On Your Bike

For fifteen years my MTB has given me lots of great moments and also was there sharing the bad ones. Now its becoming a little difficult to find spares ( its a BH with aluminium frame and the tubes are big in diameter). So... I think it´s time to deactivation and use it to go shopping. As this old bike got cantilever brakes and no suspension (Yes, none of them) I´would like to get some advice.
I will take an easyjet plane to Edinbugh this summer.
Is there any problem with brake-suspension…

It has been a very long time since my last newsletter. I apologize - but I’m not lazy. Once the train of adventure starts gaining momentum it - as you’ll all know - carries you away and it’s so hard to get off. Thailand did its best to seriously carry me away, to get me off course and make me settle down. More than once I had to struggle to get out of those mesmerizing and tantalizing octopus arms that Thailand has - a country that simply grabbed me, raped my senses and gave me an amazing time…

1 what hiking and adventures are there to do in or around taipei 7th 8th 9th august....

2 what hiking adventures are there to do in or around frankfurt 4th 5th 6th august

i like riding bicycles ,hiking ,camping,snorkelling.....any help would be appreciated

I'm planning on cycling the Friendship Highway, but need to take the direct route from Lhasa to Xigase / Shigatse, i.e. not via Karu La and Gyantse. Can anyone tell me how bad the traffic is on the Gorge section (along the Yarlung Tsangpo) where the road is really narrow and there's no "side track". I don't want to be pancaked by a truck.

am going to buy a brooks saddle in the next few days but am torn between the brooks B67 and the Brooks Flyer.

is there any advantage to either one? have you used either one?

ps. need this for a 3 month touring trip from the arctic to africa

Does anybody know of a bike shop between La Paz and Quito that stocks 700C rims? My cycling partner chose to ignore all the advice about 700C and Mavic. Grrrrrr.

Dave

London-Beijing www.chinacycle.co.uk<BR>Ushuaia-Caribbean www.southamericacycle.co.uk

in xigaze now, interested in hearing about the ebc. will they check permit or do i just buy a entrance ticket? is it worth going now that they moved the "camp" and apparently posted a lot of military there?
i heard from a nepali guide that the checkpoint in shegar is the worst in tibet but i doubt he knew much about cycling here...

/petter

Hi All
I'm looking for advice/guidance in two weeks time I'm leaving Kent to cycle through England to Scotland,turning round at John A Groats to cycle back down the West Coast through Wales down to Lands End. Then back to Kent. In order to have additional accomodation choices (other than tent) I'm
looking for web addresses providing accomodation in return for work. Have registered on Warmshowers and WWOOF any others would be wonderful.As you may gather from my long winded request I'm not into…

In the past, I've bought bikes by researching the brand name and going with a good brand. But now I live in a country where this is (less) possible. So... when I walk into a bike shop, and am confronted by a dozen names I've never heard of, how do I pick out a good bike?

I know the basics (below) but would be grateful for any other tips.

Basic stuff to check for:

1. Pick it up - does it seem heavy? Ask if any unnecessary bits can be removed.
2. Turn it upside down (or lift the back wheel) and turn…

I'm currently in TUrkey and need to buy a good quality but inexpensive bike: ie. the kind of bike that could manage a 3-week tour without making you curse it, and which would cost about 200 euros in Canada, Poland, or Czech. (Don't know price-comparison for other countries, sorry).

Options:
1. Buy a local bike in Turkey - they tend to be heavy and flashy. Anyone know any exceptions to this?
2. Buy an import in Turkey - they tend to be overpriced. Trek bikes start at about 300 euros here - the same…