I bought a pair of the Specialised 2bliss roubaix tyres for bikepacking but they won’t hold air for more than a day so I’ve stuck them on my winter bike and I have to pump them up every time I use them. There are several reviews stating the same issue but also plenty of riders saying the tyres work fine so it seems a bit of a random problem. I got one tyre replaced under warranty but the replacement is no better. They should be a great tyre in theory and definitely would be if you get some that hold air. I’ve tried all sorts of sealant but the sidewalls remain porous.

Could be the valve pin has got stuck. Turn the TRV to max, you can then unscrew and remove the control knob. There will be a pin that should be protruding by a good few mm. if not you can pull the pin up with pliers. If unsure if the pin is fully up take a valve off a working radiator and see how much pin is visible as a reference.

Get as much advise as you can for physio and strengthening exercises. I did both of mine at the same time in a crash, presumed they would sort themselves out but years later they still don’t grip properly due to knackered ligaments.

The new Boardman carbon adv 9.0 looks a bargain

I’ve never run a dura ace chain since the original wore out. Always use kmc, any one of the lightweight ones. Gold if your feeling particularly bling

Had this as well and have added 2 step authentication to help stop it happening again. Email about purchases but nothing was showing in open orders but there was another folder in open orders which was where I found the items that I hadn’t ordered. That were due to be delivered to my address which I thought was odd but as described above I guess this was just the first part of the scam. Used online chat to cancel the orders with amazon and got money back

Looks like I will need to seal the stone in some way first as that seems to be how the sealant is failing.

CT1 looks a good option. The trowel mastic isn’t meant to be suitable for plastics

I’ll give them a go. Cheap enough that if they fall to bits in one winter I won’t be too annoyed

I’ve had one of the original ones, been using it quite a bit. It survived a wet week in Wales. The best bit is how easy it is to pitch and put away. So much easier than a standard tent with poles you have to feed through

Strong side winds
Deep section wheels
Blown off road

I have used Goldcar the last few times in Majorca. The guys on the front desk always tried to sell the extra insurance to cover small scratches but I have never bothered and last time when I handed the car back I asked the attendant what size marks they are looking for and she said as long as it hasn’t got any big scratches or dings you are fine. It doesn’t help though that the locals seem to park by shunting cars if they are in the way so I always tried to park out of the way a bit

Cheers Mark, the Evoc one is the bag that gave me the idea about getting a camera backpack but it is quite expensive so I was hoping to get reveiws from a few others about some packs just as good but under £100 if possible

I usually use top tube length as frame size can be measured in a variety of ways

Riding everyday, few rounds of golf, bit of gardening, long walks with the dogs, bit more riding. I think I have a house but not been in it!! 🙂

Thanks for all the suggestions, I managed to get a Draper Expert garden saw for £11 from Amazon and it is brilliant. No longer any wonky cuts with my bow saw and its about twice as fast. Unusual (for me anyway) it has a pull cutting action but so far it has flown through a pile a hard wood logs. Trying it on some softwood pine later this week

Have a look at a Norco Threshold SL Carbon. Really light for racing and comes with hidden mounts for mudguards making it useful for winter training. Also has funky dropouts so you can run single speed if you want to. Not sure if the latest disc only models have the same versatility as the 2013 canti one

I don’t fancy losing any body parts, so I won’t be going down the chainsaw route then. Need to brush up on my bow saw skills as it going through the logs at an angle.
I will have a look at the larger pruning saws too
Thanks for the advice so far

Nowt wrong with having a post ride snooze. I normally have some food after getting back, get cleaned up, sit in front of the tv and need to have a nap. I think its perfectly normal

Alison read does some differently styled pictures of animals including some hare ones

It was an excellent course. I agree with funky dunk about the climb to the start. There were more than few finding it a strenuous climb.
The course was in keeping with the area, steep ups and fast rocky decents. There were loads of punctures though. Most I think we’re brought on by the rocks that has been uses to fill in some of the worn tracks on the grouse land. I put a hole straight through the middle of my tyre that was too big for stans, but finished the next lap and a half with about 10 psi in the back tyre.
I have done a couple of rounds and they are really well organised on tricky courses which image Ben loads of fun and a challenge to ride.

Bring on next year

They are very good IMO. I had 2 Titus frames from them, both with seattubes that seemed too large for the seatpost. They kept on trying to resolve the issue until I gave in and they gave me a full refund.

They handled the whole thing very well and wil be using them again.

I bought the CRC bag ( on sale for £50 at the time) then cut a bike box to fit as a liner. This makes the bag very rigid. Add some pipe lagging to the frame tubes and jobs a good un.

Been all over with MTB and road bikes this way and had no bother.

Also doesn’t need much storage space as it all folds up.

I have been on Legros training camp the last 2 years in April.

It is split down into about 4 ability groups, you sound like you would be suited to group 1 who go out and ride pretty hard most days.

Dave Legro is always available to chat about any aspect of bike racing. This year SiS supplied nutrition for the groups and tailored it to the riders requirements and had a rep provide a very good seminar on nutrition with q and a sessions.

Massages are available every day.

The training weeks are designed well so that recovery rides are included. Also you can dip in and out of different groups depending on how you are feeling. There is also a sprint group if you want to join them for the odd day to learn some great sprint training techniques.

I am soon to sell on a road bike that I no longer need (needs a clean, thats about it) for about half of your mates budget. A full carbon Claude Butler Strada, Size 56
New bars, stem, chain, casette and derailiur

Try fitting a wheel and you will find out for yourself

I flew Jet2 as well this year and they enforced the 20Kg rule. I had to take out some heavy items from the bike bag and shoved them in my hand luggage otherwise, as previously mentiopned, they were going to charge me excess luggage.

Good luck with getting your full suss bike bag down to 20Kg

I have used both mech and hydro and find hydro less hassle. I hated having to turn the pad adjustment knobs as the pads wore down on my bb7s where as the hydros I just run until pads needs changing, push pistons in, replace pads and then don’t touch until pads wear out again.

Get your current sorted properly as mentioned above.

Thanks for the help so far.

The forks are set at the lengths they are. SIDS at 100mm and fox rl at 140mm.

I need to get rid of one bike hence having lots of parts and 2 sets of forks.

I liked the Titus due to being carbon and only £900 and as much as I would like to stretch to sc trc I think it is over priced by a few hundred quid in comparison to other frames.

I did ride a mates carbon stumpy and was amazed at the handling and brain shock, so might be tempted to get one of those as a frame,.

I’ll give it a go. I love the trails there so to ride them for 8 hours should be a laugh……and probably a bit of vomit!!

Nicolai Helius CC certainly does tick the box. Looks pretty good too. One for the short list

I have a load of very good lightly used bits to put on a frame so would prefer that than buy a full bike and try to sell all my bits off.

No budget really. If the frame seems right I will pay the price although the Santa Cruz Blur TRC is way too much for what it is!!

Looked at the Blur TRc as well. Only put off by the price. I don’t know if there are any frames that have 2 rear pivot points to change the rear travel to suit the riding.

BETD will sort you out with either a full set or just the ones that you need. I have had the same ones go on my 2003 spider. Give them a ring, they have always been really helpfull

I use one mounted on the bars. Not sure of the Lumen output, but paired with an old cateye 2 on my helmet then that enough for playing about in the woods. Especially on full power

I have just voted and Jon is now 3rd!!

I only use the turbo when the weather is too bad to get out and ride. I use it for hard interval sessions that I couldn’t do out on the road as I would be to knackered to spot any traffic!!

Any bike that you can get out and about on is more fun than sitting on the turbo, but as mentioned above what do you want to achieve during the winter months?

If you want to miles fitter and stronger spend the majority of your time killing yourself on 1 hour turbo sessions, but if you want to still like riding bikes…….get out and ride

Jon you aren’t built for those fast sustained flat finishes that is why you can climb like a demented goat and ride quick all day.
So as has been mentioned before you need more hard interval training.

Find a hill that tkes up to 2 mins to climb and do 10 hard efforts up it with rest in between as you roll back down.
Also on your long steady rides throw in a few 5 min hard efforts.

Maybe cosider going to the gym and do calf raises and leg presses once or twice a week to increase power.

Turbo trainers are brilliant for the intervals that you need to be doing.

Basically you have trained yourself into an all day diesel engine and now you are looking to add more speed and power on top.

I recently bought a Garmin Forerunner 305. Not only is it a HRM but also a GPS.
Loads of fun to use and actually makes me want to go out training more!! I use it for running and cycling

Got mine for just over £100 off Ebay and got a bike mount for a tenner

305 purchased and it works really well with the bike mount. Easy to set up and use.
It is quite big but fine for running and cycling with.

If you are after one that is smaller and use as a watch then go for the 210 instead