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There are surprisingly few framsets, with CX geo, disc brake tabs, and rack'n'guard mounts.

The Genesis Croix de Fer is exactly that. Very versatile, and has been my go to bike for everything (double pannier Tesco trips, daily commute, 30 miles on the Essex afterworkers, sketchy canal paths to the parents in Bham) except Sunday best.

My previous workhorse (Kona Smoke) has only come out once this year (for Ride East), and that was because I'd crashed the CdF and was waiting for a replacement fork. I'll probably strip it to a SS knockabout when I get the motivation

It seems that most of this thread belongs on the weight loss thread. I was under the impression that the intent of this thread was to organise rides where people who are less confident in their abilities would be able to come along and not be worried about getting dropped or made to feel shit for holding everyone else up if they are tail end charlies.

Well meaning advice about intervals or weight loss strategies is more likely to put people off than help; it certainly doesn't provide any incentive for me to come along if people are going to be covered in HRMs and stop watches to monitor peak fat burning. I'm more interested in getting on my bike for a bit, riding until I'm a bit tired, stopping until I feel better, then riding some more.

Heart rate monitors>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Would love to do this, but with my wedding reception the week after, any activity that increases my likelihood of getting injured has been banned. Next season for me.

You can cache maps on the latest Google maps. I did this when I went over to the states last month. You turn it on in Menu/More/Labs: Prechache Map Area. You can then long press a point on the map, go into the bubble that comes up and one of the options is "precache map area" which will get 10 miles around the spot you've chosen.

In! I am too unfit for more than 30 miles, so that discounts the majority of rides outside of london, but very interested in doing more miles.

I know people that have been waiting for 10 years for it to happen and they are worse off now than they were then. It never will.
I don't know much about this sort of stuff, but it seems to me that as long as there are more people than houses and people still want to live in London then prices will remain high. Is this not one of the first laws of economics?

As long as there are banks willing to lend multiples higher than the long term average, and Local Housing Allowance covering the mortgages for 1/3 of the landlords in London, the big crash won't happen. However, this long slow drag down along the bottom we're currently seeing doesn't seem to be ending soon. While inflation stays at 4-5% and house price inflation is at 0-1%, that's a 3-5% drop in the real price each year. Inflation-proofing your savings, that's a different matter altogether.

The general change in geo for womens' bikes is to shorten the top tube, so you may be stuck if you are only looking at womens' bikes. A small or extra small man's bike should have the longer top tube you want.

Look at the geometry of the Specialized Vita (ladies) vs the Sirrus (Mens). The medium Vita has 44cm seat tube and 53.5cm top tube, but the small Sirrus has a 44cm seat and 57cm top tube. I would look into getting a men's small size and chopping down the bars to fit. You are more likely to get a nice sale price on the mens bikes, as they are more widely available than womens' bikes, and you'll be looking for an extreme size. If she's all set on getting a pretty ladies bike, you could always get it powdercoated in a colour of her choice.

Which calipers were you using before you switched to BB7s?

The stock brakes on the Genesis Croix de Fer: BR R505, which I think are the Tiagra discs you use, and Tiagra shifters. I spent hours on them, including new inner cables and refinishing every cable end but had nothing but sloppy results. I even heard from the bike's original designer who now works for Evans on their in house ranges (Pinnacle etc), but got no more help from him other than a suggestion of new pads and sanding the discs.

Basically, I agree, if you really need to stop you kind of need to be in the drops. This isn’t very good for city riding though which is why I think the cross-tops and mtb hydro’s is probably more appropriate. That or I’ve been toying with single front ring (smaller size, say 43), left hand front brake (hydro) and then a cable on the right with the shifter? Anyway, that’s me musing! In the short term, you’re very much right about the cable flex. I’ve heard that fitting some nokon cables will have an immediate impact as well. Unfortunately we don’t sell the nokon’s but you can get them from wiggle or crc in no-time. They won’t flex nearly as much as will really improve the performance – well, bring it to the level you’d expect at least. I’ve cc’d James who now works for us but was the designer of the CdF to see if he has anymore hints.
[Quote=James]It sounds more like a pad friction issue? I could lock the rear wheel on Croix de Fer test bikes from the drops and could brake well from the lever hoods too, but the lever feel was definitely softer than a caliper brake although they are designed to work together. One thing I’ve noticed over the winter is that road salt ruins pads (Shimano are still working on how to overcome salt glazing on pads) and it may be that the pads and rotors are contaminated. Commuting rarely builds up enough heat to clear the brakes of grime and road oil and even diesel exhaust soot can contaminate pads (as you notice after putting MTBs on the roof and driving a few hours to ride – brake performance can be totally stuffed from motorway grime). Have you tried fitting new pads and sanding off the rotors?
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I find they need no more adjusting than a regular road caliper or v brake - bit of a tweak every 500 miles or so.

Lucky bugger. I had to adjust mine every 50 miles or so, and was never able to do an emergency stop on them (as shown by a bent fork following a rear end incident with a Renault 5) and Brixton Cycles couldn't improve them. A BB7 on the front has made a world of difference.

All the merino stuff was gone up by the time I got to OKR last night, so made do with a couple of LS tops and the last pair of arm warmers. Good quality for the price, and certainly good enough for commuting. I already have a couple of winter jackets, so gave those a miss. The shoes looked pretty decent, and if they are as good as the ones I bought previously will easily soak up a couple of thousand miles before needing any attention, although the brown ones are fugly

Yeah, I wanted the Croix De Fer but they weren't available at the time. I'll probably have another shop around come payday.

Brixton Cycles ordered and fitted a CdF fork for me. On a CdF, admittedly, but they should be able to get you one if you ask them.

Does anyone have a solution- I'm not sure if this is Android challenge or Asus transformer issue. Is there a 'shortcut' for Home, as in go-to-top-page? Something like touching the upper boarder of an iPhone. Its lame but I miss that on this compared to my iPhone...

It depends on your phone, but on my Galaxy SII, if you use 3 fingers to scroll, it'll take you to the top/bottom of the screen. This may only be a Samsung Touchwiz tweak, and only in certain programs,

This is only the second iPhone feature/quirk I've seen that could make me consider buying one.

The other is the fact that it'll autocorrect the umlauts into Motorhead.

Confirmed. Still a crappy keyboard compared to swype.

Definitely going to invest in a good case. Like the look of the Otterbox ones (for iPhone at least, guessing the SGS ones are of a similar quality).

Get something for the screen as well. The Gorilla Glass on my GS2 is starting to show wear, although substantially less than the iPhone 4 after the same length of time and abuse.

Negril's rice and peas are excellent. Not the plain rice and kidney beans which most jerk places have. Go with a friend and have a platter with their home made lemonade.

Happily, I'll be there tomorrow evening for my last jerk chicken as a single man.

bit of a punt but will repay merrily in beer.

im changing my 2010 campy xenon groupset for 2010 shimano 105 5600 compact grouspet and im after the following tools

campy bottom bracket tool
shimano outboard bottom bracket tool

campy rear cassette tool
shimano rear cassette tool

I have the cassette tools in SW2 if you can pick up. I also have campag BB tool like this: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=16523

Anyone in SW got a shimano bb tool I can borrow for a day or two please?

Thanks

Still need this? I have one of these: [URL="http://www.shinybikes.com/images/magictoolbox_cache/11B1_t_150.jpg"][/URL] in SW2 you can take over the weekend.

I did the return trip this afternoon. It seemed like I used up all the bad luck on the outbound trip, as this was smooth like butter. No rain, no navigation errors, and it took just over half the time that yesterday's ride did. Gas St Basin is a bloody nightmare to find the way around, but I ended up coming out on Bridge St, about as close to New St as I could hope for.

My bike still got absolutely filthy thanks to the puddles.

Well, it was certainly eventful. First off I went along the wrong canal after I got onto them at the ICC, and had to head around the Walsall Road and the Ring Road to get back onto the planned route. I got absolutely drenched in the early rain (12 o'clock) and even sheltered for a short while in an underpass on the ring road. When I finally got onto the right canal it was lovely riding, apart from the constant puddles throwing gritty water onto my shoes, and the odd bit of towpath which seemed to have been designed to shake my bones.

Apart from a wasp flying into my helmet and the inevitable sting, the canal until the turn off onto the Walsall canal was good, and on a dry day would have been perfect. A particular highlight was the Galton tunnel and bridges, unexpectedly pretty.

After the turn off it wasn't so good. On a couple of stretches, I was riding in ruts no more than 6 inches wide, and hoping that I was going to be OK. The first couple of miles are pretty sketchy, but when the towpath reappeared (along with the fishermen), it was hunky dory. Apart from the puncture a couple of bridges before I turned off (at Willenhall), I really enjoyed the ride, although it was a relief to get back onto asphalt.

I think if I do it again, I'll pop on some proper CX tyres as the 28s lost traction under braking on some of the slippery downhills, then I wouldn't be restricted to the ruts on the dodgier sections and would have a bit more grip on the grass. Probably a bit comfier on the rougher patches too.

Very interesting to see a city you know from a completely different angle. Thanks for the help.

I've spent a while on Google maps, and I reckon it's easily doable. Given that my bike is supposed to be a cyclocross bike, albeit with slicks, guards and a rack, I should be able to handle anything they can throw at me.

Trains from New St. go straight to Walsall.

Yeah, but where's the fun in that?

Ask pistaboy, he rides it daily

Will do. Ta.

Are there signs? I don't fancy getting lost and relying on my internal compass.

I'm heading back to visit the family this weekend, and want to take my bike on the train, then ride from New St to WV12 (Rough Wood area)

Anyone know a route that isn't a drag along the main A34/Walsall Road, as I can't imagine that's much fun. Is it feasible to use the canal to get from Bham to Walsall on 28mm slicks?

Christ. 4 laps at 17mph was enough for me on Monday. I did see a forum jersey, and tried to latch on, but couldn't hope to keep up. I don't think the mudguards and pannier helped.

Anyone got a Cinelli Experience 2011?

There's one in Evans Clapham High St, if you want to kick the tyres.