Merry Christmas Bobbi! (Dexter’s not found his festive spirit yet..)

24 mile loop from the front door, green lanes/bridleways. Bit sticky in places. Finished in the dark.

That’s great Seventy! 👍

Ahhhh – but without googling – what is ‘bubblegum’ flavour?

Well, it’s Irn Bru flavour (obvs)!

Lost one outside whilst cleaning the bike. Didn’t notice for a few days, yet managed to locate it almost immediately. Had one ping off in the kitchen whilst servicing- took bloody hours to find! 

Still not quite as infuriating as losing the 3/32″ bb from the detent in the talas selector, only to discover the kitchen floor was littered with similarly sized spherical cake decorations.. (I gave up).

Vis keeping stones / crap off the upper link; I fitted a length of old inner tube over the link, from the back of the seat tube to further down the swing arm/rear triangle. It seems to keep everything out of the nut cracker area.

Whilst we’re on, I also fitted a lower down tube guard originally spec’d for the Kona Process (138, I think, from memory). It’s a self adhesive affair, and fits a treat.

Love mine! Not the lightest, but still a very capable climber. Used for everything from commuting to Cairngorm Munro big days out. I can’t offer much by way of comparison though; this is my first full sus, first 29er! 

Wusthof Classic  fan here! They take and hold a great edge, and assuming you’re very happy with the looks of your original Sabatier, will be very ‘in keeping’.  Good excuse to make yourself a new knife block too! From bottom, 16cm flexible filleting knife, 26cm bakers knife (I bake Fat loaves), 15cm boning knife, 22cm cooks, and a 10.5cm kitchen surfer. Subsequently added 16cm cooks as Daughter wanted something more manageable.

Had them a while now, no issues with loose scales/rivets (or anything else to be fair).

As others have said, Global are also well respected (had a former student who had been a pro chef recommend them, though he also felt there was an element of the VW van ‘brand snobbery’ effect going on there too). Just depends what you want looks-wise eh?

165mm on the full sus, 175mm on my old hardtail (coz that was the done thing back then). Can’t really offer a direct comparison, full sus has 29″ wheels, is 1×12 (32 – 10-51) and probably weighs 2.5 – 3kg more than the HT, which is 26″ wheeled, and running 3×9 gears..

I would like to find an old m770 crankset at 165mm for the HT though; I think my knees would appreciate it.

Nothing like a bit of Dot 5.1 with your walnuts to keep you regular..!

Re-aligned my hanger last weekend- definitely going to put an alignment tool on my Christmas list, bit of a faff using a spare wheel TBH. I think the B screw adjustment is quite particular with the 12 speed stuff too.

Farkle (aka 10,000 – though you can stop at 5000 for instance). All you need is 6 dice, and the scoring (google it). Dunno how old your kids are, but my two loved it when they were younger, as they got to swear whenever I failed to score (Dad, you got  f*** all..!).

@Brant, so where’s the ‘drop’ normally measured from then? Only asking as I’d never seen two separate figures quoted before.  If the bike had Ohlins vs Lyriks the different axle to crown would skew those numbers anyway, wouldn’t it? 

@sharkattack, agreed, looks great! Just curious about the numbers..

I made a set of Boxwood dice (for playing Farkle), and a little dovetailled box to keep them in.

@daffy, shouldn’t do. Washing in a dish washer will (chemically) un-sharpen knives really quickly though. 

I made one ages ago, then had to modify it when my daughter decided we needed a 6″ cooks knife that she could manage. Had to route the top out of the centre section, and make a new tier, which is why the black walnut sides don’t go all the way up.

Not sure how well the alloy tube will stand up if it’s soft enough to drive the bearings into? Maybe just set the bearings into the headstock using JB Weld – but either way, add a length of tube between the bearings (same OD as the inner race) so you can tighten up the yoke bolt properly.

(Apologies if this old news/granny sucking eggs etc).

I got a Tacx Bluematic (wheel on, dumb trainer) for £20 – it took half an hour to fix the busted selector lever. Use a spare wheel (cheap, unless you want to shell out for a decent one you could ride off road with should the need arise), fitted with a schwalbe marathon. Probably noisier than a wheel off model, but a fraction of the price, and it folds up pretty small to boot.

Cheers for the responses! I cut my plan short & ended up doing Sgor Gaoith again this summer; had hoped to follow the corrie around and get across to Braeriach, but hadn’t figured how long it would take me to get over to the Feshie from Inveruglas. Was unfortunately ‘on the clock’ as had to pick up the family later in the day. Came down via the path that starts in the dip between Sgor and Carn Ban mor. There’s some big holes in the peat further down eh?

That ‘classic’ ascent looks much better, from a lack of steps/water bars point of view. They’re what always sees me pushing! Will try that next time for sure.

Apologies for the slight threadjack, but you’re probably the folks to ask; In heading up toward Carn Ban Mor I’ve used the path from Achlean a few times, but I end up pushing a good chunk of it. So the question is, would the track that leaves the Feshie opposite the Carnachuin Memorial be a more rideable route? I seem to remember there was a ‘landrover track’ mentioned in a conversation a good while back, perhaps that’s it? Trying to avoid bog snorkelling if possible.

I’d like to keep north of Tom Dubh once I get up there, and head north east for Braeriach.

Only shave once a week (Probably still looks like some guys ‘5 o’clock shadow’). Can’t honestly remember the last time I bought a razor, though in hindsight, I probably have sharper edge tools at work than I do in my bog bag..

Movemember? Yeah righto, more chance of flying to the moon.

Might be further than you’re looking for, but we’ve stayed at Tigh an Each near Laggan in just such a pod. Own cooking facilities / toilet / shower / bit of decking to sit out on, with a double & three bunks in the back. Not the cheapest, but a great view. Plus it’s just up the road from Laggan Wolftrax. No easy pub though, on the downside. They do B&B too, and she’ll cook you a breakfast roll in the mornings & bring it to the pod.

@midlifecrashes – same here! 5 speed racer (downtube friction shifter obvs),  cow horns and a set of knobblies. There only seemed to be one ‘off road’ tyre option then, a skinny affair with tread akin to a maxxis medusa. Loved that bike.

I helped one of our students build a wooden bike a few years back, it was essentially two identical laminations in ash, for the main frame elements, with some custom dropouts. We re-used the seat tube/bb and modified a headtube to bring it all together. A similar approach, possibly just using the upper frame element might make a super balance bike.

Cheers @crosshair, I thought that might be the case! 

Wheel-on trainer, and a spare wheel/schwalbe marathon on my hardtail. Dug it out again a few weeks back, to try and build some base fitness. Can’t do any zone 2 outdoors round here, it’s too hilly. Tried zwift for the first time recently, not sure it’s for me.

With regards to decoupling, presumably I couldn’t measure that as I don’t have a power meter? Or is there some mathematical alchemy that coughs up a useful number?

I’ve been trying to do a couple of hours a week (time poor, generally) at zone 2, though strayed slightly over (Ave HR was 117, my max z2 116). 30 miles in 2hrs 7mins. Would it be worth stopping the ride at the end of hour one, then recording hour two, to get some comparison, or am I overthinkng it?

It (Tally Ho!) is a great project. If you’re interested in learning the craft, why not check out the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis? They offer both week-long short courses, and a full time 40hrs a week for 40 weeks ‘long course’, for which bursary funding may be available. Plenty of places available for the next intake in February.. (apologies for the shameless plug, but my kids need shoes). 

1. @scienceofficer, it doesn’t feel much different to be fair. It’s running 170mm up front, with a -1 degree angleset, so more stable on the steeps, but still climbs like the proverbial goat. @noeffsgiven, clear all round at both limits of travel. The only complication was changing to a lighter spring (lost 7kg). Went for a 425-500 progressive, which is available in 55 or 65mm options. Chose the 65, thinking it was closest to my 63mm stroke shock. It was a good inch too long (free length). The 55mm option sorted it, and no, it doesn’t bind up at full travel. Dunno how their sizing works mind you..

Wot they said, vis the not quite truly linear nature of the rear geo. But working well on my (theoretical/hypothetical, honest) Ripmo AF, with Jade X. Swapped the 210 x 55 shock for a 216×63 (using one 2mm offset Bush to reduce eye to eye length to 214mm). Travel now bumped from 147 to c.170mm, with a moderate but useful gain in BB height too. Re-used the original 500# x 2.5″ LS coil.

Looks mint, but I’d be worried about tyre clearance to the rear of the seat tube, never mind the width. Perhaps its an optical delusion.

DT Swiss rims seem pretty indestructible. Running EX511 front & rear and they’ve both survived the Cairngorms / Golfie /sharp pointy bits of France, despite my healthy lack of ability. Built them up with 240 hubs just to see what all the fuss was about (have previous as a Hope Fanbuoy). Have to say I like them, but would be more than happy on a Hope hub. I’m still running a Pro 2 / Stans Crest wheelset on the hardtail – but re-spoked them a good while back with DT Swiss comp spokes, as the original Sapim ones started breaking. Should add, I’m running the lightweight XC cushcore in the 511’s.

Got a Nissan Note for my mother earlier this year – cracking little motor  (1.6 petrol auto). On the plus side, it’s about 8″ shorter than her old Corolla, and has reversing sensors to boot!

Got about 4000 miles on my Pro 2 evo’s – the last 750 using 2 pawl 48 point engagement. Not bust a thing yet. (‘course, I’ve said it now..).

If it’s any consolation the RSP dropper I bought recently has a cable that’s about 4″ shorter than it ought to be. And the remote lever design blows goats..

More or less same size as 1 1/8th” – perhaps that would be easier to find. :wink:

Not been off-road for three months following injury – so I feel like I’m starting from scratch again! Hope to build back up to some semblance of fitness (did 21 miles on the road the other day and it nearly finished me off). Resolution is to not have another major OTB ! Happy new year all.