I think we're called 'Bringing up the Gear'. Although I'm assuming that was a typo because every race I've ever been in I've been either bringing up the rear, or throwing up in the rear.

See you all up there, I'm off to raid Boots for all the midge repellent they have.

B. 8O

I'm really quite excited now, I hope it's the shiny new 2010 model. :lol:

I get a rather terrifying judder coming from the front of the bike when it's about time to replace the front pads in my Hope Mono Minis. 8O Methinks it's the spring popping out. Handy little brake wear indicator though! :D

The first thing I'd check though is the headset, even if you think it isn't the problem it might still be worth loosening up the stem bolts then giving the headset bolt a wee tweak and see if the knocking goes away.

If the problem's still there and your pads / caliper are nice and secure, then I think your fork bushes are the next, most likely culprit. Just hope they aren't rockshoks. I've still got a set of Rev's sitting in my garage because I can't afford to send them away to the one place that'll service the thing and replace the bushes. Grrr!

B. :-)

Keep hoping I can find the enthusiasm to start getting out more and meet some new folk to ride with. I mean… living in the Lakes now it shouldn't be that hard should it?

(sometimes I miss Stirling)

Hey Rob, I hope everything has settled down for you. We all miss you as well!

B. 8)

I had a 2006 model 18" Orange 5, the last model before they dropped the top tube. I'm 6'1", but with stumpy wee legs so the standover height of the 18" frame suited me better. I loved that bike, it really was very chuckable and great fun. However, I had to run it with most of the seat tube out of the frame. No prizes for guessing what happened last autumn then. :cry:

Snapped clean through the seat tube / top tube junction. I was quite unhappy about that. However, I now have a shiny new 2010 Orange 5 frame in 20" flavour, with dropped top tube to fit my hobbit legs. My views have changed with it. The larger frame is far more confidence inspiring and just fits like a glove. I love my Orange 5, probably even more than my P7, or my Patriot that's sitting beside it. My previous bikes, a Gringo and an Orange O2 hardtail just pale in comparison. Mind you, I'm kinda fond of Oranges, so I might be a wee bit biased. :wink:

You really need to try the two sizes out. I honestly thought my old Five was the best bike in the world….until I got my new Five. :lol:

Happy shopping!

B.

Hmmm! Ebay. :roll: I just bought an old board off someone on ebay for £70. I knew it was old, and expected it to be a bit tired and emotional, but I just wanted to try a longer / wider board.

When I excitedly unwrapped it the other day I had second thoughts about riding it. The base has gouges in it you could kayak down, the top appears to be parting from the base up near the front of the board and there are two large cracks running across the top up where the nose curls up. All this might be repairable, I don't know.

The board was described as ridden, but in good condition. Isn't good in my opinion. :cry: Which neatly ties into the discussion going on in another thread about the classifieds.

If you go down the ebay route, make sure you really get a good look at the board in the pictures. The pictures of my 'lemon' were from a distance and only really let me confirm it was a Burton. All I'm saying is "Hey, just be careful out there."

B. 8)

I treated myself to a Garmin Oregon 450t for my 40th birthday earlier this month and I'm very impressed with it. The unit comes with a Topo basemap, which is essentially like an OS map, but without grid references and a lot of extra detail, but you can still navigate by it. In fact, when the unit is showing the Topo map in 3D, I can easily pick out local features. The touchscreen is very easy to use, even with winter gloves on. It picks up satellites very quickly, even in the house. I can happily flick between the map view and 'bike computer' view on the hoof. A feature that I'm really impressed with is one where you can get it to search for, and then point to, the nearest pub!!!!! :lol:

I also got all the National Parks at OS 1:50,000 on a micro SD card with the package I bought. This plugs into the unit, under the AA batteries (+18hrs battery life), like in a mobile phone. The beauty of this is that yesterday, after admiring Simon Barnes' (I think) photos of his Skiddaw loop, I went to his webpage, downloaded the GPS info onto my Mac, then transferred it over to my Oregon. Within seconds I was looking at the entire route displayed on screen, on top of the OS Discoverer map. Superb.

The GPS unit, plus Discoverer National Parks cost me £320, plus a further £10 for a mount that fits the unit really securely to the stem of my bike.

B.

The only -ve things I've read have been complaints about the screen being difficult to read in strong sunlight. However, I quickly ignored this as (a) I would generally be stopped before I tried to read it and (b) Strong Sunlight? In Scotland? Hello? :D

Our Combi boiler did exactly the same thing, so I phoned up the service engineers. The very nice and helpful lady said to me

Nice lady: "I shouldn't really tell you this, but have you checked the pressure recently"

Me: "Erm, no, how do I do that?"

She then explained to me that there should be a wee black plastic tap on the inlet pipe under the boiler and that I should open it to let water into the system up to about 1.5 Bar. Finally, she said:

Nice Lady: "You should really check you're system every 6 months or so and top it up if need be. How long have you had the boiler?"

Me: "Erm…12 years?" :oops:

So following nice lady's advice, I re-pressurised the system and everything was hunky-dory again, until a few days later when No.1 wifey pointed out a strange bulge in the hallway ceiling. Giving it a poke, I was treated to an impromptu shower as gallons of water poured down on top of me, as well as a fair amount of plaster etc.

Nice lady hadn't said, "Oh, and remember to shut the tap off properly won't you?" I'd have thought by that point she would have realised I was a completely useless spoon. :roll:

Hope you get everything working again, and keep a leery eye out for any strange dripping noises. :lol:

B.

Lovely pictures, and Skiddaw is a favourite loop of mine when my wife and I head down to Keswick for our wee holiday breaks. I've never ridden the path that climbs up alongside that fence though. I'll need to have a look at my maps again, because it looks much nicer than my usual route, which takes in a lot of tarmac.

So thanks for the pics, and thanks for the knowledge that I still have a new option to try. Bring on the summer hols!

B.

Hey Richard, I feel your pain. I ditched my Hayes Strokers in favour of the Hope X2's and have never looked back.

How much travel have you got on your fork?

I've got a lovely old set of Original Hope Mini's with Goodridge braided hoses and wavy rotors sitting in my garage gathering dust since Dusty bought my Gringo. They are in perfect nick, but the front would struggle to stretch much further than a 100mm fork. I had them on a 125mm Vanilla, but it was a streeeeeeetch. :lol:

Gimme a shout, and you can nip over and check em' out if you're interested.

B.

I don't like Baked Beans, but at least I'm tougher than them! :roll: :lol:

I'm from Bonnybridge, I laugh at you 'Little Earthers'.

Duran Duran :oops:

I couldn't even wheelie my Raleigh Chopper. :oops: Of my 40yrs, I've probably been riding bikes for about 30 of them, and mountain bikes for nearly 20yrs. I can just get enough lift to pop my front wheel over stuff and then use my huge mass to drag the rear wheel behind it. :twisted:

Getting both wheels off the ground at once is obviously some sort of dark magic involving ritual sacrifice. I know it can be done, and I've fooled myself into thinking I've done it a few times, but I reckon it's fraught with danger.

B.

Hey Landcruiser,

Me and a couple of mates are heading over to Bansko in three weeks. The advice we've been given is to bring our money in new, Bank of England notes and exchange it over there for Levs. Apparently some banks and hotels will can give up to 20% more than you'd get if you exchanged it here. Just don't give your money to any shady looking characters on the street, or even worse, do what I did in Morocco. You should have seen the look on the bank tellers face when I handed over my Royal Bank of Scotland notes. It didn't bode well for my eating and drinking the rest of that week. :lol:

Beagy

The Bell one that I got from Asda was about a tenner, it's pretty sturdy, takes either presta or shraeder without swapping bits and has a pressure gauge. It's done me proud for a couple of years now.

I know it's not what you're after, but I've just fitted a new X7 rear mech that I got for £28 from Cyclesurgery this week. I can't say that I notice any difference in quality. 8)

A couple of mate were up at CV on Monday night. The top section was clear of snow, but the bottom two were still icy. Everything has been slowly clearing away though, so it might be Ok now.

Alternatively, there's a bunch of us meeting at Costa's Coffee tomorrow morning at 9am for a 9.30am kick-off. We'll be heading out looking for some muddy fun and you're more than welcome to join us.

B.

This is Ermintrude (she's big, fat and handles like a cow). Now, I honestly don't know if she's a Downhill bike, Freeride, Freeride-light or Cross-country Heavy, but I think of her as my 'big' bike and I love her.

She's a 2002/3 Orange Patriot frame with the original Manitou 4-way Swinger Air (still faultless), Marz Junior T fork, Sram X7 shifting and 1st gen Shimano Saint 203mm (dinner plate!) brakes. Value wise, she was built up for about a grand, and probably isn't worth more than a couple of hundred now, but hey, it's not about the money, it's the memories that count! 8)

I've got the full face helmet and the Raceface FR pads. The only thing lacking from the whole setup is my ability to let go of the brakes! :lol:

B. 8)

I waited 4 months for my Genesis Croix de Fer through the LBS via my work's Cyclescheme. Every other week I popped into the shop and was given the same line, "Yep, spoken to the distributors and it'll be here in a week or so…". I kept giving them slack, even though I was already paying for something I hadn't received as my work had started taking the money off me as soon as I'd signed up to the scheme. :?

Anyway, as it turned out, the night after I'd been yet again assured the bikes were in the country and on their way :roll: , one of my biking buddies pointed to the huge crack running through my beloved Orange 5 frame. The next day, I had a quick chat with the Cyclescheme folk, switched my voucher to another bike shop down the road, and received my brand shiny new 2010 Orange 5 frame within 4 days.

I still fancy that Croix de Fer though….

B.

I meant to post up on this last night but got waylaid.

I was diagnosed 17yrs ago (I was 23), with Type 1, and took up mountain biking as a consequence to try and get fitter / healthier. I haven't looked back since. As has been mentioned countless times above, everyone is metabolically different, so it'd be difficult for anyone but yourself to estimate how long it'll be before you're back on an even keel. For me it was about 3-4 months, but I initially started on a very inflexible insulin regime of one injection per day which was quickly ditched for the more flexible 4-a-day that I've been on ever since. I do seem to recall that the blurred vision cleared up very quickly though.
As Dick Barton mentioned earlier, the best thing to do is keep a positive mental attitude. You're the boss, not your diabetes. The next best thing I can think to say is let your colleagues and mates know that you're ill, how to recognise the symptoms of a hypo and how to treat it. I don't get very good warning signs as my sugar levels drop and I've lost count of the times I've gotten into trouble because of that. From my first ride with Stirling Bike club when Mr Barton spotted what was happening and shoved a Mars bar in my hands, to just a couple of weeks ago on a snowboarding trip when funnily enough, Mrs Barton clocked that I was hypo and needed to get myself sorted.

Those were rare occassions though, both brought on by underestimating the amount of effort I'd be expending and thus overestimating the amount of insulin to take.

When I think about my diabetes, (which honestly isn't that often, it's just there in the background), I'm always remined of the first time I picked up an issue of Diabetes UK's newsletter. It's called 'Balance', and just realising that it's what diabetes control is all about was like a little epiphany. Once you've got your lifestyle and diabetes control in balance it ceases to be such an issue.

I'm fitter and healthier now, than I would ever had been if I hadn't had my diabetes 'wakeup call'. I'm not saying I'm glad I was diagnosed, but I am glad I was diagnosed with something that is perfectly controllable and allows me to lead a normal and happy life.

Sorry for rambling on a bit, but I do wish you all the best.

Beagy xx

I'm a technician in the Wellcome Centre for Molecular Biology at the University of Glasgow. Although some might find the work repetitive and dull, I don't. I left school at the age of 16 and trained as a sheet metal worker (TIG welder), but left that in my early 20's to go to college then university (Ecology Bsc Hons), from which I eventually made my way to the post I'm in now.

The wages are pretty poor. I'm nearly 40 with 12yrs of research experience in various labs under my belt, but I haven't cracked the 20k barrier yet. :? However, the working environment is second to none. It's stimulating, healthy, clean and very, very relaxed. Every day I'm in the lab I learn something new, and quite often I find myself actually excited about going into work to find out the results of an experiment. Just for that, I think I'm a remarkably lucky sod.

I have heard stories about some of the big 'industrial' labs not being the greatest places to work for, but these are told by folk who in my opinion, haven't really seen the grimmer side of working life. That's why it always makes me smile when someone complains about hating having to do loads of 'minipreps' because it's so dull. Just try working in a stinking, noisy foundry, doing the same repetitive job for gawd knows how many years before you come snivelling to me young Johnny-me-lad!

Corr! I needed to get that off my chest, didn't I? :lol:

Beagy

p.s. Drop me an email if my jobs in the same sort of field and you want more info

Doc Savage – Man of Bronze
Water
Bullshot

I might have to dig them out again tonight 8)

I'm just learning to Snowboard at the moment and as I've gotten a wee bit faster on the board (and can now turn left…most of the time :lol: ), I invested in a wee bit extra protection.

I've got a balloon heid which sort of limits the range of helmets I can get, but the one that I got, and think is superb is the Giro Shiv. It has all the features that Solarider lists. A full outershell, removable plugs for the vents, a magnetic removable goggle strap clip and removable pads supplied in different sizes for a custom fit.

I got it from this online retailer http://www.onebelowzero.com and if you look here ( http://www.onebelowzero.com/giro-2009-shiv-audio-helmet ) they have a superb deal on the audio version which has mp3 speakers fitted into the earpads!

Beagy 8)

After my mate's wife broke her wrist up at Glen Shee t'other week, I immediately went online and bought myself a set of Dakine wristguards. Postie delivered them yesterday, and there is no chuffing way they will fit under my gloves! :roll:

As for Takky Maxx stuff, santa brought me a 'Surfanic' branded jacket and saloppettes which were superbly dry and warm in the whiteout conditions up on Glen Shee's ridge on Saturday. I also treated myself to 'proper' ski socks with 50% merino wool and the comfort difference is phenomenal. Like someone said earlier, they really do help alleviate the problem of painful pressure points after a days worth of beginner level boarding. I'd also 2nd getting a good pair of waterproof gloves. I treated myself to a pair of Salomon Gore-tex gloves last winter when I was up on the Nevis range and have never looked back. I'd compare it to my first experience of Shimano winter boots….bliss, sheer bliss. :-)

When I looked into getting my Orange 5 frame powdercoated I did a bit of browsing and came across a site, I think it was Kona Uk's site, that warned of warranty issues with their frames unless the job was done at a Kona approved powdercoater. I'm sure it was to do with the oven temperatures.

I got my Orange 5 done anyway, it was lovely, matt black with shiny holographic sparkles through it. Within about four weeks the frame also had a crack right through the top tube / seat tube junction. I can't blame it on the powdercoating process for certain, as the frame was nearly 3yrs old and I ran it with a lot of seatpost showing, but it's a thought, innit. :?

The tale does have a happy ending though, as I managed to get a superb deal on a new 2010 Orange 5 frame (I went for the large this time), and it's lovely. My old frame now hangs with pride, battle scars and all, on my garage wall.

B.

I've been with Telewest then Virgin for 10+ yrs now without complaint. We just have the normal telly box, recently upgraded from our original telewest one which finally went poof. The phone appears to work, but that belongs to my wife and I don't think I'm really allowed to touch it. :roll: The broadband is really good, and reliable, although I'm not a heavy users, I don't play games or download naughty movies. If however, anyone would like to recommend me some naughty movies, I'd be much obliged. :lol:

Oh, if it's any help, I live in Stirlingshire.

B.

This one always makes me smile. It was the way my mate just had a confused look down at her gears then kept on pedalling! :lol:

Probably going for a night ride around the Carron Valley trails with a mate tonight, then into the Carron Brig Hotel for a few post ride refreshments.

Saturday, off to the rugby with my big brother to see if we can beat the Argies! There may be a few beers quaffed during the day.

Sunday, recovery ride, somewhere muddy I suspect. :-)

Oooh, reading that back to myself, I'm quite looking forward to the weekend! Woohoo!

B.

I agree with Glenp / DezB. :D

I'm happy for you if you feel the need to have things as bright as daylight, but please keep well clear of me. :-) Group rides can be a real nightmare now that everyone is tooling up with super-powerful LED lights. Riding solo at night I've never felt the need for more power, I run a 12w Spot / 20w Flood Lumicycle Halogen system and ride some reasonably technical stuff. However, when someone is behind you with their 'superlights' on, things can get a bit sketchy.

B.

Please……please tell me what happened to Bushwacked, I can't stand it any longer….. :cry:

Haven't actually got that many of my hardtail, but here's a couple.

Grrrr! :D

Ouch!! :lol:

I got the frame only option which I think might be your 'Chrome Grey'. I wasn't so fussed on it to begin with, (I generally go for bright and sparkly), but I have to admit it's growing on me. Kind of classy in an understated sort of way.

:-)

B.

Not something I was told, but when I heard, or read about someone's 'estranged' partner, I firmly believed that the poor person was in a mental institution. :oops:
I honestly believed that, probably into my late teens, early twenties. 8O

B.

Go on, spoil it.

Shan't :twisted:

A couple of my riding mates were up at CV recently and loved the changes to the top section. They reckon it's way faster and more flowing and thought it was a great improvement. If I remember correctly, they said the resurfacing only extends to the next steep corner after Kelpies that was pretty badly torn up by folk locking their brakes. The rest of the tight switch backs have been left alone. I'm looking forward to riding up there the next dry night and giving it a go. :-)

The guys also walked down part of the 'runway' section to see what's being done, and again, they were very excited by what they saw, and going by their descriptions, so am I. I won't spoil it for you though!

There are plenty of very technical, natural local rides in the area, some of which hold up reasonably well in the winter. Carron Valley is a great wee distraction when the weather is seriously poop and you want a fast, flowy ride to practice getting the bike through stuff with minimal braking.

B.

Is that not Subaru or some sort of car thingy?

I'm 6ft 1in with a 32in inside leg. I had a 2006 model (straight top-tube), medium frame but was running it with an awful lot of seatpost showing. I thought it was the bees-knees until a few weeks back when the frame snapped at the top-tube / seat-tube weld. :cry:

I replaced it with a 2010 model (swoopy curvy bits), large frame after discussing things with a mate who's biking opinions I trust (thanks Steve), and I must say I'm glad. It feels way more roomy, stable and confidence inspiring than my old bike.

Of course, as ever, you'd be better to try out the different sizes, but I reckon it might be worth having a look at the bigger frame if you are between sizes. :-)

B.

There certainly seems to be something different on my page, and it's making this old Win98 computer in my lab very happy. :D

I get very cold feet when I've got my Sealskins socks on. I might try thin cotton socks on under them though, that sounds like an idea. I've got a pair of Sealskin gloves as well, not the mtb specific ones, but I get really cold hands when wearing them to.