Aren't Bicycles Great.

MABLE

MABLE wrote: »

I bought a Carrera sulcate cycle about 1 month ago and at first brilliant. Then I found the chain started coming off. The last time I was about 4 miles from home and wheeled it to the nearest Halfords about the same distance. They have discovered that two of the teeth on the crank shaft are slightly bent hence the reason for the problem. They said they are factory made and the fault was there from the beginning. So its lovely weather outside and my cycle is sat in Halfords awaiting for the new part.

UPDATE.

Well after being told by the mechanic the part had not arrived in store and would have to wait I politely asked to speak to a manager. I explained the situation to him and without prompting they took a crank chain set off another new cycle and put on mine. He also said he would ensure the cycle was completely checked over and would ready by 8pm the same day.

After reading some horror reviews on Halfords I thought I would be have an up hill struggle but they were all brilliant.

Retrogamer

My Local Halfords have been pretty good with bike stuff as well recently. They built my Boardman and being cynical and checking over it myself couldn't find anything wrong at all.

Put my mountain bike wheels in to be trued as well as i was getting a wobble shortly after i got it (not from Halfords)
They were honest enough to tell me one didn't need trued and i've done a few hundred miles of heavy use & abuse on the wheel since then and it's been solid since.

I think it's just luck of the draw with how experienced and interested their staff are.

Retrogamer

For the road bike users, when you go out a long cycle what stuff do you take with you and where do you put it all?

Johnmcl7

Retrogamer wrote: »

For the road bike users, when you go out a long cycle what stuff do you take with you and where do you put it all?

I carry two water bottles on the bike and I have a small backpack which I carry a pump, couple of inner tubes, tyre levers, tyre patch kit, snack of some sort, allen keys, arm warmers/jacket (depending on conditions) and sometimes a camera.

This is the backpack I use:

http://evocsports.com/bike/performance-backpacks/joyride-4l

I got it in a sale and even then it seemed overpriced but I really like it, I previously either cycled with a bigger backpack or nothing at all. The latter was obviously a risk anyway but it was a pain not being able to take my jacket off or put it on as conditions can change quite a bit over a ride. What I like about this backpack is it's very small and light and sits up more on my shoulders rather than hanging off my back and despite the small size I can easily get all the stuff I want packed.

John

brat

Retrogamer wrote: »

For the road bike users, when you go out a long cycle what stuff do you take with you and where do you put it all?

I'm usually only out to cycle, so I travel light. I have a small saddlebag of about 0.3 litres, which holds a tube, repair pads, a chain splitting multitool, a chain link, some wire and cable ties. I also have three pockets in each of my jerseys or jackets which carry a mini pump, two tyre levers, phone, debit card, £10 note, house key and the appropriate number of squares of flapjack. I'll also often carry a gilet or windproof jacket in a back pocket for a little extra insulation incase I have an extended stop for a mechanical. Other than that, a water bottle or two depending on distance and temperature.
Recently I've slung my GoPro session on a chest mount. I have a lightweight front and rear flasher, and my Garmin Forerunner 910XT on an out front mount.


That's my lot!

esuhl

Retrogamer wrote: »

For the road bike users, when you go out a long cycle what stuff do you take with you and where do you put it all?

I have a mountain bike, although I tend to ride it on the road mostly (during the six-months of winter, anyway).

I have panniers, and have some tools in a washbag-sized camera bag. It contains a puncture repair kit, multitool, tyre levers, pump, spare batteries (as I use lights 24/7 on the road), and a £1 coin for an emergency can of Coke or phone call.

I often carry extra water (only room for two bottles on my bike) and clothes if I think I'll need them (a jumper, rainproof jacket, zip-on arms/legs for my windproof jacket and trousers).

Keep_pedalling

Retrogamer wrote: »

For the road bike users, when you go out a long cycle what stuff do you take with you and where do you put it all?

Depends on the weather conditions. I have a 115km ride on Saturday, and it is going to be cold, with possibilities of rain, and some parts of the ride will be on pot holed roads with a lot of rubbish washed of the Norfolk fields. I will be riding my reliable steel tourer, carrying 2 water bottles in their cages, one of which will have a pump mounted as well. A bar bag will contain essentials like money, mobile, energy bars and car keys. No panniers, but my saddlebag will have lightweight waterproof top, overshoes, small cafe lock, multi-tool, tyre levers, 2 spare tubes and adhesive patches.

On my fair-weather carbon bike there would be no bar bag, and just a small bag under the seat, which would contain spare tubes, multi-tool, patches and a thin windproof. Waterbottles and pump carried on the frame, snacks and keys carried in back pocket.

The only other things I take is a handlebar mounted Garmin GPS unit, and if I am on unfamiliar roads a route sheet for backup.

Johnmcl7

I tend to keep much the same with me when road biking or mountain biking although I change over the inner tube, the super skinny tyres on the road bike obviously need tiny inner tubes compared to the monstrous tubes the fat bike uses. I was doing a ten hour endurance race at trail centre which was hard going on the fat bike as it's fast and hard so I was running the tyres low to soak up the bumps but at higher risk of puncture. That was fine as I had a spare inner tube on my backpack with me the whole time.

Except I didn't as the next week when I was out it turned out I'd never changed the inner tube over so the whole time I had a road bike inner tube which would have been useless. Thankfully after getting a few rim strikes I decided to take the pressure up a bit and didn't get any punctures.

John

Johnmcl7

Trek have surprisingly announced not one but two full suspension fat bikes, this type of bike does exist already but even in the fat bike community they're rare beasts. Trek have been focusing on more trail optimised fat bikes including a seemingly insane all carbon super light fat bike for a hefty £3,500 which has apparently been a good seller.

The idea of massive fat bike traction mixed with full suspension is more than a little tempting as my rigid fat bike has taken all my PR's off the FS 29er but aside from the weight and cost, my main concern was that sort of speed could be dangerous and I've already got a 29+ hardtail as a summer bike.

I decided the weather was good enough to take it out for its first spin and it's quite an odd bike, it feels like a nippy 29er hardtail but with ridiculous amounts of grip, It could still fly through mud with ease and when chasing behind a 29er hardtail, their bike was sliding around on the corners as the rider tried to keep it upright while mine had no such issues. Even being held up on the first two thirds of the trail, I sliced nearly 30 seconds off my best time which was a surprise although going down I was alternating between thinking wow this bike is fast and is this too fast, it's going to hurt if I crash.

I need to experiment a bit with tyre pressure as even with them dropped they weren't that soft and the bike was slower on the cross country trails but seems a good start. And put the FS fat bike idea to bed as I suspect I'd seriously injure myself on one.



Great night for a ride as well, quite still and mostly dry - it's good to get back into enjoying and looking forward to MTB rides again. There's obviously a lot of physical benefits to cycling but what's rarely mentioned are the mental benefits, nothing clears my head better than getting out for a good cycle and just forgetting about whatever crap is going on at work or similar.

John

[Deleted User]

I ve just bought a virtually new ( Ebay buy ) 8kg carbon framed racing bike at only £600. It looks like Planet X are changing the face of UK cycling by making these exotic framed beauties available for extremely low prices. Even new they are not more than £1100. The days of the 4k and more rip off bikes are numbered. The groupset on it is nt tat neither being Sram Force all round. Its a dream and a pleasure to ride but it does highlight the state of UK roads.Even out in the countryside the roads are pot holed a lot especially on the inside. Well done Planet X