To counter-act the negativity of a wet, drizzly night a week before pay day. I thought I should praise stuff that gets things right.

Fork juice – it’s just really good; helps clean the seals after a ride, reduces stiction, keeps them clean and goes a long way for your money.

Mudhugger rear – yes it is big, but it is stiff, stays on, and stops that nasty stream of cold wet water up your back.

Race Face ambush shorts – these are great. Lots of sizes, can use with a real belt, large thigh pockets than somehow stop stuff jangling around in, very useful top-of-thigh zipped air vents for hot days.

Shimano rear derailleurs – my 9 speed XT derailleur has been going 5 years, no maintenance, no lube, worn the jockey wheels out, still shifts perfect every time.

5ten freerider shoes – solid, can take a knock, grip well, just work.

What else is good and just works?

Over to you STW. Alex

Sanyo (or now Panasonic!) Eneloop rechargeable cells. I never use any other AA cell these days. Epic and the ones I bought 5 years ago are still going strong.

Halfords Professional socket sets.

Leatherman micra keychain tool/knife/scissors.

Lamy 2000 Fountain pen

….the list goes on!!

My votes would be for:

Shimano disc brakes – I use Zee but anything from Deore up are spot on for performance and absolutely hassle free.

Hope hubs – Sure, there are marginally better performing, lighter hubs out there, but the Hopes just work. And when they don’t the parts are all readily available. Then if something goes terribly wrong Hope will give you a new one no questions asked. Oh, and the “click” is just right…

Ali

My new Fabia its epic but has big boots to fill cos the a4s still going strong and doing 60+mpg @190k.

(oh and those lifeline usb lights are quite good)

bridgestreet.cc saddle bag for commuting – A+++++++++

kinesis cx disc wheelset A ++++++

My wife and kids. My house. My minibus. My bikes. My laptop. My wellies. Hard to narrow down to one thing, really. 8)

Honda mowers, i have 8, ranging from izy to pro they get abused daily and never fail to start 🙂

North face slippers.

North face down jacket.

According to my Mrs GHD hair thingys

Ultimate Bike Solution from Scottoiler. Spray onto a degreased drivetrain and leave. Go for a ride. Come home and get your drivetrain sparkly clean with just water (ok I used a brush and a Park Cyclone too, but just with water). Spray more UBS on, put bike away.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the scottoiler stuff thergreatape.

How is it in the rain / puddles?

I’ve only recently started using it so can’t really say, but other blokes who ride round here say that it builds up over time so riding in heavy rain is no problem.

Surrey hills?

Nearly. Lochaber 🙂

Stihl everything.

Hah! Slightly different geology up there! 😉 Sticky sandy central down here!

Diazepam 10mg

Exposure maxxD simple for the user , self contained and above all reliable in filthy wet shit weather.

Flite titanium saddle. I just replaced my original one from the 90s with the reissue version. Fingers crossed.

Shimano and Hope stuff just works and it lasts.

Specialised shoes because they actually fit my feet and last ages.

My mk3 2004 tdci Mondeo estate that has demolished so many biking (and other) journies without fuss or complaint and remains a comfortable and pleasant place to chew up the miles. I

Iolo….lol, in that vein I’d add Tramadol 50mg to the list of stuff that just works!

Hah! Slightly different geology up there! Sticky sandy central down here!

Wet here. Very.

5;10 shoes
Endura Zymes
Odi grips
Montane Prism jacket
RS RCT3 Pikes
26″ wheels!
Beer

Stihl everything.

Use Stihl gear everyday too.

Its not 100% by a long way but ok.

Iolo….lol, in that vein I’d add Tramadol 50mg to the list of stuff that just works!

funny, i was about to post exactly the same 😀

But Balvenie and a guitar is also good

hope hubs/bbs (they just work)
stans notubes (couldn’t ride round here without it)
sinutabs (good for sinuses and hangovers)
mum’s christmas cake recipe (cake of choice)
rock n roll blue (ace)
aldi (quality and price)
26″ ss dialled love/hate (perfect weapon for this sodding weather)
BB7 brakes (minimal maintenance and good enough)
lisa the physio (v. good at patching me back together)
chiltern mud (I’ve grown to love it)
nikon d700 (no other camera will ever be needed)
New balance runners (just do it!)
Brownlow cafe, Ashridge (Ace breakfasts and cake)
Chunky Monkey ice cream (Best ever, why did they stop doing it in tubs)
On-one Chunkey monkey/Smorgasbord (great VFM)
Panasonic fire XC pros (good allrounders)
koobi saddles (just the right shape – anyone selling a 2nd hand PRS?)
Strava (ok, I’ll just try and get a record on this segment…)
And my family of course.

Hope Hoops. My Flows are at least 4 years old, been endlessly battered with zero maintenance and are still sweet-as.

Ay Up lights. Even older than the Hoops and been completely faultless beyond one of the 3 supplied batteries failing in the rain a couple of years ago. Bonza.

Citizen EcoDrive watches, mine is 13 years old and still works perfectly, never needed a battery.

Bontrager XR4 tyres.
Shimano brakes and old Hope Mini brakes.
Hope hubs.
Patagonia Capeline2 base layers and jelly Hansen warm base layers.
Shimano M042 shoes.
Brown toast and sainsburys own brand fair trade coffee.
Alpkit dry bags.
OS maps and Silva compasses.
Toyota Yaris d4d, 100k this week.

Offset Shock Bushes (from Offsetbushings.com) – £10 each and after a few rides they stop creaking and just work
Hope Hubs
Mavic 521s – going strong after 3 years of abuse
Shimano Brakes – Zee & XT
Orange Alpine – high performance/low maintenance
26 inch wheels – 26 ain’t dead
Endura MT500 Burner shorts
Maxxis Tyres – especially the Minion DHF and Wet Scream

Things I have on all my mtbs

Easton carbon bars
Rockshox forks
Dropper posts
SRAM 1×11 (as soon as I get round to fitting it on the last one not to have it…)

Then on all but one

Shimano brakes
Hope hubs
Maxxis tyres
Rockshox reverb stealth post
Thomson stems

Clothing wise? TLD win every time. 6x pairs of xc gloves, a d2 and d3 lid, 4x pairs of shorts and loads of jerseys!

Shimano gears since forever
Hope hubs
Pint of bitter outside on a warm summer evening

Ay Up lights.

Would have agreed but in the last month had a charger explode, battery die, another battery develop a loose contact and a light head fall off the bar! Love them but only 500ish lumens, they are getting replaced at Xmas.

If we’re voting for drugs, then I’d like to suggest Rohypnol

😈

cox maize procedure to cure a bust pump….. 😉

shimano deore 9 spd
shimano deore brakes
all cheap mountainbike stuff……cos why buy deare just to destroy it.

Shimano M530 pedals.
Troy Lee shorts.
Royal gloves.

My Sidi shoes – hugely distraught about binning a pair this week – 9 years of loyal service in all winds and weather. Feels like a much beloved dog has been put down (not to demean pet ownership).

For my personal style of how/what I ride

Hope hubs
Hope brakes
Butcher tyres
Ashmei merino
My LBS

Endura MT500 Shorts, my 2012 set are still going strong
DT Swiss wheelsets, they just work
Giro Cypher helmet, good fit and very well ventilated for SE Asia riding
Shimano XT Trail pedals, just keep on going whatever the abuse or lack of TLC

Exposure lights. Quality is remembered…
Topeak Hexus II. Right size, right tools. Lasts forever.
Giro helmets. For my Giro-shaped head.

Ugg slippers

maxx D for commuting,just works, no faff anymore with chargers, batt. 🙂
old lupine wilma for the trails..
old pikes , perfect since 2005
26″ wheels, with dt swiss 240 hubs
bell super helmet

Hope hubs
Shimano brakes
XT drive trains
Reverbs
Charge Spoons
ZSuperstar and On One CNC stems
Stans rims
Nics.
SRAM foam lock-ons.
Formulaic bike builds. 😀