Don’t know much about Ragleys to be honest.

Think I’ll still let the Marin go and give the Five some hard thinking. I’ve only done 2 hour long rides on the Blood so far, so maybe the Five can stay and be an all-dayer bike.

I would quite like to spec up and build a top spec hard tail though.
Not sure if it’s the done thing on here, but how much do you reckon I’d get for an ’08 Five SE?)

Forgot to mention…I’ve also got a Merlin Rocky Ridge 140mm hardtail, which I’ve agreed a sale on to make way for the Blood, I suppose I could keep that, sell the Five and lavish some cash on the Marin!……

How old is the car? I work for a franchised dealership and if we sell an extended warranty whilst the car is still in its manufacturer’s warranty, then the extension is just that, an extension with no loss of cover (except the radio system, strangely).

However, some 3rd party warranties have claim limits, either a maximum per claim or in total. Best start by asking for a policy booklet before deciding which one to go for. Be aware that as a car gets more and more miles on it, then a number of things will not be covered due to ‘wear and tear’. Also, most aftermarket warranties will not pa for diagnostic work to be done. So if you have a fault and it is not clear what it is, a garage may ask you to pay the labour of finding the fault before they approach the warranty company to pay for the repair.

As a rule, you’ll get what you pay for, a cheap warranty won’t cover much but a dearer one is more likely to give you better cover. Search for ‘mechanical breakdown insurance’ and see what you can find.

Probably using the clubman to meet the minimum length that a rally car can be. Remember the old Peugeot 206 special with weird bumpers and the Skoda Fabia vRS with the inch thick number plate holder – both to meet WRC minimum car lengths.

I've had mine in my Orange 5 running a Race Face Dues for 2 years now, the bearings are still silky smooth although the plastic outer seal has worn a little, but they're only pence to replace.

I've got quite a lot of Decathlon and Aldi bike clothing, but my bikes tend to be a bit of a bling fest – (Orange 5 SE)

the woolly backs[/url] are a friendly bunch, proper club rides thursdays and every other sunday, but loads of other un-offilcial rides and a number of lady riders. Big rides and at a good pace.

MBR have a prototype on test, tapered head tube and larger seat tube. (first reports are that it's noticably stiffer)

Dirt magazine have one made of thinner metal sporting Cane Creek double barrel shock.

Mine came with two mounts.

I zip tied one to an Animal style watch strap which works fine for walking, but might rattle about a bit when running.

I think the big clue might be at the top of the linked page

'Lee Quarry Mountain Bike Centre'

and the fact there's a big **** of gate with 1 foot high blocks at the base to try and stop anything you can't lift over them coming in.

The Kona Darkside at Mabie – I don't get it, or maybe I couldn't do it, one or t'other!
Either way it was a 20 minute excursion for a 20 minute walk followed by a fire road climb back to the red route!

looks very neat. What sort of cost are we talking, batteries, charger?????

Like the sound of this, although I'd like to do some riding and some snapping.

Sorry, guys and gals, I'm at work at the moment and haven't got time to read all the thread.
What's the latest plan? Meet time and location and rough route planned(distance please?

Cheers

Is that a canoe going up the hill in the 2nd pic?

Depends if you fit the standard Vanilla spring rate. There is a bit of adjustment but not as much as the Float.

The Vans also about 1/4kg heavier, but they are buttery smooth.
I think they both need similar maintenance (ie seal cleaning and the occasional oil change).

What bike are they going on and will you appreciate the weight saving of the Floats for the added cost?

For the top tube vid, the camera is mounted in a twofish, bikeblock on the side of the top tube, towards the rear end to get the angle right, it's a bit close to my legs, but any further forward and it points the camera to the sky.

Which vid? Only got pictures of this mount

mine are here, mounted under the down tube

fork view

they're not brilliant, but I'm still experimenting with mounts.

I'm not a fan of helmet mounted vids, they seem to lose the sense of speed and drama.

One here from the swing arm on my Five
swingarm

and one on the top tube
top tube

Update,

Still toasty warm 😆

even here

faceplant

this one cracks me up

Where's Ed O when you need him?………

Thanks Neil,

I'll not be playing out for a few weeks, haven't actually moved in yet!

I work in Manchester and probably won't get home until nearer to 7pm. I'll have to start thinking of some good excuses to leave early regularly on Tuesdays.

I do have Thurdsays off though, so if it's true that you do some Thursday rides too, I'll be OK for those!

Hi Nezbo, thought I saw a couple of Santas flash past last night. I was watching your lights coming down form the tower.

I don't mind a fastish pace, do you have a regular night/time then?

I'm fairly local already so have been up Darwen Tower a lot already, but with it being literally in the back garden, it would be nice to get to know the locals!

Great pub too, are the butties a regular thing?

Gary C – yep totally by choice, far better value for money in Sunnyhurst than over in the dRibble Valley!

I've just been to collect the keys for my new house, which happily comes with a hillside field (destined to be a little play park for my bikes), it's currently under 6 whole inches of snow.

Can't move in yet and I'm working/away until new year and my board's is burried away, I just hope the snow lasts!

as for running it without…….

if you fill the void with thick grease, I guess it would be ok for a couple of rides

also, which way in does it go? Flat side in or flat side out?

(I've got mine in bits too and forgot to take notice when I took it apart!)

Great cars. The mk2 hatch doesn't have the strengtheners in the boot.
The mk2 is also a 2.0 with 197bhp.
The diesel is 170bhp.

(by the way I sell them!)

No thanks, far too annoying, far out ways her looks.

Austin Alegro
3.0L Granada (sweeney style)
Citroen GSA
Rover 3500
Vauxhall Carlton
Opel Manta
Jaguar XJR-S V12

amongst others

Some great, some not so great

That is fookin brilliant.

I'm in the mag, I'm the one with the barrow in the 2 page picture.

I'll be signing autographs if anyone wants to send their copy of the mag to me!

Thanks for all the comments. It's great to share people's experiences.

Couple of things to reply to though.

Last night was probably the coldest ride I've done this year. Some puddles were actually frozen, so I guess it was at best 2 degrees. I had shorts on and knee pads so my legs were fairly exposed but warm. I also had SealSkinz mid socks and Vans style trainers. My feet remained warm through out the whole ride. My shoes and legs did get a good slashing on a couple of stream crossings but not to the point of saturation. I did the same ride the week before, but on a dry afternoon and by the time I'd finished, I couldn't actually feel my toes and I had the SealSkinz on then too.

So in summary I can confirm that for me, flatties and trainers are a whole lot warmer than SPDs. Although for summer I'll probably go back to the SPDs.

As for technique, I did really concentrate on weighting and un-weighting as opposed to just relying on being clipped in. Through some fast downhill berms I felt I went quicker than with SPDs as I was forcing the bike in to the turns more.
I even tried a 12 foot long tabletop and a 90 degree turn hip jump. I managed to keep both feet on the pedals and landed smoothly. In fact my foot only left the pedal once, when I'd totally forgotten about not being clipped in. I reckon that another 3 or 4 rides of intense concentration and I'll have it nailed.

I'll keep you all updated.

Snuggly warm feet, and shins intacked, even th epuddles were frozen, but not my feet. Think I could get used to this flat pedal thing!

SUCCESS! Just been out for a night ride. The ground was frozen in places so I assume it was cold! My feet, however have reamianed toasty warm all night. I just need to learn to ride a bike properly again!

I'm in, today and tomorrow!

Ah right, so I take a bucket and a water barrel and a pond pump and some hose pipe and a nozzle for the end of the hose and some way of connecting the pond pump to the car and then have to wash my bike right next to the car and not care where the muck is washing off to! Now I understand.

Cheers, but I think I'll stick with my expensive tool for the job! 😉

I just nipped to Merlin and collected my new Mobi v17, mains/car and has it's own rechargable battery power, holds 17 litres.

Can one of the doubters please explain to me how I take a bucket of water and a watering can in the car and in to the middle of nowhere with out it spilling, cos I can't work it out!

merlin mobi wash

Holy Moly, you should see her today 😯

I have an Orange 5 and I also have a Marin Rocky Ridge.

Have I sinned?