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Climbing Peyresoude

The Peyresoude is a tough climb over the col from the attractive town of Bagneres de Luchon for about 15kms, it’s about 7% average gradient, but most of it is more like 8% -9%, which is what my Garmin computer displayed as I climbed. You gain about 950m in altitude and the views are spectacular.

With about 300m of climbing still to come a set of 4 or 5 switchbacks come into view. They look really steep and quite off putting because of this! But when you actually climb them, they’re not that bad. It’s probably because the switchbacks are ‘squeezed’ into a small portion of the mountain pass at its steepest part , and this makes it look all the more dramatic.

View from Col De Azet

Our ride then descended down The Peyresoude to Genos a lovely little village next to a blue green lake, to the start of our next climb up the Col De Azet. As can be seen in the picture above the views of the mountains 360 degrees were spectacular, the fine weather helped.

We descended three quarters of the way down the Azet, stopping to fill up on water at a very picturesque water trough which a local sheepdog decided to take a bath in! From there we picked up a small level ‘route forestier’ through 3 tiny villages. The road was lined with mature natural and planted forests, with the odd sheep farm or three. This road descended to the main valley road back to start, our last ascent up the Col de Peyresourde.

Valley stop before final climb

The final climb of the Peyresourde was fairly painful, about 8%-9% with a flat section quarter of the way up! The relief at getting to the top was great, as by that point I’d certainly had enough of climbing by then. Getting out of the saddle more and more on the last climb was a sign my knees were asking for a bit of respite.

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Get ‘Swytchin’

Convert your own beloved bike with a new ‘Swytch’ conversion kit.  Swytch have designed this from scratch and have miniaturized the front hub motor – its about half the size and weight of a regular electric motor hub.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when you remove the battery pack from the handlebars,your bike is ‘Swytched’ back to riding and feeling like your regular bike!

The kit includes a front wheel and handlebar battery pack with the controls in. It even has a light! This normally costs £550, but I can match the pre-order price Swytch has them for which is £350, and best of all I have them in stock! (You have to wait a number of weeks if you order from Swytch)

3 Swytch bikes to test ride of hire for the day

Easy to remove battery and control pack with light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ex display Elite Turbo Trainers

I have 3 Ex-display Elite turbo tainers for sale in the shop.  They have been assembled and used in the shop very infrequently for people to try out, so they are essentially as new apart from light scuffs on their supporting legs. Pictures of the trainers below

Elite Direto –  Smart trainer – Now 550:00

Elite Qubo digital Smart B+ – Now 250:00

Elite Volano Smart B+ – Now 285:00

 

Elite Direto

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elite Qubo (cente) and Elite Volano (foreground)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ex-hire Ebikes

There are 2 superb ex-hire Ebikes for sale, their main plus points are excellent motors and they fit a wide range of heights.

The first bike, pictured below, is a Bristol Bikes S’Park, in a medium large size. Its Unisex so suits both men and women. With disc brakes it stops quickly, and the brake pads last an age compared to rim brakes, plus your not going to wear your wheel rims out braking – really important on a heavy Ebike!

Its on sale for 1150:00. Its been used for 6 weeks and has less than 100 miles on the clock.

The S’Park got an amazing review from Ebiketips – read it here

The second bike, pictured below, is an Adventure road sport ladies Ebike. Its a really lovely bike in an eye catching blue colour. Its biggest plus point is it has a Shimano Steps Ebike motor system, one of the 2 market leading systems (the other is Bosch).  Its range is also a big plus, 60 miles on one charge (hills, wind and weight dependent of course!)

Its on sale for 1550, the RRP is 2250 so its a bargain, and its done less than 250 miles.  Its a medium but again like the first bike fits a wide range of riders, from short to tall.

Here is a link to the Adventure website with a bit more information about the bike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ex hire bike sale

Its the time of year again as the summer is not far off ending that our ex hire hybrids are for sale.  They are 2018 Ridgeback Speed bikes, fully serviced and ready to go to new homes.

Please call by to try there are a range of sizes.

They are 399.99 new and they are on sale for 299.99, NOW REDUCED TO 250:00 AS AUTUMN APPROACHES with a free 6 week service and a 1 month guarantee against any part failure, with free labour to repair should a part break.

Check the detailed specification of the bike HERE

 

 

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Continental tyre / tube offer

A crazy August offer,  great quality Continental tyres fitted for free, with a free new inner tube installed at the same time!  The tyres are superb quality the top of the range Contact Plus @34.95 for hybrids / touring bikes / cyclocross commuters, or the Grand Prix GT folding tyre @34.95  for ultimate bombproof riding with grippy Black Chilli  rubber in a light and fast tyre.

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Fundraising for SIDS

I have never done a charity bike ride! So I thought why not give a bit back and do something for a couple who have used the bike shop over the last 7 years, and been directly affected by SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)

The charity is the Lullaby Trust, and from what I have heard from my friends they have provided excellent bereavement support and they have also taken part in research the charity directly funds.

Apparently 4 infants a week in the UK die from this condition, which (and correct me if I am wrong) the causes of it are rather hard to pin down precisely.

So I am sorry to say, if you bring your bike in for a service, I will get out a rather ominous looking black folder thing and ask if you could sponsor me to do a 100 mile bike ride on the 28th July at the Ride London event.  I will match out of the bike service you pay for whatever you decide to put in  (obvs within my means!!)

You can sponsor me here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomas-jenkins

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Elite turbo trainers

I have been using an Elite turbo trainer for 18 months now, and it really is a great way to keep cycling in the colder weather,

You can follow a training plan to get faster, or fitter or stronger or all 3!  In the summer its also really useful if you just want a brief 30 minute spin if you’ve had a busy day.

Turbo training has become massively less boring due to the emergence of lots of training apps, like Trainerroad, Sufferfest or Zwift.  They make training really fun, or rather they make pedalling nowhere have an actual purpose!

I have 3 Elite turbo trainers set up in the shop, with an ipad and you can try the different training apps.  The trainer below is winning all the praise, its called the DIreto.  It’s said to be one of the best trainers for its pricepoint, beating some of those around the £1000.  Its currently £675.00

 

DC Rainmaker did a review of the Direto and its pretty amazing

The Qubo at £280.00 is well worth a look and road.cc did a great review of it.

The Volano at £350.00 is a budget direct drive trainer, again road.cc did a review of the model, without the ‘smart’ sensor, but they really liked it. The one in the shop comes with a smart sensor that connects to your ipad, tablet or PC.

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Wheel and tyre offer

A whole new range of DT Swiss road wheels have come in for 2018, and one of the new features is that they are all tubeless tyre compatible, they work fine with  normal inner tubes too. If you’ve ever had lots of punctures, or want a more supple and comfy ride then tubeless is the answer!

The special offer is that I will give you a free set of tyres (normal or tubeless) with any pair of DT Swiss wheels purchased.

Wheel highlights include the 35mm deep carbon PRC1400 wheels, pictured below. They are light enough for climbs unlike some deeper carbon rims that can feel deadened on climbs, but uniquely also offer an aero advantage.

PRC1400

The hub is nicely cut away to reduce weight. The rounded rim is more aero than a sharp or blunt profile, and the wide 25mm rim perfectly hugs 25mm tyres adding to its aero profile.

Another highlight is the OXIC ceramic wheelset. This is an aluminium rim that has been dipped in electrolyte and a high charge plasma current passed through it creating a ceramic coating on the rim.  The advantages are a rim that never wears and massively superior braking. The stealthy all black looks cool too, the braking surface remains black forever.  They also weigh a featherweight 1450g

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hubs on the PR1600 rim and disc brake versions are a real work of art. The hub internals are based on the DT 350s hub which has their legendary star ratchet freehub which is virtually maintenance free.