Salbumatol isn’t a steroid. It’s a beta agonist like clenbuterol. When used in supratherapeutic doses it can increase your aerobic capacity and so reduce muscle fatigue (e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23559124/ ). It needs to be available to use to allow genuinely asthmatic athletes to compete but the acceptable blood level is supposed to correlate to what you would see with “legitimate” use (no idea if it actually does).

Probably closer to 2.5h by train but could head to the südtirol eg Bolzano. Last time I cycled there was just pootling around as a kid but incredible scenery & buttery smooth roads. Presumably plenty of scope for bike hire.

Q&A here says yes:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sram-rival-22-hydraulic-shifter-and-rim-brake?sku=5360664566&source=igodigital

In a similar boat…would love a bokeh but can’t justify the cost. Probably going to go for an arkose personally, takes 650b and you can get a frameset for £400 (£450 for the Di2 routing one). Seem well reviewed (at least in the very extensive thread on here)!

If you’ve got a 105 (5800) crankset at the moment i’d just buy an aftermarket NW ring in whatever size you want. Wolf tooth for example: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/chainrings/products/110-bcd-asymmetric-4-bolt-for-shimano-cranks

DT Swiss rims seem a good shout for this. I’ve got an R460 on DCR front wheel and an RR511 on shim 105 rear wheel (from Strada) and they both seem pretty bombproof. The RR511 especially. Look nice, stiff, decent internal width (18mm I think).

Yeah I use it as a helmet light on the continuous mode with front & back flashing ones on the bike. Don’t ride off-road but on full blast it did very well illuminating some pitch black Cambridgeshire lanes last winter. The one you’re looking at is almost twice as bright so I’d assume it’ll do the job!

I’ve had one of these for 3 years (I think the 400 lumen version) and it’s excellent. Battery life is good, charges quickly, survived a few knocks. The 700L looks like a steal for £35.

I may order that waterproof bag then – very tempted. Only issue is it’s all one pocket. Maybe I need to get a little wallet / pouch thing to go in it for loose stuff like keys / wallet / phones etc.

Yeah I stick wallet/keys/ID etc in a tupperware to stop them from rattling around. I’m sure there’s fancier ways of lugging your stuff but I just wanted something that keeps my kit dry for 10 miles and is hard wearing. Plus the fact you can see it a mile off is reassuring now that it’s dark at both ends of the day.

Charliem- that dry bag looks an interesting option. I just need to measure my laptop to see if it would fit.

How padded is the back if you’ve got something like a hard laptop against it – would it dig in to your back?

The padding is pretty decent, I usually have my yellow kryptonite lock against my back and it doesn’t dig in.

I’ve used one of these for a few years now:

http://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/high-visibility-drybag-cycling.html

100% waterproof and very comfy straps, seems pretty indestructible. It’s basically a big dry bag with rucksack straps though so no good if you’re after compartments, and can be a bit sweaty on the back.

Quite like the look of the new arkose 4 (rival 1x, tubeless ready) although not 100% on the colour…

Another vote for Duranos…been running a pair of 25c D plus for 6 months ~100miles a week commuting on a glass littered route that got the better of a marathon plus twice in a year, no issues at all (presumably now jinxed). Grip in the wet is decent and they’re hard wearing. Bought a 28 DD to try on the front to test clearance, it’s not much bigger than a 25c D+ and is basically just a normal durano with extra sidewall reinforcement. Will probably stick with the D+ at the back tbh.

Thanks everyone – should have added, I emailed the dealer I got it off to start a warranty claim but the paperwork all went missing during a house move a few years back. I have a vague idea that the manual specified a max rider weight (almost certainly <110kg) but will see what comes of it.

In terms of a replacement – for a ~100 mile a week commuter bike that I’ll take out for 30-50 miles probably once a month, is the strael 105 worth the £300 over the faran? Is the difference between 853 and 631 steel better strength at lower weight? I don’t necessarily need clearance for massive tyres – being able to run some 30c G-one speeds with guards would be fine, so the strael looks perfect, but not sure I’ll squeeze the extra £s past the holder of purse strings.