Done – although to be honest I couldn’t care about the cafe – don’t use the old one much other than for a pee and will use the new one even less.

I DO care though about the bike shop – they have given me nowt but top class service – the kind of which I have not found in ANY bike shop in Edinburgh (I feel a rant coming on but that’s another story) and I know I won’t get that from Alpine Bikes unfortunately.

That said, a £9,000,000 visitors centre? How many of us who actually use glentress or inners, where asked what we think, the money should be spent on?

I for one, can think of a lot better ways to spend that money, like developing the forest. How much is being spent on that?

+1 – forest desperately needs new trails, not a visitor centre. And all this chat about “other forest users” is bollox. 95% + of the visitors will be bikers IMO, and I bet the next move is going to be £5+ parking – you name it – anything to squeeze us till we squeak and/or go elsewhere.

YCM WCA – great work and fingers crossed!!

So am I doing it wrong?

Plenty of hose to get rid of loose stuff.
Muc off all over whole bike.
Shoogle with the brush.
Plenty of hose to rinse.
Dry chain. Lube chain.

That’s it. So a) is muc off going to ruin my bike. B) should I be giving forks special treatment?

For a view of what Germany would be like if they won WW2, read Fatherland by Robert Harris. Awesome book just finished it.

Wiggle not great either. Ordered some cleaner and pads on Sunday evening – still no sign.

Went cycle touring for our honeymoon there in 2002. Beautiful place – real remote and unspoilt feel to it. Big hills and pretty wild. Great beaches and snorkelling. Would go again tomorrow – couldn’t recommend it highly enough for road cycling. No idea about off road though but would imagine there are a huge number of trails to explore.

I don’t want to start a “one is better than other” rant, but speaking from much personal and professional experience, we used AC&H for years but found them lacking so moved to DLA a few years ago. YMMV of course!

Good luck though with the Council. Our experience of common repair schemes (just completed a £300k+ one in Gorgie) is that the Council are very hard to deal with in these circumstances. You really need to get all interested parties organised. The Council’s stance is generally one of “who cares what documents you have or what your experts say – we’re the Council – what we say goes” as they realise very few people will organise themselves to challenge a word they say. Frustrating experience – I don’t envy you especially when dealing with a personal property rather than a work/business scenario.

TJ – DLA Edinburgh – Construction – Paul Wilson. Litigation – Joan Devine would be reasonable places to start.

We are a small property development/investment company and we use DLA Piper for all our work including construction related litigation. May be a sledgehammer to crack a nut though and they are not cheap. I can introduce/provide contact names/details if you want.

Will be there in spirit. Good luck hopefully this event and others like it will gr the message across to both the govt and the wider public.

So those of you getting the day off – are you getting an extra day or is it jusat being moved from another day?

Completely unscientific poll held at the weekend with riding buddies working from public/government/private/self employed you name it. Everyone taking it. This exact question also came up. Everyone getting it as a one off extra day – not deducted elsewhere.

Done too.

Depressing reading no matter who’s to blame.

Never been in the hotel but glad the locals have a piece of the action and sounds like they’re good people. I’ll miss the shop – always had good service – maybe some of the guys will be offered jobs?

Good luck to all.

As funny as piles – +1

but then I hate James Corden, Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand etc etc. Obviously someone likes this kind of crap but not for me.

Saturday – out myself early – maybe Innerleithen or maybe the Jedforest trails.

Sunday – with the Mrs off to Women on Wheels at Forest of Ae.

Fingers crossed for the weather to hold!!

Nice! Have put the GT and Innerleithen maps on – here they are in Google Earth – then simple to export to Oregon as Abductee says. Works a treat.

All dodgy esp those chaps!!

Bought a Klein but didn’t like a stiff rear end?

Pre-Trek ones are now worth serious money. Even Trek era “proper” Kleins built in Washington are now worth good dosh. Non-proper (eg Pulse) built in Taiwan not the same.

Oh oh oh – can I can I!!

Will do tonight – although to be fair it is only a frame as the components were stripped a while ago. Klein ready for my wall – sacrilege I know but it has done its miles that’s for sure!

I rarely give to the beggars (occasional Big Issue) but I regularly give dog food to those with some tatty mutt at their feet.

As a dog owner, I feel for these animals – not their choice and they can’t get off their backside and go get a job. Some people will disagree with that view but that’s my feeling.

The responses I get are varied. Some are clearly delighted, they love their dogs and are pleased. Some are pretty hacked off and say so – they want cash for whatever. And some are pretty hacked off because their dog is clearly a tool to encourage donations. Much like amputee children in India iirc.

Not at all interested in it. Part of the reason I ride is to get away from crowds of punters. Even riding in trail centres you’re on your own for most of the ride. The idea of sitting in a crammed mini bus while people faff about with bikes at bottom/top just sounds like hell on earth to me.

Now assisted uplift in the Alps – that’s a different story! :lol:

This has no doubt been posted/noted before, but I didn’t realise Alpine have now bought over Off Beat bikes in Fort William and the Nevis Range franchise. Clearly Glentress is a logical move for them. Where next I wonder. Despite all the shortcomings of the current setup, I think it is a shame it is going corporate/bland.

Alpine Bikes news[/url]

Pic as promised.

Yeah – I’ve been a lurker on that site for some time – always some great pics and places.

Has anyone worked out or found a detailed guide to this? Just an idea – was thinking of scanning the Forestry Commission maps for trailcentres and putting them onto my Oregon – just as a way to link together trails etc – more for a play than for serious use.

it’s pish

Wow – didn’t expect to get such a strong response either positive or negative!!

I’m intrigued as to how it can be that bad – think I’ll have to give it a go even if it proves bigdug right!

They’re oval shaped with a red/black plastic frame. Lying on the ground about a foot from the picnic table (which is usually heaving with punters) so can’t imagine they’ve been lying there for more than a day or two never mind years otherwise they would’ve been found/stood on by now but you never know.

Will put up a pic later on.

Had an Airnimal Chameleon a few years back. Must say I loved it but eventually sold it as it was neither fish nor fowl in my opinion and therefore I found myself not using it. It did ride *nearly* like a proper road bike but then I got a mid range Trek road bike (nowt fancy) and I realised that the Airnimal wasn’t really as good as a proper road bike. Plus the folding etc is a bit of a hassle – don’t be thinking this is a Brompton you can fold in 20 secs!

So it was neither one nor other. I got it as I was travelling a lot at the time so wanted something I could take with me and break out for a quick ride, but just didn’t hit the spot for me.

As a piece of engineering, it is a thing of beauty. The ride was great when pacing along, but not great for high speed descents or standing on the pedals. If it fits your needs, go for it – but it I felt the compromises on both the ride and the folding sides left it a bit of a curate’s egg.

Good point druidh – nice and dry here now but given the recent snowmelt etc it might be a bit squidgy underfoot. Just fancy something a bit different other than Pentlands or the Saturday morning scrum at GT/Inner.

PMSL at andy7t2!

Crikey 8O – considering ditching wife, child, dogs and moving across town with my bikes. Especially if there’s muffins. Actually closer to work too!

I see absolutely no morals present at all. Its all about restriction, obscuring and suppressing. ‘Keep your wimin under lock and key’.

What Hora said.

I was fascinated by the programme but

Some mind boggling contradictory values

is putting it mildly!! Weird – not quite sure what to make of it all, but the way they treat their women is frankly a disgrace IMO in this country in this century. Maybe Taliban can get away with treating women like that (kept under control, married off, no or minimal education, treated as a possession etc) but whatever plus points their “morality” had is more than offset by their appalling attitude to women.

Wrong thread

No surprise there then if it is Alpine Bikes. Sure, the current setup is pretty tatty but as someone above said another chain store clone takes the charm away IMHO. Sure, Alpine is a reasonable bike shop, but just like it’s owner Tiso, it’s a bit middle of road, corporate, full of average (yet expensive) kit etc although that maybe appeals to the majority of punters.

I would like to say I’ve had nothing but great service in the bike shop. YMMV.

710 – centre of seatpost to centre of bars
610 – centre of headtube horizontally to centre of seatpost – theoretical horizontal top tube
575 – centre of headtube to centre of seattube – actual top tube
390 – centre of BB to centre of junction of head and seat tubes
585 – centre of BB to theoretical junction of horizontal top tube.
750 – standover height – from top surface of top tube at its lowest point to ground
1170 – wheelbase

Fitted with 140mm travel Magura Thor fork and 2.2in tyres. Frame is size Medium.
In my socks, crotch to floor 840mm – 33in.
Bike as shown – 23lbs and not a super light trick build. Could be 20lbs I reckon if fitted with a lighter fork and some fancier kit.

Hope this helps!

PS Wall needs repointing – I know!

LOL – sums it up nicely IMO.

Raising alcohol prices will reduce consumption – just like it has with petrol.[/url]

+1 for Pace RC31 – but don’t know I’d want to ride Glentress too often on them!

as was mentioned earlier in the thread..

sorry missed that bit.

Think it is pretty fair if they don’t stock pigs in countries that don’t have pigs to be honest. Don’t see too many camels in the UK farm sets either.

Anyway – is OT.