Stitch with dental floss.

I have a similar tear that I have repaired in that way and it holding fine. I have also patched the inside with a tubeless patch and put a patch made from an old section of sidewall on the outside.

Be careful! Neither MTB nor road bikes have much any grip on ice. Don’t let the big contact patch and lower pressures lure you into a sense of false confidence.

One of these:

from here

You mount it on the wall and hook the pedal over it. If you want the bike off the floor you need to put blocks up for the wheels to rest on to keep it level.

I enjoyed hearing a conversation on a train recently which revolved around the use of the ‘like’ button in Facebook.
One sentence that stuck in my mind was:
“and they like, liked, my status”

There is only one tour of Flanders and it is 240km all the others are just short pootles.

This webcam is helpful to check if the ferry is running. If it is too windy or the water level is too high it might not be running which will leave you with a long detour via Ambleside

Sounds like a great trip – where are you heading?

I’d say don’t bother with spares. You are taking King bearings that should cope fine with that kind of mileage / abuse. Also, it sounds like you are going to be away for a few months and should you be unlucky enough for the bearings to fail there should be enough slack time in your trip to get a lift to the nearest town and get a replacement set sent out to you.

My own experience of African travel is that you cannot predict everything that will befall you and you need to be able to adapt and make do. There will be someone, somewhere out there who will help you ‘make a plan’ and keep you moving for the mishaps that come from left field.

Trek Superfly – 17.5″

Just don’t fight it. Enjoy being on the bike. Stay relaxed and smiling. Before you know it you will be as fast as you ever were.

SKS long

These guards are a bit longer

Are you sure you need 28mm tyres? 25mm will be pretty comfortable and able to cope with most tarmac and, in theory, should be a bit quicker than 28mm.

Sew it closed with waxed thread. it will probably still need a patch on the inside to make it airtight.

I find that the tyre has to be _really_ dry for the patch to stick. Sometimes applying a layer of glue and letting it dry before adding another layer for the patch to glue to works.

Zamzar[/url]

I have a pair of these these Bushnell binosand think they are great.

I love the fact that they are waterproof and shock resistant, it means I can be my usual careless self with them and not worry about damaging them. They are a reasonable compact size and have good quality optics. They don’t have as much magnification or lens size as the pair you are looking at though.

(Would a tripod be needed for 20x magnification binos???)

I would concur with steve_b77 – I use XTR inners and outers, with outers in sections and have very few problems with shifting. Tends to feel nice and smooth for months at a time.

My tuppence about the ferrules is that there is often an O ring in the ferrule which will add a bit of friction, I wouldn’t like to comment on whether it is more or less than the friction of a full length outer.

I think if you tend to ride in dry conditions then you would be well served by XTR cables.

My Lakeland experience has given me trust in Maxxis Ignitors. I have run them on a 26″ and 29″ bike and found them to be pretty robust.

I run them at about 30 – 35 psi (tubeless) and am just under 12 stone.

Try to make sure that the tyre beads are right into the well of the rim opposite the point where you are trying to get the tyre off.

If you take off the Ultegra mech and it is in good condition, I would be interested in buying it. (email address in my profile)

I am selling a road bike. Not sure if it is suitable for your needs but it should be the right size.

Details here: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/specialized-roubaix-comp-road-bike

It’s downside is that it doesn’t have fittings / clearance for mudguards which might be important on a commuter. But it is a very nice bike:)

I spent years riding all winter in lycra leggings and thought that waterproof shorts were some kind of joke product. However, I now own a pair and on wet winter days they have really made rides bearable rather than a shiver-fest.

I wear them over my lycra leggings and even though they might not keep me dry they do keep my body from constantly being sprayed with cold wet water (it takes a while for the water to seep in by which time it has warmed slightly) and it stops the wind chill of cold air moving directly across wet fabric.

However, it is not getting to the time of year that it is warm enough to ditch them. I too am heading to Scotland at Easter (only for four days though) and I won’t be packing the waterproof shorts unless the forecast predicts temperatures within a few degrees of zero.

Each to their own – I’m simply sharing my experience.

Lune RCC Coal Road reliability ride on Sunday

I just swapped to a spare back wheel on my road bike and was having a similar problem. For me it turned out that there was a slight difference in the hub spacing meaning that the teeth of the smallest cog were just scraping on the frame. I popped a washer on the axle and it cured the problem. (I only needed a temporary fix until I get my good wheel back on).

You mention that you have changed your cassette – might it be catching on the frame for you?

They are quicker than 23mm tyres – read more here: linky

It depends a lot on the rider and how fit they are. If they are spent by the time they get to Hardknott then no amount of low gearing will get them up.

If they still have something in the tank at that stage, then a 34/50 compact and either a 27 or 28 largest sprocket at the back should be fine.

Like others have said, it depends on what is on the bike already, how easy and cheap it will be to swap. I know folk who have done it on a standard 39/52 double with an 11/25 on the back. They accepted from the start that they would have to walk bits but that was cheaper / easier than having to faff around altering their gearing.

I don’t have any evidence to base this on … but my thoughts are that carbon is a lot tougher than a lot of people think it is. I suppose that if a grip was massively overtightened then it could cause a weakness in the bar. However, I would have thought that the force needed to clamp a grip in place should not cause this to happen.

My feelings are that bar manufacturers would not run the risk of using an unsafe material if there was a chance that ‘normal’ use (i.e. attaching grips and shifters) would ruin them.

I have a 48T big ring on my XT chainset. Standard Shimano one, bought online.

Outer Hebrides is great. There is lots of opportunity to ride off road, some amazing scenery and stunning places to wild camp.

It ranks as one of my all time favourite places to have toured.

We stayed a in few places on Harris for more than one night to allow us to enjoy some of the fantastic MTB routes that would not be enjoyable laden with gear.

Do it, you will never regret it. (as long as you take some good waterproofs and some midge repellant)

I used a Stan’s strip with a Mavic 717 and a Maxxis LUST tyre. Inflated no problems with a track pump and has not caused any problems since.

Just my experience but it may be helpful.

Good effort 🙂

If you have lost 4 stone, I suspect that the majority of your previous ‘excess’ weight was made up of fat and that the 4 stone you have lost is due to a loss of body fat.

If you start training more then you will begin to increase your muscle mass and your weight may rise even though you don’t getter ‘fatter’ (i.e. bigger round the waist)

I always wanted an AMP B4

Linkage forks, original Horst link, short wheelbase, very light …

I know that the pivots wear in no time and it probably doesn’t cut the mustard by today’s standards but it was an object of desire for many years.

8th May is the Fred Whitton if that influences the possible date.

One important thing that nobody has mentioned(unless it’s on the video link), is that you turn the spoke key anti-clockwise to tighten, if nobody tells you this then you can get in a right mess until you realise what’s happening.

It depends on whether you are looking at the rim from the direction of the centre of the wheel or from the outside of the wheel 😉

My gran used to the do the loaf vertical – cut horizontal thing as well. Mind you she was partial to the crust so would slice loaves lengthways in order to get an extra large crust 🙂

There was an interesting article in Cycling Plus about them the other month. They rode one round part of the Fred Whitton route. It was one of the Treks, basically, as long as you were turning the pedals it would keep your speed at 15 mph. This didn’t matter how slowly you pedalled uphill, it would maintain your speed at 15mph. However, the motor cuts out above 15mph at which point you lose all electrical assistance and have to put all the effort in yourself.

There was also a good review of some different models in the CTC magazine a month or so ago.

How did it go?

True – but what can look like a wonderful bridleway on a map can turn into miles of featureless bog which is very hard to cross with any kind of speed 🙂

Re Clubber’s point about shortest route: Yes, unfortunately it can often mean riding on roads even if there is a bridelway option. It can be a bit gutting to ride your MTB on roads when there are perfectly good tracks nearby but roads have the advantage of being predictable and fast.

Maggs Howe[/url]

Get a map board or bodge together some way of displaying a map on your handlebars so you can navigate as you ride.
Take a watch and make sure you make a note of the time when you set off.

Try to estimate how far you will be able to ride and plan a route accordingly. i.e. if you can average 7mph then you might expect to cover a route of 21miles in a 3 hour event. Knowing this means you have a chance to plan your optimum route to collect as many points as possible.

Try to keep moving. Avoid stopping to check the map, eat, drink etc. Aim to do all of this on the move or when you are stopped at a checkpoint anyway.

Try to plan a route that has some options in the second half of it so that you can extend or shorten depending on how you are doing. This might just be a case of doing your route clockwise rather than anticlockwise or vice versa in order to ensure that there are options in the latter half of your ride.

If you are entering as a pair remember that you are a team and work together to do well and have fun. Share the navigating so you are less likely to make mistakes, keep communicating, the stronger rider should avoid dropping the weaker rider on climbs as it will dishearten them. Rather ride with them as the company will encourage them to do better.

Have fun and enjoy riding on new trails – I have never done a TQ where I didn’t end up riding a trail I didn’t know about.

Chat to other riders after the event to discuss routes and tactics.