@bikewhisperer tried reproofing them? I swear by this for all my gear that starts to age a bit.

Have purchased the cables already so I’ll take them anyway. People I’m riding with are on the lesser side of prepared so it won’t hurt to carry them like most have said.

Have added spoke to checklist too. Tyres are nearly new and tubeless (taking spare inner tubes too though). So are wheels. Already take shock pump, spare mech hanger and tyre boots with me on longer rides anyway.

Really grateful for all the advice and some interesting points in there. Thank you!

@Northwind feather :)

Cheers for the responses. I will add spokes to the list of things to take too!

@mikewsmith Going to Spain. Trevelez to be specific if you know where that is?

Have a Scott Speed Saddle on the road bike. Hated it in the first month, but I was too poor to replace it. Now I love it.

Got a Selle Italia SE on the MTB. Love that too.

Seems like I have a very accommodating bottom (ooh Matron!).

I have some Sportful No-rains. They seem ok. Use waterproof shorts as well so they’re a bit redundant. Bibs are pretty much bone dry at the end of the ride. Even over the 3 rides I did in the rain in the last 5 days.

Once I wreck a pair of bibs I may try washing them with some Nik Wax and see how they hold up in the rain. Maybe worth a punt if you’re undecided? You can always use the Nik Wax to wash your raincoats.

Even if they were decent the loud branding would put me off.

I love my Sennheiser HD215s and they’ve lasted me over 5 years now and still going strong. Isolation and sound quality is great and so is the price.

What a bunch of NIMBYs.

Longest without a drink for me was 7 months. It felt great.

Will give going teetotal a shot if I become a parent I reckon. At a stage in my life where I don’t feel like I need a drink to relax or take the edge off a bad day.

Got some on my bike, but they came with some really shite OEM type levers. Managed to bang them into a tree stump and replaced them with the “proper” ones which feel way better.

Cannot fault the braking though. Have used them in all conditions and they have been great.

Mate sold his SX Trail to a guy in Romania once. Bloke arranged a “courier” for it which was basically him and a mate who came over to the UK to pack it up and take it back in a plane.

Thought that was a bit nuts.

Those days when the trails are dry are amazing. You get that “on holiday” sort of feeling.

The muddy days feel good, but more in an “I’ve put a good shift in today” sort of way. Does that make sense to anyone or is it just me?

Went for my first off road ride in 6 weeks 2 weeks ago and was honestly thinking about packing it in because I was wheezing like a geriatric. Decided to carry on and felt fine by the end.

Some days your head’s just not in it. Some people can overcome it, some can’t. Nothing wrong with giving up sometimes.

If it could be health related and this is completely out of the blue then tell him not to **** about and go see a doctor.

What is a dry trail?

Have you called Cullen?. I had great service from them when I found my bike with the rear deraileur hanger broken on delivery. They sorted me out toot sweet.

Contact details:

Cullen Ward – Canyon UK

Tel: 020 8501 2582 ,
Hours: Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm
Email: uk@canyon.com
Web: http://www.canyon.com/_uk

AndyP, I too am sick of the casual exploitation of man nipples on television and in print. How will you convince the media to rid itself of this prejudice?

**** me, some people are really into their coffee!

I’d have asked them to line it up if I’d spotted it in the shop.

You could still ring them up and ask if they would.

You don’t ask you don’t get.

Cheers! Some great advice there. Currently live West London way.

No rush to buy, just sick of paying London rents, driving and taking the train to the trails and want somewhere I can move to and make into a home, have a dog and family (in that order). Around September next year will be the time by when I’ll have my deposit ready.

Cheers. Found someone on eBay selling 3/4 x 1 inch magnets that look like the ticket so going to give them a go first.

Used the Chainbrite stuff that came with it and now onto Pedro’s Oranje degreaser. Will go to the Green Oil stuff afterwards as Pedro’s isn’t biodegradable.

4 working days. Thankfully the DPD guy left them with the neighbour.

Yes, I’d certainly consider part driving and part cycling but I despise those folding bikes people use for the purpose. Could do it if I had to I guess.

@aP good to hear from you! Yes, I did think about how it would be pretty tiring. Still, if I can work from home then that’ll take care of how much it takes out of me hopefully.

Based on all the info it looks like round Bracknell is the best place for us.

Thanks for all your input people. It has been very useful and some excellent points raised that I’d not considered at all. I’m very grateful for your time. Happy trails and all that! :)

Quick hour’s blast around Swinley and it was grand. Hopefully more of the same next week!

Main reasons for avoiding public transport are cost and how unpredictable it seems to be. I am resigned to having to use it in the winter.

Yes, 60 mile round trip a day is not going to be a walk in the park. However, I don’t mind early mornings (already wake up at 0600 everyday anyway) and I can probably work from home a couple of days a week, so I wouldn’t be doing it every day of the week.

Thank you crashtestmonkey, I have just purchased an Easton EA70 Monkeybar and was looking to buy a stem. That is not a bad price!

One of the mechanics at my local Evans was telling me about the Trek Remedy he purchased recently using his employee discount and a Ride2Work voucher. It was a third of RRP.

I still weep gently into my pillow thinking about it.

Step 1. Watch some Pantani videos.
Step 2. Go out and try to emulate him.
Step 3. Fail miserably and vow to try harder.
Step 4. ???
Step 5. Profit!!! Or train harder and get better at it.

I too have pondered a similar question. Mine was “can a human being perform a bowel movement while sprinting at full speed?”

Thankfully Raab Himself answered that question for me.

Do not press play if you’re of a sensitive nature. It is rather graphic.

Not “across”, just “to”, and I don’t think Twickenham counts as London “proper” surely? :)

Yes, I am considering it. Beats driving and works out to a fair chunk of cash in savings.

My previous cycle commute 2 years before moving closer to work was a 30 mile round trip so I do appreciate the effort involved. These days it’s only a 15 mile round trip (and I only live 5 miles from work so I’m constantly trying new ways to lengthen the trip without running into rush hour traffic!). It would be nice to live somewhere that gives me a clear-ish run into work, but I’ll settle for somewhere that doesn’t involve 3 lanea of traffic like on the A4!

I know it’s not going to be easy and I am looking at 4 hours on the bike per day, but I’d take that over 3 hours in the car to travel the same distance!

@cinnamon_girl, What do you mean by that? I thought I’d be ok to commute as long as there’s an A road to where I work from where I live. Perhaps a bit naive on my part though. I understand that some A roads are probably busier than others but in my experience there’s always been a route you can plot to get where you need to. Interested in what you think.

@The Wrong Trousers, cheers! I did a Google search for it and it looks grand. Must see if I can get over there one weekend and do some riding. I’m hoping to build up a shortlist and check all of them out over the year.

The main concern for me is to live somewhere I can ride off road more than at the weekend (every day if possible!). I am fed up with having to load the car and drive 2 hours to ride for 3 hours or less. If needs be I can even ride part way on the train and the rest on the bike to work so not overly concerned about investigating the roads where I live first. Where I live is great for road biking, which has it’s place. However, I endure the road, while I live for the off-road!

I can do the commute no problem. May struggle when it gets icy though. Leaning towards Bracknell at the moment but I’m interested in the alternatives.

What are the Chilterns like for riding? Never rode that way.

Have you checked the German sites? bike24, actionsports.de and bike-discount.de.

Nice! Anywhere in particular around there?

And keep ’em coming!

On-one.

Try some biological detergent at 40 degrees C in the washing machine first (if it can be washed at 40 degrees). This usually works on everything for me.

Failing that, try soaking it in Vanish and gently rubbing the stained area out.

If it’s a softshell you can always reproof it with some Nikwax softshell proof.

Step 1. Find everything you want from CRC, Merlin or Wiggle.
Step 2. Go to Evans and get them to price match it.
Step 3. ???
Step4. Profit!

Whytes. Love them. Would buy one if I could afford it.

What helped me was using a tyre lever to fit the tube into the bead as best as possible.

Was struggling with a Crest rim, Schwalbe “Tubeless Ready” tyres and a Topeak Jow Blow Sport last night and this is what sorted it for me. My fingers are now bleeding, but it is tubeless!

Don’t give up.

Paid less than £500 for my Claud Butler Cape Wrath in 2005 I believe it was.

Full Deore drivetrain, Truvativ, Bontrager and Tioga finishing kit, Rockshox Judy forks and Tioga tyres. Full Deore and branded finishing kit, that, was a great deal and it was a great bike. Even raced on it!

Don’t think you can get stuff like that these days unless you buy direct like On-One or Canyon etc.

How can you grow up not knowing how to swim? 70% of the earth is covered in water damn it. Not knowing how to swim would be like not knowing how to ride a bike but potentially fatal.

If she started out liking it then maybe find out if something’s changed?

I started swimming in the ocean when I was pretty young and my parents and I both recall me absolutely loving it. Maybe a daft question, but has she seen it? Perhaps that will change her mind? Wrong time of the year to go to the seaside unless you can go somewhere warm I guess.

The people I know in positions of power seem to be be ones who put in the hard graft very early in their careers and seem to have some sort of plan about where they’ll end up.

So they’ll be the ones who cultivated all those “connections” in the industry during a work placement through university. Had guaranteed jobs to walk into post graduation. Rose fast enough to the top due to having a good support system (yes, wealthy family, excellent co-workers, supporting partners help) and then saw the light early enough to realise that working for someone else is a mug’s game and left to start contracting and their own businesses.

Ultimately we all manage our time according to what’s most important to us. For them, their careers, for some of us it’s watching 21 hours of television a week or being around to see their son/daughter ride their bike for the first time.

Go to a farmers supplies shop.

Buy boots.

Mine have lasted me over 10 years. Not needed resoling either, but they look as new as the day I bought them.

Failing that, army surplus shops.

If you want fashionable ones then don’t expect them to last too long. I bought a pair of Timberlands when I was in America 5 years ago and it was 2 dollars to the pound. Didn’t last me a single season on the farm. Sole fell to pieces.