Aldi/Lidl have both done covers very similar to the bikeparka but I paid about £6 for mine.
Of course that doesn’t help if they are not currently on offer.

These are £5.50 if thats any good:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Waterproof-Bicycle-Cover-BMX-Road-Racing-Mountain-Bikes-Storage-BBK1B-/221515012939?hash=item339352db4b:g:GDYAAOSwOdpX0u1a

30 day challenge
Day 12 completed
Arlington hilly ride

Brother and I are trying to chose between Cyclocross World Champs, Flanders and Roubaix next year…

As nmra says these are must do’s for the discerning gentleman cyclist. Just add the Marmotte, Strada Bianca and Dolomite sportive and you’ve got a full house of wonderment.

Being proper greedy (and now retired) I’m hoping to do all three of your choices next year. And I’ve been given a pass to do them :-)

Thirty day challenge
Nine days done
Still enjoying myself

Dartmoor in sunshine
Doesn’t happen often
A great ride

11am started off with a ride around trails at Loch Stroan (galloway)

Somafunk.Are you doing this on the Tripster?
Your dogs fit (in an athletic way, I don’t fancy it!)

the bikes not important but the training session. ie the effect on you

This, I believe is key.It’s the ability to ride a consistent effort (heart rate/power) that road riding provides. Many of the other elements of training can be achieved off road.

I remember a female downhill national rider keeping up with our fastest chaingang on her downhill bike. It was a bit funny when someone warned the group of a small indentation in the road coming up as she rode 6″ of travel!!

I want hydro disc brakes

Sorry!!! It doesn’t have hydro’s.

https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-x20-105-carbon-cyclocross-bike-2016-75222.html

£99 over your budget but what you get is a top Ridley X-fire from a few years back.

This is a proper race X bike. Change of wheels would make it top class.

And in untypical STW fashion I’m recommending a bike I don’t have.

So long as your shifter matches your cassette (ie both 11 or both 10 speed) then i think the rear mech will be fine as the mech isn’t doing any of the indexing.

Agreed. My understanding and experience is its the actuation of the shifter that counts. !0 speed shifter with ten speed cassette. Rear mech is (largely) irrelevant.

Put the brake cable through the brake lever then ran it through the gear casting and connnected the brake lever to the mech and not the calliper.

Did it work?

35-40 has been fine for me from 60 mile road rides to blue run trail centre’s.

My standard ride on Exmoor is this:
You’ll have to follow it up on a map otherwise it’ll take forever to describe.
Start by the church in Porlock and follow the track up Hawkcombe head. At the top ( it’s about 3 miles of climbing) go left on the road and follow across Aldermans barrow and then go up the easy climb to Dunkery. From the top follow the wide trail to pick up the downhill to Luckwell. Just before the bottom take the bridleway on the left up to Webbers post. Follow the downhill back down to Horner water and then a long climb up to meet Granny’s ride and around to the Doverhay downhill and back to Porlock.

Another good un’ starts at Minehead and over the hill to Wooten Courtney. Follow the trail to Dunkery and follow the down hill to Luckwell and up to Webbers. At Horner water go down the valley to Horner tea rooms and follow the bridleway and the long climb up to Selworthy beacon. Follow the great down hill back to Minehead.
Brief descriptions but I think you can work them out with a good map.

I hope it dry’s out by Easter. It’s a muck fest at the moment!

Good old Haldon
Perfectly dry trails
my winter saviour!

I’ve used Innov8 x-talons for Xterra triathlons for the past 5 years. Really rate them although insoles can be a bit lame (I keep spare insoles from Salomons)
To go back to your original question about compression clothing. I would have to ask why? There is no evidence that I know of that supports the benefits of compression clothing during competition, after, then absolutely. Even the Australian Institute of Sport that conducted trials using muscle biopsies showed no benefits. Lots of my ultra distance running friends however swear by compression socks but I wonder if this is a placebo.
My choice for your event would be a standard tri suit. I’ve used this in several Ironman races successfully.
Good luck on the event – looks really tough.

Cummings’ win on Stage 14 of the 2015 TDF

That was a good one. That’ll teach the Frenchies :-)

roche, la plagne, ’87

I don’t know why this always sticks in my head. I remember watching it on TV and jumping up and down when Roche appeared out of the mist unexpectedly and promptly collapsed on the ground.

I’m sure there may have been greater rides but I guess it depends on how you define “greatest” For me this is it.

I can only assume the OP is blatant trolling. Landis’s testosterone/epitestosterone ratio was 11:1 indicating massive and short term doping.Come on, even in a peleton with dubious doping history this was just plain madness.

Thanks all, is post ride stretching better immediately after cycling or later in the day?

Any post exercise stretching, regardless of the sport, is best undertaken as soon after the end of exercise as possible. It’s best while the muscles are warm and pliable.
For much the same reason pre exercise stretching is likely to cause more injuries than it prevents. Think of a piece of plastacine(sp?). Pull it when its cold and it tears. Warm it up and pull it and it stretches and stretches.
Generally, I prefer to spin easily for about 5 minutes at the end of a ride and then stretch calves (two muscles here – gastrocnemius and soleus so two different stretches) and quads.

£50 for a 50th birthday. There’s a synergy in that!
Oh. Spur +2

I wonder who will be on discs today. Having ridden the white roads in the wet I’d want them!

You should try riding on a 1966 bike with very dodgy (by today’s standards)side pulls. But I did love L’Eroica and it was dry :-)

I wouldn’t buy a yeti carbon again

Nope me neither. Went through two ASR5C swingarms before I gave up.

Silverfish were completely OK about it though. Sorry to hear your experience isn’t as good.

Money, half decent FS bike is a lot more than a half decent hardtail.

Can’t argue with that, but then a cost was not part of the original question was it.

I know the FS V Hardtail question can probably never be empirically answered but for me, in my riding, in my experience the light weight short travel FS is more comfortable and more efficient than a hardtail could ever be. This all equates to a faster ride and makes short FS the bike of choice for marathon XC.

Sorry, you’re on to a looser here with no car and that short a time. And the weather for tomorrow is typically Devonshire!!

Short travel 29er FS every time. Beginning to think there is little point in hardtails unless you’re a world cup racer, and even then its debateable.

Rigid singlespeed in the winter though! That place gets really claggy and it destroys bikes.

Yes, a dropper post for bridleways might not be needed.
The Superfly is a pretty good bike and nice looking as well. Not sure if this is beyond budget but if its comfortable map crossing you are into wouldn’t a short travel full bouncer be a better proposition?

Bet you had to copy and paste that heading RD :-)

But you’re right. Although I still think of it as Het Volk

….and when you know the area well they always seem to go the wrong way round!

Travis Brown!

As seen on my Trek 69er

Does everyone go for padded bibs then to protect your baggage? Also is it worth getting a full length bib and a short bib for summer

Yes and yes. Legwarmers can extend the seasonal use of bib shorts perhaps. I use 3/4 for a lot of the year.

Dhb and Decathlon seem to get good reviews. I’m an Endura user. Not sure what you consider expensive.

bibs under baggies always. Summer – bib shorts, Spring and Autumn – bib 3/4’s, Winter – bib longs.

Decent wool socks, Winter boots

This, exactly.

To expand a bit. Waterproof baggies for winter and sometimes waterproof socks and in summer I’m using Specialized bib shorts with cargo pockets in the back instead of Camelbak.

I live on the edge of Exmoor. Its shit up here.
Haldon for me. Or maybe the Tarka trail :-)

^^^^ yeah, that’s kinda what I thought too, it can’t degrade in a box in a warehouse…

So by that logic, are we better off keeping helmets in a cool dark place between rides to extend workable life?
I do, but that’s just a consequence of where I store my bike gear.

Sportive = folks pretending to race
Audax = folks pretending not to race

I like that! Spot on.

You wont see many Sky kit ensembles on a Audax. You will meet some great (some interesting?) riders who just love to be out on their bikes.

I thought print was dead! Interesting to see a new cycling magazine at this point.
Is it worth a read i_r?

U23 women should be a hell of a race

Agreed. I think this could be the best race of the weekend. Fingers crossed for an Evie Richards win.

Thanks, I’ll find out in March…

No, I’ve tried them and they rub. Now using Conti RaceKing instead, and to be honest they do a better job than Burts. Strikes me the 650b option needs some decent tread or why bother. Its a fine line as well when the 650b option should be replaced with a std. mountainbike.

Don’t dismiss the Merlin bike. Its the same bike frame as the top of the range Ridley from a few years back. Absolute bargain and infinite potential to upgrade.

Anyone tried the Fabric Line?

Fabric make Spoon/Scoops. Well they do now.

I feel I should give audaxing a go

Perhaps if its your first audax you might be better off trying something a little more conservative :-)

Its another enjoyable variant in cycling. The best value cake to entry fee I can think of.