I bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame and forks to use with the 8speed parts from my old hard tail. It is so much fun to ride and even though it is heavier than my ‘proper’ road bike, it feels livelier. I went for the standard Trucker frame as my old MTB had rim brakes but I’d have gone for the Disc Trucker if I’d had different brakes. The 26″ rims make a little difference but give a huge range of tyre choice.

I’ve had a KS Eten for a while now and it works fine. It’s only 100mm drop and I replaced the cable outer with brake cable outer to free up the action but apart from that it’s OK if a little slow on the return.

We had a RideOn and have now got a Euro. Both 2 bike racks. The RideOn had repeated problems with the Thule straps coming loose and the upright metal loop wobbling from side to side meaning that bikes ended up moving around quite a bit. The problem others have already mentioned with QRs rubbing on fork legs was also an issue.
The Euro rack is much more solid and bikes seem to be easier to position to avoid fork legs etc rubbing. Having said that I did have to modify the upright loop the arms attach to by extending it (raising the height) to allow the arms to clear the frame on my wife’s bike.
All in all, I much prefer the Euro rack and am much more confident the bikes are secure.
Both bikes are 26″ wheel full suss.

Just sent mine off to Argos Cycles. Costing £155 for the paint job plus £35 total for the courier.

Chrisl – hence the initial question about AC that can be left running to keep it cool.
Other suggestions we’ve had from other forums include thermostatic roof fans to create through drafts and things like that.
We’re at the very early stages of looking into this so wanted to get practical ideas to work out if it was possible.
Thanks.

Thanks Andy. Possibly looking at a hi-top T5. Just started looking really. Don’t want anything too big but has to have enough space. There’s a nice van not too far away that we might look at. Usual problem don’t want to spend too much but want a nice enough/well enough kitted out van to enjoy using it. Looking to use it for other holidays around the UK too, not just biking.
When we use a dog sitter, it’s the agility trainer that we go to. He gets to spend time with her 4 collies and loves it. However, it’s £20 a day which mounts up. So if we can find a suitable solution for when it’s just normally hot, not heatwave baking, then it’ll be much better for him and us.

Orangejohn: I hope you also manage to find a suitable van/solution.

Thanks for the helpful/constructive comments.

As for the ‘if you want to leave your dog alone at all then you don’t deserve to have him’ type comments, they don’t really help and are pretty pointless as the only reason that we want to take him along is to spend time with him and take him away to new places. Do you never leave your dog alone? Because if you do, then you’re just as bad as you are implying we are.
If there’s any risk of harming him then we wouldn’t do it.

To be honest if it’s over 26 – 28 degrees, we probably wouldn’t be biking anyway! More likely to be sitting in the shade with the dog!

idiotdogbrain: That’s the point. We’d only be leaving him for a couple of hours or so – certainly not all day! He’s used to being left for that long at home but it’s cool there. If we can’t get a reliable cooling solution, it just wouldn’t happen.
We’d just like to be able to go to different places around the UK and take him so we can ride one day and walk the next. Good for him and us.

CheesybeanZ: if we provide stollen, will you sit in the van and look after the dog?

The ideal would be to take him biking with us. But busy trail centres, road sections on XC rides and very hot weather will prevent that sometimes.
I know you can get AC for campers but most seem to need a hook up to mains AC.

+1 richmtb’s comment above.

Thats pretty much what Joe @ Pro Ride Guides said about both my wife and myself when he first saw us ride.

I’ve been riding with SPD’s for over 10 years. Just tried flats for a course with Pro Ride Guides at Stainburn. Felt really insecure for the first couple of runs, then Joe corrected my riding stance (was hanging off the back too much/early and not weighting the feet properly) and it all stayed in place after that. I’ve had a couple of loose feet moments over bumps but that was me getting it wrong not the pedals/shoes.
SPD’s are still my preference for XC stuff, but for trails and techy descents, I’d choose flats now. Don’t find climbing in them much, if any, more difficult.
I ride flats with the pedal just behind the ball of the foot. Can’t get to feel comfy with it mid foot.

I’d agree on Tour d’Ingleborough and the Settle Loop. Gisburn is also good.

The 35t refers to the total teeth difference between the front rings and the difference over the cassette I think.
So, 1×10 running a 11-36 cassette would just be 36 – 11 = 25t
If you had a 22 and 36 front rings, that would add 36 – 22 = 14t making a total of 25t + 14t = 39t.

So in theory you need a long cage but if you never use the smallest ring to smallest sprocket and size the chain for the largest combo, you should be OK. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping as I’m planning on doing similar.

Don’t think the frame is too big. It’s just that the Blur LT2 has a very high upswept seat tube. The frame length is fine. My wife’s medium LTC has more seat tube showing when set up for me but the frame doesn’t turn up as much as the non-carbon frame.

The drop on the Lev post looks the right length but the cost could be a bit high!

You know dogs should never eat garlic, food containing garlic or indeed any bulbous plant, such as onion, leek etc, as it makes them anaemic?

Also off the menu are: cooked poultry bones, chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Also (especially at this time of year) are grapes/currant/sultanas as they can cause kidney failure. Our collie pinched a mince pie last year and it was an expensive Sunday eve trip to the vets to get him to throw it up!

Not tried biking with him yet as he has a habit of turning across the path in front of you. Entertaining enough when running but could be quite a hazard when biking 😯

I’ve always used SRAM speedlinks(?) to make chains easier to take on and off for cleaning and so on. Even used them on Shimano chains OK. They are reusable and make great quick repair links our on the hill.

They’re one of our local shops. The wife has bought lots of stuff there – usually on sale as they seem to have a good selection of womens stuff in their sales. Never any blokes kit that’ll fit me mind.
She also had a bike fit done by them for her road bike.
It’ll be a pity to see them go.

Any word of a sale?????

Thanks. NFU mutual is one that we’re thinking of anyway. We’re with Direct Line at present but the standard policy not Select so they won’t cover it (they have a 2k limit)

No one have bike insurance then…?

Tried lots of different ways but couldn’t get the clamps to fit.

I’ve ended up making up a couple of extensions to the hoop to raise the top of it by 10cm.
Extension 1
Extension 2
That way the clamp arms fit over the top tube and it works. They are in wood at the moment but now that I know it will work I’ll get some sorted in steel tube.
It fits!

Thanks. The green bike is actually a medium and the white one a large. The white one has larger gaps through the frame but has the owner top tube due to greater swoop. I guess I need to have another play with them. The one thing I don’t want to have to do is keep taking the clamps off the tube and refitting them.

Thanks pipiom. Any issue with the QR rubbing on the fork lower of the other bike or is the spacing really wide enough on this model?

Nobeerinthefridge – is that the one that you fit to the tow ball with a spanner and has a folding upright in the middle? We have one of those and I had have the same problem. That’s why we’re looking to change.

Cheers, Dave

My 2004 Stumpy FSR has had this dent in the downtube right by the BB since 2005 and has been ridden pretty hard. Doesn’t seem to have been a problem – maybe I’ve just been lucky.
(I’ve used a URL link as the IMG link didn’t work)
Photo is here

Thanks for all the responses. Still trying to decide..

Thanks. How much travel does your Stumpy have? Is it 120mm or 140mm? How well does it handle things like trail centres and rough downhill?