TRAIL AND ROADSIDE REPAIRS

1001 CYCLING TIPS – CYCLING LIFE [314–443]

374. Keep the disc brake pad spreaders you got with your new bike as they are really useful for keeping the brake pads apart while the front wheel isn’t in place. Otherwise, fold up some cardboard and use that instead. If you don’t do this and the brakes get accidentally squeezed, you will need to push the pistons back to be able to get your wheel back in.

375. Taking your bike on a UK train should be easy, but some rail companies seem to delight in making it hard. Nearly every train needs to be booked ahead – some of the more forward-thinking companies allow you to do this online or even on social media.

376. One of the biggest frustrations of booking travel with a bike is you often have to book your personal travel before being able to book your bike’s travel. But if you can’t take your bike you might not want to go. I have found myself stuck in this spiral of doom with more than one telesales person. If this happens, my advice is to give up and go with a different company.

377. From UK ports you can get on a ferry and take your bike all over Europe. Strolling on to a ferry as a foot passenger with your bike is an absolute delight. When you arrive at the other end you can just pedal away. It’s a great way to start a cycle touring holiday – there is no need to pack and unpack your bike and you can enjoy a relaxed crossing instead of being cramped up on a plane.

378. If you travel with your bike a lot, it is worth investing in some way of packaging it. Specially designed bike bags and bike boxes offer lots of protection and make dragging your bike around airports really easy.

379. Bike bags are lighter than a hard case and the slight compromise in protection is made up for by being able to roll them up for storage. It’s easier to squish a bike in a bag into a hire car than to try to play Tetris with a solid case.

380. Hard cases offer superior protection to bike bags, especially if it gets dropped from a great height, such as from the loading bay door of a plane on to a trolley below. 381. Bike bags allow much more room for ramming in all your cycle clothing and kit. You can just about get away with only one item of luggage if you fill your bike bag to bursting point.

382. A well-packed cardboard bike box – ask at your local bike shop for one – offers as good protection as some fancy bags and it can be recycled at your destination. Great if you want to ride away from the airport unencumbered.

383. Before packing your bike, make a note of all the measurements so you can replicate your position accurately when you put your bike back together.

384. Run a piece of electrical tape around your seat post where it meets the frame. Then all you have to do to get the saddle height right is to match up the tape with the frame when you pop your seat post back in.

385. Place a piece of white tape on your bars next to your stem and draw a line on the white tape to line up with the join between the front plate and stem (or other distinctive mark on your stem). This will allow you to get the rotation of your bars spot on when you rebuild your bike.

386. Pack a tape measure.