Cycling

[grounded]

As Benny says +1 on bike hire. By the time you factor in paying for the bike box and paying the extra baggage costs its not worth it.
      Also you have to partially disassemble your bike and reassemble both ways. Your reliant on some halfwit not breaking your bike as well during transport.
    I would say to reserve bike(s) early as they can run low during busy times. 
    Although most come with a spare tube/levers, i would take a few spare tubes, levers, multi tool and maybe a rear light.
   

[ThomasMullan]

As Benny says +1 on bike hire. By the time you factor in paying for the bike box and paying the extra baggage costs its not worth it.
      Also you have to partially disassemble your bike and reassemble both ways. Your reliant on some halfwit not breaking your bike as well during transport.
    I would say to reserve bike(s) early as they can run low during busy times. 
    Although most come with a spare tube/levers, i would take a few spare tubes, levers, multi tool and maybe a rear light.
   

Lanzarote looks like it would be nice for cycling. Tenerife would be tough going surely?

[manfromdelmonte]

As Benny says +1 on bike hire. By the time you factor in paying for the bike box and paying the extra baggage costs its not worth it.
      Also you have to partially disassemble your bike and reassemble both ways. Your reliant on some halfwit not breaking your bike as well during transport.
    I would say to reserve bike(s) early as they can run low during busy times. 
    Although most come with a spare tube/levers, i would take a few spare tubes, levers, multi tool and maybe a rear light.
   

Lanzarote looks like it would be nice for cycling. Tenerife would be tough going surely?

Lanzarote is windy. Factor that in. Not as hilly but quiet roads away from the resorts

[scout]

Thanks folks!

[maddog]

Have ordered a rocker plate for zwifting sessions as i cant do more than 45mins without getting "sore". Anyone any experience of them?

Friend of mine bought a lifeline rocker plate. Hated it at the start but swears by it now. He couldnt manage more than 45 mins previous.
   He did say it took a while to get used to the side to side motion particularly when out of the seat. His power was down as well he said but not overly bothered as he dosen't race on zwift.

Like it so far. Bought from a company that makes them called turborocks. Went for The Realplate React Stealth. It takes the rigidity out of the static trainer. Takes a little getting used to and on the set up you just have to make sure the inflatables are equal and level. Feels very stable once you are on it.

[majestic]

Update on my di2 battery. Took it to the local bike shop - registered shimano service centre located on the Ormeau road (will let yous work out who it is).

They have found the battery to be faulty and are now trying to charge the following:
£30 diagnostics
£30 fitting
£50 warranty admin fee

£110 all in. Ribble have basically laughed at this quote and said they will only cover £50.

So now I am in the position of having to make up the extra £60 for a battery that is faulty and in warranty, or remove the battery myself and post it back to ribble, and be without a bike for I don't know how long.

Am I in the minority to think the quote I got was abit mad? What would yous do?

[maddog]

Do some serious howling on twitter. It would surprise you how quick companies act when they get a bit of bad publicity.

[illdecide]

Update on my di2 battery. Took it to the local bike shop - registered shimano service centre located on the Ormeau road (will let yous work out who it is).

They have found the battery to be faulty and are now trying to charge the following:
£30 diagnostics
£30 fitting
£50 warranty admin fee

£110 all in. Ribble have basically laughed at this quote and said they will only cover £50.

So now I am in the position of having to make up the extra £60 for a battery that is faulty and in warranty, or remove the battery myself and post it back to ribble, and be without a bike for I don't know how long.

Am I in the minority to think the quote I got was abit mad? What would yous do?

I know them v well in there and as much as they're v good at their job and professional that is a bit OTT, if they're the Shimano service centre then you should not have to pay anything for a faulty item. The only thing they're not obliged to do is offer you a new part until Shimano send them the new battery. I have had a part issue before like this with them but luckily it didn't put me off the road as I had an alternative. TBF the part came in 3-4 days, Maddison in England are the UK Head Quarters for Shimano, you can ask that shop would you prefer to contact Maddison directly and see what they say.

[grounded]

Its one of the main downsides of ordering a bike online instead of a local bikeshop.
  Some local bike shops are great and will cover the warranty of an online purchase particularly if you buy a few bits and pieces from them over the years.
  A few problems with sending off the old battery and fitting the battery may be that you invalidate both the existing warranty on the bike and any potential chain warranty on the new battery(that chain warranty might not even exist for the di2 battery!)
 

[bennydorano]

Had my best year to date. Done 8500 miles (13600km), went to Spain and Tour De France and think the only sportive i done was the Connemara with was really good. Right hip really starting to give bother from Oct/Nov time and i'm struggling now with it now. Looking like another hip replacement coming down the tracks. Got the left side done almost 4 years ago.

You did Calpe? Thinking of a change of scenery from the Canaries. Any recommendations, take your bike or hire?

Did our 5th winter cycling trip in Canaries there recently, great trip as always and we'll probably end up going back next year but plenty of chat in our group about giving Calpe / Majorca a go in 2025, would have to be spring rather than January tho.

[illdecide]

Benny, yeah would def recommend it. Albir/Altea and Calpe are all pretty close together so wouldn't matter which town you stayed in. Some great climbs around and it's got very popular with the Pro's the last few years. Bumped into a few of them last year. If you decide to go I can email you a lot of the rides from Strava and you can upload them onto your Garmin. There are so many different climbs it's unreal, I've been twice and still haven't done them all.
I suppose a big factor too is the cost...We stay in Albir and it's a lot cheaper than France, I'm going back there at the end of April and it cost around £660 for half board, flights and airport connections.

[grounded]

https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/how-to/buying-advice/is-it-safe-to-keep-ordering-from-wiggle-and-chain-reaction

Hard to believe wiggle/chain reaction going bust. 

[bennydorano]

Funny I sent a link to a cycling mate of a  superb deal on a bike from the site the other day, just over 3k for a Vitus Evo with Ultegra di2 and reynolds carbon wheels, own brand bike and all but would explain the great deal! Didn't realise it was as close to the lights going out.

[grounded]

You would have thought having Chain reaction already set up in Belfast would have been ideally set up given this brexit nonsense.
     Mike ( zero hour contract) Ashley seemingly has bought the intellectual/name rights to wiggle/chain reaction. Most staff 400+ laid off.
    He already owns evanscycles and probikekit.

Funny enough Halfords have said they will honour warranties on parts and accessories purchased from Wiggle.
     Im not sure what the position would be for bicycles especially Vitus/Nukeproof etc

[manfromdelmonte]

Brexit bonus

I remember buying wetsuit and other bits from wiggle pre brexit.
Don't go near UK websites anymore

Sorry to see that shop in Belfast close - anytime I was up there I'd always hop in and see if they had anything

The classics starting this weekend so at least there is some proper cycling action