surely the 4×4’s will rip out some loose Type 1 in no time. give a couple of years will be back the same way. bring em on in droves! :mrgreen:

plantation much more interesting route down btw, so just tweak your routes to suit

going by the trend to try and do everything in under 24 hours have a crack at that? me and my girlfriend did it in 3 1/2 days fully laden with camping gear etc, and had plenty of pub stops along the way so not exactly head down race pace, but we had a great time anyway. lots of it is pretty flat/on tarmac/smooth tracks so a CX bike would be ideal if speed is your concern

if above falls through i know someone who may take it – they’ve been looking for one and in manchester but would be happy to collect i’d imagine

i went to a showing of RtP. luckily i was sat next to the bar so at least i could entertain myself rather than walking out… could have been so much better. fair enough if you dont want to see mad skillz, but to me RtP was just following few fellas moping around on niche bikes with no real purpose and whinging about the privilige rather than an inspirational film

we have a T25 high top, pic below. over the years cost a fair bit more than originally anticipated as the original engine blew so now it has a 2.0L subaru engine in it, and i built an ikea interior inside but for all the costs, expenses and stresses its given us so much joy i wouldn’t give it up for the world. sounds cheesey i know, but with a campervan you either love it or just don’t get it.

if you think you’ll only use it a few weekends a year it’ll probably be too expensive an investment to just sit around most of the year doing nowt. but for us we’ve easily got our moneys worth in the last 4 years. in fact i was staying in it last night in the lakes, decided i was going yesterday morning, rocked up, did a ride, made some food, had a few beers with some music on, closed the curtains, put the bed down and home away from home… no hassle booking b&b’s, putting tents up in the pissing rain, dragging bedding across a wet field from a car, having to follow a set plan. the sense of freedom is fantastic. if staying in random spots/car parks doesn’t float your boat you can always just book into a campsite like you would do with a tent anyway

as for T25’s, well check out http://www.club80-90.co.uk for advice on buying and in general. avoid the smaller diesels, and whatever you do, buy the most solid van you can afford. yes our engine popped after 3 years, but at least i’m not sat every weekend cutting out rust and trying to weld it all back together :)

btw we still have a few tents, which we use for backpacking/bikepacking/festivals where we’ve missed campervan tickets etc but we’ve never bothered with huge family style tents so can’t make a comparison to that style of camping

if you look close enough you can see my bike… its scared of the dark :wink:

i overtook a few today. they were on about mile 50 of 70 of the lakes loop (the chap i was talking to had a computer but it was soaked and stopped working). at first they looked quite suprised to look back and see me draughting them on a full sus in baggies… :wink: they had already done wrynose/hardknot etc and had a few passes left to do to get back to keswick, poor buggers, but good to see so many people out even with the minging weather. so we had a chat then i missed my turning. doh

if its only a problem with the zipper (just the bit that goes up and down) you can get a new one in practically any size/colour/type from these guys alans alterations

i’ve used them before to fix my 3 year old commuter jacket when the zip packed in due to the zipper wearing/getting bent, zips works fine now

The human body has no seams

i’ve got a few folds

i was thinking of sticking a kryponite chain through a few spokes on our camper when we go away (not a bad area but stuff does go missing…). should keep the scrotes busy for a while cutting it off, but then again they could just jack it up and swap the wheel for the spare…

i reckon one that covers the bolts would be best :-)

riding with anyone like the OP

lots of them in spain when i’ve been there so can’t be bad :)

i’m 6foot and ride a 56cm. it feels fine for me with a 120mm stem. wouldn’t want any smaller but could poss get away with a 58cm fine

take the back end off your current full sus to make it smaller for travelling? a single pivot with zip tie mounts for the hoses/cables would be a doddle to break up/build up out there

the clasohlson one looks suspiciously like the swann freestyle hd camera. if it is review here (i was considering getting one when they were being sold silly cheap)

lots of info here

how you lock it is as important as the lock you use. 80% of the bikes locked up in the stands i park my commuter in could be nick just using a long piece of timber/bar as a lever!

my mate broke the mech hanger on a new bike i had ‘giving it a bounce’ in the car park before i even had the chance to ride it (with the exception of a test ride up/down the street) q quick dash to nearest bike shop 20 odd miles away…

ring up the holy trail in mach. they have maps of the trails for sale for a small fee which goes towards trails maintenance (unlike gpx files) :wink:

i’ve got the frame only version. awesome bike, hard a voodoo wanga before and the geometry on the latitude is much better plus takes longer forks :)

oh – one thing i think worth mentioning is the mech hangers are the same as the latest cotic soul, which cotic sell for £7.50 inc delivery as opposed to £12 plus post from madison! :)

i’d get a 2nd hand gravity dropper, parts readily available and although need a regular strip/regrease etc to keep sweet they’re proven to last

joe – email in my profile best bet, i’ll get pics/details tonight as its at home

few others seem interested but i’ll give you first shout on it :) cheers

spent a week out there in feb but not with them i stayed with switchbacks just along at benalmadena. saw the roost van a few times at the same trails we were riding but never spoke to them, looked a good professional set up tho and much better bike uplift system than SB imo – a proper trailer with newer/more reliable vans. clientele appeared to be mainly pyjama clad brits :wink: well worth the trip though, nice mix of trails. the one in mijas itself was ok but very bike park orientated ie: man made big berms/jumps etc but so many trails anyway thats the exception really

i have a revelate sling which i used for one bikepacking trip of 3 days. its a nice bit of kit but i cant the right set up with my new brake levers (xt m765) as the hoses come out forward, works best with hoses that run parallel to the bars. i like it as you can put a dry bag in it, then when getting gear sorted just take the dry bag out and leave the sling attached ready to go. looking to sell it now as unlikely i’ll neeed it again – if of interest let me know

revelation XX are keronite whatever colour that is (cooler name for pale beige?)

888 rc3 are grey

and dont forget argyles gopping greeny yellow

or marzocchi corsa red

marzocchi 66 rc3 grey

so there you go. you’ve got a choice of 5 forks across the board surely one will be suitable for your purpose? :D

pretty ghetto but could be a quick fix till something decent arrives. i used a 12mm threaded bar with two nuts/washers from my local builders merchant and just filed the threads off to fit the dropouts. NOT pretty but it did the job!

coin operated cable locks (like i saw on a spanish train) would be good for improptu/longer/bog visits. if someone could get it to work with five pound notes it would keep the weight weenies happy too :D

Pook +1

easy. TDF used to be on fixed gear bikes apparantly

i have an ex-army folding shovel similar to the link above got it from an army surplus store years ago. also useful for camping/digging wild toilets etc. only take that riding if i’m purposely fixing something, also a cheap wilko folding saw is good for fallen branches/trees across paths

i do! i meant the road is pretty miserable to ride up (from pretty much lemmigton to newcastle) ie you’re just riding along side a dual carriageway!

as above ncn routes are fine although personally i hate riding up scotswood road and watch out for broken glass in places! and when you get a choice to either go down by the factories or stay on the old railway, stay high as the lower route can be really badly flooded!

for parking you will need a ticket to park in the train station unfortunately. grainger town car park will probaby be the closest covered parking spot to you and has a secure compound. my girlfriend used to park there however i’m not sure how you’d get a key (try the parking warden he’ll probaby tell you :) )

oh and some great road/mtb riding round the area too :)

i use an eyemask/earplug/facetowel bag i got free on an emirates flight a few years ago with my phone in a plastic bag inside it. otherwise everything gets double bagged in resealable food bags if i cant find it. £45 for a purse is daft (unless you’re a girl in which its slightly less daft)

just got the cheapest box of 100 blue nitrile gloves off ebay. doing the job fine for me

might be a limited by the width of your rim ie: stans flows might not work so well with super narrow cx tyres. maybe worthwhile checking if there’s a recommended max rim width for the tyres you choose and check your current rims are within it if so, but otherwise why not!

superstar make extra wide grips, but the rubber doesn’t last as long as ODI in my experience. maybe ODI make a wider one too?

had one – lasted 2 days on a bike tour till it developed play and an incessant creaking for the rest of the trip. straight in the bin afterwards

you could offer to give them all a lift to your idyllic trails in the lakes – maybe organize a minibus, get a club going, all that big society sort of thing innit. or just carry on whinging on here whilst they’re having fun in the woods

could be interested in swapping a pair for my sunline v1 pedals – pic below. good nick but missing a couple of pins as they were on my dh bike (not that the meat tenderizer grip pattern doesn’t provide enough grip anyway!)

a mate ripped a pedal clean out of an XT crank (hollowtech mk I i think) – helicoiled and then worked fine. i run cranks with steel inserts so haven’t done that, however i’ve bent several dmr v12’s trying. reckon you’ll be ok as long as you’re not a pedal smasher :)

got decals for my chameleon on ebay cheap and good quality too :)