Ok, as a follow up to this post, How Flippin Difficult Is It To Book Somewhere In Brechfa!!!!!!!

Tried most of the B&Bs, the Bunkhouse and a couple of s/c places and everywhere seems at least partially booked up. I thought things would be quietening down a bit in October – am I missing something? 🙁

Joolsburger – you're right it is a bit steep. Especially when all I want is a couple of the washers.

nickc – wondered where you were going with than for a minute 🙂

Rich – if you have I might just nick them off you ta. Edit – no rush, I'm sure I can bodge something 'till Brechfa 🙂

Do their online survey – it's a bit pants but you get a £5 off £50 voucher for your troubles

Why not stick with MTB pedals and get some carbon soled shoes??? Works for me 😉

We rode there at the weekend and it was suprisingly firm. Only mud we hit was on top of Minton batch by the gliding club, and on the DH tracks in the woods. There's been a bit of rain this week but not much so should be fine.

Great riding round there – I'm sure you'll have fun 🙂

All good advice. The Descent down to Little Stretton is very good and fast, so long as there aren't too many walkers around. Just be aware that it is still marked as a foot path and a lot of people don't know it's been re-classified a "permissive bridleway" – we got politely told off by a National Trust employee so we politely suggested he check his details 🙂 . You can climb back up Carding Mill Valley or Minton Batch if you're really keen!

As above, the new MTB centre or Plush Hill Cycles should be able to suggest the best routes for the day.

Blimey – I didn't realise people got soooo defensive over their choice of phone. Well I've got a Desire, and it's great, and everything else is crap, so ner !! 🙄

Nice graph by the way, aren't stats great 😉

flippinheckler – if you update the current Desire to Froyo (OS 2.2) you can get HD video now. I think the one you're talking about has a higher megapixel stills camera though – coming out later in the year I believe? HTH 🙂

I'm in demand these days Rich!

Unfortunately a day's about average for "smart" phones. When you consider their size and the amount they can do it's still impressive but frustrating.

edit: ….waits for the "I've got a xxxxxx and it lasts 3 weeks without a charge" 😉

Slight post Hi-jack. Can anyone recommend some accommodation in the area – a group of us are hoping to head down there in the autumn.

Rich – that October weekend looks like it could be on 🙂

Another vote for the Desire here – love mine

Popped in here at the weekend – nice little shop, good kit at reasonable prices and really friendly owners. And they were open on a Sunday 🙂

Good to see and definitely needed in the area.

Nah – just stick with the 185/160 rotors and you'll be 1 finger braking all the way down 🙂

Elixirs on my 223, Elixirs on my XC bike. Both raced, both been to the alps, both run regularly in the "UK grime"(TM?)

They're a little fiddly to bleed but, other than that, I ve been more than happy with them – finally waved good bye to arm pump after years of Mini/M4/Mono minis.

So ner 😉

[spod]Apparently the new (2.2) update, when it arrives on your phone, enables screen rotating in both directions 🙂 [\spod]

Molgrips – ok, I stand corrected 😳 🙂

Samuri – you're not wrong, although the latest model is a little better.

Having just bought a used car and looked into this, the thing that gets me is the fact that the quoted fuel economy for something like a Prius is still worse than a modern diesel engine.

Does rather beg the question, what's the point?

1 bit of advice – if you've had a few claims in the past, be aware that if you change insurance companies the new company won't insure any previously existing conditions. It's depressingly common for owners to think they're insured, only to find out they aren't because it's a condition the animal's been treated for prior to starting the new policy.

Personally, I would also recommend going for a "life long" policy rather than an annual one. The former covers your pet for illnesses for the life of the animal; annual policies are renewed each year and exclusions will be applied for conditions treated in the past 12 months.

You get what you pay for to a degree but most of the big names seem ok. Just dont go anywhere near E&L.

edit: Equally yes, you could put the money in a savings account – if you're lucky (no claims for the first few years) and strong willed you'll have the money there if your pets need treatment, and a little bonus if they dont 🙂

I've had an SLX double & bash for a few months now & very happy with it. Suprisingly good finish to it too for the money. I'd agree with the comments re Raceface – their rings don't seem to last as long as others.

I wouldn't buy from Ribble though.

My e-120 has a BB30 shell – I'm running a "normal" fsa crankset/bb through it with the adapter the frame came with and I certainly haven't had any creaking from there.

Used to be impressed but after problems with the last pair and some shocking customer service, I won't be buying any more 🙁

Download and install the latest MM software from the website then copy the map files over to a directory on your laptop. Start the memory map software, click on "map list" in the options, then point it in the direction of the directory you put the files in and bobs your uncle….hopefully 🙂

Funnily enough – I've just seen the pics of that. Having just come back from the Alps, I'm currently working out what body parts I need to sell by October 🙂

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

There's a bit on BM about it – they're going to do 2 bikes, neither of which is likely to be cheap looking at the specs…

No pics to hand but they are great. Just come back from the Alps and it did make rides a lot more "flowing", especially the Mega. I'd go with a left hand lever (your left thumb tends to have less to do as a whole!).

There's no getting away from the fact they aint attractive to look at but they're reliable and easy to service (the one guy in our group with a Joplin is sending his back as it failed while we were away!)

freeride_addict – thanks, some interesting points there.

I would hope that anyone who goes to the trouble of going out to Les Arcs to ride bikes would have the sense to ride the trails responsibly. We did indeed pull to the side/get off whenever walkers approached on the exposed sections – this is why some had the opportunity to suggest to us we shouldn't be there. Those that did were helpful, friendly and were in some way placated when we suggested the route appears in a respected trail guide to the area. Elsewhere on the technical stuff further down, we only actually got positive responses – I think people were generally impressed we were riding the stuff :).

I can see why the area is sensitive but it would be a real shame if it were lost to red tape and local arguing.

Agree with everything said here (apart from Everywhen).

TG at it's best. Touareg piece, whilst as staged as ever, had some great camera work in it, Senna documentary was inspiring and even the Cruise/Diaz section was entertaining after my initial serious doubts.

Great stuff.

nacho – Freecaster reckons 13:15 CET for womens start; 14:00 CET for Mens. Porbably quite flexible though 😉

The helmetcam footage does look a bit bonkers.

Qualifying results are up and Gee's looking pretty good – Peaty's in there too (suprisingly?), as is Brendon. Should be a good watch tomorrow, assuming I can get Freecaster to work this round. Otherwise its Eurosport with the sound turned down 🙂

hungry monkey – interesting. That's what I thought as, looking at both the map and the GPS, it seems the trail runs along side rather than through the national park.
The thing that concerned us was the abundance of signs at the head of trails leading back into the area (including back up the track we'd just ridden) that clearly stated no MTBs (dogs, fire, etc, etc). Just wondering if boundaries had been moved. Or maybe it's just tactical signage to try and discourage people from riding the track?

Blimey – stumbled on this thread having just returned from a week out there.

I'd agree with most of the sentiments here – we rode some of the best, most scenic, most technical and most enjoyable singletrack I've ever ridden. La Varda was just insane – you just can't describe the feeling of riding such technical trails within 6" of a massive drop. Grange Hill, The Lakes & others were possibly more enjoyable from a purely riding perspective but every trail we rode offered something amazing – as others, I'm already planning the next trip out there.
As for riding with/without guides, it's the same as riding anywhere. I think Les Arcs is a good example of an area where a decent guide can really open your eyes to the riding that's available. However, had we had guides on La Varda, it wouldn't have reduced the chances of us plummeting to our deaths – we just would have had more of an idea what to expect. As on any trail, ride within your abilities and walk what you're not confident of riding.

The "trail guide" is crap – the majority of way marked trails are fire roads connecting a few choice bits of singletrack (the bottom of Red 7 & Black 8 are 2 notable exceptions). We were lucky and found a lot of the trails using a GPS & maps but I'd definitely use a guide for at least part of the time next year.

One question though – all the talk of La Varda doesn't mention the fact the MTBs are NOT supposed to be there any more. We were stopped by several walkers pointing this out and we spotted several signs stating this on the way out of the area – has this changed recently or has this always been a "sneaky" trail. Personally, no matter how good a trail is, I'd rather not ride it if it jeopardises future riding in the area.

Quiet day Rich? 😉

No. 897. Gulp!

A mate bought an Alpine with the CCDB upgrade about 2 months ago, having ridden Orange bikes (Five & 222/3/4) for years. He's one of the quickest DHers I know and he seriously rates the shock – reckons it's a big upgrade compared to the Fox.

SFB – some presta tubes do come with removable valve cores (Schwalbe I think) but generally I don't see how you could remove them. I think you're right, people are probably confusing the two?

Goog – that's the most informative reply I've had on here for ages. Cheers 8)

I will investigate the core replacement option though.

Rich – I'll be in touch!

Jesus. If that's to be believed, they really are a bunch of cocks aren't they!

Hmm thanks for the info – worth considering I guess. I'm not convinced the valve core is removable in these.

It's kind of missing the point though – it's the fact the thing fell apart with gentle pressure having just been taken out of the box.

Never mind. I'll just put it down to experience and stick with CRC/Wiggle/TBC in future

BD thanks for your input – invaluable as ever 😕

Singlespeed_Shep – it's the small thread within the valve that's sheared – the one that you tighten to stop the air coming out of the valve.

Yes, I know it's "only a tube". Call me a tight arse but it's still £7.

Just to make it clear – this is a DH specific tube so cost around £7. Still not a huge amount but worth following up imho!?

Edit: but yes alexxx, you may be right, there may not be any real advantage to using them.

Mountain morph is a great pump. Just watch the fold away foot flap thing – mine got a bit stiff to move, then snapped off!

And yes – I think the mini morph is the same but smaller… so not as effective/harder work to pump anything up (ime)