Yes. Roadies shave their legs, off-roaders don’t. Simples.

I used to like being on the road as cycling off-road seemed comparatively way more effort. Then I discovered jumps, drops, berms and all the fun you can get yourself into on the trails and have never looked back.

Except London to Brighton. Do that every year and love it. Closed roads, marshals and pit-stops make road riding fun!

I went up half a size and sent them back as they were still too tight. Had to go up a full size (11 to 12).

FWIW, I have a long cable around the kids bikes plus a gold rated hiplok chain through that and my frame.

Biggest ballache is getting the cable off the kids bikes. One end loops through the other but because all these cables are ‘coiled’ to make them smaller when not in use, it’s pretty hard to unravel the damn thing.

If my kids used their bikes every day like I do that cable would be reserved for trips only.

Repack Road 2021

I have used Tredz quite a lot in the past few months. They came up cheapest and then give you an extra £5 off every order.

My new front wheel arrived today. Took 2 weeks but after 1 they sent an email apologising for the delay.

I was happy to wait and very happy with the price I paid. I’ve bought wheels, tyres and body armour recently. All other orders took about a week to arrive.

I couldn’t be happier with my Ravemen PR1200 up front. Costs anywhere between £60-80, lights up the forest at night and doesn’t set fire to your house when charging overnight.

I also just bought a Cateye Orb for the rear which I can’t fault for £8 (providing it stays on when things get gnar).

I had an innocuous washout turning on to a fire road at the end of a trail. Landed on my shoulder but felt fine to carry on riding. Was sore in the morning but pleased I had a fall and survived. Raised my confidence that falling isn’t so bad.

6 weeks later I lost control going through sloppy mud with no grip and had to bail. Landed on same shoulder and it hurt like buggery. Lost all confidence for a good couple of months.

Confidence is slowly coming back but going from rarely bothering with a helmet to now not leaving the house without full riot gear, I’m feeling every one of my 40+ years of age.

I miss being a kid and dusting myself off after every fall.

Thanks Doc.

I also have my original wheel with a shot hub in the shed. If I can pick up a cheap hub I might have a go at rebuilding my old wheel for fun; although I can see that ending badly!

It’s a good suggestion but I run a Magic Mary / Hans Damf combo which is pretty sticky on tarmac and I seem to have to reset brake calipers every ride anyway!

I’ll give it a go tho. I’m all for an easy life.

I wear the same all year round – shorts and knee pads. But I’m not a roadie.

Cold legs have never troubled me. As long as my upper body is warm, I’m all good.

I had this problem on my road bike.

I switched to Speedplay pedals and problem solved as they allow your feet to rotate slightly rather than be at a fixed angle. Loved them.

I stick to flats on my MTB tho.

When I’m in a funk I find the following helps (a bit):

1) Little and often. Just ride round the block. If it gets you 10 minutes of fresh air that’s still better than sitting on the sofa. Do the same the next day. One of those days you’ll ride twice round the block, maybe more, but don’t pressure yourself or think every ride has to be a gran fondo.

2) Don’t wait until your motivated to cycle – cycle to get motivated. This really worked for me when I was training to run a marathon. I enjoyed running (kinda) but I hated training. I spent a lot of wet winter evenings waiting for motivation to run and it never came. Instead, I just put my shoes on and walked out the house. I told myself just run to the end of the road and if I’m still not motivated just turn round and come home. I never turned round. I may not have always ran my scheduled distance, but I always ran.

3) Never beat yourself up for what you didn’t do yesterday.

Everything in life is a habit. It’s easy to get into the habit of not riding, not running, being miserable. It’s also easy to get into the habit of cycling or running a little bit each day and being happy(er).

Only one way to learn.

I tend to use the LBS for correcting my mistakes – they always like that – but have a stab myself first.

Hardest part with fitting my dropper post was drilling my frame to keep it stealth. No LBS could sort it out if I messed that part up!

I ordered a Rockshox Reverb hose kit from them in the autumn. They cancelled the order 2 days later with no explanation.

No biggie but I’m not in a hurry to use them again.

Best thing about sloppy mud is it washes off in 2 minutes with the hose.

I’m going out again tomorrow morning!

You’ll get the usual myriad of answers I’m sure but I’m currently enjoying my new Magic Mary / Hans Damf combination.

Particularly after a recent hard fall when I lost control in a fairly innocuous muddy stretch.

I might swap out to something less grippy come the summer, I might not!

Most of my local routes are pretty unridable. I was wondering whether Swinley was worth a visit in the wet, I guess not!

Will have to stick to gravel tracks for a while.

Just bought a Topeak D2 and I love it. Seems more consistent than my manual gauge. Bit rich at £25 but I like tracking how the bike feels at different pressures across different riding conditions.

Ha! You should go to a bike park and run your own uplift. Nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition!

Anything I have bought from Ronhill has impressed me.

Six?! Boss move.

I’d have sat in the passenger seat on a walkie talkie pretending I’m a pro team support vehicle!

I have the families 4 bikes on the roof as above. All hardtails.

My friends medium frame full sus was a struggle. It was hanging right off the end of the track. I guess the geometry just didn’t work with my Thule rack.

We took the wheels off and stuck it in the boot for the return journey. It was a bit shaky looking at the shadow on the road!