# 2 things needed free/ridiculously cheap for a bike tour this summer



## amrbadawy (25 May 2016)

So, this is incredibly unlikely and i'm aware about how ridiculous this is before anyone tells me! So i'm cycling to Belgium this summer to raise for Syria, and most of my money is going on hotels and various things SO, here are some things I kind of need but can't afford at the minute, i know they're expensive but sometimes people just have old stuff they don't need, ALSO if you have something that isn't 100% working, i'm quite technically minded so will give it a shot fixing!

1) Turbo trainer/ rollers (don't mind if they're crap)
2) Bike computer with maps (i have a phone for navigation, but charging tends to be an issue)

Thank you so much.


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## vickster (25 May 2016)

Why do you need a turbo for a tour? Get out and ride your bike regardless of the weather, much better training for cycling 

Ref the phone, buy a couple of back up battery packs


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## amrbadawy (25 May 2016)

vickster said:


> Why do you need a turbo for a tour? Get out and ride your bike regardless of the weather, much better training for cycling
> 
> Ref the phone, buy a couple of back up battery packs


Yep, training as much as possible on the daily, but because of work i can't get enough hours in on the saddle (would really like to get 5 hours in a day, 5 days a week) and i don't want to be riding at night!!!


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## simon.r (25 May 2016)

Where are you in the country?

I have a turbo you could borrow if you are prepared to collect from Nottingham.


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## Rooster1 (25 May 2016)

I have a Turbo you can borrow also, in Reading Berks.


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## DCLane (25 May 2016)

What might help here is some details of where you are.


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## amrbadawy (25 May 2016)

I'm currently in Bedford, thank you, will PM either of you if i'm passing by either one of you. Thank you very much for the generosity.


simon.r said:


> Where are you in the country?
> 
> I have a turbo you could borrow if you are prepared to collect from Nottingham.





Rooster1 said:


> I have a Turbo you can borrow also, in Reading Berks.


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## steveindenmark (25 May 2016)

With regards to your phone. Get a couple of cheap power Banks from ebay or Amazon and charge them up in the hotel. Problem solved.


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## TheDoctor (25 May 2016)

Or get a map and navigate off that. Problem even more solved.
GPS chews through batteries like there's no tomorrow.


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## jefmcg (25 May 2016)

amrbadawy said:


> i don't want to be riding at night!!!


Um, why not? If you don't feel comfortable in familiar territory after dark, are you sure you are ready to cycle in an unfamiliar place?

+1 to the idea of an external battery. One like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJSGT2A?psc=1 would charge phone batteries between 5 and 10 times. Or get two smaller ones (and two cables) so you have a failover device.


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## Dave Davenport (25 May 2016)

A bit more info would be nice; How far, over how long, on your own or part of a group, exactly which charity, will you be meeting all the costs yourself?, bit about yourself and your cycling experience to date. Depending on the answers you might get more offers of help, gear or sponsorship.


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## vickster (25 May 2016)

jefmcg said:


> Um, why not? If you don't feel comfortable in familiar territory after dark, are you sure you are ready to cycle in an unfamiliar place?
> 
> +1 to the idea of an external battery. One like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJSGT2A?psc=1 would charge phone batteries between 5 and 10 times. Or get two smaller ones (and two cables) so you have a failover device.


especially on a tour that needs 25 hours of training per week, presumably going to be pushing big miles everyday


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## jefmcg (26 May 2016)

User46386 said:


> Just dont bother and send the money you would spend on hotels etc and some of your savings to the charity of your choice instead. Its much better in my opinion giving your own money to charity than asking other people for it.


This is a mean spirited post, but I do tend to agree. I am continual baffled by these things: I'm shaving my head for spinal bifida; I'm cycling to Brighton to raise awareness of whale hunting. They always seem to me to be someone doing something they want to do, but wrapping it in a "charity" so you get praised as a do-gooder.

I just did a whole lot of calculations to work out how much you would be spending on this trip, but then I revisited to the original post. Brussels is only 200km from the various ports. Where are you starting from? How many days are you planning to take? I don't get 5 hours 5 days a week training to do a couple of hundred km either side of a ferry trip.


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## slowmotion (27 May 2016)

TheDoctor said:


> Or get a map and navigate off that. Problem even more solved.
> GPS chews through batteries like there's no tomorrow.


Paper maps. They are lighter too. Here's where you get them...

https://www.dezwerver.nl/

Thrash around on the website and find the map you need, then pick up the phone. They all speak better English than most of us.


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## bozmandb9 (27 May 2016)

If using your phone for navigation, watch out for data roaming charges. Also look out for data used by any apps such as Strava etc.


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## amrbadawy (29 May 2016)

Thank you all for your responses, while i do agree with you, i AM donating a large sum of money (for me) to the cause, in addition to the fact that it isn't me organizing the trip, it has been organised for us and those of us who wanted to take part were asked to be sponsored, which i have been by friends/family. Thank you.


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## User269 (29 May 2016)

jefmcg said:


> This is a mean spirited post, but I do tend to agree. I am continual baffled by these things: I'm shaving my head for spinal bifida; I'm cycling to Brighton to raise awareness of whale hunting. They always seem to me to be someone doing something they want to do, but wrapping it in a "charity" so you get praised as a do-gooder.
> 
> I just did a whole lot of calculations to work out how much you would be spending on this trip, but then I revisited to the original post. Brussels is only 200km from the various ports. Where are you starting from? How many days are you planning to take? I don't get 5 hours 5 days a week training to do a couple of hundred km either side of a ferry trip.


 
+1 on this and other similar posts. Also, once again we have an alleged charity raising rider who hasn't given us a link to their justgiving.com page or similar, so they want free equipment but don't seem interested in our donations.


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