I wasn’t planning to bother.

Where suits these balloon-tyred bikes?

Being out of touch and all that,

What’s the point of a bike with balloon tyres if you don’t live in an area of sand dunes or deep snow?

Is it just the latest fad?

Fashion a repair by stitching with dental floss and patching over with a patch made from a piece of old tyre.

It works well enough to keep tubeless tyres inflated. I did the West Highland Way on a Noby Nic repaired in this way with no issues.

The Daily Express.

I’m frequently bemused by their headlines that I see on display.

Who on Earth actually buys/reads it?!?!

As a follow-up to my original post:

Having used the Conti GP4000s for a bit, now that we’re heading towards winter, commuting in the dark is now the norm. Avoiding stones, tarmac ripples and potholes has become difficult. The other day I suffered a pinch-flat on the stone sets of the High St and the ride isn’t very comfortable either.

I’ve now reverted to the fairly worn-out Land Cruisers.

For my needs they really are far, far better than the 23mm slicks. Much more comfortable (even at 70-80psi) and resilient. The tread is handy on the dirt.

They’re not even noticeably slower.

I reckon I’ll probably just replace them with the same after all.

Learning new things.

Improving things

Trying to improve at the things I enjoy.

Money doesn’t drive me, although I’d drive a selection of classic cars and motorbikes in/to interesting places if I had a lot of it.

Continuously-variable wheel sizes, that’s the way forward.

The first 10 years are the worst.

I found that, after the first few months, as an active teenager, running was great.

It’s just a pity that I’ve had so many injuries and niggles over the years.

20 years on, I still really enjoy it.

Running may be simple on the face of it, but a lot of people have problems with it. It’s possibly not helped by being sedentary for most of the working day.

Molgrips problem with racing may be that he gets stuck, waiting for the people in the overtaking queue to pass each other.

twoniner – Member

Ah, an Ausie playing a jock in a film mostly filmed in Ireland

Yes, it’s the “playing a jock” bit that’s relevant.

The rest is about funding and tax breaks

ps. I intend to do some 10K, trail and eventually half-marathon races when I feel I’m suitably conditioned -aiming to surpass my former standards.

Interesting video.

My experiences:

I started running to supplement rugby training as a teenager (heel striking in Nike Air)
As a uni student increased my mileage (and hills and fells) and could manage half-marathon in 1.5hr, which I was reasonably happy with, as I’m not really built for distance running.
Began suffering knee pain and numbness.
Told I had flat feet (they are very flat) and advised to use orthotics. moved onto New Balance and then Saucony shoes (which seemed to get gradually more cushioned)
Tore ligaments in ankle (requiring reconstructive surgery)

Suffered various leg injuries over the years, but managed to once train for a 10K and managed just over 40minutes. Then suffered more injuries over in the following years, with no continuity in running or other activities (other than mountain biking)

Earlier this year I decided to get myself sorted.

Physio for ailments, lighter, lower shoes without ‘pronation-control’, read about the ideas for Chi running, pose, barefoot etc.

After 16 years I’ve stopped using orthotics.

It’s taken a while to get the hang of it (and for my calves to stop suffering), but I’ve now settled into a shorter stride, faster cadence, bent knee, fore-foot/mid-foot strike, relaxed ankles, ‘lighter on my feet’ style

It feels great and it seems that I’m becoming more efficient.

I can now run in fairly thin-soled, low drop shoes (that didn’t cost me much) without jarring my legs and, building-up distances fairly steadily and doing harder intervals and hills(clutching wood, lucky heather, horse-shoes etc.) , I don’t appear to be suffering with the sort of niggles that I used to.

Higher heel drop shoes feel unusual now as the heels seem to catch the floor before I want them to.

Pre-exercise stretching has always seemed a bit odd to me.

I do stretch post-exercise as a part of my cool-down.

Well, as a complete alternative, I fitted a set of 23mm Conti GP4000s that I’ve not used in a few years, pumped them up to 110psi and rode to work.

They felt a bit faster, rolled very well when free-wheeling, appeared to accelerate more quickly and the bike’s handling felt more nimble. Of course, I felt every stone and tiny bump.

I didn’t suffer any flats on the dirt road section….

I’ll see how they go for the next couple of weeks. If they cope fine I’ll just use them.

I may invest in a set of slightly fatter Ultra Gatorskins or some narrow-ish variant of Schwalbe Marathon, Conti Contact or a similar kevlar puncture-resistant tyre.

An LED light on the helmet and one on the seatpost for me.

I also use spoke reflectors and my rear Landcruiser has a reflective strip.

There are some good ideas there. I’ll check them out.

Thanks.

mattsccm – Member

Conti Contacts.
Minimal tread but with a narrow tyre that not an issue, even in mud
Which of the ‘Contacts’?

Contact II Reflex?

Thanks for the suggestions.

The Land Cruisers are cheap and I know maybe tempted to go off-road, but it would only be locally, which, at the north end of Cheshire, means flat, on gravel, hard-pack or broken-up tarmac.

Those Conti Travel Contact appear to have potential. 37mm seems to be the narrowest available, though. That might be fine on the back, but I think I’d go for something narrower on the front.

Cheers, but I’m thinking more road-orientated.

I bought a Smart Lunar R2 Rear Light from Planet X, with its 2 x 0.5W LEDs.

It’s very, very good. I especially like the ‘random’ flash feature.

If it isn’t for storing a car, then after you’ve sealed the floor fit inter-locking ’tiles’ made of dense foam. They’re insulating and less damaging if you drop things.

I bought mine from Costco and used cardboard as underlay.

The price of bike bits does seem to have increased a lot in the past 5 years or so, but as many people have said, the mid-range kit is perfectly adequate.

I enjoy tinkering/replacing parts, but part of the satisfaction is in improving and eeking-out a longer life from my older, non-state-of-the-art bikes and riding the wheels off them (likewise for other toys and equipment)

Most people would benefit far, far more from improving their fitness and/or riding skills/confidence than from using more expensive cassettes or shifters. Who cares if you have XT/XTR/Audi S-Line/BMW M-Sport? Let your riding/driving do the talking.

ps. As for expensive suspension, judging by the number of people who don’t bother even trying to set up their suspension properly, most people would probably cope fine on a supermarket full susser, with a pair of RS Judys from the late 90s at the front.

pps. It does always amaze me when I see the sheer number of flash bikes at places like Llandegla (-in the car park. The only people that ever overtake are the occasional whippet on an XC bike on the initial climb. It’s extremely rare that we are caught up on the descents -blokes who aren’t that young, on our collection of used, battered bikes).

Most of those flash bikes will be as they came from the shop, though, and will possibly never wear out.

kudos100 – Member

Ahh love a good Tattoo thread. Guaranteed to bring the STW bellends out in force.

Hang on, that’s a bit strong. People are entitled to have tattoo if they want one.

Pedigree dogs, obviously

Do it properly:

Don’t judge me.

I don’t hate them, I’m just mystified about why people would want one!

Especially as every (wo)man and his dog now seems to have them.

People don’t generally keep the same clothes, hairstyle, home decoration, car etc. for their whole lives, why do it to your body?

ve seen quite a few inked folk with the telltale white-emulsion of sunblock covering their art recently. I think the blurring and fading comes from over exposure to UV from sunlight. If the inks are better and people are using sunblock more then the blurring and fading should be significantly less…

If you can’t display your body art to the public in the great outdoors, then that’s surely another reason not to have one?

If somebody can come up with a good temporary tattoo system they’ll make a fortune and good luck to them.

Inventors of good removal technology will also make a fortune from middle-aged women who thought it was a good idea to have a rose tattoo covering their full leg (as I saw the other day) or neck when they were 18.

…can’t do that much about the stretching though. Unless botox, collagen injections and eating a proper diet are on your agenda!

A proper diet and a bit of exercise wouldn’t do many British people much harm, not sure about the cosmetic surgery route….

In the recent nice weather I was able to wear short sleeves and display my own individuality ….by being one of the seemingly few people who hadn’t had ink put into their skin. It seems to be very popular at the moment.

I can appreciate the artistry and that people are entitled to have them, but I just cannot see any reason why I (or anybody else) would want to mark myself with a permanent image, especially a large one like a full sleeve or a visible on my neck. I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t regret it in a few years’ time.

People have told me that inks are better these days (-how do they know what a 20 year tattoo will look like on them?) but there are a lot of old men with blurred, faded tattoos (There are going to be a lot of older women like that -with very stretched art- in 20 years time)

I’m not trying to sell you anything and it was in reference to aracer’s post.

I know. Are they on the same rim with different height tyres or different rims, 26″ and 650b?

LoCo – Member

photo (2) by Loco Tuning, on Flickr

photo (2) – Copy by Loco Tuning, on Flickr

😯

How could anybody else promote such a similarly slight change in wheel/tyre size as progress with a straight face?

Joe Punter with cash burning a hole in his pocket will buy whatever the shop sells him, but it does appear ridiculous.

hora – Member

Create a buzz
Shift more units
Reinvent the wheel

To gullible ‘must be part of the crowd types’
Hora, is that you?

JCL – Member

It doesn’t matter. US sales of high end mountain bikes dwarf the UK’s. The US is the real world to Trek, SC, Specialized etc.
Quite right. From my experience, many US riders are even more status/kit obsessed than UK ones and talking a good ride is an art-form in both countries.

It helps that the population of the US is enormous and that luxury goods like bikes have always appeared been much cheaper over there too.

Having said that, I’m always amazed by the flashy kit on display at places like Llandegla car park -Oddly, it never seems to overtake myself and my fellow short-ride-weekend-warrior-dad friends, though… the few very fast descenders always seem to be on battered bitsa machines. Fast climbers on all kinds of XC weirdo bikes of all vintages.

You wouldn’t believe how many XX1 Bronson’s I saw at the weekend.

Well, I suppose that depends upon whether or not you have a Saturday job in Santa Cruz’s warehouse.

Agree with Bruce – when I was last in my nearest Leisure Lakes, the road / commuter section had grown loads and had taken over a lot of space where the mtb’s used to be.

Yep.

Most people don’t have a lot of need for a mountain bike.

Commuting is becoming more popular in some areas and people are choosing the tool for the job. This is a good thing.

Keeping up with the latest ‘innovations’ in mountain biking is expensive and can be worthwhile. Having said that, with fairly light-weight & decent suspension, brakes, transmissions and tyres having already been invented, it is difficult to see how a slight change in wheel size, requiring a new frame and tyres can really be justified in riding terms.

Santa Cruz possibly did have a lot of people asking for 650b wheels, but they are selling expensive kit to people with a (generally) large disposable income, who may want the latest fad. I suspect that there weren’t 1000s of people demanding it though.

all the way to 7th? The last Gorrick race is our real world – the Oregon Enduro isn’t. It’s all relative. Nice to see that we’re not quite as gullible in the UK.

Exactly. The question you have to ask is would the same people have taken the top 6 places if they had been riding on 26″ or 650b wheels?

The human engine is also quite important.

the quick riders are quick regardless of wheelsize

This is the whole point.

A slow, overweight weekend rider with a low skill level is not going to be transformed by a change from 26″ to 650b wheels.

Fast riders are fast riders. Top XC racers are looking for any advantage they can find, which may be with 29er wheels, and will also ride the bike that their sponsor provides.

It’s almost as if a lot of the general public don’t actually realise that the rider makes a lot more difference than the bike. Ah…

Remember, though, most buyers of mountain bikes rarely use them. It’s about buying into something (fairly expensive), riding it twice and leaving the bike in the garage forever.

I’ve heard that UK bike sales have moved towards road and ‘hybrid’/city bikes in recent years and bike shops are doing more work on such bikes. This actually makes sense, considering where people use them.

The bike industry isn’t alone though. Look at cars. Cars are ‘improved’ year-on-year with more (often unnecessary & unused)gadgets, ‘bigger’, ‘faster’ (but no faster point-to-point, especially when the cars are already fast), more ‘sporty'(but often less fit-for-purpose for real roads). Motorbikes are similar. Extremely fast bikes are made faster, despite almost no riders being able to make use of the added performance.

There will be lsight differences, but I somehow think that most people would notice much more difference/improvement by losing a few kilos, getting fitter and/or practising their technique than by buying an expensive new bike with slightly bigger wheels than their old one.

What I’ve observed over the years is that the good riders ride well whatever bike, wheel size, gearset, suspension etc. they happen to be using. Likewise for the not-so-great riders….

Well, as somebody who is still using square taper bb’s and 25.4mm handlebars on his mtbs , I reckon I might stick it out for now….

Given the old technology in use, it’s amazing that my bikes still work.

I’m going to have to get the rattle cans out.

I’m wondering, will matt black make my bike more of an all-mountain, trail long travel, good for DH and XC, race-ready almost-29er with non of the inherent slowness and dangerousness of its 26″ wheels or not? Should I just use very tall tyres?

Then again, should I spend £1000s instead or should I learn to ride without stabilisers first?

What wheel size to help shift a few more bikes to weekend warrrior punters who need the latest innovation to save them milliseconds on a social ride around Llandegla? …given that every aspect of their riding has been fully optimised, of course

I’m lying awake at night worrying about this.

I’m wondering: Should I just take my 26″ wheeled bikes to the tip now and never ride again?

ps. What colour paint is fastest?