I read some stuff about Quercetin being effective to fend off and reduce severity of colds. Took it through last winter as seemed like it couldn’t do any harm. Now, I’m not a particularly sick person anyway, and there’s no control but I was cold free all winter.

I’ve also had good experience of service and selection at Cotswolds. Although I’m sure service varies a lot by store.

I’ve been running a Chinese carbon road frame & fork from Dengfu (R02) for a couple of years. I’ve done all sorts on including plenty of long rides, road racing, Etape etc and I can’t really fault it, it is stiff and comfortable and hasn’t snapped in half yet ;-). I treated myself to a used Look 695 this year, which does feel nicer to ride but it’s not in the whole different universe that the new price would suggest and I still use the Dengfu as well. I’ve also got some super cheap carbon road wheels (90/60mm on novatech hubs) that I bought as an experiment from CSC on eBay. Now, I wouldn’t go bombing down an Alp, or take them on a hilly ride in the wet or winter but for dry weather riding on flattish roads they’ve been fine and lots of fun to dip my toe into deep section wheels. I used them for an Ironman last year without issue (only slight complaint is the 90mm rear isn’t quite as laterally stiff as I’d like). I’m sure someone will be on to tell me they’re about to snap or delaminate, but so far it’s all good! Again, they’re probably not as fast or stable as a set of Zipps or Enves, but they were about 10% of the price and still a noticeable increase in speed over my Ksyriums.

In the fashion of recommending what you have, the Rapha core shorts have a thick pad that work well for me on most saddles. Nice and comfy shoulder/back strap arrangement too. And they come in plain simple black.

A whole variety of Castellis on Probikekit at half price. Watch out though, in my experience they come up a size small. I’m an XL compared to an L in Rapha, Endura etc

Doesn’t solve your dilemma but Hydro shifters in both DI2 and mechanical flavours are on great deal at the moment at probikekit…

Having done the last few etapes I would say if you’ve got some 100 mile rides in your legs comfortably, you should be more than OK on the Etape in my experience, as long as you pace it well. Starting from pen 6 is good, you’ll be mixed in with some decent riders and there will be plenty of total jokers starting higher up where they don’t belong, plus there were plenty of queue jumpers in the past too. This week I would throw in some shorter intervals than normal early in the week, no more than a 2 hour ride tues or wed, but keep some intensity as you would usually, then wind it down to a light ride with some short sprints on Friday and I would take the day off completely Saturday (or just ride down to the expo to stretch the legs). Take it easy Saturday and stay off your feet and out of the sun where you can.

Get to the start early Sunday morning, there will be so many people so head earlier to get a good place in pen and relax. Once in the pen there will likely be nowhere to pee, so be prepared to jump out and go in a plant or hedge 5 mins before you start. Don’t take extra clothes to pen unless its cold – and be prepared to bin them. Once going, find a nice group and don’t get tempted to race in the early stages, plenty will. I have skipped the first stop in the past, avoids time wasting early on. I took a coke bottle filled with water in back pocket and chucked it at the first stop, just to maximise my range. Generally keep steady and keep hydrated and eating, the heat will kick in as the day goes on and punish you on the last climb if you don’t like the heat. The last climb has been total carnage with walking and people lying at the roadside – just try to keep spinning and avoid walking – the final 10km to the top of a climb can be very slow if you’re pushing a bike! It’s a great event and an amazing experience, so enjoy the day.

I feel your pain/itch – I once had one on each ball…

Four Steadyracks in the shed is my solution. Not cheap bits of kit but worth it to me for the efficient storage.

I’ve so far managed to avoid over training despite having a schedule not too different from yours. I train for long distance triathlon and Ironman events, including commuting to work. I often don’t have a day off completely, but monitor what I do carefully. I can recommend using training peaks as a good monitor of fitness and fatigue. Set up your zones properly and watch out for your fatigue numbers getting too high-end while watching fitness creep up. Record everything, even low intensity commutes as it all adds up to TSS values. I also use the metrics sometimes to keep daily track of weight, sleep, stress, health – so helpful to see your overall health and feeling.

They’re valid for a year once issued, so in the future it’s worth getting one done if you’re in the doctors anyway. Otherwise use someone like sportmedicalcertificates.co.uk if you don’t mind paying a bit and want convenience.

We were prepared to go for the expensive le creuset but were advised to go Jamie Oliver instead, nothing to complain about so far and as others have said a much easier price to deal with.

For me first choice would have to be The history of polar exploration.

To add some opinion/experience on brands, although they always seem to get recommended I returned two 49inch Samsungs because of horrible and uneven light bleed around the edges of the screen. It made them unwatchable even when changing backlight and picture settings. They weren’t even out of the box for 5 minutes and they weren’t cheap models. In the end switched for an LG with the magic remote. If the LG had apps for Eurosport and HBO (like the Samsung) then it would be perfect, but the picture quality and interface is fantastic. Sometimes it takes a while to connect to internet when turned on but that’s the only complaint. A friend had the same experience with a 55 Samsung, switched for a Sony and he’s happy too.

I happily swap between Q rings and round rings without really noticing a difference. I do most of the bigger rides on Q rings now so can’t comment on fatigue or recovery. The only time I can sense a difference is when spinning a small gear, it’s sometimes a bit awkward for me.

A clean and a few drops of 3-in-1 quickly sorted my Crossmax many hundreds of miles ago. I saw recommendations for light oil such as sewing machine oil, but went for what I had handy.

I’m still riding a campag proton rear wheel that I bought in 2005. Thousands of miles later and the front brake track wore out but the rear is still going strong and has never been serviced or adjusted. Big plus for campag wheels in my experience.

My experience is as you suggest, just stick with the big ‘G’

I guess this means I will now have to spend a few hours at work on Monday figuring out how to transport the group I’m supposed to be flying with to Newcastle next month. What fun!

My Evans FWE front light is half way through its third winter of all condition daily commuting and has been perfect throughout. Needs charging a bit more regularly now so I’ve just bought another. I can’t remember the lumens but I general the FWE stuff seems great value for money.

In my experience the functionality and reliability of garmin has been almost faultless. Choose to fit your requirements and budget. Couldn’t recommend lezyne. I had two that were returned under warranty straight out of the box because they simply didn’t work. One wouldn’t even turn on.

Very happy with my 235 after 18 months of use. If you don’t swim, it does everything you mentioned apart from navigation. Steps, calories, activities, basic performance tracking. And can be had at a pretty good price.

Not sure it is only marginal gains personally, of course Depending what speed you ride at… I can notice a very perceptible difference, maybe 1-2mph when going from box sections to deeps. I happily ride 40s on the road bike in all but the windiest conditions and have used a 60-90 combination on the TT bike even in fairly breezy conditions. Rim design and shape is a bigger issue than absolute depth. I also find it easier to handle if you keep in an aggressive position or on the aero bars. If you sit up or stop pedaling you feel much more effect. Deepest always on the rear because there’s no steering pivot over the rear, and your weight is over it. Even a disc has not given me any issues. Oh, and they sound awesome!

I started using training peaks as a workout manager and to keep track of fitness, form and fatigue, especially weekly tracking of training load. Much better as a training tool than strava, which is not really designed for that. When strava summit ran out I didn’t renew because I couldn’t justify it just for fun. Try the training peaks basic for free, upgrade if you want the premium features. On my experience you need the premium to get the most out of it. I’ve also used the purchased training plans to great effect, and there’s tonnes of choice. Good luck!

The 235 isn’t great as for swimming laps, even the additional third party pool swim app is pretty poor in my experience. I use an old 920 for swimming but my 235 as an everyday watch. For swimming the two are not in the same league, so get a tri specific watch that is designed for lap swimming.

Don’t remember price, but I use some Alturas here when it’s wet for commuting. Not super breathable so commuter journeys only (30 mins max). I looked for a while to find something waterproof but that also had lower legs I could cinch in or button tight to avoid getting caught in chain. Some reflective on them too is nice.

Slightly out of the loop on recent releases, but some of the sherried Glendronachs are impressive in that style, and not crazily expensive. I once tried the Glenfarclas 40 which was the definition of Christmas cake!

I have a poc road helmet in medium, fits perfectly. Last year I bought a giro vanquish tt helmet with lots of room in medium, whereas my old medium atoms is right on the limit. So maybe all giros aren’t the same. My Louis garneau mtb helmet is medium, claimed 56-59 but loads of room even with a buff underneath.

Fancy crumb sweeper?

Ksyrium Pro SL for 1395 grams? I picked up a pair at well below your budget a year or so ago. Been used for hilly road races, alps climbing like the etape and as an every day wheel. No issues. Oh, and look great!

I had to return two 43 inch Samsungs due to issues with the picture (horrible uneven light bleed in all corners). Swapped to a similar price LG and have no complaints. A friend had the same with a 55 Samsung he swapped for a Sony. Can’t comment on your specific question or budget though.

You didn’t specify warm so I’ll throw out curling. Very social, good for balance and core stability, can be surprisingly hard work and there’s usually a beer in it afterwards. Depends on where you live though. I joined a team for a league when I had zero experience and within a few weeks I wasn’t the worst!

As others have said, you have to pick the power that is most relevant for what your are doing. For me, I was testing indoors at 40W less than I could hold for an hours climbing at the start of a 100 mile road race. Training rides climbing at tempo were simply too easy, trying to ride indoors  at outdoor climbing ftp was impossible. Outdoor flat ftp was between the two. Regardless of what causes it, be flexible which numbers you apply.

My FWE from Evans has done two full winters of commuting duties and still looks good and the finish has held up well. Not the most breathable but fine for my 30 minute commute, wouldn’t want to wear it for 3 hours

I’m certainly no expert on this subject but I was in a similar position to you and wanted something that was reasonable and did not break the bank. On recommendations (possibly on here) I bought a pair of Vortex crossfire 8×32 for £80 and couldn’t be happier with them for what I use them for, which is mostly amateur nature watching on hikes. Bought a pair of Vortex diamondback for my dad for the same purpose and we were similarly impressed with what you got for the money.

I’ve been using one of the fwe rear lights from Evans for 2 years, twice daily through the whole winter. No issues, still decent charge so can’t complain and just bought another for spare. £15 individually I think, cheaper in a pack with front

Oh, and alps-bike-rental.com does pick up and drop off of decent bikes to wherever you need at a decent price, I used one for the etape this year.

I did some ski touring close to Bellecombe earlier in the year. There were lots of hiking trails heading out from the Mont devant area and several decent sized mountains to choose to hike or ski. We did the cret de chard and the arriere which were fairly straightforward. Roc de Boeufs Is bigger and quite close although we didn’t ski that do can’t comment on difficulty. I’m sure there would be plenty to go at if you get the ign map or a Bauges hiking guide book’s Closer to Annecy there is the Parmelan which is popular although I’ve not done it myself to advise. Lovely area, enjoy! I wouldn’t bother driving over to chamoniix area personally, lots to do in either the Bauges or Aravis (e.g from La clusaz or Grand bornand).

I wonder what about the percentage of divorces caused by loading boxes in the ikea car park. I’ve come close on a few occasions!

I bought a Merida cx in alu when I was thinking along the same lines. Very happy with it and ticks all your boxes. Most importantly it’s fun enough to ride that I enjoy getting on it even in the cold and wet of winter. Not so relevant if you just need a frame though