Cheers guys.

Yeah the wheels are compatible and I’m looking at upgrading 3500 to 5800.

The only thing I need to purchase are:
Shifters £88
Cassette £22
Front Mech £15 (assuming the sora isn’t compatible)
Sram Chain £13

Oops it’s £138..

I bought a hybrid pump, which is great to just double check the puncture repair holds/the inner tube is set correctly before I blast it with co2.

This one: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-hybrid-co2-mini-pump-race/

Nothing to lose from applying/getting your name out there.

I promised my current boss 12 months, the role was miss sold to me, I’m at month 9 now and have just started looking. Wish I hadn’t have promised as I’d have started looking at month 1!

mrblobby – Member
Another humble brag?

Nope, my route is flat as a pancake! 83m climbing to be exact. :lol:

And 20mph over 52 miles would be nothing compared to these guys doing 22+mph over a century.

So, like I said, I feel very very slow! :P

These posts are making me feel very very slow!

I did an 80 mile cycle in 4:42:01 at an average of 17.25mph at the start of the year and was happy with that!

My regular route of 52 miles I can do in 2:35:46 at an average of around 20mph, hoping to do my first century in 5 hours flat sometime this month.

benp1 – Member
You’re not a real one, otherwise you wouldn’t even consider moving the wrong side of the river

clodhopper – Member

+1!

Oh the northern card is out; I was born and bred in Lancashire, makes me more northern than either of you? :twisted:

Re north of the river – missus’ parents live in Hastings, it’s MUCH closer to South of the river. Their help may be required in the next few years. :roll:

binners – Member
Have you considered Rochdale?

Erm, my geography is not the best – but isn’t that in Manchester? :lol:

Cheers guys.

@benp1 I’m a “northerner” too! :lol:

@brooess Yeah CP is at the very top of our budget – hope you’re right about the prices. Pollution doesn’t seem to be too bad?!

zippykona
Cheam has some of the best restaurants in the land. Direct link to Victoria and an amazing gift shop.

Sold! :lol:

freeagent
Personally I find Chislehurst a bit overpriced. The high st (especially the top end) is lovely – definitely try to stay toward the ‘Petts wood’ end rather than straying near Mottingham.

Bromley Common – good choice for transport (loads of busses go straight to Bromley South) but some roads a bit rough.

Petts Wood – nice – but a lot of the houses are huge – I’d be interested to see what £450k buys you.

Farnborough – I love it, but the nearest Station is a decent walk/bus journey away.
Good road links (straight down A21 onto M25) and a good safe bet if you want an investment.

Keston – really nice, but not very close to a station.

Hayes – Good transport links – nice high street

Eltham – personally I don’t like it – but a good place for travel etc.

Thank you, really helpful!

A lot of the houses in petts wood in our budget are terraces like this: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39058191#KYyKgzI0ZXSYZfmG.97

Doesn’t seem too bad.

Cheers guys!

The list is:
Chislehurst,
Bromley Common,
Petts wood,
Farnborough,
Keston,
Hayes,
Eltham,

Other potentials:
Crystal Palace,
Kingston,
Epsom,
Cheam,
Ewell.

I’m not keen on Sutton (sometimes have to work there).

@benp1

I think our list would be:

Under 25 mins (train time) to Victoria (her travel is paid for by the company as she’s classed as a homeworker)
Near a decent primary school
Sub 90 mins to Hastings

My place of work is due to change, but I think within 25 mins on the train to Victoria will equate to sub 60 mins cycle to work?

Mixed views so far then! :P

Armed with a list of the above I think I need to do some cycling around these areas, google maps can only show so much..

But yes, comparing it to Ealing isn’t going to be easy, it’s the only bit of London I’ve ever lived in. But I don’t want to be paying someone else’s mortgage for the rest of my time in this city.

Thank you all for the comments so far!

@wilburt it is for over-inflated new builds only unfortunately. But I’m quite glad we’ve got a cap to be honest.

@nicks Thank you, I’ve only got road bikes so all good for me.

@clodhopper.

Fair enough :lol:

£450k + our deposit money is the back of the cigarette packet calc that the banks would lend us.

But with the help to buy our cap is 450k, we provide 5% deposit (22.5k), the gov gives us a 5 year interest free loan for 20% and we get a 75% mortgage. This will enable us to invest in the property with some of the deposit money we have freed up, and bank the rest for a rainy day/kid. Plus with a lower mortgage we’d be able to save more money, with the potential of buying the gov out or look at selling within the 5 years (the gov takes their 20% back from the sale).

Thanks guys!

@clodhopper Where do you commute from? Is it any worse than the Piccadilly line? :lol:

@simon_g Thank you, will check those areas out. I’m enticed by all the greenery just south of Bromley, the coast is only 50 odd miles away too! 8)

@freeagent Thanks, again will check those areas out too. Need to start looking at schools too (see below). Not looked at anything in particular just yet, it was only last night Bromley caught our eye. Did come across this quirky looking place though: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/40923508#z3ZqHE4vSGstzbL1.97

We’ve got a cat (garden essential), car and are probably going to start a family soon within the next 2-3 years (we’re 27). So yeah being close to a decent nursery/primary school would be highly beneficial, but may also be looking to move again in that time frame if circumstances change. Also her parents are moving to Hastings soon – which would only be just over an hour in the car, perfect for when the time comes for their help haha!

@zippykona Epsom is a little too rich for us I think, will have a look though cheers!

@scaled A little too close to transport links that one :lol:

I’m using 2 of these on my road bikes, so far so good:
http://www.flyxii.com/en/products/seatpost-seat-clamp.html

I went for some Fulcrum Racing Sport DB for £110 (Ribble had them on offer). They’re not the lightest at circa 1900g (if memory serves me correctly), but they have stood up very well to London’s pot holes.

At the time the Cosine weren’t in stock :cry:

Crashes sound nasty! https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/31/ridelondon-accident-cyclists-surrey-london-course-diverted-pyrford-ripley

crazy-legs – Member
No littering either, everyone was really good about putting gel wrappers back in their pockets.

Really!?!? I wasn’t involved in the event but I forgot it was on, I walked along a 250m stretch of road after with my bike to get back into Bushy park and counted 7 empty gel sachets…

Tried decathlon (b’twins), evans (pinnacles), halfords (carrera, pendlton, 13), couple of indi’s (ridgeback, raleigh, etc).

They seemed to be all very similar specs for the £150-400 bracket on these types of bikes, with the top end introducing disc brakes at the expense of weight!

Ended up getting the Pendlton Briary:

Big thank you @dougal365 – used that code plus halfords 20% bikes this weekend which meant we got the bike for £144. I immediately swapped the Kenda tyres for some 32c Zaffiro Pro’s I had laying around and so it comes in at 11.3kg.

Very nearly ended up with Boardman Hybrid comp (http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-hybrid-comp-womens-bike) which looked very nice (to me) but she didn’t seem as confident on it. At least it’s not a 16kg 3 speed classic bike – this will certainly encourage her to cycle further afield.

Yeah, but I don’t like accepting defeat..

Got a list now:
Halfords:
Pendleton Briary
Carrera Subway 2
13 Implicit Alpha (she’ll dismiss this instantly)
Laura Trott HYB 1
Raleigh Loxley (classic)

Mango:
Classic Ladies

Decathlon:
Triban 500 flat
Original 500 hybrid
Hoprider
Elops 100 (classic)

Hopefully I can convince her to get a non classic :roll:

Dodging wing mirrors and the congestion charge, occasionally enjoying the sights of the city while wearing a pollution mask which makes me feel like a much skinnier version of Bane from batman. :lol:

@dougal365 – Yes the subway was up there on the list thanks! I’ve got an adjustable stem at hand and will be taking it to store too.

@cookeaa – Yeah pootling to town mainly, but she also wants to go a bit further afield with me to cafes in the next town (10 miles or so). So I was trying to get her something as light as possible to encourage her to cycle more.

The worst case scenario (for me) is this: https://www.mangobikes.com/shop/bikes/ladies-classic/ladies-classic-7-speed-classic-black/

But yeah, I may just have to accept defeat on this..

Cheers guys, liking the look of the voodoo!

However she’s only 5ft 3:

Height (Inch) Height (cm) Frame Size
5′ 6″ – 5′ 11″ 168 – 180 18″
5′ 11″ – 6′ 3″ 180 – 190 20″

Does anyone else have their oats cold, or just me?

I think I’m weird – the colder the better imo!

How I plan my long cycles is by shady calculations:

150g of oats is circa 550 calories, protein powder +100, raisins +100 and 200ml soya milk +70 = 820 calories. This combo sees me good for 60 miles before I become hungry.

These have me at about 15 calories per mile and 15ml of water per mile (my normal water consumption is crica 10ml/mile but I give myself contingency). Of course the water calculation doesn’t stop me brimming both water bottles, but does help me decide what size bottle to take out with me…

Suddenly long distance road cycling becomes even more nerdy.

Pizza the night before.

150g of oats, handful of raisins and 30g of protein powder. Wait 30-45 mins and go cycle.

This combo plus a couple of small homemade flapjacks gave me enough juice for an 130km solo road ride.

I’m split between the Garmin 820 and the Mio 505.

I currently have the Mio 305 which is perfect up to 55 miles, beyond that it seems to be VERY slow to react to screen presses and sometimes crashes mid ride losing all the data – I think with a better processor it’d be a great piece of kit.

Decisions decisions…

According to the 1 review they’re more comfortable than the 25’s they replaced :lol:

I’m sure these would be good for triathletes/tt’ing?

footflaps – Member
For 100%
Protein Works 97% is £45.99 for 2kg.
They claim 97g protein per 100g, so 1940g per 2kg bag
which works out at £0.0237 per gram protein

MyProtein basic Impact Whey is £46.79 for 5kg.
They claim 82g protein per 100g, so 4100 per 5kg bag
which works out at £0.0114 per gram protein

Assuming no slip ups in my sums……

So you’d need to get at least 50% off with The Protein Works to match MyProtein on price per gram protein.

But I quoted gonutrition’s 100% for say £50 per 5kg.

Following your math:
76g/100g
3800/5000g
£0.0131 per gram.

I’ll look into myprotein (which was actually started by the guy who owns gonutrition haha).

footflaps – Member
MyProtein is about £45 for 5Kg and they normally have discounts on top of that….

For 100% :?:

I use Gonutrition, particularly their 100% Whey Protein: http://gonutrition.com/gn-100-whey

Periodically it’s on offer for between £10-12 per kg.

Not found a flavour I dislike, but always ensure I have maple syrup and chocolate mint/orange in my stock cupboard. :lol:

Same happened on my 2 month old Quattro’s.

Just wound it in and tightened the little bolt – been good since.

I live in the suburban west (Ealing) – I had a MTB but I only ever found the Thames path and Richmond park over this side.

I bought a road bike and never looked back. Once you’re out of the central 4/5 miles you can find some really nice quiet(ish) roads – or even laps around Richmond/Regents Park.

Welcome to the smoke. :lol:

P.s. if you decide to commute on a bike – mask up – your lungs will probably thank you and get some liability insurance.

skankingbiker – Member
They say they are going to measure the replacement to make sure it is to spec before sending it out.

This should be standard practice at PX, particularly on this frame, would take 30 seconds for someone to measure before a frame is dispatched. This versus the time/cost to sort out the frames would surely be cost beneficial for them (not to mention a discount from the manufacturer for faulty goods)?

I had Dave’s email address as a backup, I didn’t use it as I wanted nothing further to do with that company.. even if it was just advertising their brand while out cycling….

I had an accident with a delivery van the other day, their wing mirror versus my bag.

Apparently Mercedes sprinter vans wing mirrors aren’t designed to fold the opposite way!? Couldn’t get it to sit properly again at the side of the road/ didn’t want to apply too much force.

What I learnt:
1) Bloody good job I’m insured (I’m liable for £100 excess only), IF the company decide to pursue the costs/ they cant snap it back.
2) Crashes commuting in London are inevitable, I’d had 4/5 near misses with cars/buses pulling out on me that day already.
3) When filtering through traffic I will account for more room for my rucksack. :roll:

Regarding hi-viz: Particularly in London, I find wearing it MORE dangerous than just wearing other non black colours. Why? I find that drivers are accustomed to cyclists in high viz being slower, therefore more cars tend to completely misjudge my speed when “making their maneuvers”.

Had to get a bit creative with fitting the speed/cadence sensors (black zip ties on order…)

But FINALLY managed to get this out today and put it through it’s paces.

The bike feels very comfortable and forgiving over pot holes/poor surfaces, can definitely tell there is some give in the carbon versus my alu bikes which rattle you. I fitted bars which were slightly narrower (by accident Deda measure there’s differently to everyone else apparently) so this took the most getting used to – but I don’t find it uncomfortable. The bike also likes to accelerate, feels much quicker getting up to speed than my other bikes.

The only “negative” I have about this bike is that the steering feels a bit lazy, but I was expecting that due to the geo. Also I’ve been only been using a Felt F series since the PX debacle a couple of months ago, and that has ridiculously quick steering.

I’m still yet to decide what summer tyres I’m going to switch too, but using Rubino Pro techs + I haven’t been out properly in the last couple of weeks, I still think I got some okay stats:

Best of all, the Chinese carbon didn’t spontaneously combust on me! :lol:

Out of curiosity; In order to prevent this should you remove the post every couple of months, clean, reapply carbon paste and stick it back in again?

(I’m new to carbon)

£10 definitely to good to be true, I wasn’t expecting them to accept haha.

I’ll approach ebay and EA (on a different account) – just in case. :lol:

G&B Tasting collection for £6.94 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A48154S/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

njee20 – Member
My Deng Fu came with one, most do, at least if you ask for a headset. I can’t honestly remember if I paid for mine or not.

Mine would have come with one, but I forgot to confirm it in my final email.

They said they’d send me one out on my next order though. (PX take note :-) )

whisky711 – Member
Is it a carbon fork steerer? Which expander device did you use to attach everything? Thinking of going down the carbon fork route.

It’s held together with a lifeline (wiggle) carbon expanded and headset. It’s my first full carbon fork too, my other bikes have had aluminium steerers with carbon forks.

cchris2lou – Member
i have a FR320 with a carbon steerer forks . it came with the headset .

2 years and 1000s of kilometers .

I did consider the 320, but figured I wouldn’t be able to fit my 28c tyres in it?

dirtyrider – Member
Love that planet-X have popped into the thread to criticise

Omg!

Good spot – What a nerve!!

This bike actually replaces a London Road – http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-planet-x-london-road-frmaeset-for-150/page/19