Have a look around Dent, which is between Sellafield and Egremont. There’s lots of footpaths (and trails) around there.

I’ve a Leon Cupra 290, albeit a 5dr hatchback. It’s been great. Plenty of power when you want it, but nice and civil and economical when you don’t. The consensus is to go for a DSG box, as the clutches on the manual cars can struggle with standard power.

I spotted a 2017 plate Cupra estate (ST) 4×4 for sale recently with 20k miles on it for £21k at a dealer, so should be close to your budget. The 4×4 would help out the power down too.

I’ve got some Kinetic Z rollers that I’ve struggled to master. I thought my balance was pretty good, but really can’t get going on them. I didn’t think they’d be that difficult!

You could park up behind East Road Garage and ride up front there. It’s quite a nice decent to do at the end of a ride.

I wouldn’t worry, you can always give it another go. Just give it a few days of easy activity before giving it another blast.

I find the tests quite mentally stressful. I’ve dropped out of a few part way through and also not started some. I’ve found them a useful marker, but they’re not everything.

Think I’m heading through with the family on Saturday. It’s always a great weekend. Weather has been good over the last couple of weeks, so the field should be nice and dry. I won’t be doing any events though, still recovering from a crash at the Fred Whitton 🙁

I’ve just reserved one at my local Halfords. The aluminium fork is the only downside I can see. It should be great for the moment, I can’t see anything else for a similar price.

I built this Anthem X up in February and finally took it out on its maiden voyage this week. 26″ wheels, 27 speed, still doing the job nicely. Sub 25lbs too.

I used the Cosine wheels over winter on MTB Defy disc. They were a lot lighter than the original wheels and really changed the bike for the better. After about 2,000 miles three of the four rear hub bearings seized. I ended up replacing the freehub (they’re Novatec hubs for info) at the same time, as the LBS weren’t confident they’d get the seized bearings out of the old one. The alloy spoke nipples were replaced with brass ones too as the odd couple had cracked. It cost me around £80 to get the rear wheel back up and running.

I think poor sealing on the freehub had led to the bearings seizing. Possibly due to being a bit too thorough when cleaning the rear cassette and the (duck smart) cleaner running in to the freehub and drying the bearings out. It was all three drive side bearings that had seized.

They’re good value for money wheels and will save you a fair bit of weight over OE wheels. Just thought it worth sharing my experience.

It was my second Fred, I’ve done it the last two years when the weather has been great. Managed it in an official time of 7hrs 24mins, two hours quicker than last year. Had a great day out and just managed to get up the ‘Knott without putting a foot down. It was a tough one, not sure if I’ll do another. Hope you all liked our teams station at the top of the Leaps (just before the decent in to Ennerdale).

Afraid I think you’ll just have to wait. Frustrating, but Wiggle will have to wait for Bianchi to process and inspect. Be good if you get a new frame/bike after four and a half years though. Fingers crossed.

I bought a Tacx Flow from Halfords for around £170 with BC discount. This works fine with Zwift, both on the iPhone and on a laptop. As mentioned above, the resistance is limited to 6%. For me it was the most affordable way to a smart trainer. Previously I’d used a ‘dumb’ trainer and a garmin speed/cadence sensor, with zwift calculating power.

I’d definitely recommend an 11-32 and a compact up front. I was surprised with the number of people walking up Honister, never mind Hardknott.

Autoglym bug and tar remover does the job nicely, if you have some.

I went from BB5’s to Spyre’s and noticed a massive difference. Not tried BB7’s though.

I’ve had a 2016 Giant Defy Disc 1, the aluminium one, for about six months now. The TRP cable disc brakes are great, a lot better than BB5’s that I’ve had in the past. The aluminium frame can be quite rigid on rough roads, so I’d guess the carbon models will be a bit more comfortable. Only thing I’ve changed on mine is the wheels. The original deep rimmed wheels are quite heavy (circa 2,050g a pair). I changed these for some Cosine disc wheels for £175 and knocked over 500g off the weight of the bike. From the 9,500g original weight it’s now below 9,000g. Great bike though, is highly recommend one.

10g over your weight limit, but only £180. My mate has a set and we were both well impressed for the money. Link: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cosine-23mm-alloy-clincher-disc-brake-road-wheelset/

Not Chinese, but a friend of mine has a set of Cosine wheels from Wiggle. Saved him 400g over his OE wheels and they’re well built: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cosine-23mm-alloy-clincher-disc-brake-road-wheelset/

Definitely try The Chalet in Portinscale. Just between Keswick and Whinlatter. Food is superb and very reasonably priced.

Link: http://thechaletportinscale.co.uk

I was thankful for having discs when riding through winter. In the wet it was great having a reliable constant biting point. No waiting for the rim brake pads to clear the water off the rim before biting. Over spring/summer (in the dry) the calipers on my ‘nicer’ bike have been more than adequate. The dual pivot 105 brakes and Swiss stop pads are great.

I’ve had a Defy One Disc for a month now. I don’t think you’d fit any knobbley tyres under the fork to use it for CX. It’s a well specced bike, 105 gearing and TRP brakes are both great. Mine will be my winter/wet weather road bike. I’d look elsewhere for something to use off-road.

Have you looked at Ridley bikes? Example: http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/ridley-x-bow-20-disc-2016-cyclocross-bike.html?utm_source=Hargroves+Cycles+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a405486b8a-Top_Deals_For_May5_20_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_558d800d98-a405486b8a-51823321&mc_cid=a405486b8a&mc_eid=3f89f78c00#Tab1

Bargain for £650!

Thanks Mr.Chrispy. We got a few laughs with the tunes we had one and only a couple of grumbles. Certainly helped liven up the climbs.

There must have been 20-30 people part way down Honister changing tubes, I’d never seen anything like it! I stopped to help one of my team mates change his tube and could barely touch the rim of his wheel to start with.

There was 52 of our team (Team XIII) riding the Fred. It started as a group of ex-rugby players (hence the 13) in West Cumbria and escalated from there. Quite a few people commented on the day that there were a few of us!

What a day! It was certainly a warm one.

My first run at the Fred and I really enjoyed it. There was a group of seven of us who stuck together all the way round. I managed all the passes without putting a foot down, got to love a compact and a 32!

My rolling time was 8hrs 7mins but official time was 9hr 24min. We had some decent food stops thanks to our team van and there was a bit of waiting for some of the group after the climbs.

It was one of my team mates that came off on Kirkstone. Thank fully nothing broken, just a bit of a mess. They kept him in hospital over night but he should be out today.

Picture of my group coming up the leeps, heading towards Ennerdale (and Cold Fell). Unfortunately the Beats Box had ran out of batteries by then so we didn’t have any tunes on. Ha ha.

I was surprised by the number of punctures at the bottom of some of the passes. There must have been 20-30 at the bottom of Honister. Bit too much heat in the rims from braking and the hot temperatures of the day?

I have SRAM Apex on the winter bike and Shimano 105 on the summer bike. Initially I preferred the light shifting of the Shimano, but after a few months on the SRAM I quite like the positive click of the SRAM. Quite like how the brake lever doesn’t move either. It’d be interesting in trying something higher up the SRAM range now to see what it’s like.

I swapped from my Kuota road bike to a Boardman CX Team in October when the weather turned. Fitted some 28c road tyres to it and it’s been great so far. Little bit more comfortable than the Kuota (wider tyres and more relaxed geo) and the discs have been great in the wet. I’m keeping up ok on club rides too.

It shouldn’t take too long to remove the private plate.

I paid for mine on Monday, £80. DVLA site said I should remove private plate straight away. Then new V5C arrived on Thursday.

Not a lady, but I’m 5′ 4″ and ride a small Boardman CX Team. Picked it up for just under £500 after BC discount and Quidco cash back. Size wise it’s been fine on the road, even with the standard 90mm stem. I’ve not had it off road yet, but can’t foresee any problems.

I had 35c’s on my Boardman CX Team. I’ve changed to 28c road tyres now. The rims have a 19mm width, which does make the tyre seem wider than it is for a 28c.

I’ve had a Crank Bros one for years now after getting it free with a magazine subscription. It’s brilliant, can’t recommend it enough. As well as Allen keys it has torx bits and a chain tool.

Link: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/crank-brothers-17-function-multi-tool/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&kpid=5360107068&sku=5360107068&ci_src=18615224&ci_sku=5360107068uk&utm_source=google&utm_term&utm_campaign=Accessories&utm_medium=base&utm_content=sdPZpNVN6_dm%7cpcrid%7c%7cpkw%7c%7cpmt%7c%7cprd%7c5360107068uk

The Pinnacle looks great, but at 5′ 4″ it’s going to be a bit big for me. Thanks though.

Thanks from me too. Manage to get a set of shifters and a rear mech. Reserved a front mech too but they couldn’t find it. Got British Cycling discount too, so £18 well spent!

Spin to Win team entered.

I’m really enjoying the series, the Mini Cooper was a good one too.

I didn’t know about DeLorean and the cocaine deal though. The programme said there was only 9,000 DMC 12’s made, wasn’t/isn’t there parts for tens of thousands more though? Think it was mentioned on the Wheeler Dealer’s show when they had one.

I’d say the Keswick to Buttermere route is slightly more difficult and longer. I usually ride it the Buttermere side to Keswick, per the Tour of Britain route last year.

Started watching it last night and thought it was pretty interesting. That well known video site looks to have removed it today though.

Good to hear it was resolved in your favour. You’ll hopefully be able to find a genuine one at a good price in the post Christmas sales.

Test

Darrell: Can you watch it on 4OD via the web?

Link http://www.channel4.com/programmes/speed-with-guy-martin/4od