To be fair, “falling down” is a bit harsh. It’s structurally sound but would require gutting and a new bathroom, kitchen, wiring, plumbing, etc before it could be rented out. I’m up to my dropper post in debt so I’m not going to be financing the renovation any time soon.

As it stands it has some value – it’s a three bedroom detached house on a fair sized plot not far from the town centre. The council certainly think it is habitable as the council tax still has to be paid.

I’ve got some 2010 Durins and think they’re very good – light, stiff and effective damping. It takes some trial and error to set the correct air pressure but once you’ve got this dialled for your weight and riding style it isn’t a problem.

While Magura advise you send the forks to them for servicing I’ve always done it myself and haven’t found it difficult. I’d buy them again particularly if I was after a lightwight xc fork without spending crazy money.

Some good advice there, thanks for that gents.

My 65kg target sounds like a bit of an arbitrary figure, but I really do seem to fly up hills with little effort when I reach this weight – it’s probably more of a psycological than physiological effect but it’s a great feeling!

Is 65kg too skinny? Compared to the general population maybe the answer is yes but the aim is purely functional and I’m not concerned with aesthetics. Just look at the national hill climb champion this year, Tejvan Pettinger, who despite his 6’3” height doesn’t see the needle on his scales go above 61kg. I’ve got some way to go before I reach that level of ‘optimisation’.

Very nice. Is that the 56cm?

I’ve been looking for something to take on the 3rd Cat carnage at Castle Coombe and this looks perfect.

Have you ridden it yet? It looks like it could be a bit harsh on normal road surfaces – but thats the price you pay for a true race bike.

I did the ‘Hells Gate Hundred’ which also starts in Furnace Creek back in 2011. Even at only one hundred miles and with 9,000ft of climbing it was a brutal event. Some of the other riders had to be put on drips to replace lost fluid at the end as they were delirious through dehydration.

I can’t imagine what kind of state the ‘508 guys will be at the finish, especially if they do it non-stop. Even in October the temperature will still be in the high-30s and you can literally feel the moisture being sucked from your skin!

Death Valley is a great place for road riding. Just don’t go in August.

I used cartakeback a few months ago. Offered me £170 including collection for a 1993 Golf with no clutch. If I could get it to them they would have given me over £200. The best the local scrappy could give me was £100.

They arrived on time and paid in cash. I’d use them again without question.

Try Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge. I’ve worked with them before and they can handle a one-off airframe mod and the associated CAA paperwork. Good guys, but like anything in aviation it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Don’t use Qinetiq – they will promise the world but only deliver headaches.

I spend a few months a year working near Ridgecrest in the northern Mojave and while there are hundreds of miles of OHV trails to follow there is nothing very inspiring.

If I were you I would keep driving west for another hour until you get to Kernville in the southern Sierras and you’ll find some of the best trails in the States (do a YouTube search for ‘Cannell Trail’ for proof). Normally at this time of the year snow would restrict you to the lower level trails but it looks like its pleasantly warm over there – 21 degrees and no snow on Mt Whitney so it should all be open. Mountain River Adventures in town run shuttles into the mountains and will be able to give you some pointers.

I had the same dilemma when I got a job in Filton five years ago. I wanted to be close to work but couldn't stand the traffic and didn't want to live in Bristol city centre.

I now live in Dursley: 35 to 45 minutes by car or 35 by train (Cam & Dursley to Filton/Abbey Wood) but over the last four months I've been cycling in. At a 40 mile round trip it can be a bit of a slog with a head wind but it generally takes just over an hour each way and has done wonders for my fitness. There is also some great mountain and road biking locally.

I spent a couple of weeks in Budva in '06 and '07, primarily for paragliding but I did a bit of biking as well. Once you get more than a few km from the coast the country is very under developed so don't expect any trail centres but if you know where to look there is serious potential.

If I were you I'd contact Robin at http://www.montenegrofly.com. An ex-pat from Stroud he's branched out into mountain bike guiding in the area. Don't worry about crime, although it is a relatively poor country I never felt any thing other than welcome.

Last piece of advice: Don't go for the road riding. Although the winding mountain roads look great, the crazy drivers will make you wish you had stayed at home.

I had an original scandium frame until it was stolen (btw, I think only two or three of the main triangle tubes were ever scandium, the rear was always a more common aluminium alloy). I replaced it with a newer all-aluminium version and built it up with almost identical components. Apart from slightly rougher looking welding on the newer version you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference, I certainly couldn't feel any change in handling or ride quality.

I've got an SQR Slim, same volume as the SQR Tour but I found it to be a more usable shape and it fits more easily between rear wheel and saddle on smaller bikes. The best thing about the SQR system is that the bag is held very securely and doesn't rock from side to side when sprinting out of thr saddle – a problem I've had with a beam rack before.

Not sure I'd agree with Rootes in that it is under refined, it's just purely functional with no gimmicks and does the job. One addition I have made is to wrap a small elastic cargo net around it so that I can strap a waterproof to it.

Unless you're going to start disassembling the damping system, Magura forks aren't any more complicated to service than any other make. I've serviced my '07 Menjas and '09 Durins with no problems. For spare parts (and Magura Suspension Blood lubrication oil) try Bike-components.de over in Germany. There are also some semi-official maintenance instructions floating around the web somewhere.