mrblobby – do it now whilst it’s still winter, cold and mucky outside (I did mine in November a few years back for this very reason)

About a week before I was back commuting (about 6 miles each way) and 10 days before a 50km epic in the dales. Little sore after that one, but nothing unbearable.

It does vary though – as a mate had about 3 weeks off ‘cos of the tenderness! (Suggesting he just MTFU didn’t seem to work either!)

Anyone?

I’m 6″ and bought the L ones – slightly disappointed as the cut leaves an exposed section on your back. (EDIT) – with a 33″ inside leg

Ta… Hope my current tyres (which were a complete b***h to fit) will do the job then.

Off to order the bits and pieces 🙂

Anyone??

We’ve got a VW Touran – which was 4 years old when bought at the top end of your budget. Great as a smaller MPV with 3 proper seats for childseats – twins mean’t the car HAD to be able to get 2 Class 0 & 1 Class 1 seats in. The seats in the boot fold flat into the floor – and thus no spare tyre, but no reduction in boot space. Need to be a child to sit in them though!
We test drove the Galaxy – and it was a close run thing. Galaxy has more space but Mrs Sheeps didn’t like the ride (felt bigger?!).

BUT (and don’t hate me) but 3 years into 3 children and bikes and camping kit etc. we’re thinking of going down the T5 route!

http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/us/grand-depart-yorkshire.html#t2

Yes… message me at robdot28639+sheepsatgmaildotcom

I believe that the Contractor’s pricing the job were ‘taking the p*ss’ knowing that the works had to be completed for the TDF. So they’ve put the works on hold to renegotiate the price.

On Wednesday was still a puddle-fest 🙂

Always wanted a Chas Roberts Dogs Bolx, but even I would feel obliged to hide the name from time to time!

I have a D.O.G.S.B.O.L.X. When I had it resprayed, the guy refused to apply the decals with that name! Told me it was offensive!

We were looking at the old Sharon when we bought the Touran – be aware that the old shape is based on a very old design (circa 1999)shared with the SEAT Alhambra and Ford Galaxy with just facelifts and has a NCAP rating of 1 (or maybe even 0) from memory (if those kind of things are important to you).

My OH didn’t like the Alhambra (felt it wallowed and was bus-like) whereas the Touran feels far more car-like.

Can’t compare with the Passat, but the boot area in our Touran (in 5 seat configuration) is good, but given that the Passat & Touran are built on similar floorpans, I’d expect the pan area to be similar. The bonus with the Touran is extra height, especially if you fit a dog-guard to stop the higher level stuff sliding forward and squashing the kids!

Note that in 7 seat configuration the boot space is tiny (maybe only 25 – 30cms deep) and you need to either be a child or loose all feeling in you legs to travel in the back 2 seats!

Next time, we’re buying a van!!

Another recommendation for BCN. Not used it for active tracking (but it can do it), but I’ve overlaid gpx routes planned in mapmyride and then used it as my primary route finding source. Bit scary not going out with an os map in my pocket!

Ps… don’t get greedy and try and download the whole of northern england and Scotland unless you have a massive capacity on your phone memory. Be selective and be prepared to deleted surplus areas.

daft question (because I’m thinking about tubeless for my new wheels (ZTR Crest rims) – do you need tubeless specific tyres – or can any tyres be made to work with the right kit?

Gorple Stones

Ah…just twigged who the op is… We’ve already had this conversation Will.. just get it sent!! Rob

I had this exact issue on my Superlight. Sent it to betd with a new bearing cup, and they helicoiled it (or some such) and by fitting the bottom bracket they warranty the fix.

All seems fine 6 months on

Oh… and they fitted metal spacers as mentioned above

Its called Chum

Stainless Steel 6001RS bearings – to correct the wobble in my rear hub 😀

+1 for Torchy – got a Solarstorm X2 lamp only from ebay (Hong Kong) and a battery off Torchy – has worked flawlessly

Loop round Cross Fell – Dufton – over Cross Fell to north side – Garrigill – Tynehead -Cow Green Res. – High Cup Nick – Dufton

maybe slightly on the short side (think it comes up about 65km) but true wilderness riding.

For a budget take somewhere between £1000/m² & £1200/m² depending on the level of finish (based on experience in Yorkshire) – I suspect that down in that there south you could somewhere nearer slackalice’s figure

Shame… thanks

Back in the saddle after 7 days (gentle commuting) and a 40km off-road epic 10 days after the op…. but a mate was off completely for about 3 weeks. Just depends on how much bruising etc.

I’ve got 2 on-one tensioners (I know you said not online, but they’re fairly generic and I’m sure a LBS could source something similar). One on a singlespeed, one on an alfine 8. Bith work with no issues, no chain slippage etc. with good tension

IanW

Has the canal path now been made a cycle path?

The plan is that it will be tarmac’d all the way to Shipley. They’ve done the section to Kirkstall already, and are starting the next 16 miles to Shipley in February to be complete by July in time for the TDF. (Just to make people think Leeds is cycling friendly – honest!) More info here http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/consultations/current-consultations

edlong

Nah, I used to commute in London, it was far, far worse there

London drivers at least seem to expect cyclists – whereas Leeds drivers seem to be constantly surprised that there are other people on the road with them (not to mention the complete and utter disregard to the red bit of traffic lights)

Nipper 360… recently redesigned to make it narrower. Ours has seen 3 years of hard graft (twins) and still looks like new

And once you put the latex in the tyre, its new tyre time. Had a touran for 3 years now (3 kids under 5). Good car, good mpg for its size, but often wish I’d bought sonething bigger!

GET A PROFESSIONAL TO DO IT… My father got Mesothelioma from a botched removal (by others) in the 1980’s… didn’t manifest itself until 2007 – died within 2 years. Sorry to be morbid, but it is very dangerous stuff and you can not know for years whether you’ve got problems from exposure.

I was back on the bike 10 or 12 days later for a big ride around Dent. Good quality shorts are a must!! A little tender after 40km, but nothing an evening in the pub didn’t sort out!

I had it recently on my superlight and it had stripped the threads in the frame as well. Advice from the forum collective was that it was due to plastic spacers allowing flex in the BB shell combined with the short length of thread on the Hope cups. Fortunately BETD were able to repair the frame and recommended alloy spacers – just be careful not to damage the frame when tightening up the cups.

We got a 14″ Ridgeback for our eldest when he was about 3 (before that on a Puky balance bike) and he just wasn’t bothered at all – preferred his balance bike ‘cos he could ride that! By the time he got round to riding the pedal bike, nearer 4 yr old, he very quickly graduated onto the 16″ Ridgeback.

The Ridgeback’s are certainly heavier than the Isla’s but reasonable kit for the price (always coming up 2nd hand on ebay) so not wallet breaking to upgrade as they grow.

(I’ve got 2 smaller ones who are rapidly approaching wanting bikes as well, so it not quite a one in one out policy!)

Thanks z1ppy (and the others)… as you say the price is about the same, and I similarly didn’t feel it was an overly ‘plasticy’ feel either, seeing as it will most probably go in a case anyway (clearly it’s not quite the metal iPad feel, but its cheaper and more importantly NOT AN APPLE! (we have iPad’s at work, and I’m clearly not an Apple OS person)).

I think the screen size issue is going to win, and I’ll press buy on the Samsung.

I got asked about whether a GPS unit (which has a built in, non-removable Li-on battery) I was returning had a Lithium Ion battery in it… and the way the question was phrased suggested that if I said yes, they would refuse to take the parcel. I lied! The unit got to it’s destination and back again (again with Royal Mail) without catching fire or anything!!

I’ve got the swap-out frame (previous incarnation). As mentioned, not the lightest frame/ bike in the world, but makes a good commuting/ touring/ general dogs-body bike.

Mines built up with an Alfine hub, dropped bars (bit of an filing edit with the swifter to make it fit on the wider road bars) Mini-V brakes, and the obligatory ‘don’t get a wet backside’ mudguards for commuting. 30mm slick tyres – could get a pair of 32mm in at a push without the mudguards.

Couple of downsides – the arrangement of the rear stays (on the swap-out frame) and the disc mount mean that fixing my Burley trailer has required an new drop-out bracket rather than the frame fix one, and fixing a Blackburn rack (which is needed for a specific child-seat) requires a bit of the rack tube to be trimmed to fit – if you don’t have kids this will all mean nothing and/or be irrelevant!!

If you want a reliable, stable commuter etc. just press the buy button!

Our Touran (2.0l, 140boy variant) does high 40’s mpg when being sensible, low 40’s when not being tutted at from the passenger seat. 6&7th seats needs small people with sshort legs… Definitely not for 6ft adults if you want to use your legs again
Expensive to fix, but holds value well and telescope solidly built than the s-max

Thanks… A call to Argos cycles in the morning then (unless anyone knows of something similar slightly further north – like Yorkshire)

And the answer is no! having adopted the havinalaff 143mm wood template approach, a 57mm shock will result in the rear triangle brace hitting the back of the seat tube.

So… it has to be 200×50 – of which I have just found a cheap one on CRC 🙂

havinalaff… I like your thinking. Can see what I’m going to be doing this evening in the cellar 🙂

ta