This is why I sell on FB marketplace. Maybe I’ve been lucky but sold a lot on there and usually get a good price. Plus it sells quickly. Always buyer collect though which puts idiots off

I’ve got a Thule Easyfold XT 3. Had the same issue, as I wanted to put a cargo bag on, but Thule did not recommend it. I ended up with the Amazon basics cargo bag (approx £40) which seems to fit very well. I always used a couple of ratchet luggage straps just to be sure.

I put a 46-30 on my audax/comfy road bike last summer, mainly to see if I could get up the climbs in the pyrenees a little better than the 34t I’ve always used. I’m on campag 11 speed, so the max cassette size is a 29. Might not have bothered if I could have got a 34 cassette. I managed to shave a few minutes off a PB on a climb I’ve done quite a few times, and power numbers were similar, so I’d recommend it. I just switched back to a 12-25 cassette for the flatter roads.

I hate seatpacks so it’s either a top tube bag (ok for spares, phone, but of food), small frame bag if I need to carry a bit more (both are restrap) if I want to take a camera I’ll use the Topeak bar bag

Calais-Rouen-Orlèans-Toulouse-Narbonne is relatively tunnel free with the exception of the previously mentioned underpass at Rouen. From there I’d go to Argeles sur mer and make my way down the coast into Spain

You can save 140g by using tubulito over standard inner tubes. Cheapest upgrade per £ I think?

Received my ignite bibs this morning.
Positives – side pocket is larger than the standard flint shorts so I can now fit my phone in. Mesh pockets on the rear look very useful. Not so good is the leg length is two inches longer so right down to the knee (I’m 6ft, size medium). And the material feels more crinkly and lighter weight than the shorts. Still represents great value though

Good to hear that the Big Agnes is recommended. I’ve been looking at the bike packing version of the Copper Spur for ages but haven’t pulled the trigger yet as it feels like we’re still a way off from being able to use it. Wanted something lighter than our Hilleberg Nallo and the reviews seem to be very positive all round

Well I wasn’t expecting to be buying bib shorts today but couldn’t help myself at £49! Got a despatch email too, so looking good

I’m not sure anyone can answer this but you. My furloughed club mates seem to be riding up to 650km a week currently. There’s no way I could do that even if I wasn’t working. However 260km seems like an amount many people seem to manage. Many years ago I worked on a building site and one of the lads would ride the 60km there for the 7am start and obviously home again after a hard days work. He was nuts though

Moved our half term eurotunnel crossing to end of August so we can catch the tour. On the original tour schedule we would have missed it due to it being a week earlier than normal meaning the kids were still in school.

It’s brilliant I agree. My boss got switched onto it a while ago and now frequently requests we wear brown trousers and blood coloured shirts to meetings 😔

We got ours from Green Retreats too. It was pricey but everything was customisable as mentioned and we got exactly what we were after

I use a tailfin rack and trunk bag, but then I don’t need to carry a laptop so panniers seems the logical solution. I went with tailfin as my commute bike is also my weekend ride so wanted to be able to whip off the rack.

Pretty much always a flat white. Sometimes espresso if my wife isn’t having a coffee. Consumption has certainly increased recently, but it’s been a blessing to be able to enjoy a decent cup. Currently on Stronghold blend from Origin coffee, which makes for a great chocolatey flat white, but just ordered Foundation from Union coffee which is similar. I’ve got an 8 yr old ECM Mechanika and EK43 which will outlive me.

I used this one for this winter’s commuting. It attaches to the seatpost via a rubber band style mount, but can also clip onto a backpack and my rackmounted bag.

Can’t seem to get a link to work, but got to Amazon and search for WASAGA bike tail light. £10 delivered

Sounds like your bike fitter needs to up their game. My road bike definitely makes you feel every bump in the road but actually over time it’s no more fatiguing than my mtb or gravel bikes.

I’ve got the Shimano S-Phyres and use them for 95% of my riding covering mtb, gravel and road. They are so comfortable! The sole is super stiff so I can’t notice any disadvantage from using the smaller pedal platform (eggbeaters)

Or just get the Aussiegrit bibs so you can use them for mtb. Normally £180, but currently 50% off everything. I’ve got the non bib version and they’re very good, but I’d rather have the bib version

I’ve got the Bolt and find it much quicker to fix gps signal, publish finished rides to Strava, etc than any of the garmins I’ve had. Following a route is easy too. A lot of club mates have made the switch as well

I order from belgiuminabox.com. Good selection of all the usual Belgian beers but also a lot of small brewers. Dpd delivery is €10 for up to 31.5kg, which is a fair few bottles!

Not having to get inside a car for over a month

I always test ride a few bikes to see what I’m getting into and then take it from there. I know Cervelo, Specialized and Santa Cruz all have demo fleets, so maybe get on one of those after lockdown ends. Cervelo is at the racier end, Specialized and SC in the middle.

I’d say it’s almost certain to go ahead. The Tour is such an important part of the French identity and keeping it running this year would be a massive boost to morale and hopefully mark the start of the country returning to something resembling normality. I doubt they would have rescheduled without some form of assurances from the govt on their exit strategy from the lockdown.

Sasha was the one that sprung to mind as soon as I read the title. Definitely never saw him, at least 90% sure of it. I can think of many others, but in all honesty I may well have seen them but can’t really remember.

Id take the Highball over the Chameleon if it’s for xc type riding. Lighter and quicker.

I’ve been a roadie for 20 years so have been through quite a few bibs. Without doubt, Assos make great shorts, which last. I’ve tried a few other brands, but a lot of them use Cytech pads, so if you don’t get on with them it rules out quite a few options. Didn’t think too much of Castelli, Exteondo were ok, Maap are good. Not had any Rapha for whatever reason, but had jerseys and jackets that are good quality. I don’t think you can go wrong with Assos. They are the benchmark. There’s so much choice nowadays, much of it is good, but yet to find anything better

Never had a problem with them tbh. Still got a 10 year old pair on a bike. Bought a set for my new bike a few months ago and they do seem a tad beefier and feel a bit more premium than before.

Don’t have a cleaner, but we’re continuing to pay our dog walker 100%, as we’ve been fortunate enough to keep both our jobs at normal pay for now.

I had a similar conversation with the owner of a house that backs onto mine.
They have a tiny garden, approx 9 metres by 4 metres.
I have a huge garden, being a corner plot, approx 30m long x30m wide going to 10m at the house.
He wanted to sell his house, but couldnt sell it as “the garden isnt big enough”
I offered a plot of my land for £30k, approx. 9M x 12M.
He thought that price was a joke, and offered £1k, as “I wasnt doing anything with it, and I couldnt build on it”
I declined, and he got more and more irate that I wouldnt reduce the price.
I got my advice from an estate agent who said the house price would go up by £30k with a larger garden,and would be easier to sell.
It would have been cost neutral for him, as well as being in a better position to sell his house.
So, it isnt what the land is worth to the seller, it is what it is worth to you.
The strip of land is worth bu…r all to him, but to you it’s a real bonus to have your own driveway.

Nail on the head.

I’ve sold land fairly recently (via tender) and it is surprising the different values people attach to it depending on their personal circumstances.
I would engage a surveyor (there must be an agricultural specialist local to you) and ask him to send a letter to the guy saying he has a client interested in the piece of land. I think it’s much better to approach it this way, giving them some time for the idea to settle before going in with offers, etc.

Watched the 4K conversion of Casino. The film itself has grown on me over the years, but now looks amazing too.

More recently, Peanut Butter Falcon was a great film

These are regarded as a good basic grinder.
https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/eureka-mignon-specialita-16cr-coffee-grinder-55mm-burrs-grey.html

I had one of these – excellent little grinder, built like the proverbial tank and strong resale values show they are well regarded. For £50 though, it’s got to be a hand grinder hasn’t it?

I changed to a Thule easyfold XT a couple of years ago as I was fed up lugging the old rack back and forth from the garage when I needed it. This one just folds up and goes in the boot when not needed. It also has huge clearance between the bikes, will take up to a 3″ tyre I believe. Also allows easy access to the boot when bikes are loaded. Expensive, but I think it’s brilliant.

I have the E-P5 which is essentially the predecessor to the Pen F. For a camera that can be picked up now for less than 200 quid it’s still pretty good. It’s built very well, has IBIS and live histogram mode, both of which are very useful. As it’s small it will fit in a framebag, along with the tiny primes, and the look of the images is very nice. That small size though is a detriment when it comes to the larger zooms and longer focal lengths, so that is what’s driving the interest in the Fuji. It looks a bit bigger, without being full dslr sized (been there with the Nikon D700, lovely camera but the weight was too much). I had the GH5 for the video, but the Fuji looks to be very strong on that too.

We’ve had the sanef one for 4 or 5 years. Saves a lot of time on our drive down to the Pyrenees, especially at school holidays time.

So did your coach load your ride history into trainingpeaks so you have a base CTL/ATL? It sounds like the ramp rate (your 7 day ATL vs 42 day CTL) is causing your fatigue. I only use trainingpeaks for logging rides, use their WKO4 software for the actual analysis (it pulls all the rides in from trainingpeaks). It’s very easy to see where you are in terms of training load, so you don’t overdo it in the early stages of a plan.

There’s Twisted Oaks in Suffolk (Ipswich), but I haven’t had a chance to visit yet. Seems to get very good reviews though

My daughter has the Scatto from kidsracing. At around 1.3m tall it was the only bike with full sized wheels (700c) that fitted her. To be honest I think she’s had a bit of an unfair advantage this year racing cx in the under 10s as the bigger wheels carry noticeably more speed than the majority of kids on 26” wheels. They hold their value well and A 2nd hand one has just come up on our local cx league Facebook page if you’re interested?

I bought a Fenix 3 replacement strap from FLINTIE on Amazon for £8. Pretty happy with it. Prefer it to the original.

I’ll sometimes bring an Olympus ep5 mirrorless with me on the road bike. It fits in a small restrap frame bag, along with 17mm and 45mm lenses. If I’m on the mtb it just goes in a small dry bag in the backpack. I keep meaning to get a Tenba boyb camera insert which would give it much more protection.