er, aren’t we forgetting a certain John Lennon?

McCartney also (if we consider ‘Wings’ as largely his project)

I get it every now and then, last time was caused through heavy use of an axe 8O.

Rest, rest and rest, I found a support helps as does some form of ibuprofen gel. Bouts usually last around 2 months

It’s a toss up between November & January. February is third.

November because it’s getting cold, generally grey and miserable. January, well Christmas is done, back to work, spring a long way off. February much the same just a bit ‘less’

By March things look up, spring is coming. April to September is all gravy.

October escapes as we always have a weeks holiday at half-term.

Grabbed a few old CDs for the car last week.
Depeche Mode: Violator
J. J. Cale: Troubadour
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti

Forgotten how good they all are

Signed up to Prime this week. Pressure from teenage sons became too much especially with £20 off.

Have to wait till tomorrow evening and watch it with them.

No spoilers!!!

As the saying goes: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’

Confront him. Leave him in no doubt you’ll report him if you see a repeat. Follow through if necessary.

Bike Channel?

Where?

Can someone direct an old Luddite?

Step 1: Drive to Ikea.
Step 2: Purchase Cabin Bed
Step 3: Think about time saved faffing about.

I think I could build a nuclear reactor faster than getting in and out of Ikea.

I’d rather have a beer

I’ haven’t checked but I would think Superstar have something to suit. Think they’re 15% off in November too

Cane Creek 40 will be fine too

bri-72 – many thanks

The cranks I’m planning to use (hopefully only briefly) are OE Suntours. BB they came with was 124.5mm for use on a 70mm BB shell. Simple maths teals me I need a 154.5 spindle to use with a 100mm shell. Sound right?

How was your experience of ordering from Ridewill? I’m always tentative about ordering from abroad

Roger Musson’s book is what I’ve used and I’d highly recommend it

orangeboy is right; pulling a wheel true is easy, doing it with even tension each side take a bit more patience.

Woohoo, postie had presents today!

Fatty Trail frame in grey / orange
Fatty carbon forks in black / orange
Emmental Rims on El Guappo hubs

For some reason On One have generously included rim ‘tape’ for 4 wheels.

Nice looking frame, lighter than I expected. Forks too, they seem incredibly light but probably just because I’m used to a suspension fork.

Slightly disappointed with the headtube arrangement. It’s set up for an integrated headset. Nothing wrong with them, just I’ve got plenty of headset bits and pieces but nothing that will fit. Anyway ordered (from CRC) a Cane Creek 40 IS42/28.6 – IS52/30 which seemed to be pretty much all I could find.

Unfortunately I’ll not get the frame till Christmas as it’s from my Mrs, but at least that gives me a bit of breathing room to try to source (cheaply!) a few bits I need – mainly a crankset

That’s unbelievable.

I’ve built a grand total of 4 wheels in my life, so I’m no master wheel builder. I’ll take 0.5mm lateral and 1mm radial and it’s really not that difficult. As stated above you should be able to hear the ‘click’ as the rim label passes the gauge.

Find yourself another builder – or spend the money on a wheel jig. Or just make one as I have

I dislike wearing a backpack, so don’t unless I’m on a long ride.

Phone goes in a small saddle pack along with tools, tubes etc. Drink in a water bottle.

Not carrying a phone is deliberately obtuse. Not owning a phone, well….

Short term: ride more miles in winter.

Medium term: 2 day bikepacking of the Ridgeway.

Long term 1: To keep fit enough to be able to keep pace with my 16 year old twins around Swinley blue when I’m 50 (I’m 46 now). (Yeah, right :wink: )

Long term 2: To do a ‘significant’ bikepacking tour. No idea where (UK) but at least a week

Cranks do get expensive

IMHO, once you hit a minimum point (say Deore) you’re really only getting marginal gains in weight, nicer looks and a bit of kudos. Unless you’re some kind of mental rider extra strength hardly matters (an XTR crank isn’t stronger than a Deore but is lighter)

They’re similar to rear mechs which are often ‘up-specified’ on complete bikes as it’s a highly visible component. In reality the difference in function between Deore / SLX / XT is pretty marginal and the money would be better spent on better wheels or tyres. But who looks at tyres when buying a new bike?

YoKaiser – Yes, makes sense.

The BB I have for the sq taper cranks is 73 x 122. So I’d need 100 x 149?

I’ve seen a 100 x 149.5 so maybe this?

Just thought I’d post up my impressions of the fat bike ride at C-Y-B

I was in Snowdonia on a family holiday, we were at C-Y-B for a quiet walk.

My lads (teenagers) saw a Trek Farley for hire for the day. It didn’t take much persuasion for me to take it out.

We did the blue (Minotaur) trail as it consists of a few loops off a main fire-road (back to the visitor centre) which meant we could take turns on the bike and pick up the walking group on the fire-road. I guess we all had about 2 hours actually riding it. For those that don’t know (I didn’t) the blue at C-Y-B is pretty tame and has a good solid surface right through. No major features, but it rolls up and down, lots of rollers and a few switchbacks

Anyhow, how did it ride? Well, like a bike!

Point it down, even down a small gradient and it picks up speed and the massive tyres give amazing confidence.

I didn’t miss a suspension fork at all – plenty of squish and cushioning from that tyre.

Cornering requires a different technique as you have to consciously turn the bars rather than leaning. Once you get this it’s surprisingly nimble. There was no tendency for the for the front wheel to ‘tuck in’ on the uphill switchbacks (unlike my Anthem).

It does need more effort to accelerate out of turn and uphill, so will reward riders who are able to carry their speed through features and corners.

And even though it wasn’t particularly muddy that big rear tyre did throw up an awful lot of crap -be prepared to get mucky!

Overall I loved it and it offers a different experience. I wouldn’t spend mega bucks on one, but then again I have just bought a frame forks and wheels so who knows where the upgrade itch will take me.

Holy cr@p

But they’re being optimistic if they think I can get that much air

Yep – I got the BB shell is 100mm. What I’m trying to find out is the spindle length required to get the right chainline. I’ve seen versions from 142 – 164 mm

zippykona – emails sent

Where do you guys find the time for this?

Impressed

Thanks Zippykona – that’s too good an offer to turn down. I’ll drop you an email. Whereabouts are you?

So seems most are happy with JJs or Floaters. Reckon I’ll save a few quid and go with the floaters

Anyone any idea on BB spindle length required?

Thanks Northwind. Yep 4.8s too big

I run NNs on my regular bike and am happy enough with them, so JJs would seem an obvious choice. How do the floaters compare, £40 saving pays for the headset!