We’ve stayed in Bruges whenever we have been – nice place to stay and handy for the start of the pro race but if doing the sportive then its a bit more faff dependent on which version you do.

Stayed here for cheap and cheerful : http://www.bauhaus.be/
Last couple of times have been here, which has parking which is not all that common in centre of Bruges, they have rooms that will sleep 4 : http://www.goldentreehotel.be/

Bit of a long shot but … I left a heart rate monitor strap in the shower at the Kielder campsite on Saturday (shower nearest the door in the ladies block).

The campsite hadn’t had it handed in on Sunday, I don’t suppose anyone on here managed to scoop it up with their gear?

Its a Garmin strap but you could barely see the N on the front before the race, there’s a good chance that didn’t survive. No doubt it wiill say Garmin on the back somewhere.

Who were the 2 guys with the Jones

Waves. Mine was the blue steel one. I’d not played with a fat wheel either before a quick roll around on my friend’s new toy. Feels remarkably like riding a bike, would be interesting to try it on something lumpy.

On the brake pad front, the last 2 years I haven’t had to touch my pads. Same bike, same brakes.

This year thanks to little pre-race checking I had a suspect front brake that failed at around 25 miles, and then I went through the backing plate on one set of rear pads, wore out another pair to the metal, and then did about half another set. So I think its safe to say it was harder on brakes this time!

From the top photo there seems to be a bit of space under the “stem”. Also, couldn’t I just raise the quill stem (or is the headset clamped around the steerer)? I’ve never stripped down a non-Ahead headset/steerer All new to me.

Its not the stem thats the issue, as you say, that could just be moved up a bit. The top cap on the headset threads onto the steerer – so if the replacement adds too much height in the cups you the cap might not thread on to the top of the steerer sufficiently to stay in place.

A normal threaded headset will have a threaded cap, and a separate lock nut, which is why its likely to be a bit taller than the one piece Kona one.

If its the bottom cup thats hosed, and the top one isn’t worn out, then if the height is an issue you could use a new bottom cup and reuse the Kona top half.

As others have said, that vintage of Kona (I had a cinder cone from the same year which had the same frame) are 1 1/8 and any 1 1/8 threaded headset should fit though from recollection the impact headset had a reasonably short stack height.

At the risk of insulting intelligence – they came with a big old rubber shield over the bottom race which looks like it is in place still on the first photo, I presume its not that which is moving?

Resurrecting it for the new toy? Not good news if they are getting hard to find – I’ve got 3 95x chainsets :(

The spline pattern is the same as octalink road b/brackets so ultegra and dura ace are options if the length works. Depending on which version of the b/b you have there might be regrease options – I have one with accessible roller bearings but most seem to be fully sealed and disposable.

Sorry to hear that mate – go ride in the sun!

I have a the m756 XT hub on my SS – my experience (of a sample of one!) is that it isn’t as hassle free as earlier generation XT hubs that I have/had, but at the price you can’t beat it IMO. It just requires a bit more preventative maintenance than older ones

Oh and its survived 2 Kielder 100s so far, once geared and once SS.

G.

Ah, excellent, could be a way to clear some old wheels out of my garage (including the ones with the m900 hubs :-) )

Funnily enough I’ve been thinking about Nepal too recently. Have been harbouring an itch to go for years and circumstances mean this could be a good year to actually do it.

Long shot, but does anyone have any experience of sorting out bike trips independently vs the likes of KE/Skedaddle/Exodus? Given that I will be somewhat constrained in terms of time having everything sorted appeals but it would be nice to understand what other options are about.

Must do it one year – Juan keeps nagging me to come over for it!

Now claimed.

Jon, its worth getting him to check the glass cover on his insurance.

Fully comp insurance normally has glass cover which won’t affect the no claims and you just pay the excess, but not sure if that extends to large blokes flying through the window :)

I just had my drivers door window replaced for just 65 quid after some scrote broke it early one morning.

Check out the Explorer – its basically the Vertical tread pattern in a (continental style) 2.1″ size

Ooh, that does look nice. Does this mean you like mountain bikes again :)

Lordswood on a proper frozen day is great – just depends on your luck with the weather.

I have a soft spot for the Cheesefoot Head ride on the Hants CC website (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/cycling/cycling-route-finder/cycling-cheesefoot.htm), its pretty weather proof and you can ride out from Soton for a longer ride though it does end up with quite a lot of tarmac if you do.

This one is okay too but is a bit less weatherproof (though neither are at all technical):
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/cycling/cycling-route-finder/cycling-oxdrove.htm

We got a freeze them yourself kit from the local supermarket – made by scholl I think. There are 10 “shots” in it so you could do it a bit more often

I’ve got a similar one to DT78, tried a couple of the supermarket freeze kits and they have had pretty much no effect.

No surgery needed, but due to the very good care of the physio, I was back on the mat after 5 weeks.

Probably worth pointing out that Juan means judo by back on the mat.

I’ve done mine twice (also judo) but couldn’t tell you what grade, but I would guess 1/2. My recovery time for judo was about the same as Juan but judo puts “interesting” unpredictable loads on the shoulder, you can get on the bike more quickly but you will need to adjust to whatever your shoulder will let you do so it depends whether by back on the bike you mean commuting or competitive downhilling :)

I seem to recall pulling hard on the bars while out of the saddle being a bad idea.

And the good news, that was all 20 years ago and I can sleep on either shoulder again now :)

The disappointing part for me is that the diamond frame doesn’t come with the truss fork. The fork is, to me, where Jeff’s vision of what he’s trying to do with his bikes the most clear

Its interesting to see what different people feel is the USP for the Jones’ designs. I would have said that the number 1 thing is the geometry and the way it is aims to distribute weight for a ligher front end with the rigid fork. And the compliance of the spaceframe, rigidity of the truss fork seem secondary to that to me.

Either way, fair play to Jeff for getting the frames out there at a lower price. I think the steel space frame looks great, could almost be tempted to start getting rid of 26″ bikes to make space for one!

They look like they would do the job as long as they have a bit more flex and are grippier

I wore specialized carbon sole MTB shoes last year and pretty much killed them (and my feet) when I did it last year. Since then I’ve got the Pearl Izumi ones which are great for T-P style days.

Oh yes, forgot to mention my Sidis were well battered too and have now been demoted to commuting. I got a pair of the Pearl Izumi X-Alp shoes ready for the next time.

ooh … interesting.

Goes off to write out 1000 times “I don’t need another rigid 29er!”

Good luck – I’d much rather be out riding in Provence then wrapping up a software project!!

G.

Anyone who has done it before…what about shoes?

My main shoes are Sidi Dragons, which are very comfy but I am worried by some of the comments on write ups like…don’t bring disco slippers. My backup pair is a pair of semi-boot type trail shoes

I wore Sidi Dominators last year. I would do anything to avoid doing the same again :) My big toes hurt for some time afterwards.

See the comments above about extensive hikes up steep hillsides, your other shoes sound like a better bet. Some guys had nice Northwave shoes with vibram soles last year that seemed perfect.

That’s the plan to get a second copy for profit out of the window then :)

As my car will probably just about make it to kielder on a full tank anyone know where the nearest reasonably priced petrol station is?

Fill up on the way :)

I arrived late last year, and was getting close to fumes when I got to Kielder – it was a slightly stressful 20 miles or so to the nearest garage on the way home!

The mass of the materials at head tube to down tube and the softness of brass, make me think it could be more durable than say TIG

Not really that simple. Here's something I dug out of my bookmarks from years back for light reading :)

Fillet, tig, etc.

SS – because I'm too lazy to fit the gears on my 29er and because you have just jinxed the weather :)

I spoke to them yesterday and they are on the 2nd overflow field now. I think there were 30 or so pitches left yesterday evening?

I think the overflow pitches are described as "tents onlY" – not sure if that means "no campers allowed", or "don't count on any electrical hook up for your camper"

Don't forget that 20mm hubs (and hence forks) are wider than 15mm hubs too …

Well, maybe over-egging it a bit but it is exactly what I was thinking to myself last September! Maybe its just 1.5 :)

actually, T-P felt a bit more like 2 Dyfis a day to me last year :)

Try here:

http://www.tftunedshox.com/faq/element_coil.aspx

I thought it was a stand out article too and seemed to be much more of a story of a journey than the WhatMtb one I thought. Had me making immediate plans to get more riding done, which is what I always hope the mag will do and rarely does.

And the whole issue I thought was one of the best in a long while.

I asked orange when I was after a new phone – they wre very much in a "no deals" mode then but it was when they'd just started doing them. Got a Hero for free instead.

I would think there may be deals to be had but you'd need to be a bigger spender than a £25 contract. Also worth knowing that you'll also need to renegotiate your discount when the contract is up as its tied to contract length (or was in my case)

I think (hope) it also depends on what it is you 'enjoy' about doing this kind of thing. Is it one long technical rockfest descent from start to finish? It doesn't look like that but you guys have done it?

Not the whole thing, but some of the timed stages are largely that way. Depends what you want out of the event I guess – I think the Jones geometry would suit a lot of the riding, I think you'll have a blast on the 14km stage, but overall I'd still opt for suspension!

Either way, great advice, much appreciated from my perspective, noted on the shoes, i would have taken the SIdi's normally, I have had a few emails with Ash and his view seemed to be 1×9 and everything is fine,

1×9 ought to be fine if you're fit – I wasn't so I made plenty of use of my granny ring! I wore Sidis, you'll either trash the shoes, kill your feet, or both :)

I'm doing it on a rigid

I thought about doing it on a rigid 29er … very glad I didn't in the end though. It would be fun to ride some bits like that but the novelty would wear off quite quickly.and its a _long_ week of riding.

Did it this year as well – it is a great event. Tempted to do it again just for another run at the 14k special … and that other one that ended virtually in a village … and for that link stage through the valley … lots of good bits!

Like Paul says, don't go thinking that the uplift at the beginning of the day is to make it easy – it just means that the climbing you save can be returned to you later in the day!

Just because there are long climbs, don't go putting on silly lightweight tyres, you'll only regret it in the rocks. Maxxis were popular this year.

Two things I'd do differently if I went again:

– take an adjustable seat post. Even the special stages have some climbing and can flip from climb to descent with little warning. Joplins are cheap on CRC at the moment.

– take sensible shoes. Racy shoes are not the best choice for long steep hikes uphill, my big toes were still numb days after I got home. Take something with a good balance of grip/flex/support for scrambling up stuff.

I'd pay half that again for an mtb equivalent.

What he said!

You still have to climb, but not as much as we did on the TW. Each day starts with an uplift (That is a simply GENIUS idea!!!) Then you pedal from there.

Yes, that's what we all thought before we arrived in Gap. Think of the uplift as lifesaver rather than softener :)

Oh, and don't take racey shoes – my toes are just back to normal after a week clambering up things in Sidis!

But to echo all the comments above – a bloody great week in all respects.

G.