I find the Keppel cove climb a bit of a slog really although i have seen it cleaned on a couple of occasions,my preferred way up Hellvelyn is a tad cheeky but creates a bit more interest, although if its wet underfoot its probably best to stay on the Bridleway.

From Glennridding head up to Greenside mine and join the sticks pass climb,once you have completed the zig zag carry the trail crosses an old chimney flue from the mine workings, looking up onto raise the flue ends at the base of an old chimney. From here (looking towards Helvellyn) theres some single track that joins the higher parts of the Keppel cove Bridleway.On a good day it avoids lots of walkers too,rejoin the main climb onto Whiteside, Lower Man and then Hellvelyn, best descent for me is either sticks-seldom seen or Wythburn-returning from Dunmail raise up the carry into Grisedale-Patterdale is also excellent.

Wot Ton says, it should be in good condition at the moment unless it rains heavily this weekend,its probably one of the best climbs i have ever ridden, i prefer it may-july before the bracken gets high,you do need dry conditions to appreciate the route though.enjoy

Yep I run a set in the Lakes, great value and have been faultless after 3 or 4 years of hard riding

Awesome Grum that looks nearly as good as Lake district riding

I did it last weekend, heres some photos

yup dee doody, bosh on the dual plys 😉

Its taken on the Wythburn descent from Helvellyn, ampthill is right, Its a cracking Bridleway and much nicer that the Dollywagon downhill

Much troutieness here too, Liberator still going strong, easily the best light on our local night ride

I have just put one on my NPMega and its an instant improvement, However i feel theres more to come has anyone got some magic settings for a 77kg rider weight?

Lancasters at Thirlmere here..

Vulcan at Carlisle here..

Wideremere today, awesome, crank up the volume 🙂

Just a few more from the weekend on our own (Total Gridlock as you can see) 😉

nice one nick,any photos?

Good Good Martin, all the better trails are miles away from there anyway 😉

Scarey carey Grains gill is a cracker with some amazing sections midway down, we did it specifically because the Styhead descent gets busy and is narrow in places, Dale head crags is also equally as good, bike set up is key though and tyre choice/pressures are a big factor in a good run down.

After reading the posts above i was expecting to find the route finding a problem but it seems you are all well accustomed to the mahoosive network of trails up here.and well aware of the OS maping and classic route sheets available from all of the bike shops in the area.The cost of fuel seems to be a big factor and indeed the prospect of a long drive may put off the city dwellers.

Maybe better signage of a particular route (Borrowdale Bash etc ) is something that would be of benefit to encourage more usage of the trails, or is this not really an issue? after discussing this in Biketreks at Ambleside it seems route finding for there customers can be a problem.

Just a couple of photos from the Sunday ride Esk Hause looking at Great Gable and the top of Grains Gill

I guess i am very lucky to have all weather trails on my door step, I have only just started washing my bike after blowing the dust off with an airline all summer 😉 Mike Smith you know where we are, your welcome back anytime 🙂

Thanks for the replys folks, some very typical stw responses there 😉 Five of us set off from Keswick riding over the Bridleways from Watendlath to Harrop tarn, we then did some cheeky trails to Ambleside staying at the Yoof hostel at Waterhead on Sturday night .On Sunday we climbed Loughrigg terrace heading over Red Bank into Langdale towards Rossett, after the usual Mahoosive climb up Rossett Gill we dropped into the awesome Grain gill to Stockley Bridge and then Seathwaite farm.

After a few beers at the Sca fell hotel and a final ascent of the Bridleway over Cat bells we finished back at Keswick at around 6pm. On the whole yes, it was busy but we had no problems with the walkers and enjoyed some great descents, I was just very surprised to see no other bikes around with such brilliant weather.

njee20 has it, but id use a dremmel to take away the nutsert (or rivinut) edge first,then just tap it into the frame and out of the bb or headset. A good garage will supply a replacement.

Its ok in dry summer conditions dun mail, but the trail is generally tussocky grass with a few boggy bits

Liberator here and still going strong, I don’t mind paying if the quality and backup are there, excellent bit of kit..

Dont dismiss Sticks pass into the cheeky seldom seen descent, its a stunner with great views over the lake and as a bonus your dropping all the way to almost sea level from 3000ft off road.

Singletrackstinker

That Helvellyn route is barking mad,Your missing out on some of the best single track descending in the lakes from Grisedale Tarn to Patterdale. Hellvelyn is best done from Either Greenside mine (shorter route) or the full day route anticlockwise from Great Dodd, Dollywagon is a real challenge to clean, not my favourite descent but always worth doing on a good day.

Your second route is excellent though but pack plenty of tubes or go Dual-ply for the full effect.. 😉

As a Tuesday night regular Catbells is a stunning descent, but i would avoid it during the day, its probably the busiest footpath from Keswick and gets very busy at weekends, Loweys route above is a cracker and don’t forget the Tuesday night rides from the old police station carpark 630pm, bring some lights and a warm jacket, helmets compulsory 😉

I grind the outer cable ends so they are completely square and fit into the ferules can help,One other thing thats overlooked is the cassette or chain set sprockets not positioned properly on the free hub carrier or crank-set causing the ramps to be in the wrong place hth

NCBs route is the easier option,your right into proper nadgecore riding there tho and its really the only route if you want to avoid the harder trails The miterdale descent is well worth doing but best accessed from the road as the off road climb is very boggy even this time of year hth

I would remove a small amount of fluid,or re-bleed the system with new pads if worn, if none of the above works replace with hopes you can’t go wrong 😉

Nice office seat.. 😉

Stoney has a good point, 30 miles is a long day out in the Lakes, to do 50 you would need some good map reading skills and be flipping quick. 🙂

Biketreks in Ambleside, or any of the lakes bake-shops have excellent classic route maps in the area, have a good one

nobeerinthefridge x1

No id never use copper slip (on brake pads) as it is slightly corrosive to rubber seals, so i use rubber grease (red in colour) and is specifically designed for stopping brake squeal and resists heat building up on the pads, so there.

Loved the relatively cheap but fully equipped campsite at the Nidderdale bike fest(£30 two nights),hated the french vans selling memerobelia with annoying tannoys,

On the whole though an excellent weekend, and great see so many bikes around and people enjoying themselves.

Paul123, No the IPF chamber is a separate circuit, and would not need to be touched if your servicing the main air chamber.

Just use a small straight edged screw driver,unscrew anti clockwise

Damascus, Its dead easy to do, you need to unscrew the cover off the IPF chamber,fit the adapter and re-pressurise to 250 psi using a shock pump, ideally you need a pump with a lock out to get an accurate reading as you will loose a bit when removing a standard pump although you could add a bit more,The valve uses nitrogen as standard but air is ok, The shock was blowing through its travel (now stopped) and the lockout was ineffective (now sorted) HTH

Porous head? Hope not but Ive heard of a 1.9tdi Touran suffer from the alu? Head failing.

Classic sign of using the wrong coolant, the VW Specified coolant has anti corrosion inhibitors that are designed around the metals used in the engine,put the wrong stuff in and the first thing that fails is usually the heater matrix, the driver normally complains of a strong smell inside the car.. 🙄

A friend of mine had the oil pressure warning light come on the other day (2006VW T5 2.5 130bhp 80.000 mile transporter) he kept driving as you do 🙄 took it into the garage the next day to discover Diesel in the sump, catastrophic failure of the lubrication system and a Bill for oil pressure diagnosis, and a new engine, The vans a right off he is gutted.