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In my experience with kids
In my experience with kids bikes they’re often heavier than an adult bike – the wheels are heavy and they tend to fit steel forks to cope with the abuse dealt out by kids being kids.
Of those two I’d say that the Meadowmill is more suitable – 16 speed rather than 7-speed. It does have a cyclocross chainset which means top end speed is a bit limited, depends on how much of a demon descender your missus is.
I’d love to go car-free but
I’d love to go car-free but it really doesn’t fit our lifestyle at the moment. We like the convenience of the Passat lugging around all our outdoor equipment so we can head off to the beach/forest/park after school. Living on the edge of the New Forest we’ve got so much stuff on our doorstop, the issue is just that we have cycle on busy narrow roads to get there.
If the Passat had a towbar I’d definitely have a hitch rack, and it’s interesting to hear that some of them fit so quickly, I’d imagined it was a major faff.
We are considering going down to one car but that would mean replacing both (missus has a Ka). Part of the issue is that they don’t cost us much to run as neither of us do many miles. Getting rid of one car would save maybe £350 a year but clearly that doesn’t make sense if I have to spend £5k on a replacement. Round here, being semi-rural you don’t get many taxi rides for £350 a year and there are times when two cars are convenient.
I think this is all pointing to fixing the Passat and getting a towbar fitted. Probably £2k all in unless I source parts secondhand and fit myself but that’s still cheaper than £5k+ on a replacement.
Bloody cars! (and to think I used to be a petrolhead…)
A Garmin 25 is a good option,
A Garmin 25 is a good option, particularly if you don’t ride with a mobile phone. If you do have a phone then have a look at the Wahoo RFLKT+ (2nd hand on eBay) – that connects to your phone and has configurable screens.
I’ve ridden with a computer for years and certainly find that it motivates me to ride more often and to push harder – it’s quite addictive arriving back home to find out if I’ve set PBs on my local routes. Where it has really come into it’s own recently though is alongside a power meter which is helping me gauge my effort more accurately. Rarely look now at speed or distance, power zone is what’s important.
If discs are well set up they
If discs are well set up they’re not noisy (or no more noisy than rim brakes in wet)
Hydro discs are much easier to set up and maintain than mechanical (cable operated) discs but more expensive.
I commuted on a rim brake bike through all weathers for years with no issues – the only thing I did was to fit auxiliary levers so I could brake from the top of the bars (so more head up in traffic) – they’re often called crosstops or inline levers.
Good rim brakes (Ultegra or 105 level) are hugely impressive now, even in the wet. You just end up trashing your wheels in winter/wet
My tourer has discs but I went for rims on my “fast” bike because I prefer them, don’t brake so often, and they’re lighter. Also only tends to be used in the dry.
You are however pretty much limited to 28mm tyres if you want to run mudguards and rim brakes. If you want wider for comfort then go with discs.
You may not be aware but there are a huge number of good steel manufacturers these days – Fairlight, Mason, Shand, Bowman, Genesis spring to mind. Modern steel bikes can be as fast as or as comfortable as you want.
PDK is a typo – probably thinking of PDW who make some lovely metal mudguards.
I had a Dirty Disco for a
I had a Dirty Disco for a while – lovely bike, no issues in terms of build quality and I’m a heavy rider. Only sold it because I couldn’t get used to SRAM shifting and the monumentally crap front mechs, which won’t be an issue on a 1x build.
DD was the relaxed version of the XL range
I’ve got these wheels – they
I’ve got these wheels – they look the part even once the black anodising has worn off the brake track (look great with tanwalls)
Can’t say that they’ve improved performance much because I haven’t done any really long rides on them but they are certainly faster than my winter wheels. Whether that’s down to tyre or wheel is open to debate because I’m running Gators on the winter wheels and ultra-racy Veloflex Masters on the Visions.
No issues with them and I’m a heavy rider, still true after a couple of months of hammering round rough country lanes.
The rear hub is one of those “make it loud and ratchety when freewheeling so I sound more pro” jobs. Not particularly to my taste which means I end up freewheeling much less 🙂
I think they’re good value for what they are, but not a big step over what you’ve got – you’re not going to be suddenly 5% faster on them. Having said that unless you’re a whippet climbing in the Alps or TT’ing no wheelset is going to make that much of a performance difference. The weight difference between the Visions and a lightweight alloy wheelset is a full bidon.
If you can stretch to the
If you can stretch to the them a set of Hunt Superdura. Alternatively if you’re not over 115kgs then pretty much all of the Hunt range is OK for you.
Quickstep and Soudal for a
Quickstep and Soudal for a recent room refurb
Good tips, thanks everyone.
Good tips, thanks everyone.
Tiagra is the sweet spot for
Tiagra is the sweet spot for commuting – basically 10-speed 105 and there’s very little point in 11-speed unless you’re racing. Even Sora will do the job for a commute of that distance. Just upgrade the brakes to 105 level if you go with rim brakes.
As far as frame goes make sure it has mudguard eyes, clearance for at least 28mm tyres, and ideally eyelets to fit a pannier.
Those requirements are met more easily by a disc-braked frame than rim brakes but discs will cost more and weigh more. If you’re commuting in foul weather though I’d recommend at disc frame, or a set of winter wheels.
Most importantly go to your LBS and chuck your leg over a few to get an idea for frame sizing as it’s easy to end up with something uncomfortable. Get them to show you the difference between a head-down pure race machine, an endurance bike, and a crosser/gravel bike.
We’re just entering the end of season sales so it’s a perfect time to buy, but if it’s your first road bike you really need to try before you buy so that rules out online sales.
VW and Audi used to make really logical cars in terms of fixing them (I’m taking back in mk2 golf era) and somewhere they became daft and almost dealer only jobs unless you’re willing to invest in time and more specialist tools, even the oil filter on my TT was pain to get out. That said they are all like that, my wife’s sidelights have gone in the Clio and it’s looking like I’ll need to move the battery to get to the bulb. Madness (or cynical side says this ties you into not being able to fix it yourself).I wish someone would make a basic old school car for tinkerers that actually had space in the engine bay and no fancy electronics.
Yes please (hence looking at ’80s estates). Scary to think that my old Mk2 would have been 30 this year!
On the Passat you can’t even change a headlight bulb at the roadside, the Mk4 Golf was the same. Which is odd considering most of mainland Europe mandate that you carry spare bulbs.
My mate has a Volvo estate, one of the 2.4d ones. It’s cavernous, that’s for sure but also has the turning circle of an oil tanker, which is the main reason why I’d never get something large again. It’s bad enough trying to get around most supermarket carparks in smaller cars.As for the AC, how did we all make it through winters before it? I didn’t even own a car with AC until 2005.
Oh it’s an Audi transplant into the VW range. Climatronic, relying on four sensors and three nylon-cogged motors to set cabin temperature to within 0.5 degrees and maintain it there.
For the first twenty five years of my driving life I was perfectly happy with a set of manual sliders set high up on the dash with natty red/blue markings. Now I’m stuck with the system on permanent recirculation and cold air only so it fogs up completely within 5 minutes of driving. What’s worse is that it’s impossible to operate whilst driving without taking your eyes off the road. Also transplanted from Audi is a leaky pollen filter which pours rainwater on the ECU in the passenger footwell and slowly kills the car’s electronics.
I’ve done the V70 thing. Cavernous but no friendlier for bikes than any other estate, and I struggled to get it off the drive in one turn.
Thanks – agree re the diesel
Thanks – agree re the diesel comment, as I’d hope to be running it for at least five years. Probably only around 5000 miles a year if I keep working from home.
Passat is probably going to have to go simply because the climate control motor has failed. Which is buried deep in the dash. And is about 10 hours labour to fix for a £50 part. (Common fault on the Passat B5 BTBS) #bloodycars
(it’s fine in the summer but won’t be able to demist the windscreen in the winter)
Only needs to take two bikes but I don’t want to faff with taking wheels out or dropping my seatpost because it will be used frequently for short trips. Sadly my son is now too scared to cycle on the road to our offroad rides so we need to drive there #bloodydrivers
I’m thinking the solution is probably a hitch rack but it would need to be left permanently attached to the car to have any benefit over a Saris Bones or similar, and I’m a bit paranoid about the local scrotes spotting the rack on the car on the drive and raiding the shed.
The other option is finding an ancient Volvo or Merc estate from the mid-80s but perversely that would be more expensive than many newer options. Same goes for a Pug 505. I’m done with overcomplex cars having been bitten by a dodgy auto box on a V70 and now this climatronic issue on the Passat.
There seems to be far greater
There seems to be far greater awareness among car drivers anout how to behave when passing horses or livestock. Time and time again around here I’ll see a driver slow their car to walking pace, go the other side the road, and accelerate away slowly when encountering a horse, only for moments later to pull an insane close pass on a cyclist at 40mph+
We’re a nation of animal lovers after all, and I do wonder if there’s some hereditary deference and forelock tugging to the lord of the manor riding his horse by the serfs in their cars.
Or is it due to the fact that hitting a ton+ of horseflesh at 40mph is likely to write your car off?
An update – new shoes have
An update – new shoes have solved the issue.
Shimano MT5s specifically, which use the same last ast the MT7s which were giving me most issues. As is usual with Shimano shoe sizing the number on the sole bears little relation to whether they’ll actually fit. I had a 43 in the MT7s and have gone down to a 42 in the MT5s. Nominally I’m a 7.5 and in the MT5s a 41 just about fitted too, but wouldn’t have left room for winter socks.
The uppers on the MT5s clearly have more volume than the MT7s so I would imagine that tightness over the top of the foot was causing the numbness. Crucial I think is that I have more side to side flex in the MT5s because they use laces and a velcro strap rather than a Boa. I had similar flex in the M088s which had been comfortable for years.
Delighted to be finally comfortable on the bike after a summer limited to 10-15 milers.
