@johnnyc <– what he said.

Not to mention Thongsbridge, just beyond Netherthong, after Upperthong. There was a whole thong industry around these parts in ancient times.

mintimperial if you want to meet up for a ride get in touch. I’ve not done much in the Marsden area except the CVMBC and the pack horse trail over to the A640. Would be good to find some new routes over there.

I’ll be going up to Harden Hill Rd tomorrow to have a look at how smooth it has become 🙁

@TandemJeremy – You can see the quality of the ‘road’ in my picture with the cow – and that is the ‘smooth’ parts ahead of the really worn out rutted (read, small streams) part of the road. In the years I’ve lived here I’ve never seen any evidence of car or tractor movements on that road. Just seems very odd that in these austere times someone sees fit to patch the whole thing up.

@mintimperial

Yes, it is the path up to Blackmoorfoot Res 😮 I wasn’t expecting anyone to be able to recognise a picture of such an anonymous path.

Then I looked at your original photo in detail and there it is! Across the way on the hillside.

Blimey – Kirklees council must be on a roll to burn all the budget before anyone comes and takes the cash away from them. I can’t believe they’ve flattened and filled the road in your photo. It must have cost a small fortune and it certainly won’t be for ‘off road’ wheelchair access as it is way too steep at the far end.

I don’t think that road is private, but if it is I expect it is so that the farmers can get access to the fields. That ‘roadway’ was becoming quite worn and rutted, way too extreme even for a real 4×4 at the bottom end. And that is what made it one of the great rides around these parts. I used it regularly to test brake and suspension upgrades. Now I’m going to have to find somewhere else.

Do you live in Meltham?

Here’s a picture of the path before the work was done. Looking up hill from the other direction. Cows as a rolling roadblock are simply a hazard of riding these parts 🙂

Snap!

The council are systematically doing the same around Kirklees.

This was a great narrow weaving singletrack. Used by walkers and horseriders too. Not really muddy, just right actually.

A couple of years ago it was flattened, widened and covered in aggregate / sand which was compacted in. It is hardly a route for wheelchair access – and the drainage channels across the path every 100m or so would scupper that anyway.

So why was it done? And at what cost at these times of cuts?

What has happened in the two years is that water running down the path – it’s on a gentle hill – has created grooves and ruts along the path which are a real PITA for a cyclist. The sand and aggregate is being washed away to the drainage channels and off to the side.

A pointless exercise and the spoiling of a great path for walkers, cyclists and riders into a boring sandy strip of blandness.

Because it gets me fit. But really because I was sick and tired of snarled up muddy derailleurs. And a Rohloff is too heavy.

If I’m on a road bike then gears are a no brainer. Off road they just become a PITA with all the mud and wetness that is around.

I wasn’t thinking of it as a supplement for professional athletes, just thought it could be a useful means to be able to stay out longer and push harder/further. 😉

Are these nicotine patches addictive? Genuine question. Not being a smoker I wouldn’t know, but I’d expect that it is the nicotine that drives the craving so you’d want to keep the patches on. In that case the raised boost would no longer be a boost, just a normal level of performance and you’d be looking for something to go to the next level. So it is an arms race and all a bit pointless really.

Mine has just arrived. Unbelivable. It is the February issue and it isn’t even February yet. Do those people at STW Towers have any idea of the inconvenience this could cause me if I were the type of person who would maintain an Excel spreadsheet of monthly outgoings and magazine delivery dates. It is as though the money I have given them for February has already been spent.

If they keep sending stuff out and I receive it ahead of time then I shall seriously have to consider my ongoing subscription.

@tinners – yes, it appeared so large in the sky, the photos just don’t do it justice. I need to buy a telephoto lens 🙂

I certainly did. It was amazing.

Rushed home to pick up the camera and went up to Saddleworth Moor just up the road.

The moon was amazing, my 50mm lens just wasn’t capable of getting decent shots.

Rest of the set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/falkingbridge/sets/72157625740186563/with/5371794755/

Went out for 12 miles around Meltham this morning (see the West Yorks maps in current STW issue).

The wind was no fun at all, riding into it I was lucky to be getting above 5mph. Horizontal rain whenever I got the chance to look up.

Mud and clay, the likes I’ve not seen around these parts ever before. Impossible to get traction up hill.

A puddle so deep my BB got submerged (oh dear! is that the end of that :S)

And for those familiar with the area, the road known as Pig Shit Lane (officially Deer Hill End Rd) has had so much rain that for the first time ever I could see the road under the relentless onslaught of pig and cow shit – this is NOT a road you want to have an ‘off’ on.

Got home and hosed myself down as well as the bike. In the pouring rain. At least my gear is now clean for the next ride 🙂

Yes. It is a bit wet out there.

Cotic Simple? If you can get one. They’ve put manufacture on hold at the moment 🙁

http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/simple

scuttler – Member
50.0mph down Wessenden Head Road near Meltham (mind the cattle grid) on a mountain bike with a massive tailwind.

That’s just over a mile from where I live. Fastest I think I’ve done down there is about 45mph on a P7. The cattle grid (on a blind bend) really puts a spanner in the works. Get down to about 30 for that and then speed up again into Meltham – that’s where I’ve made the most speed. Bloody scary doing it from the top when there are crosswinds. You get to a certain speed and you just feel that there is no grip on the road, light as a feather, brakes time 🙂

A bit of mental arithmetic. Avg spd to current point (not using the cycle computer). Then calculate distance to do, work out how long it will take in minutes. Convert minutes to hours + minutes. Add to current time. See if that is acceptable – if so, relax, if not, put some effort in.

Repeat every mile or two.

You are doing it single speed too aren’t you?

Oldie but goldie. T’Pennine Way. Half way round. 3 miles from home or do I carry on to the end? Orange G2 still going well as a 4th bike.

@GregMay : Mine turned up and i live foreign like!

There are people on here who don’t live in Yorkshire :o. And they have post, and bikes, and computers? Wow.

😉

This Lazlo chap should get a new job. If this is how he kicks off and demands action over a £4 mag imagine what he could really do working for Relief Agencies etc.

Haitian Earthquake / Cholera outbreak? Call Lazlo – he’ll kick ass and get things sorted.

Northern Ireland lack of water? Call Lazlo – he’ll kick ass and get things sorted.

Middle East crisis? Call Lazlo – he’ll kick ass and get things sorted.

Working with Iraq / Afghanistan / North Korea to make the world a safer place? Call Lazlo – he’ll kick ass and get things sorted

Mr Lazlo – if it is any consolation my Christmas present from MY OWN PARENTS hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve already started proceedings for a lawsuit against them for emotional abuse on Christmas day when I had no present from them for the first time in my life. I’m also going to make a claim against them for lack of enjoyment of whatever it is they’ve got me. And most of all I’m labelling them as ‘common thieves’ because they stole Christmas from me. I think that trumps your £4 mag problems.

Well, that was fun with the easyout. I think it is too big for the bolt and is starting to get very close to eating away the sides of the hole 😮

So I drilled a little bit further into the bolt and have put in an Allen key with superglue (which apparently glues metal to metal). I’ll give that a couple of hours to set and see if I can unscrew that way.

If that fails then it is down to the LBS to beg for forgiveness and ask for them to assist.

I’ve also noticed that I’ve got R1 on the handlebars, yet the calipers are RX. I can’t find anywhere where this combo can be bought as a set. Apart from cost, why would someone do this? (Bike is 2nd hand).

Sooo… I’ve popped into the garage and on the shelf at the back I found an easyout kit that I must have bought years ago and never got to use. It has an M3/M6 ‘screw’ 🙂

I also found a tapping set that my father gave to me years ago. It just happens to have an M4/0.7 tap (or is it a die – I forget which is which). Hopefully I shouldn’t need it.

As for tightness… well, I didn’t *think* I’d put it in that tight, it certainly didn’t feel at the limit I was just turning and heard a ‘ping’ sound. Uh oh… I know what I did wrong. Tightened on side too much before doing the other and so put massive pressure on the second bolt. Done it before and broke the clamp. In future I WILL do this more slowly.

Right, I’m going to go and have some fun with the easyout. The head is square… now where to find something that might hold that tightly.

I can see my house on page 123.

West Yorkshire.

It’s great (y)

/I shall have to edit that route though and post one that is much better based on local knowledge.

Me likey.

Thanks all. Decision made.

special77
Bikes aren’t expensive. Cars aren’t precision made and are incredibly basic really.

To get shocks all round on my car (TVR) that have the adjustment of my bike shocks would be around £4k so there’s a good comparison.

😮

Just caught up with this one week on.

Car’s aren’t precision made? Have you looked at the latest engines and the tolerances that are involved in building them? Watch the Discovery programme on the building of the Audi A8 to see precision work in action.

As for £1k per corner for TVR shocks? Think 3-way Nitrons or GAZ and you aren’t even getting anywhere near that price. Where are you getting your suspension fitted?

Expensive bikes? Yes and no. It is all relative. But in the MTB world, IMHO, the more you spend, the more you do get. It is expensive, but it retains the value. I can’t say the same for the world of cars.

Alcohol in place of water (y)

Not car anti-freeze though. That’s not very nice.

@psychle Do it! We want photos on here before midnight. 🙂

@epicyclo Point taken. But I’d expect that a well set up rear sus would be a lot less hassle than keeping a full set of gears and shifters in tune.

I’ve been reading that some (all?) rear sus set ups make use of chain tension as part of the dynamic system. So a SS with rear tensioner should mechanically be the same as being in any particular gear in a 3 x 9 set up in terms of chain tension at any point in the power cycle. Or not?

We are all influenced by sponsorship to a greater or lesser degree. It’s part of the human condition. You might like to think that you are not being influenced, but somewhere, deep inside, a little seed is sown and it will develop.

After all, the brand managers wouldn’t pump so much £££ into sponsorship and brand awareness if there wasn’t a return of ££££££. It all boils down to making money. If there wasn’t money to be made it wouldn’t be done.

Of course sponsorship / awareness isn’t necessarily positive. There maybe certain brands that you cannot abide – for no rational reason – and yet when you see them plastered all over the next event you go to watch your eyes roll in despair.

For me the interesting brand at the moment is RedBull – associated with so many top level extreme sports I sometimes have to remind myself what it is they actually are / do.

Found them to be the cheapest by far for specific items.

Placed order and then found they were ‘out of stock’. At least 1 week lead time.

Alarm bells rang.

Then they delivered as promised.

Phone them up. People answer the phone. Always a good sign.

Lot of love for the Soul on this thread…

I already ride a P7 but didn’t want to mention that early on so as not to bias the views.

Might be time for a change 🙂

@PJM1974 – That’s my method that is 🙂

And I’m sure I’ll encounter the rounded bolt conundrum one day, but sorting out those is a different ‘mystery of the universe’ for another day.

Cheers all.

I’ve avoided using WD40 as I’d expect it would make everything too slippy. Hairspray.. I’ll have to go and procure some of that 😉

Thanks for the pointers on carbon bars… of course, the next question is: what to do with my carbon bars when inevitable I have to remove the grips on those?

Singlespeeding – a revelation.

Ed O @ GreatRock @ Gisburn – being shown how to properly do those things that we read about.

Kielder 100 – something to aim for throughout the year. I *will* complete it in 2011

Was there last weekend, after all the rain – and early rain on Sunday morning.

Awful stuff.

Wouldn’t get me anywhere near it if it was icy.

Yes

Sealskinz with a merino base layer inserts here. I like the look of those lobsters though 🙂

Campsite. Very local. Showers. All you need.

And for 2011 I’ll be bringing a flame-thrower for midges, with a tactical thermo-nuclear device for backup.

Some big ratios there. Are these strictly for road / commute / hybrids?

How does it work? It is stepper motors (v. reliable and low power reqs) that push/pull the mech?

I’ve also read about how the mech is trimmed dynamically to minimise misalignment and strain on the chain.

If the above are true then this could be a winner. It *could* eliminate dérailleur tuning (the reason I went for Rohloff & singlespeed on my bikes – CBA with tuning the gears after every ride in the crud in the Peaks). Let the sensor / motor do it.

Electronics (and stepper motors) are dirt cheap in volume numbers. And would attract the Xbox generation who’d want to have a cool gadget on the £300 starter bikes.

Yes, very expensive right now – but comparable in price to Rohloff. And as mentioned already there isn’t much more to squeeze from hub technology. Electronics and motors and batteries are still on a scale down curve, especially with electric cars around the corner, all such things will advance in leaps and bounds in the years to come.

Good review here http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=70101

I’m intrigued… one to keep an eye out for and see how it develops.