Just received a POC Octal from sportsGB.com and to me the quality looks really bad? I.e stickers not being flush and a bit of damage. Anyone had an experience with them?

Hi all, want to take my good bike to work, and the bicycle storage area does not have any rain cover.

What do you do to keep your bike dry?

Is it a big deal if left on the rain all day every day?

Many thanks!

I’ve just bought (please don’t tell me wife … seriously, she doesn’t need to know) some SPD power meter pedals. I also have a Garmin Edge 1050 bike computer.

Can you please advise me what data fields are actually useful? There seem to be so many available. Are there any 3rd party screens/apps I should be considering?

Advice greatly appreciated.

We ended up in Calpe, great cycling and weather with several days on the beach after some big days in the saddle.

Would recommend if you're tired of rain, potholes, and traffic.

Hi folks,

Got my kid a Frog 55. However, it doesn't have mudguards and it's struggling to find any in stock.

Can anyone let me know of any thst would work well?

Thank you

Does anybody have any experience of cycling to/from Elie & Earlsferry (East Neuk area)?

Looking for 'family friendly', low (or nil) traffic routes, cycling on Bromptons, and with a dog trailer! There seems little in the way of cycle paths, and the coast main A917 road really isn't very cycle friendly. Would be grateful to hear from any in the know.

(Cross post in Brompton subreddit)

I'm looking for a pre-purchase bike fit in the central belt of Scotland (preferably Glasgow leaning) and looking to see if anyone has a place they can recommend? Ta

Hello.

I am organising a ride on the 13th June where ~60 groups of cyclists will distribute themselves to all four corners of Great Britain armed with GPS trackers will the aim of drawing the full coastal outline of the UK in a single day.

This has been months in the planning and the cyclists are mostly from the company I work for. With just over a week to go, one of our cyclists has broken her hand playing rugby and will no longer be able to ride. The route she was cycling was hugging the coast from Newton Stewart to Stranraer. About 176km in total.

I am really hoping I can find a local cyclist (or more than one) who will be able to take on the mantel and cycle this route on the 13th June. We can sort logistics for things like trackers, jerseys and I can also cover reasonable expenses.

If you are able to help out, or know someone that might, please do get in touch.

Full route is here if of interest

Hi all,

I had a Carrera Subway 2 that just got robbed, and I am about to move so my commutenis changint, so I am looking to see if I should take the opportunity to swap bikes.

My new Commute is about 30 minutes each way, I am not the most fit, there are nltable inclines both ways, and the roads are abysmal. Potholes, bad quality tarmac, cobbles, the whole works.

Would sticking with the subway 2 be the best choice? Or moving to something else

For budget, has to stay around the £350-£400 mark as thats all my insurance it gonna pay out

This spoke hard to me. Gonna customise it to black and put Cervelo stickers on to match my real bike!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a new bike and have decided that I'd like the older Canyon Grail with the Hover Bar setup for my daily riding and gravel needs.

I'm after a size Small and would be interested in hearing about any bikes that might be available. Please send me a message with details, photos, condition, and asking price.

Thanks! 🚲

From a bit of research there seems to be three ways.

The best is generally a tow bar mounted rack and this is the option I'd prefer but all signs seem to point towards my car not being compatible with towing so places won't fit a towbar. The cost of a tow bar fit also seems to be about £700-800. Then I've got to buy the rack on top

Second seems to be a roof mount. Decent roof bars are looking to be about £250-300 and then I have to buy the bike mounts separately. Add the extra fuel costs and height restriction issues with car parks and the costs mount up quickly. It's also a pain to have to lift four bikes onto a roof using a ladder

Last seems to be a boot mounted rack but four bike ones are rare and you lose access to your book unless you unrack and rerack the bikes all the time.

Has anybody come across a budget friendly way of doing this? A decent boot mount rack? A way of mounting four bikes to a roof easily?

Hi all,

Looking for some advice.

I recently bought a Carrera Gryphon hybrid bike for £50. At the time it seemed like a bargain as most of the bikes I was looking at were £100-£200+, and this has an aluminium frame, disc brakes, 700c wheels, etc.

I’ve taken it to Halfords for a free bike health check and then got a second opinion from an independent bike shop. Both have basically said the same thing - the drivetrain is heavily worn and needs replacing. The chain is worn, front chainrings are worn, and the rear cogs/freewheel are worn too, which is causing some slipping in certain gears.

The independent bike shop has quoted £169 to replace both front chainrings, chain, rear cogs, sort the brakes and do a full service (£105 parts, £64 labour).

My dilemma is that I only paid £50 for the bike, so if I go ahead with the repair I’d have around £220 invested in it. On the other hand, I do want to get into cycling more and at the moment I feel like I’m not getting the full use out of the bike because some gears slip and the drivetrain isn’t in great shape.

Would you spend the £169 and refresh the drivetrain, or would you sell the Gryphon and put the money towards a different bike instead? I’ve been looking at options such as a Trek FX 2 Gen 4, Pinnacle Lithium or Carrera Parva, so I’m wondering whether it makes more sense to put the £169 towards something newer rather than investing it into an older bike.

Interested to hear what others would do in my situation.

I will politely preface this with: Any suggestions of buy a new hub/wheel/ bike are not welcome. I only say this because many people see older bikes/ parts as; old= get rid of it. And that is not what I'm asking.

Anyway, I had to clean out and re-grease the loose bearing cone and ball hun on my front wheel, but now cannot get the rim back on. It took me a lot of wd-40, effort and nearly cheese-wiring my hands on the spokes several times to get both caps out. Now I cannot get them back in. I couldn't grease without removing them, but now can't do anything until the first cover is in or the bearings will fall out.

I'm using a small hammer and piece of wood under it (to prevent denting) to try and knock it back in, but one side goes in, then pings out when the other side is hit. Gradually working around the rings won't work either.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Back in my early twenties, I did a lot of cycling on a trusty Giant mountain bike, mostly on canals and woodland tracks. Started renting a place that didn't allow bicycles so had to stop. Now bought my first house (yay) and looking to get back to cycling.

There are a few snags though - bicycle storage. I'd like a bicycle which is lightweight and fairly easy to disassemble so I can get it inside my house (don't want to dox myself but essentially to get to my place there's a busy driveway owned by other people, so navigating a bike through there could be tricky). I really, really don't like those foldable bikes with tiny wheels; for some reason always found them hard to ride!

Any suggestions or tips? I've got a fairly flexible budget, and want to know how much to save up for a new bike.

I am buying my first house at the moment and considering insuring bikes on home insurance. I am currently using yellow jersey for my bikes, which is pricey, and it looks like I could insure bikes for much cheaper if included on home insurance. Some specific home insurers come in at almost 1/3 of what I am paying for bikes for both home and bikes, someone like pedal cover does both for about 1/2 the price. My worry is that often things which sound too good to be true often are. I am worried that home insurance may not cover things like racing, travel abroad etc. Does anyone have any experience insuring bikes on home insurance. What is it like?

I've typically purchased GX 12 Speed chains in the past but its now out of stock and I need a new one. Will the NX still work on my bike? I've got a Specialized Turbo Tero X.

First time ever cycling for a long period of time. It’s the September event. Any tips to help with the journey? Get food, clothes, pace? I have a repair kit but what else should a carry? Thanks

New release from Lego I'm trying to keep it in the box, my son has other ideas!

There is this used Trek Domane 5 for sale in Decathlon for £850 and they have quoted the original price is £1700. They also give 2 year warranty. I am not sure if this is a good deal. Also this is my first time using/buying a road bike so I can decide if this is the right size for me. Please help me decide if this is a good deal or any other suggestions in the price range <£850.
Edit: I am getting this via cycle to work scheme, so effectively my expense is around £600

So I bought a bike on the cycle to work scheme, funnily enough with the intention of cycling to work.

However, this was literally weeks before COVID hit and then there was no commuting for about 2 years.

Needless to say the bike, which is decent and was pretty expensive (£2k cube mountain bike) has now been sat in my cellar gathering dust ever since (other than a few quick test rides)

I think I'd rather just get rid of it now and get some money back (it's paid off).

What's the best way of selling bikes these days, and what's depreciation like for bikes? I.e. what should I be asking for/expecting value wise?

Edit: bike for reference https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/bikes/hardtail-mountain-bikes/cube-reaction-c62-race-carbon-hardtail-mountain-bike-2020-greyorange__334179 21 inch frame

I wouldn't take my car to halfords autocentres again and despite that i figured id give them a chance with a Boardman 8.9 adv.

Went to pick up yesterday and as i went to leave the handlebars slipped, asked them to sort it and they said the stems been damaged during building and id need to wait almost a week for a new one. Count myself lucky it happened in store and not on the canal path on the way home...

I'm in two minds whether to go for a refund or not and get a different bike elsewhere, the 8.9 seemed really good value foe the parts (£960) and id definitely be paying a few hundred more for my other options, im just worried that they'll miss something again an I'll have an issue when im actually riding.

Can anyone chime in with experience with boardmans from halfords?

Other options I was looking at was a giant revolt and canyon grizl.

newbie here! I bought this last summer as my first “proper” road bike after a hybrid. I bought it used for £80 which I think is abit of a steal (think retail when new was £1399 in 2013. I do enjoy riding it and its quite lightweight for an aluminium frame. If anyone is familiar with Chris Hoys brand let me know your thoughts. I’ve ridden friends bikes that are newer and more expensive and I prefer mine although I’m not sure thats just because I’m used to it or its actually faster lol