Type 25 and Type 3 are the same, but there are two variations split between early and late models

got a hope tapered headset u could have for £28 inc post? settled with a on one slackset so dont need it.

had a j tek shifter on mine nicely made but of kit. better than the versa’s imo – i sold them on without fitting them

no hanger but maybe try your lbs in the morning for one of those wheels manufacturing emergency hangers?

Here’s a pic of our 1986 VW T25 on a moody day in the lakes. Bought it from the nice chap who owns the Holy Trail in Mach, fitted it out myself with new carpeting, new crash tested RnR bed, seat belts, Ikea units, 12v LED lighting and a nice combined cooker/sink unit etc etc. My girlfriend made the curtains :wink: Head gasket went in February though so we’ve put a 2.0L Impreza engine in it :P Goes like stink now :lol:

it would be useful to have GPS tracks of the routes in the book – i know a few of my mates would be more keen to try more natural/non-trailcentre rides using a combination of book/gps

just got one as well – heading up to the highlands soon so thanks for the heads up

should have also mentioned the money i saved kn the cotic bought me some u turn sektors – wind down for uphill/xc and up for the big stuff! :D

hi had the same choice last year, went with the latitude as more versatile (rack eyelets mainly as we do a lot of off road touring). dont regret it. wouldnt go for the 29er tho as want to interchange my wheels with other/girlfrends bike and stay 26 for travel purposes in case anything goes wrong. great frame btw, u wont be disappointed. got mine frame only and new on ebay i think it may have been from 18bikes

got mine cheap s/h. god know how old they are but they’re solid and keep the water out still! my large one is a bit battered but great for laptop/gear and a medium holds my slr kit

we did a bike tour through the area a few years ago. santillana del mar is definitely worth a visit, some nice beaches near san vincente good for surfing too

if you do have a bike or want to head out on some mountain walks get the cable car up the mountain from fuente de and explore the higher paths/routes up there (i rode up too on a separate day, but with all our touring gear the lift is loads easier!) some really good walking/mtb’ing and you can cross the picos on the jeep track and drop down to sotres/la hermida if you wanted to push that far. we climbed one of the nearest peaks to the fuente de cable car station – not too difficult a walk with a bit of scrambling near the top, worth it for the view of the naranjo de bulnes and the high plateau area

the cider bars are great and the queso the cabrales makes stilton taste like dairylea (goes great with the local red wine though!) – if you order a cheese sandwich expect it to be very ripe :lol:

cheers for the suggestions will investigate! :)

lots of times, just make sure its properly buried! my girlfriend was desperate for one when we were at about 6000m climbing a trekking peak in the himalayas and had to curl one off up there. it was on a ridge next to a 1000m drop and we could see K2! 8O

not me but on a tour i did with a mate in NZ he had a 12 inch adjustable spanner and a chainwhip in case anything happened to his cassette/wheel. unfortunately as we found when we needed it he had no cassette tool…

you get free delivery for golden showers nowadays? crikey! 8O

my girlfriend has youth’s 661 riot pads and they fit her spot on. all the others were huge and bulky for what she needs

had the same situation the other day – i didn’t have a tubeless repair kit to hand but had tweezers and a normal tube repair kit. i ended up using a piece of foam patch (the glueless ones i think) which i ripped up and used tweezers to plug the hole with. dosed with a good splodge of puncture repair glue also helped and seems fine now

daleftw – head down the fireroad with the gate behind the little covered signboard in the car park (directly opposite you if you drive in the car park entrance). there’s a bomb hole on the right, head up the side of it (or practice drops there!) and bear left on the track at the top. on the right a track starts which takes you all the way to the bottom of the woods where there a lot more jumpy/dh stuff. there’s basically a ridge with trails on both sides right at the bottom. also nice rooty singletrack up near the golf course – have an explore you cant get that lost there really! enjoy :)

ps: it ain’t so spangly now! :lol:

oliverd1981 – ha no problem i do feel its a bit extravagant taking my dh bike there but i only ride the steeper stuff at the bottom on it really as its good fun. if you know the area the old jump trail at the bottom of the woods has been rebuilt relatively recently after tree felling, plenty of other lines with reasonable drops off the side too (including gap jumps which you will certainly want a bit of squish). there’s a good newish (to me anyway) trail which starts further back up the ridge past the gate near the houses. steep with tricky corners definitely not like the usual chopwell trail! :)

i’ve got a dakota 20 and really like it. when i went to new zealand for a month bike touring i downloaded a free map off the net, put it on a micro-sd card and swapped it for the gb discoverer i had in it. worked on the garmin fine. i prefer it to the bike specific garmins as it uses AA batteries which i find ideal for touring/multi-day hikes and rides. would imagine the memory limit on the dakota 10 would prove problematic though. my girlfriend was thinking of getting one but we’ve decided to hold out for another dakota 20 instead

here’s my 224 when it arrived last year. taking it to chopwell to session the new dh stuff at the bottom tonight :D

my dad was a roadie and a bit of a mtb’er without really knowing it so we always had reasonably off road capable bikes. my first 26inch wheeled bike was some apollo thing he got me when i was about 12/13 and i rode that till i saved enough money from odd jobs till i got a raleigh rsp with stx-rc spec and indy c’s. good bike but weighed about the same as a neutron star… before that i rode a 24inch raleigh mustang mtb which was a bomb!!! probably still doing the rounds on a council estate somewhere

if you don’t need it i might be interested in buying it. email in profile :-)

wetscreams been really good in the slop for me

go second hand. they’ll get more for their money – obviously an element of risk too but if your careful some bargains to be had

orange 224 – knew I shouldn’t have sold my DH bike years ago

got a rc2 on my dh bike (it came with it). set it up for my weight/bike/riding and forgotten about – works great but i can’t tell naff all difference if it would be any worse using a dhx at my level. tbh unless it specifically came with a frame/bike you were getting just stick with the dhx5, i have one on my heckler and never let me down/had any issues and stick loads of adjustments if you like fiddling with it

dirty grips better than a bent mech/mech hanger if you ask me

the bit over woodhead is a bit steep/loose in places but nothing severe – you could easily push them. otherwise a road hybrid ideal. pretty much flat from donny to hornsea too

Corbridge beer festival in June I think. Ride out from newcastle, drink beer, camp, ride home after brekky in the village :D

had an amazing day paddle boarding on a crystal clear lake in new zealand. only time i’ve done it but i’d happily do it again – amazing watching the bottom of the lake/fishes underneath you as you glide by stood up on the water, really relaxing/chilled out :D

i use them on top of the rack (ortleib panniers on the sides). just use a bungee or 2 to attach

pie
chips
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inside on an alpkit xl (normal hunka for the missus). its an old thermarest too a bit like one of these!

i’ve used the Conti Travel Contacts and they were spot on for doing a few tours on sustrans routes – not tested on mud/rocks mind!

thrunton is close – definately worth an explore :D

got a latitude recently and really like it. slightly shorter in the top tube than my old soul/voodoo wanga. got rack mounts too which i need for touring so perfect hardtail frame for me

my mate had one of their lower end road bikes. seemed pretty solid, wheels were heavy, but drivetrain components were fine. i’d say a decent starter bike for road for the price – as long as you don’t go hucking it! ;)

ride with a group of riders of mixed abilities – pick up skills from/train to be faster with the faster guys and help newbies/other people learn at the same time :-) loads of mtb clubs round the country. suppose doesn’t help if you prefer riding on your own with the ipod on full whack mind!