What I would give W3W credit for is sucessfully mainstreaming an app that gives emergency servies a quick (and mostly reliable) location. Yes, previous solutions existed but they also relied on user adoption. If you surveyed the average non-experienced mountaineer I would bet that more have W3W or a similar app now than they did 5/10 years ago. Perhaps it’s less to do with their algorithm and more to do with their marketing but I think the net result has been positive.

It would be useful if there was an inbuilt check where it could automatically detect if one word is entered wrongly. That way, if emergency services didn’t have some other data to immediately flag the error it could still be detected. However, this would obviously reduce the possible permutations and it might have to become What4Words…

Perhaps it’s just me, or pehaps I need to stop crashing so often

Can’t say I’ve noticed a slippage issue. But if you wear them enough the silicon bits fall off after a few months so there’s that… but it doesn’t really affect the performance of the gloves.

I may well be wrong but my understanding was that in 2007 all FC owned and managed land became open access. You cant build / cut stuff down but otherwise its open access unless there’s specific rules in place to say its not. So in essence you can go anywhere you want as long as you’re not being instructed otherwise

Open access land does not give any rights to roam on a bicycle or horse. So technically-speaking you would still be limited to bridleways, byways and permitted paths. In practice though, many unsanctioned paths are de facto tolerated.

Where there is an official trail network and volunteer trail building, off piste stuff is more likely to be frowned upon because it could impact local trail advocacy. If in doubt, contact the local trail association.

There is no one single rule but I don’t think FC will condone any off-piste because it hasn’t been assessed for safety and graded accordingly. FC come up with management plans for individual areas which set out local objectives and this may include supporting recreational access but not at a micro level where individual paths are mapped out and permitted for certain user groups. Some areas are obviously much more sensitive than others, for example where the FC are leasing the land from somebody else or inside SSSIs.

If rangers discover a new path (which also includes wild trails used by animals) they are unlikely to remove it if they are not causing harm. They are may demolish man made features if they are discovered because they cannot accept liability for poorly built jumps/landings. I’m sure there is a certain degree of turning a blind eye because they know completely stopping biking is a fool’s errand. If they really want a trail closed they will make it obvious.

At the end of the day nothing will happen if you get caught, worst case is you get told off. And while I don’t condone riding where you will get told off, it’s often difficult to know in advance.
Providing that you put some thought into where you maybe should and shouldn’t be riding then you’ve put more effort in than most.

Obviously building is a whole other issue and much more frowned upon. I’m sure the official line to that would be “don’t do it”.

Dunno about you but the only way I can contact my local bank is to walk in and speak to someone. Which defeats the point of asking them in the first place does it not?

I would do it providing that the bike is not muddy.

Mine is still going strong 18 months on. No noticable impact on battery life although on full beam it does dim slightly when the device gets hot. The beam is is not focused and you can easily blind drivers if it’s not pointed at a sharp angle towards the floor.

I’m still using the rubber bar mount which does slip on rough trails, I really need to replace it.

Many kits come with a file that you can use to size the hole for a tyre plug but perhaps you just need smaller plugs. You can shake the tyre or use a zip tie as dipstick to see if you have enough sealant left.

Personally I would replace the tyre plug with a patch on the inside when convenient but I wouldn’t necessarily rush do it immediately. A patch on the inside done properly is permanent.

The Everbuild stuff works just fine. £3.50 on ebay.

I don’t have to unweight at all. I am 58kg though so perhaps that works in my favour?

Is the lever itself stiff or does the dropper simply not respond to the actuation?

Finally got an update on day 53 since my order! No, it still hasn’t been dispatched…

I sent an refund request via their web form a few weeks back which was not acknowledged in any way. I’ve previously tried ringing loads and it would just ring endlessly until it gets cut off after about 60 seconds.

Well today I tried ringing again but it didn’t cut off as usual and I was on hold for 5-10 minutes. When they answered they agreed to cancel and refund it immediately. The chap sounded pleasant and offered a quick apology which I can’t really accept but I didn’t give him any grief.

It may be worth a try if anybody else is wanting a refund but had given up wasting their time like me. Or perhaps I was just lucky.

I just don’t get it. It took all of what 30 seconds to cancel my order, if they made the process easier or actually read their emails maybe their comms wouldn’t be so swamped?

I’m considering buying one of the £20 210Nm eBay jobbies. Anyone had any experience with one?

It was accurate for me but I was slap bang in the middle of the medium size bracket so it was difficult for me to go wrong. If you’re in-between sizes your mileage may vary. I suggest you play around with the calculator like I did to see if your measurements are close to the next size up or down.

Not sure about the Neuron but with the Spectral it seems to be better to upsize rather than downsize for the increased reach.

Was it a bonty remote by any chance? I’ve been waiting for mine since 17 May. A saddle I ordered in June came after 2 weeks so the delays are evidently product-dependant.

I’ve emailed them asking them to cancel the order after giving up on phoning them.

Summer Lightning is sanctioned, unlike Redlands, so compromises have to be made when it comes to the features on it. It’s sometimes nice to ride a long, unbroken and waymarked trail that you can follow even if you are unfamiliar with the area. It’s worth doing but you should have realistic expectations.

We’re lucky to have Redlands but they may not exist forever if the FC cracks down on them. There’s a reason why Summer Lightning is ‘fabled’ and Redlands isn’t – they are kept quiet for good reason. I agree though that there are better trails for gravity/downhill riding than SL.

Starveall Corner probably gives you the easiest ride to the top but the others will also suffice.

There is a return route which is waymarked back to the top of the hill. You can take a more direct route along Whiteberry Rd but I’d rather take the gentler climb.

I would just head downhill from the summit northwards to explore some of the off piste stuff, trailforks and strava segments will give you an idea.

My v2.1 oneup has no play or anything like that. I also have an older v1 which works well too. I would happily buy a third.

It’s a pretty big blip. I’m waiting on day 40 now, 1000% longer than they advertised. Just give me an option to cancel the order and I will quit moaning. Should be straightforward when nothing’s been dispatched right?

120ml of 0w-30 for £4 (pre-order; it took 2 weeks for mine to arrive)

TF Tuned recommend/sell 20wt in lieu of 0w-30.

I think anywhere between 3wt – 20wt is good for the oil bath.

Pretty sure that Rockshox oil is a rebrand of this.

OneUp recommend re-greasing the white bushing every 125hrs but that sounds like a long time to me so I do it every 50hrs to line it up with fork servicing.

In addition to the air pressure, some anti-friction compound or carbon assembly grease should help reduce the clamp torque needed to keep the post from rotating.

I’ve only had my v2.1 for 3 months but I’ve ridden it a lot and it’s been perfect. No noises or play. It’s so much better than the brand x model it replaced.

My v1 is 15 months old and is still as reliable as ever. I had a few minor issues with the old actuator but they were easily sorted by playing around with it. It’s also been ridden in some proper filth and I was amazed how clean the seal kept the internals.

I ordered a dropper remote a month ago and it has still not been dispatched. I’ve since put in a second order for a saddle wondering if that would come first.

I’m usually pretty forgiving but their obnoxiously large “WE ARE OPEN, ORDERS WILL BE DELIVERED” banner is a bit of a piss-take. Their 3-4 day dispatch claim was updated 10 days after my order, so that’s just a lie.

Meanwhile I have an open paypal dispute with Cycle Republic. Maybe I should just stick to Wiggle/CRC…

I had 50% success with mine, it’s worth a try in my opinion.

The Vigilante seated fine without sealant and held up fine over time, didn’t lose pressure at all and was ridden pretty hard. No weepage issues at all.

My Trail Boss was impossible to seat, trying all sorts of tricks including inner tubes, compressors, removed valves etc. It think it might have worked with more rim tape but it was my first time going tubeless and I didn’t want the faff.

South Hill Park

Is there a max stay duration? Thanks.

Might be worth getting the kit which includes the preload adjuster itself. It’s good to have a spare anyway as they can crack easily if you over tighten them.

Part no: 11.6418.001.001

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sram-Spare-Bottom-Bracket-Preload-Adjuster-Kit-Dub-/401600722482

I would go medium, this is what Canyon suggest for those measurements.

Anecdotally I’m on a size medium Spectral which is perfect (173cm / 81cm). Other than wheelsize the bikes are built pretty similar.

Still no dispatch 2.5 weeks on. Recieved this email about the website shutting down:

Dear Customer

Thank you for placing an order on cyclerepublic.com.

We are writing to you to let you know that the cyclerepublic.com website is closing and will be unavailable from around 8am on the 8th of June.

We want to assure you that your order, placed before the above date, will be fulfilled in full. For orders placed by account holders information about your order remains viewable here. For any orders placed on a guest account please refer to your order confirmation email.

We would like to assure you that any product warranties or guarantees will be honoured. For more information please visit this page.

Despite what the email may say about fulfilling orders, my faith is beginning to wane.

The outermost and innermost do look worn, you can see the shark fin shape very clearly. Middle sprockets look okay.

If it performs fine with the new chain I would still run it until it starts slipping.

would seem to suggest it is not an obvious case of someone just mowing cyclists down

It never is when the sole witness (presumably) is the driver. Hence the appeal for footage so they can corroborate the driver’s defence.

I’m in the same boat as you.

I ordered a Fabric Scoop saddle on the 17th. 4 day dispatch, 2 day delivery. No dispatch email but my money is resting in their account. I will wait a little more but my bum is not happy about it.

Bonty remote, clamps cable with a grub screw like ZTTO. Bought a second one recently because I was so impressed (for the price).

The packaging is really vague, CB do a 3 and 7 version of the highline with the 7 being far more expensive. Not sure what the difference is. I’m pretty sure this is the 3.

This isn’t the 3 or the 7, both of those are current models. This is the v2 (aka 2018 model) which is why it’s being sold cheap. I nearly went for it until I realised this because I needed the shorter stack height and insertion depth on the Highline 3. Ended up with a OneUp 180mm.

D

If the average infected person infects 0.7-0.9 other people (current R value), think how many surfaces they will have touched, other people they will have been in contact with, household members that they could have infected during the ~2 week infectious period. The chance of that ~1 infection being attributable to a gate I used, as opposed to all the other higher risk situations that they will have put themselves in (grocery shopping), seems exceptionally small to me. I apply similar logic to passing someone closely on singletrack.

They have also removed the old ‘download GPX’ functionality, for non paid members. I’m actually not worried about the KOM and leaderboard nonsense. I don’t tend to trouble much of it and it’s been ruined since ebikes became more prevalent. But the GPX function was useful if you wanted to try a friends route or needed to find a new trail.

I would recommend the chrome extension that lets you do this without subscription.

It’s owned by Forestry Commission and managed in partnership with Hampshire County Council. FC were at one point asking people to stay away from their land (not enforced for obvious reasons) but they changed their tune when the govt said local exercise was allowed.

The blue trail is running great, as others have said the red final descent and the first blue climb are closed. There’s also some forestry work going on at the top near shoot for the trees and a few trails more trails blocked off on Head Down.

It was busy last weekend, the bottom car parks were rammed. It’s a big enough place though so not much of a problem.

So I can now drive to a beach to surf, even though that would be a 400+ mile round trip, as long as I go by myself?

Provided that you use gloves at the petrol station and pay-at-pump then you can drive as far as you like without breaking rule #1 in my opinion. Greta Thunberg may not be impressed but that’s a separate discussion entirely.

How do you find the original debonair model, have you ridden an older model as a comparison.

Sadly I have no fair comparison. I have come from the cheapest air fork available (Suntour XCR Air).

I have the old Debonair in a brand new 2020 Pike Select. I’m guessing that it’s far too early for me to thinking about the 2021 Debonair upgrade now but if anyone has tried both I would be interested in hearing how significant of an improvement it is. I might upgrade when its time for a full service, that is unless someone thinks I need not bother.

Reviews are few and far between currently but from what I’ve seen it would be a beneficial.

Most of the medical evidence and data has not been made public and the average uninformed person has little choice but to take local and national guidance at face value. The official guidance should be respected and if you have reasons to discredit it then you should criticise the central government rather than people who are following that guidance in good faith. Whilst everybody needs to be using their own common sense, it’s also unreasonable to expect people to follow unwritten rules which clearly vary wildly from one person to another, as evidenced by this thread.

As national guidance can only go so far a localised approach should also be taken. For example if the Local Council reopens a car park I will take that as an invitation that driving to that destination is acceptable. I could lawfully drive there on Wednesday but won’t be doing so as that would clearly be flouting the spirit of the partial-lockdown.

I think it matters far more which location you are travelling to, rather than the distance you are travelling. You simply can’t know that someone’s activity has a greater risk of transmission just because they drove 30 miles.