BadlyWiredDog + 1

I’m on my second pair of Outdoor Designs gloves, one of those products where you just go out and look for the same thing again when you need a replacement.

Hiscox quoted me a reasonable amount for extending the limit on outbuildings cover (my garage is attached but no direct access).

(didn’t actually take them up on it as the cost for naming expensive bikes for away from home cover was pricey)

Not that many other TS/TP style events that I’ve seen. Here’s a couple though not much help for next year. This one in Chile sounds cool but entry date is past already:

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/entries-are-now-open-for-andes-pacifico.html

This popped up last year but never actually happened, maybe worth keeping an eye on:

http://transenduro.com/

For me, Hiscox quoted cheaper than M&S and no need to declare bikes for cover at home but had 2.5k limit away from home – you would have to declare anything greater than that and pay more for away from home cover.

I ended up staying with M&S as it was only 70 quid more than Hiscox to add a number of bikes for full away from home cover

anyone do stolen from the house cover cheaply? … all of them getting pinched from home (inside the house) during a break in would be pretty expensive to replace.

Exactly the way I’ve been thinking (my M&S policy runs out in October). Be interested in anything you might find out. Think I have some time playing online quotations coming up

Thread resurrection just to add to the forum knowledge on M&S renewals!

After lots of hunting around and running into issues with most other companies I’ve ended up renewing with M&S

Nearly went with Hiscox who will cover bikes for their full value at home under normal policy terms, I would have had to pay a bit more than a standard quote because my garage having no door from the house was considered an outbuilding. Adding away from home cover was quite a bit more (from £340 -> £650).

Was pretty close to taking the Hiscox option for good cover at home as per the quote above, but naming bikes and pushing up the excess with M&S came out with a renewal at £423 which seems worth it for the away from home cover.

Ouch. Take it easy and get well soon!

My thoughts too – if I’m gonna spend £1000+ on a weeks riding, its unlikely to be in Wales/Devon!

I’ve done Transvesubienne – its got some fairly full on descents, and full on hike-a-bike sections, glad to have ticked it off probably not in a rush to go back unless I thought I could get there a fair bit fitter than this year.

The impression I’ve always had of Christalp is that its basically a long fireroad route and I’m not that fussed about going all that way for that.

Tempted by this because the dolomites are stunning but not sure if it is any more technical than Christalp.

http://www.dolomiti-superbike.info/index.php?id=6&L=2

Personally I think I’d be tempted to split the difference and go somewhere in the middle like Parkstone as suggested above. Decent bikes shops on hand, closer to the better beaches and Purbecks and nightlife in each direction.

But my views probably should be taken with a pinch of salt as I haven’t lived in Dorset (Broadstone actually) for a long time now!

An alarm won’t stop your house being burgled. in fact, it advertises to would be burglars, that you have items of value within. Burglars who may be rather adept at disarming alarm systems.

I had a break in, where I can only presume the alarm caused the scrotes responsible to do a runner since they missed got the front door open then left plenty of easily accessible goodies. The police said they were surprised they didn’t simply avoid the place due to the alarm box, so they believe there is some benefit.

I’ve got a variant of the Yale system mentioned above, not really the highest tech, but very easy to fit and has been pretty reliable. Had it for just over 10 years and the only problem was recently needing to replace the siren as it went a bit mad and was going off without being triggered.

I think the organisers find themselves in the difficult position of trying to attract road triathletes to the off road world who would freak at anything too difficult

Tricky for them I guess. I’ve been tempted by the idea of doing them, but every time I look at an event it seems to be actively promoting the idea that the bike course is non technical.

its just too steep and rough, both the ups and downs and bloody lethal in the wet

Which is why, given a choice, its QECP over Swinley for me :)

Im also considering these. Is the stiffness between the 29er versions and the stans crests really noticeable?

For me, stiffness over a set of 500g DT Swiss rims was noticeable, so I imagine clearly noticeable over Stans too (never owned a set of Stans rims myself though).

I have one of the wider 29er rims and one of the original. The wider one was moderately better to mount tubeless on, couldn’t get the narrow one to inflate until I added a Stans strip in addition to gorilla tape. This was with standard folder tyres rather than tubeless ready though.

32h here as that is how I could get the hubs, but would have happily gone 28h if I had the choice. Sapim D-light spokes to save a bit of cash over CX-Rays and because Revs don’t seem universally recommended on disc hubs.

I have a set on DT240s. So far, very impressed, first ride out brought on an ear to ear grin. Dropped 500g on the previous set of wheels, and they seem to track better than the stock wheels too.

Built up very easily as well, and tubeless was no problem – I’ve got a layer of gorilla tape and then a Stans strip.

Not nearly enough miles to comment on durability yet but very tempted to get another set for my singlespeed. Oh and UD matt here.

I’ve had a ridiculous number of sets of 520s, 540s and predecessors on various bikes over a lot of years. It takes a lot of abuse to kill them on a mountain bike, on a road bike I would expect (and get) years of use without bothering to maintain them.

As above if they get sloppy a bit of attention to the bearings usually helps – the specific cone/locknut tool makes it really easy but its a bit pricey.

Ooh, that looks proper nice. Goes off to write “I don’t need a new bike” 100 times.

Does MRP have any kudos?

Do White Bros? :)

That’s absolutely it clubber, I use campag on my road bikes and like the hoods, so I want the same feel on my fixed training/scuttling around on bike

That’s why I got the Record ones – much more comfy than the old school non ergo campag ones, and slightly out of place on my battered fixie.

For a slightly cheaper option, the Cane Creek ones look like a very similar shape, but I’ve not actually used them

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cane-creek-scr-5-brake-levers/rp-prod27936

In the past, I’ve just used a second hand ergo (ideally with knackered internals) and removed the shifter parts which is a pretty easy job.

Which is pretty much what the carbon non ergo levers are. I think they even use hoods with the cut outs for the shifters but mine are 10 miles away so can’t check!

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/16039/products/campagnolo-record-carbon-brake-levers.aspx

anyone do stolen from the house cover cheaply? … all of them getting pinched from home (inside the house) during a break in would be pretty expensive to replace.

Exactly the way I’ve been thinking (my M&S policy runs out in October). Be interested in anything you might find out. Think I have some time playing online quotations coming up :(

Oh, seems I still have a load of 1/1 KOMs from a couple of years ago when it would auto-create segments – does it still do that?

Just waiting for someone to nab them, quick jaunt to the Mustang valley in Nepal is highly recommended for top riding and chilling out :)

I’ve just rebuilt a rumbly xt hub with new cones and axle and it feels like a new hub. BUT I should have bought a donor hub instead of actual spare parts as the freehub proceeded to die soon after the cones were done and the hub would have been a fair bit cheaper – worth doing that just to have a spare freehub.

its a pretty simple job if you have access to a cone spanners. Recent hubs are slightly different in details but essentially the same.

You get a different quality of spectator heckle in Brighton, not your usual ‘keep going mate’;

Yes, extremely high heckling standard on that climb.

Fantastic event again. Can’t wait for next year but may leave the SS at home!

Mostly as above here.

Always remove rotors these days as I’ve seen too many bent in transit, fortunately usually on the way home! The one time I didn’t remove the rear one while using the Evoc bag (didn’t have a spanner to hand to remove a centerlock rotor), sod’s law meant it got bent somewhere on the way home. My extra paranoia is to slip my disk rotors into a card sleeve and tape that to the base of the bag, rather than have them more exposed to impact in a pocket.

Then I unscrew the rear mech and tape it to the chainstay; remove the chain and pop it in a pocket. Otherwise all as per the Evoc instructions. Once you’ve done it a couple of times you can get very slick and packing your bike becomes almost a pleasure :)

emergency catch up sessions on the rower

Reckon its going to be a really wet one then? :)

Do road forks have an headset crown race on the fork steerer that is impossible to remove without damaging like MTB’s or is it more straight forward?

They have a removable and reusable crown race just like MTBs. Get a mechanic to help :)

As above – great work guys. Impressed by how smoothly everything went given then single transition and start point.

Next time I need to being fresher legs, can you try and avoid the end of the Rapha Rising challenge next year :)

Fingers crossed. Mine has come in barely able to walk before and made an almost 100% recovery. Still won’t let on what happened!

Done. Literally. Very tired legs for the last 1400m today. I think a 350 mile week deserves some easy recovery rides!

I have X-5s rather than zeros, but very happy with them. Float is good and the metal cleat lasts a long time. I don’t find the X series cleats need very frequent lubing, Zeros may be different.

The only thing I have had a problem with is getting crap in the cleats and being unable to clip in. I’m now over the top about using covers to keep them clean.

These look to be the covers that you can leave on, postage to UK is pricy though:
http://www.keeponkovers.com/Product.html

Proper DH bike would be too much though I have heard some people use a bigger bike for qualifying which is on a slightly more technical course.

I did it on a 5″ Heckler which was fine and there were a lot of others there too but a little more travel wouldn’t have hurt.

(Caveat : its a few years since I rode)

What wheels? Took my new wheels out for their first spin last night – Light Bicycle rims on DT240 hubs – OMFG they are quick. They are 500g lighter than the stock wheels but still feel stiffer and track better.

Definitely worth considering though I’ll concede that other similarly light wheels may have felt just as nice.

I presume the riders coming through Stockbridge were doing the Magnificat? Saw lots going through while I roasted gently outside the tea room. My garmin was reading 30 degrees from about midday.

Yes, thanks for kicking off the idea here, great to check out the new trails on a fantastic day with good company. Will definitely have to go back to revisit some of those jumpy sections :)

2200m done. Rather tired and crampy now. Still suspect I won’t be in a position to get enough other rides in even with the possibility of very silly commute variations.

If you see someone shuffling around looking lost on a white rocky mountain, that will be me :)

Sounds like a great idea. Make it so :)

Ah, flashbacks to rec.bicycles.tech circa 1990 :)

rec.bicycles FAQ : installing cranks

(there is a ton of good info on those pages – I’d forgotten all about it!)

Normal returns aren’t free post in my experience, if its a mistake though it ought to be possible to claim the postage back …

Time bonuses for baking? :)