some of them don’t work with foreign bank cards.

…this used to be very common but I’ve not found it much of a problem in recent years personally if you’ve Visa or Mastercard.

Isn’t Chip & Pin a European standard now?

My tip is the Carrefour at Reims Tinqueux, right off the Autoroute, if you’re in a diesel car you should be able to fill up there and make it all the way to Morzine.

Pretty sure there’s 24/7 card machines there too…

managed to get the overall quote down pretty much to where it was before by upping our excess, so given the good stories about their service we’re sticking with them, only mildly grumpy about it now 😐

as the guys above, have you not seen how dry it is out in the Peak? not much rain forecast either this week… 😯

Blaka Moor/Dore Drops – three bridleway decents of the muddy singletrack variety rather than the rocky stuff in the rest of the peaks.

…it’s really not that muddy on Blacka anymore as there’s been a lot of trail improvement works done, some of it’s been a bit sanitized but still good, also it should be drying out nicely with this weather we’re having, crackin’ flags in Sheff 😉

no-one has still actually said where it is

It’s really very easy to find as it’s the only bridleway up and over the tops for miles around, just look on a OS map…

very occasional non-lycra weekend riding

…you’ll soon get hooked once you’ve tried it…

I got myself a Defy last year after seeing a lot about and reading a lot of reviews, several hundred miles later I’m still loving it. Get yourself a test ride and see what you like but you won’t go rough with a Giant at that kind of price point

when I was a kid and the Cold War was still very real I used to live close enough to Menwith Hill that I never had to worry about surviving the first Nuclear Wave 😕

…I know who sold that suit, doubt he’ll come anywhere near a mountain bike forum though so I won’t tell him you’re being mean about it

Just looking closer at your route there, you can go through the Park to Hunter’s Bar and straight down Ecclesall Road rather than up and round a bit as you’d first got, easier run after a long ride:

Link

Flat pedals and drops?

…indeed, toe clips, straps and nailed on cleats are what you want on that

yep that’s it, the other suggestion’s something like this, although I got a bit vague in the woods…

Good suggestion too Jon, puts you on the slow train back to Manchester but no great shakes.

Porter Clough is “Clough Lane”, you can find it on Google Maps, from there the City Centre is signposted on those blue cycle signs

I’m also wondering whether a steel frame needs a more traditional bottle cage than a composite one…

I was feeling quite pleased having done the Etape du Dales yesterday,

now feeling inadequate…

I’d have said 30 mile-ish in hilly terrain, 50 if it’s flat would be a good start, that should be about 2 hours without putting him off…

back on yourself from Cut Throat Bridge to the Ladybower Inn, towards Ladybower Dam up the road (next left) from above Yorkshire Bridge, over Stanage, down past Redmires Reservoirs, next right, right again up the short sharp road, then down Porter Clough “the Parks” route into Sheff to Hunter’s Bar then down into town would be what I’d do…

edit: tyres – valves – logos – aligned – not

+1, also custom and practice to align your cranks with the seat tube for photos and position your pedals horizontally 😉

If it’s a 2008 that’s before they slackened off the head angle so you can 160 travel fine, it won’t “mess up the handling”

question is whether you’re happy with what you’ve got ‘cos longer forks will slacken the front end a bit

just ask them, it’s not like they’re a big faceless international organization 😉 …

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Sorry to those touting stems above but that offer at Merlin was too good 🙂 added to basket!

Thanks folks

should have posted this in for sale or wanted 😀

Interested in that Thomson, tomglass20 YGM

X4 and Havoc look to be 50mm and the Haven 55mm, not that fussed to be honest, not like I’m trying to hone my time trial position 😉

My Gravity Dropper does the job and is dead easy to service. A bit heavy and a bit industrial in styling but works well

as Bikingcatastrophe says there’s a fair bit of variation in size of the cars being discussed!

Octavias are one of the biggest of the smaller estates, Passats being based on the same platform I’d say more one of the smaller of the medium sized ones, they’re both actually based on a modified Golf base, but the Golf estate’s tiny (and very over priced!) it’s all a little subjective!

Rear wheel drive BMWs have less height, the 3s alright in side the cabin but the boot isn’t very big, 5s much bigger but you pays your money for a decent one.

If you can get on with the size of the Mondeo I hear really good things about them, I loved my old Focus (the last generation) but the new one’s too small.

(e.g. XC60, Q5, Discovery) any good for biking?

…motorway fuel economy is what puts me off that kind of vehicle, as well as lugging around a lot of 4×4 technology I don’t really need!

Mountain biking tends to lend it self to big road trips and I drive down to the south of France a couple of times a year, so never really looked into them

Unless you live in Swansea then surely Cwmcarn’s on most people’s way home? 😉

Really rather liked Cwmcarn when we went but it’s not that long so probably not worth a full day, but well worth a visit

New shape Mondeo estate…is huge

Yep, it is indeed!

It really was too big, and especially wide, when I looked at it, depends where you have to park regularly, with the narrow Victorian streets where I live I just didn’t feel I could live with it

Until everyone here has made me paranoid about the electronic parking brake on my Passat I’d have highly recommended it!

Apart from not coming off automatically on slippery surfaces (snow, wet grass) mine’s been alright and much better than one on a hired Insignia I’d driven.

50 mpg + easily, been down to the south of France twice very comfortably and effortlessly, the 2.0l 140bhp manual version has the CO2 at 120g/km so £30 a year tax!

The boot lip is a bit annoying compared to my old Focus and the load space isn’t that tall so you can’t stand a bike up vertically with it’s wheels off like I could in my old Focus. The new Focus has gone smaller which is a shame and the jump up to the gargantuan Mondeo was too much for me.

Yes Rob, I’ve been around these parts for many years!

Report posted earlier, surprisingly alright out there actually

off for a reccy very shortly up Houndkirk and Blacka, expecting to get wet and cold 🙁

…shall report back later unless totally p*****d off by the experience

I hear Houndkirk and Blacka are okay, about to go and check in a hour or so.

Looking at the forecast I’d stay at home in front of the fire if I was you.

We managed an impressive 9 miles in 2 hours yesterday on the edge of the Peak, there’s a fair bit of snow out there and with more snow forecast tomorrow followed by heavy rain and a thaw Saturday through to Sunday I’d written this weekend off for riding…

If you fancy going out for the “experience”, have fun 😀

I’d allow 20 mins in 45 mins back for the first few runs and sure you’ll soon have it down to sub 15 and sub 30 after a few weeks. Kind of assuming a reasonably sensible bike and not a DH rig!

I prefer the bigger roads with the bus lanes like Chesterfield Road to some of the smaller ones as there is more space for cars to pass

funny, reading this there may be a reason we have so many good climbers in Sheffield if a lot of the rest of the country doesn’t let the under fives on the walls!

Start ’em young, but to be honest my eldest really got much more in to it from 7+ as she was tall enough to reach stuff. When routes are set for adults it can be a bit limiting for little ones, if you can find somewhere like The Works in Sheff they have kids stuff set up

having just ridden back from town in the rain and having a nice dry arse I’d fit proper mudguards like the SKS Chromoplastic ones on my Rat and save the aesthetics for the summer (or the proper road bike!)

get past the aesthetics

…it’s going on a Five, I can’t see this being an issue 😉

It just works , very simple design, nicely made and hasn’t gone wrong.

…sounds like it’ll compliment my Five nicely then 🙂

…on the plus side the kids love making castles, buses, space ships out of them 😀