Cheers guys, was a very proud weekend!

Shortly after the picture of him tugging on my brake levers he called out to his Mum, “I’m telling Daddy how to do it!”

And so it begins…

My son found the Rothan too heavy and long at 2 years old. Refused to ride (but coveted it all the same). Finally got on it last weekend and was just off like a shot. He turns three in 6 weeks. So in our case the Rothan was a 3+ bike really. Others may experience more success younger. I guess our lad isn’t the heftiest of boys.

Happy days now though!

Only about three years old but my Twin Six Crumpler still looks brand new.

Cross bike, I tow my son with a full susser and often ride through potholes without thinking and things are a little less cushioned for him in the trailer :oops:

Also, I’m not convinced the yo-yo tug of the trailer does much for my shock bushing life.

It certainly lays the path for a sympathy vote at the next egglection…

Team issue is typically tubeless ready and lighter if I remember correctly…

It gets messy as they’re inconsistent with their naming. SO the mud-x isn’t called team issue but it basically is in terms of construction and being tubeless etc.

American Classic

upgrading from an RF BB to a Hope stainless costs you £60. an RF BB costs £30, a Hope stainless costs £65

That RaceFace BB is the OEM unit that comes with the crank in the box, so when you upgrade to the Hope one, the RaceFace one doesn’t go back on the shelf for the next punter, it effectively goes in the bin as far as the bean counters are concerned because the RaceFace crank still got fitted.

Superglue a small square of inner tube to the inside, once dry super glue the split on the outside. Worked a treat on a proper tear that wouldn’t seal.

It did have horrid conti tyres.

You don’t think it’s maybe the tyres rather than the bike that made it feel nervous downhill? And that it would affect any bike? I despair at they’re continuing to spec OEM contis but their argument is that most owners fit what they want anyway.

It was never a problem when I got my Five as the dealer was happy to swap them out. Gyro was quickly sorted with a Hans Dampf/Nobby Nic but I guess it should come specced with better.

I think there’s two sides to Orange, I think the frames are great and I’m comfortable with the value and I think the frame weights are competitive (light even) for what they do. Despite perceptions, whenever I get on one, it always feels like an inconvenient truth when it comes to more sophisticated designs. I’m not saying they’re magic or anything, but I very rarely find other bikes to be any funner, faster, as responsive or more balanced to ride than an Orange.

However, the full builds highlight a small company struggling to match big gun suppliers. But selling full bikes in authorised dealers is a key part of their strategy and it works for them. Personally I’d always build a frame up though…

I also think they pedal brilliantly if your technique is good and you’re fit enough – the chain growth can really help if you work with it.

I reckon if they can get weights down to the 300-350g mark, you’ll start seeing them on the really tough world cup courses.

as the Snakeskin Nic is almost 1.5 times the weight of the normal Ralph

Isn’t

Normal Ralph about 500g, Snakesnkin Nic about 650g – I make that 1.3. And anyway Snakeskin is well worth the extra weight. Snakeskin Ralphs are 615g but again, well worth the sidewall strength at low pressures.

I have both, seem pretty comparable to me…

Ah, that’ll be it: http://machloop.co.uk/

I had a Eurofighter do a low pass just outside machynlleth (he was below the hill tops so surely sub 500m) while on the road bike. Nearly bloody fell off due to the noise, properly disorientating levels of loud!

Cheers and thanks for the donation mate! 8)

Yeah you should bloody well have hobbled in on that fractured leg you lazy sod! :roll:

Pocket is just really nice but it also downloads articles so they can be read offline. Handy for trains or visiting the arse end of nowhere :)

Google Drive and Google Maps are handy.

Pocket for read later type bookmarking.

Thanks again guys! And thanks muchly for the donation Roverpig! That link should have been: http://www.justgiving.com/garyrideswc2c

Not far off £1600 now in terms of online dontations :wink:

PLEASE post that pictures of ‘the riding twins’

At least in my defence, I was still technically in my 20s while wearing those shorts :P

Tbh, I’d take a 140mn 29er with 34s on it and go up against an equal rider on 160mm 26er on 36s

I think 6 hours in the Peaks always qualifies as epic :)

I’d love to be able to do it over a few days and spend more time exploring along the way too. Quite sad sometimes sweeping by good riding areas knowing you can stop for a proper mess about!

Post the picture! :P

And thanks again guys!

It’s a Bontrager Lithos: http://bontrager.com/model/09080

Cheers! An Exposure Flare not enough? Rich who was with me at night forgot to fit his though :P

Kit cam is pretty cool

Light wheels are great though you really notice those, they spin up effortlessly.

Have to agree there, while my Velocite is a (in the context of the this thread) portly 10.8kg, the American Classic Race wheels at 1400 odd grams make a huuuuge difference. I could drop a couple of pounds for a lot of £££ through groupset, fork, bar and stem but I woudn’t notice it much I don’t think.

Hmmm, far from the lightest in this thread but given it’s aluminium, a size large, has a full complement of gears, a suspension fork, and 2.25 tyres, I’m quite pleased with 23lb 13oz (10.8kg) and that’s with some M520 pedals on too…

Like that a lot. And despite spending years on QRs for the MTBs just fine, since going bolt through it just seems ‘right’.

1) Give the robber exactly what they want;
2) Contact your insurer.

3) Premium goes up
4) Repeat from 1
5) Can’t get insurance after a while?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s a Felt Edict right?

Me and ma boy!

After the Wales Coast to Coast

Seb Rogers photoshooot (fnar)

I thnk I calculated I’d last about 45 mins on a flat rest day ride one of them stuck on Strava, so no.

Dropper.

I find lower front ends handle better but the arse up saddle effect makes things feel sketchy and counters any benefit. Since running a dropper I can slam the front end and just drop the saddle on faster, techy bits and stay nice and low moving about the bike.

Try a Ragley stubbing stem for a lower stack…

Just because you read it in the news doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone!

I admittedly don’t have a console or gaming PC these days. But I played a LOT of games in my youth. But then I also windsurfed a LOT. And rode bikes a LOT. I used to skate a LOT too!

Maybe the key thing was that my Dad used to play them with me though, rather than leave me in room to play at all hours. He also rode, windsurfed, but thankfully not skated, with me a LOT too.

There is no need, only want.

Renders the iPhone 4 pretty slow so I’d avoid on anything less than a 4S…