Less clutter on the bars!

I just wear a t-shirt.

Ah I missed the bit about it being a BMX track. In which case maybe a 24″ would be ideal, snappier than a 26″ but not as tiny as a BMX. DMR do one for about £320 new which looks reasonable.

That looks like a bargain.

I jump on a 26″ DMR Trailstar I picked up in the classifieds. As you say I find a 26″ a better bet than a 24″ because of the similarities with my main mountain bike, and the tranferable spares is a bonus. It’s a short frame but is ideal for getting the front end up and general maneuverability, it’s not as if your doing long miles on it. Start cheap and see how you go with it.

Until that front flip which was most excellent.

Indeed.

Give it a good rinse with boiling water and lemon juice.

The wife has been looking for a while now, but finally at the weekend ordered an On One Inbred build in XS (14″). She’s 5’2. Not much selection of womens bikes around the £800 mark, and the ones that we could find she didn’t like – below spec parts and pink graphics. Will cut the bars down a little and get a womens saddle and it should be ideal.

It’s just down the road. Best to park at Lanhydrock because it’s free, although then it’s a bit of a road climb back to the car which can be hard work if you’ve done a couple of laps of Cardinham. Strava suggests Cardinham’s about 10km, Lanhydrock’s about 10km, and it’s about 5km between them, just follow the road.

Cardinham is a worthwhile afternoon, manufactured trails which are good fun. It’s about two miles downhill from Lanhydrock which opened some trails about a month ago. Lanhydrock is more family orientated with some easily rideable stuff which still manages to be entertaining at speed. I’d start at Lanhydrock with the kids, then maybe graduate to Cardinham.

There’s also plenty of natural trial riding about the place, although I’m not too sure of any routes around Polzeath area.

I’m after a nice used 26″ wheeled jump bike for about £200. Doesn’t sound much but I don’t know how much I’ll use it and I don’t want to spend more than that for it to sit in the garage. Jump bikes are always better after a few beatings anyway right?!

Hilarious thread :-)

Or, enjoy your bike in the now and cut it down properly so it doesn’t look ugly.

This.

I like to keep track of new products and what’s happening in the industry, but I also read for inspiration and enjoyment. If I want to know about the latest gear reviews I look at MBR, if I want a read I look at Singletrack. I’m a hardtail, steel, 26″ sort of guy though so I do find most new product reviews pretty irrelevant to me.

I believe the M615 has a BH90 hose. But that is based on what I read on a forum yesterday.

I do like Cannock, only been there twice but definitely a good way to spend a day. Went round last autumn with some extended family on a collection of 90s bikes dragged straight out the shed with an assortment of bar ends and panniers. A few strange looks but everyone had a great time!

Swapping tyres at 6am? Blimey, I switch them less often than the seasons. I tend to almost forget my helmet if it’s the morning.

Try this?

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/%5B/url%5D

EDIT: Ah sorry, already posted. I should have read the thread :roll:

Continental Gatorskins. Pretty rigid but pretty puncture proof.

Ideal, thanks guys. I’ll start by chucking in some more sealent and hope for the best.

I have a little scratch line where the tips of the levers cross the top tube on my hardtail. It’s no big deal though, the bike’s not x-up friendly since I fitted some wider bars anyway.

Looked at a Charge Plug?

Halfords was the only place I could find. I bought some tools.

I live in hilly Cornwall, and I went singlespeed last month on my road commuter. It’s a 42-16. I love the quietness and simplicity.

I find most hills are surprisingly managable, I get some momentum going on the approach and just charge up them. I spin out quickly on long steady descents and now get overtaken by other cyclists on the flats, but I have yet to be beaten by a hill – although I’m building some significant leg and arm muscles from heaving on the bars!

Gritting your teeth on the steep bits and charging up is compulsory. If I’m weakening I tend to remember that the Tour de France was ridden singlespeed until 1937 – imagine racing up the Alps with no gears!

Remember there are actually three gears – pedalling sitting down, pedalling standing up, and getting off and walking…

I can manage 24hrs of patience, I wouldn’t have had a chance to look at it yet anyway!

Grew up riding BMX, then got a job when I was about 16 and saved up and bought and built up a Mission aluminium trials frame. It was the late 90s and the street trials scene was just taking off. After a couple of years of front hops and static drops I went to uni and met a guy with a Curtis, I swapped the Mission for a DMR Sidekick and we started dirt jumping and general downhill ragging. A further few years passed and I moved away from my riding friends, the DMR was a bit neglected because of beer/girls/cars, and then I moved to Australia and sold the bike. I do miss that bike. Anyway, back in 2009 I was back in this country, bought a road bike for fitness and did a couple of years on it. One day last year my wife pulled her old Klein out the garage (unridden for years) and came back from an off road blast covered in mud and with a huge grin on her face. That very afternoon I went to the LBS, worked through all this new 29″/650b confusion, pulled out the credit card and bought a 26″ steel Sanderson Life build. Rode it straight out the shop in the pouring rain with a huge grin on my face. I’m glad I’m back.

Not yet

This has inspired me to ride in tomorrow. I’m a summer commuter generally, dark and wet busy lanes I find more pleasant in the car. Well actually it’s more the thought of it beforehand and getting changed at the office once arrived which are the pain.

Can’t get the URL to work properly from my phone, sorry!

Similar thing mentioned a week or so ago.

I don’t have a dropper, although I have considered one. I run my seat at a middling sort of height, high enough to get some leg extension when pedalling and low enough to avoid getting it in the balls if I grab some air. It’s on an allen key clamp, so I never move it. Although I could increase my pedalling efficiency with a dropper, I prefer keeping things simple (on a hardtail) and have no problems keeping pace with anybody I’m riding with.

Also The Hut (as suggested by Longmover) for a more varied menu. Should just be able to walk in there.

The Wheelhouse for freshly landed seafood, best place in town. Tiny place like somebody’s front room. It’s seafood only (crab, mussels, scallops etc) and chips and wine. Need to book probably a week in advance for half term. Well worth it.

Falmouth Cycles. Always helpful, good variety (seem a bit less tied to specific brands of bike than the other two local shops), and they’ve done me some good deals.

I’d quite like a nice simple titanium hardtail.

Up until 1937 they used to race the Tour de France on single speeds – if they could hammer up the Alps then the rest of us can grit our teeth and climb a few mild hills!

http://hizokucycles.bigcartel.com/single-speed-history

I’ve got some new 2009 Crosstrails (lying around the LBS for a couple of years) with QR and also noticed the rear wheel working loose during rides. I replaced the Mavic skewer with a Hope one and it seems to have solved the problem – for the moment anyway. I think the suspected play in the axle was actually the skewer loosening.

They’ve named him now.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10947636.Missing_bike_mystery__Falmouth_man_found_dead_at_Carharrack_mine_works_is_named__UPDATE/?ref=mr

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Police-believe-man-dead-near-Carharrack-Falmouth/story-20467301-detail/story.html#axzz2qwVqFo66

Update.