On the roads you describe and which I commute on they aren’t that much faster than a well sorted HT with hard tyres and aggresive position. I’m about 5-10mins faster on the road bike on my 18m commute on minor lanes, cycle lanes and bridleways and prefer the comfort and wet weather braking of the HT. So I’d try the MTB first. What distance are you talking about?

Molgrips – No. It says the cyclist collided with the van. I hope the driver is OK…

Given the general standard of reporting English and the photo of the van (near side damage) I wouldn’t read too much into that statement. It has all the hallmarks of the default being that cyclists not cars cause accidents.

Must be a hell of a pack not to be able to access the outer 2 pockets?

I use 2 bottle cages, saddle pack, frame mounted pump and carry food and a gilet in my pockets. Works well for the XC stuff I like.

I used to have an issue with the fit of jerseys in that they were tight and shorts were baggy making me look like a puny weakling. Now I’m into XC I’ve ditched the baggies and view having no upper body as perfectly normal.

It took me over a year of loitering on here and e bay to get a good lightweight and cheap set of wheels. 26″ might be going out of fashion but most sellers aren’t willing to reflect it on price.

I finally lucked into a new set of American Classic hubs with Stans ZTR 355s (old school but good), DT supercomps, alloy nipples with tape and valves at 1430g and for £200. I only ever saw one other such bargain (DT 240s) but I was a little slow off the mark.

So unless you are very lucky you are unlikely to get a bargain by the time you need them.

Niggling thigh strain and 450m climbing per lap doesn’t seem a good mix :(. Pity, I was looking forward to it (and put the granny ring back on!)

Thanks. Was going to do the 8hr but thinking at 450m per lap the 4hr is a safer bet.

I enjoy my Moots better than my Seven.

Wonder if they will make an aluminium 29er with the new cold forming used on the Flux 120. The carbon of the Czar is half a pound lighter and £700 dearer. Probably too much crossover.

OP lovely bike – I’d have one if not for the TT length (for me)

Maxxis minion dhf super tacky

Yup – e mail in profile

Which bike did you use – the A la Carte?

Whyte 29 C Team? Slacker HA and very long TT. I’m thinking of one myself.

Did he have guards?

Narrow/narrow/wide would work though!

Enter, do it and savour that feeling of terror/anticipation you can only get from doing something for the first time. There’s only so many things you can do for the first time and as you get older that excitement gets rarer and more precious.

I’d love one but the large is too short top tube for me and at 6′ the XL is too tall. Why oh why does the most xc frame of Turners range have the shortest top tube?

So as a first 24hr solo it’s not to be reccomended? Reading between the lines it’s steep enough to have to walk and not very interesting?

Find a long slack hill – get up to speed, brake hard to a stop. Repeat 5-10 times. Sorted.

Take care not to overdo it, I faded a set of Hope race pads doing this and they have never come back – I’ve roughed them up etc but they no longer have any power and squeal like hell.

Having knobbly knees and pointy elbows that tear at the merest hint of trauma I invested in some G form elbow and knee pads. Lesser protection but comfy enough to wear more.

Attempted bragging fail :cry:

Interesting and a great read. Thanks

Mboy – I can’t remember any technical climbing on Wentwood?

Well I’m obviously the weakling here running a Wolftooth 30t narrow wide up front and 11-36 rear with XTR shadow plus. No dropped chains, silent and less scope for wrong changes under race stress. Doesn’t really spin out on single track and I’m happy to freewheel if it does.

Hilly you say

1. Obtain map that covers from Chinnor to Goring approx
2. Note the Chiltern Scarp – the ridge that runs approx N-S from Chinnor to Goring
3. Note the Ridgeway (yawn)
4. Note the roads and tracks that go from the Ridgeway up the scarp (heading east) they do this all the way along from Chinnor to Goring.
5. Note the roads that run N-S along the top of the scarp
6. Plan route from Chinnor to the A4074 (Wallingford – Nettlebed) going up and down these in turn.
7. Set off ride 15miles, turnaround and climb the descents/descend the climbs you did on the way out.

I think you can get about 600m in 30miles if you include road climbs and descents too. It’s a good work out and reasonably hard to get completely lost. The west of Xmas Common is much more interesting but also more confusing and in places muddier.

Enjoy!

Thanks re the food. ^ sounds like a non starter from that.

Wind is forecast to be from Winchester – obviously may change.

Dunno why but it made quite a difference to the way it climbed. Maybe all in my head who cares it worked.

Anyhow if it all makes sod all difference why bother increasing travel by less than an inch?

I know a lot of people have liked their Fluxs with 120mm but I didn’t on my DW. It felt sit up and beg and for me needed a very low position on the front to climb well. I had the forks spaced to 110mm which is perfect – don’t know why 10mm made such a difference but it does (to me)

Where have all the Turner’s gone? A while ago there were stacks of Flux’s and 5 Spots being posted about Now the 5 spots only seem to appear on classifieds, the Flux’s are silent (apart from the OP) and hardly anyone seems to be buying/posting about the new Flux/Burner.

A great thing about the Burner is it has a longer TT than the others. TT length is IMHO a bit of a weakness in the Turner range with some of the more XC bikes being too short in L.

Full fat coke and peanut or nutella sandwich.

Polar it is then as I do moisten it.

Very clear but personally I’d prefer it in gear inches and look at the speed for a cadence of 100rpm.

Let me know where to find a 28t thick thin!

Unless you fit XL it will have to be second hand as they’ve dropped the Simple (only sold 8 last year :()

They’re very very good warm enough for full winter but can go up to about 9C as arm/leg warmers.

50 year old whose back hurts on a 26ht on bumpy courses.

So do I want to make my pimp build 26 Ti HT and 96mm FS redundant/sell at massive loss for a 29er HT to pick up a max of 5 places midfield. Not worth it. If I threaten top 10 in supervets with my new training programme and increased age bracket (bet they’re just as competitive as vets :() I probably would.

Can anyone ride a 29er HT for 12hour events?

I breathe through my mouth courtesy of a congenitaly blocked septum. I occasionaly eat a bit of mud and am waiting to catch a bee.

One things for sure if you ride a 29er carbon race HT there’s no hiding in your equipment when you look at your results. Me I only ride a 26″ bike which no doubt accounts for my mid field placings!

I don’t have a 29er but what I notice when I am overtaken by them is that they deal with bumps, roots etc better. While I find the same route choppy they seem to float more – that’s not all down to technique or tyre choice.

As a result on courses I ride my short travel FS they appear to be able to ride their 29er HT and get that HT pedalling efficiency.

I do similar riding. My trips to Wales are few.

I tried 140mm and bought 105mm (Flux). I ride it set up quite stiff at Swinley etc and for longer XC jaunts and normal for Wales. It’s amazingly capable and I don’t want to be on terrain where I need more to be frank.

If you leave your dog in the van in warm weather then regardless of ventilation it’s likely to start panting.

A member of the public will see it and at some point the police/RSPCA will be called. They will crowd around the van and decide the dog is distressed (they don’t discriminate between heat stress and guarding behaviour). The van will be broken into and the dog ‘rescued’. You will face a stern talking to and a bill for damage in the best case or more likely proceedings.

A cooling solution is high risk – what if it fails?

No easy solution but in emergency I have left my dog in a cage in the shade with water locked with a small combination padlock and my mobile number fixed to the cage. I have also abandoned what I was planning on doing and gone home.

YGM!