I made the same transition to flats this summer AFTER a weekend in Morzine 🙄 – that week basically proved to me that i should give it a go.

First ride was absolutely horrible. I couldn’t even pedal. Kept lifting my feet off the pedals at the top of the pedal stroke. Couldn’t get my feet in the right position at all. First small air – feet completely left the pedals and nearly wiped out.

Since then every ride has got better and better and now i love them and would struggle to go back unless i was doing a XC ride (which i don’t often do). I’m now attempting more and more really technical descent obstacles as i know i can dab easily.

As for climbing, that took a bit of getting used to, but i think I’ve now adapted my pedal stroke to where it needs to be (feels right to me anyway). I’m one of the fittest in the groups i ride with (not a high standard though) so even though I’m probably not as quick up the way as i would be with clipless I’m still at or near the front. Means I’ve got slightly less time waiting on the others and getting cold!

I’ve got DMR Vaults and Five Ten Sam Hill Impact VXi shoes. Neither are cheap, but reviews of the pedals are generally very good and the shoes are insanely sticky and probably the most comfortable cycling shoes I’ve ever had. Not sure about why post above says they are rubbish in the winter – i find them nice and warm. They do take a while to dry out but for me that’s not a huge concern.

Go for it! And get a skills day too. If you don’t like them you can always sell them on to minimise cost impact.

We did the full black at the weekend. Quite a few bits where you have to bike a hike over tree felling areas but nothing too difficult. Closures on the red were worse.

I live on South East outskirts of Glasgow and love it.

IMHO it just gets the usual “big” city nonsense but has all the right positives going for it.
Its a bit of a cultural gem now (granted a way behind Edinburgh still) but has so many things going on its hard to keep track.
If you do wintersports – Glencoe an hour and a half drive away, Fort Bill just over two hours and Aviemore under 3 (to name just a few).
MTB – 7 stanes (for example) all within 2.5 hours max and most a good bit closer than that (~1hour ish). Also lots of natural riding to be had within an hour of Glasgow. City also has commonwealth MTB circuit which is ok for a midweek blast in the evening.
Lots of good airport links to further afield for holidays / biking abroad.
Easy to get back to Brum when required.

Me too. Ordered new rims on the Monday morning and they were there next day. Perfect!

Bump!

A wee update. Car problems meant my budget got cut massively so ened up with a set of Mach 1 820 wheels with shimano hubs from On One. At £75 (half-price) then i thought they’d be worth a punt even if the only last the winter.

You won’t add 100% of the cost to the value unless you get Sarah Beeny in to do it and make it from brick effect cardboard and no-one notices.

My general feeling is that if you are staying for say 10 years , then do it. Otherwise move.

Curve ball…..

What about waiting for the Microsoft Band or Fitbit Surge….? Both will have GPS and heart rate monitor and will be worn like a watch. Not sure if the GPS function will enable export into programs than the ones listed in the launch details or not but worth finding out more.

I don’t know if these will be in anyway better or not, just putting the option out there…

http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-band/en-us
https://www.fitbit.com/surge

If no traffic problems then an hour is enough, but at that time it’ll be busy and a single bump can cause long tailbacks. I’d say your 4.30pm start is perfect as if no traffic issues it’ll give plenty of time for a wee beverage and a look around the shops in Edinburgh Airport which these days are not too bad.

Bump…..

I can’t actually remember but i’d have thought it was obvious from the writing as you’ll be able to read vault when on the bike and its not upside down….

My 2 year old spotted an elderly gentleman on a mobility scooter coming towards him on the pavement. He waits until said gentleman is right beside us and then shouts at the top of his voice “LAWNMOWER!!!!”…

Agencies (in oil and gas) either work on a fixed commission per hire from the end company or get a percentage of the rate x hours worked.
The former means that the agent is not likely to push for a good rate, rather they will just get a rate that gets you in the door, no matter what that is.
The latter means that the agent will be pushing for the maximum rate possible for you as it means more money for them too.
The negotiation phase goes something like this for us… We tell the agent what we were getting in our last job (artistic licence, within reason, is allowed as long as it can’t come back and bite you on the arse) and say we’d be looking to better that as a starting point (all other things being equal). Things tend to go from there….
That obviously only works if you are in work and not desperate….

Hans Dampf Pace on rear Magic Mary Trailstar front, both from supergravity serie and you are good to go.

+1. Used these in the mud in Morzine and worked well.

I’ve a 330d touring. Around town, its as fast as my old E92 M3 was (in real world terms anyway but thats probably due to current being an auto and the M3 was a manual).

How fast does it need to be, around town?
Hence the “real world terms”…. And where I live the motorway is also bang in the middle of town so as fast as any other road I guess. I’m now annoyed I wasted 30 secs of my life answering you. 😯

I’ve a 330d touring. Around town, its as fast as my old E92 M3 was (in real world terms anyway but thats probably due to current being an auto and the M3 was a manual).
It has an electric towbar that appears from under the car at the push of a button and hides away when not required. Also, the tailgate window can open independently of the tailgate itself and means i can get easy quick access to the boot when using the towbar bike rack without having to tip the rack and any bikes on it out of the way before opening the boot.
In terms of a car that ticks all (of my) boxes for a family wagon and a biking wagon i can’t think of a better option.

If i was going for something cheaper then I’d go for a Legacy wagon….

Yes, should’ve taken the lane. I’m certainly not consistent in doing this (I guess I only take the lane when there is traffic around) so it’s definitely a learning point for me.
Bizarrely a bird shat on my handlebars about 5 minutes beforehand. I remember thinking that a bird crapping on you is meant to be good luck…

somouk said » Not sure what the driver did wrong really…

Really? For him to pass me with only a few inches to spare on either side at excessive speed was ok? 😯
I hope you don’t have a driving licence.
As for the speed thing, I actually thought he was going faster than that but I agree that the estimation of speed from a stationary position is usually overestimated so i cut it down. The fact is that even if he had been doing 20 mph, there just wasn’t the space available for the manoeuvre he pulled.

13 of us staying and starting from Morzine on the Saturday. Heading over to Les Gets on Sunday. Arrive at lunchtime on the Friday and leave late on the Monday so more riding both of those days too. Cannae wait!

razorrazoo – thats pretty much exactly the same positions as my tear earlier in the week…..

So, plumped for a Magic Mary up front and a hans dampf rear, both super gravity versions…. Will revert with verdict in due course. Incidentally, managed to puncture my rear NN last night. Running tubeless and hit a sharp stone/rock and went straight through and caused a tear about an inch long. So that’s one in the bin….

Considering what to replace it with for normal trail riding. Maxxis High Roller II EXO anyone? Or is that too much for normal trail centre riding? Would buy a 2.4 for the front and move the front NN to the rear…

Not a lot of love for NNs here…. I had the “normal” evo version previously and the sidewalls were like paper. This time I went for the snakeskin version and much, much better. Have also had the double defence version previously.
As for grip, i find them ok, but tbh I haven’t tried many alternatives so I’m prepared to stand corrected…. One thing i will say is that the first thing to go is the front end when going round corners so maybe the haters have a good point!

@jambalaya – Staying in Morzine so starting there. Will see if we can get round to Linderets or Chatel Bike Park then. First time riding in the Alps so all new to me!

Excellent. Normal lid it is. Now I’ve made that decision I may as well get used to the fact that I’m guaranteed to faceplant now… Watch this space for pics! 😉

Obviously a full face will pay for itself come the first face plant…. I’m no downhiller by any means but I’m not adverse to giving it full beans when required…
Its for the full 80km single day event so its mostly downhill. Thinking a fullface may be worth the investment as I’m sure we’ll be back afterwards!

Cheers for the help folks. Pair of pliers to turn the internals and line up the notches and groves properly and job done.

Cheers folks. I know that the 13 pin end twists into the socket on the car (I’ve got a towball bike carrier), its just that i can’t get it to work.
So does the internal part of the adaptor spin in its housing to allow you to line up the notches? I’ve had a good play around with it and can’t seem to get it to budge…. Don;t want to force it too much in case I’m trying to move it in a way it shouldn’t be moved!

I’d speak to the surveyors and find out if the movement in the house is thought to be recent or not. If it’s thought to be a recent problem then I’d walk away regardless of the costs. It could cost a lot more in the long run even if you managed to complete the purchase as any further movement would likely make it unsellable in the future. In my experience, if it’s long-standing and not significant (the survey report should say this) then lenders tend to be okay about it, especially in older houses as it’s pretty normal. All of my previous houses and our current house (all 110+ years old) have been like this.
Wait and see what the surveyor says (if you can chat with him) or what the report says to be sure but given they’ve asked for a structural survey it sounds like there may be either recent or significant movement.

Alternatively it may be minimal and the bank is just covering its back (surveyor *may* be in a position to tell you this) in which case you’ll be as well to get the survey done on the assumption that it’ll be okay…

Should’ve said – Glentress isn’t too far from Grangemouth /Falkirk although if trail centres are not your thing then i’m sure someone will be along soon to suggest some local routes…

I’ve done both Mabie and Ae in the last couple of weeks. Very different from each other. Mabie has a lot of more natural trails (roots/rocks etc) although still has some good man made sections too.

I found most of Ae a bit dull as a lot of the trail is new so a bit smooth for my liking. On the plus side Omega Man was excellent. If you like table tops and big air then the last part of Ae is great.

My favourite of of the two is Mabie. If you have the time then I’d recommend heading over to Kirroughtree – one of my favourite trails anywhere.

Sounds to me like a bad case of denial too. Happened to me and it got to the stage where I didn’t even enjoy the event I was training for. Afterwards I took about a week off the bike and the next weekend I was fighting fit again. Was kicking myself that I hadn’t done it before the event and reaped the benefits.
As others have said, 1 week off won’t make a difference. If you do lose top end power then it’s no big deal – you’ll be in a far worse position than that if you keep going the way you are going.
Finally, if you are not concentrating then you could do yourself a mischief (probably by an easily avoidable accident caused by lack of focus) and end up missing the event or worse.

Take a break.

Invisiframe now do a kit for Pikes…..

Yes, couple of laps of Cathkin Braes. Bit windy (and hence cold to start with) but otherwise perfect!

A company providing one of these ‘copters for this very function was recently on kick starter. Looked very very good and they smashed their target a zillions times. Think they got near a million dollars when they were looking for something like 35 grand…. It was called Pocket Drone.

D’oh! Just spotted HandyAndys post above….

Here’s the picture that was used…..(still available on Findthatbike despite ebay listing being removed.

Sorry dudes, its been removed from Ebay (it was listing 251475373511) so the link directs you elsewhere now. The Granary Cycles bike is not dodgy at all!
I got my daily email from findthatbike.co.uk today and there was a link to a Bronson in Bristol that looked suspect and I had posted the link to that…. Now its gone. Description had “bought this from a friend in July 2013 so cannot provide receipt…” and other dodgy statements.

###MODS### – can someone delete my original link please?

Silver cranks only here but that’s because I thOught black cranks would scuff and look rubbish….

Looks like they hail from somewhere Miles Better; I thought only Slightly Superior folk went to GT

Definitely not from Glasgow with those accents. More like Whitburn/Bathgate area….

I’ve got a 2008 (I think) badboy 700 medium frame size. I’m also 5’10” and I think it’s on the small side…

160s leading the race for now. Think that bit extra would be welcomed when in the Alps or the half-arsed downhill I sometimes do. And I probably won’t really notice the extra on climbs and can increase sag if I want them to feel like 150s or even make the permanent mod to go that way…..
Cheers folks!