Vitus Wins Hardtail of the Year Award for the Fourth Consecutive Year

*I work for WiggleCRC, so I’ve posted a link showing someone else thinks it’s a great bike. There’s also a 29er version for £500

I’ve started building some ‘features’ on our School MTB trail. The good news is that the School were doing some building work so I got several tons of spoil dumped exactly where I wanted it, and then I got some help from one of the kid’s dads who brought his telehandler to shape a couple of berms… so at the cost of about £35 in sandbags we now have this:

I should be OK to marshal at the QECP Day & Night this year – we are doing Open Morning at DPS on Saturday and Alec and I will be demo’ing bikes on Sunday. I’ll check and confirm.

Re: 27.2 dropper posts:

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/27-2-dropper-posts-8-upgrades-for-your-old-school-mountain-bike-frame/

Well it’s annoying that the Vitus is out of stock… I think there are supposed to be more on the way for the first half of May but I’d need check.

I’m pretty sure the Nucleus 26 has the same internal cable routing as the adult Nucleus and the Sentier (looks like it from the pics), so you can fit one of these:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/brand-x-ascend-cx-85mm-105mm-dropper-seatpost/

Vitus Nucleus 26 Kids

But I am biased as I know the designer (I work for WiggleCRC). This is, however, the new bike I would have bought my son 6 years ago… he ended up with a second hand XS Rockhopper upgraded with Rebas.

I have Prime Peloton’s on mine… not light but they are strong and the build was good so they are an improvement on the originals, and they are cheap*!

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/prime-peloton-v2-disc-road-wheelset/

* I work for Wiggle so I get them cheaper… but as budget wheels for commuting and road riding go I think they are great.

… oh and you don’t have to go up and over Telegraph Hill before heading down into Compton. There’s a BP down to your right instead of the gravel track up Telegraph Hill when you cross the road at Bevis’ Thumb… but I just like that particular descent into Compton, and the view from Telegraph Hill is worth the climb.

Here’s the route on Veloviewer – which is excellent as it shows you maps, 3d profile, all the strava segments etc.
https://veloviewer.com/routes/17930346

I typically start the route in Walderton (there’s a layby there) – near the Barleymow pub – but that’s because I live in Southbourne. Head up over Kingley Vale to the SDW and along to Harting then back via Compton.

You definitely want to do this route anti-clockwise as the route from Harting down into Compton is lovely… and would make a fine finish to your ride.

The initial bit of trail alongside the road South from the Harting Car Park is a bit less lovely than it used to be after all the recent tree-felling (the actual trail is fine but it used to be in dense woodland).

Kingley Vale and the Southdowns – pub stop at Hooksway and the excellent tea shop in Compton?
https://www.strava.com/routes/17930346

Vitus Nucleus 24 (currently £332 if you have Platinum Loyalty). Air fork, hydraulic discs… and has dropper post routing!
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=nucleus+24

(*disclosure – I work for Wiggle, but I honestly think the new kids bikes look really good! I see a lot of kids bikes as I run a kids MTB Club.).

The best I can offer is that I rode into Le Havre from Rouen and then on from Le Havre to Caen the next day as part of the ‘Hayling Cycle Ride’ last summer.

The route in from the North was lovely and I can see it skirts the major built up areas. The route out goes via Honfleur which is absolutely beautiful and well worth a visit, but to get there you are on an HGV route (though often with your own lane) and you have to cross the Pont de Normandie which is a 1km 5% climb and then 1km descent on a narrow cycle lane with lots of traffic passing you.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1687233893
https://www.strava.com/activities/1684393322

Mine is 9 miles each way… there’s flat option but I usually go up a 75m climb for the view, for the exercise and to avoid junctions and traffic lights. I think you will find that a commute of 13 quiet flat miles will be spot on – far enough to give you a good ride but not so far that it will seem like a chore.

Not done the BC courses, but I have MIAS L2 and I was allowed to sit in on a BSCA MTB Leaders course (training up more leaders for our school club).

It’s great fun leading kids rides – I’ve been doing it for more than 4 years now, both MTB and road (we took 6 kids on the Hayling Cycle Ride to Versailles last summer).

Addidas looks good… I was going to recommend the FiveTen Freerider Pro as it has a reasonably stiff sole and fantastic grip.

I’ve not stayed there yet as I live close enough to get home, but the South Downs Bunkhouse in Houghton is about halfway on the SDW with walking distance of Amberley and it looks very good. The YHA at Truleigh is another option giving a longer Day 1 but an easy Day 2 which you might appreciate as the last 25 miles has a lot of climbing.

https://www.southdownsbunkhouse.co.uk/about

https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-truleigh-hill

If you are doing the SDW in two days then you don’t need an early start from Winchester and you will likely finish early afternoon in Eastbourne as you have two days of about 50 miles each (though a 50/50 split gives you a tougher Day 2 as the lat 30 miles have a lot of climbing!). I’m on the South Coast near Portsmouth and plan to do the SDW over two days this summer – and we’ll just take a morning train to Winchester on Day 1, and take the train home from Eastbourne on Day 2. You could do the same sort of thing from a base in London.

As dovebiker says you could also park in Winchester and return there on Day 2 by train from Eastbourne – which takes less than 3 hours. A better option might be to find somewhere to park in Eastbourne and take the train to Winchester so you’ve a much less stressful journey home (apart from the tunnel!).

I’ve had mine for a year and it has been excellent. I did have the same issue P-jay mentioned when it locked open after a long wet and muddy ride, but a bit of clean of the cabling soon fixed that.

[* I work for WiggleCRC and Brand-X is our Own Brand]

Have a read of http://www.cyclesprog.co.uk/bikes/best-bikes-for-a-10-year-old-boy/

CycleSprog are also on Facebook, and are a mine of useful info on kids cycling.

As a WiggleCRC person I’m going point you at the Vitus 24 – though it sounds like he will grow out of it very soon. We also have the new Nucleus Kids 24 and 26 but these are hardtails and above your budget… as a kid’s MTB Club leader I’d say ‘Frog’ are great at this pricepoint and CycleSprog rate ‘Squish’.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-24-kids-bike/

Cycling UK have a useful guide to lighting:

https://www.cyclinguk.org/lighting-regulations

I’ve just had a play and I think that I’m just lucky that most of our local trails have been added to the OSM – so it is snapping to the OSM an not the Heatmap… but you can toggle to manual and plot on top of the Heatmap for the segments which aren’t on OSM. Not much use if most of your ride is not on OSM mapped trails.

I’ve had a ‘make Strava Route Builder modular using linked segments’ request open with them for several years now… I think there is no chance of them doing this!

On the plus side you can use the Route Builder with the Heatmap (Global or Personal I think) and get the Route to snap-to-Heatmap – which is excellent when planning anything that uses any reasonably well-travelled segments off-road. The main thing you need to be careful of us placing each piont just close enough that the most popular route calculated does follow your segment and not some bizarre alternative using the local roads! Snap-to-Heatmap is the one feature that keeps me using Strava for MTB route planning.

I’ve just put one on my Sentier as the 2.6 Maxxis Ikon it came with is a bit sketchy now it’s getting wet and muddy… seems to work well, and it sizes up very close to the 2.6 Minion DHF on the front.

I’d get an XM-L2 or XPL 501b single cell 18650 torch… or better still get 2 or 3 (2 on the bars and one on your lid) as they are currently available at about £5 each. You can get more cells from old laptops, so all you need is a charger for your 18650s and some mounts (which are usually about £2-3 each).

e.g.

https://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l2-5-modes-led-flashlight-torch-1-18650

I’ve got several of these… for best results it’s worth taping the cells to get a snug fit, and if you are using unprotected 18650s I’d get some thin neodymium magnets as spacers – if the cells are not snug then a sharp jolt will cause your light to change modes as the ‘clicky-clicky’ tailcap works by interrupting the current to change mode. The OP (Orange Peel) reflectors give a more pleasant beam than the SMO (Smooth) ones in my opinion.

25.4lbs / 11.5kg  – it’s now been updated on the Wiggle website

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-nucleus-24-kids-mountain-bike-2019-altus/

You also get internal routing for a 27.2 dropper post if you want to add one.

If you can wait a week or so the new Vitus Nucleus 24 would be worth a look – air fork, hydro discs, and even decent tyres. The list price is £399, but Wiggle do ‘Loyalty Discounts’ so if you’ve bought enough stuff from Wiggle to be a Platinum customer it will be £350 ish.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-nucleus-24-kids-mountain-bike-2019-altus/

{for the sake of transparency, I work for WiggleCRC, but I also run a kid’s MTB Club so I’m very interested in quality kids bikes}

… for the sake of Balance I recommend parents look at

Islabike

Frog

Orbea

Hoy

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-24-kids-bike/

Vitus also do a 20+ bike which is a similar size

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-20-kids-bike-1/

and I like the look of the new GO Outdoors offering

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/wild-bikes-24-kids-bike-p454082

Vitus Nucleus 26 is 27.2 seat tube but should take the Brand-X Ascend CX post as the frame is has internal routing for the remote… check with WiggleCRC to make sure.

Another vote for the Nano X Evo – I always recommend them to my friends whenever Superstar run an offer.

We have Nanos on 4 family bikes at the moment, including my wife’s gravel bike – and we had a fifth pair on my son’s old MTB which has just gone to a new home. My original pair of Nanos are 7 years old and still going strong, but the newest thru-pin versions are the best yet and come complete with plenty of spare pins.

I was just glad to discover that my TRP HY-RD’s take the same Shimano pads the Shimanos on my FS and the Tektros on my HT… so Superstar Kevlar all round!

I got my son a 2nd hand 13.5″ XS Rockhopper when he was 11… the basic build was pretty good (mostly Deore, with Dart 3s), but it needed a short stem and flat bars to get the front low enough, and the usual better pedals. Pretty soon we swapped the Darts for some Rebas which are worlds better and hopefully will make the next bike. He’s also now got XT shifters as the action is lighter and easier.

Now that he’s nearly 14 I’ll be looking for a new frame.

I know I’m in West Sussex, but Hampshire is only 8.5 mins away on my new ‘gravel bike’ – and my daily commute is deep into the Hampshire hinterland (OK about another 8 miles).

Do any of you good folk have any tips for adventure/road routes in South East Hampshire? I know West Sussex pretty well from mountain biking, and I know the South East Hampshire roads but I must admit rarely venture across the A3 these days so I’ve no idea where to start exploring!

Once the trails improve we should have another Hampshire Riding trip to West Sussex – I can’t believe that was July 2014! (http://www.strava.com/activities/168489345)

My jaw dropped when I saw…

Sealskinz waterproof socks… they do small sizes and in different thicknesses. Proper waterproof shoes are expensive and they will not fit for long, but Sealskinz with normal shoes will keep you warm and dry.

Gloves: my son had some great Altura ones when he was little, and I think his last pair were Polaris. I think GripGrab do very small sizes – my lad’s now got a dhb pair but I’m not sure they will do ones small enough for you.

Air forks work best for kids, but don’t usually come cheap… keep the steerer long a leave a stack of spacers and you will be sorted for the next bike too (unless 650b!). I put eBay Rebas on my son’s Rockhopper and they have been hugely successful. SIDS would be even lighter.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cymXIV_8ymc

AM41 with waterproof socks are fantastic… I’ve used walking boots but I find that they don’t give enough grip. Yes, the AM41s are a nuisance to dry if they get soaked through – but I find stuffing them with old newspaper and putting them in the airing cupboard does the trick… And with waterproof socks it’s not such a bother if they are still a bit damp the next day.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel… and the sequel Bring Up the Bodies. I’m also a big fan of the Shardlake books, and I was very impressed by Conn Iggulden’s series on the Mongols.

XT or SLX shifters, and keep the cables in good order… one of the best upgrades we made to my son’s bike – the previous Deore shifters were OK but required just that bit too much effort.

Have a read of this: http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree. Basically CREE have been through a number of generations of LEDs e.g. XPG, XML and XML2 and within each generation of LED there are ‘brightness Bins’ which are batches of the same LED at different levels of quality. So an XML-U2 is brighter than an XML-T6 for the same current. You will notice that the Chinese claimed lumens can sometimes be higher than the theoretical max output at the highest possible current… so utter rubbish.

Your light also has a driver which regulates the actual current delivered to the LED and a cell or battery which delivers the current/voltage. My XML2 torches run at 2.4amps on HI and 0.9amps on MED so there is no possible chance that they can give the claimed 1770 lumens but if they are T6 then HI is somewhere around 900 and MED is maybe 450. The only thing that matters to me as that MED is fine for general riding giving 2.5 hours or more on a single cell, while HI is very bright and lasts about an hour. For £6.50 that will do just fine.