I got the same email. Interesting, however given my record when I invest in single companies I’ll probably give it a miss!

I haven’t seen any large mountain bike groups in the Pentlands since the one a week or so back, although I did see a pretty large group of runners on Sunday that were clearly not from a single family and were not only making no attempt to distance themselves, but also seemed intent in passing anyone they saw as close as possible.

Last night I also saw a sizeable group of roadies (the first time I’ve seen maybe more than 2 or 3 in a group) who’d parked their cars in one of the Balerno side streets to meet up for a ride. Them being out for their group ride didn’t annoy me, although them riding right across all the road (including on the wrong side) and not being keen to move over for traffic (including other cyclists) coming the other way wasn’t great.

That’s something I’ve seen a fair bit off during lockdown – folks riding on the wrong side of the road (and not just to pass other users), including when there are cars coming the other way. I’ve seen that quite a few times recently, but never before lockdown. Very odd.

There are companies like Champion Systems who do this stuff.

We use Champion Systems for our club kit and they’ve been good.

This is my wife with our rescue dog, Ludo, on a walk in the Trossachs on his first motorhome trip a couple of weeks after we got him.

Hopefully it’s just the heat. My lab is 6 and not showing any signs of slowing down, however he’s definitely not keen when it’s hot – so have to pick my routes carefully to stay under tree cover mostly and also reduce the length of the walks.

I tried wider/heavier tyres on my Epic and it never really suited it IMHO. In fact looking at those 2.1″ Ground Controls I’d have thought they’d be fine for trail centre use etc.

I expect dog shelters to be inundated with dogs over the next 12 months and they will need all the help the can get.

We’re expecting the same and are thinking about getting a 2nd rescue dog when that happens. We’ve more experience now so should be better placed to get one.

We’re not too fussy about what type of dog either (we just got lucky with the one we have now being a Labrador as that would have been our first choice), as long as it’s big enough to do decently long walks.

My ancient Roubaix is the most comfortable bike I’ve ridden. While part of that is down to the design of the bike itself there are a few points worthy of consideration e.g.
– 25mm tyres – the bike is noticeably more comfortable on those than it was on the original 23’s
– seatpost – the Roubaix seatpost has an insert to make it more compliant and it does seem to work. Mine didn’t originally have one but switching to it helped. How much of that was the move to a carbon post from an alloy one, and how much was the Zertz stuff I don’t know
– bar tape – changing to thicker bar tape helps quite a bit. I’ve not tried it but I’ve heard some long distance riders say that they double tape the bars to aid comfort

Our Labrador is also more of a re-homed dog than a rescue. There is no indication he was ill-treated and he’s also very well house trained – in fact quite well trained generally as his recall is also good. Hence why there were so many people interested in him. He’s a bit barky when he sees other dogs when we’re out and about – but more noisy ’cause he wants to play that aggressive. He’s improved a lot since we got him though, partly I think because we have a dog-walker take him out once a week (or did pre-lockdown) to give him a chance to socialise with other dogs.

Labrador’s do indeed moult a lot!

As someone who’s been through this a year or so back then one thing you’ll need to bear in mind is that if you have no experience with dogs then you’ll be very limited in the dogs available to you from a rescue place.

We thought it’d be easy to get a rescue dog (early 50’s, own house with secure garden, no kids at home, wife retired so in the house pretty much full-time) but despite trying several places we were told that the didn’t have any dogs that were suitable for folks without experience. It looks like the easy dogs to re-home (i.e. ones without issues) are re-homed quickly and easily, so the dogs they had in the kennels they regarded as having issues that a beginner wouldn’t cope with.

We were going to go down the puppy route as it looked like the only way we’d be able to get a dog, although were aware that they’re a lot of work when young. Perseverance meant we did get a rescue dog in the end, and a very nice (and well trained) one at that. There were a queue of folks wanting the dog as well (a Labrador just short of 5 years old), so it took all my powers of persuasion to get him.

This is our dog Ludo, who’s absolutely fantastic – although it has meant my main exercise is now walking him instead of cycling. He does like long walks – we’ve done ones up to around 14 miles – which suits me as well.

Another Montane Featherlight smock user here – great things, light and pack down to a tiny size.

I also have a couple of Castelli ones and they’re also good.

Or does it calculate on the fly and use the final figure when you stop recording?

I think the GPS just records where you are and at what time at frequent intervals (as well as recording whatever stuff it records, like HR etc.), then calculates everything else from that.

Cranks are one of those areas where I pissed about with fancy bling shite for a while but now just stick to Shimano.

I’d been planning a few rebuilds and also struggled to find stuff from the usual suspects in stock and/or at decent prices. Not only that but Wiggle are using Hermes for shipping now – although give them their due as tonights delivery did actually arrive when they said it would (although that’s been the first).

Planet-X are good for prompt delivery but it’s a bit eclectic in terms of what they actually have.

Drumlanrig will have you back in hospital, all those sniper roots

Wet roots got me in the Nail Trail tonight. It’s been a while so I’d forgotten that wet roots and worn Speed King Supersonic’s = zero grip. My knee is reminding me now however.

I can tell from that last post that you definitely weren’t an English teacher.

Doubt that’s going to happen with Hope.

Just replaced the last set of Hope’s (which have been adequate but uninspired) that were on any of my bikes with Shimano ones. The Hope’s were ok but over the piece I’ve found Shimano to be more reliable.

The Islay distillery tours are a crazy bargain (although you can end up spending a lot of money in the shops). I did Bowmore and Laphroaig when we were there last year and both were great. We had the dog with us and both places the staff came out and invited us to bring the dog into the shop area (and the free cafe bit in Laphroaig) as well. The island as a whole seemed very dog friendly in fact.

I concur with the recommendation of the Lagavulin 16 year old as well – very lovely indeed.

My own ancient (2003) Epic has had a few different brake options on it over the years and I wouldn’t have said it was particularly worthwhile to have anything more than 2 pots on it. I’ve got Deore’s on several bikes and they’re very good for the cash, although my Epic has ancient XTR’s (with the 9-speed dual-control shifters) and they’re a great match to the bike so if mine died I’d be trying to find another set 2nd hand.

so much for presumed liability!

Should be an end to that discussion!

3 houses and 3 flats in about 30 years (and had the current house for 24 years). A couple of the flats in parallel with the last house (one a BTL and the other when we were splitting our time between Edinburgh.

Thinking now about what to do as the current house is quite a bit bigger than we need, so might downsize.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that the majority are being idiots either. If they were then the place would look decidedly different, that’s just lazy hyperbole based on a very visible minority that are just following their usual M.O.

The majority of folks I’m seeing in the Pentlands are still sticking to family groups, although of late I’m seeing more multi-family groups (and in those I suspect it’s effectively impossible to get the kids to social distance).

There was a little bit of a change last night (but still most people were still sticking to the rules). As well as that big group of mountain bikers there were a couple of 3 person groups of mates on mountain bikes (there have been a few of those right through lockdown – of all ages), quite a lot of swimmers at the west end of Thriepmuir (some distancing, some not), a couple of groups of teenagers in Balerno (6+ groups that looked like they were heading to a house party maybe) and one group playing football in Balerno (with the police there talking to them). Still not too bad, but a clear sign that for some folks lockdown and social distancing is a thing of the past. Over the last few of days I’ve also seen a couple of dumped tents as well as one rather nasty instance of someone taking a dump and leaving that and a load of toilet paper at the side of the trail!

There are some pretty steep descents in the Pentlands – Carrketton, Allermuir, a few of the ones on the five peaks route could be sore if you came off

Didn’t look like they did anything like that – out on the road from Balerno, then up the Borestone track to the YBR, then through Green Cleugh then back over Maidens.

I saw a big group (10ish) of older teens out riding right in the middle of lockdown.

This wasn’t kids and I wasn’t particularly outraged (other than the full-face helmet in the Pentlands)!

When I was out in the Pentlands on the bike last night I saw the first big group of mountain bikers (about 8 I think) – by far the biggest I’ve seen since lockdown started. Some of them had driven to Balerno and parked their minibus in one of the side streets with some others riding to meet them by the looks of it.

Going by the full-face downhill style helmet that at least was wearing my guess is they’re a group of guys that normally go to the borders trail centres but had arranged to meet up for a Pentlands ride while the trail centres are closed.

I’ve had a Vivoactive 3 for a couple of years and it’s been great, however lately I’ve starting doing much longer outings and was beginning to push the battery life so used that as an excuse to get a Fenix 5.

Of course turning off stuff on the Vivoactive would probably have had a similar effect but SWMBO doesn’t know that!

I’ve been riding my Roadrat a fair bit since sticking gravel tyres on it. Despite the gearing restrictions of the Alfine it’s proving quite fast on the right bits of trail (i.e. where it doesn’t run out of gears). I’ve had quite a few Strava PR’s on it and tonight even managed 11th overall on one segment (which I will be going back to have a proper go at sometime soon, although not a chance I’ll get close to the KOM time). I’m going to try and have a proper go at it on my Epic as well, to see which is faster.

t’s the fork that’s 15mm and it’s getting matching 15mmm hubs that may become an issue. My link is for 15mm to 12mm FORK reducers to use a 12mm thru axle hub in a 15mm fork. Comprende?

Yes, it’s not just the hubs that would need some kind of spacer, but also the forks including where the axle screws in. Those adapter things would probably work but while the choice might be limited there are still a fair few 15×100 hub options by the looks of it. In fact I’d been looking at those CRC own brand ones earlier.

3 of them work in the NHS FFS dealing with this every day

Oddly enough the NHS folks I know seem to be the least likely to be following lockdown. They’re mostly doctors though, and some of them tend to feel the rules are for the little people…

t’s interesting, theres a guy on the Pentlands forum getting a pasting for posting a snap of Allermuir at dawn this AM from his tent. While camping is not permitted his reason is that ‘Everyone else is doing much worse stuff’, which basically sums it up. Frankly i don;t give a monkeys if he stayed up there, I wouldn’t post a pic of a sneaky overnighter but the narrative will always fit what you want it to.

I’m on that forum as well and did see that. I can’t see any harm in actually doing a wild camp up there at the moment, however I also would most definitely would not be posting a picture of it.

There’s no getting away from the fact that a big 44 plate and 11 cog is going to make you go faster on a road/smooth track (whatever) than a 32 chain-ring will.

I use the big ring a lot on my Epic, although not so much on the other bikes. 2×12 looks like it’d be ok as (with 28/38 and 10-45) it’s only a little lower at the top end and a bit higher at the bottom end. It doesn’t look like there is any point changing until I’m no longer able to run 3×9 though.

On the BFe (the only bike I have a 1x set-up on, and has a 32 up front and I think an 11-42 cassette) I do find it runs out of gears pretty quickly at the higher end, but given the type of riding it’s used for it’s not an issue. It’d be pretty annoying on the Epic though.

Kitchen diner for sure. Our house has 2 dining rooms, one off the kitchen and one separate. We’ve only even used the one off the kitchen so I use the other one as my study instead.

When I first consider moving to London I did consider a small pied-à-terre sort of thing as I thought I’d be travelling back up to Edinburgh most weekends. Makes sense to just have a small studio type think in those situations, plus better and more cost-effective than renting or even using a B&B. Definitely not something I’d want to spend all my time in, but fine for that.

I didn’t move to London until a few years later though, when the kids were finished school, so ended up going with a bigger place as my wife moved down to London as well.

Yes for me the benefits are huge (see my post above).

I read it, but was in fact seeing – “there are no significant benefits” as none of the minor things you mention have ever been an issue for me with 3×9!

I suspect my Epic will probably end up with 2×11 if the XTR 3×9 on it dies.

Those still riding on 3×9 and kidding themselves it’s brilliant

Are there significant benefits for me going 1×11 or 1×12 compared to the 3×9 set-up on my Epic? General XC riding on a fast/light 26″ wheel XC type bike?

I’ve got a 1×10 set-up on my BFe (32 front and 11-42 on the back I think) and it’s fine in use but I can’t say I see any advantages really over the 2×9 set-up it had before.

I’m thinking I’ll probably move my Soul to a 1×11 or 1×12 set-up as the 3×9 on it is pretty much knackered now, however I’m not convinced there will be much in the way of practical benefits really.

@epic have a toddle along to here for 15mm to 12mm fork/thru axle adapters. I bought one recently to future proof my frame/15mm fork incase there’s an imminent shortage of 15mm hubs… At $50, a lot cheaper than a new fork…

Cheers – will look into that.

While the land for that Loch Cottage near Blairgowrie looks lovely, the house itself looks like it’ll need a lot of money spent on it. It’s never a good sign where there aren’t any photos of the interior!

Yeah campers I could understand but at least a dozen full bore motor homes, just seemed odd.

Possibly just giving it a run. Mine hasn’t moved for months so it’s definitely a temptation to give it a brief spin.

We were just about to go and view this when lockdown kicked in:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/property-77200432.html

Houses in France are very cheap compared to the UK.

My SLR Endurance takes a 15×100 front wheel which does reduce the available options for upgraded wheels, however quite a few hubs seem to have adapters available. Failing that I could also consider changing the forks to ones that take 12×100 I suppose.

The wheels that came with the bike aren’t complete shite anyway so I’ve not really felt the need to upgrade them yet as it’s going to be quite a bit of cash to make it worthwhile.