Surely sweat must cause deterioration in the padding if not the shell which must have some effect on safety. Lots of helmet manufacturers used to sell replacement pads but this seems less common these days

Bolt through. I think I am going to go down cynic-al’s route. The hub is fine, it’s never even needed bearings in seven years, so I think I’ll get a new rim built on. Not Hunt, too much like cheese.

Seven years old so probably beyond warranty.

The website doesn’t specifically mention ebikes. Can you enter on one? It does say any bike capable of off road so presumably, yes. As a very old bloke I can’t see me getting round 65-75 k without assistance. It also says it’s not a race so hopefully all should be welcome.

It’s a Shimano 8010 so no chance of a range extender. It can still do about 20 miles so could still be useful for a proper all day ride. The Evic sounds interesting, will investigate

I live near the top of a big hill and everywhere I can ride involves up and down with hardly any flat. My Shimano ebike will barely do 30 miles on a charge and I normally assume 25 to avoid the chance of pedalling a 26kg bike uphill to get home.

I am another SolMax owner who was expecting a modern Soul … but didn’t get it! I like the Max but it’s not really the bike for what I seem to be riding these days. If it hadn’t been for the price I think I would have gone for the new Solaris. Perhaps if I can get a good enough price for my frame I will make the jump.

In the days when I rode motorcycle enduros, I had a mate who could ride the wheels off me on a shagged out old trailbike with bald tyres whilst I was on a new bike with proper tyres. It’s mainly the rider!

I thought I was in favour of LTNs but when our area became one, traffic diverted from existing through routes started using my (previously quiet) road as a sanctioned cut through. Like any other traffic measure it’s success depends on planning and consultation. Our council are notorious for a lack of both. For instance they failed to notice beer wagons could no longer get to the local pub after LTN .

I was told to keep it around two thirds charged when not in regular use and to never run it completely flat. I probably don’t let it get to 10% very often so I’ll try that next before I start thinking about a new battery

In my riding group of oldsters we have opposite extremes. One guy used to be very good but now tags along at the back and he just can’t handle it. He hardly comes out and moans all the time when he does. Another seems just as strong as he was years ago. He can’t understand why the rest of us have got so slow . You just have to accept what you can do and enjoy it. After all, consider the alternative

I have found it has happened fairly imperceptibly until you stop and think about what you were doing ten years ago. I am just not doing as much as I was. It doesn’t really matter as long as you are not racing, just keep getting out there.

How can you tell which is which? I recently bought some OE Shimano discs that just came in a plastic bag. They were cheap though so probably resin only?

Yesterday I replaced the free hub on my DT Swiss wheels with a steel version because of the cassette chewing up the splines. I have two sets of wheels for this bike and swapping them over was becoming a real chore as getting the cassette off the DT hub was increasingly difficult. The other wheelset is a cheapish Shimano that has never given any trouble getting the cassette off.

This has been very useful for me as I was scratching my head about which pads to buy for my Tiagra.

One question though, what do the different initial letters mean? Some have a KO prefix and some LO. Is it basically the same pad but with the fin, or is it something else?

Specialized road shoes used to come with a two bolt plate as well as three. However mine are 6-7 years old so they may have ditched this. Two bolt cleats are just as annoying to walk on with a flat sole as three so I am going to follow the trend of this thread and recommend XC shoes which is what I did when I got fed up of Bambi on ice.

The general routes are, as suggested, pretty naff but if you can find an individual’s routes, these can be good. Ed Shooter and Markus Stitz for instance ,both post excellent rides. Maps are crap though

Hmm, mine’s not turned up yet so I’ll keep away from the home page!

I recently bought a bike with full mudguard fittings , so for the first time in thirty years I now have comprehensive, full length guards. The difference is amazing. I’d always used clip ons but they are not in the same league. My legs are much drier and my feet never seem to get soaked like they did with SKS raceguards/blades

For me the reason for buying the E-HT rather than FS was simply cost. I don’t do any desperately technical riding and at the time I was buying , HT was £1500 cheaper than the cheapest FS.

I’ve got one! But it’s the older version with Shimano E8000 motor so not really comparable to the Bafang. It rides really well but the spec was much higher than this new version e.g. Revelations, Guide REs, DT swiss wheels.So not very helpful I’m afraid. The Sentier platform, E and non E are very well thought of so hopefully the new one will handle as well 

I have got all this to come – again! I am normally fairly fit for my advanced years but I have been knocked out by a nasty chest infection that has gone on for three weeks. It’s finally beginning to subside after various antibiotics but I am still wheezing like an eighty a day man. I am not looking forward to the pain when I get back on my bike but at least I can look forward to a proper ride in the near future!

You are certainly not! Almost every thread about gloves contains a moan from me about sizing. I do have big hands but not quite JCB shovels yet most gloves even XXL size aren’t big enough.

Aaaargh, jealous. Currently sat on the sofa coughing and spluttering while my friends are out in their bikes. Missed a lot of rides this year or rather  last year due to random illness. To add insult to injury the wife is watching Alan Tichmarsh on the telly. I migh go back to bed!

The  road is apparently the highest tarmac road in England at 848m!

The more I read these ‘what glove ?’ threads, I think that gloves are the same as helmets and saddles, a very personal thing . Some of the suggestions above just wouldn’t work for me yet they clearly keep some people warm. Like the helmet and saddle analogy you can’t really test them out. They might fit nicely in the shop but you can’t tell if they will work when the temperature drops.

However it still doesn’t explain how you see so many people out with no gloves at all on very cold days.

Well that’s cheered me up, I’m 75 next month and obviously just at the beginning of my cycling career!

Oh, and Briskers, I can’t even get the xxls anywhere near on. My fingers are fairly long but my wide palms seem to scupper a lot of gloves

Another vote for the Patagonia Capilene. As well as being warm and non sweaty they last for ages. I’m still using one I bought in 2006. Obviously they don’t get used in the summer but come winter they are always on for cycling and building snowmen with the grandkids.

I found Pro 1s fairly flimsy and gave up on them before they reached their apparent wear limit.

Nah, the solution is obviously N+1a+1b where 1a is a hardcore hardtail and 1b is a bike packer. More expensive but more satisfying.

Fooled by the Met Office today. Was promised a dry day, it wasn’t. Sat in the caff for over an hour but had to give up in the end and cycle home through yet another downpour. Feel like I have transferred to the Unterseebiken division.

One of our riding group moved to Hathersage because his missus wanted to be a country lady. They moved back to Sheff within two years. They just felt swamped by tourists!

Another Smoove fan here. However  it is easy to forget to renew it as lasts longer on the chain !

It’s all I use. I tried 3 bolt road pedals when I got back into road riding but just couldn’t get on with them and went back to SPD’s. My current road bike has the ED 500s pictured above and they are excellent.

The first rule of riding ruts is that you are always in the wrong rut.

I have got one last bike lurking in the garage that I don’t ride which I am still trying to decide what to do with. It is a 26″ Soul that I have really enjoyed riding but have barely touched in the last few years. I did do a half-arsed gravel conversion but once I bought carbon forks for my Solaris even that niche disappeared. I’ll probably put all the proper MTB bits back on and use it as a reserve but I think the eldest granddaughter is going to inherit when she is big enough.

It was Aviva! Caher , this is my own excess insurance. Next time I will just pay the hire company’s overpriced excess cover

olddonald what gloves did you go for? I have been looking at heated gloves but there is such a range of prices and types that I couldn’t decide. A personal recommendation would be great.

Well, a not very helpful answer, my question was why won’t it work.