I don’t think there is any evidence to suggest that wheels / frames will be damaged on a turbo. However, tyres will be. (Not in a quick or instantly terminal way, they just wear out quicker)

I guess folk wanting a cheap second rear wheel will fit an old tyre / a turbo specific tyre to it as it is easier to swap wheels than tyres.

A few years ago I stood on a wet sloping rock and my foot slid down it. This slammed my big toe into the ground. It swelled up to twice its normal size and the end of my foot turned a wonderful shade of purple / blue. It was hard to walk for a week and was painful for a long time after.

I visited the doctor but it was a waste of time as he said there was nothing to be done. It might be broken, it might not. It would get better. Unless it was bent sideways he was not prepared to do anything. It did get better but doesn’t bend as much as the other one.

Basically, if your wife is really worried she could visit her GP but I suspect the outcome would be the same as I had. Ibuprofen and paracetamol will help with the pain. RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) will help it recover.

I got fed up with the constant expenditure on overshoes so treated myself to a pair of winter boots and have not been disappointed.

Got mine finished and fitted

I mounted the handlebar clamp slightly off centre so the light sits pretty much in line with the stem. It should make the commutes on unlit lanes a lot more pleasurable.

Did some comparisons with my old light last night and was mightily impressed with how much brighter this one is.

We have wifi and each teen has a laptop. Rather than resort to technological barriers that they will probably find ways to overcome, we chatted to them about what was reasonable and what was not.

They see the advantage of wifi and enjoy keeping in touch with their mates via MSN and Facebook and are happy to stick within the guidelines we have set.

Great for drying out cycling shoes …

Not quite as trendy a setting as the photos above but it keeps us cosy. Chimney goes through the centre of the house and acts as a radiator in the bedrooms.

I have successfully shoved the little red tube that comes with WD40 between the bars and grips. I would have thought that method would work with carbon bars without scratching / damaging them.

If one piston is sticking and not going in / out then remove wheel and old pads. Then push the working piston back into the caliper and hold it in place while pulling the brake lever. This will force the sticking piston to move. Once it has moved out a bit, push it back in and repeat a couple of times.

It should then be freed up and working fine.

Options:

1 – apply some hairspray to the bars. Slippy when wet, sticky when dry
2 – use WD40 to get them on. It will evaporate leaving the grips in position.
3 – buy lock on grips.

That looks like it will hold enough wood for about half an evening 🙂

Another vote for arm warmers. I use them under my long sleeve tops to cover my lower arms / wrists which don’t get covered by the jersey.

I tend to go for any pair of longs I can get as long as they don’t have foot stirrups. I just regard them as 3/4s and accept that there will always be a bit of flesh showing between the bottom of my longs and the top of my socks.

I have large hands and find that the largest size Gore gloves to be an OK fit. In general I find that Gore stuff is a good fit for tall + skinny riders.

(can’t resist) …

also the month of unneeded apostrophes 🙂

I’m undecided as yet, but will probably give it a go.

@foxyrider:

RULE 3:
No matter how good you think your reason is to knowingly breach The Rules, it is never good enough.

120 miles in the Caringorms

I really enjoyed Fignon’s biog and O’Bree’s as well.

Both seemed written by the men themselves rather than being obviously ghostwritten like the Armstrong books.

Both give a good insight into their desires, motivations etc as well as containing some good descriptions of life as an elite cyclist.

French Revolutions is pure quality. I bring a tear to my eye simply thinking about his episode on Mt Ventoux:)

I think you would be OK with a compact with a 12-28 at the back for the kind of touring you describe – providing you are not planning to go anywhere with really steep hills.

Also here[/url] (rule number 12)

NAD 3020 amp – I’ve had it at least 15 years and it belonged to my brother in law before that.

I am tall but skinny. I find my Mountain Equipment Glacier 500 extra long down bag to be great. According to their stats it suits people up to 200cm tall with shoulders 76cm wide.

Nothing to do with spending 3 hours of having mud sprayed into your face then?

I splashed out on a Miry map board and have never looked back. It was not cheap (£30 ish) but it raises the map up from the bars and being able to rotate the map to the direction of travel is something I would never give up now I have got used to it.

Having a rough idea of your average MTB speed is useful. e.g. if you average 12kph when out riding and you are doing a 3 hour event then you can plan a route in the region of 36km. Try to make sure that your route allows for some short cuts to get you back quickly if time is running short.

Try to keep stops to a minimum. Each one eats up a tiny amount of your time and might cost one one last checkpoint.

Have fun.

There is generally loads of good chat afterwards and it is worth hanging around to talk to other competitors about their routes etc as you can learn a lot from them.

I recall an incident out biking with my family. We had just got onto the most exposed part of Parkamoor in the November wind and rain and my son snapped his rear mech hanger.

I tried in vain to fix it / convert it to singlespeed. My family were all watching anxiously and my fingers were beginning to go numb from the cold.

In my frustration I stood up and booted the bike exclaiming 'That's fixed it'. It certainly helped me feel better and it brought a smile to the faces of wife / kids.

I had to pay the price for my mechanical failure that day as I had to push my son all the way from the southern end of Coniston to the northern end where the car was.

Having read some of the Messages of support I can only conclude that this a tongue in cheek website.

There are some very funny ones there (be sure to check the names of the people who have 'posted' them)

Egg and marmalade anyone?

Cupra – my wife and I bought a tandem for exactly the reasons you state and we love it. There is no way she would dare to go off road with me on a tandem so we use our solos off road. However, on road it is ideal. I never have to worry about going too fast, she never has to worry about riding too slow and we can chat as we ride along.

There is lots of good tandem advice on the web but my summary is as follows:
Firstly, your stoker must have confidence in you (assuming you will pilot). This means taking it easy to start with and listening to them regarding their preferred descending and cornering speed.
Secondly, keep your stoker happy. Agree on a mutually comfortable cadence, shift to a lower gear when they ask, stop when they want, freewheel when they want, etc.
Thirdly, keep your stoker comfortable. Fit a comfy saddle and suspension seatpost for them.

Once your stoker has confidence in you, knows you will keep them happy and will be comfortable then you will enjoy many hours riding together.

The other advantage is that it will make your solo bike feel ultra manoeuvrable when you get back on it after a tandem ride.

I got the Axiom from CRC

It presented no problems on an 8 day tour of Mayo and Galway:

I fitted one of these[/url] to a bike with no fixings by the dropout. However, it does need some mounts by the saddle. You would be able to use one of those seat clamp / mounts things with it. It has the advantage of being compatible with disks.

They also do a range of racks that make use of the QR – have a look here[/url]

IPA is pretty cheap Ebay link

£5.30 for a litre will last you for a lifetime and then you will have no worries about contaminants etc.

I agree with Gavgas about using the LBS for advice. They are all very clued up (Biketreks in Ambleside is another option).

If it was me, I would avoid doing stuff like Nan Bield as there is a lot of carrying involved and there are loads of excellent trails which are a lot more rideable. However, if the weather is good and you want that feeling of being up high with your bike then go for it.

I am tempted to do a few rides on it just to see what it was like 'back in the day' and as a measure of just how far things have come along since then.

Kind of seems a shame to use it as it is in such good condition.

What is it? A news feed that comes in a few seconds after all the other news feeds?

I have used it and consider it much cheaper than paying for a Sky subscription. (I have Freesat for my telly)

I usually subscribe for the spring classics and the Giro and then cancel the subscription until July (am just about to reinstate it for the TdF)

You can watch Eurosport 1 or 2 live broadcasts. They also have Video on Demand which shows the footage without commentary.

bigdugsbaws – Member
Midlife crisis, why not stick with Spesh and get a 29er S Works hardtail

I was under the impression that they are not being imported into the UK – I would love to hear that I am wrong about that 🙂

Thanks Clink – that opinion is very useful. (Your Scandal is too small for me – good luck with selling it)

Brilliant – loving this thread. Some great bikes to inspire my next purchase.

I currently have an S-Works hardtail and like the way it rides. I am thinking that my next bike should be a 29er – so in your collective opinion, which of the bikes posted so far would be the most similar i.e. light and fast, XC orientated?

What would circles look like if pi was exactly 3?

tinsy – Member
Where can I get myself a high rite, my mates will wet themselfs.. (quite used to seeing me trying out a homade answer to a problem that doesnt exist)

Hite-Rite

Hite-Rite seat adjuster

EDIT: beaten to it by bigdummy!

Did anyone notice the Doctor having a quick 'upskirt' peep at his new assistant in one of the early episodes? The one where he was holding her by her ankle as she floated outside the tardis

How about these:

Hayes Manuals Translations

Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise.
Translation: Clamp with molegrips (adjustable wrench) then beat repeatedly with hammer anticlockwise. You do know which way is anticlockwise, don't you?

Haynes: Should remove easily.
Translation: Will be corroded into place. Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with a hammer.

Haynes: This is a snug fit.
Translation: You will skin your knuckles. Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: This is a tight fit.
Translation: Not a hope in hell. Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: As described in Chapter 7…
Translation: That'll teach you not to read through before you start, especially as you are now gazing at the worrying innards of an automatic gearbox.

Haynes: Pry…
Translation: Hammer a screwdriver into..

Haynes: Undo…
Translation: Go buy a tin of WD40 (extra large).

Haynes: Ease …
Translation: Apply superhuman strength to …

Haynes: Retain tiny spring…
Translation: "Where did that go??"

Haynes: Press and rotate to remove bulb…
Translation: Pliers required to dig out the bayonet part and remaining glass shards.

Haynes: Lightly…
Translation: Start off lightly and build up till the veins on your forehead are throbbing then re-check the manual because what you are doing now cannot be considered "lightly".

Haynes: Weekly checks…
Translation: If it isn't broken don't fix it!

Haynes: Routine maintenance…
Translation: If it isn't broken… it's about to be!

Haynes: One spanner rating (simple).
Translation: Your Granny could do that. So how did you manage to botch it up?

Haynes: Two spanner rating.
Translation: Now you may think that you can do this because two is a low, tiny, ikkle number. But you also thought that the wiring diagram was a map of the Tokyo underground (in fact that would have been more use to you).

Haynes: Three spanner rating (intermediate).
Translation: Make sure you won't need your car for a couple of days and that your AA cover includes Home Start.

Haynes: Four spanner rating.
Translation: You are seriously considering this, aren't you?

Haynes: Five spanner rating (expert).
Translation: OK – but don't expect me to ride it afterwards.
Translation #2: Don't ever carry your loved ones in it again and don't mention it to your insurance company.

Haynes: If not, you can fabricate your own special tool like this…
Translation: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…

Haynes: Compress…
Translation: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on, swear at, throw at the garage wall, then search for it in the dark corner of the garage whilst muttering "******" repeatedly under your breath.

Haynes: Inspect…
Translation: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a loud knowing voice: "Yes as I thought. Going to need a new one"!

Haynes: Carefully…
Translation: You are about to hurt yourself.

Haynes: Remove retaining nut…
Translation: Yes, that's it, that big spherical blob of rust.

Haynes: Get an assistant…
Translation: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of someone you know.

Haynes: Turning the engine will be easier with the spark plugs removed.
Translation: However, starting the engine afterwards will be much harder. Once that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach has subsided, you can start to feel deeply ashamed as you gingerly refit the spark plugs.

Haynes: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal.
Translation: But you swear in different places.

Haynes: Prise away plastic locating pegs…
Translation: Snap off…

Haynes: Using a suitable drift or pin-punch…
Translation: The biggest nail in your tool box.

Haynes: Everyday toolkit
Translation: Ensure you have an RAC Card & Mobile Phone

Haynes: Apply moderate heat…
Translation: Placing your mouth near it and huffing isn't moderate heat.
Translation #2: Heat up until glowing red, if it still doesn't come undone use a hacksaw.

Haynes: Apply strong heat…
Translation: Unless you have a blast furnace, don't bother. Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: Index
Translation: List of all the things in the book bar the thing you want to do!

Haynes: Remove oil filter using an oil filter chain wrench or length of bicycle chain.
Translation: Stick a screwdriver through it and beat handle repeatedly with a hammer.

Haynes: Replace old gasket with a new one.
Translation: I know I've got BluTac around here somewhere.

Haynes: Grease well before refitting.
Translation: Spend an hour searching for grease before chancing upon a bottle of washing-up liquid. Wipe some congealed washing up liquid from the dispenser nozzle and use that since it's got a similar texture and will probably get you to Halfords to buy some Castrol grease.

Haynes: See illustration for details
Translation: None of the illustrations or notes will match the pictured exploded, numbered parts. The unit illustrated is from a previous or variant model. The actual location of the unit is never given.