Paying the sports equipment supplement allows you to take an extra bag.

I’ve had way over-weight baggage with Easyjet and they didn’t quibble because I had paid for the bike. There’s something in the conditions of carriage that says they will take your bike if you’ve paid for it, even if it puts you over weight, that’s why they ask if it’s just the bike in the bag. Try and make sure your normal bag is 20Kg or less and you should be okay.

The terminology of the Highway Code works as follows:

You Must = It’s the law.
You Should = Advisory.

Therefore it isn’t against the law to ride two-abreast.

After years of wondering why roadies ride two (or more abreast) I’ve recently found that if we ride single-file drivers will usually come past, often too close, when there’s oncoming traffic. Riding two-abreast means there isn’t usually enough room so they don’t overtake when there is oncoming traffic.

I’m not commenting on which is safer though, but it does seem to stop drivers squeezing past your elbow.

You shouldn’t ride big ring to big ring anyway. Use sensible gear selections and you’ll be fine.

The Stinky is heavy, but they are great fun when gravity takes over, and they don’t break, well mine hasn’t anyway. There always seem to be loads of last year’s models about for bargain prices.

That rear suspension is super-plush, and the travel seems to go on for ever.

Sure they don’t come with super-bling kit, but you might as well snap off an LX mech when you fall off / crash into a tree / bail on a jump etc, rather than an XTR.

Fun.

I can highly recommend the book ‘Moveable Feasts, what to eat and how to cook it in the great outdoors’ written by two friends of mine.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=moveable+feasts+what+to+eat+and+how+to+cook+it+in+the+great+outdoors&x=8&y=23

Lots of MTB references and pictures in there too.

10mm can make a massive difference when we’re talking about this stuff, in fact with anything in relation to the body a small change makes a big difference. Swap the spacers to the top of the stem and see what you find.

You’ll probably find it’s better for popping the front end and really getting involved with the bike’s handling.

Unless you’re running 100mm forks or something like that then getting the front end as low as you can (comfortably) makes the bike sharper. If you’re gonna ride it all day though it might get to be a pain in the neck.

Uplink – Great info re the carrier regs, that completely explains why I’ve never had a problem with a super-heavy bike in the bag, and why Easyjet check-in always ask if it’s just the bike in the bag.

Nice work.

So if you’re 5Kg over, it’ll cost you £30. I don’t know what your definition of reasonable is but that sounds okay to me.

14 – 15kg bike, 5kg bag, leaves you with 12kg plus 5kg (or so) hand luggage. You’re not going to be a whole load of kgs over that, so even if you do get hit, it’ll still be pretty reasonable. And your bags are always lighter on the way home so you might not get hit both ways.

If you just want to save money, stay at home.

Hard boxes are okay for road bikes, but you’ll struggle to get a mountain bike in one.

Use a bag, that’s what they’re designed for. You wouldn’t pack all your clothes in a cardboard box for a week in Lanzarote, use appropriate luggage to protect your bike.

In my experience Easyjet are very good when it comes to taking bikes. Paid up front they’ve always been great about taking the bike, and it always is more than a little over-weight. And even if you do get charged a bit extra (and I haven’t been) for overweight baggage, it’ll still be pretty reasonable.

Another vote for Forensics, I have another pair too. I don’t know about a reputation for poor quality, I’d say they’re up there with the best, and miles, miles better quality than disposable 661 stuff.

Get some, the cuffs without velcro are a revelation.

The Marin is classic ‘Fire-Road up and singletrack down’, good for relative novices, and having ridden it recently after not going there for ages I think it’s brilliant and the standard of the DH bits are as good as anywhere.

I definitely wouldn’t agree with the poster who said it gets boggy in the wet. Most of the singletrack is hardpack and holds up really well in wet conditions.

Ride it, yes it’s not a new trail, but you won’t be disappointed, unless you’re one of the weird people who like climbing better than going down.

I’d say ride the Marin on Saturday, have tea and cakes in Betws then ride Penmachno on Sunday, you’ll know after Saturday who might struggle and who might not. Penmachno isn’t a massive undertaking by any means.

I’d say so.

Just make sure the seller is reputable and the goods are theirs to sell (and I’m not implying they’re not). Otherwise you’re just making life harder for all of us by buying a second hand ‘bargain’.

Feel for you in a big way. We had our second break-in at my partners house, south of Bristol, a week and a half ago. Luckily nothing went this time.

It seems like once you’re on the scrotes’ list you’re cursed. All I can say to anyone around Bristol is be suspicious, no be paranoid. Hide, alarm and securely lock your bikes, don’t talk about them in the pub or at work, if you ride home or have them on the car make sure you’re not being followed. Don’t leave bike carriers on the roof of your car outside your house (that’s what happened to us first time). Really, be as suspicious as you can. Stop and do some u-turns on your way home, or just stop and let any following cars pass you. Go around a roundabout an extra time on the way home, just make it harder for them to find out where you are.

Just don’t get into the cycle of being broken into in the first place, because in and around Bristol it will make your cycling life a misery. It’s not just losing bikes, it’s knowing that some thieving scrotes have been in your house and nicked your stuff, and they will be back, and that’ll make you mad.

Or, just move. That’s what my Partner is doing, not just because of this, but it’s a consideration if bikes are part of your way of life. I’m from York and yes, there’s bike crime, but not at the epidemic proportions that Bristol suffers.

Totally agree that the Police, however helpful they are at the time, are in denial and simply won’t admit that this is serious, organised crime worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. These scrotes are organised, they obviously keep records of where they’re stolen from before, and they’ve got some kind of organised system for disposing of them. But the Police just seem to think it’s teenagers stealing a hundred quid’s worth of bikes from a shed. When the Police came to us the first time (three days later) they couldn’t even understand that a bike could be worth thousands of pounds. With that lack of comprehesion from your average copper it’s never going to get tackled properly.

The riding around Bristol is great. Living around Bristol with a bike is a nightmare.

As I keep saying to walkers…

I don’t need a bell, I’ve got the horn.

Interesting.

I’ve got a Superlight and a Heckler. Since I got the Heckler I never ride the superlight, in fact I’ve given it to my GF. Because whenever I go out I want to find stuff to ride off or fly into, and the Heckler gives you the confidence to do that, and you can comfortably ride it all day too.

I’m not planning to enter any races any time soon, I’m not bothered about being first to the top of the hill and I’ve got a hardtail for local hacking so the Superlight doesn’t get a look in.

Before I bought the Heckler I thought lots about where my riding is at and exactly what I want my bike to do, and it seems to fit the bill perfectly. I’m sure an LT2 would do the trick too, but somehow it just doesn’t float my boat aesthetically, and when you walk in the garage you’ve got to look at your bike and think – wow, I’ve just gotta go ride that, now!

Interesting what you say, because I always thought the Nomad would be the only thing to tempt me off my Heckler.

SC rules!

I’ve got four (yes four) of these Oxford Brute Force jobbies bolted to my garage floor and then daisy-chain the chains together. I hope they would take some shifting.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8495

At £19 a pop you can afford to have more than one.

Another vote for the Heckler with 36s, it’s impossible not to have fun.

Mind you the Chameleon with 140mm floats is a whole pile of fun too.

They both hit the spot as soon as I swung a leg over them.

I like Nevegals front & rear, I find the Blue Groove not quite as confidence inspiring in anything other than hard-pack. They roll brilliantly well, especially in DTC flavour.

I’ve just taken a set of 2.35 High Rollers off my hardtail as it felt like I was riding around with the brakes on, although I am otherwise a big fan of the High Rollers. I was using a Super Tacky on the front.

Anyone else noticed drag with the ‘Rollers?

Don’t shift under load. Would you change gear in your car without dipping the clutch? No. You can’t make informed comments about smoothness of shifting if you’re (and excuse me for this) dumb-ass enough to shift under load.

It really bugs me when people say they wreck drivetrains, snap chains and suffer loads of wear, when they’re changing gear whilst cranking hard.

Have a little mechanical sympathy and use a few skills.

Get a 34T cassette, why on earth would you not want an easier gear? You don’t have to use it after all.

No need for the special tool. I’ve used a plank of wood and a hammer, and a Park Tool press, the press did make a little more sense to be honest, but both achieved the same result.

No need for a special tool. It’s easier to get the logos lined up where you want them if you use a press, if that kind of thing bothers you of couse.

I just bash ’em in the machine. Washed them loads of times and they come out like new.

‘Most People’? As in who? You must mean most of the people you know.

Ride a Chameleon and then you’ll know why people still want an aluminium hardtail. If you look in the dictionary it’s just next to the word FUN!

Bristol is a great place to ride, but the worst place to own a bike right now, if you want to keep hold of it.

Blackburn Mammoth, lifetime guarantee, pumps up fat MTB tyres in no time, to a high pressure, reliable (I’ve had mine for ages anyway, and if it breaks Blackburn will give me a new one) and it might be slightly bigger, but it doesn’t weigh much (it’s hollow after all) and it just works, really well.

Don’t buy a skinny roadie pump for MTB tyres, because when it’s raining, getting dark and freezing cold, and all your mates are waiting for you to fix your third puncture, you’re gonna wish you had a pump that actually worked on Mountain Bike volume tyres rather than took up as little space in your camelbak as possible (which is full of tubes, butties, jelly babies, cameras, elbow pads and all the other stuff us mountain bikers carry around anyway).

I assume the shop checked it over and made sure everything is tight, the forks are on the right way round (we’ve all seen it) and all the other new bike fettling bits.

Your brakes probably just need bedding in, as you know this I assume you know how to do it (and I’m assuming they’re disc brakes).

Other than that, get out and ride it, then you’ll know what needs fettling. If its saddle/bars/stem then change one thing at a time ’til you know what works.

If you can’t get out and just want to fettle, and the bike is brand new, de-grease the chain then re-lube properly, otherwise it’ll attract dirt like a, well, like a greasy, sticky thing that attracts dirt.

Enjoy, new bike time is great.

Orange Five. If I was a 5’3″ woman, that’s what I would buy.

Ride it, up hills, then especially down hills, have fun, grin, repeat.

You could…

Spend a grand on a last year’s Kona Stinky, ride it down/off/into stuff, it won’t break, you’ll have fun and you’ll find out which bit of DH/Freeride you enjoy most. And you’ll have change for helmets, pads, armour, goggles, a trip to the Alps. Then you can flog it and spend the rest of your money on something more specific, if you need it, and if the Stinky isn’t doing it for you.

Other things to look at, Spesh SX Trail, Marin Quake. Both available in cheap-flavour (if you want) and are all-round enough gravity bikes to find out if it floats your boat.

If you want to spend all your £2K then have a look at an Orange Patriot, you’ll get something from around that budget and it can be built up a few different ways at different budgets and tuned for different things.

Note: Having plenty of cash to spend on a bike isn’t a crime, give the guy a break.

I’ve only had good experiences with Easy Jet. Flew with the Stinky (which seems about as heavy as a bike can be) and was way overweight checking in at EMA. Easyjet’s opinion seemed to be that you’ve paid for sporting qeuipment so no problems. Oh, they’ll ask you if it’s just the bike in there, and according to their baggage policy it should just be the bike, so don’t tell they you’ve stuffed all your clotes, shoes and body armour in there too.

And at £15 each way you can afford to pay a little more excess baggage if you do get stung.

Check in early and smile nicely, and hold the end of your bike bag up while it’s on the scales. If you’re checking in as a group just tell them to weigh one bike as they’re all the same and pick the lightest.

With regards to BA, as I understand it their policy is that they don’t take any oversize baggage now, due to them operating from Heathrow T5 with the fancy new automated baggage system that doesn’t take anything bigger than a suitcase, so no skis, surfboards, kayaks, bikes etc, etc. That was certainly the case last year.

Class! I’m totally with you, dude!

That’s the way we roll.

You can only charge what the market is prepared to pay.

If you’re the only person in the world who can do what you do then you can charge lots, if every man and his dog could do it then lots less.

If you’re not making widgets then the cost of inputs is less of a factor, but you do have to pay your bills so if the market isn’t willing to pay what it takes to keep your head above water then find something else to do.

As I keep saying to self employed people, being a great electrician/plumber/consultant/dog trainer/bog cleaner, etc isn’t all that important, you’ve got to be good at the rest of it. If you don’t know what the going rate is for what you’re doing then you’re in the wrong job.

I’m a white water kayaker, don’t get me started on grading. I’m sure the climbing boys and girls will be on the same page, as will the skiers and boarders etc.

A grading is useful to give you an idea of what a man-made trail might be like but everything can’t be shoe-horned into grades and it only tells you about the hardest part of the trail. Go out, ride stuff. You can either ride it or you can’t. Have a look, decide for yourself. It doesn’t really matter about the grade, you’re only on a bike, it’s got brakes, you can get off. What’s the worst that can happen?

One bike, what’s that about then?

That would be no fun at all!

I can’t see it’s really even remotely possible.

Most of the pro DH riders were clipped-in until recently when the flat pedal brigade came charging through. Five Ten shoes and particularly Stealth Rubber soles were a big part of the change, for sure.

Depends on riding style, and the course to some extent. Foot-out and loose riders or head-down pedal-mashers.

Peaty rides clipped-in, Sam Hill on flats. For most people, the top two DH riders in the world. That’s got to prove one thing… It’s all down to riding style.

Just watched the video. Two things…

Simply incredible riding.
Great filming & editing.

I thought I could ride a bike until I watched that. I suck!

Awesome. Awe inspiring. Hell, just plain inspiring.

Yes, it sticks to anodized frames just fine.

True, if you’re just swapping the levers over and not shortening the hoses you might get away without bleeding them, just don’t swing the hoses around or pull the levers or anything silly.

I think if you need shorten the hoses and have to put a new insert into them you’ll end up having to bleed them if you want reliable top performance from your brakes. Often they work fine to start with, because any air bubbles migrate up into the master cylinder, then when you transport your bike upside down in your car they end up in the caliper or hose and you get spongy brakes.

Might be okay if you’re careful.

Hang on a minute, is there any difference between the front and rear calipers?

The Magura Royal Blood mineral oil works fine and mixes with the Shimano stuff okay, some say gives better performance due to lower viscosity.

You’ll need replacement olives and inserts as you can’t realisically get the old ones off and re-use them. My brakes came with spares.

SLX bleed really easily from the top in my experience without the need for syringes etc, the hardest part was finding a 7mm spanner. Just keep the reservoir topped up, it goes down pretty quick when you’re pumping the lever. Check out the excellent instructions on the Shimano website for some good tips, it’s dead easy.

Car washer hose is pretty much the right diameter to go on the nipple really securely, and you can get it at any decent car accessory shop.

I have an old set of bars I stick in my workstand, and a brake mount screwed to the leg of my workbench. Saves getting brake fluid all over the bike.

SLX are great brakes.

Cassette end of rear drive-side stay on a FS bike with an elevated swingarm.

Make sure the frame is clean and free from grease, cut the Copter tape with rounded corners and try not to touch the sticky side or get air bubbles trapped, heat with a hairdryer and smooth out with a rag or yer finger.

You sholuld be able to stick it over some welds etc if you heat it, but dirt often still gets underneath. Still protects your paintwork though.

M&S seem to give good cover as standard. I’m with Halifax who will add bikes as named items at a reasonable price.

Example £25 for adding the Chameleon, valued at £1,800, includes full cover when away from home.

No experience of claiming from them yet though, happily.

In my personal experience Endsliegh are possibly the worst bunch of insurance morons I have ever had the misfortune to deal with, and I wasn’t even making a claim. I wouldn’t p**s through their office window if it was on fire. Don’t give them your money, ever.

Denton House in Keswick is always good. Cheap, loads of space, bike storage, and within walking distance of beer/food/more beer/gear shops/even more beer.

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