I’ve done this and had this done to me occasionally and I don’t see it as a problem. As long as you are confident riding close to someone and back off appropriately when it gets dicey there should be no problems.

duck tape.

I must admit I don’t get why people think its boring. Sure its quite old skool kool XC riding but doesn’t everyone knows that already? I found a few bits of fun singletrack along the way and also fast double track. The decent into Jovington is seriously quick and perhaps a bit dangerous when the light is fading fast :O

Maybe riding it on a STW approved orange 5 is boring… ;)

DrP, I would probably be up for that if I am not busy. Either doing the whole thing or just a part of it depending how I feel and how hot it is.

I found the heat on friday was horrible and completely wrecked several hours of my ride. :(

Well thanks for the advice everyone. I managed to complete it but used about 5 miles of road down from jovington at the end. In the end I got the last train home with 5 (!) changes at 9:35. I think I was hitting about 40+ coming into East Dean and touching on 40 coming into eastbourne. All I saw of eastbourne was rapidly moving tarmac and a train station!

I would do it at night but A) I would cack my pants and B) I dont know the route well enough. perhaps in future though.

Great info m1kea. Thanks.

I have the recommended map for the SDW but yes navigation is a bit troublesome at times by the sounds of things.

My fitness is a bit odd at the minute. I would say I am at my fittest lately and also mentally understand when to back off a lot better. 2 weeks ago I spent a week mtbing in the Yorkshrie Mooors and the week before that I spent 4 days in france clocking 70 miles a day on the road bike with many cat 4 climbs. Unfortunately the week I got back from yorkshire I got horrendously ill with Man Flu and so have only commuted to work twice in the last two weeks and done no other cycling. Tapering done wrong me thinks :/.

Okay this kid is a complete retard because he did something outside the norm and used some initiative. Great stuff. We should even punish the child for the parents lack of parenting skills and for the fact he managed to deceive many people who are all excellent at their jobs.

Brilliant. What a smart little bugger.

Exactly as IHN says. You can make it look nice and neat if you take your time. Think I took about 10-15 minutes and unfortunately don’t have a bridge on that fork as its rigid. Mine was actually made from a fairly hefty and thick piece of plastic. A milk bottle would have been better though!

I also didn’t have colour coordinated zip ties :(

The milk bottle mudguard fashioned after my Mucky Nutz one. Does work fairly well even though its not as close to the wheel.

Don’t understand that. If it has the dropouts/eccentric bb it wont matter.

I agree with mrchrispy. My next door neighbour is a curtain twitcher and knows EVERYTHING that happens on the street but shes a lovely lady and as a result if you have a problem she knows who to go to.

What if the conservatory is built shit and pulls both houses down? How would you like it to happen to you.

If you hate your job that much go become a street sweeper or something.

How do you know hes not telling the truth?

I do like your username.

Afraid I think your only option is to google a lot. Could be a lot of things which are impossible to diagnose without seeing a car.

I am no expert but I think Engine Oil light is …well only for engine oil levels unlike other things. You could have a leak!

have you checked there is enough oil ?

I find there is mild aerodynamic benefit on moderate gradients and also its a psychological thing tyo just follow someone else. You dont have to fret about your own HR/power. You either can or can’t follow them.

The torque app is quite useful. Costs about 13 quid including the OBD adapter and can read/clear fault codes and does various other cool thinfgs.

Simply fantastic!

French road riding is twice as good as british! Get it done!

You can’t talk about Debt and then say that we aren’t counting mortgages. Mortgage debt is still debt but as others have suggested its more “good” debt than “bad”.

I have a 115k mortgage left, a 0% credit card paid off in full each month (i use it for the benefits it provides) and will have around 13k of student loans in a years times.

I wish I had realised how cheap my student debt would be as its cheaper than my mortgage. I could have moved the mortgage debt to the student debt and saved myself quite a bit of interest in a few years time.

I use Deore mtb cranks and never notice any flex and they aren’t even that heavy. The frame flexes before the cranks on my bikes.

Yeah its amazing what cars you can get for the money especially if you look outside the usual MUST BE LESS THAN FIVE YEARS OLD OR ITS SHIT mentality.

you can pick up high spec volvos/mercs/bmws etc etc that are 10 years old with FSH and in great conditions for 1k.

oh my word…! Its not even that far from me!

VAG diesel 6-12 years old would suit you perfectly for high mileage low price motoring.

URG I was planning to do the SDW on saturday. Don’t really want to be caught up in the masses though. I was planning to start nice and early around 6pm :( Not early enough by the looks of things!

They are Rotor Q-rings. They have the extra teeth 90 degrees out from where biopace had them so they actually work unlike biopace.

Depends on the wallpaper to be honest. If its seriously patterned I wouldn’t. If its one of those indeterminate very small bobbly patterns it would probably work.

cheers

Is there any reason you haven’t considered the skoda superb. Im biased but skodas are very nice…:D Slightly more sensible servicing/insurance costs and basically the same cars if a tad less refined.

With any car my opinion is FSH is king, end of story.

I think you shouldn’t buy it. Also ANY car goes fast enough to kill yourself. You just have to remember to be light on the throttle in a car like that. I find in my diesel octavia a slight blip of the throttle sees it speeding and its not really that powerful an engine. Atleast in an underpowered car it takes a good few seconds to be speeding when in the correct gear.

I would be hesitant of buying a BMW after the recent stories i’ve heard regarding their reliability. I would go for a Audi estate. Big boot, very comfy aswell and built upon the golf platforms generally so pretty reliable. You can usually use vw/skoda parts for cheaper stuff :)

stans crests + nobby nics here. Run them in wales with no problem. I don’t see why people moan about the sidewalls on them. Are you grinding them all the floor or something ?

DGAF

on my octavia tdi i could spin the wheels with michelin primary hps in THIRD gear on a damp road. Replaced with Uniroyal rainexpert and now i can barely spin the wheels in first in similar conditions.

My advice is get some rain tyres or 4 seasons tyres of reasonable quality. Mine were about £67 a corner fully fitted at my workplace from event tyres.

Get some reviews of tyres for YOUR car from other owners and go with whatever fits your budget after shopping around.

Its fantastic to see such an old frame still being used and enjoyed. Shows that decent design and materials will outlast others.

I just bought my first aluminium frame in 5 years and I hope it lasts 5 let alone 17! My original inbred frame is a bit …holey in the top tube department from powder coating.

I have 2 1/2 sets of hayes stroker trails/carbons. Fantastic brakes. Easy reach adjustment and as others have said great power and I find the feel is pretty good. My hayes stroker rydes were like pulling a level/caliper made of wood though. avoid them bad boys.

The fact your are interested in joining him shows you clearly want to give it a go. A lot of men drag their wives/gfs into it and just put them off. I think if you do start riding you should try and go out on your own aswell…

I would second TJs advice on the tandem. I’ve just bought one and its maiden voyage (for us) is on wednesday. I’m quite experienced but she isn’t so I’m going to have to really hold back so as to not put her off.

wider front always. If tyres are equal tread but you have more grip at the rear and are on the edge of traction what do you think will happen when you lose traction? Bang front wheel washes out rather than rear going and you losing speed then regaining control.

Also suspension on the rear? why not just stand up and let the bike deal with it whilst you use your arms/legs as suspension?