Sorry dude, I was just trying to think through how the bike feels compared to my older bike and trying to suggest why that might be the case for me. :(

I was of course forgetting that this isn’t the Singletrackworld/ GoFar forum that I joined back in the day which was full of helpful, nice folk interested in riding mountain bikes and sharing their experiences. :roll:

I should remember that whatever I say on here, some brave little Richard is going to go on the attack. Thanks for the reminder. :wink:

I got one about 3 weeks ago, but I’m maybe not the best person to ask how they ride at the moment I’m afraid. :?

I got it as a treat to myself for being an unbelievably lucky git after breaking my back while snowboarding in Bulgaria back in February and now making a full recovery with nothing worse than an extremely, bloody sore back, and a mild addiction to powerful prescription painkillers! :P

My point being, until about a week or so ago, I haven’t ridden a mountain bike in six months and even now I’m being very, very careful as I drag my hugely unfit carcass around my local trails.

However, compared to my old, 2009-10 Orange Five, the Four is noticeably lighter, even though I’ve gone from a ‘L’ Five to a ‘XL’ Four. It’s definitely faster feeling, although it could be debated that I’m just keecking my pants more, both in straight line speed and in cornering (the light steering forces me to be much more aggressive, ‘over the front’ in corners).

In my local woodlands on Sunday I rolled up a rocky, rooty step much easier and smoother than my Five every made it, and on the descent I launched off a drop that I’ve always avoided. I think this is probably down to a combination of the bigger wheels, bar and pretty much non-existent stem making me feel more in the bike. Actually yeah, I’d liken it to the almost invincible feeling I used to get as I sat ‘in’, rather than ‘on’ my beloved old Orange Patriot.

I couldn’t feel or see any noticeable ‘single pivot bob’ whilst climbing, could this be because of the pivot point being tuned to a single ring setup? Oh, and I’m not a good enough rider to have ever encountered the fabled ‘Brake Jack’ phenomena either. So under my limited climbing ability, and whilst descending at what for me was quite a speed, I felt totally in control and comfortable on the bike, even in my still rather scarily fragile state.

I’m very, very happy with it and for me, it’s a better bike than my old Five!

C.

Is there anywhere near you that do bike hires for the day? Hire a 29’er hardtail in your size and go for a pedal on it. Maybe see if they’ll let you try a couple f different models? Kinda how I decided on the right size of snowboard for me by spending a day at Braehead Snowdome and trying out different sizes. Then, if you can find a Halfords with a Bizango in your size, (pretty sure you can do a search on their website), you could pop along and at least have a sit on it having recently ridden an alternative. They might even let you wheel it out into the carpark for a spin around!

If I was coming into this game new, I’d be buying new, with the safe knowledge that what I was getting didn’t have any hidden flaws, hadn’t been ragged to within an inch of its life, and that I had the backup of a bike shop’s warranty.

With my usual limited budget, I’d also be looking at an affordable bike just to make sure that I wasn’t going to waste a huge amount of money on an expensive clothes horse in the corner of the spare room!

So I think, if you can, try and get a shot of a couple of bikes, then maybe have a look at something like Halford’s Bizango from a better informed position.

:-)

C.

I quite enjoyed this one,

A Bit Scott-ish: Pedalling Through Scotland in Search of Adventure, Nature and Lemon Drizzle Cake, by Mike Carden.

Kind of a cycle touring Bill Bryson.

C.

I just swapped from a 2009/10 26″, 3×9 Orange 5 to a ‘modern’ 27.5″, 1×10, Orange 4 a few weeks ago.

I honestly haven’t been able to say I can tell any difference from the wheel size, but the total lack of any stem to speak of and a huuuge handlebar certainly changes the handling characteristics! The steering is much lighter and faster than my old bike, really forcing me to push my weight into the corners. I’m liking it!

I thought the 1×10 might be a problem for me as I’m quite a biffa, but I got it fitted with a Hope T-Rex, 40t ring on the cassette, which although looking decidedly odd, seems to me to be the equivalent of my much needed and abused, granny and bailout gear for climbing Dumyat, my local haunt. I’m also quite liking the simplicity of the 1×10 setup with the Hope chain retention thingy.

Haven’t a clue about suspension setup, just pumped them up to the recommended 30% sag setting and left it, as you don’t get supplied with manuals anymore, so I’ve no idea what the knobs and twiddly bits do!

All in though, I’m really pleased with the bike as it feels a bit faster rolling and more funner than my ‘old school’ Five. Definitely a bit more confidence inspiring than my older bike as even in my rather fragile, slowly recovering from injury state, the bike convinced me to whoop into a drop off that I’ve always baulked at on my older bikes. My only slight disappointment is in not being able to tell the difference between 26″ and the new 27.5″ wheels, but that’s well buried under the sheer pleasure of finally swapping my ‘Battleship Grey’ Orange 5 for an ‘Atomic Orange’ Orange 4. It’s just so….orangey! :-)

Go for it, buy a new bike. They’re more shiny than old ones, make you go faster and I’m quite certain that it’ll make you more attractive. Or in my case …even more attractive. :-)

I read that as “Solo or Farting”. Would the odd bottom chuff make a big difference?

Aaaaah, that would make a lot more sense. I’m going to hang my head in shame, go away from my desk now for a wee bit and maybe bang my head against the wall?

Thank you,

C.

Whatever you do, just make sure you’re covered dude. The relatively small cost of travel insurance seems a rather trivial thing when you’re lying flat on your back in a foreign hospital’s spinal unit, thousands of miles away from your loved ones, waiting to hear if your insurance company will cover you or not.

I’d agree with Mike Smith, maybe a years family cover is what you want. It’s honestly not a lot of money when you really think about it, even though I appreciate you might grudge spending it when you’re hopefully not going to ever need it, but take it from me, it’s worth every penny!

My ‘Compare the Meerkat’ insurance company were legendary, getting me out of a manky, nightmare hospital into a private clinic before chartering an air ambulance home.

Trust me, don’t skimp on travel insurance!

Beagy
p.s

Five months down the line and I’m still a bit ouchy, but I was out for my first mountain bike ride in a long time last week and it was awesome! ;-)

On my snowboard in the 1st week of February this year when I tried to do the simple little trick I’d learned a couple of days earlier. Not even a jump, just spinning the board as I descended! I mucked it up and dug the heel edge of my board into the hardpacked, icy snow. This led to me basically sitting down on my ass, really quite hard.

8O

I was five days in the spinal unit of a Bulgarian hospital before I was airlifted home. Spent another five days in hospital here then two months in an Imperial Stormtrooper body armour brace. My L1 vertebra is crushed down to 50% of it’s original size and is now a streamlined wedge shape. Still nips a bit as well!

However, tonight I’m going out on my mountain bike for my first spin on it since before the ….incident. I’m quite excited about that! :lol:

Beagy.

Thanks Rocket, but I didn’t ask because I was embarrassed. I’m quite grown up that way. ;-) I simply made the mistake of assuming that all the information I needed was in the sealed box that came with the bike.

I assumed there’d be a manual for the shock and fork that’d explain all the available adjustments, settings, recommended pressures etc. That’s what came with my last Orange.

I have been riding mountain bikes for quite some time, I just don’t really keep up with the latest fashion trends. My old Five, the one previous to it, the Patriot before it and the list of Oranges, Treks and whocanrememberthatfarback’s that I’ve owned have all worked long past their recommended retirement dates so it’s only now that I’m coming face to face with tech that you guys have been riding with for a good many years now.

The guy in the shop was very helpful and I’m sure will be more than willing to help if I ask. The fault was mine for not really listening as he went through everything as I assumed the information would either be in the box of stuff he gave me, or easily found on the SRAM website. Alongside that, was my foolish assumption that with 25+ years of mountain biking under my rather ample belt, I’d be able to wing it with the setup! Alas, it’s like my first day in the job at my lab. I’m completely overwhelmed by TLA’s! :lol:

Oh, and I tried the trick of pushing the valve in and no air escaped, so there’s certainly inner tubes fitted, hopefully then I won’t die on my first rocky descent! :lol:

Cheers again for the help. I’ve pumped up the fork and shock for my weight (the shock is a ticking time bomb at that pressure though! ), and will play with all the twiddly bits on them once I’m out on the trail! :-)

Hi Mike, it was assembled by a bike shop, as it was pretty much a custom build. The wheels came pre-built with the tyres already on and inflated. The guy in the shop suggested that they most likely had tubes in them, but he also said I’d find the tubeless valves in the box of extras (reflectors,bell, fork ‘tokens’, a rather nice Orange branded drybag that’ll get well used thank you, and other bits ‘n’ bobs) that he handed over to me. The valves weren’t there so I was just wondering if there was an easy way to tell, or if anyone new whether Orange sent their …Hope Pro 4 in Orange + Alex Volar 2.5 with Maxxis Minion DHF 3C Exo TR/High Roller II Exo TR… combos out tubeless ready or tubeless.

Like I said earlier, I’ve never ridden tubeless. Partly because of the horror of watching an old riding partner’s (and early adherent to tubeless) tyre roll off the rim and ditch him down a gully, and partly due to the horror stories of trying to seat and inflate the tyres! 8O

The lever clutch thing is handy to know, cheers! So it’s meant to stay in the ‘on’ position all the time and only switched off when I remove the wheel. I shall try to remember that…. there’s probably going to be tears at some point though.

I’ll just trawl through the internet for the rest of the stuff I suppose. Whatever happened to nice handy shock and fork manuals though? I don’t really want to know how to disassemble the things quite yet. I just want to know if I should be fiddling with that red lever and what that blue knob does!

Cheers again!

Beagy

I’m waiting on my new bike to be built and delivered. I specified a Pike 130 RTC3 on the front, with a Monarch RT3 DebonAir for the back. The shop got back to me though and told me I’d have to wait till the 2017 Pikes were available. I can’t wait that long!!!!!!

It’s been the best early summer in years, and even though I can’t ride my mountain bike at the moment because of my slight snowboarding mishap in the winter, I could still sit in the garage and look at it. So c’mon SRAM boat, full steam ahead, I want my new fork delivered and my bike built!!

My old Five had a lovely Fox 36 Talas on the front and I’m looking forward to seeing if I can detect any difference between it and the Pike. I doubt it though. Been riding for nearly 25yrs now and still don’t understand half the stuff you guys are on about here. ;-)

C.

I think this time of year is kinda harsh on most folk and there’s a lot of us in the same boat dude. I’m 45, the group that I’ve ridden with for 15+ yrs has dwindled away to a handful who, like me, struggle to get out either because of work commitments or family, and the motivation just isn’t there anymore to go out on a cold wet night, especially as for me, mountain biking is very much a social thing, it’s not about who’s fastest or bestest.

I’m kinda hoping it’s just a dip, and not a pit of despair!

What about trying these ‘meetup’ thingys you can join and get ride updates on your phone? I’ve managed to have a good laugh with quite a few new riders through the ‘Meetup’ phone app. Not really working great for me as I don’t drive and ‘Central Scotland Meetup’ covers a fair bit of territory, but you might have better luck! If you do Facebook, a search might find local groups there as well.

Just blethering from my point of view, but it’s company that makes a ride for me, and motivates me to get out the door. Get ye on t’internet and have a search for local ride groups!

Craig. xx

Total rubbish! There’s no way the acoustics are that good at the Academy. The place is appalling for rock concerts. Liked the bike riding though.

Ben Cleuch in the Ochils?

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fife-stirling/ben-cleuch.shtml

I got mine new for £260, but I’m pretty sure you could pick one up 2nd hand for less than that. This place seems to be widely regarded for 2nd hand sales…. http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

Another book to check out from the library before you buy your telescope is “The Backyard Astronomer” by Dickinson and Dyer. It’s really useful for giving you an idea of what you might see (you won’t see galaxies like they are in the mags and hubble photos. They’re more like faint grey smudges), and what sort of equipment you’d need to get the views you want.

Oh, and maybe try logging onto http://www.stargazerslounge.com , they’ll give you better advice and probably won’t scream STRAVA!!! quite so much. They seem like a very nice bunch!

Whatever you do, you won’t regret it. Even just seeing the moon at x120 is utterly, utterly awesome. Probably best if you don’t drink as much wine as I do when you’re stargazing though, especially if there’s kids wandering around. ;-)

I’m just getting into amateur astronomy and from what I’ve gleaned from books, mags and t’internet, the Skywatcher Heritage is an ideal beginner scope. You can get the smaller, tabletop Heritage 100p for around £90, but the bigger mirror of the 130p will giver better images.

The dobsonian mount on the Heritage isn’t much good for astro photography though. You’d need a motorised equatorial tracking mount for that.

I was originally looking at the 130 Astromaster as my first scope as well, but I was put off by poor reviews of the wobbly tripod mount. In the end I decided to go for a dobsonian type reflector, then I went completely mad and threw my original budget out the window and got a Skyliner 200p

The dobsonians are stupidly quick to setup, you don’t have to level or align anything. The base is a big lump of wood that isn’t going to be affected by wind or vibration and you can quickly pan to any area of the sky that interests you.

The downsides are as I mentioned, it isn’t much cop for photography, although apparently you can get very good planetary images from them as they don’t need long exposures requiring the telescope to track the target. The other thing is of course that it doesn’t really look like a ‘telescope’ that a 7yr old might be expecting.

I’ve been wowed by the thing, utterly smitten!

This was a shot I took with my mobile held up to the eyepiece on Friday night (I’d had a few beers), the greenish tint comes from the glare reducing filter I’d added. Magnification’s around x48

C.

Can’t you just buy the album on CD then put it on whatever device you want?

Does this mean I’m a Hipster? I always wanted to be a ‘something’.

(It’s not a fixie though, it’s got a 2 speed kick-back hub plus coaster brake. Do I lose points for that?)

I have a similar strategy to McNulty up there ^^. My Five is my main bike, unless I’m away for a big epic in the hills, but now that we’re getting into the real dark nights, I’ll be resurrecting my P7. The Five will still get used on most drier weekend day rides, but the P7 will take over for night riding duties and wetter day rides. It’s simpler to clean, has a slightly lower spec….so the inevitable trashed kit after a night ride impact won’t hurt my wallet so much…and in all honesty, it’s easier to pedal when the going gets a bit soft. Oh, and it’s got the hipflask holder on it….very important on a cold winter’s night. ;-)

If you have the storage space, what’s the problem with having more than one bike? If you have more than one bike, what’s the problem with choosing to ride one over the other as the seasons change?

Chill out dudes.

C. :roll:

You’re lucky!

All I got this morning was a neat little pile of intestines on the bathroom floor.

Jammy git, getting all the good bits. I ended up having to go to Gregg’s this morning because she’d planted the idea in my head.

C.

I’ve got Capt America on my left sock…..but Superman on my right. Mixed up socks…mixed up comic universes….beat that amateurs!

C.

What Spooky says ^^ . Had socks, t-shirts and cycle jerseys from these guys. All great stuff.

C.

The last update I remember running added a slightly terrifying option to link directly to a Singstar shop in the games menu. Slightly terrifying only because of the picture of the family advertising it to be honest. If you don’t have this visual treat, then I’d guess it’s that update. Hasn’t done me any harm, or my PS3, except for sleepless nights imagining that gurning family creeping up on me.

For the past 20 or so years, I’ve always seen riding my bike as a social thing, getting out with others and having a laugh. Over the last couple of years though that scene has slowly fizzled out.

I’ve gone from 3-5 bike rides a week down to maybe once a fortnight if I’m lucky and even though I still enjoy the rides, I’m just not feeling the motivation or excitement that would have me kitted up and rushing out the door on a work night, or planning a whole day out on the hills at the weekend.

Kinda worried that I’m just going off the whole ‘biking’ thing. Especially as I was planning on getting a new bike in the spring. I know I always struggle for motivation at this time of year as the nights draw in, but I’m riding less now than I’ve ever done in my 25yrs of mtb ownership.

Anyone fancy coming up to Stirling and giving me a boot up the arse? I think I really need it….snivel…whimper…..drip…drip (that’s my bogey nose BTW).

C. :oops:

I wouldn’t have thought my computer was that old, it’s maybe around a 3-4yr old Dell Inspiron 600. I upgraded not long after Win 10 came out and the upgrade seemed to work faultlessly, except I had no sound. Fixed that, then discovered that it was taking around 10 minutes to boot up. Tried loads of suggestions to lower the boot time and nothing worked. Then a week or so later Chrome and a couple of other programs just stopped working……and because I was still in the 1 one month grace period I clicked the “I want my computer to work like it used to” option and am now happily back with Win 7.

When do you have the weekend off Barton? Bazz and I are heading down to the Lakes this weekend (glamping at a site in Thornthwaite), for a spot of beer fuelled biking. Drop me a text if you’re interested. :-)

Very humbled, heal well and quickly dude, you sound awesome.

The whole audiophile thing always makes me smile. I frequent a cracking little record shop just off Byres Rd. Every time I go in, I’ll pick up two or three albums. Usually it’s 60/70’s Blues or Rock (although last time I did pick up a copy of Magnum’s ‘On a storyteller’s night’, :oops: ), and each time myself and the owner go through the same conversation. He’ll start by describing the quality of the album sleeve, then goes onto the quality of the record / recording.

I have the utmost respect for the guy’s knowledge, it’s awesome. But as I explain to him every time, I’m listening to the music (it’s Joe Cocker singing St James Infirmary from the album ‘Something to Say’ at the moment), on a crappy old 1970’s Trio system, with crappy old 1970’s Wharfedale speakers, with a needle that hasn’t been replaced…..possibly in my lifetime. Most importantly though, when I’m in my room, listening to my music I’m almost invariably hammered and in no fit state to complain about lousy sound quality…..currently it sounds like ol’ Joe’s in the room with me, it’s awesome!

I figure it’s a bit like the old ‘brake jack’ argument. Apparently Orange 5’s suffer terribly from this phenomenon. I’ve been riding Patriots and Fives from the early 2000’s and have never noticed this thing. I figure I’m just not a good enough rider. Methinks it’s the same when I listen to music. I could get a spiffing system with surround sound, plutonium plated cables and a turntable so well sprung it’d absorb the impact of a sizable meteor (although just the cats would suffice please), but would it sound any better to me than the setup I’ve got? Noop, I very much doubt it.

So I think I’ll pass on those crystals, although some of them might be useful for stuffing into your shoes after a wet ride, and just keep listening to my dodgy music on my dodgy stereo. I’ve put John Mayall’s USA Union on now…it sounds awesome…. :-)

Sorry for rambling, I’m a wee bit pished!

Sorry, I obviously meant your sisters hubby, but I was so excited at having worked it out that my brain melted as I typed. Now however, I’m back to square one…..unless…..your wife has a brother!!!!

That would work, wouldn’t it?

This is why I rely on my wife to tell me who all my relations are. I have a particular problem remembering that her sisters kids are actually my neices and nephews as well! :oops:

C. :P

:oops: :D

Nope sorry, I’ve worked it out. He’s your sister’s brother, isn’t he?

Ha! I’m a genius, knew I should have been a police detective, or a spy or something. My deductive reasoning is awesome!

I’m very confused by this bit..

This sunday my brother in law pulls up with his girlfriend and son in tow.

If he’s your brother in law, doesn’t that mean she’s your sister? I appreciate a lot of things are done differently in Englandshire, but how does that work?

C. :?

My local ‘big’ hill is about a 45min cycle from home then another 45 mins (for me! ) climb. On a nice day though, it’s worth every pedal stroke.

Might have to head up there tomorrow if it stays dry (it gets really badly cut up in the wet), a great wee hill.

B. ;-)

Yesterday’s tally was two dead birds, the half chewed arse end of a mouse and a very miffed, but still quite healthy bat. I rescued the bat, it was a little to late for the mouse.

Biggest laugh recently was coming down the stairs in the morning to find the pair of them had been up to some sort of shenanigans in the hallway, knocking over my wee rucksack that I take to work. When I picked my bag up to shift it out the way, the very much still alive rabbit inside made it’s presence known.

It was very nearly the end of me!

I was out in the hills behind Peebles at the weekend (fabulous bike ride by the way), and watched a Buzzard getting mobbed by a couple of crows. The Buzzard got it’s own back though as it pulled a spectacular barrel roll and had a swipe at one of the crows. Get in!

There’s bucket loads of free Sci-fi on Amazon and Kobo. A lot of it is quite ropey, but maybe worth reading to see where folk have gone wrong. Just watch out for the odd eye-opener! ‘Invasion Earth’, Oh my goodness. Naughty Sci-fi, who would have thought it?

Beagy ;-)

Just back from a 50km loop around the hills and glens that surround Peebles. Absolutely fabulous day out with nary a soul to be seen.

Rolling hills, silence, fabulous scenery, bone dry single track and double track. It was brilliant, what an amazing bit of the country.

A good friend is taking me for a tour around Peeble’s natural trails tomorrow. Really looking forward to it. Although my legs are still murdered from the first ride on my new CX bike mid-week. :P

I’m sure there was a Kona model that turned out to be Portuguese for a ladies naughty bits.