So Thetford is good enough for the winter series racing,dusk til dawn night race,mud sweat and gears,mbuk,and singletrack but not mbr or apparently terry…
…i’ve got a great uncle who is 84 and he can only ride a bike downhill now too.Quite sad to see.

Whatever you buy make sure it’s breathable. A lot of waterproof jackets are not and it’s important to make sure your new jacket lets your sweat out as easy as it keeps the rain out.

Very much like yours righog except mines matt black and i’m running on-one smorgasboard tyres with the rigid forks.Riding it takes me back to my bmx bikes of my youth! (long long time ago i’m 44!) 😆

Using a Superstar heavy duty tensioner.

“STRONG LIKE OX !!”

Have been riding the singlespeed fully rigid On-One for three weeks now and i’m loving it !!!
It’s just so much fun. You remember fun it’s what cycling was all about before crap like Strava came along to ruin everything!! LOL

I was given this tip years ago and use it a lot.
At the first signs of ‘dead mans hands’ stop your bike and shake your hands just like you would if you were shaking water off them until they feel ‘alive’ again.
Hope this works for you.

Whats wrong with the salsa chainring i’ve got ?

Thanks for all the advice and offers guys.
So far this is what i’m going for:

Salsa 34t chainring
On one groove armada 16t chainring
Superstar heavy duty tensioner
Onza spacers and lockring

Will i be ok using my current nine speed chain or should i go for something a bit beefier as i’m a big old lump?? Any suggestions?

I’ve also decided to go fully rigid too. So as the bike is an on one inbred i’ve ordered a rigid fork for it (now they finally have some in stock!)

I’d be worried about handling the flippin’ thing !!
You could catch allsorts from that thing:STD’s,mad cow disease,foot and mouth…..

How about selling the story to a newspaper and using the money to buy lots of shiny new bike stuff??

Thanks for all the advice guys.Like the sound of the surly tensioner as i’m a surly fan and i already have a surly chainring at the front.
Does the obvious extra grunt that the chain will suffer mean quick links are a no no?

He sounds like my neighbour.I’ve helped his daughter when they’ve gone on holiday and she’s lost her key and the only way in was a partly opened upstairs window. I’ve lent him a ladder at 5am when his roof leaked and taken in countless parcels for him…
…beer? wine?….

..NOT EVEN A BLOOMIN’ XMAS CARD MATE !!!!

Proper heli-tape was developed to protect the edges of helicopter blades from damage so as you can imagine it’s as tough as hell !!
You can buy it on e-bay in all different sizes and cut it to size and shape to fit your bike.Making a mock up piece out of paper helps to reduce wasting your heli-tape especially if you’re covering a section where frame tubes join up.

Almost forgot.Use a proper chain cleaning spray not just some Muc off and a quick wash out.

If you haven’t already got one then get a quick link for your chain as it makes taking the chain off so much easier and taking it off the bike is the best way to get it properly cleaned up.A build up of old chain lubes can sometimes be the cause of chainsuck so getting it off the bike for a proper clean up is a good idea.

Find a good local bike shop and just take it in and ask.You’ll find the folk at these places are not the money grabbing monsters that they’re made out to be and building up a good relationship with them is a good thing. If your frame does need doing it won’t be that much and it’ll only ever need doing once.

Just like to point out that the festive 500 is nothing to do with me (FAT TYRE 500)

The Surly constrictor seatpost clamp on my Orange which is a clever design with a hoofing great big allen bolt.It’s not a fancy color or in anyway visually lovely but no matter how long i bounce around on the saddle with my great lardy arse the seatpost stays at the correct height and for that reason alone I LOVE IT.

I’ve had a soul and a bfe and i def agree with those that have said the bfe feels a bit dead.The soul is plenty strong but feels more alive.
Get the bfe if u want something properly bullet proof

Car Park Award Categories:

Most piss poorly laid out.
Smallest.
Roughest surface.
Tightest parking spaces.
Most expensive parking fees.

..and finally the green energy saving award for the car park which saves the most electricity by being poorly lit and having the cctv turned off for 99% of the **** time !!!

Doesn’t matter how ‘uncool’ you think you look in a bike helmet you look better than you would sitting in a wheel chair unable to speak with dribble dropping uncontrollably into your lap cos you’ve smashed your skull into a pine tree at 30mph.

Someone on QI mentioned macaroni cheese pie.Sounds safer than mixed meat,out of date stuff from the back of the fridge.Has anybody tried it? Sounds yummy 🙂

Might well be your washing machine.Last time ours broke (too much muddy kit again!) The repair guy suggested to run it empty on the hottest wash its got once a month to get rid of any excess dirt and bacteria.

Come on guys!! It’s pie or sausages you can’t have both.It ain’t natural i tell you it just ain’t!!
With a pie you can normally make out proper bits o’meat but if your sausage ain’t from a proper butcher then its just minced up earholes eyeholes and arseholes and you’re taking a gamble eating it however hot it is.

Sold an old Giro lid at a car boot sale for a few quid but the guy who bought it looked and sounded like he’d already been through lots of crashes and lid failures anyway !! 😆

Forks the wrong way round??
Halfords at it again then 😆

Try not to hit your hand with that hammer cos it will be THOR !! 😆

On-one do 29er tubes for £2.50 but you do have to spend £20 to get your free postage

I found washing my shorts without any fabric conditioner made them a bit more bum friendly and i’d recommend aloe vera gel for treating any minor skin irritations between rides.

Not Maxxis Beavers cos no one likes the smell of a burnt beaver !! 😉

Cut it quick and get the cut end up in the air.Keep it up in the air while you remove the old olive etc.. from your brake (zip tie to the bars is good place) then when u tap in the new end for the pipe also keep it pointing skywards (a rubber mallet is good for tapping the new end into the cut pipe as it won’t damage the soft metal).Slide your olive over the pipe and get it all locked back in place with the barrel nut (sliding barrel nut onto cut pipe first then new olive)
I used this method recently on SLX brakes and it worked fine.Lost a wee bit of mineral oil but not enough to even need a top up of the resevoir.
You can reduce the risk of getting oil on you brake disc by wrapping it up in an old carrier bag before starting.

Be gentle putting that bb in and DON’T force it in as they’re pretty soft threads and if it comes to a battle b’tween a steel thread on your frame and the bb threads you’ll be buying new cups. 🙁

How about a second hand Pipedream frame ??

Maxxis High Roller XC 2.1 Lighter than the standard version and thinner for your clearance worries.Got mine from CRC

Funny you should mention bikes being sent out of Halfords with the forks on back to front cos i’ve seen several bikes that have been sent out of our local Halfords with cheapo suspension forks raked backwards.
Worked with a guy who used to have a part time job in Halfords and he told me they were instructed to spend no more than 8 minutes safety checking the bikes before they left the store.
If you are going to buy a bike go to a bike shop not a car parts shop with a side line in bikes.

These bikes from the likes of Halfords and the supermarkets can be a bit of a double edged sword.Some people who have one of these pieces of crud-iron as a first bike use them as a stepping stone to better bikes and cycling becomes a part of the rest of their lives.Other people have one as a first bike and it puts them off cycling for life !!
I was told when i was younger that these bikes (and the cheap chisels you can get in poundland) were made from old chinese railway lines….
…HOW MANY BLUMMIN’ RAILWAY LINES DID THESE PEOPLE HAVE ?? 🙄

OOPS!! sorry guys it’s no longer on the orange site but it still exists in the pages of Retrobike where someone plucked it out a while back.
Anyhoo its claimed weight was 2.4kg with the quick release seatclamp so thats 5.29lbs.Not sure what frame size that is 🙄

You can pick up an Orange R8 frame for £270 now? That’s a bargain for an 853 frame if you ask me.
I think you can find the weight for the R8 frame on the orange website.

If you are after a good single chainring then i’d recommend the one made by Surly.It’s got slightly longer teeth on it to keep your chain in place although i’d use a chain device with it. I use a mrp one.It’s not superlight but its not that heavy and it’s by surly so it’s going to be tough.I fitted mine with I.D chainring bolts which are made of steel not wallace and grommit grade cheese like some of the cheapo alloy bolts which are just a waste of money.