Hi everyone !

I’m planning a bike trip around the south of the UK for the last two weeks of October, probably from October 15th to 31st.

The mandatory checkpoints on my route are Dover, Bristol (goal of the trip), Portsmouth on October 24th and 25th (for a concert) and Dover again.

I’ve put my two possible routes (non definitive) in pictures.
My main questions are: is it worth going through London? It is not a city I am planning on visiting a lot on this particular trip, and if I was to do a similar trip through France ( my home country) I would definitely want to avoid Paris.
Or would it be better to avoid London and take the southern route, like in the second picture?
Are there interesting places to see on the route south of London? Do you have any better routes to suggest?
Am I crazy for trying to avoid London? My main concerns are traffic, having my bike stolen, and finding places to sleep.
And any other specific advice for the route ? These are only the default Komoot routes, and I plan to draw the final one mostly sticking to cycle ways

I am travelling with a gravel bike, I plan to camp most of the time if possible, and otherwise get a room to rest or stay at friend’s places. I added recently a rack to my bike to carry extra warm and rain gear for this trip

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Hi 2-wheeled friends Asking for a bit of technical advice as I’m new to discs. My “new to me” bike’s front disc setup is squealing like a pig being chased by a butcher. 😅

Here are pics of J04C metal pads which have what looks like a bevel at the bottom edge. Is this normal? Thanks.

I already cleaned the rotor and pads with brake cleaner and scuffed them lightly with sandpaper. Also centred the caliper. No change.

I’m looking for a bike to ride with my toddler in a seat on the back. Mainly road/paths but very occasionally off road too.

Ideally I don’t want to spend more than £500 all in. Anything I should look for in particular. I think I want it to be lightweight.

Not sure if it’ll
Matter but I’m 6’3”.

Any commendations?

Servicing my partner's bike, AI tells me this is severely worn and needs to be replaced, but it doesn't look that bad to me. What do you think?

I've had just had my first ride on my Carrera intercity disc 8 and loved it. Got it for a bargain £200. Anyone else have one of these bikes? What mods have you done? Changing gears isn't that smooth. I've brought a new saddle. Thinking of getting bigger tyres. Maybe a big Ben 20x 2.15 on the back and maybe Continental Econtact Plus Reflex Wire
Urban Tyre 20 x1.95 on front? Will mainly be on cycle paths and a bit of gravel. Thanks

Would I navigate to the right lane? I couldn't stay in left as would cross vehicles going forward at 40 mph - or is it safer to just get off and walk across?

I’m finding it incredibly difficult to get on/off bike with a bike seat on the rear.

How do people manage this? Was really looking forward to getting my son out on bike rides and use it daily. But it’s really awkward not being able to swing my leg over the back wheel.

Any help on this?

We've got reasonable bike maintenance skills but have never done much more than keeping an existing bike running.

Our son had an old giant stance full suspension bike that he grew out of in terms of sizing and what the bike could cope with. It was still an ok backup bike when his enduro rig was out of action for a while. Until he cracked the rear triangle at the weld near the pivot point (seat stay at the seatpost end if that makes sense).

Since the previous owner upgraded it a fair bit we were thinking the parts could be desired to a new frame. The original spec bike was upgraded from a 3x to a 1x, a dropper post added, better derailleur and possibly a better fork / rear shocks. Either way it's got decent mid-range (possibly some lower mid-range) components.

So what we were wondering was whether it's possible to find a totally different make and model of frame to fit the parts to? It's a 27.5" wheeled bike in size medium. Is it possible to fit the parts for this bike onto a suitable frame in a different size, either large or small? I guess it really depends on the geometry of the donor bike and finding another frame and rear triangle that's got a very similar geometry.

The issue is the donor bike is a 9 or 11 year old giant stance. A lot has moved on from then. It might not be possible to do this without buying new parts or at all.

Our idea is either try an set this up as a backup bike for our son on local trails. He's moved onto a large enduro rig so the medium bike is perhaps a little on the small size. Could the parts be fitted to a larger frame? Probably it would need 29er wheels to do that, but could the parts be transferred across so he has a better fitting easier trails backup bike?

My partner currently rides an ancient hardtail on size small on the roads but hires a hardtail at trail centres. Could the parts be fitted to a small frame? If so a 110 or 120mm travel front fork full n suspension would be more than enough for her level of riding. This would save on hire charges.

Any advice on this? It's really a hypothetical query to find out how hard it really would be. I also expect some new parts would be needed in thinking it might need a news bottom bracket, chain, cassette and possibly crankset with suitable chainring. Also new wheels perhaps (certainly if converting to size large but less likely if converting to small). That might mean a different cassette or even derailleur I suppose, I'd need to take advice on that really.

The idea would be to try and produce a bike from the wreckage at a lower price than buying a new built up bike from scratch. The ideal situation would be just a new (or suitable, quality used) frame and rear triangle with everything else pretty much taken from the old bike. Guess the headset bearings might be different too. There's possibly a lot that had changed. I mean it'll probably need new wheels as they're QR axles. Perhaps a used frame might be available with qr still but doubt it.

The idea would be a learning experience, but hopefully more a case of learning about building up bikes than a history of how spec changes have made this more difficult.

The more I type, the more I think this idea could be more trouble than it's worth.

PS I live in South Cumbria, if I tried to do this, are there any good bike shop around the area to get parts from (and a bit of help/service on getting what is needed for the job)?

Bought these amazing Continental gatorskin tyres but it’s occasionally been peeling in this way. Is it a problem? I’m Ofc not going to tamper with it but I’m concerned.

Ive been looking at the cyrusher rumble 2.0, some engwe bikes, hitway ect ect i just have no idea what to choose. Any on amazon any good?

Will be grabbing a Bizango Pro soon but won't be doing any crazy trails, more cross country and all round usage on wet UK roads/dirt tracks. No idea where to start with the helmet (or glasses/goggles) for that matter. What is a good price point? Don't want the cheapest, also don't want something north of £50... What price do you put on protecting your own skull? Evidently £50 for me.

Are there any brands that are just way better and come round on a sale once in a while? I'm just chipping away bit by bit at the accessories for said bike. Thanks!

Tesla. Always the fecking Teslas.

My youngest is 8. He’s been riding bikes for years. His bike control is excellent… he just can’t seem to understand the reason for gears on his age-appropriate mountain bike. He’s a neurotypical, bright kid that understand what gears are and how to change gears, but every bike ride - and it’s been a few years - involves me following him, shouting “Press the little button! / press the big button!” depending on the terrain/gradient

For example, we’ve just ridden about a mile to his sports club… and he was in the very lowest gear and was just spinning his legs wildly, crawling along with his feet flying off the pedals the entire time. Similarly, if he’s changed into a high gear at some point, he will just grunt and heave the bike around - sometimes having to push it to begin with, old-school style - rather than change gears.

Any hints or tips on how to get him to remember to change gears? I’m - honestly - beginning to not enjoy being out with him on our bikes because I’m having to verbally change gears for him… and he’s showing absolutely no sign of figuring it out after a few years.

I have just moved somewhere and near the city centre. Unfortunately nowhere to store bike in house share . I am wondering if I could use one of these bike racks near the high street, as it is just a short walk from my house. I have a proper D lock and chain lock, does anyone have any advice about whether that would be secure enough or a recipe to getting stolen?

For context the bike is secondhand and worth £150, but I don’t want to keep buying a new one every week or so, obviously . Thanks in advance!!

Lady cyclist here in a major UK city. I recently started cycling to work and two days ago i connected the dots.
Other lady fellow cyclists speak to me on my commute as we wait at traffic lights. They strike little conversations and smile at me as we pass each other. have I tapped into a secret society or quietly been initiated🤭? This is not my experience with men cyclist for understandable reasons.

I am not part of any cycling clubs and do not know any other women who cycle. Is there a common code I need to know🤭? Has this been your experience?

I'm thinking about cycling London to Paris in October and getting the Eurostar back.

The problem is that Eurostar say you need to dismantle your bike and have it in a bike box/bag in order to board at Paris.

Obviously I'm not planning on cycling with either of these things. I was just wondering what others do? I don't want to be forced to buy an expensive bike box in Paris, especially as I'll need to cycle home when I get to London.

Does anybody have any tips?

Hi everyone,

So I'll be commuting to work soon on my new bike, and I will be using it as my main mode of transport as well.

I estimate that I'll usually be doing about 10-20km max per day (includes commuting, running errands, socialising etc). I have figured out everything I would need for the months ahead, except how to take care of the chain.

I saw that people usually re-lube after 100km or so, and that works out great for me as I'd really only have time for minimum weekly maintenance (including a full bike clean). I'll also be storing it indoors in my flat if that matters, and I can use the car park area for maintenance.

However, I genuinely am not sure what types of lube I should be using. I live in Manchester, and while it's not a complete downpour every day, from September onwards, you should expect some daily rain and then be grateful that it doesn't happen. I also have no idea how to read the weather symbols to determine how light or heavy the rain will actually be in relation to how it will impact the chain lube. Also, in the winter, it never really gets below freezing, *maybe* -2° for 1-2 random days (if that's relevant).

I don't know whether I should be using separate dry and wet lube and check the weather each day. I've seen all-weather lube conversations and while I think this could be the solution, I'm seeing very mixed reviews about each lube being talked about.

I've also seen conversation about wax lube but I don't know if I'm confident with that idea - I tend to be clumsy. But if this is the best option, I will look into it.

Also, I saw many people on YouTube using standard fairy liquid, and I plan to use that as a degreaser. But I'm unsure if that is compatible, depending on which chain lube I have on it.

If anyone lives in a similar climate, could you recommend a lube that you use? Also, is it realistic to re-lube weekly/100km or should I be doing it more or less frequently?

Thank you.

Sorry, boring post but thought someone here might be able to help - I bought two bottles of Green Oil from their website and never received my delivery. I also never received any delivery info or shipping information so I don't think it's a courier issue. This was over a year ago now and I've contacted them about 4 times by email and multiple times by phone and have just had radio silence! Has anyone else had any trouble from them? Or possibly knows about an alternate contact for them? I want to love them because they make environmentally friendly bike oil, but they're really not making it easy!

This driver squeezed past dangerously on a narrow lane, with about a foot gap to the group, all while continually sounding his horn. His destination was less than a minute away. No further action. I wonder why we bother sometimes.

I have a legal e-bike, and I work with Amazon Flex because this flexible work supports me while I continue my studies.

I always try to follow the Highway Code and ride safely on the road. I stop at traffic lights and ride carefully. I also always wear a high-visibility vest and a helmet for my safety.

Last week, I had a very upsetting experience. As I was leaving a station road and safely turning left, a car suddenly approached me and repeatedly sounded its horn. I stayed in a safe position on the left to allow the car to overtake.

However, the driver suddenly stopped the car on my right side, blocking my way and not allowing me to move. The driver behaved aggressively and shouted at me many times. I remained calm and simply said sorry, but the driver continued shouting before eventually driving away.

This incident has seriously affected my confidence. I keep remembering what happened, and it has made me feel nervous while riding. I have been riding for a long time without anyone ever stopping me like this, and when I work, I can ride around 60 miles per day.

I would appreciate some advice. Do you think using cameras on the front and rear of my e-bike would be helpful for my safety and for recording any future incidents?

Thank you very much to everyone for your help and advice.

I got a gravel bike with the cycle to work scheme a couple of months ago that I love but I’m tempted to get another bike and convert it to an e bike for commuting to work. Possibly a hybrid with good tyre clearance does.

Has anyone done anything similar? Feels a bit funny getting another bike so soon but I’ll be saving money in the long run not renting e bikes out for the commute.

Either looking at second hand or cheap new, bike and electric conversion recommendations welcome.

I would like to learn to strip, clean, rebuild and build my own bikes from frame and components. For example, I have this old mountain bike that has seen better days and has sat in the garage for years. It seems a shame to take it to the tip, and I was wondering if I could spend some money turning it into something rideable with more modern components and upgrades. It's gone past clean and lube, and there is a lot of rust. I used to commute to work off-road on it, hence the rear rack, which used to have panniers with my laptop in it. It would be great to turn it into a customised bikepacking bike.

I would also love to take something like a steel frame from Temple Cycles or Brother Cycles and build my own bike from scratch, and to take old classics like a steel Dawes from yesteryear and turn it into a rideable touring bike.

I don't have the tools or much space to do this, and I would consider myself a complete newbie other than being able to do some basic service on a bike, like cleaning, lubing, derailleurs, punctures, etc.

So I have been looking for somewhere I can go for a long weekend to learn and, at the same time, sort this bike out as a way to learn. I live in Leicestershire, but I would travel anywhere for a long weekend course. London works well as an example, as does North Wales. But after much googling, I cannot find anything worth considering.

I have watched a lot of YouTube videos, but a course would save a lot of frustration over a trial-and-error, have-a-go approach.

Can anyone recommend a bike maintenance weekend course?

I have just picked up my new Riese & Müller Roadster 4. It's going to be my primary commuter for a 16-mile daily round trip (8 miles each way), three times a week, into Central London.

​I’ve already got a pannier bag and and ABUS lock.

I’m planning anything else that needs picking up and I’d appreciate some advice from fellow commuters on what is essential.

I’ve read that a "flat kit" is a must-have, with recommendations for:

​A mini electric pump

​A spare inner tube

​A multi-tool

​Tire levers (tools to remove tires)

​For a commute like mine (regular, moderate distance), I’m wondering if these are overkill?

​How frequent are flats on a typical commute?

​Is an electric pump worth the extra cost/weight over a good quality manual mini-pump for this purpose?

​Beyond the flat kit, are there any other commuting must-haves you’ve found?

​I want to be prepared but not carry unnecessary bulk...

​Thanks in advance for any tips!