Cycling UK Forum

At a primary school I used to run training sessions at they had a container with kids bikes in it. They'd get them out at lunch time and let the kids ride round an area of the playground seperated from the rest by car tyres. Just had a member of staff overseeing. Fair attrition rate on the bikes.

At another one we went in and did bike ability, then some staff and volunteer parents got trained as ride leaders and continued to take them out.

At the local posh secondary I did the bike ability and the head of games got trained as an MTB leader and took them mtbing. This was on the playing field and local park.

I would suggest looking at Go Ride (or whatever they are calling it this week). Also look to see if CUK are doing Community Cycle Clubs in your area and see if you can get support that way.

I made some vegan feta this week. Based on almonds.....it actually tastes quite nice....you wouldn't mistake it for real feta but it does have a feta-ness about it, and in some ways it was nicer than real feta.

I normally have vegan strong stilton in my sandwiches and it tastes just as good as normal massed produced sandwich cheese. Have tried other vegan cheeses that were somewhat plastic.

Much prefer alpro to cow juice these days.

The last vegan burger (UVC in Lichfield) I had actually tasted more meaty than most real burgers I've had.

Indeed, some of the best food I've had in the last few years has been at vegan restaurants ..... I wonder if it's because they are vegan they have to go the extra mile to proof their worth so the food tends to be top notch. Of course it costs a bit more too.

Mine was a 1991, bought on this very forum for £40. I changed the saddle and added V brakes and a rack. It was a really nice bike to ride..always felt very smooth.

Managed one camping tour on it, with plenty of gentle off road, and it was lovely.

Alas, I traded it in fr a recumbent due to damaged neck. Really wish I still had it.

If you are on Facebook there is a group called The Bicycle Adventure Club, run by Sarah Round. A couple of members live nd ride in that area and may be happy to hook up.

I used to live there but have now been incarcerated in Brum.

Can't help with clubs , but for gravel bike type routes: if you grab an OS map and have a look just to the south east of shifnal you'll see that a nice 30m ish BW and country lane loop can be put together around pattingham. Plus you've got the Mercian way in the Severn valley, south from jackfield. And I'm sure that you'll have done the Stafford Greenway from Newport.

I really enjoyed riding my chameleon on commutes, club rides, audaxes etc. It was as quick as any other audax bike I've had, and very comfortable. It carried moderate loads without trouble. Folding to get on the train was ok, but no where near as easy as my brommie, bit more of a faff than my birdy as the front wheel needed removing, but on the other hand, the chain didn't fall off like thebirdy , and a bit more of a faff than my tern.

Chameleon was certainly more comfortable and faster than my brommie, birdys or tern.

As previously related, my main issue with it was that the frames kept breaking. There were issues with the early ones, which I hope they have now fixed but after the third one broke I lost confidence.

Never tried a Joey. Considered one but went for the tern instead as it was considerably cheaper and came with plenty of kit such as dynamo lighting, rack and mudguards, built in pump, etc. I would imagine the Joey is slightly quicker.

To answer to op's q2, I would be interested in a 20 inch Joey.....but if the issues with the chameleon frames was sorted then I'd rather have a chameleon.

. In other news, what's with the fashion(?) for dropped seat stays

Marketing I guess.... I'm sure it must make the frame weaker if the TT and seat stays don't meet and thus transfer force directly to each other. With the dropped stays it looks like they are applying a bending force to the seat tube, thus requiring more beefing up.

Some might say that a smaller rear triangle makes it stiffer......but do you really want a stiffer frame on a 'touring' bike? Surely comfort is more important than uber-micro gains in acceleration?

And 1x for loaded touring?

tatanab wrote:

Si wrote:Think your off road category needs expanding s bit to have any meaning.....as some forms of off road are closer to road riding than they are to other kinds of MTB.

Well, if you are going to be fussy, how about cyclocross? Perhaps even BMX.

Quite. And several more. Although BMX has some quite different sub categories.

MTB xc
MTB enduro
MTB DH
MTB 2x
MTB hill climb
MTB trail quest
MTB trials

Ok, last two aren't races as such but they are competitive and had governing bodies.

Road hill climb

Think your off road category needs expanding s bit to have any meaning.....as some forms of off road are closer to road riding than they are to other kinds of MTB.

The current plan will probably have a very negative effect on the archaeology. Not only the Neolithic/ba/etc sites within the envelope but it also looks like destroying one of the most important Mesolithic sites in the country.

Of course. 99% of visitors only want to see the stones so it'll mean a better experience for them.

Dunno if they still make them but my Rolf Propels are the best 26" wheels I've had...... Pretty light for off road wheels and can take a hell of a pounding.

I know that they have a very special place in many people's hearts - they weren't necessarily the very best bikes but, like for me, they were the first 'proper' bikes we had (grifter then Arena for me).

Modern raleighs aren't viewed in the same way (as mentioned, far Eastern products now), but they still hold a special place in my heart. I have a modern raleigh hybrid and really like it, but more importantly, I worked on a project with Raleigh that gave away, free of charge, over 5000 bikes to some of the most needy people in our local communities.......loads of which I still see being used today. As said up thread....bikes for people who are materially poorer, for whom a bike is a special thing that means something.

H*lm*ts

Vehicular cycling Vs quality infra

531colin wrote:https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/121378356_2661898184126929_8633464103148375420_o.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=dhOR62y96oQAX_BwltX&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=9e28cf09312374f257a6492453e55e1d&oe=5FAF08B8

Si....were you on the M5 on Fri Oct 9th?
I saw 2 bikes on a car, I noticed cable routing like yours.

I might have been, but not with the bike. I had 1.3km of orange hazard fencing and associated road irons in the back!

mumbojumbo wrote:Surely they would start later easing the morning rush-hour.This eases cogestion and reduces lateness.If delayed at night simply ring old lass and tell er not to burn food.Mind you some are stricter than a clock-watching gaffer.

Working 9-5 puts you in peak traffic times. If starting and finishing later than 9-5 then we'd be working in the dark in the closing hours.