I converted a semi broken carbon hard tail a few years ago. With rigid forks it is well under 20lbs.
Love it for Winter riding and nice for core strength because you’re waggling the bike around a lot to pop up to the top of those little rises.
An hour is enough for me though.
I have a 2:1 ratio on a 26 inch wheeled bike.

I thought the UCI leading the lynch mob was poor. It’s a time for calm reflection from the governing body at a time when a rider has suffered life threatening injuries. Obviously they will be a inquiry when those responsible will be appropriately sanctioned but course design etc needs to be checked out

bike not big – I’m a bit morphinee at the minute

Thanks for the responses.
I’d hate to lose my house or liberty over a bike project and a bit of bad luck with an old dear on a shared path so am thinking I’ll try for entirely legal or damn close to it as I can get.
I’ll have a look at the bright one bikes. I know these things are available for not too much cash on Ebay/Amazon but I’d rather go through a company which cares about its reputation

Oddly enough, just before reading the article I’d heard him on the radio taking an anti-intellectual / anti-thought stance. Talking shIte about how he didn’t care about facts and thought but it being the time for popularism and emotion.
We have to live with Brexit, Trump and measles outbreaks, wouldn’t it have been good if those in positions of influence took a stand?
It’s a shame Hannah didn’t let his pink tyres down or steal his bear.

Cycling UK (old CTC) usually have some self guided holidays. Often good value compared with commercial companies

My take is that typical drivers leave “an amount of space” to the side of what they see as the centre of a bike. Pannier on the car side in the hope the pannier is seen as the centre.
I’m not dead yet so it must be the correct

Thanks for all that.

I don’t give a damn about looks allthough the new ones are outstandingly ugly

The one I found isn’t quite the right spec so will keep looking.

My son is image conscious but I told him it has doors that open like a Huey so he can play Vietnam Door gunner. He may be at least open to the idea.

Another vote for Winter boots.

Take the hit not and buy the best fit you can or have cold feet for a season and buy in May when retailers etc are clearing their stock.

Stans grail rims on my bike laced into Hope hubs. I’m happy with them. Good for High pressure road or grippy off road tyres

Has anyone read Richard’s ( Ballantyne) Bicycle book form the 1970s?

it contains all sorts of helpful advice around cycle touring, navigating, setting up brakes and gears and generally having a nice time on a bike. But it bizarrely and out of character with the gentle tone of the rest of the book, it had a gruesome section on how to kill dogs that offend cyclists. I’d love to read a copy again to make sure I’m remembering it correctly

Those calf length socks (? Compression) worn by time triallers

oh and sperm helmets

Mate with one from new became heartily sick due to mechanical reliability issues – he’s not a mechanic so once warranty was over he was paying out a lot and missing days out. Dull but efficient seem to be the BMW tourers

I’m no motor biker but we get a lot visiting my village and for what it’s worth I like the look of the Triumphs (and the odd Moto Guzzi).

All above are good.

Route 1 along the coast is ok.

Avoid anything involving any distance on A697 as it’s nearly as nasty as the A1.

Cyclists need to be responsible for their actions. Fine.

But let’s have the same responsibility for other road users. Esp. formal law on passing distance and speed. Continental law introduced on driver assumed to hold liability.

I think I’ve dodged a few spoilers and as long as no-one tells me who Luke Skywalker’s dad is then I’ll be fine

I was told off on Thursday in the Cowgate area of Newcastle by an old chap (I believe “awd gadgie” is the correct descriptor) for stopping my cycle on a red light at a pedestrian crossing. He seemed to think I was giving the area a bad name.

Overshoes on whatever boots you buy make a lot of difference to insulation and also help your boots last many seasons.
Best buy them in green / sky blue for the real “Elf” look

I’ve used it for bike maintenance and first aid – mostly cutting tubes/tape for bodging repairs to get broken me/bike home.
As part of my work I occasionally visit prison cells / courts and I usually remember to leave tools / medicines / phones at the desk – mostly to reduce self harm risk if a “customer” some how manages to get into my bag. No ones commented on it yet.
They’re mostly a canny lot the police but have occasionally come across an officer who’s an arse so I want to make sure I don’t give them an excuse to nab me for carrying a weapon

Yup – fantastic fun. I repaired my old cracked XC bike and it’s my short range, all weather thingee bike

It takes me ages to get used to a new bike so test rides are a waste of time. I still try to have one if possible

swrve don’t usually do full sales but have a BF 20% discount on their range. Best urban/commuter trousers there are

The only negative with bigger wheels for me comes when riding tight twisty singletrack. My bigger wheeled longer wheel base bike doesn’t hold the nice line quite as well as my old 26″ hardtail

It looks a hoot. I like it. But wouldn’t want to ride it.
? an old frame with a section taken out of the top tube and replaced with some easily bendable i.e. not suitable for a bike tubing.

some shimano shoes are available in a “wide” it’s worth having a search. I have two pairs now but they can be a pain to locate

I’ve Hylex and bar ends on my gravel bike.
It suits me, the brakes are awesome stoppers and shifting works fine.
My set up is a triple with a huge range of gears and bar ends

Old hardtails get used as hack bikes/commuter bikes/single speeds but there isn’t a natural role for old full suspension bikes

I did it on a touring bike with cycle-cross tyres over two days. You might want a mountain bike for some sections though esp in the Cheviots but there’s a range of route options to pick how gnarly you want it.
It’s a pretty ride in some beautiful countryside, doable in a day of you’re really fit but if I was to do it again then I’d go for three days and take a few diversions to do the tourist thing – cup ‘n ring markings, holy island, pubs etc

I’ve rotten eye sight and since I trashed my cycling specs usually have blurred vision with watery eyes so “Hello” to those on road bikes I may have snubbed without realising they were there.

From the story we really don’t know if the rider was a stupid person getting themselves into unnecessary danger or a skilled rider who was unlucky.

Glad to hear no bad bad casualties.
Great event really well organised, nice team, appropriate and thoughtful mention of Mike at the start, lots of usable freebies and well done with organising the weather.
I didn”t like much the Oregon type hunter styling of the kit with camo/orange and would probably have bought a shirt or gilet if different. It may be worth them thinking about achange next year unless I’m out of sync with others??

There was no thorn, flint or sharp slate on the course, so how come so many riders had punctures?

Guardians of the Galaxy!

People are rubbish drivers.
The police and courts collude to protect rubbish drivers because they’re also made up of rubbish drivers.

Long term solution has to be the selfdriving/robot cars (Except for Ubercars because they also sound rubbish)
Short term we’re knackered

A bit of a side question – what’s the oldest carbon bike/component you folks are using?
My 2004 hardtail cracked in a “gentle ” crash last year and I was wondering if the question about fatigue qualities of well built carbon bike kit has ever been answered. I remember doom mongers saying all such bikes would fall apart within 2 years when carbon went mainstream

Thanks chaps. 591 isn’t on the Thule model list at the moment.
I might have to bike to Halfords or similar and try a few out.

Not buying a Dyson again after that fool promoted Brexit.
And obviously no more JCBs for me either

There’s a cynical part of me that thinks British Cylcing is in such a mess over Therapeutic Use Exemption drug use that they’re just hauling up the white flag over this complaint.
Having said that, an Aussie coach saying “Sheila, your ass is too fat to change lanes” rings true

Not pretty but I’ve glued a cheap LED to the mudguard with sealant. You just need on which has no switches on the back.

Going diagonally off topic. Is there going to be a return of the North Pennines Mountain Marathon in 2017?