Drooper

Yup, I find the gym hideously tedious. I'll be riding as often as I can, but it is a thought in the deep mid-winter. I can't see myself ever using a gym again, TBH. All that effort but going nowhere doesn't appeal to me. Hibernation might be the answer

You are quite right to leave upgrading the bike until after the winter. You'll enjoy it much more come the spring

I've been riding a 'courtesy' bike to work this week. My LBS ordered the wrong bottom bracket and had to order up the correct part - which is setting me back a whopping £50 + another 20 quid for fitting....gulp - so they gave me Genesis Core MTB as a loan meantime. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with the Genesis. They make nice, steel-framed road & cross bikes, and I've always harboured a wee desire for the latter, but this MTB is quite impressive for the retail £649. It is probably on a par with my own MTB, but my trusty steed is becoming a bit tired now. I'm starting to enjoy using the MTB again. There is a lot to be said for being able to chuck a bike at any road surface you encouter with a rash disregard.

That's a good point. Cars parked on cycle lanes actually present more of a hazard than not having the lane at all. We have to make an evasive maneuver that involves arcing out into the line of traffic, and I can understand why motorists who don't also cycle wouldn't necessarily anticipate this. It's dodgy enough having to pass parked vehicles when there is no cycle lane, but at least other road users won't assume you'll be sticking to a certain designated area of the road.

Sounds good. I took a day off today and got up early to take the road bike out for a blast before it is mothballed, and what a difference. So light and responsive in comparison to the MTB but I felt every road imperfection. The gearing on the road bike isn't great just now, and that is my fault for meddling when I don't really know what I'm doing. I've let my better half know that I'd like a workstand for Xmas, as I'm determined to learn how to fix up the bike myself.

My rear disc brake is honking like a distressed goose again, but I'm getting used to it now

I don't think there's any harm in having a wee break off the bike. I'm sticking at it in case we have an enforced break such as that brought about by the Siberian conditions last December. That said, I'm just commuting nowadays, and if I wasn't, I'm not sure how disciplined I'd be in getting out on the bike otherwise.

Once again, I have to say that reading P&B genuinely makes me laugh out loud (and not always at posters). I genuinely believe that laughter is a huge tonic, and we all benefit from a right good chortle. Generally speaking, the TV is mediocre at best in terms of comedy. Youtube can provide a chuckle or two. Stand-ups tend to try too hard. Of course, we can always enjoy laughing at someone else's expense, but that leaves a bad taste sometimes. But...I actually find some of the stuff on here is very, very funny indeed. We get some extremely quick humour, some great one-liners, wonderfully funny anecdotes, and the odd withering retort. Take a bow P&B....you fair cheer me up at times

Cheers for the advice, and I will look into this. One issue I do have with attempting DIY repairs is that I need the bike to get to and from work, so can't really afford for it to be off the road while I tinker about and source parts etc. I've been there before a couple of times, and while I usually manage to botch something together, it can take time, and I'm never that confident that the repair will endure. Don't get me wrong, I carry out most routine repairs myself, and will generally always have a go before conceding defeat and visting the LBS, so I'll certainly explore the option you suggest.

I received my letter this week, having come to the end of my 'hire' period (for my folder). The Govt changes to the system are shite, and just complicate a facility that was assisting thousands of people in getting out of their cars, and onto a bike. The way my employer is getting round the change is to effectively extend my hire period for a further 5 years for a one-off additional payment of £20. So, in effect, they are loaning me the bike until it's resale value is negligible, at which point they will give me it for hee haw. Under the old system, I'd be paying my £20 now and could decide to do what I want with the bike. Under the new scheme, if I decide to sell the bike (or make any significant modifications to it), I'll have to stump up a one-off payment to meet the fair market valuation. To do this, would pretty much null and void any financial benefit gained from inclusion in the scheme. As people often want to upgrade their bike, though, being tied in for another 5 years isn't ideal either (albeit I wouldn't be upgrading the folder, and will hang onto it for convenience in any event). It is now down to employers to find a way round the new system in order that it remains attractive. It seems to me that this is a bit convoluted, and could put many employers off, especially smaller businesses, who could do without the additional beaurocracy. The changes were one of the reasons I opted not to use the scheme to buy my road bike. Instead, I'm purchasing over 2 years with 0% credit. I'm paying the full ticket price, but I wasn't limited in terms of choice. Many retailers also seem reluctant to sell bikes through the scheme that are discounted, or possibly the previous year's model. Again, this limits choice. One of the big benefits of the scheme that will remain in place is the fact that the money is taken at source, so you don't feel the hit quite the same as you might with a one-off payment or direct debit.

Took the MTB to the LBS to have the rear brake fixed.... seems fine now after a bit of decontamination work. A tenner well spent, but I'll be out another 50 quid as the bottom bracket is goosed. You can see the play in the cranks, so its only a matter of time. This cycling malarkey can be an expensive business. ETA: update - brake still quite noisy but I can live with it. It acts as a less than subtle bell in any event Further to my previous moans about adjusting to the MTB, I'm already settling back into it. Maybe that old adage about learning to ride a bike extends to different types of bike, too. I invested in a new pair of SPD (as oppsed to SPD-SL) compatible shoes from Cyclestore - one of my favourite online outlets. Pearl Izumi All Road (an odd name for what are, essentially, MTB/trail shoes). Anyhoo, they were a snip at £35 which is half the retail of £70, and having worn them this morning, I can say they are absolutely spot-on for that money.

What is the point of the word 'cattle'? The plural of cow is cows. The collective noun for cows is a herd. So where does 'cattle' fit in?

Cheers for that. A friend had suggested that and even gave me the grease (that sounds a bit pervy, doesn't it ). I then read a few bike forums and they advised against this for bike disc brakes. The long and short of it is that I bottled it, as I'm not keen on the idea of any contamination affecting the performance of the brakes given that I live at the top of a mighty hill. The guy at the LBS is a good bloke who, I'm pretty confident, won't rip me off. Indeed, prior to completing the Glasgow 100 mile sportive in August, I took me late father-in-law's bike there to have it checked over - a job for which he charged me all of two quid! I'm certainly not questioning your advice, but as I'm hearing some conflicting views on this, I might defer to the bike shop this time.

Bottom-bracket possibly? I don't know enough about bike mechanics to know what to suggest, TBH. It is something I'd like to get into - maybe sign up for a course of some description.

Welcome to the thread, mate. No closed shop on here. On the contrary, we welcome anyone and everyone, and you'll find no preening prima-donnas on here, just folks who love to ride in whatever manner they see fit. Indeed, we've talked of setting up Team P&B next year and meeting up for a run, with a possible entry to a sportive type event in aid of charity (if we can find enough willing volunteer stretcher-bearers! )

The rear brake on the MTB is still screeching like a banshee despite my best (albeit decidedly amateur) attempts to resolve the problem, so I'm biting the bullet and taking it to the LBS. Irritatingly, I wanted to test-run it after my tinkering last ight so used it for my commute this morning when it would have been a glorious day to take the road bike out having endured dire weather this week up till today I'm finding the contrast between the road and MTB difficult to adjust to just now. I just have to content myself that it will be ponderous progress on the MTB despite the slick tyres. It must weigh at least half as much again as the road bike, and the gearing is simply not designed for getting up to anything resembling 'pace'. If someone had told me this time last year that a year on I'd be pining after my road bike after less than a week off it, I'd have laughed at them.

I'm delighted to hear that your maiden ride was a success, Jim

In that case I'd bin it and buy another one

If I can sort this problem with the brakes out, my bike should be fine. It's a decent quality MTB, and has solid, reliable components. The issue lies with me adapting to it once more having used the road bike for so many months. It didn't help that I used it for the first time in quite a while on a pishy wet Monday morning. It's hard to believe that I was struggling with the SPDs after years of using them without giving it a second thought. FFS, they are double-sided while the SPD-SL road bike pedals aren't, yet I was still struggling to engage the cleats. I should've taken the bike for a hurl at the weekend, rather than re-launching it on a miserable Monday morning commute. That's one lesson learned, and I'd suggest that others take heed. If I were you I'd tart up you MTB rather than spend the money on a BSO (bike-shaped object) from the supermarket. I put Shwalbe City Jet tyres (1.50) on the bike - only £18.75 inc. delivery - and they seem fine, and certainly give less rolling-resistance than other MTB tyres. I paid 12 quid for a cracking rear light from Highon Bikes, and I reckon the Magicshine front lamp I bought earlier this year was salvaged from a lighthouse somewhere! Sure, the bike is heavier than the road bike, but its also more durable and done me a turn in the past. I'd guess your old tractor would have another year of service in it at least?

I came on to post about a hellish commute this morning, too. I had set the MTB up for the commute with new tyres, rear brake pads, lights etc...etc... As it was, it was blowing a gale and chucking it down, but the weather wasn't the worst of it. I had to bail out at temporary traffic lights as I was struggling to re-acquaint myself with MTB SPD pedals after using the road bike since the Spring and my bottle crashed when sitting at the front of the traffic queue. Meanwhile, my rear brake continues to shudder and scream despite the new pads - it still functions, but is pretty disconcerting. All-in-all, that was no fun at all, but I'll put it down to a bad day getting into the office! I suppose we need to accept that we'll get these, and not let them scunner us entirely. I need to get used to using the MTB again, and reckon this will come after a few days, so it'll be head down and a stoical smile until then....

I had to double take on this one. After recovering from the initial trauma of being confronted with the main protagonist, I then looked to his right and thought I was looking at the lassie in the background with nae drawers on and a dodgy Brazillian. It took a few additional seconds to realise that there is another character in the scene... *shudders*

I agree. I laugh out loud every time I see it