Goodordering Handlebar Bag review!

I hope you enjoy this video, I really loved trying out this bag- and if you are a fan of handlebar bags then you should certainly give this a go!

Aldi Specialbuys!

Aldi have slowly been building a reputation for good quality, and very reasonably priced cycling gear. They have now released the summer range, and I picked up a few bits to try out. 

Fingerless padded gloves (£3.49)

I'm not normally a fan of pink, but I have small hands and had to get the womens version. Although there was another colourway (black) they did not have the same level of gel padding. The gloves are comfy, and it's great to have the velcro strap across the wrist to keep them tight. I'm not sure how long they will last, but for £3.49 I will be pleased of they last the summer! 

Arm warmers (£6.99)

I always thought that these were a bit of a gimmic, but having done some longer rides recently I can see the advantage of travelling light and just adding sleeves to keep the wind off. Perhaps they will come in handy in France this summer- probably great for stopping sunburn! 

Cycling shorts (£7.99)

This was another purchase made with France in mind. I think we will be cycling for about 10 days solid, so I am going to need more than one pair of shorts. For this price I can't see a reason not to try them out! I am normally a size 14 (potentially a 14.5 at the moment!), so I went for a medium and they fit fine, although the waist is quite small so there was some wriggling around to get them on! They rise up high on the waist, and are quite long, making them very comfortable. There is that plastic sticky stuff on the legs to keep them from riding up. The padding is not particularly thick, and the stitching is minimal, I am hopeful that they will be comfortable! 

Although the Aldi gear might not be the highest quality, I think that their range is exciting and there is plenty to try out. I like to experiment things like arm warmers from this range so I can decide whether to buy again a similar product with a higher spec, or if I even need them at all! 

I do also HATE the pink, and it makes me sad that womens cycling gear does always seem to be pink. Why can't it just be in black? Or blue, or green, or anything else!!

Saying that, I have also found that the other cycling bits I have bought before from Aldi have been brilliant- especially my BLACK winter gloves! 

Happy first birthday NOLOGO single speed!!

I was cycling through London at night this week, and I had the sudden realisation that my bike is a year old! I bought the bike last year after selling some artwork, it was of my first proper sales through the gallery and I was feeling chuffed! 

DrummerPie (aka Mr Menna Cycles) had just got a Charge Plug fixie on the Cycle to Work scheme and it was making poor Claud (hand me down Claud Butler Odyssey hybrid) look heavy and slow. I decided that it was time for an upgrade, and we spent a whole weekend scouring the bike shops of London for my dream ride (on a budget!). After trying loads of bikes that I though I would like, mostly girly Pashley style beauties, I realised that actually all I wanted was a simple, light machine that would take me rather speedily from A to B.

We ended up at Hackney Cycles on Hackney Road, I picked up the aluminium frame and it was love! I could have had a variety of colours, with a snazzy chain and colourful grips, but instead I went for all black. Boring, but hopefully a theft deterrent. 

I swiftly switched the handlebars from straight to bullhorn, more comfy and easier on the wrists, and it was go go go!

At first it felt very strange riding such a light responsive bike with skinny wheels, but soon I realised that me and the bike were going to be best buds. This is the first and only bike that I have felt 'at one' with, and finally I could keep up with the group on longer rides! Despite not having any gears it is absolutely fine for the city, and I can even get up most of the tricky hills. 

Since buying this bike I have cycled so much more. I invested in better kit for the winter so I could keep riding even in the grim weather, and I miss it if I don't ride it for a few days. I now have a second bike with gears which is for longer rides and I plan to take around France this summer, it's comfy and I love it, but the NOLOGO has a very special place in my heart.

In terms of maintenance I have not had many issues, but here is a list of some of the problems I have had...

Back brake- this broke within weeks of getting the bike, I'm pretty sure it was faulty from the start. Hackney Cycles replaced this no questions asked.

Wheels no longer true- ruined over the summer by cycling up and down Bishopsgate. I will eventually replace these with stronger wheels.

New rim tape, new brake blocks, new tyre (specialised armadillo) I expected to replace these things, as I knew these would be the bits that made the bike cheap! I still have the original front tyre, but it is full of holes and will need replacing soon. 

I can honestly say that this is probably the best £200 I have ever spent (£230 if we include the handlebars) it has made me love cycling, and now I am blogging about it and making YouTube videos! 

Here's to many more years of riding this bike, and to the future happiness it is sure to bring! 

How to wrap bullhorn handlebars - updated!!

This video is an updated version of one I made around this time last year on my other channel. You can see that here...

http://youtu.be/sVbz-H1rcKA

The tape is from www.decathalon.co.uk and is B-Twin Gel tape, I can't find it online but they had lots in store. It was mighty cheap, under £10- so we shall see how it lasts. So far its very comfortable!

Lost Lane #13

Last week I embarked on my first long ride out of London for the season! For christmas we were given a fantastic book called 'Lost Lanes' by Jack Thurston, by some excellent friends who know us rather too well. We have been waiting for the weather to change ever since so we could get out and give it a go!

The book not only describes the routes (36 in total!), but also suggests great places to stop for lunch, or tea and cake - thats my kind of cycling! What makes using the routes even easier is that you can download the GPS of the route for free, and access the maps and instructions online to print out.

We got the train from Waterloo to Westhumble, which is basically at the bottom of Box Hill, a little concerning but I was assured that there would be no extreme uphill. The route snaked around the flat plains of the surrounding farmland, and although we crossed a few big roads, in general we were on peaceful quiet lanes. There was even a portion of off road track, which we were very glad was dry!

About two thirds of the way around this circular route I was about to feint with hunger, and so as we were feeling rather pleased with ourselves for cycling so far we stopped for a pub lunch. The Plough at Leigh had loads of outside seating, so we could soak up the rays on this beautiful day. The menu had something for everyone and the food was delicious, as was the beer. The landlady was super friendly, and there was even a pub dog! Excellent.

After stuffing our faces we headed quite slowly back to the train station, passing a field with so many deer it is, it looked like that scene from Jurassic Parl (you know the one?) We also passed a small field of alpacas, and about a billion beautiful pheasants. The whole route was around 23 miles, not including our trip to and from Waterloo station, and it felt totally manageable.

We are really looking forward to getting out of London again and trying out some other routes, next stop Essex!

An excellent bike storage solution for small spaces!

In London, space is at a premium. We are very fortunate to have a terrace at the back of our flat, that is not only quite private, but also pretty secure. Last winter we decided to look for a storage solution for our bikes that kept them dry, and meant our small flat wasn't always full!

We started by thinking about building some sort of structure that we could fit out bikes under, but would be really easy to remove/ fold away. We soon realised that for our budget of £50 this would be rather tricky. Also building something specifically for a rented place seemed like it could be waste of money if we were to move out sooner than planned.

Our next plan of action was to search online to find something more suitable, after much internet trawling we found bike tents! The perfect temporary shelter we were looking for! 

We read loads of reviews and did a bit of measuring and eventually decided on this one! It was from ebay and at only £34.99 a bit of a bargain! You can buy it HERE although I think the seller may have made a slight error as it is currently on sale for £934.99!

Another model that we though looked quite good was THIS tent, at the time we were looking it cost around £50, but they seem to have lowered the price now to compete with other similar models, at £34.99.

We bought our tent in April 2013, and it is still working brilliantly! It sits in the part of our terrace that is quite sheltered, and we do not use much as it doesn't get loads of sun. As a result it has not been blown over by wind... yet! This tent also has a small hole in the back (bit by the wall) that has velcro to keep it shut, but if you have a loop concreted to the wall, or a railing to lock the bikes to, then you could use this to keep the bikes extra secure. 

I believe it also came with a free LED push light which in very dark garden could be super helpful, but we have never really used. So far it has kept everything pretty dry, even in some quite extreme weather! We can easily store three bikes at a time in here, and we even stash tools, a hose, and spare tyres away here too- loads of space!! I am really pleased with it, money well spend I reckon!

How do you store your bikes? Traditional shed, or home made shelter? I would love to see your solutions!

A sunny day out via Rope Walk and Burgess Park.

A few weekends ago the sun came out again (SHOCKER!) and I set of with my cycling pal Lucy to Rope Walk in South London, near Bermondsey/London Bridge. We were recommended to check out this selection of amazing stalls, restaurants and bars hidden away in the arches of the railway, and we were not disappointed.

My favourite part of Rope walk were the antiques shops, we had so much fun looking at all the vintage furniture and dreaming up our ideal future homes. Lucy and I also shared a delicious grilled cheese sandwich from one of the stalls.

Afterwards we headed to Burgess Park and sat out in the sun for a few hours, it's such a treat to be outside without shivering! Lucy is about to get a new bike and I am looking forward to more days out together by bike this summer!