First, don't take advice from people who clearly haven't even seen the uplift trailers at Cwmcarn. They are possibly the best uplift trailers anywhere.

All of the course is roll-able or has opt-outs (it's a trail centre after all). If you're cautious, or don't like people riding behind you wanting to get past then wait for the other riders to clear before setting off. Ride the red a couple of times and see how you feel before doing the black.

Body armour always makes you more confident, so wear all you have, and your full-face too, you certainly won't look out of place.

Ride whichever bike goes down hills better, or whichever you prefer to ride. Some people will have full-on DH monsters, some will have XC bikes or long travel hardtails, it's all good so just enjoy it.

I've just ordered a Giant Rapid 2 from my LBS. After years of riding MTB only I wanted a training bike and something to pootle down country lanes on in the sunshine (if we ever get any). Man those things are light (to me anyway).

Seems like a reasonable amount of bike for the money, and my LBS did me a good deal on it.

I should get to the pub faster on it anyway, and more drinking time has to be a good thing.

If you've got a cheap head, buy a cheap helmet!

Some things aren't worth saving money on.

I've just built an Santacruz Driver 8, anodized orange, with Fox 40s, Saint groupset, Chris King Devo headset, Thompson post, Point One Direct mount stem, Hope V2s and Syncros rims on Pro IIs.

That was built very much on a budget, quite a big budget 😉

I work in York and we have parking issues at our offices. We contacted the council (who are very much anti-car) to see whether employees could park at the park and ride and cycle to the offices and the official response we got from York Council was that people who did this would be issued with a parking ticket as the free parking facility is only provided for people who are paying to use the bus.

The car parks are partly funded by the bus companies. Clearly park and ride is less to do with reducing traffic and more to do with making money.

Outrageous.

Holy moley, that is some serious crazy-ass voodoo shaman skeleton sh1t you've got going on there.

I am not qualified to give you any advice, all I can hope is that you posted this from the pub or something. Hope you're still here tomorrow!

I've just fitted an SS to my DH bike (single ring with an 11-32 cassette) and I would have thought the cage a bit short for a twin-ring set up, You could probably get away with it if you were careful with your gear selections, but it would be a bit slack/tight in the wrong gear combinations.

Brilliant piece of kit though, much more suited to a DH/Freeride bike than say an XT. Super strong springs, seems quite robust too, and looks great. The widget for running small blocks is a great trick too.

I haven't read all of this thread, it seems to be growing very quickly (and possibly degenerating just as quickly in the usual STW way), but…

I'm very happy for all those people who live happy, fulfilled lives with children, I know from my many friends and my two brothers who have kids that they have a great life, for them that at least.

But my Fiancee and I (I'm 40, she is 38) are in 100% complete, honest, agreement that it's not the life we want. We have a great lifestyle, complete flexibility, plenty of disposable income to spend on bikes, kayaks, lots of other toys, holidays, going out, cars, nice houses etc. We can go for a ride (together) whenever and for as long we want, go to the pub when we feel like it and pretty much go anywhere and do anything we want to. This might seem like a shallow life to some people, but then only in the same way that we don't understand at all the pleasure that parents get from having children.

The only possible way I can explain it is that I don't want to spend my life watching someone else (i.e. my children) having fun, I want to be the one having fun.

And that's the thing for me, some people may say that we're put on the earth to procreate, I disagree, as far as I can see we're put on this earth for one thing only, and that's to have a good time.

None of us should ram our way of life down other people's throats, if people want to go off and have loads of babies then good for them, that's less people out cluttering up the trails on a Saturday morning as far as I can see.

Maybe I just don't have the 'parent' gene. There never has, ever, not in the slightest tiny way, ever been a time when I have thought that having kids would be a good thing. I LOVE my life. When I die, I want to come back as me, and do everything the same as I've done it this time, it is THAT much fun!

Take a nice photograph, or use one you already have, and have it printed onto canvas and mounted.

I've got a 57 plate 2.0 Diesel Zetec Estate, 136 Bhp, 6 Speed, plenty fast, bucket loads of torque, 45MPG plus. Entertaining to drive, goes well full of toys and also with a roof full of bikes.

I had an old shape (04) 1.8 TDCi Estate and had horrendous problems with the engine management system when it was around three years old, in the garage 30+ times and still not fixed, the firm (co car) sold it in the end. Didn't stop me getting another Focus though, and I've been very happy with the new one for 65,000 miles so far.

It could well be a cold shower feed, they're commonly fed from the header tank to equalise the pressure between hot and cold.

STW members in talking bollox like they're engineering experts shocker!

The old stuff used to go yellow, all the stuff from JRA is non-yellowing UV resistant now. The new stuff is easier to apply too and not as prone to finger marks etc in my experience.

If you want to protect your bike it's a must.

No. Hope XC Hubs can't be converted to 20mm.

Pro II can.

Cable cutters cut braided hoses perfectly, I did two sets at the weekend. If your cable cutters aren't cutting them cleanly then you probably need a new set of cable cutters.

A sharp knife works well for standard hoses.

I've got a pair that I've been thrashing on my Chameleon for the past twelve months and I would say without hesitation that they are unbelievably good value for money. Still 100% true, bearings and freehub all running super smooth.

I've ridden them reasobably hard too, walloped them a few times where I was very pleasantly surprised to find them not bent.

I regularly carry my £4K Santacruz and my partners £2.5K Orange on the roof of my car using Thule 591 carriers. I've done thousands and thousands of miles with them up there, at fast motorway speeds, in gales, rain, snow, everything and I've never, ever had an issue (touches some wood).

I just put them up there and drive, they really are very secure in my experience. I care very much about my bikes and wouldn't use the roof carriers if I didn't think they were 100% secure. The bikes stay pretty clean too, which isn't always the case with towbar mounted racks.

I can't believe I used to go to the hassle of taking dirty bikes apart and fitting them inside the car all the time, it's so much easier to put them on the roof. Mind you I get a bit nervous when I stop at the services, and don't leave them out of sight at all if I can help it, even though they are locked on, and I'm pretty careful to make sure no-one is following me home too, so they do have downsides, not in practical terms though, they couldn't be better.

I think Hope rotors are made from Stainless Steel, the 'rust' you find may be the residue from sintered pads rusting on the rotors.

Santacruz Driver 8 (Ano, Fox DHX RC4 upgrade)
Fox 40 FIT RC2
Chris King Sotte Voche Devolution
Syncros DPS32s on Hope Pro IIs
Hope Tech V2s
Point One Racing Split Second Stem
Thomson Post
Saint Groupset
E13 SRS+
Crank Bros 50/50XX

And all those other small bits to stick it together.

From my other half.

I'm a very lucky boy. Believe it!

I must be on the wrong forum. I'll log out and check!

Langy, you need to get out more. Seriously! Are people supposed to take your comments seriously with an attitude like that?

I'd suggest that most of your problems are about your own self image rather than what anyone else thinks of you. They probably don't even notice you so get over yourself.

Just Riding Along. Proper stuff, good price, great service.

Simples.

They're shower proof, in a 'soft shell' kind of way rather than waterproof. I also find they are quite short in the body.

Nice jacket if it fits you though.

Unfortunately parking your car up against the door doesn't stop the mutants. They'll climb over your car and bend the top of the garage door over to get in. A proper alarm does seem to make them scarper though.

And as you know, there's no such thing as a nice safe place to live with a low crime rate, to the thieving scumbags this is just a nice quiet area where people who can afford decent mountain bikes live. It's where they go to work! They really do justify it to themselves that people in nice areas can afford to lose stuff, and they assume you'll be insured too.

Ton, you're doing well, some great security going on there, I'm impressed. Just get yourself a decent, full on, house alarm, if you haven't already. Burglars don't like the sound of breaking glass, or a proper burglar alarm.

Personally I can't believe that anyone thinks that insurance is a real alternative to stopping the mutants getting into your property and taking your pride and joy? Doesn't the thought of scumbags sneaking around your house at night and taking what you have worked very hard to earn do anything to you? Plus surely your bike is a personal thing, that you've put together carefully and been to great places with, not just some lump of metal that a bunch of Halfords vouchers from your insurers can replace?

I ride a Heckler, my GF rides a Five. Both brilliant bikes, you'll be happy whichever you ride.

Ride them both, look at the stats on paper, but buy it with your heart as much as your head. When you go in the garage you want to look at your bike and think 'I've just got to go out and ride that thing!' The Heckler does that for me, in spades.

Im running a DMR Chain Reactor mounted on an ISCG 05 mount adaptor on my Stinky and it works fine. In the confusing and expensive world of chain devices it's pretty simple and reasonably cheap, I think it was a tenner or so for the adaptor and about £35 for the chain device.

DMR make loads though, they're worth checking out.

You need a ground anchor, actually you need several. You need multiple heavy duty chains, daisy-chained through various parts of the bike (thieves after high-end bikes will cut the frame to get it). Cable locks are useless. You need a big-ass lock on the door and if you have an up and over garage door you need to permanently fix it shut, all around the door, into the brickwork with rawl bolts preferably. Those garage door locks that fit in the middle are useless as thieves will just bend your garage door over at the corner (top or bottom) and get in.

Also, make sure no-one can see inside your shed or garage, if they see a bike they will break in, and once they know they're in there they will go to great lengths to get them.

Most of all you need an alarm. Not a £12.99 battery operated one that the thieves will smash, a proper mains powered one with a very loud siren. But it's no use unless your bikes are securely locked up too, otherwise they'll be away with them before you can put on your dressing gown and peer out of the window.

Our garage has been broken into three times now in 18 months. At calculated, written-in-some-scumbags-diary, six month intervals. The first time it wasn't alarmed and the thieves got £4K of bikes, and we didn't know until the morning, now they just keep coming back for the replacements. When the alarm goes off they leg it, otherwise they'll be happy to hack away at your locks, or dismantle your bikes, un-disturbed all night. They're not too bothered about noise, you'd be surprised what it takes to wake people up, our house is in a very quiet area and they drove a car into the garage door (across a very noisy gravel drive) to bend it and get in last time. Security lights don't seem to bother them at all either. But as soon as the house alarm went off they legged it.

This is all from personal experience, don't leave it until you've had a break-in, because after that the thieves will keep coming back for your replacement bikes, and every time you come home or get up in the morning you'll be wondering if you've been broken into again.

You need to be paranoid about security when you have mountain bikes. watch for people following you home, and they will do it in stages if you take a regular route home, or they'll use several people to follow you on different parts of your route home. Don't leave your bike carriers on the roof of your car outside your house (that's the mistake I made). You might as well have a big flashing light saying 'come and steal my bikes', don't ride home through town, or stop at the local with your bike propped up prominently.

I know it sounds extreme, but when you wake up and find your pride and joy has gone it's not very nice. It's not about reducing your insurance premiums, it's about stopping the thieving mutants from taking your stuff. These people are very serious about stealing bikes, they make a lot of money from it.

My local bike shop is Cyclesense in Tadcaster. Not a hardcore MTB shop and doesn't stock the blingest brands, but they are always there with sound advice, won't sell you anything that's not 100% right for you and always do their best to get pretty much anything you need.

I do most of my own spannering, but would trust them 100% with my bikes, and use their workshop for frame facing, wheel building etc.

I'd rather go in there and pay a couple of quid extra for a cassette, chain, etc and keep up the relationship, and put some business their way, because when I've got a bike problem they're always happy to discuss and help out, whether that means they get a sale or not.

I wouldn't want to be without my LBS. 5 Mins from my house, I must take them some cake!

Long live the LBS.

Conversley, I find that they keep my feet dry (I wouldn't have wanted to be without them last week in Scotland) but they're not the warmest of socks, and if your shoes fit you in the summer, you might be pushed to get a liner sock and the Seal Skinz on inside your shoe.

Mind you, the most important part of keeping your feet warm is keeping them dry.

I use Nikwax TX Direct spray (I think that's what it's called) on jackets and it makes the water bead off them like new.

Thoroughly recommended.

I ended up sawing one in half to get it off, before someone told me to squeeze the plates together before you push the ends in, it really is easy when you have the knack.

Another vote for the Blackburn Mars, as bright as you'll get for fifteen quid I think, with some additional side visibility thrown in too.

You could probably hire something decent for a weekend for around £800!

Seriously though, a mate of mine bought a Kona CoilAir for not much more than that. Not what I would call All Mountain, but he's happy to haul the **** heavy brute of a thing around to get his kicks on the downhills. Just get fit, or you might be fit already, in which case you're sorted.

Denton house, on the edge of Keswick. Cheap, friendly, bike storage, flexible accommodation, walking distance to pubs & food and more pubs and bike shops with riding from the door.

http://www.vividevents.co.uk/Denton%20House.htm

Been loads of times, well recommended.

Nuke proof do a 400mm I think, it might even be 440mm.

They're a similar design to Thomson, but not quite as good, but cheaper, and still good.

Ebay tends to be really quite expensive for second hand kayaks, so it's best avoided in my experience. Mostly bought by people who don't know what they're buying.

I'm not sure what kind of kayaking your daughter is into, but boats can be really use-specific so you need to be aware of what you're buying and what it's going to be used for. If you don't know then it's really easy to buy the wrong one.

A new kayak is going to set you back between £600 and £800, although there are some 'club spec' general purpose kayaks around for about £450 new.

You're probably looking upwards of £250 for a decent, flat-hulled, second-hand modern kayak. It's probably not worth buying an old huge long pointy boat, even if it is cheap. Kayaks and especially kayaking technique has moved on considerably in the last ten years, and those old, pointy boats are pretty much well ouf of date now.

Also, I don't know if your daughter is a member of a club, or if she just fancies messing around in a kayak. If she isn't already, I can't recommend enough joining a local club. Most clubs have are fairly cheap to join, provide good instruction and development in a safe environment and often provide much of the kit required, to borrow whenever you like, as part of the membership fee. Joining a club really is the way forward.

Most importantly of all though, don't even think of buying a boat and letting her go out on the local canal, river or lake if she isn't experienced or supervised by someone who is. If you don't know what you're doing or are inexperienced it is very difficult to spot hazards, and ALL water is dangerous, moving or not. I can't emphasis that enough.

Having said all that, Brookbank in Manchester, Robin Hood Watersports in Leeds, Desperate Measures in Nottingham and Performance Kayaks in Weston Super Mare are all really good (other kayak shops are available) and will give you sound advice, and they won't sell you something that won't fit you, or your daughter's needs.

Kayaking is a great sport though, a little effort to learn the basics and it can change your life. Kayaking has taken me to some truly amazing places around the world and lead me to share some brilliant times with some fantastic people. It's a great community and we live in a country with some world-class rivers.

Sorry, turned into a long post.

I use a pair of Kyle Straits and some evo elbows on loads of rides, from trail centres to Yorkshire Moors and Mendips / Quntocks XC stuff. I don't feel out of place, and when I'm firing down a piece of rocky singletrack off the moor at 30mph plus I'm glad I've got them on.

Plus, as the weather gets cooler I find my usual riding shorts + Kyle Straits are plenty warm enough, and I think look loads better than a jey pair of cycling tights, but it's not about how you look so don't get hung up on it.

The knees and elbows won't protect your ribs, well not directly obviously, but I find if I crash wearing my elbow / arm pads then I'll sometimes deliberately break my fall with the bits of me that are padded up.

It's not where you ride, it's how you ride, and if you're likey to crash then wear some protective gear. You wear a helmet and gloves presumably. What's the problem with protecting the rest of yourself?

I've got one and you can ride off road reasonably with the 240 lumens they chuck out. The biggest plus point is that they take AA batteries, so you can carry spares. The bar clamp works really well (it does on my O/S bars anyway).

Having said that they're about ninety quid if I remeber correctly, and the DX light (900 lumens) I use now completely blows it out of the water, at almost half the price.

I still carry the Hope as a back-up light, and it's handy for road use, and makes a great torch too. And it's a lovely bit of machined metal, which is nice, but knowing what I do now, I wouldn't have bothered buying it last year, it doesn't compare to the power of the DX.

Stick people in a group, then we can blame all of 'em. After all they're all the same, aren't they? Especially if you don't know them.

SOOBalias – funny, v.funny.

Nice work.