So, I recently changed my chain for the first time ever - big win I re-indexed the gears and on the work-stand they are perfect - big win When riding under power however I get an occasional skip on the 11 tooth cog on the cassette, that gives me limited confidence in pedalling in this gear. Happens with both chain rings so is not chainring related... all the other cogs (from 32 teeth to 12 teeth) are fine. Is this a sign my cassette is on the way out and needs changing? (still haven't found a good LBS yet as you may tell) or do I need to check my indexing again (have done so 3 or 4 times now and every time on the stand its perfect, its only under the strain of actually pedalling it has the odd skip). (Sorry for turning this into the Drew seeks advice about his bike issues page :D)

I wasn't sure where to post this, so apologies if I am posting in the wrong place for this one, but this is just a thanks to all the members of the m2m community - podcasts, strava, here, wherever I have interacted with you, this is a Thanks for you. I was a keen cyclist when younger however a couple of serious accidents involving vehicles put me off. I went 9 years without doing any cycling whatsoever. Like most of us, over the last couple of years with lockdowns etc, I got a bit rounder and decided I must do something about this. In July, I decided to start cycling again, and soon came across this site. Through the strava club, seeing different peoples mileages and climbs in there has spurred me on to try bigger and better things, or to just get out there and ride when I couldn't be bothered. Life circumstances currently prevent me from committing to a local club as I cannot guarantee to be free to ride when others are, so my mileage has been solo. This year I have cycled around 1,700 miles since July, done my first 100 mile bike ride and lost 1 1/2 stone so far (3 stone to go hopefully). This has led to my resting heart rate dropping by 10 bpm also. I could not have achieved this without the encouragement of being in a "virtual" bike club and being challenged to keep going (solo riding, particular if the rubbish British autumn/winter weather can be hard). For those not currently in the Strava club who would like some encouragement, I would encourage you to go for it :) This is a thanks to all of you in the community, whether I have spoken to you or not yet, for the encouragement you have given me to keep going (and set new targets for next year :D )

So - I've gone from being a guy who barely cycled, to one who's new bike has now done 1,700 Miles, and I have a bit of a newbie maintenance question here... I can tell the chain is starting to stretch and wear as my outer chainring is starting to go sharks tooth style... The inner chainring and cassette seem fine. Do I just change the chainring and chain, or do more parts likely need changing?

So - As alluded to elsewhere - I have had a number of accidents/near misses that were not my fault, and have shown some truly poor driving standards. As I generally cycle alone, a couple of quick questions really: 1) Are bike/helmet cams worth it for capturing this poor driving and reporting it? Has anyone had any success reporting poor driving to the Police? Do they actually make you safer (aware this answer unless it has a bright neon sign saying "Smile you're on Camera" is likely to be no, and even if they did, would still probably be no :D ) 2) Following on from the above, if someone was to look for one (even for the sake of feeling a bit safer (even if that is just a feeling)) what recommendations do people have? what functions should I look for, and is there anything out there that could record 7 hours plus of riding? (Its a bit of a minefield and I don't know where to start :D )

So - (I will be buying the book later, apologies if this is already covered), but if you are a glasses wearer you probably already know where this is going... At this time of year snoods/buffs are great for keeping the cold air off your lungs, but as a glasses wearer this can seriously affect visibility as glasses fog up... does anyone have any hints and tips around minimising this side effect - I'd love to be wearing a snood/buff when cold, but it is much more important that I can see...

So, I’ve shared before about how as cyclists we can do what we can to be seen and drivers don’t always see us. I thought it would be nice to share some of the things we do to make sure we are seen when cycling in low light. I know lights are obvious, but how many, what sort, where do you mount them etc… Lets share some hints and tips and look after one another. Front Lights I run with 2 cat eye AMP 400 lights as I have a number of unlit roads to cycle down, so these are as much about me seeing as being seen Rear Lights I run with 2 cat eye orbs on my seat post (one steady one flashing) when riding with my panniers I also have three small Planet X real lights one on the rack and one on each pannier (the panniers are also high vis yellow and reflective) Reflective clothing This seems a no brainier, but I recently got some cycling shoes from Fizik that are reflective material all over… this gives excellent 360 degree reflective vision to those around you. gloves, tights, jersey and waterproofs are also ideal locations for reflective detailing when riding in autumn/winter What are you hints and tips and what have you found that works?

So this is more a brief background and a quick question really. When I was younger I had a couple of road bikes and did a lot of miles, then I got married had kid and it all stopped. Now I am 36 trying to loose weight and have started again (all be it with a commuting bike able to take panniers rather than a full on road bike due to only being able to afford one or the other.) two question’s really 1) having done a few long distance rides on this bike I am really missing the drop bars (couldn’t afford at the time to raise price to get a tourer with drops) is a conversion to drops affordable/sensible? 2) I recently sold my old road bike to someone who happened to be the chairman of a cycling club, I’ve never done group rides before - what are some tips? How do you get started? What happens if you can’t keep pace? Do they take people with a traditional road bike (as explained above)