Cycling Thread - pleasure peddlers to serious cyclists sign in here!

I'm still cycling. There was a thread about Gore jackets on CycleChat last week, everyone was raving about how good they are.

I'm not looking forward to the colder weather - have got winter leggings, arm warmers and leg warmers so am well prepared. Its the dark evenings whch are buggering me now. Can only go out at weekends and kids/life sometimes get in the way. Got out last weekend both days, not so hopeful about this coming weekend.

Am thinking of getting a turbo trainer.

No idea about bike lights sorry as I don't ride in the dark. I've heard of CatsEye brand though and think they're a good make.

Hi I'm trying to get back into cycling after birth of 2nd baby who is now one. I would like to cycle to work which means I need lights for dark mornings on unlit country lanes. I found this list by goggling headlights_Aug1.pdf of cateyes and think the Nano Shot 620 will suit me has anyone else used this one? I need 30mins of high beam before joining the lit cycle path &can recharge at work. My budget ideally is £50-60.

We bought a tag along off eBay to use with our 4-5yr old. It was used twice last year! My DH found it hard work she stopped pedaling even though she can ride off stablisers now so we have just tried to encourage that instead. It hasn't been as useful as the bike seat we used lots for 3yrs+ and now the baby uses.

Thank you all for the advice. Having looked at the price of tagalongs, I think I'll go for just encouraging him to cycle more! It's finding the time, as alas school isn't within cycling distance for him.

I've just got some kool stop pads so am going to try changing the pads.

Glad you hada good time Summer.

Hello all. Had an excellent time in the mountains. Lots of lovely riding. Both up and down. Still quite like the uphills to my surprise.

My mountain bikes both have disk brakes. Couldn't live without them but can't say I find the ones on my road bike a problem for stopping. I would get them checked out?

My ds had his first big cycling crash today. (He's nearly 4). Totally faceplanted after losing control riding downhill poor little man. He really did appear to land straight on his face so is lucky I think to have just got away with a few scrapes. So don't ask me about encouraging little ones to ride bikes as he will probably never get on his again!

I luckily seem to have escaped the notorious judder at least.

I have disc brakes on my MTB so it stops almost immediately. V brakes on my shopping runaround and it's ok. The brakes on the tricross are the least responsive of the three, they work but not as quickly as the other two. And the front brake has a terrible judder when i pull hard which is a common problem according to google.

Do you find the brakes a bit useless then?

I certainly can't stop quickly like on my mtb.

Not yet. It goes back in for a 'shakedown' service in early Nov so I'm going to ask them about the brakes then.

Talking of the Tricross quiche - has anyone with one changed the brake pads (Piffpaff, Thistle)?

I'm finding the brakes a bit rubbish and am considering this. Kool stop ones get good reviews.

Absolutely!

I spent £47 today and got 5 different things for the price of a pair of Altura trousers!

Viva that's exactly my thinking on the men's trousers, having been looking at equivalent Altura ones that were £50+. Does this mean we're setting up a sub-quiche, the 'Tricross and Aldi trousers' crew?

BlueChampagne - we used a trailgator for dd when she was younger and thought it was really g ood. She'd bike till tired, then have a rest while been pulled, then bike a bit more.

I've been to Aldi as well today. Also got men's winter trousers - didn't see any womens ones. They are low in the waasit but for the money I'm keeping them.

Also got arm warmers, leg warmers, a merino top and gloves!

Blue I think you've just got to get them out on the bikes as often as you can to start with, on short trips to get thm used to being on the bike a lot. We go to the library a lot which is about a 2 mile round trip, and always include a park stop on the way back. We also cycle to school or nursery sometimes, even though school is about 1/4 mile away. Incentives and rewards are key IMO, for longer rides we always factor in a cafe stop or a play park or both. Dd who's just turned 4 did 8 flat miles round a loch last week but that was 4 mile to a cafe, lunch, 2 miles to a beach then a stop for throwing stones in, then the final 2 miles to a big park where she got to play. So lots of stops, lots of snacks, lots of 'things' to aim for and cake too.

We chose not to go for a tagalong because we had visions of them never pedalling. We decided to just go at their pace and distance capabilities for now although we did then get DD a Trailgator as we thought she might appreciate being hooked onto that occasionally. She was horrified by that suggestion and promptly cycled further than she ever had before, just to avoid using it!!

RubyRubyRuby what can you recommend for building endurance (both mental and physical) in a rookie cyclist (just turned 5). Is a tagalong worth considering?

I have been to Aldi for the cycling stuff - got a soft shell jacket and winter trousers both v cosy. I'm not 100% sure about the trousers, they feel quite low on my waist but I bought the men's ones cos the ladies large would have been on the tight side I think . Anyway, I'll give them a go. It was quite busy with people around the cycling stuff but there was loads of it.

A bit bruised but otherwise fine thanks.

Lucky you OhBurger. How are you feeling today after your crash?