I’ve toured many times on several different bikes. In my exexperience a comfy frame unloaded does not make a good touring bike when fully loaded, they flex too much. I now have a Surly long haul trucker, unloaded it feels harsh and stiff, but put some panniers on it and it is really comfy, the heavier the load the better it feels.

I am not exactly someone who packs light. So even for short trips I will have 4 panniers, a bar bag and tent on top of rear rack. To some  people this may feel over the top. But I find that carrying extra kit and the weight penalty is more than worth it.

Once loaded i find that adding an extra 5 to 10kg of extra kit isn’t that much more noticeable even up big steep climbs.

My dad got one of his motorbike frames powder coated in a place in Darlington, good price and very quick turnaround and good quality. Can’t remember the name of the place but it was on Albert hill industrial estate.

I once snapped a cable on an old tacx magnetic turbo (can’t remember the model). It was easy to replace the cable on the turbo end, but on the shifter end be careful as there was a spring loaded ball bearing to make it index which came loose and I never found it. But it maybe a different shifter on your model.

I once snapped a cable on an old tacx magnetic turbo (can’t remember the model). It was easy to replace the cable on the turbo end, but on the shifter end be careful as there was a spring loaded ball bearing to make it index which came loose and I never found it. But it maybe a different shifter on your model.

Bought the wife a fridge for her birthday.

You should have seen her face light up when she opened it.

I had a Abus backpack/pannier. Was good as a pannier, but uncomfortable as a backpack.

Whatever you buy, try it out first.

It all depends on how you are contracted via the agency. We employ agency staff and through the agency we use, the agency staff have a choice of not getting paid holidays but geting paid a higher hourly rate. Or getting paid holidays but earning at a lower hourly rate, they then need to accrue the holidays before they can take them.

Most of the guys we employ go for the higher pay and then just take unpaid leave when they want time off.

It is not really for the company you are working at to sort out your holiday pay. You need to speak to the agency to find out your contract. Either way, the company you are working at should give you the time off if it is a reasonable request. But as an agency worker they may just expect you to work as some companies can be ruthless with agency staff.

Not an issue as such, but I would rather have a thru axle than a standard qr. I just think they are more secure.

Get in touch with your local hospital and contact the speech therapy department. They should have specific equipment for this and/or they may have iPads with specific (and rather expensive) speech aid apps.

Not sure what you need to do to qualify to loan the equipment, you may need to be referred to them for your GP.

Bought a mtb
Oh my god
So much fun!

Legal and land registry fees when you buy the land.

looks like it to me. get some 2 part crack detection spray and then you should know for sure.

If you love racing, then regardless of the result it is worth it.
I’ve won road and xc races. But had many years of injury, illness and work getting in the way, and now don’t train as much as previously and nowhere near as fit as I once was. But I still love to pin a race number on. I now really enjoy racing cx. I have had some races where I feel like the brakes are stuck on, and in the past I would of just quit in that situation, but now I remind myself that no matter of how bad I do in the race I am still racing and doing what I want to do.
So if it is what you want to do, just enjoy it, forget the latest result, as all the hard work will be worth it in the long run. You will have some great results which will make all the suffering and sacrifices worth it.

Thanks for the info. Didn’t even think of one way vehicle hire. Just got quote for one way van hire and it works out cheaper and quicker for 2 of us instead of 2 train tickets.

Snakeskin. A New Zealand road trip film. Seen it when i was in NZ never seen it on UK TV

Trailers are harder work. But do you have panniers and a rack? If not then why buy them when the trailer will all ready do the job, even if it is slightly harder work. Can you fit pannier to the wife’s bike?

Panniers need more careful packing to balance the load and to fit everything in, while the trailer is easier and quicker to load as its usually the one bag. But you can easily overload the traile.

Trailer can give more freedom as it can be unhitched quickly and then you can use the bike without any load should you want to. However the trailer can be a bit of a pain when storing the bike, they do take up a lot more room

Hope that is of some use.

I have a set for cx racing. done about 10 races on them this winter and they seem very strong. using them on road bike now. for the price they seem good value, but don’t know how long they will last

I’ve a 26″ wheel LHT, I know what you mean about it looking ‘gappy’. But if you intend to put mudguards on then it the gap looks a lot smaller. When I bought mine I had the same dilemma as I liked the look of the 700c, but I went for a 26” as it suits my needs more. My advice would be purchase which ever wheel size suits your needs best and don’t worry about the look. They are a great bike and very comfy.

Not scared of the dark, but years ago me and a mate had a really bad experience where we tried to help somebody out, it was in the countryside and very early in the morning, and we didn’t expect to meet somebody there, he was a complete nutter or high on drugs (possibly both) and it nearly ended badly. It was one of the most dangerous experience i have had. It made me very cautious and in certain situations i still am today.

For that reason i sometimes feel worried out in the countryside in the dark on my own, and i really couldn’t imagine going solo night riding.

You may find that you need a smaller chainring for cx racing if you got the Boardman CX Comp, 50t chainring is a bit big for cx racing , a 44 or 46t would be better.

Great film. The singletrack in the forest at Rotorua is amazing, just wish i had the time and money to go back.

I have to agree with Nemesis, Ham and cheese is very nice. My wife got me to try it a few years ago, i didn’t really want to try it at first as i was use to having sweet fillings, but after trying it i was converted and we often have these, great post ride treat.

Thank you for the replys and suggestions, i will have a look at them later.

simon1975, was the replacement map new or secondhand? i have looked but never been able to find them maps in the shops. Guess i may have to go onto ebay and get some secondhand.

Yes, that is the one. Would really have liked to get that scale map for other areas.

Benji,

I come to that conclusion as i like the look of a traditional road bike with horizontal top tube and flipped down stem. I do not like the look of many of the new sportive bikes, but that is just my personal preference.

But although i don’t like the look of sportive bikes, i think sportive bikes are great as they have made cycling more accessible to a greater range of people by making road bikes with less aggresive riding posistion and a lower range of gears, they have made road bikes accessible to people that would be normally put off buying a race bike by the aggresive posistion and the high gear ratios. I just really don’t like the look of them.

I also think that bisc brakes on road bikes are long over due. And once they are approved for road racing i will probably be getting some.

You cannot always read people for this reason, there are many people have something hidden which you will never know about unless it is exposed. While some people that come across as being a bit of a weirdo and labelled as odd in some way are the most normal and trust worthy around but they are often socially excluded.

i think the nazi stem look is wrong, but a nice road bike with a nazi stem is a much better look than some of the horrible looking sportive bikes (such as a giant defy) with a stem fitted normally

That is one very tidy bike. Sounds a bit pricey, but I would probably pay that for a bike that nice if i had the money spare.

Into the wild. Great film, amazing scenes and sad ending. The book is good too.

A change of motorists attitude. Without that change even with more people cycling it will just result in more accidents. There are many motorists who are not that tolerable to other road users, be that cyclists, horse riders, tractors, caravans. Many think they have the right to the road and nobody should be in the way to slow them down.

Surly LHT. Tried touring several times on many different bikes, finally had the money to buy a LHT frame last year, its simply the best bike purhase I have made. Really nice to ride, very comfortable even after 13hrs cycling.

Check out Josie Dew’s book “The wind in my wheels” i seem to remember she cycled around Iceland years ago on a road bike.