I’d replace the original software with a dd-wrt version if theres a compatible version as its a bit more comprehensive when it comes to using/seting it up.

I’ve sort of had a similar situation with a customer recently, I’d set one at 5 and one at 10, it will fail to the second record on failure, however with redundancy you’ve still got a single point of failure at the router or even the mail server, so maybe a backup mx service may be a better plan, that way email is stored off site in case of on site failure and will be downloaded when reconnected (this worked better for me as the office was in a small rural village with inconsistent power issues during bad weather and only BT cabled DSL options).

Out of interest slotted my 29plus wheel into my Dune a couple of nights ago, front will work with enough clearance but rear was just too tall and hit the seatstay bridge, may work with a slightly shallower tyre though (Fat B Nimble maybe), I was trying my 29 x 3.25 Bulldozer in it though.

Another vote for Magnum Pros, very good fork and held up well so far on this. Also looked at Boost 27.5 34 option too but decided on the Magnum, also Blutos will work as well as the Wren fatty forks or Carver Gnavester forks.

Worth looking at Woolbeding (Older Hill) and Titty too as well as going a bit deeper down to Iping as well, all easily combined to make loads of different loops. I have in the past done loops that do Ludshott, Wagggoners upto Punchbowl back over to Blackdown, Fernhurst, Bexley then Older, Iping then Chithurst/Milland ridge, Chapel/Weavers then ranges and home. There more on that Linchmere ridge than most people realize and coming from the punchbowl I find it better to drop all the way in to Golden Valley and back out on either the ROW or the next BW down the road from it, you can also cheat it a bit by dropping earlier and up by the pottery then down a cheeky footpath that runs into the top of the ROW.

As Yak says, loads in there and pretty easy to find, nice suggestion from him too though its easy to get at from the Punchbowl too on an extended loop too. Happy to show you round if you want some local knowledge.

I know you said rail mounted but on my road bike for commuting on rough lanes I use a Carradice Super C SQR Slim thats seatpost mounted, brilliant bag. Just a thought..

+1 for Bend, phils is great and also my favourite trail was to take Cogwild shuttle out to do McKenzie river

Look at Crater Lake too as a place to visit, if you can get on a boat tour it’s worth it, also Downieville for riding too.

Not ridden out there yet but been to Hardangerfjord area about a couple of hours out from Bergen a couple of times, going back out there in May again as the flights are so cheap at the moment. Its a stunning area plenty to see if you like waterfalls, mountains and fjords.

Not seen many people riding mountain bikes but fair amount of roadies about. I’ve seen tyre tracks on a few trails but not seen anyone actually riding. I’m trying to borrow a bike off the guy we’ve rented from as he’s a mountain biker.

Found this when looking previously that looked good.

https://thunderinthenight.exposure.co/tractor-pull

Just converted my Dune to tubeless last night with a decathlon exercise mat and split 24in tubes, real easy install and seemed ok this morning still.

After doing it stumbled across this on bikerumor about fatty tubeless rolling resistance and the potential gains.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2016/11/09/bicycle-rolling-resistance-quantifies-fat-tubeless-energy-savings/#more-142324

We’ve been a couple of times to Norway in the last year, once in September last year and again in May this year. Both times on a bit of a budget compared to going to the states the previous year, flights to get there sub £100 return for the pair of us direct to Bergen, car rental for 9 days was something around £275 then rented via airbnb on Hardangerfjord. Very chilled place to go, perfect if you just want to be outdoors, be prepared for high food costs especially if you eat out but even prices in supermarkets are high. Take spirits with you and buy wine in the airport duty free. Petrol costs about the same as here but take into account toll road costs for bridges and tunnels then also ferries too as in some of the fjords crossings are frequent and a long drive round to avoid them.

Want to go back at some point again to ride and walk more also fancy doing Strykeproven too.

Got one sat in the shop for the back of the tandem just waiting for me to collect, missed closing time by five minutes tonight due to traffic.

May be the weekend before I get another chance to collect it now.

Was either 02 or 03, Rob definitely won one of those I remember as I rode with him a bit around that time and we rode as a solo entry on the tandem at both with the first of them being our better of the two with a top 20 finish.

I still remember that dead rabbit too…

Its a custom 18 bikes frame with paragon sliders for a rohloff, bought at a bargain price off of ebay as size wise its pretty much perfect for us. You dont find many 29er mtb tandem frames around in the right size and even rarer a custom frame for a rohloff too (been running ours for 10 years on tandem now), had to buy it and build from what we had (though not a lot moved between the two). I’ll take some extra pictures for you and post them tomorrow.

Sorry to Alex at mtb tandems as I’d been mulling over a new Fandango for a long time and his 29ers are really good too (rented one for a week which we rode at Tahoe and in Bend) but this was too good to pass up. However he’s now refreshed the Fandango again with more clearance for 650b plus now but this build has turned out as good as I ever wanted (though not ridden it yet).

How about Manitou Magnum Pro, CRC have stock, 29plus and 27.5plus, 120mm travel and 30% off too at the moment. Just waiting for mine to turn up.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/manitou-magnum-pro-forks-15mm-2016/rp-prod134144

Also Schwalbe at Eurobike just released a 29×2.6 Nobby Nic too as another tyre option too, though just been told wont be here until at least the end of october.

20 plus mtb tandem years now for me and mrs bpd, 2 cannondales and a first generation 26″ mtb tandems fandango with a rohloff we’ve had for the last 12 or so years, ridden loads of good stuff on mine locally, trail centres, alps and on a 29er rental at Phils trails in Bend and at Tahoe too for our 20th anniversary. Still love it, always challenges me every ride as I have to switch off the solo lines and think long. Bought a double galaxy a couple of years back too, took me more time to enjoy as its way more relaxed than my road bike but its easier if the weathers grim or we just fancy a relaxed cafe ride on a sunday.

Currently spec’ing our new mtb one (well frame is new to us), 29er this time with only our rohloff that will be transferring onto the new one. So if anyone is in the market for a 17/15 frame, fork, front wheel, chainset package mine will be up for sale soon.

Check the hanger bolts in the first instance as mine felt like there was play but it was just the hanger.

Oregon, loved the riding there, Bend was good, McKenzie River was the best trail I’ve ridden, wished I had more time there, would go back to do the same again plus Oakridge, Mt Hood, Umpqua and more.

Flume is was really smooth, definately no need for FS when we did it a couple of years ago on the tandem, rode up from shop first day to flume then along and back then shuttled the day after and went up higher to ride trt above martlette before playing on flume with go-pros.

https://vimeo.com/108727986

Reggie Perrin, recently revisited the lot after stumbling into the first episode by accident.

Gameshows has to be 3-2-1, draws you in with impossible questions by awful celebrities and then to top that rubbish 80s prizes.

Mongoose Motomag (wire wheeled couldnt afford the Mag version in 1980 as I was only 9)
Diamondback Silver Streak (Met Harry Leary too when I owned it)
CW Pistol Pete (still my favorite bike of all time, mad geometry and scary quick too)
1987 Cannondale m900, xc9000, roller cams, bought on a whim SH in mid nighties, crap to ride, beautiful to look at
1990 Kona Cinder Cone (why did I sell it!!)
1991 GT Zaskar LE (custom build, U brake version, Scott AT4 bars and Pace hubs, mavic ceramic rims)
1993-94ish Fuquay custom in Crom-OR tig welded rather than filleted
and finally the bike I should have never sold…
Klein Adroit, MC1, full xtr apart from Grafton cranks

Since those days its pretty boring, cant justify big spends these days rather have a few bikes of different types than 1 very expensive one

I’m with Variflex, loads in every direction just a matter of discovery, perhaps a group ride to share trails in and around Punchbowl is a good idea?

Definately looks like Golden Valley. Ned, drop me an email if you want a guide for Ludshott, Bramshott and Longmoor more than happy to extend your trail knowledge.

+1 for Holy Bible and Endtroducing

Pixies – Doolittle

Lightspeed Champion – Falling off the Lavender Bridge

Late of the Pier – Fantasy Black Channel

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

I’m pretty sure I know where you mean with those deer tracks, the BW drop down through the gorse then woods is really good if you hit it fast. Z run is always entertaining down from temple of the winds also full height drop to fernhurst though mainly big tracks is about as long as it gets for around this way.

Gribble, may be not this week now but early next week could be good if your up for a ride, always good to share trail knowledge.

SDW for me, I find it a bit pointless and just use it as a quick way to get to other stuff on either side of the ridge of which theres a fair amount, 100 miles of tedium for me.

Sorry to all the local guys who spend a lot of time there building, QECP, never found any flow there at all, I give it another chance every now and then but I just dont get it, it never feels natural enough or flowing to me.

How about a ride one evening this week could do a black down / Marley loop If your interested, anyone else?

The Music

It should be pretty doable, I’ve lived in the middle of that part of the world all my life so ridden it all for years. Ned’s pretty spot on with what hes said and his route theres more cheeky options to use though , should be possible to do most of it offroad with only a short section of road south of midhurst. The shipwrights is not great and theres loads of better options. Drop me an email and i’m happy to help out with ideas.

Definitely agree with That Petrol Emotion, PWEI and Mega City Four, saw them all live many times

My extras are

Audioweb, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Living Colour and Age of Chance (not just for retro roadie shirts)

Blackdown is good not ridden that heavily but some good trails, happy to show you round at some point maybe an evening ride.

A friend of mine used to cut off tops of his homegrown habs and nagas, deseed, fill with ice cream and eat whole for an interesting but challenging mix of hot and cold.

Seemed to be when I passed through a week or so ago.

Never seem to see many people about up that way, even less when you go towards black down or other ways South.

Greg, you still riding then, still doing weds at Milford if you fancy it.

Superfli is right, I park there every day with no issues.

Also on the builder front give my mate Jon a call, he’s in Chertsey and worth a try, his website is http://www.tomobikes.co.uk.

About 1/2 a mile from my house so may wander over, some lovely and flowing trails in that section of mod land. Used to be a favorite course for some of my xc mates, I personally never use as Landmark guys have got a bit arsey recently with usage but recommend it as a race course. As a warning though expect quite abrasive and grindy sand in there too if its wet.

Used Xt in the past with no issues and a generic 48 holer on our Dawes tourer but mtb tandem is Rohloff, 10 years in, thousands of miles and been abused in many places Alps, Scotland, Wales, best bike investment I’ve made, probably never put one a solo due to all weight at rear but perfect on the double. Amazing customer service, really tough bit of kit.

Blackdown as said above is good with plenty of trails, can also be linked into a loop to Punchbowl via Marley. Also take a look at Bexley Hill above Midhurst, some DH stuff up there plus again can make a decent loop around Midhurst on some nice trails too over to Older Hill and via iping common. Feel free to mail me if you want some pointers on where to go.

I’m happy to show you round if you want to learn your way round, loads of trails up there and in the surrounding area. I could do a night next week if your about or I’m riding tomorrow morning with some friends from Liphook up to the PB.