Just like my brother who had to buy a 156 GTA. It looks very nice, is very quick and has all the gizmo’s of a much more expensive car. Shame it seems to have constant issues and is currently off the road. On the plus side, he is saving lots of money by not having to buy petrol to support the 20mpg he averages.

Very comfortable for longer distances, but I hope you aren’t paying the petrol!?

Oh, and he will never transport bikes in the back (even though there is a huge boot), and I think he will commit suicide before putting a bike rack / roof rack on it!

Potts, cheers that sounds good. It was the entrance to secrets last week where the water was pretty high and was hoping it had gone down! Afternoon trail was a lot drier than I was expecting, new trail off Deer Fence was good. I walked up and came across it rather than rode round the long way, does that link up with the small drop off the top of the old trail?

Was it you I was speaking to last week in the cafe with Tally and Rob? Have a good ride, I can’t remember the last time I rode with no monsoon or hurricane weather!

Mabie looks to be busy tomorrow then, hoping some of the other 😉 trails are a little less waterlogged than they were last week!

Cheers, that is the offer I had seen. Waiting til they are actually in stock before getting the card out!

Trekster, I’ve got a wheel or 2 that you could borrow if you need to space out the purchases to hide them from Santa clause.

I’ve asked the shop to pull together a price for a new set myself, think there is a £20 difference between the coil and air versions. Could ask if they would do a special on 2 sets at once and reduce postage?

To the OP, sorry I don’t know how much theyre worth, probably less than you hope is the truth. stick em on the classifieds and i guess you will find out?

More expensive for mine aswell, no legal cover, no courtesy car, excess for windscreen repairs, higher total excess than others and no european cover (all can be added, but already £150 more than the cheapest quote which includes all of these).

Will check out the cashback to see if any of the cheaper deals are on it.

Also still running 04 z1 forks. Have been a cracking fork, 2 services in that time. Only looking to upgrade now to a 20mm axle. Will put these on another bike and keep running them. Maybe I’m light on forks, i still run a set of ’98 SIDS- always gets comments when they come out!

Bump…just starting

Brilliant post, STW needs more posts like this.
Like others I keep meaning to ride more big mountains but lack of time seems to be the usual excuse. And I can see the lake district from the house so I shouldn’t have any excuse!

Clive Forth is based at Mabie but runs mtbskills. Not sure what area he covers but I’m sure he would be able to help sort something out. Never had a lesson with him but ridden with him a couple of times and he knows how to ride, we’ve talked about how he does his lessons and he definitely considers a lot of different angles to improve your riding, its not just about riding the bike!

Website is http://www.mtbskills.co.uk/mtbskills/home.html gives you an idea of what he would usually cover. I don’t know whether he does one to one but give him a shout

End of the driveway, going out on a makeshift roadbike (i didn’t have time to get out properly on the mtb). Chain half broke, went back to repair it at the house. While I was doing that, the tyre slowly deflated. Gave up, put the bike back and went inside

Good grin after yesterdays ride at Ae. First ride with other people for months, one who is apparently closing in on retirement age. I wouldn’t say we were shredding it to the rad, but it was a good chilled ride…cheers Trekster

Nice video of Ae, didn’t need the speeding up of the wooded section – it is narrow and tight at that point which is where the enjoyment for that section comes from (for me anyway).

Ae used to get a lot of stick for being too rough, too long, not flowy enough, etc… but like all trails it has people who will like it and people who don’t. Interesting that those who called it too rough would never be seen at the dig days, but were quick to criticise any work that was being done. It was the first of the 7Stanes I ever rode up here, it is probably the one I have ridden the most in the few years I have lived here and I stil enjoy it. I would say it is one of the trail centres that is probably more enjoyable if you have some fitness- it doesn’t give you much for free, but the faster you go at it the more opportunities there are to enjoy sections.

The downhill trails definitely draw a crowd, but it is never rammed full of people so you can have your own space. Having the trails there gives it a different feel to the other SW 7 Stanes. It never used to have the same budget as the Peebles centres, but yet seemed to be able to keep going. If it didn’t work you wouldn’t have Tally running an uplift most weekends through the summer, the shop at the bottom of the hill would not exist, and no doubt the other trail centres in the locality would also suffer.

Mr Plow +1 with the Edge losing some of its character when the trees were felled.

I might go ride there this weekend, if anybody is around let me know?

Just paid 128.7 at Asda in carlisle which is 6p cheaper than the cheapest at home. Crazy that fuel has doubled in the 7 or 8 years I have been driving.

Was on holiday in Canada last year and they were paying less in cents than we are in pence, was under a dollar a litre

Mabie was riding well today, saw a couple of big groups out enjoying the sunshine. Some of the better known secret trails look like they have been getting a bit more traffic but holding up well except for the usual spots.

Took a look at one section on the darkside, as expected the wood was very slippy was struggling a bit on the rocks aswell, but I put that down to the rider!

Brilliant weekend to be out riding the bike

There is not much really technical riding around the dumfries area- what there is is a lot of very nice scenery that you can get bike access to as Trekster has shown you. Some of the best natural stuff can be found around the trail centres but off the signposted routes, kirroughtree and mabie have some hidden gems with more tefhnical riding than you would find on your waymarked routes. As trekster. Said though, they are hard to find and harder to give directions to. Part of their joy is seeking them out, but always good to know where to start- lot of locals still dont know what is available.

Been told there is a good descent off merrick in the galloway hills but I think it is more a fast descent than technical, havnt ridden it myself. Depending on where you are staying perhaps a day trip to the northern lakes (skiddaw or ullswater) would give good natural riding within 90ish minutes of dumfries.

I know you weren’t looking for a guide, I am riding mabie in the morning and coukd show you the bits i know- I cant give you much help in your search for other natural routes, but i could show you some of the better trails at one of the trail centres if you are struggling for ideas?

Using SLX double and bash on my ’08 Wolf Ridge, 22/36 on the front and 11-32 on the back.

Only problem is that I didn’t have a proper front derailleur in the box and because of the welds on the frame I couldn’t set it up properly. It only rubs in the top couple of gears but need to get that sorted. I bought the frame second hand and built it up from parts on the old bike so you might not have the same problem.

Oh, and havn’t missed the big ring yet…do it!

Either out in Galloway hills or maybe venture into Englandshire? Rode the Howgills a few weeks back, pretty much the only mountain-esque riding I have done this year which is poor considering I have been to North and South Wales, Yorkshire (Moors and Dales), Peaks and I can see the Lake District from the house!

Been up to Edinburgh a few times over the last couple of months, some good looking hills up that direction, imagine there must be something up there being so close to Edinburgh and the Glentress mob?

Are Mabie doing their Thurs night rides again, might have to join them once the light is fixed?

Next weekend I’m in Yorkshire. Would say a night ride in the week but I’ve half-broken my home brew lights!

Fancy doing another adventure similar to last year’s Ae / Queensberry route maybe nearer end of year when I have a bit more time available if you’re up for it?

Used to live in norwich and had a couple of routes, mostly mentioned above. The joy is you can cover a lot of distance on some nice bits of off-road. The trick is linking it all together. Marriott’s way is a quick way of getting out into the country, we used to get off at an old bridge up some steps (can’t ride them). Then head for the woods. Ringland hills still had some trails after the big jumps were bulldozed maybe 5 years ago?

Out in cromer we had a cracking route about 25 miles from the train station, I think the guys in streetlife do a variation on it that is good. Might have a .gpx somewhere but not the easiest to navigate through. Still nothing hugely technical but there was a tricky climb with done awkward roots.

Then you could head to brandon side of thetford for better singletrack.

Another vote for streetlife, although there was a marin dealer in town that used to have some nice stuff in

Was out on the Howgills last week, climb was wet and soft, but okay. Descent off the Calf was a boggy descent at the bottom, would definitely be good in the dry. The other descent (i.e. into Sedburgh from Ravenstonedale and Adamthwaite was also pretty wet, a serious bit of trail subsidance at one point would have been the MTB equivalent of falling down a manhole cover. Not sure what bit it was called but down a rocky gully- appeared to be a stream when we rode it!

Great scenery but take your climbing legs 😀

I would highly recommend a Trekster tour of Mabie, he might even show you some of its treasures. 😀

hopefully pembroke/ gower as that is where I am heading next week. 🙂

Lynchmob +1 he tried to tell me my computer had flashed up a red triangle. I just kept asking what he thought was wrong, and how he knew there was a virus. Apparently a Bangkok computer specialist was my virus control. Unfortunately I am cack-handed with a computer and eventually we agreed to part as friends. I s get the odd email, but we don’t talk anymore.

Finsih in Dumfries is closed all day, the Dalbeattie extension loop is closed for part of the day (10-2.30pm I think). Interesting that an article in the local paper says that a bus is being put on to take people from the finish area up to the Beeftub to watch riders and will be back in Dumfries for the finish so it sounds like a temporary closure aswell.

Mind you, the weather forecast is miserable at the moment, I don’t think I would want to be up teh beeftub watching the race in up to 50 mph winds and rain, especially if I wasn’t a cyclist!

Hoping to be on (or near) the finish line though!

Done mabie and Ae singlespeed, and rode the 10 at kirroughtree ss (admittedly because I snapped my shifter on a pre-ride of the course). Would say that kirry suited it well, mabie was alright (although the scorpion was hard), ae didn’t suit the ss. Drumlanrig designed and built by Rik who is a devout ss’er so will ride well. Fitness definitely affects my enjoyment of riding ss around here.

At the moment most of my riding is on the full suss geared bike as it offers more flexibilty for where I ride (steep ascents and rough, varied descents. These wouldn’t be as enjoyable on the singlespeed. As above, take the bike you will most enjoy riding. If you are in dumfries on saturday then the tour of Britain finishes in town so you can watch the professional riders sprint for the finish.

Streetview of Dock Park junction

That’s not what it is saying on the tourride website:
Tourride map

That shows you coming in from the north for the first lap (turning right over St. Michael’s Bridge for the extra loop), then on the final lap following the same stretch alongside the river from the north. On a Saturday that section of road beside the river is slow moving cars. To cross into Dock Park you then have to negotiate a 4 lane junction with traffic lights at the bottom of St. Michael’s Bridge. I tried adding in a streetview picture, but it kept reverting to the same picture you linked to.

The link you sent is the southern entrance into the park, according to the tourride map you don’t go on that road. Unless you have some kind of information pack that is different to the website!? Either way, it could be an interesting finish for tomorrow! Won’t be a problem when the road is closed next week, but take it easy tomorrow!

I think I will come down and have a look at this- I am intrigued as to how it is all going to work along there seeing as the finish is on a busy junction- not being on closed roads there are red lights, feeder lanes and pedestrains to deal with. The Dumfries drivers are not the best with stopping at red lights along that stretch of road.

If the car park is full of cars, where is the finish line going to be? I thought it was going to be along the main road (Whitesands) adjacent to the river. I know Dock Park pretty well, very surprised I didn’t hear about the sportive finishing there.

Good luck to anyone riding tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be better than it has been here today!

Can you not just hit the axle with a hammer from the non-driver side (i.e. disc side)? Should push it all out on the drive side and then you can use a screwdriver/ vice combo to get the freehub off the axle? Doing it this way would leave the non-drive bearing in the hub but that should come out either using the axle once the freehub is off the axle? (think this is what rorschach has said)

I think this is alright, but I am trying to picture it in my head. It is not a new problem though, so there must be someone on here who has got around it? Just put a new axle in mine to convert over to 12mm bolt through and it was a joy putting it back together instead of the pain taking it apart! Good videos online for putting them back together

Plans were submitted today, we will hear the decision by the end of the year. Hopefully working on some other smaller projects til then, will find out tomorrow.

Slightly newer frame to replace the old obe which was starting to make loud noises in places it shouldn’t have!

Been a while since I rode with anyone else but would be good for some company. Ae was really good when there was only a couple of inches of snow on it. Magical at night in the snow. Not so much fun after the snow turned to ice ( the edge was a little scary).

I am hoping to get out this weekend with my new (part of it at least) toy. Also a local and while I know mabie and ae pretty well, I have yet to venture to dalbeattie!

Saturday best day for me. Sunday I could possibly do an early ride, busy in the adternoon. John, if you needed a lift I could pass yours if mabie/ dalbeattie. I can just about remember where you live!

Good PSA. Cheers.
Can appreciate the skill in them all but flatland BMX does nothing for me!

stayed in reditreks in mach a few years. Really good place with bike storage attached to the back of the bike shop. Think it was being run by Tegid who worked in the shop. If thwre are only 2 then you might need to share it but there was a small room.

Got overtaken by my mates front wheel in the alps a few years back. Broken arm and nasty faceplant but lucky we were close to the car park as we later found out his insurance wouldn’t have covered an evac. That was a loose hope qr.

Had 2 qr come loose, one at the end of cut gate where it dropped and re-aligned dropouts over my disc. Bent the disc back in enough to keep riding. I had heard a rock hit the frame seconds before the wheel dropped out (and the qr was pointing backwards).
2nd was my front qr coming loose after about 2 hours of riding around kirroughtree. No damage done. I am a lot more careful with the qr now and often check them before fast descents or rocky sections.

I think until you see it for yourself these qr stories are always someone installing them pointing the wrong direction, or too loose. I have always been careful putting wheels in the dropouts but have been scared by the qr coming loose. Doesn’t take long to check…

Been wondering the same myself. New frame on its way from the classifieds. Looking to put longer forks on which will mean a new hose as the current one is going to be too short. Heard very good things about the newer saint brakes so was thinking of getting a set of levers to match with the older calipers. Current levers are looking tatty and one lever badly bent. New levers look like they would tidy up the handlebars quite a bit.
Will keep an eye on this thread for results…

It sometimes happens. Using a Legend on the stock browser. Either click back once and then on the intended link, or if you long press on the intended link and then click open it works.

It is a little irritating, but it doesn’t happen very often for me.

Question and Answers are brilliant! Thanks 😀

BWD- always good to put a face to a regular forum name! Cheers for the peaks route advice I will take a look at a map and find some newer trails to play on down there. Good luck for your future pairs/ solo races (i think you mentioned both?)

Was wishing I was riding my normal trail bike instead of the short travel hardtail which struggled on the big rooty sections, but snapped the shifter with my foot bailing on out pre-ride on friday night. Had the full suspension in the back if the car but with no shifter I had no choice but to run the hardtail singlespeed. The two steep climbs at the end of the lap were not fun!

Think we finished 4th overall 5 minutes off third with 9 laps. Considering everything that happened we have to be pleased with that! Those solo riders at the top were quick- 10 laps around 10 hours was impressive!

Guy with the back injury was okay, sent home after precautionary checks at hospital