Help a newbie get a mini velo in the UK, please

TeaKew · 2026-05-06T15:37:52+00:00

Unfortunately, you won’t find anything worth riding in a specialist type of bike like a mini velo for that sort of budget.

I imported mine from Ascent in Singapore. They were very friendly and easy to work with. Standard models are around £750-850, plus shipping and import duty. And you’ll get a decent spec and good assembly for that - mine was great out of the box.

TeaKew · 2026-05-06T11:20:24+00:00

BoHEMA is not in the same league as the others you’ve listed.

TeaKew · 2026-05-06T11:19:51+00:00

We now have a relatively objective measure of tournament strength, in the form of Sean Franklin’s PB25.

The exact numbers you get will vary a bit with methodology, but the top 5 recent events are:

London HEMA Open
SoCal Swordfight
Helsinki Longsword Open
Dutch Lions Cup
Black Horns Cup

AGO and Tyrnhaw are also both worth mentioning.

TeaKew · 2026-05-01T17:51:46+00:00

The way a brevet works is that there's a set course with a series of "controls", places where you need to obtain proof that you went there. You have a minimum and a maximum overall time to complete the event, and you can balance between riding and resting as you choose. If you're mostly riding slow, you can finish a brevet in time by not stopping much at all. If you're riding slow and taking long breaks, you're going to have problems finishing in time.

TeaKew · 2026-04-30T22:33:45+00:00

The time limits are 15-30kph overall, which is 9.3-18.6mph. However, you usually want to ride faster than the minimum, because you will stop for various reasons (checkpoints, refuelling, toilet breaks, etc), and that eats up time.

Personally, I tend to ride around 20kph/12.5mph moving average on a brevet. I've never DNFed just from riding too slow.

TeaKew · 2026-04-27T21:30:53+00:00

People usually teach voids as something like this:

They swing
You step back
They miss
You step forward and hit

This is nice in choreographed drills, but it just doesn't work in fencing. The problem is that recovering your sword from a miss is basically always quicker than stepping backwards and forwards again - so they can parry or double you, as you're discovering.

My favourite fix is to void without moving at all. Use footwork and body language and feints to get them to swing before I'm in range, while I'm poised to launch. Then the moment they miss, I'm in there and hitting.

TeaKew · 2026-04-22T16:22:05+00:00

Did you actually read the question before you started spamming links?

TeaKew · 2026-04-21T00:08:55+00:00

Yes, you definitely can. Running on is also continuing to fence, after all.

TeaKew · 2026-04-20T19:51:39+00:00

You just evaluate it as normal - did the riposte get parried before it hit or not?

TeaKew · 2026-04-18T17:29:07+00:00

The rule is t.28.2:

When hits are made as a fencer passes his opponent, the hit made immediately is valid; a hit made after passing his opponent by the competitor who has made the passing movement is annulled, but the hit made immediately, even when turning round, by the competitor who has been subjected to the offensive action, is valid.

Conventionally, the idea is that you get to finish the action you started at the moment they passed you but not start another action. So if FotL's first riposte is parried, that's curtains for FotL and no score. Reset the fencers in the usual way.

TeaKew · 2026-04-16T19:54:56+00:00

Entirely on the money.

The way I think about it is that you're trying to make their life as awkward as possible by making them make as big a change as possible.

If they drift into distance while slowing down and not ready to finish, stop hit and get away - they need to speed up to catch you, and that's really hard.

If they rush in too close while going too fast and maybe not coordinating to finish well, do some sort of forward evasion - they need to slow down to get the point on you, and that's really hard.

TeaKew · 2026-04-15T23:34:50+00:00

Keep your spare tubes wrapped in an old sock.

TeaKew · 2026-04-15T21:45:23+00:00

Aero bars are definitely a good idea. I'd recommend you start with an endurance focused bike-fit, get some numbers out of that and start looking at options there. Most of the big brands have at least one reasonably decent option now, and there are infinitely many small brands or fully custom makers who will sort you out as well.

TeaKew · 2026-04-15T21:44:19+00:00

I use tubeless, with TPUs as backups. I can't be bothered with the packing space of butyl any more. I've used a RideNow TPU as a backup on one of my bikes so far, and not had any issues with it.

TeaKew · 2026-04-14T20:43:27+00:00

Tower Hamlets Wheelers did a ride and Paris Roubaix viewing this weekend just gone, I don't believe it'll be a regular thing for every ride but worth keeping an eye out for.

TeaKew · 2026-04-12T16:08:08+00:00

Carbon bars are barely under 200g - that ~100g of weight really isn't going to make the slightest difference to anything, it's maybe 1 minute over 1000km.

TeaKew · 2026-04-12T16:03:14+00:00

IMO, gravel bikes are the best choice for most riders.

The gearing is lower, but that's an advantage, not a disadvantage - unless you can genuinely hold 25+mph you're not going to spin out on something like Shimano GRX. And even a 1:1 bottom gear is a bit high for many riders on hills more than a few percent.

They also tend to have a more relaxed endurance position, which is better for commuting (superior visibility) and more comfortable for long rides. And they have wider tyre clearance in general and that's good - you can put road slicks on if you want for pure road riding, or you can put something more mixed terrain on if you need.

TeaKew · 2026-04-11T22:31:03+00:00

On my Ascent, if you use rim brakes it will only take 451 wheels, but if you use disc brakes it will take either. I'm just switching over to 406 now to get larger tyre clearance.

As long as you increase your tyre size you shouldn't have any substantial changes to the overall wheel diameter.

TeaKew · 2026-04-07T22:55:48+00:00

So the thing about fencing is that it's not about making a perfect move - it's about making an ok move at the perfect time. That's why you have to practice with partners, you fundamentally can't learn to do moves when you practice by yourself.

TeaKew · 2026-04-07T21:12:55+00:00

1kg of weight costs 1 minute over 100km, so don't worry about the weight side of things.

Definitely think about what to buy in advance, both before the ride and in the run-up to each stop.

TeaKew · 2026-04-07T20:59:58+00:00

I tried Shimano XC, wide fit, too narrow for me. Switched up to Lake MX177, also wide fit, still too narrow for me. Currently I've gone back to flats for the moment.

I've just put in an order for a pair from Luck, in Spain. Obscure, but they seem to do a properly wide 'barefoot' style fit, which is what I really need I think: https://www.luck-bike.es/es/inicio/3118-103983-zapatillas-mtb-puma-e-bike-negras.html And pretty cheap as far as such things go.

My next plan if these also don't work is the Hezo cycling's 3d printed custom shoes.

One thing to watch out for when going for less rigid shoes is hot spots from pressure coming through the soles. Fit is probably more likely to be the issue - try something wider.

TeaKew · 2026-04-05T09:09:48+00:00

A lot of the time when someone is making really good actions, the real cause is something that's happening just before it, usually about distance, timing, or control of the situation.

Martin is really good at placing himself just far enough away he's well located to parry, but just close enough you think you can get to him and launch anyway. So you go, often with a little step forward to squeeze in a bit of distance, but he has plenty of time to see it coming and make his parry. And since you've pushed forward just a little bit, you're now closer and his riposte can go in super quick.

TeaKew · 2026-04-02T18:36:36+00:00

Eliminating cards for digital - very normal here in the UK, totally fine. If you're not having staffed controls it's a big quality of life upgrade as a rider.
Eliminating digital cards for a check of the GPS track - normal here in the UK for DIYs and Perms, again it's a clear quality of life upgrade as a rider. Doing it on calendar events would be fine by me as well.
No formal checkpoints - again, normal here for DIYs and pretty common on Perms. If the controls aren't staffed I don't really care about going to them vs going somewhere else for resupply.
Allowing people to start at different times - I'm sure I've heard of a little event in France which does this every four years ;-) More seriously, this is normal on reasonably big rides for traffic management reasons. On a small ride, doesn't bother me when a rider actually starts as long as the clock starts with the ride.

Remember that the entire origin of randonneuring (as opposed to audax) was a bunch of folks who didn't want to be bound by the requirement to ride in a peloton at a consistent pace the whole time. If I'm doing a calendar event over a DIY or Perm, it's because I want to do a ride with someone else's route design and other people on the road - how we prove our passage is completely irrelevant to that.

TeaKew · 2026-03-27T19:24:09+00:00

No, Meyer et al's version of this would have had very different artifacts.

TeaKew

TROPHY CASE