pashley PDQ

[Si]

I got the PDQ as it had the nice upright position that my neck prefers and seamed able to tote a good amount of luggage, and the price was right.

[squeaker]

any tips forwhen I take it out on the road this week?

1) Fit a mirror - B&M Cyclestar long stalk fastened inboard of the brake lever works for me.
2) Relax and enjoy the ride - don't grip the bars too hard.
3) Spin, rather than mash - your knees will thank you.
4) Find your own private hill for some hill start practice - less to worry about when confronted with a 'real' one.
HTH

[Si]

Yep, fitting a mirror was the first mod that I made to it yesterday. I had a really old one in the shed that sounds like the one you describe and fitted it as you suggest.

Have now been round the block a few times and can more or less get it to go where I want it to.

First problem that i encountered was front wheel-heel overlap. Apart from this the slow speed manoeuvring seems OK - I certainly seem to have picked it up faster than when starting with the tandem.

On the flat and slight downhill the steering seems OK, although a bit twitchy on the uphill bit - probably because I'm pulling on the bars a bit when I should be relaxing.

Indeed, the bit that aches the most is my elbows - I think some bar adjustment might be in order.

I see what people mean by taking time to acquire 'bent muscles - it's not yet at all fast. Part of this might be down to the fact that the last owner didn't know how to set the indexing up though and I've spent much of the time in the wrong gear. Stopping and getting feet down in time has been OK so far. In fact it's easier than I thought it would be to do micro track stands, although that might be due to lack of air in the tyres.

Next mods will be jubilee clipping a bottle cage to the steerer, adding a nelson long flap to the rear of the seat and putting SPDs on it. Oh, and finding some tubes with presta valves to replace the car-type ones that it has.

[stevew]

Why? You will end up with big holes in the rims with little valves in them ! Or all the faff of finding adaptors.

Oh, and finding some tubes with presta valves to replace the car-type ones that it has.

[Si]

it's just 'cos all my pumps, inc my expensive track pump, are for presta.

I have a hard enough trouble trying to pack the right sized tube into my luggage (given that I have five different whel sizes in my collection) - if I had to get the right pump too then I'd end up doing a lot of walking

[stevew]

Yeah, makes sense Si. Just didn't realise that many pumps existed that were not dual head.
Hope you get to enjoy the PDQ, nearly got one myself but then had a lucky find of a Bacchetta Cafe which I love.