Chunky monkey front/smorgasboard rear for summer, minion dhf 3c 2.5 front/2.3 dhf rear for winter, job done. Love the on one tyres though, alot of people rate them so worth a try at the price.

I only ever get compliments about how my codeine rides, including how light it and poppy it feels but then it is the *better* 29er version ;)

you will struggle to sleep in the van with any kind of living area and store bikes at the same time, fairly cramped if you’re not alone. I found my 2.5 t4 too much of a compromise, not great as a car, but not great for fully loaded camping either. Good for day trips though. i dont think there is a perfect compromise unless you can afford two vehicles.

Or get one of these newer 29ers such as a ragley big wig, will be pretty nippy

Barrow in furness, not the best rep as a place but people are friendly enough and there is alot of work. Most importantly lakes are on your doorstep. Got to be realistic if you want to be mortgage free and decide what is most important out of your list of wants, wont get all.

My pslr 1’s are really good, grippy and smooth

mine has been fine (blue codeine) better than my np mega or cotic

Living in the lakes have never used winter tyres. Get a 4×4 if you are that worried

cut a small crosshead into them using a dremel, then use a small flat head screw driver and a hammer and try tapping them around and out.

If you can find a d5 engined v50 then go for it, better engine than the 1.6 or 2.0 hands down.

v50 shouldnt be too expensive to maintain, its basically a much more comfortable, more solid feeling focus. They arent massive though, surely a passat or an octy wouldnt be impactically large?

two layers of gorilla tape better than all above, cheaper too. worked ok on various rims long term for me (including the cl25)

as above, maxle ultimate – loads better

Volvo servicing isnt that bad, not to mention you get free roadside assistance for 12 months with every service. Volvo will be comfier and can get three bikes in the boot without folding seats

i wouldnt bother taking an mtb to aus, not unless you like driving hours to get to the trails and having to set off at 5am to avoid the heat in the summer, not to mention the flies.

Not saying they dont leak, they seem to be like a wetsuit though, warm even when wet, maybe you got a bad pair if they fell apart, mine been through the wash dozens of times and still look like new

I can wear trainer socks with my teva links in snow and still have warm feet, normally run cold down there too! excellent shoes warm even when wet

done 9 months in the lakes and various other hikeabikes around scotland on a chunky monkey, worth the weight imho for the grip and durability

My genesis equilibrium has been pretty bombproof fully loaded on the rear across italy france and spain, comfy but still quite fast

No ride west to East over garburn then drop down to kentmere then sadgill, end up pushing top part of gatesgarth climb and carry over from the bottom of nan bield to do the nan bield descent into kentmere although have seen nan bield done in reverse

And for Grizedale, start in Satterthwaite, do Breasty Haw, Hole in the wall, across to claife heights, then hawkshead, back into Grizedale, I think thesselonians way? then onto Parkamoor down to Nibthwaite then back over via ickenthwaite, makes for a decent days ride, the map for this is in the cicerone lakes book.

I like Garburn, Gatesgarth and then Nan Bield but then I am one of those weirdos that likes to carry their bike up hills :lol: Gatesgarth isn’t very technical but its as fun as you want to make it if you let the bike go and get a bit loose especially on the top switchbacks. Nan Bield left me underwhelmed the first time I did it on a hardtail and wasnt nice along the flatter bit at the bottom of the switchbacks in a steaming headwind but the grassy descent at the other end is a right giggle. Done the route in the snow/ice over winter which added extra awesomeness.

I think the op needs to try the bikes. I am 6 ft 3 and fairly lanky but find my codeine fits fine with a 50mm stem but then I don’t like mega long top tubes. There isn’t a right or wrong I think its personal preference… Longer reaches to a certain extent are probably a bit of marketing to sell new frames, yes it may suit some but not all. Did tour de ben Nevis last week and managed a half decent result on the codeine over 40 miles of racing so its no snail.

Got a large codeine you could try if you near lakes. Love mine, 5 29 is a nice bike but I doubt it would be as versatile given its 66 degree head angle which is pretty slack for a 29er meaning its not going to be as great in the twisty stuff, nice bike but perhaps a bit numb for alot of uk riding unless you live in the alps. .. Codeine also climbs surprisingly well. Reach is a bit short but I prefer that to be honest, makes it very very playful.

As above have the bottom stops so that the jockey wheels are past the 10t cog when you have pulled the mech over, the weak spring means it never actually gets this far in reality but it means you can get enough tension in the cable. Also slackening the b screw seemed to help up to a point. Had this on my friends bike and just sorted it for him. Glad I am still ten speed seems alot easier!

What are these carbon rims like for straightlining rock gardens? Op I would recommend pacenti dl31’s mine have put up with 9 months of lakes rock garden abuse with only minor truing (I am near 95kg too) they do dent a bit but easy to pull out, got to be expected when running low pressures and certainly better than cracking, which would be my concern with carbon

Who cares? if people are too stupid/proud to try the latest generation of “properly” designed 29ers that’s their loss. I for one wouldn’t have anything else, and I certainly wouldn’t want big balloon tyres that inevitably would get torn to shreds in the Lakes. I doubt 29ers will just disappear

if you are getting paid just over half of what they are charging you out at i doubt you will get far but good luck. i have been paid 1/7th of my chargeout rate in previous engineering jobs, dont forget they have to cover overheads, your pension, pay when there isnt much work etc.

1 series are common as muck around here, sure they may be good but i would rather have something a bit more original

go back to the fire road from top of south loop to do the last climb again? errr why? whinlatter isn’t really technical by any stretch of the imagination. Go ride some decent lakes trails instead

on one codeine, 190×51. Good to know you got yours replaced, otherwise its a great shock!

+1 for moonglu, my wheels were solid and when i eventually cracked a rim (my fault) he replaced and rebuilt at cost price wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

Pull it out with an adjustable spanner

found my pacenti DL31’s pretty bombproof. They do ding a bit running low pressures but I would much rather that than have them crack (my experience with mavic and stans) its easy enough to pull the dings out again.

I think if you live in the right areas barrow is fine, other than that Dalton in Furness is decent. I can hook you up with some night riding if you like when you get here? I am part of a group who usually heads out most weekends and Wednesday nights. Grizedale is very close, easy to park at Nibthwaite then climb over into satterthwaite, breasty haw, hole in the wall, claife heights, tnf and back via parkamoor, some quality riding! Say what you will about barrow etc but id rather have the decent riding, everything is a compromise after all!

**** me they are expensive

put several holes in maxxis exo tyres, maxxis lust’s – gets expensive living up here! On one smorgasboard does me, 1 hole in 6 months of being ragged through lakes rock gardens, ben nevis, helvelyn snowdon etc. essentially a heavier tougher ardent casing iirc, oh and much cheaper and a great rear tyre too! I live in the lakes btw.

once you hit the quarry on sticks it is worth finding seldom seen, its on the os map and for me is better than sticks pass itself, and definitely more fun than the remainder of sticks, giving a much better singletrack descent all they way to lake level pretty much

best bike i have ridden in terms of performance vs value, great technical climber, good in the twisty stuff, very easy to loft the front wheel into a manual, smashes through rocks but the best bit is the grip you get on balls out loose flat corners that would have me sticking a foot out on my old bikes. Run mine with the on one tyres which are also immense.

Comparing with a 2.0, sure, but that doesn’t make much sense. The volvo makes just a couple of bhp more than the old 2.2 tdci, but roughly half the torque, so it’s actually a bit slower, and certainly felt weaker on the road. And the claimed mpg is pretty bad too, IIRC it’s about £100 more tax per year as a result.

I am glad you like your mondeo. The old 163 made 340 Nm, I am guessing your mondeo 400Nm? Hardly double is it, besides there is more to it than sheer torque, the fact that every tdci engine I have heard sounds like a whiney bag of spanners from the outside would put me off straightaway, not to mention how quickly fords start to look dated. Besides in 10 years time a volvo will still be running, the mondeo likely wont (how many old ones do you see given how many they sold?) And if you compare like for like engines in terms of model year the D5 obviously was available in higher outputs of course up to 215bhp. Economy wise I cant argue (although I have been surprised how good it is with a heavy right foot) nor with tax but at the end of the day for me personally an engine should have character which the 5 cyl d5 has together with refinement a 4cyl cannot match… Currently have a c30 d5 180/400. Will likely get another 2nd phase V70 next, 185bhp variety with a remap. Its a shame the new d5’s are 4 bangers.