Drooper

Cut and paste, and add you name to the list then ya pair of tumshies

Still off the bike I need something to aim toawards as my mojo is fading with every day that passes. What about getting organised with Team P&B? We've toyed with this idea earlier in the thread, but I reckon the down season is the time to muster up some enthusiasm and give us a goal to work towards. I'll contact Div to check out if he's cool with using the P&B tag, and I'll have a look a few rides scheduled for next late Spring. I reckon we should aim to get a meet organised for Feb/March so we can have an ice-breaker ride and suss out if we need to split the team into sub-groups based on experience etc. We should be as inclusive as possible, IMO, and look to offer something for all those who post on here and have a love of the bike. Can I suggest that we get a list together of those who are interested - only an expression of interest at this stage, mind. I'll kick things off with my name. Could anyone who is interested cut and paste the existing list when you add your name so it is easy to keep track of numbers. Here goes.... Drooper

I'm champing at the bit to get back on the bike, but I know that every day that passes will make it tougher to get back into it. I'm really not looking forward to taking the bus tomorrow. By the time I get to the bus stop, I would have been 3/4 of the way into work if taking the bike.

My knee is still playing up. I'm going to try get on the bike tomorrow to see how it feels, but I think I might be another week at least away from commuting by bike again. Pretty scunnered, and I'm already losing fitness

I was in Glasgow last night in the car. A guy was cycling up Maryhill Road, weaving in and out of traffic on hid bike with no lights or even reflectors and full black clothing. Absolute clown. If a car hit him, its not only the guy himself who would suffer. Very, very selfish.

That's a nightmare, mate. Sorry to hear that. I hope your insurance covers it.

Aye, always one of my first preferences when looking to invest in a new bit of kit. I've been quite impressed with dhb from Wiggle, also, and Altura are reliable too. Both brands offer good value for money.

I'm often guilty of buying bike kit because I like the idea/look of it, not because I really need it. If you don't have a couple of pairs of padded shorts already, then another pair won't go amiss, right enough. If I were you, I'd look at investing in a pair of bib-longs made form Roubaix material for cosiness during the cold months. I bought a dhb pair from Wiggle and they are great on colder rides. They set me back about £40 (I got a tenner off for adding a trinket to bring the total bill to £50 when the deal kicked in), and they are worth every penny. On the subject of good quality clothing, I was wearing my Endura Singletrack trousers when I came off the bike last week. Despite the fact that my knee was a bit bloodied and pulped, the knees of the breeks were unmarked. They really are bombproof, and yet another fantastic bit of kit from the Scottish-based manufacturer.

My knee was x-rayed this afternoon, and to my huge relief nothing is broken. Just a lot of swelling and bruising. Fingers crossed I'll just be out of the saddle for a week or so

Cheers pal. The Bel Air is well worth a look. If my knee doesn't sort itself out soon, I might donate mine

Aye, I'm well and truly crocked with this knee. It has blown up like a balloon, and an X-ray might be on the cards now. Nightmare You can get decent cycling specs that can take prescription lenses underneath (if that makes sense) - so all is not lost

The comfiest saddle I've used is the SDG Bel Air. I used it for the 100 mile sportive in August and didn't have the slightest bit of discomfort. It comes in plenty of colour options, and you can pick it for for £30 - £40 if you shop around online. I swear by it, whereas many other saddles simply make me swear

How did you manage that? Over tightening? Probably best to get it checked out by your local bike shop unless anyone has a better idea.

Cheers mate, but it has got bloody worse as the day has went on. My wife came to get me at work so I loaded the bike into the back of the motor. I've got history with this knee, so I'm pretty concerned at the moment. You're spot on about the age thing, though. I was just saying as much to a colleague earlier. As a wee boy, I'd have bounced straight back from a spill like this, but I'm bloody toiling here I hope you're back on the bike soon, too (no pun intended mind ).

He ended up with a bairn this year as a result, so no wonder he's wanting to lay off a bit

Dales on Dobbies Loan and Evans at Braehead are the two big outlets. The smaller shops probably don't afford quite the same opportunity for slavering over shiny beasties but I know there are a few scattered throughout the city. I came off the bike en route to work this morning. I was off the road and turning into an under-pass when the back wheel skittered away from under me and, before I could disengage from the SPDs, I came down on my knee....my dodgy knee. It was a hell of a clatter, and my knee was pretty badly bloodied (requiring some TLC from a couple of nurses in the office ), but it is the impact that will be the lasting problem. I sat with an ice-pack on my knee, but it will sieze up overnight, so I'm worried about how long it will take to shake this off. Thoroughly scunnered about this. I think the knobbly tyres on my 'courtesy' bike contributed to the spill. They really are shit for tarmac

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