A 20″ wheel with Pugsley type tyre volume would be interesting. Maybe get a 25% weight reduction on current fatbike wheels / tyres.

I know the trend is for fatter tyres, but for trial riding probably be better to have a 26″ tyre between current ‘normal’ and full on fatbike. Something that weighed as close to a kilo as possible max and could be used with standard 135mm rear end and able to use an IGH, SS or keeping 5/6 cogs of a 9 speed cassette. So maybe a 3″ tyre.

I like my Xootr Swift. Not to everyone’s taste, but very adaptable as to how it can be set up. Not in Brompton territory for folded size, but for me a much better ride

I advertised mine a little while back and having been out on it again recently I’m glad it didn’t sell.

double post

fitting marathon+ vid

1 tablespoon Honey + 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar + a bit of hot water so the honey mixes in nice.

Gargle with it. Repeat every quarter hour or so ’til it starts to feel better.

I’ve been doing it (with balsamic vinegar as I don’t have any ACV) and it seems to be helping.

http://twentynineinches.com/2010/05/06/singular-cycles-gryphon-final-review/

Yes, someone else can enjoy and you get all the fun of choosing something new -road bike, tourer,cargo bike, fatbike, cross, fixie etc or even as you say a geared 29er.

6′, 34″ inside leg. Very happy on my 18″ KM (old style frame). Running a 110mm stem as need a bit of extra for the H bars.

Ta for that link TT.

I’ve had a handful over the years.

Firstly when you start looking you quickly realise it’s like asking if anyone’s got any experience with mountain bikes. ie they might be niche but there’s lots of different types within that.

As others have said it’s best to ride a few.
D-tek in Cambridge have a big array different types to try. I’ve had some contact with Derek there (very helpful if a bit disorganised, no website)
David at laidback bikes in Edinburgh has a few trikes and bikes to try.
Westcountry recumbents (now in Derbyshire) have trikes.
Kinetics in Glasgow mentioned above have bikes and trikes.

Most raise the issue of hill climbing harder. You can’t get out of the saddle and use your body weight like a standard bike. In theory you can get more power than your body weight by pressing back against the seat. I just had to use low gears and spin.

I had a trike for a while, some people love them, I didn’t like always leaning to counteract the camber and missed the leaning you get with 2 wheels.

Quite a few recumbents (bikes and trikes) have pedals above seat height. I got hot spots on my feet with that and couldn’t get on with the ‘style’ It does improve aerodynamics though.

I liked the Easyracers Tour Easy long wheelbase I had.

You might be able to consider a ‘semi-recumbent’ like the Rans Dynamik and Fusion models. They can be set up so that there’s no weight on arms and the seat is low enough to be able to get both feet down at a stop easily. And are lower on the ‘weird’ scale. They’re harder to find over here, but well worth a try if you get a chance. You might find that one of these set up for one handed controls might do the job.

I ended up letting go of mine as I like mixed road and trail rides and standard bikes are generally better for that.

Might be worth seeing if CTC forum has anything to offer the wounded of arm too.

We used to live on small quiet country that attracted more than its fair share of racers. I used to fantasize about setting up a hologram set off by cars going over a certain speed. Could keep changing the vision to keep it fresh…. tree falling across road one day, herd of cows wandering out another, maybe some fluorescent aliens at night etc…

Moved to the end of a cul-de-sac now and kids play at our end of the street all the time. Still be nice to add a 10mph limit and a bit of traffic calming.

Well I’m 9 weeks into (whispers) weight watchers. Ridiculous paying a few quid a week to stand in a queue with lots of others and get weighed. And a bit tedious logging everything I eat. But having stayed at over 14 stone for a couple of years and trying a couple of other approaches (idave and primal blueprint a bit half heartedly) this one seems to be working for me. And the nice lady gives me a silver 7 sticker when I lose 7 pounds!

I’ve promised myself that if I don’t lose weight each week I have to stay for the meeting, which involves hearing what everyone’s been eating for lunch all week and other equally enthralling stuff.

The points counting part is tedious, but I find it helps with making sensible choices. Working so far with 19lbs down and weighing less than I have in about 15 years.

Riding and paddling, very nice mix.

The boats are these;
https://www.alpackaraft.com/

There’s a few blogs around with water and bike trips eg Pugsleys in Alaska and others.

Bit more costly than the sevylors I think, but the Gumotex range (not their cheapest ones) are robust. Sunny II if you want kayak type, Palava (who came up with that name?) if you prefer canoe type, that would take 2 + a little one.

The right of access might be limited. My sister can access the rear of her property through her neighbours back garden and thought they were being unlawful in putting a lock on their side of the gate. Reading the deeds shows the access is for maintenance so usually permission would be needed unless, I guess the it was an emergency.

Our neighbours have a right of way across our back garden to access the rear of their property with no restriction.

So definitely different in each case and down to what the deeds say.

I enjoyed it, led me on to this site….
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

I like the Billion Dollar and Pound O grams

Thanks, but a 19″ is what I need.

4ndy B, Thanks. just the job. I’m going to find one of those frames.

Actually a fork that’ll take a disc would be enough. Think I need a trip to Retrobike.

Apocalypto

What frame and fork is that epicyclo?

These are great, excellent choice for an elec assist bike. I had the completely uncool step-thru version with the not so good nexus 7 speed.

Most elec assist systems use a hub motor which is usually cheaper but is only really efficient around a particular ‘average’ speed. The crank motor on these means the power runs through the gears which is much better for hill climbing or load carrying. It gives a nice extra boost as you begin pedalling which is great for accelerating from a stop. Though you do need to be a bit careful at roundabouts.

With 18ah battery you should be fine for 50 miles. I had 12ah and got around 35 miles.

The legal limit for assist is 15mph. You can ride as fast as you like, but the assist stops at around 15mph. So above that it’s all up to you.

It would be difficult / complicated to de-restrict electrics, but as the power runs through the gears you can increase the speed at which it will assist to by simply changing rear cog for a smaller one. Of course that raises the ratio of all the gears so you’d need to check that’d be OK for your normal riding area. If you like it and it’s a keeper you could always upgrade to Alfine 11 and have both lower and higher gears.

Really great for commuting as on days you wouldn’t be bothered or couldn’t face the headwind etc you still get out there riding.

DO follow advice for initial battery conditioning as it will make a big difference to range.

The one thing I didn’t get on with is that the power available is also related to cadence with max power around 40RPM tapering off to no power around 65RPM. In practise that means that sometimes when hill climbing you’re better off changing up a gear to decrease cadence and increase the power. Pretty counter intuitive and I didn’t like it.

It works fine for most of the target market, but most folk who cycle regularly prefer higher cadence levels.

I now know there’s a fix for that which is to change the motor sprocket. This moves max power, and the power down phase, up the cadence range and would feel more ‘normal’. I really wish I’d known about the fix before I let the bike go!

Just started giving it a go. Headaches at end of second day, maybe not enough water, too much espresso, change in diet I assume it’ll settle down.

I managed a couple of months on the Mark Sissons Primal Blueprint diet. Went well for the time I did it, but I like the idea of being able to have beans, peas, pulses which are off that diet.

I’m interested in the ‘fruit’ definition though.

At the moment I’m going with the ‘if it goes in the fruit bowl’ it’s off the list, but if it goes in the fridge salad box it’s in, so tomatoes, peppers, cucumber are OK. Obviously not scientific in the sense of definition of a fruit, but it sort of makes sense.

I do now!
So I could go for Salsa Enabler which has same AtoC as KM, but then I’d need 135mm hub….
Any other options?

Thanks, sounds good, I’ll keep an eye out for a KM F&F.

Is there any dis / advantage to the 135 over 100 Pugsley fork? 100 fork would mean I could keep current 29er front wheel and just need 26″ front wheel for Larry tyre.

Panaracer Pasela 37mm. Relatively light, feel nice. I prefer to BAs

Here it is post with Bonty 1.8s fitted..
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=520141&highlight=long+haul+trucker+tire

I've seen pics with Bonty 1.8s in, can't find them now. I think it was MTBR or Bike forums, there's a few threads on there about max tyre size on LHT and CC.

I know there's been some positive feedback on the Ute on here. The cargo weight limit on these is stated as 7.5 stone, but I'd guess there's a reasonable margin on that. How do those that have them find it with an occasional adult passenger. Does it start getting very flexy or is it OK.
I tried an Xtracycle, but on my set up it seemed a bit too flexy, whereas the Yuba I had could take 2 adults no flex at all, but at 67lbs before adding myself or any cargo it's not something I'd use on a day to day basis without an electric assist. A Big Dummy is out of budget. Whereas the Ute at 37lbs seems like something that would make a fine commuter / day to day ride and potentially be more useful when necessary.

Taking an adult passenger now and again (or not) isn't necessarily a deal breaker as main use will be commuting, shopping and taking 5 year old and her bike places.

Your thoughts appreciated.

I had a Yuba. Magnificent machine. 2 x 14 stone people on the back no flex at all and completely practical on the flat.

But I found the 67lb weight, including plywood deck and foot boards and mudguards pretty daunting and I let it go and got an electric assist bike which, because the assist drives through the gears, is excellent for load carrying, though not capable of big Dummy / Yuba loads without a trailer.

If the Clevercycles Stokemonkey electric assist had been available for the Yuba at the time I’d probably have gone that route. Exchange rate has of course pushed up prices a lot now.

A Yuba + decent hub motor kit would be about same price as a built Big Dummy and whilst not as ideal as a through the gears motor system it would be a very potent practical load carrier.

XT wheel will be just fine. It’s easier to get chainline right with spacer kit on cassette wheel. If it’s got XT q/r skewer it will probably hold in place fine. You might want to use a chaintug to help setting chain tension and will also make sure wheel can’t come forward and/or one of those allen key replacements for q/r.

Who’d want to eat anything that used to have a face?

I had a slidey steel rigd 29er loved it, sold it and got Scandal 29er because it’s lighter. I preferred the feel of the steel frame and having sold the Scandal have just got a steel slot dropout one. The ‘feel’ thing might well be all in my mind and I don’t know I’d pass a blind back to back test, but I’d say see if you can get a ride on a Scandal 29er before making the swap.

Completely agree about the ‘sand’ colour though I’m going to get mine resprayed before I build it up, in certain lights it takes on a greeny bile tinge!

Well I must be doing something wrong, I’ve gone through a fair few frames and bits from here trying different setups and occasionally break even, but usually get less than I paid. The loss is nowhere near what buying new and selling on would be so it usually seems OK.

The ebay stuff does seem a bit odd at times like early Inbred track end version frame that I thought would make a nice SS hack went for £162.

I guess for me it depends on what I’m selling, for stuff I just want to sell, if it sells I don’t really care what buyer does with it. Now and again there’s stuff I have more attachment too and, irrationally I suppose, I’d like it to go to a good home where it will be enjoyed.

Thanks Clink, got one on order now.

£34 for 185 IS adapter and rotor, £40 for complete 185 set. I guess they discount the sets, but not the spares.

Maybe it’s’cos they haven’t got any and when they do perhaps the price will be up.

I’ve got an XT mech which I bought specifically for Scandal 29er I built up last Autumn. Frame has moved on now, but I’ve got the XT mech if you’re interested only used for 2 rides.

Woody,

Here’s a pic of them on a 1×1, afraid I don’t have a shot of them straight on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24734759@N07/2899291456/
They’re lovely and cushy on road, very limited off road to be honest though.

I’ve got apair of very little use Schwalbe Big Appples 2.35″ / 60mm size looking for £22 posted.

Thanks guys