Bicycle Fans - official thread for people who love riding th

andyj1984

Ooops double post!

cloggsy71

This is my bike...

andyj1984

That's a sweet ride! But its not sold exclusively by Halfords is it? That's a "proper bike" which just happens to be sold by Halfords. I was more referring to things like the "shockwave", which is a bike I used to own a while ago (before it fell apart on me, rusted all over, paint work fell off, and generally destroyed itself!). Though if you are on a tight budget I guess any bike is better than no bike. One of the guys I work with bought a bike for £15, stuck some new tyres on it, and uses it every day to commute!

Bailey73r

I'm with you, lovin my cycling at the minute, last three days up at 06.00, and cycling around the countryside near to my home, mileage varies from 15 to 30 miles!!!! Looking forward to next weekend!!!!

cloggsy71

Yes, Boardman's are sold exclusively by Halfords.... Unless you are looking at Boardman's real top end stuff (i.e. £5,000 bikes!)

You are quite right; Halfords do have a bad rep, but there are some nice bikes there... I don't think I'll be taking my bike there for servicing and repair though :laugh:

Evans Cycles is also worth a look, as is the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op...

You can't go far wrong with a Local Bike Shop (LBS) but be warned, there are bad LBS's too!

If money is tight, then eBay/local ads etc. can be your friend; a lad I know got an £1,800 Felt Full Suspension Mountain bike off of eBay for £400 - absolutely mint!

You do get what you pay for, so choose wisely

NiallWallace

I *really* enjoyed cruising past people on their more expensive road bikes. I don't think they much liked being beat by a mountain bike out on the road.

You may wish to investigate the "Silly Commuter Racing" and the Food Chain Number.
http://www.itsnotarace.org/

Winter Commuting FCN: 10
Summer Commuting FCN: 4
Mountain Bike FCN (as if I'm riding it on the road): 10

Here's my route from yesterday,
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/233558

Seem to be doing 25ks everywhere now, used to expect around 19 only lost 8 kilo so far so think it's more due to the winter cycling on a tourer keeping fitness up.

cloggsy71

Here's my route from yesterday,
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/233558

Nice ride... That's a hell of a trip (looking at the climb towards the end!)

NiallWallace

Aye, was dreading that hill, I've been down it before but never up but knew how long and steep it was from that.
Lugging less dead weight around can only help on climbs though :-)

Sad thing was, I believed it would be around 100km, and when I was 4 short I kept going through the village for 2km just to make sure it was over the 100. Nearly dropped the bike on some marbles where I turned :-$

andyj1984

Aye, was dreading that hill, I've been down it before but never up but knew how long and steep it was from that.
Lugging less dead weight around can only help on climbs though :-)

Sad thing was, I believed it would be around 100km, and when I was 4 short I kept going through the village for 2km just to make sure it was over the 100. Nearly dropped the bike on some marbles where I turned :-$

Looks like a great ride, did you do it all in one go, or stop and have lunch along the way? The furthest I've been is one go is about 25 miles, so I've got quite a way to go until I can cover that distance! I would love the tackle the Ouse Valley Way (google it), over a long weekend. It runs right through my town, I cycle part of the route regularly.

NiallWallace

Stopped for a sandwich and sweets at Crail, a couple of rest stops after that just before Largoward and at Dairsie Bridge because I was gubbed, although my longest ride on that bike (road bike) so far this year had been just short of 70km, I did a 110km route on Islay on my Tourer over a whole day.

For Road cyckes don't tend to leave with anything more than 2 bottles in the cages (750ml) with Robinson's Special R and a few quid in cash, anything I need is picked up from shops on route.

40km is decent enough, just keep doing it and then start pushing it out further. I've got a standard 28km loop with 2 short cut options (shortest I've never used and 2nd shortest I've used twice but had intended on doing so when I set off) but I can also extend it out to go over Cuplas/Lucklaw or out to St Andrews and 5 or 6 different options back from there.

janesmith1

We did not go on our usual weekly bike ride today so we'll have to wait till next week when we're out of crunch time. Hiiiiii to all the new people on the thread

badblood

Yes, Boardman's are sold exclusively by Halfords.... Unless you are looking at Boardman's real top end stuff (i.e. £5,000 bikes!)

You are quite right; Halfords do have a bad rep, but there are some nice bikes there... I don't think I'll be taking my bike there for servicing and repair though :laugh:

Evans Cycles is also worth a look, as is the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op...

You can't go far wrong with a Local Bike Shop (LBS) but be warned, there are bad LBS's too!

If money is tight, then eBay/local ads etc. can be your friend; a lad I know got an £1,800 Felt Full Suspension Mountain bike off of eBay for £400 - absolutely mint!

You do get what you pay for, so choose wisely

Really cheap new bikes are not designed for regular riding as the parts tends to wear out quickly and tend to be non standard fit. Halfords have a bad reputation round here more for the lack of knowledge and skill of the staff although again, that can be the same anywhere. My advice would be to research what kind of bike you need and then quiz the shops you are thinking of using. My LBS were great with me when I bought my first MTB, I got solid advice and when I asked what I could upgrade on my bike to use up the rest of my £650 budget I was told to keep my money as the bike had everything I needed. As a result I have bought 4 bikes off him, the last one being over £2000!

eBay can be great but caution is advised as stolen bikes tend to get moved on by eBay, so question the seller. Especially if it looks too good to be true!

andyj1984

Really cheap new bikes are not designed for regular riding as the parts tends to wear out quickly and tend to be non standard fit. Halfords have a bad reputation round here more for the lack of knowledge and skill of the staff although again, that can be the same anywhere.

I was really impressed with the staff at the Giant shop when I bought my new ride. Great care was taken to find me a bike which fitted perfectly, then one of the members of staff took about 20 minutes giving the gears a proper setup, and checking everything was shifting okay, as well as a general servicing (checking hydraulic level in the brakes, checking the chain and spokes, etc).

The best thing was the honesty, I was told the gearing wouldn't be perfect for the first few weeks due to cable stretch, and if I bring it in after a month I will get a free service on it. Bet Halfords wouldn't do for their cheapy bikes!

Oh I agree about eBay... A lot of stolen bikes on there

I wouldn't dare leave my bike locked up anywhere, she lives in the house with me! LOL

andyj1984

For Road cyckes don't tend to leave with anything more than 2 bottles in the cages (750ml) with Robinson's Special R and a few quid in cash, anything I need is picked up from shops on route.

That's brave! When I do more than a few miles on my bike I take the kitchen sink with me! Well, not literally. My standard pack includes:

First aid kit (essential in my opinion), repair kit, spare inner tubes, OS map, pump, solar charger and spare battery for my phone.

Its probably a bit overkill, but I know if I *didn't* have that stuff I would get a puncture 15 miles out from home, get lost, fall off an injure myself, or run out of battery for my phone! LOL! Plus carrying that, with lunch and several water bottles is a great pack for my back, to give that a bit of a workout!

badblood

I learnt the hard way by keeping bikes in the shed. After the 3rd one got stolen, the Yeti got a home under the stairs. Any bike shop should offer a free tune up service after a month. It's not about the short term expense of it, they should think about the long term custom. This is why my LBS gets repeat business from me and other shops where I live don't!

whiskey9890

halfords i believe do offer the service after a month but to be honest after hearing so many horror stories about the staff not putting the bikes toegther properly in the first place i doubt i'd take them up on it probably better off paying a small indipendant store a few quid to give it the once over if you don't have the know how to sort it yourself (i don't but thank fully my other half is quite good with bikes, well he got my rust bucket running smother than it ever has in the 16 years i've had it lol )

NiallWallace

For Road cyckes don't tend to leave with anything more than 2 bottles in the cages (750ml) with Robinson's Special R and a few quid in cash, anything I need is picked up from shops on route.

That's brave! When I do more than a few miles on my bike I take the kitchen sink with me! Well, not literally. My standard pack includes:

First aid kit (essential in my opinion), repair kit, spare inner tubes, OS map, pump, solar charger and spare battery for my phone.

Its probably a bit overkill, but I know if I *didn't* have that stuff I would get a puncture 15 miles out from home, get lost, fall off an injure myself, or run out of battery for my phone! LOL! Plus carrying that, with lunch and several water bottles is a great pack for my back, to give that a bit of a workout!

I was meaning food wise, always have tyre levers, tubes and a multi tool in a saddle bag, each bike has one. And the time I discover I've taken the tyre levers out and the spare tubes have perished is whne I need them. Phone is rarley allowed to complain about low battery.

Don't see much use of a first aid kit on an out and back road cycle, if I'm off it's gonig to hurt and the wee tube of Savlon isn't going to cover the road rash, and I'm not anywhere remote enough for there not to be a house or pub to crawl into and ask for an ambulance.

andyj1984

Don't see much use of a first aid kit on an out and back road cycle, if I'm off it's gonig to hurt and the wee tube of Savlon isn't going to cover the road rash, and I'm not anywhere remote enough for there not to be a house or pub to crawl into and ask for an ambulance.

Maybe not a full first-aid kit, but I would recommend at least some saline, alcohol wipes and some sterile gauze, just to clean out any of the gunk that might get into a graze or cut, don't want to risk infections. Though on-road there is probably less chance of falling off your bike. Since I generally ride trails out in the middle of nowhere, I feel better carrying some basic first aid supplies with me.

Though a first aid kit isn't going to heal a broken bone LOL. I consider my mobile phone to be just as important when on my bike. Oh my phone is an android, so it eats power for breakfast (hence the spare battery/solar charger!)

cloggsy71

I don't carry a first aid kit at the moment, but its a good call!

I'll get my hands on a small one for my bag!

BryanAir

The ride into work this morning was beautiful. It was sunny with a light wind. It was so nice I almost forgot where I was going and felt like it was a Sunday ride. The ride home should be even better with sunny and 72 forecast.