Cycling UK Forum

Mick F wrote:Find the hole.

.......find the hole with your tongue and it'll be a wet spot showing the hole.

Urgh! You would lick a well used inner tube?

I find that licking ones lips and then passing the inflated tube near the lips will give a cold sensation when the air blast gets on them.

Nobody has mentioned the Pinion frame gearbox as an alternative to Rohloff/derailleur options. Yes it implies a restricted choice of frame, but in specc'ing the perfect bike, it is part of the process of pros and cons. Any comments from the group please?

It just loaded okay for me and I can access the blogs. I had trouble logging in recently, so perhaps there are problems somewhere.

I did 2 trips along the border in '17 and '18 and was intending to go back and do the northern section in '19, but that was cancelled as we moved to Portugal instead! A good move, although Covid has stopped us really exploring since then. Have a look on crazyguyonabike for "A Surly goes to Portugal" and "A Surly goes back to Portugal".

I did take some camping stuff the first year in case I was caught out, but didn't use it. Wild camping is not allowed in Portugal, but you can find campsite signs in most areas. Youth hostels, Pousada de Juventude, https://pousadasjuventude.pt/en are good, reasonably priced and although I didn't base the route around them, found them to be in convenient places. Apart from one in Lisbon, they were pretty quiet. Hotels are also quite cheap, around 25 to 35Euros a night for country locations. You can pay more, but not necessary.

You also see hostel signs, although only(?) in tourist areas. The border region is pretty empty but wonderful for it. You can easily cycle for an hour or so without seeing a car. A few words of Portuguese will go a long way as English is very patchy, particularly among the older population who will be the only people on the streets during the day. But French is quite widely spoken and of course Spanish.

Feel free to ask if you want more infomation.


(I was hoping that 2020 would be the year of a long trip from home (North Wales) to Gibralter, but now, I'm looking at a trip similar to yours, north to Cherbourg or Caen, for a visit to Portsmouth, although don't know when. Of course, home to Gibralter is now just a weeks ride!)

You could head up the coast of Portugal if you really like the beaches and the sea, but the journey up the border is much more interesting. Lots of history, lovely countryside, great places to visit (if you aren't in a hurry), very quiet roads and you can cross into Spain when you are ready.

Another vote for Portugal. The roads are pretty quiet in the central region outside the big towns and generally drivers are considerate. However, they are so used to empty roads, that they panic when in traffic. Most traffic is along the coast region from Lisbon upto Porto where most people live, but inland, you can expect a fews cars an hour. I did 2 tours down the border region from the Douro Valley south and just wonderful cycling. Generally good road surfaces and although hilly, the gradients are gentle if a bit long.
Last November was exceptionally wet with rain for probably 5 and half days a week, from late October through to December, but it was never cold. I was in shorts most of the winter and can only remember a couple of cold days with longs on. However, that rain was exceptional and according to locals, it's not normally like that.

Thank you Brucey. With the move out here, I've not thought much about cycling tech, just riding and I'd forgotten about a super compact chainset. Spa have a 42/26 which will certainly do the job.

I have a cyclo cross bike with the following spec:
Shimano 105 11 speed shifters
Chainrings 46 - 36 bcd 110mm
Sprocket 11-32

While this was okay for the riding I used to do in the UK, it is overgeared for the terrain now that we have moved to Portugal. There are many more gravel trails here, but they can be pretty steep in places and the tarmac road climbs can be very long. I'm not too worried about top speed and the current 112" top gear is more than I normally use. I'd like to get the lowest gear from 31" down to around 22" which my touring bike has. In essence, I'm after a lightweight hill climbing bike.

The problem is that I'd like to make the change without spending too much money and I'm wondering what is the best route? The smallest chainring on 110bcd is a 32 tooth so not much to gain from that. Perhaps changing the whole chainring set will give me lower gears. Alternatively a longer rear mech and a 42 tooth big sprocket? Will the shifters allow this amount of cable pull?

Am I right in thinking that road and MTB Shimano components cannot be mixed?

Or sell the bike and build one from scratch?

Thanks for any help.

With regards the amount of quilting in a sleeping bag relative to clothing, there may well be a different amount of quilting between them, but I would suggest, that for a quality brand (a very relative term), it is not to do with cost cutting or "skimping". Some fibres designed for sleeping bags can be used in relatively large panels before they need to be stabilised by quilting. Quilting also results in a compressed area of insulation, so it is colder and therefore to be avoided. Finally, sleeping bags generally have an easier life than clothing, so will be subject to less wear and tear, so again they don't need as much quilting.

The problem of comparing them is also made harder as the quilted "puffa" jacket look is fashionable and some garments have extra quilting just for cosmetic reasons. I looked at jacket recently from a top end brand and it had 5 different quilting patterns in it, all in the name of fashion.

No problems Kapalasa, it's a great read and I'm waiting for the right opportunity to get some of your sayings into conversation!

Looking forward to reading this blog.

Does anyone know if it is possible to reorder a wordpress blog with oldest postings at the top rather than scrolling up and down all the time?

HobbesOnTour wrote:For bag inspiration have you tried Googling porteur or decaleur images?

Thank you. The problem with Googling is that if you don't know the name of something, Google returns all sorts of rubbish. A porteur or decaleur bag is just what I'm after.

The Ortliebs will do the job, but they have to be attached to the rack with bungees which is a pain when I want to access the contents. What I really need is a bag which has it's own fastening to the rack allowing me to just rip the top open to access the camera, map, or a snack, even on the go.

A regular scene when I'm riding, although the "in flight catering" does vary:

The problem I have is not related to weight as the extra load I'll be carrying is not huge, maybe 3kg. The problem is with finding a front rack, which I think I have an answer to, and to a bag to go onto it of around 15-20 litres. Does anyone know of any off the shelf bags available to go onto "wide" front racks? I've found the Surly one, but struggling to find others.

Thanks Ivor, the Pizza rack is more or less, just what I'm looking for and still £45. The bike is a Surly Cross Check so has mounts on the fork and it shouldn't be difficult to fit the Pizza to it. I like my bike(s) to have the maximum utility in them, so a rack which suits both a rack pack and panniers is ideal. Now to find a suitable rack pack, or I may just make my own.