re: towbar ones – these only get tricky if you;r lookign at more than 3 or 4 bikes. I’ve had the cheap thule one and it’s pretty simple to organise.

We were looking at a Seat 2 or 3 bike rack and getting a package deal through the Seat dealership on a new Ibiza ST.

The Seat towbar is a detachable swan neck and we’d have to tell them what electrics we needed, I believe there are different pin sockets.

We were looking at getting a towbar fitted by a third party, but we’ve recently had issues with 3rd party companies and vehicles, so were a bit nervous on giving them a new car to mess around with.

At least with the Seat dealership fitting the towbar, we could take it back to them if there was a problem.

We’ve been looking over the last week and it seems to be a bit of a mindfield with what towbar and rack to get.

It’s put us off a bit to be honest, just because of the potential problems and cost involved.

We did look at roof mounted racks, but my wife was really worried about being able to lift her bike up onto the carrier.

We’re currently looking at towbar bike racks and a search on an old thread on here showed the Thule Euro Classic to be one of the best – bike rack link

I’m sure that STW did a magazine test last year, but I’ll have to go through my copies and find it.

**edit** It was issue 57

The average speed is pretty much around the same as my old geared mtb’s, yet everything feels a lot more chilled out and relaxed 8)

I bought a Kona Big Unit last year to join my 4 other bikes; it was going to be purely a winter bike.

However I’ve enjoyed the singlespeeding so much that my 4 other bikes have been sold and I’m just currently down to my Kona and my ‘hopefully soon to be’ my Steve Potts titanium when it turns up.

I’m actually suprised how much I’ve enjoyed it and 100% of my riding since November has been on my Kona singlespeed.

There was definately a problem with it yesterday -Bikehike post

legend – Member
Just tried their car site, much cheaper!

That’s cool 8)

legend – Member
Was that through DL cars or vans then? They wanted £1100 off me for a Kangoo!

It was through DL cars, although they originally wanted to pass me through to their commerical dept.

It was only after making a big deal over it being used purely to carry bikes and the dogs on trips out and holidays that the car dept dealt with me.

I’m 35 with a very low risk job / postcode and 5yrs NCB.

We have house insurance with them as well, which I think lowers the price.

rickmeister – Member
Direct Line here…

Direct Line for me too.

We had our Kangoo and then Vito insured with them with and got a good deal – £325 fully comp with protected NCB.

The premium was pretty much the same for both vans even though the Vito was worth more than double what the Kangoo was.

I found that the problem insurance companies and vans is that they keep wanting to pass you through to their commercial / business dept even though it’s being used as a private vehicle.

SPECIALIZED UK, LTD.
29 Barwell Business Park
Leatherhead Road, Chessington Surrey
KT9 2NY
Great Britain
Tel: +44 (0)20 8391 3500
Fax: +44 (0)20 8391 3501
E-mail: sales@specializeduk.com
E-mail: customerservice@specializeduk.com

My friend used the customer service one last year over a warranty problem on a Tarmac and got a reply back in a day; they were really helpful.

The Moscow R1 vid looks a bit speeded up, espcially when they’re filtering around 4.20.

The original Paris Ferrai vid reminded me of the ‘Ghost Rider’ or ‘Stu-Pid’ riding videos.

Not a fan myself, but one of the guys in work is really into stuff like that.

I’ve never seen pr used that bike route toaster before, but it’s really cool.

I always wanted either a Zinn Centaur or a GT Xizang.

Funnily enough I’ve tried to get on bikehike tonight and couldn’t get to to work either.

A google search brought up an old post on the STW from 5 months ago with the same problem.

The recommendation on that post was to use bike route toaster, which I did and it worked a treat 8)

Make sure that you tell the Inland Revenue that you’ve moved countries. I moved to another EU conutry in December 2006 and got all my tax back from that financial year.

Orange Crush – Member
But a Kangoo “car” can take more than a van as it does not have the bulkhead (from my experience with the two versions of the Berlingo).

It’s the bulkhead and lack of windows in a van that I like; it stops folks seeing what’s in the back.

Stuey01 – Member
What’s the point of having a van if you have to dismantle the bikes or put them in bags to go in? You can do that with a car and not have to drive around in a van.

I want a van, key point for me though is bikes need to go in whole.

We’ve got dogs as well and can’t fit the dogs and bikes into the rear of a car.

I find vans more useful, even a small Kangoo van can carry more than a large estate car.

I also like the security of not having things on show.

We had a Kangoo van for a short time last year and used bike travel bags to carry the mtb’s in the rear.

It stopped any damage to the bikes and kept the inside of the van from getting wet and muddy.

I found that by using the travel bags, I could get the bikes in width ways across the van using the side loading door.

I placed our 2 bikes against the bulkhead in the van and the 2 travel bikes together must have been no more than 3 feet wide.

This meant that we had loads of room to carry more items and also to sit in the rear area of the van with the back doors open to have food and drinks etc.

We have a joint account that both our wages get paid into and all out outgoings come out of the same account.

We then just have a savings account that we both put money into every month.

We don’t have any individual pocket money that we transfer to seperate accounts, we both just use the money from the joint account to pay for treats.

My missus spends around £200 a month of fuel which come’s out of the joint account were as I cycle due to working nearer to home.

I don’t see the point or need to have seperate accounts or allowances as we see it all as being ‘our’ money.

granny_ring – Member
That lot in 6 months, blimey!

I use most of it on the motorbike really, keeps everything corrosing and fur free 8)

The push bikes only get a light coating.

The Hope trials hub on my Kona has been (keeping fingers crossed) trouble free.

I did look at a CK hub as I have a them on my geared mountain bike and they have been faultless

I got my Kona Unit as I wanted a cheap maintenance free bike and the price of CK hubs seemed to go against the plan.

I’d definately buy get a trials hub again and I’ve always found Hope to be really helpful and great to deal with.

Big Pete – Member
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-CANS-GT85-PTFE-CHAIN-LUBRICANT-GT-85-WATER-DISPLACER-/190437132255?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2c56f007df

I always order mine from here and they certainly seem to be good value.

I get the pack of 36 from them and that lasts me around 6 months, although I do use it on my motorbike as well.

I use it to lightly coat the fame and metal work with it and spray it on the chain to wipe it down before lubing it up.

It’s kept my commuter bike looking sparkly clean and corrosion free over the last 12 months.

I always try to get the item in the post the next working day myself.

I e-mail the other party to confirm the payment has been received and let them know when I’m going to get to the Post Office. I also give them my full postal details and contact number.

Once I’ve sent the item, I then e-mail them again with the package reference number.

I feel that it’s really important to keep people updated and also try and get items sent off as soon as possible.

I also only ever send items using a trackable and insured service to save any problems.

No gravel traps and big run outs here 😯

Not too long now until the real riders turn out 8)

It definately needs more bikes.

I hope it gets more interesting 😕

At least the Moto 2 series seems to save the day.

I wish they’d bring back the 500’s or at least lose all the electronic gadgets.

My favourites and in no particular order……

I’m 76kg’s and have been made up with the Crest’s on my Kona Unit.

They feel light when built up and they’ve held up really well with no problems.

I thought my Nubira estate was pretty good, although I did only pay £350 for it with 30’000 miles on it. It even had air-con and I could never have got a Focus or Astra in the same condition for the money.

The parts problem was a hassle though, it took 6 weeks to get the car back on the road after it broke.

If it would have been a more expensive car, I’d have been a bit cheesed off; but cheap cars are always a gamble.

Chevrolet cars are what were Daewoo’s.

I had a Daewoo estate for a few months in 2009 when I needed a car for a short time and it was a good car until something broke…..

I then had a lot of hassle getting parts for it.

The newer Chevrolets might be better for parts and spares, but it would have to be a very very cheap car for me to buy one and even then I’d still have a niggling doubt in the back of my mind.

I’d definately do a bit of homework on parts and servicing before buying one.

I’ve spent many an hour looking at pictures of these, wishing I had the funds 😥

…..or 183 on sky

Stoner – Member

Im surprised just how inefficient they are.

Is it lack of development in the engines or something intrinsic to motorbikes?

As said, its not really on the ‘spec’ list

surely tourers should be specc’d for efficiency?

I have a hankering one day to go for a tour on something like an africa twin (despite being a motorbike noob), but are they not designed to cruise efficiently?

I’ve never had a proper tourer, but I’ve had a few VFR800’s which were good on fuel even when cained. I used to get just over 200 miles from my last VFR no matter how fast I rode it.

The days of motorbikes being a cheap form of transport seem to have long gone, unless you’re going to ride something small.

My 08 Fireblade used to do around 140 miles on 17.7 litres and my current SP1 does around 110 miles on 18 litres.

I usually need a new rear tyre every 2000 miles at £150(ish) and a lot of bikes need servicing every 6000 miles.

My wifes CBF125 is really good on fuel, however it’s pretty much game over at 50mph and it has 2500 mile service intervals.

It’s good on tyres though, the rubber will be probably be perished long before it’s worn out!!!!

That’s great to hear as I’m about to send my Exposure light back to them as it’s run time is less than half of what it should be.

I’m just waiting to start my leave from work before I send it back as I need my light to cycle to work and back.

I’ve got just over 2 weeks off, so it sounds like I should be good to get it back in time to cycle back to work 🙂

Stoner – Member
Im surprised just how inefficient they are.

Is it lack of development in the engines or something intrinsic to motorbikes?

They do get a lot of bhp per litre though, much more than a car.

Most modern 1000cc sports bikes put out 160+ bhp

Most 1000cc cars seem to only put out 50 – 60bhp.

The Kinesis KM210L is really nice.

We got this one built up with XT, RC31’s, Magura’s and Hope wheels.

This one is a 43cm.

We did have a Myka hardtail, but this feels a lot lighter.

Excuse the terrible pictures 😳

I’ve got many a fond childhood memories of my mum making Greens lemon meringue pie. They always used to have a biscuit base, very yummy.

Although to be honest the Greens mix never turned out as impressive as your version.

The meringue bit looks bob on!!!!

I lurve lemon meringue pie 🙂

Especially if it’s got a biscuit base.

Although a pastry base is cool 8)

I cycle to work everyday and have either a 6 mile or 9 mile route to choose from.

Sometimes it’s hard to get out of bed at 6am when you can hear the wind and rain outside, however once out on the bike it’s great 🙂

It takes around 25 – 30 mins to ride the 6 mile route, so probably only around 10 – 15 mins slower than using a car.