Particularly enjoyed the Rock’n’Roll star pottering around in the kitchen.

Some great choices, also a bloody good bloke.

Northern Socialists all ride 5s, right?

Not sure about wheel size but your Tory banker / dentists all seem to be rolling on carbon fibre Santa Cruz, which seem to be the new Lapierre, new Ellesworth…

Not done a scientific survey, but I bet fully rigid single speeders are mostly anarchist / green.

On a northern built steel long travel hardtail – clearly the public sector worker steed of choice.

What is the difference between the Team and Non-team versions?

Thanks ian, very useful. Ta! Alex

Scotsroute – thanks for drawing my attention to the revelate alternative.

ianfritz – unlikely, as was in Surrey that day.

One concern is that if I change frame, might not fit. Don’t think I would go bigger than an 18 inch [currently 17 inch]. . .

Off road ianfitz

Probably something like this = Alpit kanga with a dry-bag in it.

The more I think about it, the more annoying and rustle-some it sounds. I’d like a more informed opinion though.

From my experience I would say the best chains are whipperman – the stainless steel ones – as these are durable and strong.

That being said, they are essentially a consumable, so I don’t pony-up for the more expensive ones.

I go for two SRAM cross-step chains in rotation:

https://www.sram.com/sram/mountain/products/sram-powerchain-991-cross-step

These are proper strong. Having two in rotation improves the durability of the cassette and chain-rings as they don’t wear-in to each other.

In terms of care, I take them off, dump in white-spirits, wash and dry. Then lots Rock’n’roll extreme.

Works well on the whole. I think it is best to view chains as consumables, like bearings, or [to a lesser degree] tyres. That way you are less invested in them when you inevitably have to bin them.

I did think that.

Oh, and useless, just useless M575 brakes. . .

Kona Hoss. Awful:

1. Short in top tube, got a 20 inch. My fault, but I followed their sizing.

2. Dirt jumper 2 forks > total rubbish, undamped, bone shakers, weighed the same as Fox 40s.

3. Shimano deore rear hub > always working loose, rubbish seals.

4. Rubbish FSA headset. Left out in the rain once, by by bearings.

5. Duff Shimano chaîn > broker 2nd ride.

WTB volt saddle and Shimano derallieours still going 4 years after got rid of it, mind.

I own a Blue Pig X – 17 inch – and had a go on a 17 inch Sherpa and a 16.5 inch Slackline.

Both felt felt a bit short for me – 184 cm / 6′ 1” – whereas the Pig never does.

I should be on an 18 inch really, so can’t hold that against the Slackline. 24 inch top tube seems about right for an 18 inch, 23 for the 16.5 sounds good.

Slackline is more of a premium product – better steel than the standard Blue Pig, also nasty paint on the Ragley nowadays. Not sure if they do the silly seat-post shim, but that has given me no end of aggro.

Whilst I have some affection for my ride, I wouldn’t get the modern version. Get an On-One 650b for less – more of less the same thing.

Dan Stanton was a diamond gent when I met him, the frame finish looks better. If it were a straight choice I would definitely go with the Slackline.

Thanks for all the great advice.

Muke. Today you win the internet.

Alex

Richard Morgan’s stuff is hardboiled sci-fi.

Black man – 40 something supersoldiers on the loose in post United States.

Market forces – Death race crossed with the Dogs of war

Altered carbon – ultraviolent PI tries to track down who murdered his employer, who has been resurrected from back up missing 10 ours. . .

Hannu Rajaniemi’s Thief triology is a ripping yarn:

First book is the Quantum Thief, then The Fractal Angel and lastly the Casual Angel.

High concept hard sci fi with elements of mystery and whodunit.

Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmonds are an inventive reworking of the Iliad and Greek mythology, combined with Shakespeare along the way.

Early Charlie Stross is good – Singularity sky, Glasshouse, Accelerando, Saturn’s children – but writes too much now, low quality control.

Will do.

Cheers. Two really good tips.

Alex

Describe yourself in 3 words is a classic. But can work for you – I reckon I clinched the current job with my answer.

Mudhuggers. Especially the rear one. Awesome.

Northwind – Member
ajt123 – Member
SKS mud-guards: Not fit for purpose. Bin.

Eh. They make some of the best road guards, and the best front mtb mudguard (the Shockboard). The shockboard’s penalised a bit for its terrible mounting hardware but compensates by being easily attached with cable ties.

The rear ones are the ones I hate.

Mudhugger all the way. Actually. . .

If you mean fit and forget. . .

The love list:

Mavic 721 rims – indestructible, not too heavy, never have to worry about them.

WTB saddles – simple, get on with the job, strong.

SLX brakes – super cheap, plenty strong, good for ages if you don’t faff with them.

Rock’n’roll blue – lasts, clean, especially good in sandy areas.

Finish line carbon paste – excellent for dodgy seat-tubes like ragley

Hope seatpost clamps – nice looking, good brass bushing

Shorts – Race face for baggies [e.g. Ambush], Endura for liners.

XT derailleurs and shifters: My nine-speed has worked every time, first time for 6 years. Zero maintenance.

The hate list:

Sram brakes, especially Elixirs. Both died on a hire bike in Gran Canaria this week. Walked 12K down a road as had no brakes. Unacceptable.

Salsa seat-clamps: No bushing, small allen key rather than finger tip barrel adjuster.

Tioga tyres: Washed out on me several times, especially poor on hard, wet surfaces.

SKS mud-guards: Not fit for purpose. Bin.

A lot of unreasonable people in Surrey. Look at what the British Horse Society did to the trails on Leith Hill.

Also, Swinley is owned by one land-owner, whereas Surrey Hills is spread across a fair few – especially Winterfold.

I wouldn’t be against Swinley-isation if they kept the character of the area, I wouldn’t want the trails to become totally man-made, but some reinforcement and drainage work would help.

Had the same problem. Marathon plus. Nothing beats them.

I run 203 on the front and 160 on the back.

Works good. When descending I can lock up the rear easy, so no need to go bigger, 203 means you need less force to lock up the front, which reduces fatigue.

Have a look at this thread:

Best 29er full suss for £2000

Kona Process 111.

Cube Stereo.

Rose Root Miller.

Michelin Wild n’ Gripr in the mud. Hans Dampfs in the summer.

sadly, safe cycling will never happen in the uk.
we are one of the laziest and most pig headed races in the world.
our mentality is ‘i word hard long hours, to buy my car, so i will use it no matter what, it is my right’.
so even if a journey is easier by bike/walk/bus we will still get in our car and block up the roads.

sadly this will never change in our want it now/i deserve it/it is my right society.

I think Ton is definitely on to something here. If you look at Germany there is hardly any segregated use infrastructure, but drivers are just a bit more considerate and don’t take the Michael.

I think the media, especially papers like the Evening standard, have had quite a corrosive effect. I walk, drive, do a bit of cycling on the road [used to commute] and mountain bike. I don’t really see myself as a walker / driver / road cyclist / mtbker. These are just things I happen to do. But lazy journalists and lazy thinkers want to put us into boxes, to make a an easier narrative, battle of wills.

You see some really irresponsible columns, which are essentially hate speech and influence attitudes, reducing safety. Equally there are a tiny minority of self-righteous cyclists, often with environmentalist inclinations, who absolutely hate cars. Its like Neo-cons vs Anjem Choudary.

Cars and bikes are useful and we can learn to get along by behaving like adults. Lorries and commercial goods vehicles we probably need to regulate hours and streets for – HGVs shouldn’t be in small streets.

If you are doing the SDW challenge, the key thing is speed. If you are slow you won’t make it to the check-points in time.

Training is the most important thing. Riding 50+ miles is very different from riding lots of 35 milers. Which is where I went wrong.

All the quick chaps seemed to be on carbon hardtail 29ers.

If I had the money I would buy the Kona. The only thing holding Kona back has been the rubbish Shimano hubs, which they have resolved with this model.

The real win is on the frame – looks like you could absolutely hoon that rear end around. Better fork too.

Specialized a bit like the Avid Elixirs of Bikes – look nice, good tech, constantly fiddling with bearings.

When there is a road section between two bits of trail, yes. Otherwise I run it quite soft, but with a bit of low speed compression.

Get this one:

MPart Elite X44 headset

Whatever you do, don’t get that nukeproof one. Rubbish.

MPart [Madison’s component division] do a much better one [they use an oversize crown race so it fits their standard 1.5 bottom cup.

Sealing is far better, and you can actually get replacement bearings. Good luck trying to get them off of hotlines. . .

It’s a matrix, but. . .

1. Cold at night. In summer I will happily put in a few night rides after work, have lights, will ride. In winter it is a different matter.

2. Things wearing out all the time – chains, bearings, everything seems to need more fettling. Seem to need to sort something at least once a month.

3. The rain. I can happily continue a ride in the wet for hours, but unless I’m meeting a buddy I won’t tend to start a solo. Just haven’t the will power.

Maybe I have terrible taste, but I thought that Cotic BFE looked pretty smart.

Full disclosure, my bike is navy blue with black and silver components.

A stronger rear wheel is a good idea on a hardtail.

I’m surprised that not many people are running 29ers with 36 spokes. If I ever make the jump, I’d be certain to.

Mine are different, but that’s because the previous [shimano] hubs wore out at different times.

I have a 21 mm rim on the front [Mavic 721] and a 23 mm [Revolution] on the rear.

Frankly a couple of mm is unnoticeable, unless you are running mega low pressures. Tyre choice is much, much more significant.

On that note, the Michelin Wild Gripr 2 tyre on the front has been a great winter tyre thus far. Not a mud tyre as such, but has a bit more bite and clears very well. Hans Dampfs will still go on in April.

+good metaphor binners!

Correction – simile.

+good metaphor binners! :-)