Cycling

Their website of the actual store ?

the ones i saw were in-store. they were only about £1 and looked it, but we are talking about CRUD catchers here and they were a good size!

I'm loving the bike riding at the moment. A great way to get out at weekends. Enjoyed a good ride out earlier. Anyone know any good ways of finding out some good cycle tracks/routes ?

cmiller - Sports Direct seem to stock a lot of bike gear at the moment. They had some Muddy Fox clothing as well. Some of it is good, but some not so good. Two of my friends got bright orange high viz rain jackets from there, the Muddy Fox ones and both zips have broken within a couple or months.
It's a gamble, but for the price an inexpensive gamble at least

(15-04-2012 22:29 )Money_Shot Wrote:  Anyone know any good ways of finding out some good cycle tracks/routes ?

sustrans offer the UK cycle path network and have a mapping feature. Haven't used it, but would seem like a good place to start :

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/na...le-network

Try as well : http://www.cycle-route.com/

Bikehub can be a useful site to dip into for bike related info, and they have a route planner : http://www.bikehub.co.uk/

Excellent, thanks a lot Munch, will check those links out and give some feedback on them

Well, I collected my new bike today

I went for the Halfords deal, I got the slightly more expensive Carrera Subway Limited Edition. I've had the similar version before, and was suitably impressed, so figured I'd take advantage of the special offer on this.
I got a couple cans of spray (WD40 type stuff) and a cheap pump for free, and it actually came to slightly less than the advertised price.
The bike also comes with toe-cages which was a nice bonus. The old one I had came with slanted edge pedals which weren't really designed to take a toe-cage, though I managed to fit them. I was seriously considering getting new pedals fitted just so I could more easily fit the toe-cages, so to find these pedals take them already, and it comes with a set, albeit a very cheap set, was nice.

First impression just riding it home, very nice indeed. Seemed very nice to ride, very easy, and very light. The tyres are the typical semi-slicks, almost smooth on the bottom, but with some off-road knobbles on the outer edges. Makes them easier on the road, but allows a bit of off-roading if required.
The one thing I don't like is the wide handle-bars. They are a full 3 inches wider than my old bike, and it feels it. I may end up cutting them down, or simply swapping an old pair onto there.

I'm just fitting my bits and pieces ready for the maiden voyage monday. I have my front light fitted, got to sort out which backlight to use depending on which bracket I can find, the pump is fitted, and I just changed batteries in my speedo thing, so that is ready to fit.
I've put my rear mudguard on, but I'm still undecided about whether to put the rack on instead. I don't really need it, I'm not carrying much for the part-time job, but it might be nice to have it there for when I do need it, but then it adds extra weight. I'll decide tomorrow

Thought I'd post about some accessories as I am starting to kit my bike out again.

http://www.bikebuddy.co.uk/
This is awesome, uses the existing water bottle fixings to fix a larger bottle/flask. I used to take a large flask to work everyday, and this made it so much easier than carrying it in my rucksack. Can be used with flasks, large drinks bottles, camping equipment, whatever you like.

http://www.cagerocket.com
If you can find these in the UK, they are a great idea, a storage pod which fits into your water bottle carrier. There are other similar things available, some really cheap, but I like this one, with it's rubber lining inside, and the shape and the large opening allow it to hold larger items. I want something like this to carry my toolkit and inner tube for the summer months, one less thing to need a bag for.

As there is a theme of water bottle fixings here, how about a water bottle or two
http://www.reusablebottle.co.uk
Not just bike bottles, but they do have some nice ones here which are bike suitable.
The Contigo Kangaroo looks interesting, a water bottle with a storage compartment for keys, loose change etc, both options together, I like it Seems to be saying it fits a bike carrier as well.
For bike specific bottles, try the H2Onya range. You can get a variety of different caps to suit your needs, and a nice neoprene cover, which gives some protection, and also a little insulation.

Munch, based on your review (and the bargain price), I am going Halfords, this weekend, and hope to purchase the same Carrera Subway Limited Edition bike.
I am only doing light trail riding & this seems perfect for me, a novice

(24-04-2012 16:57 )Paul Ducky Wrote:  Munch, based on your review (and the bargain price), I am going Halfords, this weekend, and hope to purchase the same Carrera Subway Limited Edition bike.
I am only doing light trail riding & this seems perfect for me, a novice

Hope you like it

Can't comment on how it will do for trail riding, as I'm using it for commuting on roads and paths, but it should do the job. I'd say there's probably not much better at the price.

What I like about it (and the earlier version which I had before), is that all the fittings are pretty standard, meaning that when things eventually need replacing (as they will for me given the abuse it will have to endure), I can easily and cheaply replace them with off the shelf components that can be fitted at home by me without special tools, and I'm back up and running next day.
I usually reckon on a bike lasting me perhaps a couple years before it reaches the point of being cheaper to replace than keep repairing. I think the old version of this lasted 3 to 4 years, and despite being severely crippled at the end (I think I had 2 working gears!), it was still actually running and still carrying me about until I just didn't need to use it anymore. Hope this one does as good a job

Word of warning, the saddle is giving me butt-ache. It could just be my lack of time on a bike, and maybe I need to make a few adjustments to the pitch etc, but I'm seriously thinking I may need to replace it with one of my gel saddles. I'll persevere for this week and see how it feels by the weekend!