@muppetWrangler

:-( Hang in there.

Weird question. Buy:

1. What you lust over
2. What fits the majority of your riding habits
3. What will fit your anticipated future riding habits
4. What you lust over.

The issue is not so much “riding on a footpath”, as riding somewhere without right nor permission.

IMO: On the basis that you are riding discretely and harmlessly, and that it’s easier to apologise than ask permission, do it. If the owner or their representative wants to evict you, or asks you to walk your bike, just do as you’re told.

Anyone else challenges you, completely ignore them.

Lochy Campsite at Victoria Bridge is OK and just a short pedal to the event, first along the road then via Torlundy Wood (Witches XC trail). It’s a big site but it will be very busy.

Granny’s Ride (part 1), start at Stoke Pero
Granny’s Ride (part 2), start at Lays Hill

You can link 1 and 2 with a re-ascent once you’ve crossed the stream in Horner Wood Combe

Various good (if short) lines from Webbers Post down to Horner. Keep a sharp eye and follow your nose ;-)

Dicky’s Path is a nice undulating trail – drop off Dunkery Beacon in the direction of Stoke Pero (fast, some rocks, watch out for water-bars) until you intersect Dicky’s, then turn right and follow to Webber’s Post.

There are other steeper and more tech lines down to Dicky’s too.

Re-ascending by road makes exploration of the little variations a reasonable prospect (although they are bloomin steep slogs). Watch out out for people walking, and be nice.

“Voluntary ban”? You didn’t volunteer for it did you, and it isn’t legally enforceable, in fact there is legal right to ride bikes on bridleways.

But in the summer season, the mountain is ridiculously popular with tourists – everyone want to “do Snowdon” whether on bike or foot. Playing dodge all the way down will ruin their day as much as yours.

Other mountains are available, or just ride it out-of-hours/season.

Why do people want to be out of the European Union? Is because of the regulation of bananas thing?

Before switching, and assuming you have them tubeless (EVO are stiff side-walled tubeless ready tyres) have you tried running ~18-22 psi (on the front)and 25-30 psi on the back? IME this makes then shed well enough to avoid the packing-up problem I noticed when I first ran them harder/tubed.

Get a girlfriend, or a bike.

For buying newspapers, and thus funding such alarmist nonsense, Guardian readers should be flogged, along with their Daily Wail and Daily Expats counterparts.

I had the same problem. It was unsolvable. So I abandoned the home phone.

1. Hardtail, 9sp 36/12-36, old SLX non-clutch, top-guide.

Generally OK, but from time to time it flicks out off the bottom of the chainring and jams in the top-guide when you pedal, rather than going back on. This is a total ball ache. The general cause is slight back pedalling while hitting some rough ground at speed. I reckon an outer bash may help; a quarter bash would fit along with the top-guide.

2. 6″ FS, 10sp 32tt/11-42, new SLX clutch mech, quarter bash

Brilliant. Even hammering down rocky/cobbled Spanish mountain trails there were no drops. A couple of caveats: a mate runs his without a bash at all and also had no problems. I ran mine forgetting to turn on the clutch, with no problems. My conclusion is that a tt chainring really works for retaining the chain.

Toptip – shorten your chain!

That will take longer than 3 hours

I was in Atlantis. And I wasn’t on a bike. I was on unicorn

:-D It was a bit dream-like, but elliptic confirmed it happened so it must be real

It’s hard to imagine MTBers are cool, but like everything it’s contextual: A few weekends back, elliptic and I were muscling along the The Quirang trail on Skye and were repeatedly greeted by groups of wide-eyed, beaming, dusky Spanish maidens, on holiday with their miserable, envious boyfriends. I cite this as evidence that in the right context, mountain bikers can be cool.

was rather short with me when I suggested he man up

You hit the spot. Good job!

Urban: Ruder than apologizing, but with the same meaning: a flippant apology

IMO, the idiom has a nice subtlety and so is a welcome addition to the vernacular.

The XC course looks brilliant.

I have only good things to say about Ady (nasher) and Jo and Riviera, in Molini. Whilst it is possible, you would waste so much time flogging 1000m up the forest roads to access each trail. Get some uplift.

It’s smooth limestone held together with a clay-dirt which means it’s perfectly grippy when dry but properly testing to find grip when wet. It’s this latter aspect that catches people out.

The ridable area is rambling and extends over several hills: Black Down, Dolbury, Cheddar Gorge, Fry’s Hill, Wavering Down, Sandford Batch and a bit over Bleadon. Unlike the much smaller Qs, legal access for bikes is problematic, but practically OK if discretion is used, which is why the locals are a bit reticent sometimes. The marked bridleways, as they are, are OK but on their own rather limited. But there are a large number of other trails tucked away, many not on any maps at all, that collectively make it a worthwhile venue. Hell, we ride this stuff twice a week and don’t get bored. Local knowledge is therefore key.

It’s terrible[/url]

Bad Ass Bikes is the place.

It’s easy to mathematically demonstrate that 1 + 1 = 1

1 + 1 = 1

;-)

We’re here for a good time, not a long time. So help both yourself, and equally everyone else, to make the most of the experience. And if you can’t manage that, then at least try to do no/the-least harm.

I only had one drop using 2x front shifter with a clutch mech but it was in a race! Trying this 1x with a big bash guard and hoping it cures all ills

“I didn’t get any drop today, buy I’m an xc jeyboy.”

No you’re not!

You’ve not mentioned why the job would be right for you. You just moaned about wearing ties. If the job is right, the dress code should barely register in your decision. Do you really want the job?

If you do then wear a bloody tie.

The “alpine passes of Mendip ” sic

Essentially a nod to The Black Rat. Basically a loop that climbs and descends around the perimeter. Try to include: harp tree hill, Burrington Combe, Shipham hill, cheddar gorge, west bury hill, deer leap, rookham/Milton, Chewton Mendip hill. Here’s loads of longer more brutal variants. A proper roady will pop up with something more definitive.

So they peddle bullshite and get paid triple your salary

Who’s being a numb skull?

The response you get may depend on whether you are a “regular” or not, or whether you are mates with the shop guys.

I use both the shops klumpy is referring to and get very responsive service, sometimes while I wait!

If you don’t give him the elbow flick you can’t expect him to come through a do a turn!

I have a fine 1/8″ beard, barely more than stubble, and equal in length to my hair.

It improves my attractiveness by giving the illusion of a jawline and chin. Unexpectedly, the affectation seems to be working !!

An artist’s work should not be bounded by what other people define as art.

In Engineering, we get this a lot. Customers and managers are not experts but they are in charge. They say inaccurate things of which they do not really understand the meaning and implications, and need you to make sense of them.

Anderson’s analysis and explanation was crap and he was at fault for confusing them and being disrespectful. IMO, the best option was to draw seven visible blue lines radiating from a point.

* We only have blue ink, but blue better reflects your core values (phew!)
* By radiating, the lines meet at once place: the heart of your initiative, which is what the creative guy probably meant anyway
* Good quality normal ink looks good and is used by your competitors for a reason: transparent ink makes printing too expensive.

More sustained, and generally higher, power output.

Riding at high power output on the flat (fast) is just as exhausting; you are overcoming more drag at higher speeds too (most noticeable on the road bike, of course).

Blencathra: For an easy scramble, Sharp Edge has an alarming death-toll. Avoid it with children unless they are quite adventurous and obedient, or if you don’t have a good head for heights, or if it’s windy, or if it’s wet. If you want to get your hands on rock, Halls Fell Ridge leads directly to the summit and feels much less exposed. It’s quite a thole for little legs though.
MRT

Thanks for this thread Jock

Update after quite a lot of use. I’m still not really happy with the bag as an MTB bag – the fabric is now holed in several places to the extent that one of the pockets is barely usable, and the zips gone really stiff. I ditched the Camelback which I don’t trust, and put a Source bladder/hose in which is much better IMO.

BTW. Ta to David for stitching in a new buckle – that bit is fine!

A couple of 5 minutes sessions in a working day.

“Got a disciplinary for two shits a day”

I guess the smell from constant farting just dissipates around the warehouse. Really, that’s abusive and unnecessarily idiotic. Have you though about sacking-off and getting a job with a less idiotic firm?

Blencathra