This seems to be a bit of a general gear type thread as well, but anyone use BikeRegister? Is it worth it?
Interesting little article on the BBC today (not that i’d be buying any of the bikes they feature!!)?
This seems to be a bit of a general gear type thread as well, but anyone use BikeRegister? Is it worth it?
Interesting little article on the BBC today (not that i’d be buying any of the bikes they feature!!)?
Can anyone recommend a thermal flask to go in a biden or cage?
Absolutely not for mulled wine.
The decathlon kids bottle cages are the right size for the vast majority of regular coffee flasks.
I use a Camelbak Podium Chill when it’s particularly nippy. They’re ok to be cleaned in a dishwasher, so a squash with water out the kettle - or possibly mulled wine - is fine & your drink will keep warm up to 90 mins depending on the ambient temp.
Second that, and they come in decent sizes too. Although given I’ve always set off in far too much clobber, by the time I take a drink I usually wish it was chilled, not remaining at fridge temp! Even at zero degrees.
Frank Green
Freshest morning of this winter for today’s commute. Had to deploy my Aldi/Lidl ski gloves.
First proper frost here this morning, for weekly supermarket trip had to scrape the car and even wiggle the key to get it in the lock and turn to open the door (yep, no central locking, keep fit windows and no aircon)
I miss commuting, even on days like this, it was only 15mins each way so not long enough to get properly cold. Having said that the foot/cycle bridge I had to cross was lethal in this weather as the wooden planks soaked up the moisture and would be slippy even when nowhere else was. It’s be taken away for refurbishment at the moment so would have to use main road bridge if I was still going so good timing I guess.
yeah i had to drop the car off for MOT so chucked the bike in the back and rode the 10 mins back home. Oohh haven’t ridden in the cold like that for a few years. First time with the Santini neoprene gloves. They were mainly pretty decent, except weirdly the tip of my left forefinger. That was white when i finished. Weird!
Toes on the other hand were frozen … and that was only ten mins!
I have some neoprene gloves for most days but on the coldest I switched to Planet X Lobsters. Takes a bit of getting used to your fingers being restricted together but the extra warmth was worth it. Could only wear them on the coldest days or they were just too warm.
I could never get on with the lobster gloves. Almost found them stressful with the restricted movement - shame as they were mega warm
Starky says, if you need Lobster gloves, you probably shouldn’t be riding outside…
He glows in the dark though…
Yeah, I found my hands were aching after the first few rides, probably from trying to move fingers individually, mainly index finger and fighting the resistance to do so.
It does eventually click and you only move them in pairs but I still found it better on my Brompton, which I used every day, compared to my road bike that I only rode with them once in a blue moon.
I don’t tend to go out in anything colder than 5c these days, I’ve turned into a total wimp, but also nervous about coming off on ice, some of the roads in the shade from trees and hedges can have ice on them that doesn’t clear all day.
I’ve struggled a bit with lobster gloves as well, got some of the assos layer system gloves, but also got some Rapha winter gloves very cheap which are excellent.
I came off winter before last, 6c but going down a steep hill there was a point where water had flowed across the road from one gutter to the other leaving a thick stripe of ice that would last for days. Bike went out from under me instantly and I slid for ages on my hip getting a really deep graze that took weeks to heel. I’m very cautious now and if there’s any doubt use the MTB on canal or trails.
Did something similar about 8 years ago, main roads weren’t bad but went down a back lane that was getting sketchy so I slowed right down.
Came to a sharp right hander and took it about 2mph, still came off, I felt a sharp pain in my knee before I’d hit the ground.
About 8 weeks before the ligament sorted itself
Learnt my lesson.
Average temp on this mornings ride in was 0
Coldest was -4
Yeah, that worries me too. I’ve bought a second set of wheels dirt cheap off ebay for my commuter this year, intending, if I ever end up commuting on a bike again, to fit a set of lightly studded tyres to them, for a quick swap the night before. Won’t guarantee safety, but will help!