nottsctc.org.uk/cafes_on_map.htm

But again it relies on volunteers to do the admin and people visiting the cafes to keep it up to date and add new ones.

They are all Liberals down here Pete.
It was you who are inferring that its Reform voters who are all dim. And, you are evidently surrounded by them up there - Landslide Lincs...

You are awful.....!

Al

rareposter wrote: ↑2 May 2025, 11:47am And secondly - system performance. Get hydraulics - full proper ones, not some half-way-house job like HyRd. Cable discs are adequate at best. But as a general rule you get all the bad points of cable systems like cable stretch, wear and degradation and very few of the performance benefits of a proper disc system other than not wearing out your rims.

The reason for trying the HyRd and settling (for now) for a mechanical set up is due in no small part to cost of 'upgrading' my 11sp Campag Athena to an equivalent hydraulic set up. I have 2 bikes with hydraulics, both have flat bars, so i am aware of the difference in performance, the hydraulic are nearly as good as the rim brakes on my best bike and Airnimal

rareposter wrote: ↑2 May 2025, 11:47am You can address some of it by using the very best cables (inner and outer) that you can possibly get and being careful with the cable runs but you're just introducing complexity and cost to an already "adequate" system rather than fixing the actual system.

Not that it has any bearing on rotor wear / pad position, i do of course use quality cables/outers, its a fully enclosed set up due to its CX heritage, there is literally no way to put loops/kinks into the run.

cycleruk wrote: ↑3 May 2025, 3:10pm

Brucey wrote: ↑3 May 2025, 2:05pm

cycleruk wrote: ↑3 May 2025, 1:15pm...The probable answer would have been to fit the correct spokes but swapped the wheels out for better ones anyway.

There are evidently 'threads to spare' in most nipples, so taking out another two or three with a 2.0 mm drill isn't going to hurt.

Didn't even think about that.
These were MA2 rims which overall I didn't like. Swapped them for Open-Pro's.
At least the clicking stopped.

also, using spoke washers can be worth a turn or two.....