In your pic, your arms are bent which is a good start! Your bar height looks probably fine, maybe a bit too high although I’m not sure what a good bar height is for offroad stuff. I’d say just rotate the bars forwards a bit, can’t see why it’d be an issue from your picture.

The thing I’d be more concerned about is why you look like you’re dropped off to your left hand side….

I felt the bars were a bit high at that time (for climbing, at least,)and have since dropped them a little. (It’s quite an old photo.)
I see what you’re saying about my left side – I think I was pulling on the bars with each pedal rev, the hill is steeper than it looks – I wasn’t spinning the gear and my saddle might also have been a little high. (Again – I’ve altered that since.)

my problem is that from there I can only just get a finger on the bottom of the brake lever as I have very inflexible wrists. To get more fingers on, I have to drop my whole body which is not ideal.

That’s exactly the problem I have and if I spend any length of time low enough to cover the brake levers fully, my neck kills me.

I’m pretty sure my arms are straighter than in that photo when on the drops. It’s odd because I would have thought that meant the reach was too long, but maybe it’s more that I’m too far forward.

This is the only photo I have of me riding the bike seated:

I’d guess from the way your bike is set up, you might want a layback seatpost and more rotation of your hips to get a flatter back and a bend in your elbow.

Funnily enough I’ve been thinking of that myself lately.
The bike came with a seatpost with more layback, but I couldn’t get the saddle level with it (cheap & nasty own-brand item) and swapped to the one in the pic. I felt at the time, I wanted to be a little more over the front so went for an in-line post. With hindsight, I’d probably have been better with a bit of layback, but it’s hard to judge these things without trying them and I haven’t ridden a road bike for about 20 years, so it all felt new.

This is probably one of those cases where seeing a decent side-on picture of you (riding rather than stationary) would be very beneficial to offering useful advice.

Sadly not an easy thing to get unless you have some rollers and a friend handy!

Agreed. I’ve no photos of me riding the bike on the drops.

Try rotating your bars forward a touch. Although this may make the hoods more uncomfortable…..

I don’t really want to do that if possible.
I’ve tried it and much prefer the hoods where they are – I ride on them most of the time anyway, so need to be happy there.

Hoping the reach-adjust and stem lift will fix things.
The bars aren’t particularly low, because the bike has quite a high front-end, but I’m long in the body and short of leg, so the saddle is quite low in relation to the bars.

It is hard to compare – especially as the bars in the top photo are flared.
I did lower the stem between when they were taken, but that was to give a bit more reach to the tops for seated climbing, nothing to do with drop position. The new FSA bars are slightly shallower and have 5mm less reach, but although the riding position feels different (and better on the drops), the reach to the lever issue is pretty much the same.
I’ll try adjusting the lever reach and maybe swap one of the stem spacers back over to lift the bar back up a bit.

This is pretty much the position I use, but have tried others.
Old bars:

New bars:

I loved the first series, especially the one set at the hotel at Devil’s Bridge.
It’s weird to see places you know well in a TV drama.

I was just watching the GCN video about adjusting reach – my levers are 11spd 105, so if they are adjustable as you say, I’ll give it a go.

Harrison Ford can’t run

To be fair to the guy – he’s knocking on a bit and he did break his leg during filming…

To spend quality time with my family, dogs & friends.
To see my daughter growing into an amazing young woman.
To get out on my bike and enjoy the outdoors.
To dance all night in a field to loud repetitive beats every once in a while.

That’s about it.

Yeah – all Camelback bladder spares are a total rip-off. Who are they trying to kid?

If I find something I really like, that works well for me, I’m inclined to buy from that brand again.
My best transmission & braking experiences (road & MTB)have come from Shimano and I tend to stick to them now where possible.
Had bad experiences with Suntour & Campag back in olden times and that put me off for life. Sram I can live with, but Shimano always would be my first choice.
Had three Kleins as I thought they were just awesome. (Hate to say it, but other than for looks & kudos the Trek made one I had was a better bike than the originals. Shhhh…)
The ride of my Genesis Io blew me away, so when I was looking for a 29er SS, it had to be a Fortitude.
I loved my old Zaskar LE & have bought another GT – a Grade Alloy 105.
(I want one of the 25th anniversary Zaskars, but can’t justify another bike right now!)
DHB clothing has impressed me with the quality & VFM, so I’ve recently bought a few items.

I remember racing XC at Bringewood once and having to get off and carry the bike for a couple of metres where the course crossed a bridleway. The dismounting was strictly policed too.

Its funny that franki because im the opposite! Off road anyway I find I back off completely if i’m clipped in because I cant move about like I want to and dont ‘feel’ safe.

My worry is my feet slipping or bouncing off the pedals if I’m not clipped-in.
I’m very much an XC rider though – I like climbing as much as descending and I’m not interested in jumps and the like.

/Googles Jim Lahey.

Same here.

😀

I can’t stand being on a bike if I’m not clipped in. Road or MTB – I just don’t feel safe.
Clipless pedals became second nature pretty quickly – as soon as they were available as an option to toe-clips & straps (never got the hang of them), I was in there!
Never had a problem being attached to the bike in a crash – 99% of the time, both feet are out before I hit the deck.
I guess it’s what you’re used to and the style of riding you do, but I can’t ride flats and have no wish to. The only time I can see them being necessary is on North Shore style obstacles and big jumps, where you may need to bail.

colournoise wrote:

Whatever its shortcomings, it ‘felt’ right to me as a Star Wars film. Enjoyable mix of action, classic good vs evil, humour and some decent acting (for me notably from Boyega and Ford). Nothing groundbreaking but then I don’t think that’s what anyone really wants from the franchise.

In a nutshell, really. 🙂
(I was 7 in 1977 too.)

funny. I thought he was brilliant.

I wish I had. I felt a tangible drop in tension when he revealed himself.

I thought it was fantastic! Better than I was expecting, although my expectations were pretty high.
It wasn’t perfect, but the bits I thought were weak didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the rest of it that much.
The main niggles I had were:
The story was so similar to A New Hope, it felt like a lazy attempt at a plot – but I can see how they may have intentionally wanted to re-create the original film’s feel.
I thought Snoke & the rathtars were a bit rubbish and too CGI.
Rylo Ken was way too uncharismatic an actor – it was a let-down when he removed his mask.
That’s about it. The rest was awesome! The new characters were great and it would still have been a decent film even with much less Han & Chewie.
I much prefer the gritty, more realistic, less-CGI heavy settings and less OTT action sequences when compared to the prequels. This film is firmly back on track IMO.

Oh, and Luke Skywalker absolutely stole the show! Not bad, considering he was on screen for about a minute tops!

I use the FB page. It’s great looking back to when I was young & fit and the sport was new & exciting. Spoke to people I haven’t contacted in years!
I love some of the old bikes and parts too, but don’t really understand the obsession with collecting or riding them now.

So… a drop bar bike to ride “proper” MTB trails on, without having to mince-it up a bit, as an alternative to a mountainbike.
Sorted. 😀

have you ever ridden a bike and thought ‘this’d be great with bigger tyres’

Yes, but I’ve also ridden a bike and thought ” this’d be great with smaller tyres”. 😉

How about the GT Grade Alloy Sora?

I’ve got the 105 version and it’s an awesome ride, on or off-road.

That’s a coincidence – my wife just announced that her Pure won’t turn on most of the time over the last couple of days. Wonder if that’s the power supply too?
Hers is a good few years old now.

Awesome!
I don’t watch much TV as a rule, but this drama has me hooked, I didn’t want it to end – must find out more!!!

I pretty much always play full albums. Must have listened to about a dozen on CD over the weekend.
Playing one now:
Fluid Dynamics by Denshi Danshi on Suntrip Records.

Thanks for the replies. Probably best to delete some of the history then – I’d already saved all the “activities” to the pc.

(I’ve had no success syncing with routes to follow either. You’d think it would be a doddle. Never had an issue the other way round.)

Powerslave is the first one I bought and probably my favourite, although it has a couple of filler tracks. (but then most of their albums do.)
I really love Somewhere In Time too and then Piece Of Mind.
Seventh Son was the beginning of the end for me and I lost interest after that.
Never liked Paul Di’Anno’s vocals.

I used to when I raced (road / CX & XC) years ago and before baggies became the norm for MTBing.

More recently, after several years of only riding MTBs, I’ve just bought a (Gravel) road bike and face the dilemma of riding it in baggies or shaving the legs and wearing lycra shorts. I managed to find some quite non-baggy baggy shorts from Club Ride as a compromise, so they’re keeping the razors at bay!
(I just can’t be doing with hairy legs with lycra shorts. )

I’ve never ridden an Audax and did my first and (so far) only sportive this year.

I must admit, I wasn’t looking forward to it, but it was the only way I was going to get a ride in with my bro that weekend, so I gave it a try.
All the negative comments about sportives and sportive riders were in the back of my mind and I was expecting it to be like the old reliability trials I rode back in the 90s that were basically road races in all but name, but this time full of band-waggon jumping nu-roadies with all the gear & no idea, rather than club cyclists.

Happily, the event (Run & Ride’s 3rd Birthday Bash) was pretty low-key, everyone seemed friendly and riders set off at intervals, so there was less pressure to “race”, (although we didn’t hang about!). The 70 mile long route was fantastic and took us down some superb lanes I’d never have otherwise ridden, with steep climbs and fast descents, not the wide open drags I was anticipating.

I think the bigger, more popular events probably attract a higher proportion of idiots, (like everything big & popular,) but I really enjoyed this one and would do another of their rides for sure.

We stayed in Plat (between Dubrovnik & Cavtat,) for a week last year and had an amazing time. Fantastic place – I’d love to go back. 😀

Yep. We had them at infant / junior school. Used to love the smell of newly printed sheets!

My Grade came with 52/36 11-32 which is ok, but a better bet would have been 50/34 up front.
I can’t spin a 52t very far down the block, so the small sprockets are pretty much unused and a 34t would come in handy on steep offroad climbs.

I did a 70 mile road sportive with some mates at the weekend at a faster pace than I would usually ride and on occasion, the jumps between sprocket sizes were a bit annoying, but under normal (less competitive,) use, this hasn’t been a problem and I’m not roadie enough to fit a close-ratio cassette. 😉

I can watch that film every time it is on. Love it, especially Oddball!
” I’m drinking wine, eating cheese, catching some rays – you know?” 😀

you can’t beat a GT Zaskar….

19 years old and still going strong

I had one from that period. It was a sweet bike. 🙂

I spent a good few hours riding natural trail and lanes in the hills in the Barmouth & Dolgellau area last month. It’s an awesome place to get away from it all..
I wouldn’t want it to be any busier. The towns were packed, but once off the beaten track, I hardly saw a soul.