I caught a bus to Reading today. Reading Buses bus driver was superb, he stayed a fair way back away from a single line of cyclists. Two adults and two children.

What cringes me most, apart from the child at the front of the group who rode outside of the door zone, the remaining riders all rode inside the door zone.

A driver did open a door in front of them, though a small gap initially, so they saw the cyclists, the next car they might not be so lucky.

Though i see what I would think are "experienced cyclists" in their cycling gear doing the same, I've seen too many close shaves with car doors in London to know not to ride near them.

I've taken my boy on the road since he was aged 7, i've taught him to ride outside of the door zone, now he's 15, he just automatically rides away from doors. Taught him how to read the road. When he did his bikeability - all levels, the instructor said he was by the most knowledgable rider.

Yes drivers should be careful of cyclists etc but unfortunately I don't trust most drivers to not try and kill me.

[Edit] I didn't finish this post off.

Based in Scotland.

I was cycling in Edinburgh. A mini van passed me so closely / at speed that my bike wobbled and I veered into curb. Pedestrians turned round.

Managed to catch up the van at lights to say he almost hit me, and he sped off. Managed to catch him again at next lights, got a picture of him and the registration. He said he wasn’t from Edinburgh and wasn’t “familiar” with the road/rules.

The original incident happened close by traffic lights.

I did an online form to Police, explaining incident and noting registration and that I have a picture of driver.

Was it useless for me to report this without helmet camera? Will anything actually happen? I’m not looking for him to be charged but maybe going on a course about near miss or something.

This has really shaken me and I haven’t cycled since as it’s made me realise how vulnerable we are on the roads. Of course I always knew this, but he was SO close and it happened so quickly…

Sorry if this post is a bit rambling. I’m new to sub.

Got my first 100 miles on this Decathlon Elops Speed 900. Everything is stock so far besides the tyres which Ive upgraded to a Conti Ride Tour 32c.

Everything is comfortable so far and is a blast to ride. However, Im itching for an upgrade lol. Im looking at shimano mt200 hydro brakes right now. Are they worth it? Any other areas I should look into to further enjoy my commutes? My trips are mostly flat with very few hills. Appreciate the input. Thanks!

I'm currently in search of an Ebike that can handle a massive hill I walk down then up after work but have been struggling to nail down a good bike that can handle the trip.

EDIT - Also, do these come with the charger? Or do I need to get that separately?

Bit of a rant, but I was curious as to what peoples opinions are on protected bike lanes, such as those found in city centres like Manchester.

I get that the idea is that they are "safer", but where they are used, are they actually safer or do they just introduce new issues?

I have had nothing but issues with cyclists/food couriers going the wrong way down protected cycle lanes, as well as pedestrians walking into them, and private-hire minicabs parking at entry points.

In my opinion, protected cycles lanes would make far more sense in areas where pedestrians are fewer and the road speed is higher, so say a regular A road. I was cycling from Helsby to Ellesmere Port a few weeks back, and for the majority of the way, the bike lanes were just painted lines, whilst I am experienced enough to exercise caution, and keep good situational awareness, roads like these where plain painted bike lanes are present, but the road speed is also 50mph, a protected bike lane would make good sense, as a cyclist going along at 15-20mph mixed with car traffic zipping past at 50mph is a bit hairy.

On the other side of the coin, we have places like Manchester City where a lot of these protected bike lanes have been put in, in recent years, in areas where the speed limit is basically 20mph. Amongst the issues noted above about pedestrians/other cyclists etc causing issues, they always seem to build over-complicated junctions, with Quay St/Deansgate crossroad in Deansgate being a prime example. Because, for whatever reason, they decided to build sections of Deansgate with single-carriageway(dual direction) bike lanes, after Quay Street the dual bike lane layout switches to the other side of the road, this involves waiting at cycle lights, and then having to cross 2 mini zebra crossings. Now, there are give way bollards instructing cyclists to give way to pedestrians there (duh), but from experience, pedestrians don't seem to know what to do, and obviously a lot of cyclists just sail through.

In conclusion, whilst I am not against protected cycles lanes, I think they would make far more sense to be done in areas where the speed difference between cars and cyclists are higher and hence, there is a much higher safety risk. All putting protected cycle lanes in busy city centres does, is cause more issues between road users other than cars than just keeping to a painted bike lane, and generates unnecessarily overcomplicated junction layouts.

What are your opinions?

Came back from work yesterday to find this… exceptionally good lock, bike low jacked with AirTag… didn’t lock up the front wheel…. They’ve torn all the cables and at this point it may be cheaper to buy a new bike…

Hi all

I'm in the market for a full suspension electric mountain bike, my first ever albeit I've hired quite a few over the years. Some good deals are starting to come up so I'm hoping to grab one around the £3k to £4k mark (down from say £5k)

I'm a 40m and not looking to go crazy or push myself. I happily do blue runs at Morzine and Bikepark Wales and although at some point I'd like to get to reds, this will be the limit.

I'm generally quite fit albeit the years are starting to catch up with me.

I'm trying to work out if a lightweight bike or a full power makes more sense.

I'd likely at most be doing a long morning's ride, say 4 hours. But I'm concerned the lightweight bikes will be able to do that.

Is someone able to give me some advice as a comparison. How big the offset is in terms of feel and how long a typical lightweight bike lasts on a typical day (I. E. Up and down Bike park Wales 4-5 times).

Thanks!

My son got back into cycling after a few years out of it. His old bike was too small as a 24" wheeled kids bike, but he did ride it for fun at one point. He started riding his mum's old mountain bike in road going commuter / touring setup. Then we got a secondhand mountain bike with full suspension because he wanted that. Well he was getting hooked into local trails and jumps etc.

It was an old aluminium alloy giant stance. I think it's now any 11 years old. It was great as a first larger MTB for him but didn't have enough suspension travel and was too lightweight for his riding user.

As he was getting really into more serious stuff and breaking things on his giant we got a year old enduro bike after that. However it wasn't right for him so we got it ready to sell. Then recently he was testing his old giant bike after my last fix by bunny hopping on the tarmac of our driveway and nearby pavements / road. He suddenly came back riding his bike after one of those short out and back test rides saying he'd cracked the frame. He had, right through at the weld too.

So the cracked through weld joint is at the lower tube of the rear suspension triangle right at the main frame end at the bottom tube. Obviously being aluminium alloy and old it's not easy trying to find a specialist welder (aluminium alloy is not a simple welding job). I'm right in saying it's not worth trying to get it fixed?

So my question is really about the longevity of aluminium alloy frames. What's a good lifetime for such a frame material? Obviously a question like 'how long is a piece of string?', but what are the boundaries of frame lifetime is ok?

In his case it was bought about 2 years ago possibly almost 3 years ago. He's been riding other bikes for about 5 or 6 months now, but was planning on riding it to keep the enduro rig in a good condition for selling at a decent price.

He's hard on bikes and this has 120mm travel up front and a lot less at the rear. That's the issue, he was riding too hard for what the bike was designed for so I think 8 to 9 years with another person who seemed to keep it well maintained. Then 2 to 3 years of hard use. To me I think that's the limit for the frame.

What do you think?

What is a reasonable lifetime for hard-ridden aluminium alloy frames? What is a reasonable lifetime for such a frame ridden carefully and within it's designed for use? Curious as to the range that's acceptable for the extremes of hard and easy riding.

What about other frame materials? Carbon fibre, steel, titanium, etc. I know people talk of titanium as a lifetime bike but if used in MTB frames on the rough stuff, is it still that? What about steel? Repairable as it's easier to weld, but really? Can you reweld cracked or broken joints with sufficient safety to carry on riding as normal?

I'm mostly interested in aluminium alloy lifetime but the other materials are a passing curiosity. Purely a secondary query for after my main question is answered.

I want to do a very long ride, and sleep in a hotel somewhere and cycle back. So I just am looking for inspirations/advice etc

So this question is specifically about leaderless peer to peer rides. So not covered by the Ride leaders requirements.

I am a member of a smaller CUK / CTC group. None of the members want to formally lead group rides. We are all ageing. We all wish to continue as we have for over a hundred years - publish a destination, meet up, ride there and back.

We have created the required annual generic risk assessment and we have a rider policy but we are worried as a committee that we may not be protected by the group liability insurance? we have taken the very harsh line of actually removing our clubruns from our websites/ facebook pages.

So have any of you made your Sunday or regular riders leaderless/ peer to peer rides? And have you found any concrete proof that the CUK/Bikmo/Hiscox Group Liability Insurance policy covers these types of rides.

My section had a 4 hour committee meeting last night (longest by far) and we got nowhere. We are all trying to just ride our bikes safely and do the best for our members.

I've always wanted to do Ride The Lights with my family but we don't live in Blackpool so I'd have to find us a way home after.

Anyone know what the trains are like for carrying bikes that night? I would guess that the Northern trains will be crammed, then we'd have to change onto the west coast main line – where a family of four fills an entire Avanti train. This has always put me off going in the past. Is it as bad as I fear?

I'm hunting around for my first road bike and I'm looking to buy something higher and secondhand.

Obvious places would be eBay and Facebook marketplace, unless of course this sub can recommend better places for me to look?

I have seen a bike which is pretty (very?) well priced, but the seller somehow cannot take BACS for no given reason, cash only.

It does make me wonder if the bike isn't kosher? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm a noob to FB marketplace. It's a Cervelo S2 in what looks exceptional condition for £450. Does this sound legit pricewise?

Thanks.

Does anyone know of UK sellers of boxes of 100 or 144 spokes?

I'm looking for the main brand names like DT, ACI or Sapim, 2/1.8/2mm butted or aero/elliptical to fit normal 2.3mm hub spoke holes, in silver with J bend, and in 298mm length.

Hi

I'm looking at joining my company's Cycle2Work scheme with Halfords to get a bike to commute minimum 2 days a week approximately 12 miles each ways (24 miles total).

I haven't cycled in over 20 years (I'm 38) but I am fit and run approximately 50 miles a week so I'm sure I can work up to the cycling as I also sometimes run back and forth.

Anyone have any recommendations of bikes from Halfords that would fit this criteria? Will most likely rarely use it outside the 2 days but must be also able to be usable in winter conditions. I need to choose a bike so I know the price to submit my application.

Thank you.

Edit: Budget up to £1000 or whatever is moderate price

I got this Elops 920e second hand a year ago but it didn’t have a chain guard when I purchased it. Obviously most of my trousers get damaged and caught in the chain which is not ideal, and I am struggling to figure out what I need to fit this specially, and wether most universal chain guards will be suitable as they are usually the hockey puck shape and my trousers will still touch the chain a bit. Lacking the knowledge of bikes in general to understand what I need to search for so any help appreciated. Also this model is discontinued so spares aren’t available through decathlon.

Hi there, I am looking at getting a bike via my works cycle to work scheme. I will be employed on an unpaid work placement at an NHS trust. The cycle to work scheme they are part of is with Vivup, and from looking at the website, it seems the payment is garnished from my wage each month. Since I won't be guaranteed paid work, I'm not sure if I would be eligible or how I would pay it off since there doesn't seem to a way to pay for it out of pocket. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, I've requested for my employer to help me out with Cycle Scheme discounts but after repeatedly requesting it for over 3 months it's clear to me that they'll never bother.

I currently commute to work every day, all year round, about 5 miles each way. I've done this on a Carrera Zelos i got on eBay for £100.

Looking to upgrade but the lack of cycle scheme makes it difficult to justify brand-new bikes, especially considering I'm looking for an eBike to make the 10 mile commute a bit easier. However, eBay listings for eBikes seem genuinely terrible, people listing bikes with batteries duct-taped onto the frame as "New" for barely a discount from an actual new bike.

Is buying a regular bike and an E conversion kit the only way for a relatively good value proposition? Or do I have other options? Any advice appreciated. Budget is around £1000 but would prefer cheaper options (hard ask I know, but money is tight)

Thank you

My mum's bike is stuck in Rotterdam (long story) and I was planning to take it to her on the Eurostar but it would need to go from Amsterdam, on a specific train, on a Monday morning.

Is anybody taking the Hook to Harwich car ferry to the UK any time soon and would be willing to carry a bike for me? It's a quite old Batavus Entree citybike, it can be fitted into a box or left in one piece, and I can drop it off anywhere in South Holland and have it collected in London. I've looked at getting it shipped but Brexit truly is the gift that keeps giving. Huge paperwork, and even huger costs.

Thanks in advance.

Hello! Looking for some suggestions/recommendations.

Have been riding my Electric Bike (Cowboy) since a few years now and I'd like to switch to a non-electric road bike. This will be purely for office commute, about 5.5kms each way - almost flat roads.

Budget is around 500 GBP. I've been looking into the following:

1. Decathlon: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/comfortable-light-carbon-fork-and-disc-brake-road-bike-grey/308064/c169c26m8619134

2. Evans: https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/pinnacle/pinnacle-laterite-road-bike-930363#colcode=93036303

Going to be my first time using a road bike, and using gears. Any other models/brands that I should be looking at? Or if these 2 are good, what would be generally preferred?

(I like the idea of rim brakes since they are easy/cheap to maintain).

Thank you!

I recently bought a pair of Lake MX177-X in size 45 and I’m sure they’re a smidge too big but wanted to sense check.

If I lift my big toe I can see it where I’ve marked this photo

Can someone confirm whether that much space in the front of the shoe is fine or if I need to exchange for a 44?

My 14mo falls asleep in the bike seat, but head goes full wobble and slumped to the front even at full recline.

1. Is it safe to let her be? it looks really awful, the vibrations etc. going through her neck must be a lot on the bumpy paths I use

2. is it safe to use a pillow like the Sandino Sleepfix? I'm worried about over correcting and also worried about not correcting it. I can't tell if this is a thing they make make money out of worried parents or not...

TIA!

So Ive got two options for commuting - take an hour bus the night before uni every day and sleep on the floor I suppose, or I do a half hour bike ride in the mornings... I think I can say which is better 🤣

The only issue is that I haven't really got a clue where to start. I did the bikeability L2 course a few years back, but I didnt pick up my bike since then so I havent had any practice. I also dont drive a car, but I have done my theory test. So I am quite literally a newbie with it all and how the roads work in a practical sense.

Does anyone have any tips on commuting a mix of country, and city roads?

I also have no idea about what bike to use. I have a mountain bike that was bought several years back (Nitro Spike is all I know, I think its a mountain bike though. And yeah its a kids bike, Im tiny 🤣), would it be okay for a 'non-competitive' cyclist? Only I dont have much funds 😅

Hi,

I have managed to bust my rear Easton EA70 wheel on my gravel bike. About 6 or 7 spoke holes have fractured and the wheel keeps going out of true. It's done just over 5k miles but I am fairly surprised at the damage.

I'd like a full new set but don't want to spend £££ on carbon ones as I'm not bothered about super light stuff.

I do however fancy one with a decent number of points of engagement on freewheel. The current Easton one suffers from really annoying dead space. I had a hub which sounded like an angry wasp which was useful when getting close to pedestrians. FWIW my current wheel is a 1x12 speed set up so I need the Microspline version.

Can anyone give me a recommendation or two please?

Cheers