Cycling chat

[Nearholmer]

If you’ve got a full day on the day you come back, I really do advocate doing the entire jaunt Tonbridge to Three Bridges. You can get Thameslink trains back from there direct to Kings Cross, and they are a very bike friendly TOC, with proper bike places on each train, and no reservation annoyances. 
 

PS: if you only have time for a shorter ride from Sevenoaks, try Knole Park, which is a huge deer park on the eastern side of the town, very attractive countryside.
 

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Nearholmer

[spikey]

13 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 ... Penshurst Place is very interesting.

 

If you like that sort of thing.  We shot several weddings there and were not impressed with it.  Memorable for two reasons, one of which was that having hired the very dark Great Hall at great expense, couples then faced a supplement if they wanted the place to be lit with the uplighters round the walls (there otherwise being no form of lighting in there).  The other reason was Penshurst Nipples, this being named after the effect upon the ladies of the weird airflow around the inner courtyard while standing around with a glass of cheap fizz getting bored while waiting to be fed.  Made no odds how warm it was anywhere else; that courtyard was always cold. 

 

I know nothing of the old trackbed to Three Bridges except for the stretch from Hartfield to Forest Row, that being the only cycle path we've ever sampled.  It was dead boring and infested with happy families wandering all over and impeding our sedate progress.  Neither of us has ever bothered with cycle paths since.  The country lanes are far more fun

[Butler Henderson]

Beware of cross winds 

 

View:

Strade Bianche Saturday

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

And cycling in big groups, I should say.

[Nearholmer]

And cycling in big groups, I should say.

[big jim]

was looking at this bike in Halfords earlier to replace the e-bike (which I also got back today), opinions?
 

obviously it would be primarily for my commutes which is on fairly flat, occasionally mildly hilly surfaces but would also be used instead of the road bike on old trackbed type tours, as you can see by my rides I’ve posted up here I do the occasional short hilly climb while leisure riding, my worry is the gearing may not be suitable for me going from an electric assist to an 8 speed normal bike or it may not be too much of a difference to the road bike to justify swapping 
 

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-urb-8.9-urban-hybrid-bike-2021---s-m-l-frames-426926.html

 

[Killybegs]

Another beautiful day so out on the bike, that's three times in a week! 60km and 1200m of ascent/descent. Headwind on the way back which I could have done without. Fortunately I was going down the hill in the pic below not up it. Much loved by roadies who, strangely, like cycling up it. It features on the Tour of Ireland most years. They have recently resurfaced the bottom third so I was able to come off the brakes after the last blind bend. A max speed of 76.4km/hr broke my previous record on the bike!!

 

[Butler Henderson]

I would suggest keeping to the ebike for commutes etc Even if it's a relatively flat ride there is always going to be to day that the wind is strongly in the wrong direction; shower needed. 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

With only eight speeds, you are likely to experience:

 

- lack of top; or,

 

- lack of bottom; or,

 

- overly large steps between gears.

 

My path bike has a wide ratio eleven speed, and the steps between gears on that can feel too big on long rides.

 

I can't actually tell what the ratios are from that write-up, maybe I overlooked something.

 

Also, it has hub gears, which personally I don't much like, and a rarely the first choice of anyone who cycles a fair bit.

 

Two things I would say based on my own experience and that of people I know, are that Boardman bikes are incredibly good value for money, but you do need to watch very carefully how Halfords assemble, because not all their "techs" are very knowledgeable/experienced.

 

Their bike that is top of their pile for mixed-surface use at the moment is the ADV 8.9. Its an amazingly good package for the money, and I'm semi-tempted myself, but it never seems to actually be in stock in the colour I like, anywhere! 

 

PS: Butler Henderson may be making a very sound point too. I know that when I worked long hours, and often saturday nights, on the railway in my young days, I gave-up on cycling to and from jobs, and bought a small motorbike, because I was aften dead-beat coming off a job at 0600, especially in the winter.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

8 hours ago, spikey said:

It was dead boring and infested with happy families wandering all over

 

You didn't bump into Eeyore along there by any chance?

[big jim]

The ADV looks nice but it’s a drop bar which is too close to the road bike for me  to justify really 

 

I’m watching a lightly used URB 8.9 on eBay and I’ve put in a very low offer compared to the new price, which will most likely be rejected, but if it’s not I’ve got another bike to try out!

 

Considering I had no bikes 12 months ago I’ve somehow ended up with six of them now! 

[spikey]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

 ... Also, it has hub gears ... rarely the first choice of anyone who cycles a fair bit.

 

Ahem ... I think you'd find there are plenty of folks on what used to be the CTC forum who would disagree with that statement 

[spikey]

1 hour ago, big jim said:

Considering I had no bikes 12 months ago I’ve somehow ended up with six of them now! 

 

You're doomed, mate. 

 

That's what you are.

 

Doomed, I tell you ...

[Kylestrome]

3 hours ago, big jim said:

was looking at this bike in Halfords earlier to replace the e-bike

 

With all this cycling you're doing, you'll soon have to change your user name to "Medium-sized Jim".

[Mark Forrest]

Third ride of my week off work; Castleton and Hope Valley.

As a mountain biker, the best thing about living so close to one of the busiest trail centres in the UK is that we're only an hour drive west to the the Shropshire hills or east to the Peak District  . A bit of a favourite ride this, a route we keep coming back to (with minor variations to add in a fourth descent depending on how we're feeling).

From Castleton, the old Broken Road climb up to Mam Tor, along to Hollins Cross then down to Edale.  A brief spun along the Edale road alongside the railway - saw a Colas 56 running light engine towards Edale), then bridleway from Nether Booth to Jaggers Clough and Hope Cross.

Second descent, Blackley Hey (aka Potato Alley), across the unusually quiet Snake Pass, which is closed due to landslides, and up past Rowlee Farm to descend Lockerbrook and pass the Dambusters monument at Fairholmes.

The look of concentration/fear on Sarah's face at the end of Potato Alley was largely due to poor tyre choice!

 

A steady bimble past Ladybower and we were on the home stretch back to Hope then along the road to Castleton.

 

Always a good ride in any conditions but a bit of sunshine made it even better after the last few rides being on overcast days.  It was quite busy out, but only really noticeable around the usual tourist hot spots.

[Mark Forrest]

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

- overly large steps between gears.

 

My path bike has a wide ratio eleven speed, and the steps between gears on that can feel too big on long rides.

 I think, to some extent, the steps between gears thing depends on what you're used to (and probably where/what you ride).  My 1x11 with a 11-50 tooth cassette probably has some huge steps between gears, but can honestly say it's not something I've ever noticed.

[PMP]

@Mark Forrest you mentioned crossing snake, im hoping to ride that next week or so, are there still vehicles on it using it for access?

[Mark Forrest]

5 minutes ago, PMP said:

@Mark Forrest you mentioned crossing snake, im hoping to ride that next week or so, are there still vehicles on it using it for access?

Yes, and plenty of roadies cruising up and down it today too. Think I did see a mention on Facebook that there were barriers at Ladybower to prevent access when there is work going on.  I think I read that the official line is that it remains open to local, but not through traffic.

[rob D2]

That sink hole thing in the reservoir is the thing nightmares are made of.

[Nearholmer]

47 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

I think, to some extent, the steps between gears thing depends on what you're used to (and probably where/what you ride). 

 

You're almost certainly right. Mine has 10-42, in 11 steps, and is excellent for trails, bridleways etc, where effort level naturally changes all the time anyway. But, I find it gets annoying/tiring on long, steady road sections, where on a bike with more gears you'd make micro-adjustments to maintain dead-steady effort. Possibly an "old bloke" thing.

 

Anyway, I'm experiencing scenery envy every time you post pictures. And, "ability to cycle up steep scenery" envy too, I think. You certainly do have access to the real thing.

[Mark Forrest]

9 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Anyway, I'm experiencing scenery envy every time you post pictures. And, "ability to cycle up steep scenery" envy too, I think. You certainly do have access to the real thing.

Sadly, it's back to work tomorrow so it's likely to be a few weeks of local rides and/or Zwift for me - can't complain too much though.

[njee20]

24 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

You're almost certainly right. Mine has 10-42, in 11 steps, and is excellent for trails, bridleways etc, where effort level naturally changes all the time anyway. But, I find it gets annoying/tiring on long, steady road sections, where on a bike with more gears you'd make micro-adjustments to maintain dead-steady effort. Possibly an "old bloke" thing.

 

I find the same - I’ve also got 10-42 on the MTB, and find it fine off road where the big jumps are quite useful, but on the road, particularly, there’s never quite the right gear. Most notable is the massive jump between the 10 and 11 tooth, where the 11 can be a bit ’spinny’, and the 10 is too tall!

Edited March 6, 2022 by njee20

[Nearholmer]

I think I've compounded the problem by reducing the size of the front ring too. Brilliant for steep bits, and for preventing too much torque causing wheel-spin on slippery bits, but its moved my "steady cruising" point from the second or third cog on the back, right down to the little 10 tooth one, so zero adjustment in one direction, and a 10% change of effort in the other direction. It also spins out below speeds that even I'm comfortable with, which is saying something, because I don't like going particularly fast.

 

I think I now know why many gravel bikes come with two rings at the front, and certainly when I replace the path bike I will go for that.

 

Maybe tomorrow I will get to go for a bike ride, instead of just talking about bike rides.

[njee20]

I have a 32t oval ring on mine, which exacerbates how it feels on the road, as it’s a bit ‘lumpy’ in the pedal stroke compared to a round chain ring, great off road though. Single ring setups certainly haven’t been as popular on the road, although SRAM have done a 1x group set. Ditto for gravel bikes. I’m still happy with a double on the road I must say, although I rarely use the inner ring unless I’m riding somewhere hilly, I’d not be without it. 
 

I’ll keep just talking about riding, maybe this week I’ll go outside for real… maybe. 

[tractionman]

A sunny weekend in norn iron, so a short spin around local trails and tracks beckoned:

 

 

 

 

cheers,

 

Keith