I got mine form Merlin Cycles. Cheap and pretty good

thanks el shamilo,

Just tried it and looks likea good site. Have booked into a local garage who sounded very friendly…..

It’s a nice and simply Citroen Berlingo…

Not many of my London mates drive, so no recommendations up here.

YEah, I tried them (came fitted on a bike I bought) and had no end of problem. Bought lighter tyres and fitted tubes and no issues now. Probably a touch lighter than orginal set up if anything…

Bank transfer…I know, I know but he seemed legit. And at least I know his real name now. Tried asking his bank to refund it or at least write to him. Unsurprisingly that didn’t work

And if you fancy a long slog you’re not far away from the South Downs Way either.

I ride a Titus x which works pretty well in the lakes and Wales etc but also rides well as a xc race bike

Nice one Charlie, I just picked up an email from Zero aftervbeing away for a couple of weeks and have followed it up. Think it’s looking awesome and looking forward to seeing our sprocket there if we’re not too late (chris from repack clothing)

You’ve got to go and do Repack hill. Just because…

It’s essentially just over the other side of the bridge from San Fran. I was lucky enough to ride down it with Repackrider. Top guy.

Excellent. Thanks both. That should be me sorted.

Just use slicks bunny hop the 2.5m :)

Sorry…

Yeah, but I just quit. Since the job market is so bouyant at the moment I thought I’d have a little poke around and see if there was something more interesting that I have no experience of doing.

Feels pretty good weirdly…

Thanks guys, it was up in North London up in Crouch End near Finsbury Park…

+1 sefton’s suggestion. Strapping all the way. You can get quite a tidy set up with a bit of strapping for the nasty things that might hurt if they’re in a back pocket and put the nice squidgy things (sandwiches and windproof) in the pockets. Works for long days out as well.

Hi Monksie,

E-mailing you some gpx files. Hope they’re useful!

Not sure if you’ve come across Love Velo before but they organised a ride from Manchester Velodrome to the Olympic Village. This might be the route you found. If you want more info on the route they took I know the guy who organised it and can get the details for you

If you buy a secondhand bike in the states would you actually be liable for import tax? You could always say someone gave it to you. Or say it cost you $100 and pay tax on that?

thanks guys. That’s this evening’s entertainment sorted…

Cheers Loum, will have a look.

I always used to be a part time helmet wearer (off for climbs and pootles) and then started getting seriously nagged by my girlfriend.

I then found a helmet that I barely notice and so it stays on the whole time. It’s taken me around 20 years of riding to find that helmet mind. It’s a very cheap Bell one. Just seems to work.

I think blackburn are fine. Always done me proud…

does anyone have the london to brighton off road route as a GPS file? Where does it start. In London I mean!

+1 on avoiding if wet. SDW is horrible in the mud, mainly because it’s more like clay. I’ve been brought to a complete standstill up there before. Admittedly it was on hardtail with v-brakes.

Do it on what ever is most comfortable. So probably the existing 5 with a tad more air in the shocks. It’s long hard slog…

Despite what some people say I think full sus works well for marathon style adventures. YOur body feels noticeably less wrecked afterwards.

perfect – thanks both

True, it is only 40/45mins riding each way(less on way home) but think because it’s the start of the day I end up feeling pretty drained. Maybe need to eat more porridge before heading out.

I weigh about 72kg and am 6ft…I didn’t think I was particualrly underweight but after a recent health check was advised to try and up my calorie intake.

Fair point njee20. Guess I just need to MTFU

The aim is to destroy myself on the ride in…there’s a few tasty climbs and I’m doing it on a singlespeed so my legs feel pretty shot when I get in.

Also worth saying I could do with putting on a few pounds weight…

went down a drain in Peru. front wheel went down through the gaps and as my loaded bike went over the handlebars so did I but my arms also went down the drain scraping all the way up to my elbows. Was pinned to the ground by my bike as bemused locals watched on. Painful

Great. Might try and join a group ride one evening. Mossimus, if you’ve got a GPS route I could try that would be great. email is ibnchrisAThotmailDOTcom

Thanks guys. What’s that about the trails being closed and £200 fines…sounds very draconian…

I’m in Crouch End

+1 baldysquirt’s comment.

Did a fair few miles on a Kona Lava Dome a while back. Used flats with bar ends. Found having 26inch wheels very handy for picking up spare tubes, tyres, wheels etc. Would also recommend a square taper BB for ease of repairing BB and/or cranks in far-flung location.

One of my favourite touring memories was of my mate breaking a crak and us getting a spare one from a local bike shop in the back of beyond. The only problem being it was diamond as opposed to square if you get my drift and so he had to cycle 200km with cranks at 3 o’clock! Very funny…

on the NHS scheme I reckon it’s unlikely. As bristolbiker says – your own scheme works well…

No worries fbk.

Alfabus, I’m afraid it’s rarely that simple. Even if the team are insured or able to support him they’re not likely to have the kind of funds necessary to help Jason out. Insurance pay outs and compensation claims can take forever. Up to seven years on occassion and it’s getting stuff sorted now that really matters. So fbk, you and your crew doing a top job. Nice one.

I work for a spinal injuries organisation and all too often see folk in this kind of situation. I’m sorry to say charity is often the only way people are able to get themselves sorted. It’s wrong, but that’s all part of Dave’s big society…

Hi fbk, have sent you a mail the email address in your profile. I think I should be able to help out. Let me know if you don’t get my email

It’s a 1.4 petrol. I don’t know a great deal about cars. I had a test drive and it seemed to drive pretty well. A different experience to my girlfriend’s brand new Fiat but it worked…

THe body work seems in very good nick. No hint of rust etc and when you lift up the mats in the back it’s pristine – which kind of surprised me. THe driver’s seat, however, is knackered. Cover torn and the foam could do with replacing. Can a seat really get that knackered with 80k driving? He said he would get it fixed too though. But that did make me think maybe it’s been clocked or some such. But then it does have the full set of MOT certs which seem to indicate it isn’t.

I used a picture hook with zip ties to fix a broken rear mech. It failed on the first lap of a team xc race and I had to singlespeed my bike on the trail to get round. My riding buddies were not happy as they’d been telling me it wouldn’t work. Felt like a bit of a tool

Hmmm, seems like it could work then…really not bothered about the feel of the drive or how it looks. Just how cheap to run and ease of carrying bikes around. If I could get a berlingo with under 100k on the clock for less than a grand I’d go for that. Anyone.

was going for the 2002. That doesn’t sound huge if you have to take both wheels and seat off…

haven’t read the whole thread here but I also just passed my test and couldn’t see why it would be £4k to get insured Third Party Only. Yes, £4k! Admittedly it was on a van but all the same. And then I tried changing it to fully comp and adding a £500 voluntary excess. Insurance fell to £999. Bargain.

So my advice (and what I’m going to do) is buy the cheapest thing (under a grand) you can get away with that seems reliable enough, put a £500 excess on it and do it fully comp.

Let me know if it works…