Thanks for the link @dawson

I could do with one of those for mine so I’ll give him a shout.

The shifting with AXS is pretty much perfect, whatever the conditions. Far batter than any Shimano set up I’ve used.
I also find the SRAM shifters really comfortable.
As for the fluid differences mentioned above, that argument is a non-starter for me. Realistically, how often do you bleed brakes unless you’re a serial faffer who seems to think they need bled every time you change your pads etc? My hydraulic brakes are all fit and forget!

AXS over Shimano for me, every time.

Where’s the best place for a live text feed?

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-flanders-2024/elite-men/live-report/

Nice!

I love my Epic Evo, it’s easily the best bike I’ve ever ridden.

I suppose nothing would beat an ultrasonic washer if you wanted to get the cassette spotless?

I’ve got an ultrasonic cleaner in the garage that’ll fit an Eagle cassette and it’s not great TBH.

Personally, I’d be looking at a parts washer/bath with a decent brush if I were cleaning them often. If not then just an old washing up bowl with warm water and degreaser in it along with a stiff brush and a pair of heavy duty marigold type gloves.

If flat bars… I’d perhaps look at the Cascade rather than the Escapade… it’s longer.

I’ve had a Cascade and got rid of it.
It seemed pretty good at first, as any new bike does, but I soon came to the conclusion that it was basically a less good hardtail MTB. An even more expensive mistake than buying a fatbike years ago.

That sale price on the complete Camino is tempting but I’ve got a load of stuff ready to hang off a new frame so it’s probably not worth buying and stripping it.

Not sure on the budget yet, probably about £1k max.

Hold on …. why isn’t this the landlord problem ?

Maybe because she owns her own flat??

I believe it’s allowed in London in this day and age.

We had a proper spring-like day earlier this week but it’s poured down since then in The Chilterns.

Took the hound for a walk this morning and even the areas that are normally fairly dry are a saturated, muddy, slippy state.

With the forecast for the next week or two looking no better, I’ve given up on plans off riding outside for a while and stuck a bike back on the turbo trainer.

That’s unlucky for WvA.

That’ll be WvA out this weekend then.

it’s painful watching your peer group vanish into the distance on lap 1 of a race when 2 years ago you’d be with them & finishing in the top third.

Is it not just the case that you’re two years older and your performance has dropped off due to age?

I’ve had that with both my bikes with Transmission fitted.
Loosen the rear axle and the derailleur bolt then re-torque as SRAM recommend.
I did that and they’ve both been absolutely faultless since then.

Skoda Karoq?
If it’s got the varioflex seating they’re easy to remove and it gives loads of space.

From the bits I’ve picked up on here and seen on social media there doesn’t seem to be as much around in the way of XC, endurance and marathon racing the past few years. Back when I used to race there seemed to be more events advertised.

The XC Racer website used to be the go to for events listings but it’s not been updated for years now.

Could STW not have a racing forum on here? Possibly an events calendar on the website where organisers can list their events?

And Qashqai’s look to have a decent boot (and there’s loads for sale)…

The Qashqai doesn’t have a very big boot at all, much smaller than an Octavia estate. They’re also, from my experience, a bit shit.

Personally I’d be looking for a diesel Octavia if I were you.

Minus – It seemed crazy busy when we were there a couple of summers ago.

@welshfarmer

It might be worth sticking a link to your place up here…

A one bedroom pod Monday to Friday in May is £1145??

That’s a ridiculous price, and that’s before you look at their stupidly expensive extras, £15/night for the dog, £53 to check in 2h earlier and out 2h later etc. You’d have to be loaded or mad to pay these kind of prices.

I’ve just watch a few minutes of the Guy Kesteven review on you tube.

Let me guess…

He loved it and it was the best bike he’d ridden, as ever.

@bikerevivesheffield

I’ll take the battery if the OP doesn’t want it!

Reading that just makes my head hurt.
Does no one proof-read things before they publish them on the site?

Raise a complaint with the insurance ombudsman.
You may not get anywhere but I’m sure I read somewhere that it costs the insurers whenever someone raises an issue against them. You may not get a refund but at least you can cost them some money for no real benefit!

Actually managed to get out on the bike this morning before work, first time in weeks as it’s been horrifically wet around here recently.
The trails are starting to dry out a bit, just a shame we’re forecast rain for tomorrow.
The wild garlic is well on it’s way, before you know it it’ll be the bluebells and the warmer weather.

I’ve just signed up for a local road 10k in June and the Oxford Half in October.
The aim is a 45 minute 10k and a 1:45 Half. The 10k time is somewhat optimistic given my current PB is 51 something.
These are both on the road but I normally do nearly all my running on trails so I need some road shoes.

Looking ahead towards the races, are things like the Vapourfly or Alphafly worth the money? I figure that if they are I’ll keep an eye out and pick some up in the run up to the races and use for a few training sessions to get used to them.
I tend to run on my forefoot if that makes any difference.

(Though it does annoy me that people complain about drains being blocked by leaves outside their houses but never seem to think they could clear it themselves if the council don’t. We shouldn’t have to, but life isn’t perfect. )

Around here it seem to be the knobbers who live in the country but don’t like leaves so use the leaf blower to blow them on to the road to make their driveways look nice.
Said leaves then wash in to the drains and block them.

Idiots.

We picked my wife’s car up from the garage yesterday after failing its MOT with a broken front spring. The tester was saying how he’s had more cars with broken springs lately than he can ever remember, there was actually another guy in at the same time picking up his car from MOT that had the same issue!

The roads around us are dire. The council’s attempts to repair them are laughably pointless. I’m not an expert in these things but it can’t be helped by the fact that probably 75% of drains around here are blocked solid which is causing flooded roads which I’d imagine helps to increase the damage to the surfaces.
I never take a bike near some of the roads at the surfaces are so bad that they’re dangerous to ride.
I’ve no idea how you go about fixing it but I don’t envy the person who has to sort the mess out.

Looking forward to the race but gutted that I’m at work and I’ll be stuck somewhere that there’s no wifi and no decent mobile coverage.

Hopefully Discovery have some highlights.

I do, however, have holiday booked for Flanders and Roubaix weekends and the collection of Belgian beers is slowly growing. Luckily for me, my good lady likes the Classics as well so it’ll be a couple of days of beers and Moules-frites in our house!

and i suspect itll be closed before long

I’m sure the usual suspects will be along soon enough to drag the thread in to the gutter as they always do.

It’s not just you, this is the first I knew of this!

As you say, history wasn’t exactly taught very well at school when I was there. There was a few bits about Romans and Greeks and that was about it. Any modern history wasn’t taught.

And to be honest, it’s not something that’s ever interested me enough as an adult to read up on.

I wonder if the bikes they’ve got left are likely to get discounted further?

I’ve got my eye on one which isn’t a bad price as it is but I’ll not be hitting the buy button unless it drops a bit more.

Similar here. XX SL T-type power meter crankset down from £1200 to £220!
I don’t need it but it looks nice 😂

Just caught up on the women’s race.
Great result for Vos, looks like she’s getting back to her best.

I think Puck Pieterse will bag one of the big races this year.

No MvdP today – in fact he’s not racing until Milan – San Remo.

Giving everyone else a chance, having seen his form in CX this year!

Without a doubt the best time of the year for road racing, I don’t watch any sport on TV apart form the Classics.

There’s a load of contenders for the big races this year with WvA and MvdP both looking good. I really hope this is the breakthrough year for Arnaud De Lie, he could be something special.

The headaches I got in the first week of quitting were like nothing else I ever experienced.

The headaches quitting caffeine were worse than giving up smoking. I actually found it more difficult giving up tea and relented and went back to drinking it after a week or two last time I tried to quit.

I’ve tried coffee once, it was some milky thing from a coffee shop that tasted like burnt shit. I had about three mouthfuls and ended up with palpitations and nausea for about 15 minutes afterwards 😂

It hasn’t been the way forward for me for 20 years as they a) never have anything I need and b) have less knowledge about the things I want than I do

I will continue Google searching for the items I want and buy from whatever shops come up that stock them, all online. No LBS is ever going to be able to stock the things I want.

I couldn’t agree with this more.

Loads of people go on about LBS and how we should all be using them but the reality that I’ve found is that they’re generally either non-existent or a bit shit. The last three places I’ve lived over the past 20 or so years have fitted in to one of these two categories. Once you’re talking about a 30+ mile round trip to get to an LBS then online will win every time.

@coconut I had this with another company a while back, they went under while my return was with them. PayPal refunded me in full when I opened a case, it was all very easy.