6'3" here on a large Nomad. I've got short legs for my height though. Perfectly happy with the bike.

I'm in one. It's worth it just for the discounts we get at LBSs and other outlets. The rides, camaraderie, help and tool sharing are just a bonus!

Am I alone in using a man made compression top with Merino on top? Usually with just a shell jacket on top. I cant remember the last time it was warm enough to wear less. Biking and skiing, I love merino but once it gets above 10C it will be gone.

I'm in for a group buy too, if anyone can point out a good deal. Want Pro 2 and 819 or Flow. 355 at a push but I need sturdier really on account that I'm a fat knacker and clumsy.

I'm gonna say Nomad, just to even out the Maverick crowd.

They recommend proper ice spike tyres. Don't know anyone that has bothered with it yet but soon, hopefully, it'll be clear enough for a ride. More snow forecast this week though.

Speyside Distilleries
Plus there's Fochabers and Ben Aigan close to these distilleries and myself or others could show you some class riding in the area. You could probably spend a whole month linking distilleries with rides. Never looked into it as whisky has been known to make me a bit punchy!

Ta for that. Might just give it a miss. I make it 48 days of snow now. There was more this morning and more due tonight apparently. I'm loving it where it's not too deep but the big hills are still out the game. I might just have to get the skis out again this weekend then.

No one?

Joe's over Stan's every time. 3 tubeless bikes here, soon to be four.

Smudge will sort you out. PM him.

I used Larsen TT rear and HR front for a lot of last year. Outstanding I would say. The Larsen only really fails in loose stuff and braking. It provides very good traction in a surprising amount of conditions. I only took them off after the snow got deep. Swampies cant be beaten in the snow IMHO. The Larsen and HR will go back on come Spring, whatever month that occurs in.

Mark of Zorro nice but over rated in comparison to some of the other contenders, as is the Marin. My top 3 are (in no particular order)

Carn Ban Mor
Lairig Ghru to Rothiemurchus. (The traverse from the lodge to get to it though is pants)
Golspie Black.

Honourable mentions go to Laggan Black and Cadair Idris.

It's times like these that we'll miss smee/glupton/zoo turd

What happened to him then? Is there a link to the all important thread? Sorry I have been away.

do you not realise that ladies just don't talk about their "conquests"?

I once thought this to be true but have found it to be not true at all. Where a bloke might brag about what he's done in front of anyone that will listen, women "confide" to a few close friends, who then gossip to another few very close friends. Net result is the same, everyone finds out in the end.

I've met a few of the Northern Scottish chapter. Hope to get out on a STW ride this year. Don't think I've shagged anyone off here which is a surprise given how gorgeous I am 😀

Maybe not by itself but take in Mach 2 or 3 as well and you've got a decent ride out. Coming from Warwickshire you'll probably go past NyA on the way there and that is definitely worth a trip. Come to think of it, just getting out of Warwickshire is worth the trip! 😀

As a slight hijack then, how do people get mudguards to fit the Pike?

Or it's flawed. I know that big fat tyres certainly feel harder work no matter how many times I run that theory through my head. Could be the weight though.

How come all these jeyboy racers aren't on big fat tyres?

Gonna get shot down here but did you know hot water freezes quicker than cold? Google it. Canny explain it myself.

Snow not required

Saudi Car Skating

Have some of ours. Came on 16 Dec and been here ever since. The iron hard ice on the road between the ruts is 8"-12" deep now and causes at least one of my cars to keep bottoming out. It's 2 feet deep in the woods where I went for a ride last night. BUT we have got it lucky, we had to do a mad dash from a building in Inverness yesterday to avoid road closures. The owners live a few miles inland. They have 4 feet of snow. So far they have lost their garden shed and greenhouse under the weight. Their conservatory has cracked and melt water is coming in the house when it gets warm enough. Oh, and it's snowing again for a change!

Not long in. Was braw if a little hard work!

FS- HR 60a LUST 60a front and back. In real bad weather or if there's no hurry to get up the hill then 2.5 swampie UST on the front and 2.5 UST HR on the back.

Geared HT – swampies 2.35 60a F&R for the snow. Brilliant. Also fantastic on the wet roots found round these here parts. Was on 60a HR 2.35 F and Larsen 2.35 60a R until recently. Ghetto. Surprisingly good even in the snow.

SS HT – 2.25 ADvantage rear and 2.35 60a HR F ghetto'd. Good combo but will probably try crossmarks in the summer.

5/10s, merino socks, flat pedals= the warmest feet in all my years of riding.

The message is getting through then! Thought you didn't get on with the 5:10s and were selling them? It just has to be flats in the snow and ice!

Snapped chain twice in 2 nights. Both on solo night rides in the dark in the snowy woods. It's not a pleasant experience. The above stuff about metal stretchyness and snappyness is probably a contributing factor and also the fact that everything got covered in ice before too long. Forcing the chain over iced up cassette teeth was probably the extra load required coupled with forcing my lardy arse up a hill with 4 inches of crusty snow providing extra friction. I'm taking a hair dryer to the drivetrain after rides now and then GT85ing it before wiping dry and giving it an oiling to within an inch of its life!

Why bash ring and flats? The forks and tyres suggest a less gnarly use of the bike. Or is it like my Summer Season Single Speed (SSSS) just cobbled together out of spare bits?

Metcheck changed recently to show a thaw from tues12th. That probably means a course of wet glass!

3900. All on mtb off road. Work at home so no commute. Most in the dark as well I would wager. I get more than enough grief for that but then I go out drinking quite often too!

Why the anger? It's just a bloke who wants to spend too much money on (some) unattractive bikes and show them off all sparkly clean on the internet.

No anger here, just an attempt to light-heartedly point out that the FS is about as attractive as leprosy.

1.21 at Tesco last time I got some.

Caliper done up tight?

Aside from the outrageously expensive bling on it which I suppose I am a bit jealous of, not the components themselves but having enough money to justify putting on such overpriced, overhyped penis replacement kit. Don't get me wrong I have more than enough money to buy it it's just I'm an engineer who is half Scottish and half Yorkshire so I am genetically unable to part with cash for stuff that costs ten times the price of kit that will do the job perfectly well……..BUT, that FS looks like a poorly designed supermarket bike. The stresses caused by the seat tube angle cannot be good in any way shape or form. I reckons it'll crack before a Cannondale Commencal Cotic Santa Cruz or On One! The others look lush (except that TT bike which reminds me of one of those advertising trailers that you see dumped in fields next to motorways)

I had this problem when fitting M4 IS mount brakes to one of my frames. The Hope floating rotor rubbed ever so slightly and there was nowhere to fit shims. I cured it by holding an old oilstone on the outside of the rotor and rotating the wheel. Took a wee while but it runs fine now. Don't suppose this would work too well with saw or wavy rotors though!

How many Inbreds you got?

If that's aimed at me then 2 more than Mrs D thinks I should have.

Smudge have yours got the waterproof connectors or just the standard DC one?

Not got my bikes in front of me but isn't there a drain hole to let the water back out again at the bottom of the seat stays? I'm sure there is on my summer seasons.

Scottish people have enough sense not to try and ride things when they're under snow and ice, mostly.

I would wager that Scottish people are just better at it or do it more often so are prepared to buy the required kit. I'm rapidly catching up on last winter's 17 snowy rides. -6 and blizzarding now. No thaw forecast until I go to Austria on 9th Jan. You've got to do something to keep fit! My pals are all supposed to be doing Laggan tomorrow. I'm busy unfortunately but I'm also glad because over a foot of snow is too much IMHO.

If he was bi-polar he should have been executed twice!