I lent my multi-tool chain breaker to someone on the Dartmoor Classic probably about 15 years ago when his chain snapped. I think that’s it.

I can only recall one other time I snapped a chain, and though I think I had a tool with me it was pretty close to a bike shop so not worth messing with it myself.

Depends what you want from your road bikes. I’ve got a Camino V4 that spends the vast majority of its time on roads with 38mm slicks on. If I put 32mm tyres on I can’t see it would give away much to a Colibri in speed, and for the kind of riding I do the longer wheelbase is neither here nor there I reckon. I guess it would be heavier.

I’m happy with it, but that said if I were buying again now I’d maybe be looking more at an endurance road bike than a gravel bike. Although maybe with more clearance than a Colibri.

If it’s on your phone then Files…. Open will ask what App you want to use. Choose Connect and it’ll appear there as a Course

Perfect, thanks to everyone who pointed this out!

100% depends on the 15 yr old and one would assume that the people who’ve known him for the entire 15 years of his life are best judged to make that assessment.

This basically. I’m not really a fan of Allsopp but she knows her son better than any of the hand wringers.

Didn’t need the carbon paste in the end. Turns out Controltech reckon max torque for the clamp bolts is a surprising (to me) 10-12Nm, and I reckon I’d been doing them a good bit lower than that. Greased the bolts too and all good since then.

According to the Fizik website the rails are 7×7, so nothing crazy. Maybe Kium is that little bit more slippery!

I think I do have some carbon paste somewhere so if I can find it I’ll give it a go.

IMO Prometheus and Covenant both suffered from trying to build too much other stuff on top of the basic Alien premise, that mostly wasn’t as interesting as Ridley Scott seemed to think it was.

I’m hopeful that this might be a more back to basics deal and I might be pleasantly surprised, like with Prey.

I reckon I’ve got several £20 notes lurking in various jacket pockets, top tube bag, rucksacks etc. from trips when I’ve thought a bit of cash might be wise but never used it.  When I come across one I usually just give it to MrsSalmon because I don’t want the change from spending them and I can’t be bothered to take them to the bank.

Lots of things can be true at the same time. For instance I believe that changes in nutrition/ fuelling, aero bikes and kit etc are behind the big increase race speeds in recent years. I think Pog is a generational talent, and also that the GC field isn’t very strong this year. Also all the variables in stage racing can play out such that you can get some pretty striking stage results.

I also think UAE and the rest of them will be doing stuff that’s right on the edge of the rules, maybe not technically doping now but might be soon. Also that doping will always be one step ahead of testing, and there’ll always be someone willing to do it if they think there’s a reasonable chance of getting away with it.

TBH I don’t really know where that leaves me, but I do know I like following it, so *shrugs*.

For a bit of context I’ve been following it since the mid 80s.

I think UAE have already ruled it out on the basis they don’t want him burnt out. Which is probably sensible, even if it would be an incredible achievement.

I can’t help thinking there might be a few reasons for UAE to say that, and Pog getting burnt out is maybe not at the top of the list. I could easily believe he could show up at the Vuelta in pretty much the same condition he’s in now and ride it about the same, although equally he could be on his knees tomorrow I guess.

But I can’t see he’d have the support he’s got at the Tour – Yates and the rest of his super domestquea will be too tired even if he isn’t.

And it would be a bad look if he did do the Vuelta. . I’m not in the ‘he’s worse than Armstrong’ camp, but what would it say about the state of things if he could ride all 3 GTs, dominate 2 of them, and be strong or super strong in the 3rd?

He’s a great racer but I hope we don’t see him at the Vuelta.

I think Railsea by China Mieville  is supposed to be for YA, I thought it was great. The other stuff of his I’ve read is pretty adult though.

 character group have to crawl through underground tunnels, potholes, under Alderley Edge,

That’s in The Wierdstone of Brisingamen, makes me squirm a bit!

Happy for Campenaerts – what a gent !!

Second this. Great result!

@munrobiker + 1

Shocking sentences and sounds like something you’d get in some mad authoritarian state.

I generally have very little interest in cars and don’t even like driving very much. But as a man of a certain age the Capri has a Bodie and Doyle nostalgia to it so I did a quick search.

Oh, another electric SUV. Lazy, boring, and pointless.

Was Vingegaard on 1x today? Looked like it. Visma* do seem to be pretty keen on it but seems like a bold call for a stage like this.

*Hard to stop calling them Jumbo!

Thanks for updating this @kramer. I’m still considering doing the same later this year although I have to say it’s looking unlikely. As much as it surprises me to hear myself say it the Avanti to London part would be the only straightforward part of the whole thing!

I went 2x with rival and kept same 42t cassette and derailleur, but switched to 50/34 chainset. Worked albeit not the best shifting I think too big a range for setup to cope with.

Yeah, I think SRAM say the 42t cassette is 1x only.

My concern for the Alps isn’t that I wouldn’t have a low enough bottom gear available on 1x, it’s more that the limitations of the gaps at that end of the cassette might become more obvious on very long but not necessarily super steep climbs than they are on my usual riding.

Even with the best intentions on the part of whoever’s looking at your CV, they’ll quickly get a rough idea of your age even if you haven’t put it on there and I’m sure it will be a factor even if it’s in an unconscious bias sort of way.

Still think Pogačar is the main favourite but for now I’m on Team Rog

Roglič went down in my estimation with that whole thing with Kuss at the Vuelta last year. But still, I wouldn’t mind if he won because it would be more interesting than Pog winning again.

Pog to win, Cav not to win a stage. Another UAE on the podium, and then either Rog or Jorgenson.

Good call for the podium I reckon, with Pog to win at a canter.  But Cav to win a stage!

Are you just wanting more range and don’t necessarily need more gears?

Context is a possible road riding trip to the Alps. Having been doing a little bit more research though I reckon if I went Rival 2x I’d end up with more gears at the low end but lose the lowest gear I’ve got now. Because according to SRAM their 11-36 and 11-42 cassettes are not compatible with 2x.

So if I had an 11-32 cassette with a 50/34 crankset I’d be worse off in terms of lowest gear.

Or am I missing something?

Thanks all, some good stuff to look at there!

Turning the polytechnics into universities was a mistake IMO. A lot of students going to uni now would probably be better off doing something more vocational.

I have an email from RAB that states that gore-tex is waterproof even if the surface wets out and the DWR coating is only to keep the material breathable (stop the wetting out).  Do we think that’s not actually true?

I think it’s true, but in practice it will probably feel like it’s actually not true.

It’s not without flaws, but it’s not ‘a scam’, at least in the sense that I understand the word

Yeah, this is my view of it. The material doesn’t let water through, and it’s breathable, no scam there. The problem is that doesn’t necessarily translate to you staying dry while riding or walking around for a few hours in a jacket made from it. And that’s with factory DWR still on it.

German, because I reckon (perhaps incorrectly) it’s the one I could most easily get to a reasonable standard in.

The quick links can be directional.

I did think of that, but in this case (KMC silver Missing Link) they don’t seem to be – two identical parts as far as I can see.

I’ve put the chain back on but not ridden yet.

There are plenty of people who want something different to a big name carbon race bike – see Fairlight, Mason etc. And there might well be a sizeable number of people willing to pay the premium to have something like that made custom for them in the UK. But it’s a long way from there to buying a Mercian.

I had a look at one, I had to prove I wasn’t a robot first.

How do you do eye roll emojis on here?

@benpinnick I’m probably thinking of a slightly less drastic change!

I guess something like @molgrips describes is probably where I’m headed. A year or two back if anyone had asked I’d have said I wouldn’t want to do something where I wasn’t pretty hands on most of the time, but lately I’m starting to feel like I’ve had enough of it.

Tim Hortons was surprisingly poor I thought. Of the high street chains I think Nero is probably the best.

When Pogacar took off towards Steinhauser with a couple of km to go I was thinking he’d go down in my estimation if he caught Steinhauser on the line and nabbed it from him. But it didn’t look like he was really drilling it and it was probably a bit too late anyway, even for him.

Teravail Rampart? I replaced a Gravel King slick with one and happy with it. Mine are 38, dunno if they go wider

The Gravel King wore out on the back in record time for me, so while it rode very nicely I didn’t want another one. The Rampart is more substantial, but obviously it weights more too.

Also there’s the Schwalbe G One Speed.

Tom-BFree Member
I mean he’s beaten him at the last 2 TdF, that’s a fairly decent and also fairly broad scenario!

Yeah, I suppose if there’s one you come good at it doesn’t get much better than that. But it seems like JV has to focus his entire season on that to pull it off.

On the other hand, Pogacar is beatable. By Vingegaard at the Tour for one.

Vingegaard can only beat Pogacar in very specific scenarios IMO. I don’t see him as generally being on the same level.

I’ve gone from some bling* Hope ones in the end.

*Well, black so not really that bling I suppose

In defence of wind up chain cleaners, I’ve had a Park Tools one for years and years and it has a place for me. Stuff like the rotor covers though, those are absolutely in the category of cheap-ish “accessory” that I try and avoid. Agree with @nickc they are usually just little bits of tat with limited uses hanging around your garage.

I was interested to see if people generally are taking the rotors thing seriously. Up to now I’ve assumed that as long as I’m not spraying lube or WD40 on them that it’s basically all good, and I’ll carry on like that.

The regular Kindle has a lit display now.  You don’t need a Paperwhite, just one that was made in the last few years

Good to know, thanks.

Prompted to ask because I was in my LBS yesterday and while I was waiting I saw they had some of the Muc-Off rotor cover things. I don’t think I’ll be buying anything like that but I was just curious as to how much of a thing covering them up is really.

I was looking at both the Escapade and the CGR during lockdown. I went with the CGR 725 in the end, partly IIRC because I could get it sooner and partly because I once had a Cotic Roadrat that I never really got on with because it always seemed too long for me, so I felt there was bit of a question mark over sizing.

Turned out the CGR was also way too long for me, so after a lot of messing around with stems, bike fit, and saddles I ended up getting a Camino frame and swapping the bits over.

The CGR was a really nice bike though, and was just what I wanted really for the riding I do – mostly road with the odd bit of bridle way and bikepacking. I was sorry to see it go!