i have a pair of Z1 bams with the dual disc brake mount but sadly not the right hand side caliper :(

paul: ha well i’ve had 3months off with baby and house with a few xmas dinners/pints thrown in to boot i’m a few pies over my fighting weight… sent you an email :) cheers

*may* just have to check that out ir_bandito… ;)

SLEEP!!!! 3 months in and our little un has slept through the night for the first time this weekend, first lie in on sunday morning for a while! :D top up on your riding/fitness cos that’ll likely be one of the first things to go… enjoy it btw having a baby is awesome! :D

paul – i’m in Ebchester, and yeah it joins just before the viaduct where the steel crucible monument thing is, so we’re about equidistant to Edmundbuyers via the cycle paths. currently trying to decorate the house but taking longer than i expected with a baby… 8O so i’ll be up for heading out in a few weekends time too, probably late feb/early march. i’ll send you a mail and can arrange to meet at the junction if you like? cheers

paulrockliffe – funnily enough we’re doing a house up to move out that way too and we’ll be right on the derwent walk :lol: i know a couple of routes heading up towards bolts law but not actually done a ride including it. got a few things on with house/baby at present but would be up for heading up that way in a few weeks – give us a mail if you fancy joining up to do it as i need to explore the area a bit more in general too, as i’ve mostly done riding closer to town

have done a bit of riding in slaley forest but from memory it was a pure bog fest. the rocky singletrack down embley fell was a better descent at the time

i’d get a helicopter – theres a flying club a couple of miles from me and i’ve ridden past a few times. keep meaning to stop and speak to one of them but they always look totally engrossed and i dont want to cause an accident! had car and boats all good fun too, especially 1/8th at bmx tracks :)

really enjoy my genesis fortitude but have just got an el mariachi so i can run a sus fork. if you want to rund rigid its an awesome bike. for sale if of interest, its the adventure model – nearly full bike. size 19inch

how about a genesis 29er alfine… but without the alfine? selling a fortitude adventure nearly full bike but without the rear wheel if its of interest – you can stick whatever single speed/geared/internal gear hub you like in it the rest is ready to go :)

should also say carradice make a thin version too if you dont have clearance to the wheel – worth checking first. luckily mine is ok on all my bikes (56cm +)

i’m doing just this except it’ll be 13 miles each way from 2. i have a carradice sqr trax seatpost pack i’m intending to use. we’ve used it on a few bike packing trips/tours so i reckon its good for the usual work clobber and a bit of shopping, plus it clicks on and off the seatpost v quickly too

great, thanks

freeagent – interested to see link to same door as i’m building my new shed soon and this looks good

dont bother with a clas ohlsen one. borrowed one at weekend and whilst i got desired result the locking mechanism to set the height/angle seemed pretty flimsy and i nearly bent it!

EDIT: just seen you’re the other end of the country!

no pics but i picked up a load of steel racking from a shop closing down. worth checking gumtree/ebay for anything local. not particularly pretty but strong and does the job

bent the down tube on a stab primo on its 2nd voyage out. luckily the insurance coughed up the £1500 for a new frame so maybe that doesn’t count?

well they won’t be able to see me in my stealth ninja outfit riding my black bike in the gutter so they can stick it

cheers just upgraded my tatty old paper maps to laminated ready for winter :D

It’s being replaced by a new, more road biased frame next spring which is based on the Roadrat

It’s very roughly a shorter version of the Roadrat frame so the angles and layout will be the same. Roadrat and >X< share the same tubing now and so wil the news frame so the weight will be the same at 4.5lbs.

so basically the old short version of the roadrat they stopped making a year or two ago but with better toobs

i’m pretty sure the matador drop is bigger than anything on caddon bank, have ridden it on a dh bike when it opened. wouldnt have any problem hooning off any drops/jumps on the xc route on my hardtail! also that pic is from below so perspective doesnt show the flat gap/drop as clear as the other pic

oh and is that in northumberland by any chance? could poss come and give u a hand (baby and new house means getting out v little at moment tho)

cheers hadn’t appreciated the sides comes off! it will only overhang maybe 200mm at max and have plenty of straps. looks like it’ll be a winner then :)

stinking drunk too

local dh race

i had one on my little finger, right in the lower joint on the side between next finger. docs and consultants wouldnt do anything with it as would cause more damage to remove than leave it (couldnt be popped so would have had to be cut out) and no amoun of crushing would pop it due to tricky location. left me with a very sore hand for a few months till it went on its own accord. stopped riding for a bit too :( switched to esi thick grips helped this as i couldn’t ride for more than about 20mins with old lock ons! luckily not come back but could easily do, swear by the esi thickys now :)

currently heaton but shipping out to ebchester in a few weeks :)

probably not A&E if its just discomfort like you say. when i did mine i had internal bleeding too which needed a hospital stay but i could barely stand up even with help never mind walk! so if you can carry on maybe see the doc about getting better painkillers till it heals up. good luck!

clarts (plural)

yes i do – but i also like my jake the snake too (which the cross check is not) hence the thread :)

matt – appreciate that but it’s kind of difficult to do that when all the bike shops round here tend to stock alu bikes :)

i like my cross check, ridden pretty much any surface bar DH trails on it – that’s the standard i’d like to either meet or better in terms of steel bike. i know it’ll be unlikely that anything i’ve mentioned will be as fast at the jake! :)

i was considering the kaffenback but the 32mm max tyre size puts me off (i have some expensive winter spike tyres i use in winter and want the clearance)

should have said – 56/58cm

shame about the fortitude, really rate mine and much more capable than i thought coming from riding full sus for years :)

2 mile commute here and always wear same clothes, maybe don a shirt on if needed to be smart for the day/meetings. no need to get changed i’d spend longer arsing about changing than actually riding!

my mate has a zee it seems much bigger than xt/slx on his bars so could affect brake set up if thats an issue for you

hoping i’ll have a nice surprise when i get home tonight – totally forgot about this!!

couple of rims for my new wheel build. cheers!!! :D

£2700 on an old VW van :D

i have 6 bikes and the girlfriend has 3, i’d reckon the only one worth less than our car is her commuter

compared to my shed thats fort knox!!! can’t wait till we move and i can build my new shed to my own spec

this is a good guide o get you going in county durham/southern northumberland

beyond hamsterley

if you’re in newcastle LD mountain centre usualy has this and a few other bike guides in stock

also clubs noted above worth trying out, add beamish oddsox to the mix too

done about 500miles with one on my cx bike after the chain snapped on a ride. never noticed any skipping and changes gears fine too :)

i updated mine yesterday and wish i just left it on 5. *any way to go back????

*totally IT illiterate