Ta Spacemonkey. We buy any car’s price was hilarious – I’d probably get more in scrappage. Already dropped the price once on AT.

Ah, sorry – I meant ‘reasonable motor’ in terms of ‘not terribly exotic or special or speedy’. I should have been clearer. It’s reliable and quite fun to drive, but nothing to write home about, so I assumed it would not be terribly interesting to people on a site like Pistonheads.

Talkford sounds like a plan – many thanks.

I auctioned my last banger on eBay – lost £250 on what I’d paid for it three years before! I’ll look in to a classified.

Many thanks for all the suggestions, Iain and Weeksy!

Next task: think of a suitable reply for Mr Marine Engineer Paypal-only dude. I might tell him I’m in the same line of work, so ship-ship cash transfer via trained albatross is the way forward…

BT sent us about five of their super-dorky business broadband modems for the ADSL connection my wife’s employer paid for over a three year period. I had to chase them to take them back. Fair dues to them, though – when I finally got through to the right person, they sent a prepaid bag for the modems. I explained we had four to return in one go. Apparently they’re used to this – they sent a **** massive bag. I could have posted their street cabinet back to them at the same time if I’d wanted to.

Apparently it’s a U23 team and will look for UCI Continental status. Reynolds heavily involved, hence the 953 stuff.

Rained last night, though, if the state of our garden and patio this morning is anything to go by.

Mashie, that’s what I did yesterday. I couldn’t face a ‘quick’ two hour mountain bike ride over lunch. Took the ‘cross bike and had a good time. There’s lots of debris on the roads at the moment, too.

Deore cranks with the trekking rings (26/36/48) taken off. 26 and 36 moved to my geared FS as a 2×9, 48t sold on for a tenner. Adds up to new rings for the FS bike and a new set of cranks and BB for the singlespeed for about 40 notes. Tiny weight increase over the XTs on my full suss bike, too. At the moment, I can’t imagine replacing those old XTs with anything other than a pair of Deores. I’d rather spend the money on something more important, like new forks.

I’ve run truvativs in the past, and didn’t get on with the fastening system. Square taper is great – in 20 odd years, I’ve neer had a problem I didn’t cause myself. I have to say that after trying a bunch of other options, Shimano still kicks bottom in terms of reliability and price.

Depends what you’re chopping in, but it’s a heavy beast of a DH bike – don’t expect it to go well anywhere other than downwards. They had a fair old chunk of travel for their day, but very much superceded now.

All the above is great advice. A few other bits:

* If you want your gloves to last, dunk them in water before you use them. Cruising won’t be as intensive as racing, but it is perfectly feasible to trash a pair of gloves in a day if they’re used dry. You probably won’t have that problem with the weather you’re getting. :)

* Consider keeping a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in your oilies. If you are sick, it’s a great way to get rid of the taste in your mouth. I also find / found it a good way to wake up at the beginning of a watch.

* Pack more thermals than you need, but don’t forget shorts. Even if the weather’s foul, once you get on shore, they’re dead handy for something to wear.

* Seabands are great, but also try to avoid acid foods like tomatoes – it all helps.

* If you start to feel a bit queasy, clap eyes on the horizon

* One hand for the boat

* You’re a little bit stronger than you think. Seriously.

* Mind out for the hardware. Pay really close attention to the safety lecture you’ll get before setting off, especially as it applies to running rigging – the ropes that you adjust constantly. Learning how to treat a sheet or guy that’s heavily loaded is a very valuable thing – do it wrong, and you’ll be in trouble or badly injured.

* Despite all of that, enjoy yourself! CC is intended to make you competent, not scare the bejeesus out of you. It won’t be a walk in the park, but always keep in mind that you will be doing things that a lot of people already do and enjoy – it can be a bit tough at first

Hope that all helps. I taught dinghy sailing (including race training) with the RYA from the age of 16, and did my first cross channel yacht race on my 16th birthday. Stay positive, remember you’re in a team and you will have an absolute hoot.

Oh, and one final bit of advice – don’t buy your own yacht. Sail (or better yet race) someone else’s. Much cheaper. :D

It depends on how you’re doing it.

This sort of sailing:

Hurts a lot more than this sort of sailing:

I’d strongly suggest you give up trying to impress people with what you did at the weekend and concentrate on having a decent conversation with them instead. Unless they’re complete do-dahs, in which case you should carry on beating them over the head with your (and anyone elses’) member whilst stood at the water cooler. :mrgreen:

Ratherbeintobago and Messiah – thank you for both those answers. I now understand a lot more. :)

Messiah, this isn’t a wind-up, but when you say:

I like my Hammerschmidt but if I could replace it with a lighter and simpler bit of kit which gives me the same gear range I probably would

wouldn’t a twin ring setup on the front do this? I’ve gone to 26, 36 on my geared bike in a 2×9 (11-32t) setup, and it dos the trick pretty well. Much less hassle than three rings. This isn’t a wind-up – give it a pop.

Incidentally, mention of Hammerschmidt has made me realise – SRAM are trying lots of really interesting stuff these days with drivetrains. Good for them for giving it a go.

I wonder how much skipping will take place in the smaller sprockets once the whole thing wears.

The rear mech moves horizontally, so there’s less chain wrap the smaller the sprocket you’re in.

Mechs with parallelograms track the size of the sprockets as they shift to them – ensuring as much chain wrap as possible.

It looks like the horizontal action on the SRAM rear mech *doesn’t* do this, so the smaller the sprocket, the less chain wrap, and the less teeth engaged with the chain.

I know 1x<i>n</i> drivetrains wear slower, but I do wonder what the realistic working life of a cassette and chain might be.

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Latest hobby #2[/url] by bent udder[/url], on Flickr

Done! A track spaced bike (120mm oln) with a Nexus hub gear. Not much is right about this bike, of course. Even the skirting board is wonky.

Hmm – I wonder if the M bar / S bar thing is down to rider height. I’m 5’7″ and the S bar is about right. I seem to remember you being a fairly tall chap, Mr Nicolai.

The rear rack seems to make things more stable when folded – mine doesn’t have a rack, and certainly seems more tipsy when wobbling around on the train – although it’s yet to fall over by itself.

Lights are tricky – I use a helmet light and LEDs on the bar and seatpost – no way I could afford a dynamo setup when I bought mine, so I use my MTB bits, which seem to do the trick. But the convenience of dynamo is a big plus, I think. Can’t really comment on that bit, mind.

That said, bearing in mind other comments on here, might two full-sized beater bikes not be cheaper and easier? No carrying on and off trains, for starters. If Mrs MTBFix is handy with a tyre lever, shouldn’t be too much of a faff to keep the beater at the London end ticking over.

ejustice – Member
Noone seems to mind that Redlands actually printed and sold maps of trails available through the web yet a scratchy little drawing that quite frankly, unless you know the area means nothing, causes such a hailing of abuse?

Speaking as one of the bods behind Redlands Trails, I can say we never, *ever* did that. If someone was selling maps on behalf of Redlands Trails, they certainly never gave us any money, or asked our permission. Can you tell me where you saw that, please, ejustice?

Incidentally, Forestry recently replaced the signposts for one of the trails we helped build – Summer Lightning.

nealglover – Member
Please bear in mind that online chat about the trails here, and word-of-mouth, has caused a huge increase in mountain biker numbers over the last fifteen years. It’s a cause of some friction, and as mentioned, sometimes there’s a fair amount of heat. So please, keep it quiet.

So it’s more about not letting other Mountain bikers know then.

And not much to do with not letting “anti mountainbike” folk find out.

Just so it’s clear.

Well, apart from the paragraph immediately following that, which simply suggests being a bit more discrete. Do try reading before commenting, sweetie:

If you want to find out the names of trails, ask people in the ground when you bump into them – fair to say that local riders are a pretty friendly bunch, and it never hurts to strike up a conversation with other people on the hill – whatever they’re using to get around.

andyl – Member
never hear of that stuff before, sounds nasty which means it must work!

(PS you spelt it wrong )

:oops:

My bad – I got JP Weigle confused with Dave Weagle, inventor of the DW-Link. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

In that case, I would definitely go for the Brompton – nothing ridable actually folds as small. Best thing to do is borrow or hire one to try it out. I struggled with the fold at first, but it quickly becomes a motor skill.

[edit] I have an S bar, and use the S bag – it’s pretty big at 20 litres, certainly enough for my laptop, a notebook, random junk and clothes. I tend to take a week’s worth of shirts in one day, then socks, shreddies and fresh trousers on other days. The ‘ears’ at the back are spot on for a water bottle in one, tools and waterproof cover in the other. Get the recycled firehose flap and you can ditch the rain cover altogether.

Is that the bicycle equivalent of a vajazzle?

Where’s she travelling in from – end of the line, or somewhere along a suburban line?

I do the same as your wife is thinking of doing – ride to station (Dorking), then ride from Wimbledon into Chiswick at the other end. Dorking’s the end of the line, so I get onto an empty train in the mornings, which makes a hell of a difference.

Bromptons fold down very small, and mine is fine for the six miles each way commute from Wimbledon into town.

As said above, best bet is to wheel it as far as possible, then fold.

The size of the fold is really important, in my opinion. When you’re getting onto a crowded carriage at the end of the day, having a small parcel that is neatly clipped together gets you far more cooperation and goodwill than some of the less elegant alternatives.

Oh, and it’s worth noting that you will have fellow cyclist company – there are usually about three Bromptons on the carriage I get onto in the evening, and at least half a dozen on the same train out of Dorking in the morning.

There are other options out there – the Terns look good – but none fold as small as the Brompton, and going into London that’s a real deal-breaker in my book.

[Edit] Oh, and to add to the above, luggage system on a Brompton is simply awesome, and after sales service from local shop and Brompton itself has been very good – they sorted a problem with my Sturmey Archer hub with no questions asked.

Disco. Disclaimer: I bed my pads in thoroughly when I get them, rather than riding off road straight away on new pads. Makes them last aaaaages.

Thanks for the link! I’ll give that a try myself.

WDS it is – I’ve tried doing the same with an old Pre-N test router from Netgear and a Virgin Media SuperHub. If you’ve got WDS, great, if not, it’s difficult or impossible. Get down to Netgear’s support site and stick the newest firmware you can find on it. Google the router name + WDS, see what happens – and good luck!

Interesting conversation.

The ranger (and Hurtwood Control) is actually very tolerant of mountain bikers – with caveats.

If you look at the deed covering the land managed by Hurtwood, it basically says that the HC is established to encourage outdoor activities – originally walking and horseriding – amongst the general public. Over the years that has also included husky racing (no, really) running and, latterly, mountain biking. there’s a right to roam (within limits) anywhere on the Hurtwood, similar to the Rights of Way in Scotland.

If you live in the area or ride the trails, I strongly suggest you consider donating to the Hurtwood, and attend some of its meetings. You’ll find them a nice bunch. Handa Bray, who owns much of the land managed by HC, is very pro-biker.

I mentioned a caveat, and here it is: One activity can’t have a negative impact on another. That means that, say, mountain biking and mountain bike trails can’t have an adverse affect on others’ enjoyment of the Hurtwood – and the same goes for other trail users, too.

In the past, that’s meant that big jumps, north shore stunts, big drops (ie the coffin drop on Pitch, which ended up paralysing someone) have been closed. Aside from the impact on others there’s also a significant insurance risk.

Please bear in mind that online chat about the trails here, and word-of-mouth, has caused a huge increase in mountain biker numbers over the last fifteen years. It’s a cause of some friction, and as mentioned, sometimes there’s a fair amount of heat. So please, keep it quiet. :)

If you want to find out the names of trails, ask people in the ground when you bump into them – fair to say that local riders are a pretty friendly bunch, and it never hurts to strike up a conversation with other people on the hill – whatever they’re using to get around.

HTH.

J P Weagle frame treatment could be up your street. Singular use it on their frames.

That said, the ‘pig’ in Blue Pig likely refers to the pig iron used in the manufacturing process. :D

Waxoyl or JP Weagle if you’re that worried. A bottle of Waxoyl from Halfords will do a lot of frames I imagine…

Ah – thanks for the background, WCA – sounds like you gave it a really solid go. Good on ya!

Throw your water bottle at them, like TdF sprinter in a snit. No UCI Commissaires around to see and ban you.

Talk to the Forestry Commission about this. The regional office is at Alice Holt – give them a call, and ask to speak to the beat forester for the Southampton area – most likely Bruce Auchterlonie.

The beat foresters are very thinly spread in the South – more forestry to manage than Scotland, but spread across hundreds of little parcels. The *easy* option for FC is to level stuff if it gets to a point where it’s potentially dangerous.

YOU – the people riding these trails – need to talk to them, help share the load a bit in terms or reporting and management. That means talking to other riders and builders about what’s likely to get trails leveled, and what is broadly acceptable.

Having been in this situation with local trails several times over the last 15 years, yakking about it on teh internetz will not solve anything. Picking up the phone and talking to FC / the landowner will.

If you want this sort of thing to stop, take some responsibility. Look at how good jump spots are managed – a good working relationship with the landowner. We can and do do this stuff with MTB trails.

Bingo. So I’m guessing you’ve worked out what ungodly things I’m doing to the Nexus, then?

thomthumb again, close but no cigar. :D

Almost there on the frame. But not quite.

Quite possibly fubaring it, yes. :D

’93 or ’94 KHS Team – buckled downtube. Probably my fault for hitting a Landrover wheel rut at 90 degrees at about 20 miles per.

Giant ATX 990 – pitting in downtube under paint (it blistered, I took the paint off to look, screamed and took it to the local Giant dealer, who got me a new triangle even ‘though it was a second hand frame).

Marin (ech) Attack Trail. Frame was fine, but everything else blew up. Three SID air shocks, the travel adjust QR, the granny ring (god knows), every bottom bracket (It was ISIS) went after six weeks of riding. It was a real Friday bike. Should have bought the Orange Sub 5 I’d intended to buy in the first place.

Just to even things out, frames I bought that never, ever complained:

DeKerf Generation (Ten years going, now being ridden by a good friend)

Two Mountain Cycles San Andreaseseseses

Genesis Io

Orange Sub 5

Orange 5

Commencal Meta 4

Alan Audax

The only exception to the fork rule is early Rebas and Revelations. Rock Shox had an O ring on the gate dial (the gold knob on top of the blue compression knob) that was a bit feeble, and consequently a little oil used to weep out. Not a big deal, except that the oil cart it was leaking from isn’t that big itself, and oddness occurred (according to TF Tuned) if too much was lost. I had three Reba-based forks at the time with the problem, and none of them exhibited aforementioned oddness, although I did end up storing them wheels down.

I currently store four mountain bikes front wheel up in a shed. Nary a problem, but I should say that the nice cheap hooks from Wickes, B&Q and the rest are a little narrow for bigger tyres or rims – I’ve got a pair of Easton Havocs with 2.25 Advantages on them, and that can be a tight squeeze. It’s also easy to knock the rubber coating off the tips of the hooks, so watch you don’t end up scoring your rims. That said, a replacement hook is a quid…

C&C is practical for 15mm (one of the reasons why the 15mm standard was created – Shimano wanted to continue C&C) and not quite so simple for 20mm – going C&C for that would be a bit tricky if you wanted to keep weight down.

Cartridge bearing hubs will wear out if you keep drifting the carts out with a hammer and screwdriver – pretty much the same as if you keep boshing headset cups into a frame and drifting them out again.

Cartridges are great if you have money but not time and don’t worry excessively about things like drag. Otherwise, C&C hubs are lovely things.I still regret selling my pre-parallax XTR hubs…

I won’t patronise you by explaining rotational weight and it’s effects, thanks for my award

Oh go on, I’m dying to hear about the massive centrifugal force exerted by a small chunk of metal very, very close to the centre of the axle.

I second Druid – prize bovine byproduct.

Don’t use all of your gears – as said above. I used to run 105 road mechs on my mountain bike at university because they were super cheap at the time (£11) compared to the mountain bike ones, and I’d gone through a phase of trashing rear mechs. I just made sure I didn’t go big / big.

If you’re running this on a road bike, what the hell do you want a 32 for anyway? Are you planning on riding up Mont Ventoux? MTFU, man! :D

We got an Outwell six man tent for family camping, and it’s spot on for that. We even put the udderlet in one pod in a travel cot last summer. The model we have is discontinued now, which is a bit of a shame. Including footprint and carpet (Yes, it comes with a fancy rug) I think we spent £250. I used it the other day for a blokey camping trip, and it’s just fine. Takes a while to put up, but anything that size would.
It has two separate pods that unzip all the way ’round and open onto the main living area part.

Londoner – thanks! Please get in touch with the Hurtwood Ranger through the links above, or drop me a line at ben.tudoratgmail.com. Unfortunately, I can’t see any contact details on your profile, otherwise I’d mail you. :)

I bought a pair of the Deores from Rose – I had the money for XT, but they were on back order.

The caliper shape is the same as the old SLXes – I’ve a pair of those, too.

Thoroughly happy with the Deores. They do the job perfectly. Possibly not the lightest, but I have to say I’ve not noticed.

Yup – Google Maps Streetview shows a lot of renovation going on on that street – the the copyright is 2012, so it would have been shot this year. I can’t find 104, however.

There’s always a balance between providing access for horses and riders as well as walkers, and preventing fly tipping. Also, there may be a need for vehicle access.