The cycling industry is flooded with solutions looking for problems. This never-ending search for innovation seems driven not be any real need to make cycling better for you, but rather to ensure you keep upgrading your bikes, and buying new bikes. After all, if everyone rode the same bike for 20 years, new bike sales […]
Kit Review: Chilli-Tech Mk II Bullet Cam
I recently purchased two Chilli-Tech Mk II Bullet helmet cameras – one for me and one for my youngest daughter. For a few years I’ve been riding with a VTIN camera, and I’m quite happy with that, except for battery life. The Chilli-Tech Mk II has a battery life of roughly 4.5 hours on a […]
Getting cold feet
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “getting cold feet” as “to suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something important such as getting married”. This post is not about that kind of cold feet. This post is all about keeping your feet warm on a bitterly cold winter’s ride. After all, […]
Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System
Water: the source of life I needed a personal water filtration system, and picked the Sawyer Mini for good reasons. You consist of 55% to 60% water, and your blood is around 90% water. You need to drink water every day (even if it’s contained in other drinks, such as coffee). Though there doesn’t seem […]
Kit review: Adventuridge 2-person tent
Another tent? For the past 10+ years, I’ve been using a little 2-person tent I bought from Tesco for £12. It’s just big enough for me and my kit, provided I sleep diagonally in it – and I’m not very tall! I’ve slept in that tent during very strong winds, on Dartmoor, and I used […]
Digital navigation revisited
Digital navigation while cycle touring Quite some time ago I made a conscious decision regarding digital navigation and how I use it. Yes, I’m aware some people prefer paper maps, but much as I love paper maps, the world has moved on, and I moved with it. Digital navigation simply offers far more benefits to […]
Kit Review – TyreKey
The battle of getting tight tyres onto a rim It’s easy to see where the TyreKey got it’s name from – it looks much like a large key. There are two versions of the TyreKey, and I was given the newer version to try, which was redesigned to cope better with fatter tyres and wider […]
Kit Review: A Trangia-copy spirit stove
Trangia copy? Yes, mine’s not an official Trangia, but a very well-made copy that you probably wouldn’t be able to tell apart from the original. Why did I get a copy? Easy – I wanted just the stove, and didn’t want to spend much, as this will be my backup stove. Why a backup stove? […]
Kit Review: Tyre Glider
Tyre Glider – A new tool in the battle of fitting a tyre If you’ve ever struggled getting a very tight-fitting tyre on, or off a rim, then you will know it can indeed be a battle! Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are probably the tyre most people complain about, though on the plus side, they […]
Product Review – Podsac Fork-mounted drybags
Good reputation Podsac has built a well-deserved reputation for great kit. Indeed, while cycling the Grand Union Canal, my mate Dom found that Podsacks are so waterproof that they made his bicycle float! As a result, I didn’t have any reservations when I ordered these from Planet-X. For clarity, I bought these at full price, […]
Coleman Performance Gas review – best avoided!
Camping gas explained Gas cartridges for camping stoves mostly use butane gas, which is cheap, and in mild to warm temperatures offers good performance. The trouble with butane is that it really performs poorly in the cold, and your gas stove may completely fizzle out just when you’re most reliant on it. Manufacturers of such […]
Tyre-Glider
The good people at Tyre-Glider gave me two Tyre-Gliders, so I can do a review. I only need one, and will happily post the other to one of you, provided you will also do a review on it (to be published on here, along with my own). Incidentally, the pic of a Tyre-Glider is straight […]
When the Puncture Fairy visits…
A surprising number of cyclists are quite superstitious in at least one aspect: they’re so terrified of punctures that they won’t even say the word, and I find that extremely amusing. I’m not superstitious at all, and have no misgivings about using the word puncture, nor referring to the Puncture Fairy. For the uninitiated, a […]
Kit Review – Aeropress Go
Some things just belong together: Sampson & Dellilah, Cleopatra & Anthony, bread & butter, and of course, cycling & coffee. Cycling and coffee are a match made in heaven, as the number of cycling cafés can attest. In a perfect world, there will always be a great café, serving excellent coffee, right when you need […]
My bike – a 5-year review of a Genesis CdA
I used to commute 15 hilly miles each way on a daily basis, on a road bike. 700c x 25 tyres may be light and fast, but they sure aren’t designed to take the knocks that rural Devon lanes offer, especially on a cold, dark, and often wet winter commute. My road bike has rim […]
Kit review: Vango Compact Gas Stove
The Vango Compact Gas Stove is really rather good, with only three negatives. First though, what makes it so good: for starters, it’s tiny. It comes in a hard plastic case, and screws directly onto a gas cannister. The three supports for whatever you place on the stove fold up, to fit inside the plastic […]