… when you see a tyre track on a local footpath and can guess who left it based on their tyre choice and line.

… when, faced with the challenge “I don’t know which you love most – me or your bike!”, your response is “which bike?”

Tiles straight through hall/kitchen/cloakroom/utility downstairs and wood floors in dining room and lounge.
Tiles in bathrooms and wood floors everywhere else upstairs.
The only fitted carpet we’ve got is on the stairs.

If you want the mountain bug to catch hold, then it’s got to feel like a mountain, with some exposure and drama.
As a kid, of the stuff that my parents dragged me up, the memorable ones usually had a wild feeling about them.
Stuff like:
Helvellyn via Striding & Swirral Edges
Snowdon Horseshoe via Cryb Goch
Blencathra via Sharp Edge

For 99% of UK riding, you will not get any noticable benefit from the cooling fins.
Pad compound is the only variable worth worrying about.
Sintered is ideal for most XC & trail stuff. It survives Winter grinding-paste slop for longer but tends to squeal a bit sometimes.
Resin is better for absolute stopping power and disipates heat better but wares less well.
I’ve only ever swapped from sintered to resin pads for the odd day at Fort William or Antur Stiniog on the big bike (Patriot).

tomhoward – Member
Nope. I do, however, enjoy the things I can afford to do as a result of doing my job, so I keep doing it.

+1

I reckon I’m just a slave to a final salary pension scheme.
25 years in. Hanging in for the next 7 or 8 and hoping that it’ll still be there by then.

Fox bushing is a standard DU bushing available from a local bearing factor or similar, the code you need to ask for is 08DU08

a cheque within about a couple of weeks

damitamit – Member
Yep, I’ve ‘earned’ just over a £1000 over the last 9 years on it.

’bout £1,800 to date for me.
There’s no catch. Why would you turn down free cash paid into your account every now-and-then?

not saying it doesn’t happen ever, just that it’s only a small risk.

credit card company will sort you out,
but I’ll jump on the disbelief bandwaggon too if I may…
I’d never offer any commitment at all until we’d thrashed out the deal in full. It’s going to be very difficult to get money off, more stuff thrown in, or more for a trade in if you’ve already said you’ll have it.

The guy’s parting words were ‘you think you’re so big and clever, standing there in your lycra with your fancy bike – I hope you fall on the ice and break your leg.’
So not really a meeting of minds.

Response: “Thankyou, have a nice day”

Personal opinion… I think the whole idea of “cheeky” as a clique/sub-culture/whatever was very much “of its time” … and that that time has now passed.

Get out there and ride whatever footpaths you want, whenever you want. Just be nice to everyone you meet along the way and be prepared to have a discusion with the odd grumpy walker about the irony of the rights that they hold-so-dear have stemmed from a mass trespass.

:D

Will be back at some point… soon.

Ah, OK, probably worth asking your uplift company who else they’d recomend then.

http://www.ezefreeride.com

Stayed with these guys in September at their place, which is in the middle of nowhere and quite basic but right at the end of the longest “final run of the day” that you could wish for.
(Strava segment named: Finale Full Ale Ale Martina Rollercoaster, it’s three individual trails linked end-to-end. You’ll be gasping for breath by the time you reach the bottom :twisted: )

They should also be able to recomend somewhere in town in you want somewhere more lively.

motog … and I seem to remember is splashproof too

Knocked mine (1st gen) off the windowsill and into the sink whilst washing up over Christmas.
Fished it out.
Shook it off.
Works fine.

I’m with Peter Poddy:

don’t buy new, buy nearly new. 1-3 years old, let someone else pay the depreciation.
Warranty? WGAS when you’re saving £10k on the purchase price?
Then keep the car a long time. 6-10 years or so, you can then afford to throw it away and buy another. I’m talking £1000 a year to own a decent car.

I just want a reliable, reasonably economical big bus that’ll happily munch 20K miles a year and I don’t want to be worried about cost of carpark damage.
I’m not remotely bothered about owning the thing or not.
Hoping my 18 month old Mundane-o estate should work out at about £100 per month over it’s expected lifetime (depreciation, repairs and consumables)

I’d happily pay a bit more for a lease… maybe at as much as £150/month I’d still be “in” (after amortising deposit and damage fees) but I can’t find a lease at that :( so I buy (hopefully wisely)

Yes please… a 10 speed 11-40 XT from Shimano @ £30 and I’ll be prepared to go 1×10.
I simply don’t understand how they’ve let that market pass them by.

I think both are much of a muchness – but I highly rate the use – curently at just under £1200 cashback on quidco from 2008.

I’m at £1,816 so far with Quidco.
Mobiles used to be very lucrative, less so these days.
Insurance and utilities (switching) are the main contributors these days.

Horwich near enough?
Neil’s a good lad.
http://cycleservicecentre.net/%5B/url%5D

456Ti

Still very happy with my 456EVOTi :D

I’d love to be able to run the rear at 20psi but I’m just not smooth enough. Dual-ply Maxxis, at 35-40 psi, tubeless on Flow EX.

IIRC, the path fork is high up on the summit ridge

Yes, you are correct.
Have missed it myself once and had to contour around to the watershed above Grisedale Tarn.

, therefore two folk had ridden a 600m/2km+ of descent down pretty technical terrain, and not thought to wait for rest of group or check map?

STRAAAAAVVAAAAAA!!!!!

Tom,
You lucky, lucky, b&$7&£d!!!
Mine arrived yesterday and are staying until the weekend :cry:

zetec business edition. Good compromise on spec. You get all the nice toys but without the leather, the expensive harsh tyres and the push button start.

Sounds a bit expensive at that Renton.

For comparison, I bought a 13 plate 163 Business Edition estate last month with 36k on it for about that money. Touchscreen satnav, privacy glass, etc and a factory-fit detatchable towball (never used by the look of it).
OK it’s not the tit-X you’re after but do you really want those expensive silly-low profile tyres and 19″ wheels? They’re very harsh.
And the leather doesn’t wear so well on the examples I looked at (inspect the piping closely).

“What do most riders in the north of England (particularly gritty Pennine and peak) swear by?”

Marzocchi coils mainly.
But not sure what the short travel current options would be

just in time for Christmas ;)

I’ve had the pleasant experience of riding an early (twin valve) prototype for a week in Finale a couple of months ago. Syntace W40 rim on a Liteville 601.
Everyone in our group pinchflatted at some stage during the week, despite most running dual-ply Maxxis tubeless… everyone except me that is :D
That’s not a skills boast as I’m usually the the one to destroy rims and tyres. The pro-core was faltless all week, despite me continually knocking seven bells out of it and denting the rim quite badly, it never lost pressure. I’ll be buying it.

Edit… missed that you were changing wheels.

Edit#2… you could always fit an emergency mech hanger

Gisburn is OK. They’ve done a great job within the constraints of not having much altitude to play with or anything particularly steep.
There are some interesting trail features and enough to keep you happy for a half day or so on the main trail and the Hope line.
If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, then there is also some DH stuff that’s worth a play on.

If you’re same distance from ‘degla and Gisburn, I can’t see any reason not to give Gisburn a visit.

….where’s the “like” button…?

I’ve not done an enduro yet but I’m waivering. Might have to give it a go in 2015.

I understand the format, I’m just not sure if the 30 minutes or so of individually timed riding on trails that you can ride anytime you like is enough to tip the balance.

I’ve done a couple of Megavalanches and really love that mass start format but I just can’t see a few 5-10 minute descents recreating the same buzz.

That said, having ridden a few of the “Dudes” trails around Kinlochleven, I can see that they’d be fun to race, so I might have a go at that one.

What we really need is an uplift assisted enduro format, something styled on Trans Savoie maybe…

Nice Litevilles Ecky-Thump. They look predatory in your pic.

they go KOM-hunting in a pack :lol:

Maybe we need another thread with a shortlist of cafes approved for the use of MTB-ers
So….
Maggs Howe (Kentmere)
er, struggling now…

Although over night whilst traveling down through France I take the bike in the hotel room!!

yep, done that. Almost had to make the Mrs sleep in the car to make enough space for the bikes in the room.

and although I’m with Junkyard on the “Cafe, what cafe?, there’s no cafe up them there hills”
… security in the post-ride-pint scenario is however worthy of consideration :wink:

… so yes, cable lock through the bike frames as an opportunist deterent.

wl,
Ruddy Gill > Grains Gill is cheeky, yes.
99% ridable. I only walked about a 6 feet section that was an off-camber scramble on the edge of a drop into the Gill (getting old and becoming concious of my own mortality). A better rider might chance it but not for me!

ads678
I’ve done the bits you describe on different rides, not all as one though.
I’ve done up Rossett > Styhead > Stockley > Seathwaite > Stonethwaite > down Stake , from ODG in Langdale.
The Styhead and Stake descents are OK. The rest is a just hard work.
Rossett is far better as a descent but the rest of that loop would probably be a waste of altitude if reversed.
You’re basically doing that route but adding the climb from Wasdale first and retracing it at the end. It’s a long carry up and would be a bit boring as a descent I think (that’s the only bit I’ve not tried as a descent).

The classic 4 passes / tour of Gable route would be a better option if you want to ride from Wasdale Head.

hedgehog,
Yes, the descent from Sprinkling Tarn to Stockley Bridge is Ruddy Gill > Grains Gill. It’s a good descent “The Gill!” on Strava.

You’re all wrong.
It’s these…

Bike – left fwd. All the big dings on the bashring show that I’m nothing if not consistent.

Board – you gotta be kiddin’. Two planks is better than one. :lol: