I don’t think national curriculum based childrens training scheme followed by a mandatory cycling version of the CBT at 18 or over would be a bad thing – we have all seen novice cyclist’s putting themselves in danger

This would have to hand in hand with automatic ‘at fault’ presumption on the part of the motorist and of course proper cycle lane management

what a utopia that would be

BUT

These days the insurance companies rule the world and as with pet insurance, gap insurance etc etc we know that it would be a short step to private medical insurance refusing to pay out for un-insured cyclists, cyclists not wearing helmets etc. Problem is this will probably come in anyway now we are firmly in the spotlight

That thought has occurred to me but I think i’d be happier with something I can open wide in an emergency – plus my windows have the easy clean system so that wouldn’t work either.

I’ve just ordered a Jack Loc for the youngest one’s bedroom as she has a bunk bed right by the window and these seemed to get good reviews

As I said….

“seem to be loads of different things on the market – anyone have a favourite?”

there are 48 items on that link! I was wondering if people had experiance of a particular design that worked well

Front suspension
Rear suspension
Disc’s

Everything else is fluff

i used a trailgator on my cube single pivot loads of times – just pumped up the shock a bit to restrict movement – afterall its not like you will be doing 6ft drop offs so its hardly going to move

In a similar vein to the original post, I have just finished War and Peace (Tolstoy)..much easier to read than I thought it would be and as finely crafted as any book I’ve ever read – literally flew through it which is not really what I was expecting!

In fact I’m suprised JJ don’t have a Jersey – wasn’t Mike into biking?

Carter and Neds are still going?????????? Jeez, Fruitbat must be old enough for a bus pass – they weren’t that young in their heyday and that was 20+ years ago… and surely Neds only has two songs?

Now Jesus Jones on the other hand….

+1 on what Will said – especially the harsh ride typical of cheap 7005 framesets

I use a Charge Juicer mid for winter riding now and it has a very traditional look and ride – Tange Prestige tubes make for a comfortable ride over crap broken winter road surfaces. Its still heavy though and comes with comedy policeman’s bike mudguards but for £500-600 odd quid (its always on offer somewhere) with full Tiagra and shimano wheels it does the business

The Pixies one is a cool design – but £70…………….

Is the 8 better value? I’m looking at the forks, brakes, groupset and wheels and thinking £130 isn’t much of a difference in price for the upgrades to that lot…

However I am now thinking that the xc replica with a full carbon frame may be even more of a bargain…

I quite enjoyed ‘Le Tour’ by Geoffrey Wheatcroft.
French Revolutions, I couldn’t finish due to having no empathy whatsoever with the author.

Actually, mine points down as per P7Pro even in the correct orientation. ‘Upside down’ its unuseable.

I use mine on a folder – long seatpost and nothing behind it. The light sticks out at right angles and gets continually knocked. When I slide the seat down to fold the light comes off more often then not. Neither of these things happened with my Mars 3. In addition, the light points down too much and cannot be adjusted upwards. Furthermore it can’t be clipped on my rucksack, seat pack or rain jacket. How is this “a cool little deisgn”?

Yes, I could spend another £17.99 on a charger plus batts. But then I could have spent zero if the light used AA’s as I have (like most people) many of them and an existing charger. Again, a bad design idea.

I admit however that i’ve now used the light in a few deluges and it hasn’t let any water in!

Not sure where you are but I have a Hamax Siesta (Orange) or the non reclining one (silver), both in good nick for sale. I’m in South east or London.

But who can tie the tightest Bullscock![/url]

Not used a Flash but I have unfortunately bought a Flare…..

Very bright for a rear light and small, but totally overpriced and badly designed. The bracket is useless and the light continually gets knocked sideways or even off. It can’t be adjusted but I suspect that is less of a problem for the front. The switch is a crappy in-precise twisty thing which I suspect will start letting in water very soon. To top it all the battery is a non standard expensive camera type, hard to find rechargeable versions and needs a seperate charger.

There are so many good front lights out there that I reckon you could do better.

I view winter boots in the same way as winter tyres for my car or a winter training bike for the road – whilst there is an initial expense, you are using something much better suited for the job and not wearing out your other kit so everything lasts much longer. Overshoes might be initially cheaper but lets face it they don’t last and you are still wearing out your summer shoes so I’m not convinced they are cheaper in the long run, plus they don’t work as well.

Wish my mw80’s had studs on though……..

Depends what you want from it.
Hope 1 is good for commuting as it clips on and off quickly and gives plenty of light plus has a flashing mode for brighter areas with more cars. In addition I can carry a spare battery pack cheaply. Still switches on in my bag though – how difficult is it to design a switch that doesn’t do this? Not very I reckon.

However I wouldn’t use it for offroad night riding – the bracket doesn’t look strong enough and the thing has no warning before it shuts off plus the beam is too narrow and it is too heavy for a helmet mount.

If you go for the hope, i reccomend the vapextech[/url] 30 minute charger and two sets of 2900MAH batts

Ridgeback 601 (I think) from the early-90’s. Got it as an insurance replacement for a very nice Hoo-Koo-e-Koo which was pinched.

cast iron frame made from scaffolding and plastic covered steel groupset. Comedy frame geometry completed the package.

I’ve just gone for a Hope 1 and an Exposure Flare for commuting in London at one end and through country lanes at the other

Thoughts are:

Hope is great as can do flashing mode in city and full beam on country lane downhill, looks well made, takes AA’s so I can have a spare battery pack at the ready but on the downside has fairly rubbish mounting system and still manages to switch on in my bag – why the heck this has to happen in this day and age I don’t know.

On the whole I’d recommend

Exposure Flare is quite bright but has rubbish switch, cheaply made, odd battery size and totally inadequate mounting system that can’t be adjusted, comes off and won’t fit to a backpack or seat bag. Total FAIL and I’d be unhappy if I’d paid £20. At £40 its pure comedy.