I seem to recall them being an expensive brand back in the day.

I run a 90mm zero rise on my Big Unit.

I did have to go from risers to a flat bar though.

Felt like I was riding a chopper with the risers.

I used Just Riding Along to build my Hope’s on Crests and they haven’t missed a beat.

I don’t think they build on Mavic rims though or they certainly don’t list Mavic’s on their website.

I’ve also used CRC and Merlin on previous builds and they were also really good

JRA would be my 1st choice for any future builds though.

Ours is called Rossi.

I’d have a look at Schumacher[/url],Team Losi[/url] and Associated[/url] for manufacturers.

Not too sure on who the best suppliers are though.

Although it’s very much loved.

My Kona Big Unit definately isn’t boutique 😆

Is this a ride organised through Bike Events?

I did a Manchester to Blackpool with them a long time ago and really enjoyed it.

Really good craic along the way with other riders and Bike Events provided a tent mid way full of food and drink.

It was a very chilled out day, so didn’t rush. I spent around 7 hours (ish) doing it on the mtb.

I would class a boutique brand as being small scale and hand built for that particular individual.

Boutique to me would be Moots, Potts, IF, Eriksen, Black Sheep, Roberts etc.

I wouldn’t class S-Works, Ibis, Turner, Trek etc as boutique as they are mass produced standard geometry / colour frames. Although they are still fantastic bikes that I would love to own.

Beans on toast with grated cheese under the beans, washed down with a big mug of tea.

I’m also a bit partial to a bag of Bombay mix to tide me over for the trip home if needed.

1. 6
2. 12.78 miles or 15.53 miles
3. Isle Of Man
4. 12 -14mph

That’s on a Kona Unit singlespeed with a rucksack.

I had 175’s on all my previous bikes and used to think that I just had dodgy knee’s.

It was only when I bought a bike that by chance happened to come 170’s fitted, that I discovered that they were better for me.

I’m 5ft 7 with a 31 inch inside leg and run 170mm cranks.

I found that I got a pain at the back of my knee’s when riding on 175mm cranks on 4hr + rides.

I think it’s a very personal thing though.

I think that everything is in place for Guy, he’s with a fantastic team and the bikes are tried and tested over here.

The only issue might be that the competiton is now so fierce with Anstey, Johnson, Amor, both Dunlops and McGuinness all looking like winners.

There is also the belief that you need a fireblade under you to win.

It’s really busy already.

There are definately more people over than last year.

I was doing a few laps of the course today and there were loads of bikes out.

Guy Martin was going well, but ended up pushing his bike back to the pits with what seemed to be a mechanical.

I’ve been watching it from the end of our road 8)

Gary Johnson was going really well, 185.4mph along Sulby straight!!!

TT Live

wrightyson – Member
Slightly ish off topic but always wondered how skid marks are measured if a car has abs? Do they still leave blatant black lines or is it just measured from the first big dab on the brakes when the wheels try to stop and the abs kicks in. There must be a good 50% of cars with abs on the roads nowadays.

Even with ABS, vehicles will leave a skid mark.

They measure the skid mark and after a few sums, the vehicles speed is calculated.

A skid test is performed on the tarmac at the RTC location. The skid test is purely to determine how ‘grippy’ the tarmac is.

They don’t compare the length of skid marks between the Police car and the other vehicle to calculate the speed.

Was she coming out of a driveway or out of the road with the large white house on the corner?

If it’s the road junction, it appears to be quite open with a good view.

Did the other vehicle leave skid marks and are they still at the scene?

If so, it might be worth taking a few pics of the road, the available view from the junction from her own and the other drivers perspective.

I’d also measure the skid marks if you can and also the distance of road that can be seen from the junction.

I think she’ll end up taking full responsibilty at the end of the day as she has pulled into a carriageway, but it might be worth making the effort with the pics and measureents.

The only way that she’d be able to conclusively prove that the other driver was speeding was if the Police got involved so that they could measure the skid marks and do their own skid tests.

Although it’s best practice to do this at the time of the RTC.

Whiplash claims are ‘par the course’ these days with RTC’s unfortunately.

If anyone’s interested, I believe the bike is available to view at 29 Acacier Road.

Just ask for Eric 😀

Only a few months ago my bike collection consisted of a Litespeed Obed, a Pace RC200, a Rocky Mountain Vertex, a Hewitt touring bike and my Kona Big Unit.

I’ve since sold the Litespeed, Pace, Rocky Mountain and Hewitt and all my riding is now on my Kona Big Unit singlespeed.

I use my Kona for commuting to work, mtb rides and road rides.

I’ve found that I’ve grown far more attached to my now one and only bike and I enjoy my cycling just as much.

ESI grips for me too, I can’t fault them.

Dead easy to fit, comfy and so far have been hardwearing.

They’re also easy to remove and refit if needed.

simonm – Member
many thanks, loads of great info and links. I’m over the weekend the TT ends for a week.

Cheers,
Simon.

That’s cool, hope you have a great time over on the IOM 8)

Here is a link to a previous van insurance thread.

My Kangoo and Vito were insured through Direct Line as a private user and they were pretty cheap.

Just had a quick look at Cycling Plus and they test:

Dawes Galaxy @ £1199.99
Salsa Casseroll @ £1349.99
Hewitt Cheviot @ £1199
Jamis Bosanova @ £749.99

Hewitt and Galaxy get good review, but they reckon the Hewitt has better wheels.

The Salsa they reckon was comfy and well spec’d, but not enough to justify the higher price.

The Jamis also gets a good review, described as a great light tourer backed up with good kit and mechanical disc brakes.

The new Cycling Plus mag has got a test on some touring bikes.

I know that one of the bikes is a Hewitt, but I can’t recall what the other bikes were.

I’ll go and have a look in the mag in a bit.

Might we worth having a look at the CTC forums

I had a Paul Hewitt Cheviot for a while and used it everyday for 2 years without any problems. They’re around £1000 new, but you might get one used.

Just out of interest, I e-mailed Vandeyk to get more info and this was the response –

The bicycles of the Nightstream collection will come as complete bikes only, designed to be a holistic art/design object.
Very first bicycles of the collection will be available around August 2011.
Final pricing and order process will be fixed in a few weeks, i will gladly inform you about all details as soon as available.
(Pricing will be in a clear 5-figure € region)

Clear 5-figure € region!!!!! 😯

Imagine what yours is worth now kiwijohn????? 8)

Esme – Member
While you’re waiting for Amplebrew to wake up, there’s some interesting stuff here

That link above is spot on and shows some of the popular routes over here.

The Southern Comfort Loop is really good which you can join a short riding distance from Peel at the path that leads past Kerroodhoo Plantation just off the A27 coast road south of Peel.

The Hells 8 route is also recommended and you can start this from Kirk Michael which is just North of Peel and only just under a 7 mile ride north from Peel.

I would also definately make contact with either somone from the Loaghtan Loaded or visit the Manx MTB forum[/url] as there are numerous rides throughout the week.

If you’re wanting to get from Peel to South Barrule, there is a nice route that leads from Peel harbour through to St Johns which is the old railway track. From St Johns you would then have a road ride thorugh to South Barrule. This would only be just over 6 miles each way.

You can also ride over Peel Hill past Corrins Tower from the harbour, dropping down into Patrick near to the Raggatt, the take a route just off the A30 in Patrick which leads upto the old mines and then onto South barrule.

Or you have the option of riding on the road for a short distance to Glen Maye once you’ve dropped down into Patrick from Peel Hill, taking the path through Glen Mooar that ends up at the Round Table. You then go onto the ‘Whiskey Run,’ which is marked off as Bayr ny Skeddan on the OS map and get access into South Barrule from there.

What dates are you over?

I’ve just come in from a night shift, so would struggle to give you a coherent reply at the moment, but if you drop me a line to brewking75ATgooglemailDOTcom I’ll be able to help you out.

I actually work in Peel and live just a few miles down the road.

Cheers,

Andy

alfabus – Member

I used JB Weld for the Jen Green badge on my Litespeed.

isnt’ JB weld just the ‘merkin name for araldite (2 part epoxy)?

Dave

I’m not too sure it JB Weld can be used for securing pubic wigs.

It does come in two parts though.

I used JB Weld for the Jen Green badge on my Litespeed.

My wife, family, dogs, health and although I tend to moan about it on a daily basis; my job.

mastiles_fanylion – Member
BTW aplebrew – that picture was clearly taken in Dublin so stop lying

😀

They did quite a bit of filming over on the Isle Of Man.

The amount of work they did on the shop scene was impressive.

molgrips – Member
Some dozy person crashed into the back of us on Saturday. She said she’d pay for the repair herself if it was going to work out cheaper than a claim.

So what do you do? Do I even need to tell my insurance company? Do I get a quote first then call my insurance company if they decide to go through insurance?

I’d call my insurance and let them deal with it.

It’ll be much less hassle for you.

I certainly would take her word that she’ll pay out herself.

She might just want to save making a claim, however it might be that she hasn’t even got a licence to drive or she’s not insured.

I wasn’t too keen on the first episode, but I thought the 2nd episode was a big improvment.

I’m mainly watching it as a lot of the filming was done on the Isle Of Man.

There is a scene in which a shop blows up that was done in my local town.

Possibly getting confused with a 1969 Aston Martin DBS Vantage from “On her Majesty’s Secret Service.” and as used by Roger Moor in the Persuaders.

They do look similar from the front.