I put 20×1.5″ Marathons on ours and even with mudguards there was still plenty of room.

Also had some Schwalbe Mad Mike 20×1.75″ (linky) for a while, which worked well offroad.

That Felt looks good value and there’s nothing wrong with a square taper BB and 9 speed gearing – the Sora shifters are rebadged version of the previous generation Tiagra, which are great. The gaps will be fine, having the low gears is more important. You can replace it with a closer cassette e.g. 12-27 later.

The difference in tyres is neither here nor there, you can fit 25mm or 28mm tyres on most road bikes.

Signed.

This is truly shocking behaviour.

I caught up with and chatted with another cyclist for a couple of miles while riding home on Friday. At least two drivers honked because we rode 2-abreast on a mile or so of wide, mostly straight section of the old A5 near Shrewsbury. The last one turned into a side road just after passing and got out of his black BMW shouting abuse and ordering us to stop. We waved and rode on, I told him he should read the Highway Code. I’m beginning to think that people like that need a good kicking as unfortunately they wouldn’t listen to a rational argument and you can’t trust the Plod 🙁

Bontrager Hardcase? (road.cc review)

Commuted and raced TTs on them for over a year, tough as you like. JE James and All Terrain have all sizes.

Polaris Leon is a nice jersey.

Giro Bravo Jr gloves look nice (review), my son had a pair of Polaris Controller mitts that were cheap and did the job fine.

Have used ebay and http://www.justjuniorscyclewear.co.uk/

Same thoughts on City Jet as jamiep except I had 6 or 7 deflations in ~10,000 miles, which I guess isn’t too bad (gone through 2 pairs and part-worn a third in that time). Each time a nail or small shard of glass got through the protection layer. It appears to be a bit on the lean side compared to the Marathon tyres.

Now running 26×1.5″ Marathon Racer and liking them.

Rothan, Cnoc and Beinn 20 to date (and Beinn 24 coming soon), all brilliant and head and shoulders above the competition. Rothan and Cnoc both were sold locally for not much less than we paid for them. Isla puts so much effort into the designs and cares passionately about kids riding bikes, and it’s a real pleasure to deal with them.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing cheap(er) bikes, but we have a Ridgeback MX20 and Raleigh Krush 20″ girl’s bike in the garage, both picked up for naff-all, and the differences are striking.

It’s funny how people who plonk a load of cash on bikes, gear, cars, smartphones etc get sniffy about spending £200-300 on a top quality bike for their kids.

This might help:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/long-mynd-bbs-and-tech-level#post-4528472

If you’re comfortable with it then get the same again.

I use a Series 2 D-lock with 4 foot cable when I leave my bike in town for any length of time. For popping to the shops I use a £5 combination lock.

R650 are supposed to be better than R450/R451 but cost more (similar to Ultegra vs Tiagra groupset level).

Edit: Tektro R539 currently £35/pair at Parker – black or silver.

Lezyne Mini Drive for £26 – no contest!

The only downside of it is 1hr run time on full power so mine needs plugging into USB frequently, but it’s kicking out 150 lumens, good for pitch black lanes. Better built than the Cateye and much better brackets too (two separate brackets in pack, for normal and o/s bars).

Micro Drive is £9 more at CRC with better battery life at the same output. It has a rubber bracket which doesn’t look as robust, though I’ve not tried one.

My local dealer has a bunch of Arcam Solo Mini deals that would tempt me if I was looking for something. Don’t know if it lights your fire…
http://www.creative-audio.co.uk/

Short video tribute from Red Bull:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/01/mtb/must-watch-red-bull-pays-tribute-to-burry-stander_270671

If an iPod playlist through the PA isn’t adequate (you did say it’s a race, not a rave) why not get a local band that does decent covers? That way you get people who actually play instruments instead of a bloke with a big ego swapping CDs.

Go to Plush Hill Cycles in Church Stretton and ask about suggestions and buy the trail map of the Mynd. It’s broad and flat on top and some approaches are easier than others. Although it’s been wet the Mynd drains better than a lot of places.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/long-mynd-way-marked-trails-or-old-fashioned-map-route
http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/
Singletrack ran a Long Mynd feature recently, issue 69.

The Station Inn at Marshbrook, with Blazing Bikes next door, apparently does nice food and I’ve heard good things about the Bridges in Ratlinghope. Stiperstones Inn is a bit further away but praised for its grub, ales and accomodation.

It did a fair job of replicating the original in its style and storyline, and there is something to be admired in the 200,000 individual drawings, but it didn’t have quite the same magical feel.

The worst aspect was the dreary pop song over the flying scene, it was piss-poor and totally forgettable. No way could it compare with Peter Auty singing Walking In The Air.

There are surely enough clever folk on here with road bikes and/or know lots about them already, but road.cc reviews are worth a look too.

They’re all so good these days. Once you have a price band I’d say it’s a case of choosing one you like the look of and that fits you.

I wouldn’t put names on a kids bike. Say they are down the park and the local weirdo calls them by name the child may think they know them and be more inclined to go with them.

Is that while the 2 y/o is trying to mend a puncture and you’re on the other side of the park buying ice creams?

Perhaps you don’t call your child by their name in public in case a stranger uses it. Weirdo!

BTW never, ever put your child’s name in their coat at school otherwise how will they ever manage to lose it?

😉

Do you need a tough camera or a decent case?

I agree with those who say the 4/3 cameras are still rather chunky. They are a lightweight alternative to SLRs rather than a genuinely pocketable upgrade from a compact. Even the short range kit zooms aren’t tiny, only the pancake primes would be classed as really small.

It may be you’re trying to fit your wants to the platform rather than finding a product that suits you best. And if you have both won’t you then have the dilemma of which to carry? Good luck either way.

I bought a pair of very thin silk inner gloves from ebay:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Silk-Love-Dreams

You get what you pay for. With an Islabike you get it in spades.

Anyone who thinks they’re too expensive should try being 6 or 7 and riding one of those very heavy scaffold pipe jobs with so-called suspension, crap brakes, too-big brake levers, dead-feeling wheels and tyres, 24 gears etc. I bought a Raleigh Krush 20″ for my daughter as a stop-gap before her brother grew out of his Beinn and it was shit. My kids have loved and looked after their Islabikes, each time we’ve sold one we have barely lost anything on it and the customer service is second to none.

It surprises me that people who are happy to spend a good wodge on their cars, bikes, computer games, phones etc yet grudge paying a realistic price for a bicycle simply because it’s smaller. Designing and building wheels, frames and components properly costs money whether it’s adult or child sized.

Another vote for Plush Hill Cycles in the little square in Church Stretton.

Get a copy of the map (small online version here) and take a look at the Long Mynd and Stiperstones routes at http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/ (click on Border Counties).

footflaps – Member

Most of the tablet frenzie has been satiated with the iPad 3 launch, which was only a few months ago….

The mini is just to mop up the lower end of the market at Xmas.
Is £269 “the lower end of the market” for a toy tablet computer? Good grief!

And we’re supposed to be in a recession… ❓

A number of comparisons here:
http://road.cc/content/news/69237-big-roadcc-lights-test-2012

Last year’s less fancy but still useful lights test:
http://road.cc/content/news/46538-big-roadcc-lights-test-data

Cateye’s EL series front lights are crap – been there, done that. Fenix LD20 w/2xAA is an improvement but the velcro bar mount isn’t as good as a proper bracket. Do you have to restrict it to AAs? Lezyne Mini/Power Drive XL? Li-Ion, USB charging (which I think is more convenient).

In increasing order of knobbliness(?) I’d suggest:

Schwalbe Marathon
Schwalbe Land Cruiser
Continental Traffic
Continental Explorer

Bought a 15″ Toshiba from PC World after browsing their website (AKA currys.co.uk). Prices seemed similar to elsewhere.

Have since also bought a USB stick that had much reduced price online (again comparable to mymemory etc) so reserved to collect.

They’re doing maintenance when I checked, the voucher offer on holding page might be worth the effort:
“To receive an exclusive discount with us when next shopping online, register by clicking the button below with your email address. We will send you a discount code within the next 7 days.”

Nick was more than happy to sign autographs immediately after finishing the senior race at National Trophy cyclo-cross at Shrewsbury in January.

[/url]

A bit late now, but next time you’re over there check http://www.hafrencc.com

My 1997 Hahanna has been on commuting duty since 2006, with the occasional tyre swap for some offroading. Just fitted new chainset & front mech so very tempted to fit the knobblies again. Rims are pretty tired and braking is awful in the wet/mud but I still love it.

What do you want, sympathy??

You are the adult, take some responsibility.

If nothing else I suggest you at least look at your saved passwords list etc. and consider whether a 6 year old should be surfing the ‘net with no-one paying any attention. You wouldn’t (I hope) let them play with knives, cross the road or walk through town alone, so what’s the difference?

Next week they’ll find that load of soft porn you downloaded 2 years ago and click the link…

There’s no substitute for adequate supervision.

Yeah, cassette tapes, TDK C90s (CrO2 if you were feeling flush) with painstakingly sequenced compilations and hand-written track listings.

@binners, there is a small army of people who still use b+w enlargers, film and paper, much of it made by Ilford. Unlike slide projectors, and this stuff.

Cowgum! A friend of mine, now retired, used Cibachrome prints from slides, Letraset and Cowgum to create proofs for book covers and magazine artwork.

My dad had a Gestetner and a hefty long-carriage typewriter. When the Amstrad PCW arrived (1986?) he didn’t need the red correction fluid.

Wouldn’t microfiche readers be needed for existing newspaper and museum archives?

Vinyl’s not dead: http://www.whathifi.com/news/vinyl-sales-increase-55-in-2011

Fax machine is still used at my work, mainly for net-phobic farmers who leave all paperwork to the last minute (especially paying invoices).

Don’t know if this helps:

Allez Sport compact (52cm)
Defy 2 (XS and XL only)

Both £599 at My LBS (and no, I’m not on commission).

Edit: Giant say XS is 42cm seat tube and 52cm top tube. XS fits me well at 5’4″.

http://www.davemellorcycles.com/products.asp?l1=BIKE&l2=ROAD&l3=DROP

Ah well I know now – I’ll cancel the Mac purchase

You’re only delaying the inevitable 😉

Enduro bikes are great if you have the places to take them like mid Wales. Otherwise you could get frustrated and just chew up footpaths.

I’d second the suggestion to look at a trials bike.

Isla Rowntree runs single ring mostly. In the Midlands Champs at Sundorne both 1st and 2nd – fellow Stourbridge CC riders Hannah Payton and Louise Robinson – were too. Isla was 4th behind Lucy Garner.

@xcneil, how did you find the course at Sundorne?

njee20 – Member

Look at the area of an SPD cleat and an SPD-SL cleat. No more support?

I looked at both and have ridden on both A520s and 105s. I also find the SPDs easier to clip in and out of.

Your experience/conclusion and mine may not be identical, I can live with that.

StefMcDef – Member

Is there anything proper road pedals do that A520s don’t do, apart from shave off a trifling few grams?

I think 105 pedals are a similar weight to the A520s, and Ultegra/Dura-Ace aren’t much lighter (though your wallet will be).

The A520s do a pretty good IME. The only slight gain with SPD-SLs is that there isn’t any play once you are clipped in (my SPDs click a bit as I lift my foot but increasing spring tension helps with this).

Unlike mudshark, I think the road pedals are less easy to clip into and don’t appear to offer any more support than the A520s.

You’ll have to make do with a Shropshire Lad.

“Make do”?!? 😯

There’s no shortage of small breweries in the county – Shropshire Lad brewer Wood Brewery[/url] is just down the road and there is Corvedale as well as those further afield like Salopian, Ironbridge, Ludlow or Six Bells. Definitely no need to import that other stuff.

Lovely cake at Carding Mill, don’t forget.

I’d go the scenic route via Kiddy and Bridgnorth or even A4117 over Clee Hill. Probably a little slower but I guess you know what the M5/M6 interchange can be like…

Plush Hill Cycles [/url]have the trail map in hard copy and here, and the ST mag article helps paint a good picture of the terrain.

Spoilt for choice of start points but if Stretton centre or Carding Mill you’ll not be far from cake. The road to Minton is pretty quiet IIRC.