Chains & bottom brackets. Not noticed much difference cheap or expensive.

Tyres. I buy decent brands & models, but never splash out on extortionate fancy compounds etc. Tyres wear out fast.

Saddles. All the Ti ones I’ve had have snapped their rails eventually, so I stick to trusty steel rails now.

Helmets. Can see no reason to pay more than 60 – 70 quid, tops.

Some good prices on Schwalbe at the moment.
CRC are doing Land Cruisers for £8.99 too.

Big fan of Michelin Pro4 Endurance, previously the Krylion. Roll well, comfy, fairly puncture proof.

Same here. Superb tyres and some good prices on them now! 🙂

Slayer’s latest album Repentless is pretty damn fine.
Mix of tempos and the guitar sound is awesome.

Thanks.
I don’t understand why they basically re-badged the old Tour Plus and dropped what must be a good seller – just for the Three Peaks alone!!!

I don’t like them.

spesh trigger pro, has a fairly solid centerline

That’s a Conti CX Speed in the photo…

My brother’s been riding a Ribble Nero Corsa for a few years. Done thousands of miles with no bother. 😀

I use Ride With GPS to plot routes.
Tbh, most of mine are road based, but with a bit of off-road here and there. (Gravel bike style…)
You can try the different map types to get it to follow a trail – this works sometimes. Otherwise, click on “Draw Lines” and you can plot a route where the “Follow Roads” function doesn’t allow.
(It works ok. I just did a ride in Mid-Wales following part of a route plotted like this.)
I don’t know about turn based navigation, as it’s a faff with the Edge 200 I have. Cue sheets are generated when you plot routes on Ride With GPS, but I don’t know how accurate they are as the GPS trail has always been enough for me.

I don’t even bother. The climbing data Strava figures out from my Edge 200 is so low compared to everyone else who does exactly the same ride, I have no chance of beating any of their climbing challenges! 🙁

Rode the Ridgeway on Monday. Gravel or CX bike is ideal, a mountainbike would make for a bit of a boring ride IMO.
Great fun anyway and amazing views. Had the best weather too, so all good. (Well almost – the number of gates on the route was a pain in the rear!)

5.

Not watching other than highlights posted on Facebook.
Wish ITV 4 would show it.
I don’t watch much (hardly any) TV, so only have Freeview.

Nearer home, it reminds me of Hawkstone Park Follies in Shropshire.

I was thinking that too!

Stay.

I don’t think religion should have anything to do with the way a country is run.
Moral values, not Christian values make more sense to me, especially in this age of mixed cultures and dwindling interest in / need for religion.

Landcruisers are a bit old & boring, but you can’t deny they are tough as old boots, grip pretty well & roll smoothly. I’ve thrashed them (35c) in the Welsh mountains with no issues.
The new ones have a different tread pattern. More centre ridge and a bit chunkier. Not sure how they’ll perform off road compared to the originals.
I’m running Panaracer Gravel King SK in 32c at the moment with much success, although they give up traction earlier than Landcruisers in mud.

If anyone has any GPX’s of any routes in the area (Road or CX) I would be interested!

Me too!

Like the GT Grade also what max tyre size can you run?

35 is supposed to be about the largest, but it would take a little wider.
I’ve seen 38c fitted to Grades, but the lack of mudroom would put me off running a tyre that big.

Looks awesome Rich! 😀

You will have the same problems with Alu frames and mud, the difference is a carbon frame can typically be repaired for less than the cost of a replacement Alu frame.

Obviously you’ll get wear on any frame, but I wouldn’t stop riding an alloy frame because it was worn down to the metal and scored a bit. My brother rode a aluminium MTB frame with an actual hole in it from horrendous chainsuck and it didn’t fail. I don’t think a carbon one would have lasted long after that kind of damage.
As far as repair costs go – you may be right. I’ve no idea as I’ve never owned a carbon frame.

I bought an alloy Grade as it was my first road bike for many years and I wasn’t sure how much I’d use it. Almost instantly I wished I’d spent a bit more and bought the carbon 105 instead, as I loved the ride so much.
Since then though, I’m not so sure…
This story and one on Grit CX where a buckled wheel caused enough damage to the chainstay through tyre rub to write-off the frame has made me wonder about the suitability of carbon for this type of bike.
What about the rubbing of mud & grit carried on the tyres on the stays & under the fork over time and wear from luggage straps? Are they not problematic with carbon frames? (I guess the mud can’t be too much of an issue, as nearly all CX race bikes are carbon…)

I recently bought some Panaracer Gravel King SKs in 32c. (I’d have bought 35 if they were available yet & 40 won’t fit the frame.)
I’m really impressed with them on any surface other than mud.
They roll quickly, I’ve had no flats and they seem to be holding up well after a few hundred km, with lots of tarmac. They get the thumbs up from me.

I haven’t ridden my MTB (apart from commuting) since I bought a GT Grade Alloy 105 at the end of June last year. In fact, I’ve just ditched the Mountain Kings & put some 700c Landcruisers on the 29er to replace my ancient Genesis Io for the daily trip to work & back. (So no I wouldn’t sell it, but it has changed duties.)

TBH, I bought the Grade so I could get more quality riding done from home, without having to rely on a lift from the other half to Cannock of such like. (I don’t drive.)
I didn’t realise I’d enjoy it so much. I gave up road riding about 20 years ago, but it’s been great to get back into it.
The GT is pretty capable off-road too, so all bases covered really.(I was never into jumps & big drops, so no great loss.)

BSSM is by far my favourite RHCP album.
The mix is awesome. Everything sounds live and genuine. Just amazing.

Some good ones here that I’d forgotten about! 😀

(I rode the Tour Of The Black Country, so am well aquainted with the “Waltonberg”. 😉 )

Done all those Lunge – apart from Coombe Hill. Don’t know that one, where is it?
Winwood Heath Road is IMO the hardest out of that list.

Doesn’t look like early May in the West Midlands! 😀

For 6 hours I’d probably take 2 gels with me and mainly eat flapjacks / breakfast bars, stored in rear jersey pockets.
I only really use gels if I’m starting to flag or can’t face chewable food any more. I often finish with un-used gels.
I’m not too interested in nutritional science, but it seems to work for me.

Had a great day in the saddle!
I used my Gravel Kings in the end and I think it was the right choice as the fun I had on the descents more than made up for a little bit of extra rolling resistance. No flats either. Two large water bottles lasted me whole way without a re-fill.

The only negative was the missing sign at Hagley.(It had been thrown in the field to the right of the bridleway.)
My Garmin said to turn, but I thought they may have removed the sector, until we hit the next road junction and there were no signs there either. We did a U turn & headed up the track and back on course, so probably just added a couple of km to the ride. No biggie. 🙂

We used to call Rumblow Lane “Fly Hill,” because a mate of ours caught one in his eye while bombing down it one time and had a bit of a spill. 😈

Waltonberg is a battle of strength, grip and stubbornness. If it rains like it’s meant to, grip will be the main challenge.

It’s tough, but grip is ok if you’re geared low enough to sit down for most of it. (And someone doesn’t stop in front of you…)

Odd, I bloody love it, it is one of my favorites in the area. You can obviously deviate up Winwood Heath Road if you want a really test of the legs.

I rode that a few weeks ago – first time in years!

It does drag on a bit…

Just trying to decide if I should run 28c Pro4 Endurance or 32c Gravel Kings… 😕
Would rather not have to worry about punctures.

I’m not a huge Radiohead fan, but that song & video are awesome!

I’ll be there on a GT Grade.
Was meant to set off at 10.14, but my bro. is riding for his road club and I might go with him at an earlier slot.

I’ve got Gravel King (SK) 32s on my Hope Tech XC 29er wheels.
Tight-ish, but went on ok by hand. Had to re-seat the rear one a few times to get a jump out, but all good in the end.

Those Michelins look good. Great reviews too.
My only experience of Michelin goes back to the old Hi Lite Comp & Super Comp HD and I wasn’t impressed. I guess they have come on a way since my old road racing days though…

Another thought – does your Grade have tubeless ready rims?

It does now. I’ve got some Hope Tech XC 29er wheels in there.

Just to avoid any confusion – the tyres I’m after are 100% for tarmac. I have other tyres for gravel / off-road.