How important is the bike?

[geraldc]

+1 to narrowing the bars

[simonp]

What does one have to do to get monkey bars?

[Doosh]

I am quite broad (48 inch chest shirts are a bit too tight) but I will have a look at maybe narrowing the bars, good idea.

I did the hands by the sides trick and they sat at 45 degrees to my legs, sort of  / -  - \  as looking down.

I wasn't considering putting drops on this, that would be a waste of time and money I reckon, I was hoping to maybe land on a uber cheap road bike for the day rides and leave the MTB for the shopping trips and commuting.

[Greenbank]

What does one have to do to get monkey bars?

Stand up, let your arms drop by your sides. Relax. Now, are your knuckles dragging on the ground? If so you want monkey bars and a 540mm stem.

[mattc]

I wasn't considering putting drops on this, that would be a waste of time and money I reckon, I was hoping to maybe land on a uber cheap road bike for the day rides and leave the MTB for the shopping trips and commuting.

IMHO you can get a respectable 2nd hand 'road bike' for very little cash, that will hold its value. Possibly less cash than required for more than a few parts to "upgrade" the MTB.
Has anyone tried putting "bar-ends" inboard of the grips? Might be a disaster, dunno. Too much time required to test this, I've often been tempted.

[Woofage]

Has anyone tried putting "bar-ends" inboard of the grips? Might be a disaster, dunno. Too much time required to test this, I've often been tempted.

Not tried myself, but I have seen pics of such a setup.

[Alouicious]

The centre of your wrists need to be the same width apart ( or wider ) than your Shoulder joints.

A narrow handlebar placement will restrict expansion of the diaphragm.

[jogler]

Has anyone tried putting "bar-ends" inboard of the grips?
 

Yes,I ran this arrangement on my mtb before I acquired a bike with drops.I arranged them so that theyt were the same width as my armpits IYSWIM.
I also had some aero bars on the mtb for a while.

[Doosh]

Well I think the problem was definitely bonk related. Been out and done 52 miles today (furthest ever) at 13.7mph average and felt fine all the way round, in fact I could have gone considerably further I reckon but my wrists and neck are probably thankful I didn't.

Had a 3 egg mushroom omelette on two slices of wholemeal bread for breakfast, went out at noon and took a loaf of Soreen smothered in jam and some bananas, I've probably eaten half of it all and drunk three bottles of energy drink (fructose based powder stuff you mix yourself).

Thanks all for the tips 

[Canardly]

The first time I had the knock (bonking) felt sick and exhausted. Someone gave me a glucose tablet and it was amazing how it changed things. I have never forgotten that. These days we are too impatient.

[TimO]

I'm not going to say anything about diet, since my metabolism behaves too differently to most of you, but I'll comment on bike suitability.

Over the last few years, I've done most of my cycling on a straight handlebared steel Kaffenback, which whilst not terribly heavy, certainly isn't light either.

When I cycle Red, which is a carbon framed bike with no mudguards or other excessively heavy junk, I can go significantly faster, but I doubt I could cycle that much further.  I have knackered myself out, going faster than I would on the Kaffenback.