We stayed here with family last summer.
Great location with door to small beach.
A good few great pubs with food and great walks along the coast. Plymouth and the eden project aren’t too far.
http://www.kingsandbeachhouse-holidays.co.uk

fanatic278
Have a look at Wembury if you like the sea and also Saltash and Torpoint.
Some great houses in amazing locations depending on your budget.
If you are looking in town Stoke has some great houses but also look at Mannamead if you like period houses. One of our customers sold a 5 bed house in one of the best streets in the area for £350K.
Any questions my email is in my profile

I have lived in Plymouth for many years and live near the centre.
Lots of nice areas and great houses. Very hilly round town.
In terms of cycling I can cycle from town to the woods in 20 mins to some brilliant areas. Also various areas of woodland and Dartmoor within 30 mins ride. Gawton and Tavi woodlands are about 30mins away.
With a family we love it and is easy to get to the beach in the evenings or chill on the Hoe.
Cycling scene has grown loads over the last few years and there is a kids MTB club that runs all year as well as loads of road and MTB clubs. Waiting list for kids club at the moment as we train more coaches!
Richie is a good contact to talk to reference the bike scene and housing market!
Love the place!

We have relatives in Kota Kinabula, Borneo and have used this as a base for a couple of holidays and there is loads to do.
They have all the posh island resorts as well as basic stuff. We used a rented apartment in the town as a base so saw the real town life.
We went on some trips up the mountain to the rain forest as well the tip of Borneo to the deserted beaches.
It is possible to easily hire and drive as well as have your own driver and guide. We have done both.
Would definitely suggest booking yourself.
From KK we drove across the island to the Orungutans stopping high in the mountain at the tea plantation as well as an isolated lodge.
Basically loads to do and lots to visit.
It can be basic at times depending on how much you pay and how much you haggle! We reckon it is not much more than 2 weeks in the med.
Last time we went via Singapore for a few days.
…finally you can also have guided mountain biking in the rain forest!!

Spoke to Stif and they reckon an xl as its old geo!!

Just spoke to Stif and they reckon the tallboy 2 is sized small and the xl might be a better option.
I am 6ft.
Any thoughts

Perfect sheck. Just what I thought!!
Looks like I might be getting one!!

Does anyone know how they size up? It seems that from the geo charts they come up a size smaller. The large looks the same size as a medium Yeti from what I can tell.

Very tempting. Like the idea of a good all round bike using the bits from the garage rather than going on finance to get a bling new bike. Like the idea of climbing being good.

Cheers Pridds. Whats it like going uphill as well. Looking to use it on some big days out.

First ride and seems as good as xt with less jump in range st top end

I managed to sign up and have a fry up, a few beers and an Indian all within 12 hours!!
Pushed me to start running again a couple of times and a very muddy ride!!
Eating rice cakes while the wife eats fudge is not easy!!!

I have the same problem with bread and pasta. Cannot resist anything that isn’t good for me. It is particularly bad when tired, busy or stressed at work. Cycling really helps but is difficult with kids and work.
Managed to shed 1.5 stone but stuck now and can’t seem to move further down. Mainly managed this by cutting down on snacks and protein sizes. As much as I dislike Facebook it popped up with a photo memory from 2 years ago with a my proper pie face. Hopefully this will nudge me off again.

Well got one ordered so will be going from xt to sunrace and will let you know how it goes.
A good saving on Xt and like the idea of more spread ratios.

Cheers guys. Might as well give it a go then.

I have been riding the 4.5 for a couple of weeks in a medium and beginning to love to but not sure of the Fox 34 fork. It does go really well on the up but not sure how the switch would fare on the muddy rides. Been mainly riding enduro trails in the local woods with some other linking roads. The 4.5 seems really good climbing. I don’t try any big jumps but like steep downs. Still unsure on whether the ASR would be a good buy. Have just got the 4.5 in a large to try for size!!
Speccyguy how flexy do you find the ASR? Muppet I have just dipped under 100kg for the first time in years so hoping the flex wouldn’t be an issue.
Thanks for all the tips!!
The final thing is if I get a 4.5 my DVO forks and hope wheels would fit with the boost!!

Thank tpbiker. I am going from a hardtail carbon bike with only 100mm travel on the front so I think the 100mm of travel of the rear paired with 120mm of DVO travel will hopefully feel much more fun!!

Cheers Muppet! Kind of what I wanted to hear. Its not to flexy is it

rsvktm I think it was my daughter your wife helped so a massive thanks to her for helping. I was riding towards the back half and came across the crash and apparently it was pretty hairy on the road. She got taken out by someone trying to push up and round to the front. She was pretty lucky as she landed on her head and smashed her helmet but is having an op on her broken wrist today. Three months off her bike isn’t good and not being able to work after her A levels is going to cost me. Medics and staff were brilliant as!were the riders and spectators that helped!

Cheers guys.
It did seem the spec was a bit low so I will hold out for something a bit better!!

stans.
Going to try some specialized ones as they seem a tighter fit!!

No they are all tubeless ready!

Ok to conclude I went with pedal cover in the end as they seems the best with reference to bikes.
They also beat JohnLewis and M and S.
In terms of bikes they will cover all my bikes away from home and on accidental damage cover.
Basically it came out at £450 including up £15000 of bike and personal belongings cover away from home. I don’t have to specify bikes but we discussed the issue of the upgrade of components adding value and he suggested taking photos and getting a valuation when serviced.
Also included was excess insurance that can also be applied on my car insurance.
Thanks to everyone who recommended Darren. A really nice guy and he rides a bike!!

So far John Lewis is much lower than M and S but have emailed Pedal Cover after so many good recommends!!

Cheers guys.
I will post where I end up going.

Bikes are valued form £1000 to £3000.
Daughter now has 2 race bikes and training bike!!!

Got a Mondraker Vantage the other week and it has made me smile more than any other bike in years. I use it as a do all bike but it flys down and goes between the downs pretty well. Well worth a try!!

I just got back from FOD yesterday after my first ride on a Mondraker Vantage. Aggressive hard tail with 140mm travel, big tyres and wide bars. Previously I had been on a 29er hard tail with 100mm of travel.
I had great fun and rode the xc trails with a guy on a carbon 29er. The ups were fine and the downs fun.
The tyres and fork travel made the most difference.

she is not and it is the medium. You will need the large.
It is a standard BB. Such a better set up!!!

She will be riding for a new team and hence a new ride is required!!!

My daughter has had the Arc as her race bike all year and loved it. I had to put it on a high rack in the garage to save it for race day!!! It was too tempting and too much fun otherwise!! Very fast and responsive with the Fox Fork. She is not a happy bunny as I am about to sell it as it is the end of her season!!

Thanks guys
We have just got back from a ride from hicks lodge and the blue route was perfect for our 7 year old twins and the rest of us had a nice chilled ride.
Thanks for the Weds evening offer but its the eldest daughters birthday and she wants to ride Cannock in the dry and look at some of the course for sundays race.
Will look at some of the other routes for tomorrow or Thus.
Thanks again!!

We are off to Hicks wood after tea for a blast with the whole family!!

Cheers everyone.
Hopefully to get started I will be able to use most of the stuff I have!
With reference to the bars how to I whorl out sizes, widths etc?
Will probably look for some road rims on cheap hubs.

She’s a teenager!!
Appreciation is never that forthcoming!!

Rons it is and another day of removing kit from my bike to donate to daughters!!!!

I fear a carbon fork maybe a little lightweight for me!!
…or me a little heavy for it!!

That sounds good!!
I am also considering going to Epping Forest.
I have always heard of it but never visited!

perfect!

A 14 year olds blog from the weekend on xcracer!!
Thanks again for a brilliant weekend for all the family and hopefully loads of money raised!
http://www.xcracer.com/big-bike-bash-bonanza.html