The weekend riding thread.

[badgerx16]

32 minutes ago, Picard said:

For the tdf you could try watching France TV with a vpn

There are a few alternative stream sources dedictated to cycling.

[Winnersaint]

Two weeks from the start of the tour. Pog or Vingegaard?

[Weston Super Saint]

First week down and I just can't see past Pog.  He seems to be ridiculously strong and can turn a stage on its head at will.

I'm sure the sponsors are hating it but the fact that he can confidently give jerseys away at will knowing he'll reclaim them whenever he wants is amusing from the outside.  Although he'll probably want to be in yellow once the real climbing starts and stay in it until the end, but he does seem to prefer the rainbow stripes - which is great that he's giving that the respect it deserves.

[badgerx16]

2 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

First week down and I just can't see past Pog.  He seems to be ridiculously strong and can turn a stage on its head at will.

I'm sure the sponsors are hating it but the fact that he can confidently give jerseys away at will knowing he'll reclaim them whenever he wants is amusing from the outside.  Although he'll probably want to be in yellow once the real climbing starts and stay in it until the end, but he does seem to prefer the rainbow stripes - which is great that he's giving that the respect it deserves.

I'm looking forward to stage 16; 134 flat kilometres before a finish up Mont Ventoux.

[Weston Super Saint]

Four minute lead and then we get this.  Will he attack or just sit tight on Jonas's wheel mocking him?

[badgerx16]

How come the Comoros Islands can send a rider to compete in the UCI Womens World Championship road race yet the UK don't have anybody competing.

[Picard]

5 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

How come the Comoros Islands can send a rider to compete in the UCI Womens World Championship road race yet the UK don't have anybody competing.

The Comoros Islands were able to send a rider to compete in the UCI Women's World Championship road race because the UCI allows all nations to participate based on international ranking and quota regulations; smaller nations like Comoros may send at least one representative even with a modest cycling program. In contrast, the UK actually qualified a full six-rider team for the elite women’s road race but chose not to send anyone. Instead, British Cycling decided to focus entirely on the separate under-23 women's road race event, which is new this year and no longer embedded within the elite event. As a result, no British women are competing in the elite road race for the first time in over thirty years, despite their eligibility

Thank you AI.

[badgerx16]

30 minutes ago, Picard said:

The Comoros Islands were able to send a rider to compete in the UCI Women's World Championship road race because the UCI allows all nations to participate based on international ranking and quota regulations; smaller nations like Comoros may send at least one representative even with a modest cycling program. In contrast, the UK actually qualified a full six-rider team for the elite women’s road race but chose not to send anyone. Instead, British Cycling decided to focus entirely on the separate under-23 women's road race event, which is new this year and no longer embedded within the elite event. As a result, no British women are competing in the elite road race for the first time in over thirty years, despite their eligibility

Thank you AI.

I knew all that. The point is that I think it is disgraceful that the UK has not sent any elite women's competitors.

[badgerx16]

If you leave a bike in a bike rack at a railway station, even a "secure" one with CCTV, the Transport Police will not investigate it's theft if it had been left for more than 2 hours.

[Weston Super Saint]

Bike watch again for me  

I have five shortlisted and waiting to see which one drops the most in the Boxing Day sales.  Looking for a 'gravel' bike (biggest marketing con of the decade) - essentially single ring at the front with wider tyres for riding in miserable weather with wet roads as still don't ride the 'best' bike when it's wet.  Needs to have electronic shifting and some pretty good deals out there on SRAM Apex AXS bikes.  Will need to move another bike to the back of the garage once the new one arrives!

Reinvigorated and looking forward to heading out on the bike again - but not keen on riding in the cold these days.  Wet I can take and windy is bearable but I'm getting too old for cold.  I'll also be over 35kg lighter than the last time I was riding seriously (spinal surgery in May meant barely any riding this year!), so I'm looking forward to hopefully breaking some PR's.

[badgerx16]

TdF 2027 stage 2 goes through my "playground" in the Trough of Bowland. 🙂

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

I don't currently own a bike, not really have much to me to cycle at the moment, even if I did.

I am, however, considering getting a cheap-ish bike to commute 5 or so miles to work and back, and am considering getting a turbo-trainer for use in the evenings (difficult to get out the house for too long with young kids, but hopefully still me free time at home in the evenings).

Any recommendations (for bike and trainer)?

[Winnersaint]

On 17/01/2026 at 17:05, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

I don't currently own a bike, not really have much to me to cycle at the moment, even if I did.

I am, however, considering getting a cheap-ish bike to commute 5 or so miles to work and back, and am considering getting a turbo-trainer for use in the evenings (difficult to get out the house for too long with young kids, but hopefully still me free time at home in the evenings).

Any recommendations (for bike and trainer)?

Bike wise it does depend on what you want to pay as far as 'cheap-ish' is concerned. It also depends on what sort of bar set up you would prefer. Basically it would boil down to either a hybrid or an entry level drop bar bike. For the latter I'd be more inclined to look at a gravel bike simply because of its extra versatility. Decathlon might be a good bet here.  https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/gravel-bike-aluminium-frame-discovery-microshift-acolyte-1x8s/348757/c261m8817948

On the hybrid side this seems like a good deal. https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-mtx-8.6-mens-hybrid-bike-2021---s-m-l-frames-366006.html?stockInventory=undefined&_gl=1*1kd5f3c*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiA7LzLBhAgEiwAjMWzCHtkYDYZsdBO_5fHYUBxPIedij0N84kLFMeLMH4YM0bAspdL39wQuBoCoeoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAADrJx6x_8zxfiHDgApKnnh65Xupkj Hydraulic discs and decent Shimano gearing.

For a turbo you've got two choices, wheel off or wheel on. If you go wheel on they tend to be more affordable e.g. TACX Flux S for example or Wahoo Kickr Snap. Wheel off means removing your rear wheel every time you use it and buying another cassette as most don't ship with one, however you don't wear your rear tyre out. Wahoo Kickr Core and Van Rysel D900 for example. Factor in a sub to Zwift or similar, I use ROUVY which is real life routes rather than Zwift's computer generated courses, but as with everything there are plusses and minuses to both. 

Personally I have a Wahoo Kickr trainer. Hope this helps, feel free to ask anything if not clear.

[badgerx16]

8 minutes ago, Winnersaint said:

Bike wise it does depend on what you want to pay as far as 'cheap-ish' is concerned. It also depends on what sort of bar set up you would prefer. Basically it would boil down to either a hybrid or an entry level drop bar bike. For the latter I'd be more inclined to look at a gravel bike simply because of its extra versatility. Decathlon might be a good bet here.  https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/gravel-bike-aluminium-frame-discovery-microshift-acolyte-1x8s/348757/c261m8817948

On the hybrid side this seems like a good deal. https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-mtx-8.6-mens-hybrid-bike-2021---s-m-l-frames-366006.html?stockInventory=undefined&_gl=1*1kd5f3c*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiA7LzLBhAgEiwAjMWzCHtkYDYZsdBO_5fHYUBxPIedij0N84kLFMeLMH4YM0bAspdL39wQuBoCoeoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAADrJx6x_8zxfiHDgApKnnh65Xupkj Hydraulic discs and decent Shimano gearing.

For a turbo you've got two choices, wheel off or wheel on. If you go wheel on they tend to be more affordable e.g. TACX Flux S for example or Wahoo Kickr Snap. Wheel off means removing your rear wheel every time you use it and buying another cassette as most don't ship with one, however you don't wear your rear tyre out. Wahoo Kickr Core and Van Rysel D900 for example. Factor in a sub to Zwift or similar, I use ROUVY which is real life routes rather than Zwift's computer generated courses, but as with everything there are plusses and minuses to both. 

Personally I have a Wahoo Kickr trainer. Hope this helps, feel free to ask anything if not clear.

I built myself a gravel bike, but then our son bought a "wheel off" TT and that bike is now a permanent indoor fixture.

As for Zwift etc, we use MyWhoosh. It is limited, but free.

And there is always the fact that once you get the bug, you always NEED n+1. ( Both our son and I have 4, my wife has 2 ).

Edited Tuesday at 10:52 by badgerx16

[Winnersaint]

On 20/01/2026 at 10:51, badgerx16 said:

I built myself a gravel bike, but then our son bought a "wheel off" TT and that bike is now a permanent indoor fixture.

As for Zwift etc, we use MyWhoosh. It is limited, but free.

And there is always the fact that once you get the bug, you always NEED n+1. ( Both our son and I have 4, my wife has 2 ).

I've got a Kinesis gravel bike which can double as a winter road bike if I swap my spare set of road wheels on to it. Likely N+1 will be an e-bike for the road. Canyon have a sub 10kg one, only issue is its £9k+.