This thread is not helpful for me.
My thoughts this morning went: I don’t spend much on cars, so actually I will just blast £80 on a new saddle I like the look of on the off chance it’s better than my current model.

jab me up

That hipster banana mount puts me right off.

It depends on wheel size. A good starting point with 26″ wheels is a 2:1 ratio, so 32t:16t.
My 29er runs 34t:18t.

Anything in this ballpark will be OK to get going with. The thing about singlespeed is you’re in the wrong gear 90% of the time anyway so it doesn’t really matter. It takes a while to build up your legs and there’s certainly no shame in walking occasionally.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I watched a BBC programme on Mad Cow Disease a year or two ago. I was a bit young at the time of the scandal but I found that programme quite shocking and it made me reassess my diet quantity/quality significantly.

I had a fire once. I was sleeping in the bottom of an old quarry and at dusk I saw a fox sneaking around. I was just in a bivvy bag and didn’t fancy the thought of it sniffing around my face once I closed my eyes so I hit on the idea of having a little fire. It was a gravelly area with no scrubland or other flammables so I was quite happy with its containment. However I did quickly regret it because the column of smoke was so visible from the nearby village and coast path and I didn’t want to advertise my presence. Anyway I burnt it down after an hour or so and didn’t have any fox interaction. I’m unlikely to have another one.

For a quick simple one nighter I go with
sleeping bag, bivvy bag, blow up mat
warm jacket, trousers, hat
micro stove, coffee, mug, instant porridge, water, hip flask, cereal bars
head torch, toothbrush, basic bike stuff (multitool, puncture etc)
Strapped in a mix up of big saddle bag, roll strapped to the bars, medium sized rucksack.

I was looking at their bib shorts, about to hit buy, and then the reviews of semi-transparency* put me off…

I’ve a pair, good and comfortable. No more transparent than any other black lycra bibs I wear.

I had a DMR Sidekick in 2002.

I’ve been through a lot of bikes, but now I have an order in for a Stif Squatch.

Some similarity!

Drenched
Tedium
Weekend

I’ve always wondered about a static bike linked to a generator to power the TV. Sub-conscious exercise instead of lying out on the sofa night after night. I’ve been to a couple of pedal powered cinemas over the years (groovy movie at glastonbury festival for example), where a rack of 4-8 bikes have to keep pedalling at a reasonable rate or the power dips. Great idea. I looked into it once and there seemed to be a few home-made/bodges about.

I run a Exotic Monocoque Boost fork. I think it looks lovely. I’ve been riding it for a year and it’s been fine.

Good on you for making a change.
Get out for a ride and we’ll see you again another time.

Some of these posts will not get out of my head.

I assume you are talking about wistmans wood? The most overrated but of Dartmoor.

I like Wistmans. Anyway reports suggest the fire’s much further west.

Unrelated, but I’ve been learning the guitar this year. Totally different brain engagement from looking at screens, rewarding, and a guitar is cheapish.

I must say TiRed, thank you for your posts on here. I find them most interesting.

Alternative – the Jam Jar amp.
Video

I’ve just ordered a Jam Jar, should be novel.

I like the look of their mitts, but I don’t think I’d use them enough.

I like the night photos!

That’s great.

A few years ago I took the same photo every day I rode to work (about twice a week at that time). It gave a moment to pause and contemplate the day and the changing seasons.

I prefer a big collage to a video.

View post on imgur.com

Nice one. I like Cranked, great magazine.

Was pointed out to me the other day, If you want a Brian Curtis brazed frame, get in quick. He’s 79…

Yeah I saw this, I was given the impression he’s already sharing some of the brazing workload.

You may be right actually, mullet bikes should keep 27.5 in business for some time to come. Good news.
I wonder what the lead time is, might have to start getting some finances together.

I always use Paisley Freight. £28.

I don’t like change. Also I’m colour blind. Nevermind.
Requesting donations seems reasonable to me, as long as it’s not pushy. Most businesses are having to adapt at the moment and if their customers value them they may wish to help out.

I’ve found this formula can give a useful starting indication of bike value, if the bike is used but in looked after condition:

50% off in the first year, then 10% off every year thereafter.

It’s always less than you think!

I get a cardboard bike box from a friendly LBS and advertise on STW. I’ll use Facebook groups and Ebay only when I’m getting desperate. Paisley Freight ship for £27.

I think brown is the accepted best for the woods.
Personally I would avoid reactive lenses – they take too long to change (the ones I had took over a minute, which is really no good if you’re on a trail in and out of the trees).
https://www.sportrx.com/blog/mountain-biking-lens-color-buyers-guide/#

This is annoying.
I really don’t care about segments and leaderboards, but what I do use all the time is the route planner – it just works much better than alternatives I’ve found. I’m not going to pay for it though.
What do you guys use for route planning options? I use it for both on and off road.

I’m 6’1 and on a XL. I’m right between L/XL sizes on the geometry and I spent a long time comparing measurements with other similar XC hardtails and their recommended height ranges. I went XL because my torso is longer than my legs, and I built the bike for fast long distance rolling so felt bigger was better.
It fits me fine but personally I wouldn’t want to be any shorter on it. But I am used to bouncy 27.5ers so it was always going to feel quite different.

Yep, getting the bivvy bags out in the garden with my little boy tonight. Also I made a little campfire in a flowerbed earlier for the purposes of marshmallow toasting, I had it on an old plank and had a watering can to keep it carefully contained. Wife was a little bemused.

Yeah I liked it. A bit Australian though! Those trousers looked like they were chafing.

I’ve been re-reading some of the old mags recently. I have been trying to fill spare minutes of time with something more rewarding than scrolling mindlessly through my phone. I have about eight years of them.

It’s really very interesting reading the old reviews and looking at the cutting edge steep angled 26″ers. Some the old articles I don’t find so engaging on re-read, but some of them are timeless, as relevant as when they were published, and as so much time has passed it’s like I’m reading them for the first time. It’s worth a flick through even just for the photos.

My copy always takes an extra day or two to arrive, slower post down here.

I have a set, only a handful of rides old but very happy with them.

The BBC suggest coffee prices are about to shoot up due to increased movement restrictions in South America – better sign up now!

I’ve wondered about their background before, difficult to find any info. Obviously a small British based frame building outfit using mostly Reynolds 853.

I have a life for sale in the classifieds, in case anybody would like to make me an offer.

https://singletrackworld.com/classifieds/advert/sanderson-life-classic-steel-hardtail-currently-single-speed/

Yep, I can’t comment or get to a contact for anything on the classifieds.

It’s still there for me.
Zoom in a bit more?

I can’t visit the homepage, it auto links me to a blank profile page?