Netflix has a far better selection of movies, even more so if you use unblock-us or similar to access the US site. Amazon is better per above if you use all the other features of Prime.

We have both, along with BBC i-Player, and got rid of our TV license. Only downside there is not being able to watch live TV, but other than TdF and F1 (which I can always catch down at the pub), we haven’t missed it.

Unless a trail is specifically marked for a direction, trail rules (IMBA at least) are that riders going uphill always have right of way over those going down. And all cyclists give way to horses and pedestrians, regardless of direction.

For what it’s worth, I have two 3T seatposts (30.6, not 27.2) – one an Ionic and one a Team Dorico. Both work perfectly, but both are creakier than a really creaky thing. Especially the Ionic – I find the seat adjuster mechanism to be a real faff, and only stays creak-free for a week or two after (regular) cleaning.

Having said that – will reiterate that they have been otherwise good seatposts.

This site gives me a depressingly low Eddington number. If all your rides are in Strava, maybe it will suit your needs?

As above again, but with caveat – some tires do that, some don’t, sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to it.

What @ianfitz – soapy water, and my trusty bicycle-specific toilet brush. Also what @aracer said – if you are just wanting to put tubes in, you don’t really need to do any cleaning if you don’t want to.

Final bump – anyone going from Glasgow area and able to take a +1 bike+person?

Bumping – and apologies wasn’t clear on the where from! From anywhere in Glasgow – I can be anywhere convenient for my lift in Glasgow.

Just an idea, but use the lap button and use lap distance for what you want?

The bone-conducting ones do look interesting for sports, and I hadn’t considered them. I was hoping for a set that I could also use for general-purpose – and I understand (maybe I’m wrong) that the bone-conducting ones are more audible by the people around you?

Thanks all – I’ll try the self amalgamating tape, haven’t used that before.

Tubeless on all bicycles. Until I have a flat that the jizz won’t fix. Then it’s a tube until I get home.

Must. Resist. Urge. Must. Resist. Urge.

Slight thread hijack – how acceptable/not is it take the train back into town after out riding and having a filthy bike/body? I’ve been wanting to join the GMBC rides, but am on South side of Glasgow and my wife usually needs the car on Tuesday/Wednesday evenings.

Strava doesn’t show time of day, and I needed to give a fairly exact TOD for evidence. @drofluf – I tried opening the FIT files in various Mac text editors but they show as garbage. I presume FIT files are binary of some form, unlike GPX/TCX? Or am I just a retard?

In any case I did finally just figure it out, using Mac version of Ascent, I found the window called “Detailed Activity Data”, which does have TOD info. Compared Mac Ascent’s map to Strava, and found the info. A real pain, but it was my fault for not dibbing/dabbing (what is correct term) properly.

Just thought of this – another good one – not for fitness but for race strategy is Reading the Race: Bike Racing from Inside the Peloton by Chris Horner and Jamie Smith.

Joe Friel’s Cyclist Training Bible is the go to guide for most cyclists, and is well worth having in your library. Having said that, if you already own the MTB Bible, there’s not a huge difference between the two, and yes the training plans are very similar. I’d recommend instead one of the below books as your next buy.

As @cnud mentioned, most training guides (and coaches) recommend you get a power meter. To that end, Hunter Allen’s Training And Racing With A Power Meter is a great book – even Joe Friel recommends it. It goes into great depth (sometimes too much!) about the sports science behind the training, but I found it quite interesting for that.

For us older folks (I’m not quite there yet, but still bought the book), I also really liked Joe Friel’s Fast After 50.

Finally – the book I use most for my own training is Chris Carmichael’s Time Crunched Cyclist. The second edition has info on MTB plans, and including training into your commuting. Chris Carmichael and CTS have fallen out of favor a bit in recent years, but I found his training plans (based on 6 hours of focused training per week) fit best with my own lifestyle.

At least the spectators didn’t try to run off with his bike.

From a totally geeky perspective – this is very cool. Please share more info – how, etc?

Smudge +1 here also. Not used Torchy, he sounds great too, but I’ve never felt a need to buy anywhere else than Smudge. What everyone else already said – great service, great products, support local.

Despite @mikewsmith’s helpfulness, I too had trouble finding good online documents for servicing my Reba RL 29s. The SRAM guide’s are helpful to an extent, but at least for my model year they contained service instructions for all forks that year and didn’t clearly specify which instructions applied to my forks.

This video also didn’t directly apply, I but found it a lot more helpful in understanding how things came apart/went together.

Good luck.

Grand Tour discount code seems to already be expired. Glad to know the book is now available though – will keep an eye out for another discount code.

I’m a huge fan of Feedzone Cookbook and Feedzone Portables from VeloNews Press. In particular, Feedzone Portables is great for snacks for on-the-bike.

The Grand Tour Cookbook has been getting some interesting buzz, and I will be checking it out once it is available in English.

OK I’ve installed, and Garmin booted up after. Haven’t been on a ride yet to see if/how the Strava live segments thing works. Anyone else?

@rorschach and @speshpaul – a bit off-topic, but my understanding for the reverse threading on left crank is not specifically that pedal rotation will then tighten them up, but rather that it prevents the pedals from loosening themselves under normal usage. Small distinction, I know.

EDIT: Here’s a small article about it. Precession is what the sciency types call it.

Thanks all for great suggestions!

I have found the opposite – as I’ve aged I’ve found I perform much better at endurance events than shorter (crit/XC) events. My own feeling – the risk of heart attack goes up as we age, regardless of fitness level. I personally believe that the effort I put into training and fitness in general is going to increase my lifespan, despite the associated risks.

Another way to put it – would I be better off just drinking six pints and smoking a pack of cigs every night?

Something I’ve never understood – are Canyon frames just rebadged Giant frames, or is there a difference?

Worth getting a second opinion? I hurt my ankle, had x-rays, was told “it’s only tissue/ligament damage”. Got another x-ray, turned out had a fractured calcaneum.

Thanks – Lezyne looks good, and not too expensive.

Bing OS maps don’t work for me on Chrome, on Mac (10.10). I have to use Firefox to get them to work. Might be a Mac thang?

#EDIT – well I’ll be.. Working on Chrome for me now. Didn’t used to – was just about the only reason I had Firefox installed.

Hmm – I use warm soapy water and an old toilet brush. By old I mean one that’s been cleaning my bicycle for a couple of years, not one that was retired from toilet usage… Anyway – that works for me. You could also try a tiny bit of laundry detergent instead of dish soap.

Hmm – I use warm soapy water and an old toilet brush. By old I mean one that’s been cleaning my bicycle for a couple of years, not one that was retired from toilet usage… Anyway – that works for me. You could also try a tiny bit of laundry detergent instead of dish soap.

Bump for the afternoon crowd

For me – DT Swiss RWS bolt-throughs, for regular drop-outs. But I’m a bit of a poser. If I wasn’t – it’d be Shimano XT.

Even Shimano have yet to build incompatibility within their own hierarchies

OK – going off topic a bit, but let’s not mention the first Dura Ace and Ultegra Di2 (10 speed) groups, which had incompatible wiring.

@Scotroutes – mostly rideable, and some lovely scenery.

Mostly what’s been said above (esp @ScotRoutes). But if you want a nice “grand day out” challenge, you can do a big loop. Either direction works, but I recommend:

Fort Augustus -> Gairloch via the Great Glen Way
Gairloch -> Roybridge and into Glen Roy – check out the parallel roads
Glen Roy -> Melgarve
Melgarve up and over the Corrieyarrick back to FA

Where you’ll kiss ass or crack…

I’ve been a few times to Siem Reap – and both bike and motor rickshaw to Angkor Wat. Bicycle is a great way to explore Angkor Wat, if you haven’t been. It’s an easy enough ride from Siem Reap to the site, and a nice way to get between the temples. You can easily spend 3 days or so before getting templed-out.

As stated above, roads/drivers are a bit crazy across Asia, but in my experience no worse really than cycling in any major cities – I’ve had more close calls from crazy drivers in Singapore than anywhere else in the world.

For Thailand, I know some people who have used these folks and been pleased: http://www.spiceroads.com/%5B/url%5D

Also as above, lots of good cycling in Thailand (Chiang Mai is becoming quite the downhill scene) and Vietnam as well.

I’ve had to use the Kanga on my 29er, as otherwise the bag would hang down onto the tires. Others with 29ers have (apparently) also had same issue. The Kanga allows you to mount the bag a bit higher up.