Cheers Ade, but I’m not clearer on what I should be tweaking…I have a RP23 on the rear and 100RL on the front – fork has 80psi in it and I think 2 clicks slower than halfway on the rebound – I’ll do it 2 clicks faster so it is the middle and see if that helps…

The inability to stay on my line I think is down to my lack of riding coupled with some very wide bars and a new bike…that will get fixed with practice (but I thought I’d ask the question in case it was down to incorrectly set up suspension.

The wallowing as I hit bumps at slow speed could probably be fixed by riding faster but I also wonder if it is down to slow rebound – compression seems to be ok in the sense that it is compressing but I can’t adjut the compression rate…which makes me wonder if the fork has enough air in it or my rebound is maybe a bit too slow.

I’m not wanting to be sitting on a pogo stick either though…

Any thoughts? Ladder tirck sounds like a good one, I’ll try that.

Because it tastes awful?

Paul, drop me a line and let us know where you will be staying…we should be able to arrange a few rides and stuff – or show you roughly on a map if you want to go explore yourself…bike club is also pretty local and plenty of riders in that.

I have a mate who works in the child care line – he did a residential course in Menstrie 2 years ago – anything similar?

Yes, plenty – I live in Menstrie along with a few others, drop me an email and let me know when you are coming up and we can get something arranged…Stirling Bike Club has plenty of rides and there is plenty to be had round these parts…

XT used to (many many years ago) have grease nipples in the covers of the cones…made servicing a doddle – just slide it open, squirt the grease, slide closed…jobs a good ‘un for a few years of regular squirting.

I was sad to see that go as it made servicing XT cup and cone hubs a total breeze (in fact Suntour also used them on their XC Pro groupset) – way back in the early 90’s…

As I know how much lack of maintenance you do, the fact your previous XTs lasted so well is a good testament to how good they are – for complete lack of maintenance then go for cartridge bearings.

Hopes click – big deal…keep pedalling and you won’t hear them…using heavier grease will work but if too heavy could block the pawls from working and then your hub spins both ways!

The XT Hub just needs a cone spanner and ring spanner – plus new bearings and fresh grease…the Hope hub needs a 5mm allen key and new bearings (and the tool to remove the old cartridge bearings) – as they are gubbed, a flat-bladed screwdriver and persuader can be used to remove them – getting them back in requires skill and ideally the correct tool, but careful use of a persuader can do the job no probs.

XT hub I’d guesstimate about 45 minuts to do properly – most of the time is removing the axle and resetting it with the right tension. It’s been about 10 years since I did anything with Cup and Cone hubs…

Pro II – 10 mins max.

As the hubs you have work, why bother thinking of replacing them? Either run them until they are beyond repair, or run them and do some maintenance on them yearly and they should last for a good few years…

Halfords did have a stupid sale on head units and other audio toys…bound tgo get something with bluetooth handsfree and various playing mediums for a fair price…

The end credits are my favourite act…utter mince tv…wife switches it on and I leave the room (althougha dmittedly all I then do is go surf the web and waste time…hardly bettering myself!)

I agree, but then I also thought that of the Freeride system until I saw a mates bike detach itself…and also saw how little hold it had on my bike…I don’t think the design is bad, but it might not be totally suitable compared to other products available.

The ProRide racks I’ve got have been brilliant – can’t fault them (apart from not working with the MArin – but that is hardly Thule’s fault).

I may do similar riding, but mine doesn’t appear to be as fast or as often – I’m not a good reference point – not getting out enough so everything is like a relearning of what I’ve forgotten!

Fair points about the free weight (and now taking that into account, I wouldn’t buy one in an instant) – the design does look as though it holds everything securely – guess with a strong side wind it could be different. My ProRides just don’t fit with the Marin full-bounce frames and the Freeride design only has the very ends of the clamp holding the bike so not exactly secure.

Was going to try the Mont Blanc rack but it’s clamp is very similar to the Freeride and I couldn’t locate one locally.

If your frame design can work with the likes of a ProRide then I’d recommend one of those, if not, fork-mounted if it has to go on the roof otherwise towball or in the car.

We have a LittleLife Voyager S2 (I think it is the Voyager) – framed backpack and it is excellent – very comfy on, plenty of storage and bits and pieces and after the first 5 minutes of getting used to the extra weight on your back doesn’t make you feel as though you are suffering.

My daughter happily sleeps in it so it must be comfy for her to…only downside was the price…but they do cheaper versions – which have all the same bits and pieces on the bag just not as many extras.

Really comfy with a lot of adjustment for various back lengths and I’d recommend it…

Ally, you could try slightly shorter travel…the MArin I’ve just bought has some laid back angles, but only 120mm travel – more than enough for anything really (unless it is full blown DH) – don’t feel perched on it and it seems to ride very well (but the rider doesn’t!)…just my opinion though…if you think 6″ is too much then it probably is – you are riding the bike not us…

When I was test riding the Trance and the Reign, I found the Reign was like a pogo stick, just couldn’t get on with it…but the Trance felt really sorted…so I went for the Trance…now I reckon the Marin is a much better choice – bit more travel and the comfort is there, but it doesn’t wallow or pogo…seems to tick my boxes.

For Stirling, I reckon hardtail is ample (but I’m a 1 bike kind of guy and can’t work out why people have more than 1 so it is full bounce for me), but if you are going further afield and riding in new areas…the full bounce might be enough to help convert the grin to a full blown smile after a day in the saddle in a new place.

For US-market only apparently – so if you can find one, buy it. I couldn’t get one for my new bike – Marin Mount Vision 5.8 – standard clamp-round-frame racks don’t fit it as the downtube is rather busy and the 15QR forks means a standard fork-mount job won’t work – and Thule don’t do 15QR adapters yet (according to them – there is no market for them yet!).

If you have to mount your bike on the roof, then the only one I’ve found is Pendle Single Bike rack – but it has no locking facility so the bike is rather easy to remove.

If this was available in the country I’d have one in an instant -a very good idea, and it does look as though it holds the bike pretty stable as well.

Just don’t go to your local chemist and ask for some liquid parafin – they take you in a back room and ask some strange questions…

When you get the bottle, you then notice that it is strongly recommended to ease constipation…

Get parafin from a proper place and make use of it for cleaning your chain…

White spirit leaves a residue so can’t be used on disc brakes…works fine on chains and chainrings/cassettes – but also does a wicked degrease on bearings so make sure it doesn’t go everywhere…

Meths is a better disc brake cleaner…evaporates and leaves no residue…and the smell reminds me of racing cars as a kid!

Sounds like you need some interface software to either switch it over to controller or to reprogram it to be a controller…

Go for it…I’m no expert, but if you are asking, then I’ll give you my opinion!

If I’m riding on my own, I have headphones in and listen to music – use in-ear headphones as they remove voices but I can still hear traffic without any problems – but I don’t have loud volumes so no issues for me. Don’t see the problem IF you can still hear traffic.

Why is it the norm to work for a multi-national company and have your Boss in the UK? Doesn’t sound normal to me…sounds more like an expensive problem that isn’t really there…

I doubt you’ll have any problems once the initial shock of the new manager wears off…it’ll be fine…you might get some trips to the US now…

I was running the £20 BB unit for about 5 months before selling the bike to a mate…was running perfectly well through at time and had sat in some pubbles of water so did get a good soaking…seemed to work, I’d go for it…even if it does only last 3 months – it’s the same time other companies BB’s last…

We both work strange hours – I now do 7-3 to get home by half 3 so I can watch our daughter whilst my wife goes out to work – admittedly only Wednesday/Thursday, Friday evenings and all day Saturday (music teacher) – but it does leave other time rather sparse.

Monday night’s she does her thing, which leaves Tuesday night to do my thing…which should be cycling but if I’ve got stuff to do then the cycling takes the hit and I get the other things done on the Tuesday as it is the only chance I get.

Saying that, if I can get my head sorted early in the week, I can arrange a grandparent to come across and watch her so I can go ride on Saturday – but it is only a half day ride at most.

Sunday depends on what my wife wants to do – it’s either family time or I can get out for a few hours on the bike.

Night rides would be ideal, but as I don’t tend to get in until after 10 on the Tuesday rides, doing it regularly would knacker me out as I’m up at 6 to get to work – I need my sleep!

I think if you both work 9-5 it should be a bit easier to get blocked out time for just you, we don’t really have a huge issue with it other than our 2 jobs leave pretty much Monday and Tuesday free and nothing else (during the week).

My cycling has taken a huge hit…I seem to be going backwards in skill/ability and fitness whilst everyone else is moving forwards…it’s rather grim but I know it won’t last for long…as she gets a bit older, I will get more time to ride my bike.

The commuting thing almost works for me – but due to parenting requirements I could do it 1 day of the week (on the Tuesday, my wife has a fitness class at 15:30 so riding my bike home isn’t an option)…

I’m really missing my biking, but the flip side is that being a father is seriously good fun!

The water washes the Immac cream off the leaves so they actually feel like they should…or something to do with the water making the hairs on the leaves stand proud and therefore causing more irritation?

No idea!

Not even a whole day – 4 hours max I think it said…

I just hope they can pin this on him!

Marin Mount Vision…admittedly it is still very new, but compared to my original Trance, it seems much more capable – also a half pound lighter.

I’m still getting used to it but so far it has climbed up the same stuff, ridden over the same stuff and descended much quicker than the Trance…

So far it seems to be a great bike – not boutique in any way but it seems to do the job*.

* Only issue is how to transport it (and this depends on the model – if you have one with a thru-axle this is appropriate) – if going by roof rack then you are somewhat stuck as the downtube is too large for most clamp-type carriers (a Thule Freeride only grips it by the very ends so isn’t a very secure hold) and the Proride fits the hole below the shock mounting but the chainrings foul the clamp closure so it isn’t held in securely. You need to resort of a fork mounted clamp and so far the only 1 you can buy in the UK is the Pendle Single Bike roof bar with 15QR adapter. Rear mounted probably not such a problem as the top tube has plenty space for the bars to fit through. Towbar is probably the best option for transporting it.

The original advert, I believe was the single page picture of Chris Bonnington with the strapline of him asking Olympus before they asked him. The second page is new and is used to advertise the new camera – highlighting it’s strengths and suggesting that it could be used to climb Everest and if you came across any stunning scenery/imagery, the camera would be able to capture it in fine detail.

That is the advert of today. I think the actual link though is for another advertising campaign done by Newspapers Marketing Agency – probably out to highlight the fact that 30-odd years ago, adverts were there to make you think, and today, they also make you think.

3 adverts in 1…

Nowt wrong with that advert…nothing shocking or bad taste about it. It simply states the the facts. Unless you have a very weak constitution then there is nothing upsetting about that advert.

I’ve now set it as my desktop wallpaper as it is a really good advert. Thought provoking and the image itself is very clever.

The pics were taken about 2001, just before the work started to create the estate…the proposes plan for the first phases is marked as a road (but the road names obviously changed)…saying that, the trail I have been going on about down the front does look ‘possible’…still no more detail than was there previously though…shame really.

Not a bad find actually…

Isn’t old, just seriously low res where I’m looking…

I’ve got 2 Thule 591’s but the design of the bike doesn’t allow it to fit this rack – Marin Mount Vision – Large – the hole at the bottom of the shock mount fits the top of the clamp, but the chainset then fouls the closure so it isn’t held securely…

I dunno about high res but the images have certainly updated…complete lack of detail now in areas I’ve been looking at…just some real fuzzy images that look sort of like trees.

Cool thanks…thing is I’ve no idea where Liberton is (or if that is even correct) – so not sure what buses I’m looking for…I’m clearly too lazy to check Google Maps, but will do that once I’ve bathed the daughter!

Thanks for the info though…handy.

Something like this

Let me know when you have it as I could do with a shot please!

Mate paid for all ours on his credit card – about £560-ish – not heard a thing, tried calling and emailing but no response…I got the email telling me the event had been cacnelled 2 days before he did…bit of a shame really.

I hope it goes ahead next year, but I equally hope they gets their communication sorted out and make sure the refunds get sorted – they should have been done as soon as the event was cancelled, but we are still waiting…thing is, putting posts up like this does turn people away from events, so hopefully something will be announced shortly sorting everything out.

Trek 850 for me…

Evilzone is back (or so says it’s email I got!)…so be ready for some more spamming attempts…

I tried the bungee thing and comparing the 2, the stand gives more support – it isn’t really on being tied to the side of the car so if you got over rough roads, it doesn’t bounce/rub or strike the side of the car…the wide base keeps everything stable and it allows a neat way of storing bikes in your vehicle…

Saying that, if you aren’t fussed about the interior of the car and/or don’t drive over particularly bumpy ground (to make the bike rock side to side) then bungees do the job nicely…

I’m in Central Scotland, so if you are as well, no probs meeting up to let you try it to see if the idea works for you…

I have a Minoura 2 bike in-car rack…cost about £80…used about 8 times…now the cars I have it won’t fit…so sits in the garage…was very good just I wrote the car off before it could be used regularly!

I only know of the Minoura and Thule systems…

Reading the manual and checking the sticker on the bike, ideal sag (for firm setting) is 12.5mm – I’m looking at 12mm sag with my 180psi, so I think I’ve got that bit sorted…I just need to get the ProPedal bit sorted.

Talking to a mate at work, he made a very valid point that I forgot about – most of my climbing was done in the bottom ring, so it would be a fairly active ride…I’ll need to repeat the climb but in my middle ring to see if it is unaffected…this could of course be the whole reason why it was bobbing – granny ring instead of middle ring…

I believe so…but will check again tonight just to be sure…saying that, I think I weigh a half stone more with all my riding kit on – I don’t tend to wear much more than I need and my riding bag has minimum essentials…the water is probably the heaviest bit.