Cycling UK Forum

Or build one like this:

2Tubs wrote:I think I’ve answered my own question, just thought about it while I made myself a cup of tea.

You cycle after drinking tea?

I've done it after a couple/after a few (I did th Dun Run after a pint, which was an entirely silly idea just because I was busting for a micturate for the first twenty miles), but if I was falling-down drunk or unsteady I'd get public transport and pray the bike was still where I left it the next day ...

OK, I can see circumstances where a drunken cyclist could cause injury to others (e.g. fall off and cause another vehicle to swerve and crash), but the same goes for drunken pedestrians.

fatboy wrote:Just remember that deaf people have more keenly tuned senses to compensate. Whereas just wearing an Ipod you are deaf without the compensating senses.

It's a little more complicated than that, and there doesn't seem to be universal agreement that the effect exists or what in what circumstances it's useful - google "sensory compensation hypothesis" for info.

I rarely use my senses of touch, smell or taste to detect traffic, and while I'm open to the idea that peripheral vision might benefit from this effect, it's just as likely to benefit from continued practice whether you're deaf or not. Ultimately if you don't look around you anyway it makes little difference whether you have super-keen eyes or not.

A bit of googlage comes up with "It is against the law for a vehicle to cross a footway other than via a properly constructed crossing", so I suppose it would turn on whether there was a dropped kerb.

If there are parks vehicles &c crossing in the same place it sounds like there was.

Practice. (Well, someone had to say it ...)

I usually sit and spin until I can see the top or unless I slow down to walking pace. There's no crime in standing up from time to time just to use different muscles or relieve aches, but it's not sustainable. Also if you're pedalling steadily it's easier to change gear without feeling pangs of guilt when your bike complains with loud pinging noises

Don't shift down too early unless you're prepared to spin very fast to maintain your speed on the approach, otherwise you'll just lose the speed you could have carried into the hill - you might as well be putting the brakes on.

If you're riding in a group, be aware that when you move from seated to standing then your bike will tend to drop back a bit, which may be an unpleasant surprise for anyone on your wheel. Likewise if anyone in front of you does the same thing, keep an eye out for it. I think the benefits of drafting at "uphill" speeds are probably questionable anyway unless there's a headwind.

And if you can, pace yourself so you don't give up when you get near the top. Put a little extra effort in as you reach the summit, your riding mates will appreciate the psychology. You can always catch your breath on the downhill.

It's a personal preference thing, I think. I prefer to be able to hear what's behind me, but afaik nobody's campaigning to remove deaf cyclists from the road so clearly it's possible to do without that sense if you're used to it.

One of the less pleasant cycling experiences is when you're starting to run out of puff on a steep uphill, and you look down prior to flicking on to the small ring only to find that you're in the small ring already

Hybrid of road and off-road

Might be a road bike with a triple gear at the front (27/30 speeds instead of 18/20) and flat bars, or might be an MTB with smoother tyres, might be somewhere in between.

Suspension "done right" adds something on the order of a couple/a few hundred quid to the price per wheel you want suspended. I suggest that for tracks, and provided you treat it with a modicum of respect (don't worry overly about putting it through unavoidable potholes, but equally well, don't aim for them) and don't have plans to get big air, all you probably need is reasonably wide tyres.

Tallis the Tortoise wrote:I At £20 a set and easy to fit that's no big deal. But the last time I looked even 8 speed Sora STI levers were £80, or £15 more than a set of bar end levers and brake levers.

When I put my second-best bike back together last year I initially figured that bar end levers were the way to go. Then I started looking for some, and soon found that (1) cheap Ergo levers (Xenon, I think) could be had from Parker International for ~£40, (2) a shimergo combination with 10sp shifter and the 8sp cassette I alreadyhad works more or less out of the box without shiftmates or funny routing or anything.

They don't have anything quite as cheap on offer right now (I think it was a previous year's model), but it's often worth keeping an eye out for that kind of thing

YMMV. I had the downtube thing up until a year ago, and for the kind of riding I do currently (just because it's not a race is no excuse not to treat it as one anyway I'd not want to go back.

Burscough Girl wrote:Quite apart from all that, I strongly object to being judged by a strange race of people who think cycling is the be all and end all.

Fair enough.

I'd say there's a difference in intent between evangelising cycling to non-cyclists or occasional cyclists because you think they'd enjoy it, and preaching at them because you think they're morally suspect for not cycling. But as the recipient it can be hard to see which is which. A difference that makes no difference ...

Burscough Girl wrote: [primary] schools smell of girlie perfume

Mine smelled of disinfectant most of the time, as I recall. Except anywhere near the hamster cage, which smelled of hamster

Can't comment on the bikes you've listed, but your goals for '09 and 2010 seem a bit unbalanced to me. If you're doing 28 miles a day every day, then by the time L2B comes around (assuming you mean the BHF sponsored ride) you will find it slow and dull and really no achievement at all.

I don't do touring so don't really know what the best preparation for a LEJOG would be, but I strongly suspect (1) it's going to involve more rides and longer rides than a 60 mile one-off next year, and (2) with a base mileage is 140 miles/week, you're really not going to have much trouble at all doing the said longer rides.

Good luck with it!

Si wrote:

dan_b wrote:I was going to ask: what's in it?

appologies for the fomatting - it loses something when copied over...
[snip]

Thanks. And as if by magic it arrived by email as well this morning - looks like I am on the list after all.

Spare tube, pump, multitool (includes tyre levers, chaintool, allen keys, screwdriver head), spare AA cells if riding at night.

On my newer bike pretty much everything has an allen head. The commuter bike still has some normal bolts as well, which is a pain, because I don't carry spanners. On the other hand, in London you're never more than two miles from a bike shop