Aren't Bicycles Great.

Johnmcl7

I couldn't really transport the fat bike anywhere unfortunately plus it's hard work to pedal anywhere. I went on another tour which started high up where it was a bit cooler and that was fun, this time with a group of four others which was good to be amongst cyclists again. Also realised the bike has the brakes the other way round which explains why they felt weird the last time!

Really nice guy behind the company who seems genuinely into his bikes and took a lot of care with them, he'd decided to standardise on Deore XT and Ultegra although he said it was difficult because he has to buy what he thinks people want rather than what people need. Since there's not much in the way of proper single track he thinks a hard tail is more than enough and he pointed out several parts where the fat bike trumps all thanks to the huge traction allowing it to climb where other bikes need pushed. However he said people want full suspension now and I'm the only one who's ever hired the fat bike for a tour.

He was also great at taking pictures while riding and got some good snaps of the fat bike in action:

brat

Bit of a bump for this thread!

I'm back from France a few days now. It wasn't a cycling holiday, but we took the bikes over anyway. We went to the Vendee, about 25 miles north of La Rochelle. I found a decent 21 mile circuit round Lucon, so gave it some stick in the mornings before the family were up and about. It was reasonably flat (750ft in 21 miles), so kept the average up around the 21mph mark for each ride. Only one wet morning out of the fortnight. 400 miles of cycling and lots of chilling, beach time, meals out, sightseeing and testing the liquid nectar of the region.







Arent Holidays Great! :beer: :j

Johnmcl7

I've not been able to ride the bike for about a month as just after I got back from holiday and keen to get riding again, I somehow damaged my neck. It's happened quite a few times that I wake up and can't turn my neck, I just have to be careful with it and gradually it gets better although it's taken longer this time and there's nothing I can think of that caused it. As I don't know what causes it I've been very careful to introduce activities one at a time now it's better.

Anyway, cracking night here weather wise on Thursday so decided to risk taking the MTB out and no problems after which was a relief. I also gave the chest mount video another go as I'm bad for not playing around with these things first and then them not working properly when I need them, this time with the camera at a roughly 45 degree angle it worked pretty well rather the view of my top tube and cranks I got last time.

A friend had a missing cat so I decided to take the road bike out (it's obviously a lot harder on my back/neck) thinking the bike would possibly be a good option as it's faster than walking but still at a pace you can look around fairly easily. After three and half hours of looping through the estate and some promising sightings that lead to nothing, I called it a night although no neck problems this morning either so I'm quite pleased as I should be able to resume normal cycling.

The hardtail is in the bikeshop to get a dropper post fitted which is something I've been thinking about for a while and can never make my mind up. I fitted a new QR on the seatpost but the damn thing is still slipping no matter how tight I get it (I have it adjusted so it's on the limit where I can close it, any tighter and it can't be closed), I had the same problem with the fat bike but just ended up tightening it right up and not moving it. With the hardtail being a faster bike for trail centres I think it would be beneficial to move my seat up and down so I think it's worth giving the dropper a go particularly as a few friends are keen on them and they're not the sorts to jump on trends.

That probably means I've doomed us all since that's my summer bike

John

Johnmcl7

Got the dropper post fitted and out for a ride:



It feels a bit odd with the seat so low but it's perhaps not as overhyped as I thought it was as it's a lot easier to move the bike around and get your centre of gravity down a bit.

John

armyknife

brat wrote: »

Bit of a bump for this thread!

I'm back from France a few days now. It wasn't a cycling holiday, but we took the bikes over anyway. We went to the Vendee, about 25 miles north of La Rochelle. I found a decent 21 mile circuit round Lucon, so gave it some stick in the mornings before the family were up and about. It was reasonably flat (750ft in 21 miles), so kept the average up around the 21mph mark for each ride. Only one wet morning out of the fortnight. 400 miles of cycling and lots of chilling, beach time, meals out, sightseeing and testing the liquid nectar of the region.
.....

Arent Holidays Great! :beer: :j

Brat and John, nice photos and trips out.

So I think the thread deserves a bump.

Myself, not doing a great deal, just managing the transition from being a utility cyclist to mainly a leisure cyclist.

sierrakilo

Agreed.... lovely photos from Brat and John.

Johnmcl7

I was rather stupidly debating whether to go out for a cycle or not as I had limited time but cracking weather again and once I was out I thought I'd be annoyed when slogging through the mud later in the year I didn't take advantage of the good weather!

I'm surprised how much difference the dropper post makes as I've had a lot of recommendations for one but thought it's a pricey upgrade for a small benefit. Now I'm toying with fitting one with the fatbike as I didn't realise how much the seat gets in the way, with it dropped out of the way you can move around the bike a lot more so it feels better when riding drops or similar. I've been riding the forest I was in for four years now on my 26in hardtrail, the 29er full suspension, the rigid fat bike but the Stache managed 17 achievements including seven personal bests and one 7th overall (that's special for me). Also one crash I thought I'd got away with until my shin was feeling a bit painful later on and found a sizable bump, I really need to dig out my knee guards again.

[Deleted User]

brat wrote: »

Very envious John. I love Crete, but haven't had the chance to get over there recently (last visit was AgNik in '99). The countryside would be perfect for early morning cycling, Some good hilly routes too. I've looked at some circular routes from Chania up to the Omalos plateau, and they will need to be done at some time. I walked the Samaria Gorge back in 1995, but I don't know if it's doable on a fat bike?

I ve done the Samaria gorge walk .I don t think its do able on a bike and anyone trying it would be spoiling this terrific walk just trying to control the bike , its a place for walking, with an occasional swim of course.
I once cycled all the way to Greece from Yorkshire via the Yugoslavian coast road with a boat trip around Albania to Greece from Dubrovnik ( now in Croatia) to Ingoumenitsa. Then a tour of Corfu, back to Ingoumenitsa , then across to Athens and then a full circular tour of Crete in July. It took a full month of cycling on my old Jack Taylor Tour of Britain touring bike, which I still have. Back by air in 4 hours !
I was pretty fit in those days where I could easily do 100 miles a day fully laden with panniers and camping gear, staying in youth hostels, camp sites and camping wild if needed. Big difference nowadays now I m an old retired codger , 20 miles is enough for me in one go on my lightweight road bike around the country roads in Yorkshire. I still fancy some bike tours in the future somewhere interesting and warm but maybe a 40 to 50 mile daily average would be more sensible.

brat

Had some fun yesterday on the Tour of Britain Route about an hour and a half ahead of the tour. The "Struggle" from Ambleside to Kirkstone summit is exactly that! And the weather wasn't too clever either, but at least I got some cheering as I closed in on the finish line!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt4RUdl61QM

Johnmcl7

The cheering was great, was that shot on a Garmin or were you just using the Garmin software? I've been having a look at the Yi Action Cam 4k primarily because it seems to have around double the batterylife of similar devices plus it has a builtin touch screen which makes it easier to set up. On the downside though it still needs a clumsy case to put it in for weather sealing, I like that the Virb and the Session don't need that so less fiddling to use them.

I am considering getting another Session as the small size makes it easy to stick somewhere else on the bike, I was thinking getting some video from the fork of the MTB would be good but always worried about it clipping something however looking at the beefy fork if I can get a suitable mount it could sit safely on the front of the fork.

I went down cycling last night near the Cairngorms for the first time and the first night ride of the season. I was surprised how good the trails were as they were nice and flowing without the usual rooty stuff and steep drops typical of natural riding.

A slightly different video from yours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdZmLWw2kx8

John