Never mind the reach, is it purple? If not … pffft

The scent wafting over the road on my Sunday morning ride in the Surrey Hills was proper. 🤪

Also my first MTB. Really terrible brake on the rear. Does it have the flexi plastic levers?

I taco’d the front wheel on a steep loose flint downhill soon after I got mine. Exciting!

It did many years’ service as a commuter before it finally fell to bits.

Interesting. I have what I believe is a mk1 Swift. I tried a3in Knard on a Crest rim anit jammed in the fork. That was a 29in wheel but the fork blades are pretty much parallel. I’m guessing that’s a 27.5 x 2.8?

Lumpy? Really? There’s plenty of climbing and some potentially rapid descents but no rock gardens or unavoidable drops. I’d take a rigid 29er with a 3in tyre up front. Or a cross bike if I was in a hurry.

I’ve just boiled my piss. Meths stove, obvs.

Yup, I have something similar to the Tifosi one and it’s really bulky. No good for carrying by bike. Velosock would be the posh option or just buy a cheap tarp and knock up a custom bag.

As others have said, your hub won’t have been damaged by the buckle and your clicking calliper is much more likely an issue with the rotor or calliper.

If the old hub is any good then I’d just get a new rim. However, it may be with shopping around for a ready-built wheel because the cost of a nice rim and a wheel build won’t be trivial and bargains can be had.

Need to use a genuine Garmin USB cable IME

Jones bars with a Gnarwhal, or whatever it’s called (pointy thing out the front)?

Oh, and we had a close encounter with a white hart and his harem. Spectacular.

Got the train from Dorking to Amberley on Friday morning then rode along the Downs to Hove, with a tailwind at least some of the way. Checked out the stormy sea then had some lunch and fought the headwind along the coast to Ferring before heading inland and off-road to Gumber bothy, where we spent the night. Rode home mainly off road on Saturday, with some wind assistance but through a lot of Wealden clag. About 90 miles all-in.

Woke up on Sunday to a beautiful day for a ride. And no chance of getting one.

I have a Swift with a 2.3 in the back and a 3.0 Knard in the front. I also have a Pickenflick, currently wearing 40c Nanos. If I’m heading out for a long ride that’s mainly off-road on unknown surfaces I’ll take the Swift. If it’s mainly road and I’m confident the off-road will mostly be actual gravel then I’ll take the Pickenflick. You can call either or both of them gravel bikes if you like. Or not. It doesn’t matter. 🙃

I get loads of injuries. I’m probably in A&E once or twice a year.

I’d say most of the 20-odd people I ride with regularly have broken something MTBing. But I haven’t (yet).

Only ever broken my little finger – I shattered two knuckle joints dry skiing.

Skiing has also provided what felt like my nearest-to-death experience, which involved tumbling down steep ice towards the edge of a huge rocky cliff and stopping just in time. 😳

What’s my Pickenflick cost so far?

£100 (first monthly payment of 12) for the bike with Rival 22 hydraulic
£200 for Prime wheels
£55 ish for tyres
£55 for seat post

Linky for seatpost: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-L-Ultra-Light-Titanium-Seatpost-27-2mm-400mm-31-6mm-400mm/302250197067?hash=item465f84004b:m:mOKROyoCN1GguRH38fwJ70Q

Sorry, the stupid software seems to make it impossible to do that neatly on my phone 🙄

I did this a couple of years ago. I took my own bike but my brother hired from a place in Soller. Good service and not too pricey.

We were based outside Pollensa and did the Lighthouse ride, a big inland loop and a few shorter up to the col and back rides.

Riding early morning before the tourist traffic was very much the right thing to do.

It all worked out nicely as a family holiday with biking on the side.

I’ve recently bought a Pickenflick. I Immediately replaced the wheels with Much lighter Prime wheels from Wiggle and some WTB Nanos. Also swapped the seat post for a Chinese Ti one and the bars for Genetic Digest flared drops. It’s great, and a proper bargain.

I was also very tempted by an Arkose 3 but Ti and interest-free credit turned my head.

I’ve a Smuggler, built up carefully for about £2k all in. It’s certainly not heavy and it pedals just fine. Also goes downhill very well.

Bought my first MTB there in 1988. 😟

I have an Exotic carbon flat bar. It is amazing. Incredibly light, I mean really light, sensibly stiff, very comfy and looks great. It was £50ish and I honestly can’t see how it could be improved. Total bargain.

I also have a Knuckleball. It’s good but not as good as the Exotic.

Need to know what you’re going to need from this.

A bag you can easily detach and use independent of the bike?

A bag that will provide some protection for fragile or squishable contents?

Something that will take loads of varying volumes?

Something waterproof?

Lightweight?

As others have said, I’d go second hand but modern. Something a year old will give you way more value than new and won’t be immediately obsolete. You do need to know what you want and be wary of the pitfalls but there are bargains to be had if you’re careful.

I’ve had a Jones bend bar (no loop, same sweep) and now have an Alpkit FMC (same sweep plus loop), which I actually prefer. Not entirely sure why but it’s slightly narrower, which may be it. The On-One bar is from the same catalogue, I believe, but is labelled as 710 rather than the 660 or 680 (forget which) states for the Alpkit bar.

Swept bars of various designs have been around for yonks. These aren’t exact H-bar copies but they are very obviously inspired heavily by them.

I admire Mr Jones’ innovation and I understand that he’s developed a business model that hangs on the perception that he produces ‘premium’ products but I also instinctively dislike the idea of the benefits of innovation being restricted to those few who can afford them.

IANAL but I doubt JJ has a legal case for preventing ‘copies’ of loop bars like this. Given the absurd pricing of the originals (especially in the UK), I’m not sure he has much of a moral case, either. I’m conflicted.

I doubt you’ll notice the difference. I’d ride what’s on there

I’ve got a Dually and a Halo Vapour 50. No complaints about either. The Vapours are good value as a wheel set and I’ve heard good things about the hubs.

I’ve had a few sets of Strokers. The levers di seem to lose their springiness but I’ve still got a set on my station bike that have been doing daily service like this for years. If you’re after premium performance I’d get new brakes; if you just need something to stop your bike then I reckon they’ll be worth a bleed.

You’ll be fine on all the main tracks. Ride west to Newlands corner then back on the far side of the A25 for a nice XC loop

Dune is a good shout

Any hill when I’m struggling to keep up with the group. I can usually enjoy anything as long as I’m setting the pace.

And if they’ve stretched then more tape on the rim might help.

Tried putting a tube in for 24 hours then remove to leave one side seated? to

My Mk1 Stooge. I’d had rigid bikes before (early Rockhopper, more modern Inbreds and a Swift) but that was and still is a completely different kettle of whelks. The combo of great geo and a 29+ front end makes it so much more capable than anything I’d tried before.

Just about everything I’ve ever owned made by Shimano. I have 15-year old cranks, shifters and brakes still working like new and a ton of more recent stuff. Not had any of the calliper problems some have experienced, never worn through a hollowtech crank. Worst issue I have ever had was a freehub that ate itself after a couple of years hard use.

That’s me well and truly jinxed. 🙄

I cut a slot with a hacksaw and used a small screwdriver to extract the bolt. Still perfectly usable afterwards

I hit the smaller Surrey hills jumps and drops fairly happily on my Stooge. A decent transition is more important than the size of the jump but there’s no doubt I find the bigger stuff more intimidating without suspension to soak up a bad landing.

The temptation is to buy lots of stuff and take it all with you. That’s fine but once over the novelty you’ll likely find it’s all about trying to take less.

Planet X had a very cheap bar harness/bag combo that looked like it would be OK for starters. This: https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CCPODHBB/podsacs-waterproof-handlebar-barrel-bag

Wasn’t really serious. 🙂 The Reign is 150mm and came with, I think, 140mm Fox 32s. I swapped them out for a 160mm Wotan then an X-Fusion Vengeance. It is a beast downhill but not the best for flatter, gentler stuff if I’m honest.

Actually, buy my 2008 Reign. It’s still fantastic, I just don’t ride it anymore 🙁