Frankly if the weather’s pants I’d side with spacemonkey and give the South Downs a skip altogether and go somewhere more all weather friendly.

Even Queen Elizabeth Park is a claggy slimy mess in places at the moment and it’s not just that I’m bitter about my idiotic decision to take a bike with clag prone tyres there on Sunday afternoon and ending up with 2.5″ 5lb slick tyres on the climbs.

If it’s for car transport, check out Khyam tents. They go up really quick due to the main structure being integrated poles that you just click straight. Our monster family tent (sleeps 5 + living area) goes from bag to fully standing, guyed and pegged in about 5 minutes. Probably a bit pricier than the other options but might just make your budget.

I think the days of wanting a super car or nutter car are gone for me. I want something real world useful and entertaining at normal road speeds now.

T-Spark Alfa (147, 156 or 159 – I really ain’t that fussy but it would have to actually work)

Exige (ok not useful)

A Peugeot 306 Rallye

Of all of those the 306 would probably be the prize choice. I still miss my GTI-6 3 years after it was sold. :cry:

It’s likely to be pretty claggy in places so personally (and at my level of fitness) I wouldn’t recommend going for a one-day each way attempt especially given the shortish days we still have.

My folks rode it about a decade ago and they managed to train back to Southampton (where I lived at the time) without a problem coming back from Eastbourne I think, which involved cutting off a little bit at the end. It’s a pretty slow service (stops just about every station) but workable.

The train company you need to check out from Eastbourne/Brighton end is Southern.

When you get to Southampton (Central or Parkway) you can then easily get a South West Trains service up to Winchester as that’s the main line into London.

You probably want to make sure you have some means of getting the worst of the mud off your bike and you (or at least covered up) before you get on the train.

One other thing I would suggest is NOT TO leave your car on top of Cheesefoot Head for two days.

HTH
Kev

If the OP is driving a Peugeot 406 estate (and I think they are from posts above) I’d say that wind/panel noise is not his issue it’s engine noise. I had a 406 V6 estate for a year and unless you were giving it some serious beans the only thing you really heard was the gentle waffle/burble of the engine when on the motorway.

We never had a parcel shelf/cover in ours as we had it as a cheap 3rd car for lugging our dogs around in at weekends when we both had smaller company cars. I loved the noise and the engine but not so keen on the economy and electrics!

We now have two Mondeos that are a year apart in age (a diesel estate (17″ wheels) and a petrol hatch (16″ wheels) and by pure coincidence on identical conti tyres on 6 of the wheels).

There’s really not much in it in noise terms at all and what differences there are are probably more engine or wheel size related than anything else. The smaller wheeled car is much quieter on poor surfaces and concrete.

Am I the only person that’s happy with the service? Apart from a minor problem on the install everything’s been fine since.

Admittedly the broadband technical support was useless when the modem failed (apparently the modem never breaks but 3 different computers and a router could all simultaneously stop working) – an hour of badgering and they sent me one to get me off the phone and low and behold problem solved so not that bad compared to queuing for some ‘services’.

Compared with the largest opposition, 18 months of unusable phone line due to noise, broadband speeds worse than dial up and more than one month long service outage that they wouldn’t give billing credit for. Nor would they allow us to break the contract and you get no compensation until they fix the fault – where’s the incentive to repair then!

Admittedly we have no choice now as the fault on the BT based line means we can’t use any service that runs down BT cabling (as they can’t find/fix it or possibly it’s not economically worth it to do so)

Reliability trials are about achieving a set distance in a set time at a ‘touring’ or ‘leisure’ pace. They are specifically not a race.

I’m from a family of cycle tourists and when I was in my teens I used to like to ride a 50 in 4 occasionally (50miles, 4 hours). You were disqualified if you were too quick (sub 3 hours from memory). Often a nice social ride, but not one for the racers.

Trikes can do for your knees (my dad used to ride one as a serious touring bike for a few years) as you still need to weight shift in the corners but can’t lean it over.

If you’re interested in that sort of thing check out velovision magazine. Full of quite odd pedal powered stuff.

Personally wheels sounds good.

The level of (especially) unsecured debt that some people have managed to get themselves into in the last 5-10 years is horrifying.

I see some of the fallout in my job and 2-4 times income on credit cards and loans (with no real assets to show for it) is not that unusual.

That’s why we have a modest mortgage and zip all else. About the only thing I might borrow for is a replacement main family car in 3-4 years time when the current 7 year old one will probably have got rough round the edges. 2nd household car is always something cheaper for cash.

If its market day a wander round there used to be good (20 years ago). I bet they don’t sell ninja stars anymore though. :|

Ref the post a bit further up a bike shop’s overheads / running costs are likely to be higher:

– high value stock items / stock holding cost
– large number of suppliers to deal with
– workshop tools and consumables (I know some comes back through maintenance but have you seen what a ‘facing’ tool costs!)
– waste transportation / treatment costs (chemicals etc)
– internet presence (for many)
– need for larger floorspace
– health & safety / fire risk compliance
– public and product liability insurance (when was the last time a faulty paperback put someone in a wheelchair)
– higher initial fit out cost so higher capital requirements and hence interest costs on larger debt

etc
etc

I don’t own a bike shop btw but I have dealt with the aftermath of a failed one.

And comparing internet only with a shop

warehouse in industrial estate + clever computer system + bulk purchasing vs.

nicely presented shop, attentive (hopefully) staff + mechanics etc in prime location is a vastly different model.

The only time I have ever asked in the past is when I saw a new (sale) bike that was about £200 over my intended budget and the alternative was a bit under but nowhere near as attractive an option and I asked for the gap to be closed a little. At the time I was buying heaps of stuff in the shop and they were happy to do something.

I still shop there 12 years later and have been using the shop since ’95.

In that time I reckon I’ve spent less than £1k of my entire bike spend (a LOT more) anywhere else. I now split my custom with another smaller local shop near where I live because they’re just as good and right on the doorstep.

Doing well.

While the little one (my son – not the contents of my trousers) is fit, healthy, fed and happy not much else is of consequence. He’s just cleared his third round of anti-biotics this year and eating like a horse again :D

Discovered I could create an 8-10mile ride out of my normal 20mile commute the other week along the waterfront with a bit of clever train use. Dead time (usually in car in horrid motorway traffic) becomes ride time :D

For those that have it worse (and there are many) I hope you get things turned round and heading in the right direction soon as.

I thought the title was just to lure everyone in for yet another thread along the lines of

“What Tyres for [riding on Mars / easily washing lasagne out of / grip on sheep currants in snowy weather]*

* delete as applicable

My fervent hope for the longer term future is that the last 25 years of an increasingly service driven economy (ie “selling coffee to each other” rather than actually producing something) backed by crazy house price inflation that makes everyone think they’re getting richer even though they are spending twice their income on credit cards comes to a controlled but definitive end.

I also hope we will have restructured some of the large number of ailing businesses that were in trouble before the current recession but have survived on cheap retail credit.

I’m not saying there should be an end to being a home to major financial services (after all they’re a big contributor to HMT and indirectly our public services!) but we must add to it agriculture, manufacturing, energy production and other things that will create work, produce goods we can sell and that will feed and cloth the country in the long term as well as ensuring our security.

As un-PC as it sounds we probably need to incentivise people to have less children and to try and get population growth under control.

If the current government can get us started on this path in the next five years then I shall applaud them with all my might.

Oh and just a thought on technology in simple terms…. everyone who self-check outs at the supermarket is helping contribute to the unemployment figures to save a couple of quid on their shopping. If making the machine is the equivalent to 1 short term job then it can save 3 long term jobs for checkout operators. So next time you shop get the surly teenager to scan it otherwise you’ll be picking up their social security bill.

Front wheel out of some of them, then turn bars 90 degrees so bikes are narrower and then hang along each wall using hooks or slings from ceiling. Some extra hooks for the removed wheels.

Keep the most ridden bike(s) at floor level and nearer the door.

Hargroves in Winchester?

Short train journey away. I don’t use the Winchester shop but do use two of their others regularly (nearer home / work)

The original Golf GTI and Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI

Performance, practicality and smiles for the masses how can you not appreciate that.

Of course all the pugs will have dissolved in rust or caught fire from electrical problems by then (those that haven’t been subject to a spot of reverse parking at the side of a wet b-road).

For what you want I would say PEOPLE CARRIER!!! If you don’t do many miles and what you’re mostly going to do is chuck bikes in get one of the van based ones (Berlingo etc) leave 3 seats in and just wheel the bikes straight in the back door. Why fork out for all the extra costs of a 4×4 for something that sounds like its hardly going to get used all week and that you’re going to treat as a van.

I’ve got an 04 Mondeo estate, which has just about the biggest internal boot capacity of any mainstream car (I sadly measured just about every competitor to get the biggest boot I could for our sadly departed dogs) but you’ll never get 160mm bikes in stood up with a rear wheel in and the seat in place. They’ll go in lying down but you’ll probably be down to 2 seats. The reason we estate car’d over people carrier was that I was regularly doing 25-30k a year for work and domestic stuff and wanted the more composed handling and better fuel economy of a car.

Another vote for “more” and mostly on my 12 year old Schwinn Homegrown.

Seem to be having (suffering from?) a fixation with riding something light, slightly nervous and with not entirely adequate brakes.

Dad to a 20month old boy and during the process of settling down and getting (re) married (this time to the right person!) I’ve packed in trackdays/my car fixation and sailing and really don’t miss them that much – not like a fortnight without a bike ride.

Sometimes things have to give for what really matters and when our little boy is charging through the house yelling ‘daddy’ with a big grin on his face I don’t mind not having time for everything.

Cycling will always be part of my life, it’s good exercise, a family thing (456 with rack and kiddy seat does the job for anyone that’s interested), a couple thing and my dose of natural high after a tough week at work. The only other interest other than the family and the bike is taking nice photographs of places we go and things we see.

When the cases deteriorate and the rubber starts to visibly crack. I don’t ride the road bike that much :lol:

When I used to ride TT’s (15 years ago) and ride mostly on the road it was about once every couple of months due to presence of flint on Suffolk side roads combined with 20mm tyres with ultrathin skin walls. Don’t think I ever wore one out.

Fun, but not a day trip’s worth and although it’s small it’s worth having someone to show you round as not all the trails are that obvious. It used to be my local riding spot when I was at Uni, I rode there last year after a 10 year break and found I was scratching my head to remember where stuff was a bit. Or is it just me that finds the geography a little bit disorienting at times?

If it helps I'm a big fella and with 7.5wt in my Vanillas (07) were a bit lively. With 10wt (Silkolene fully synth motor cycle fork oil) much much more controlled.

Not gone near this yet. Mind you I've still got 8 speed on one bike (I don't want to throw away old (1998) XTR smoothness for Deore and 1 more cog).

Colleague complaining of really poor chain wear on 1×10 though (4 XC races and then knackered!).

Fairly obvious but because my (poor suffering) wife has to come and retrieve me from the garage when the 10 minute job I went to :do (usually for the benefit of the family) turns into an accidental hour of bike fettling.

Sounds like an altogether different kind of riding holiday to me. You sure it's not in Amsterdam? :wink:

The reason ours are there is from when our little one was in a rear facing seat, which was dark in colour in a dark car with black hole style interior (cheer up Audi and add some colour or even some middling grey, no wonder our little one prefers the Mondeo).

The seat was almost entirely below the window line and therefore wouldn't necessarily be the first thing a paramedic/police officer would spot (especially at night or in bad light) at an accident although I have no thought that they would miss it altogether.

Like (I hope) most parents I care more that the emergency services get to my child ahead of looking after me and sometimes those seconds count. I drive enough (20k+ a year) to know how quickly and seriously things can go wrong and that no f****r will drive more carefully so I do what little I can to make up for it.

It may make me look a **** but so does Lycra and I don't care about that either.

(Belated) Thanks to all who've posted. Have managed to get the loan of a trailer in a couple of weeks and will see how that goes / what it's like.
:D

I think its the "head at bumper height" thing, always a concern and the fact it's lower than most motorists (and especially Audi Q7 'driving' t**ts) eyeline.

Living in central southern England (motorist) intelligence and quiet roads are in especially short supply but there are plenty of 4x4s being driven by people making important phone calls about whether they will be having caviar or oysters with Lucinda and Tarquin.

You should of mentioned what the mechanic said on your holiday

I second this! Or if you're carrying your family around AND there was a knock coming from there you should have had it fixed.

Change your garage at home too, clearly muppets!

Didn't think 40psi would be too hard for 15stone bloke on a 2.1 but maybe that's it. Have to admit I was trying not to have it too soft as I'm still relearning the art of riding a hardtail and was keen not to mash a wheel. :roll:

Min pressure of 35psi so might try it a little softer once / if I can get it properly patched.

Thanks folks, was pretty careful fitting them, did use levers but damage not consistent with that to my mind, even though it is near where I used the lever (it's outside of carcass not inside).

Sounds like I've been unlucky and perhaps made a bad tyre choice from a strength point of view. Will try patching it on the inside later tonight and then go for a ride Friday somewhere I can push back to the car easily and see how it holds up. If it's no good, sounds like I'll be ordering something by Maxxis for at least the rear wheel.

Luverly – except the stem, which seems to be stretching out to somewhere in mainland Europe where it can be joined with some narrow straight bars!

Absolutely no way. They look gash and they're a distraction / hazard to other road users (most of whom are half asleep anyway).

The only benefit is it points out the biggest knobbers on the roads during World Cup time.

As for England flags across rear / passenger windows – how is that better than being able to see other vehicles and pedestrians. :evil:

4 out of 13 but definitely middle class income / profession and my Pimms must have cucumber. :D

Constructive dismissal – where you quit because they make your life hell (over simplification)

Unfair or wrongful dismissal is what you would potentially be looking at if there is a case, one is procedural and the other about the reasons.

Rather than listen to the armchair lawyers on here might I suggest

direct.gov.uk
CAB
solicitor

Cliff Burton (Anaesthesia for those old enough to remember) or
Robert Trujillio (Suicidal Tendencies days, Asleep at the Wheel and Send me your money being particular favourites)

Delete "more than" IMO this would make you sound more excited about furthering yourself than desparate for a new job.

"Bath" of the north

8O Sorry you have a bath in the north? I find that very surprising, is it just the one?

Now where did I put my shandy?

Very blue and yellow round here – can't imagine anyone voting Labour after all they're in red as is a certain nearby football team.