Shock bushings and general strip/clean/regrease interfaces stoppe mine! :)

Always used o-frames – cheap, very easy to get spare lenses / tearoffs either Oakley or copies. As for steaming up just take the foam off the vents and give them a swing around your head before a run (assuming u using for dh) that helps prevent/reduce it

met parachute’s been around for years but never really see many out on the trails. would be a good choice for a bit more protection when you don’t need a full on DH full face

alternatively (and for more ridicule) just carry round an old school bmx mouthguard in your pocket and put on at the top of gnarly descents :)

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/150704748619?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&cbt=y

weigh of the contents usually holds mine in but i put a few bungees on to make sure :-)

cheers for the encouragement :-) yes we’re camping and hopefully doing all the way up to the mary towneley loop and possibly beyond. planning on taking 2 sets of riding clothes (one dry/one wet) and one set of evening clothes/jacket plus some trainers. we’re used to touring and i’ve done a fair bit of bivvying so we don’t need too much but just enough to be reasonably comfortable for 4 days. going to test pack tonight to see fi we definitely need it!

oh i’d agree with colande on the season rating – 2 season max really i’ve had a few chilly nights in mine too

just checked the pack size on that vango yes the snugpak is definately much smaller!!!

EDIT: just checked and its a 10L lifeventure compression bag that i have – seems to match the volume of the sleeping bag perfectly

i’ve got one of those snugpak bags – its ok, nothing amazing but i was in a similar situation to the OP and had a budget to stick to. it does pack down reasonably small and i’ve used it for 2/3 day bivi missions before with no real probs. i bought a compression sac to go with it which gets it down much smaller than the original bag which was pretty useless for that. i ended up cutting the mosquito net out as it was very annoying/more of a hinderance and tbh i don’t reckon it would keep midges out as the mesh wasn’t fine enough. iirc i got mine from tiso in a sale for about £35. i’ve since upgraded to a mountain hardwear down bag mainly for space saving and i’m working now but still use the snugpak in summer for camping/festivals and i’m sure will last for a few more years too

relentless fine tuning… yawn

car is definitely looked after less than the bikes, but then again its just a cheap means to an end as we’re not into fancy cars. our campervan however gets much more attention than all our bikes and the car put together! :D

tis great but chunky a bit like velcro’ing a brick to your frame

body armour unless its actually DH/freeride/hard

gazc, im looking at events in the south and the midlands, FOD, Astonhill,UK bikepark etc Maybe the honeypot stuff after scottfitz recomendation and vid, it looks a good place to start.

if thats the case i’d recommend a 150-180mm front and rear travel bike along the lines of mini-dh, would be more suited to tracks like FOD/Astonhill from my experiences there. would be fine for midland dh courses and most of the welsh tracks with some chunky tyres on too

EDIT – doh, seen you’ve made a choice. bargain! :)

some decent cherry red boxxers in classifieds too, i’d say get them and sell the junior t’s!

Where are u going to be riding? Some tracks demand a bigger/slacker bike and others are quicker on mini dh or trail bikes even

That’s kona operator looks a good buy, was checking one out on an uplift at alwinton on sat and thought it’d be more than £2k!

depends where you’re based – i rode alwinton for the first time on saturday and loved it. great track and a reasonably cheap uplift (£20 all day) – recommend if you’re north east/scottish borders based

Newcastle MTB club head out Thursday eves good to get to know more routes

You can get to the bottom of chopwell via derwent walk and drop down a cheeky footpath to lintzford. We do it on cx bikes it’s not too tech except dh tracks at bottom of woods really

not sure about witney but shotover used to entertain me when i was living in oxford

i rate my gourdon as a dry bag, with straps to carry it when you need to, but as a dedicated rucksack probably not. used it to do the woodcock coast to coast so i could put it on the pannier on the road/flat sections and wear it on my back in the lakes (as its pretty rocky/steep in places…). i find the straps are too close together and they chafe really badly on my neck, but i’m a broad build with a fat neck :lol: bargain for the price when compared to similar bags though

EDIT: forgot to add i put a few holes in mine but alpkit sent me some iron on patches which seem to be holding up fine :)

did ae a few years ago, was a good race but going to concentrate on DH and try and make whatever enduro’s i can. will be on a 6 year old heckler. also the dyfi enduro is great although not the format the new enduro’s use

not a current bike but an on-one inbred i rode it twice and sold it asap. just could not get on with it but found a 456 fine

i’ve thought about doing this with a kona bass full sus frame with the pivot on the bb, like the ones on sale on crc at the moment, but unfortunately funds/the mrs won’t allow!

no plans except macavalanche and the locals races at wooler if they let me in. not really had a look at dates yet. fancy some SDA’s and any races at hamsterley

stay. more than adequate for enduro’s and would be fine for the alps too especially with a dhx

sorry for hijacking – i have a garmin dakota 20 new/unused with unopened discoverer full GB maps and a bike mount for sale in the classifieds, just in case you were interested

New board – you can buy them from kaidomain iirc

i’ve got one (turboferret holder that is) – dont need it anymore as i’ve upgraded my mtb lights and fitted a dynamo hub to the commuter now. £5 posted anygood? email in profile

magic tape / scotch tape. just stick it on the inside of the glass to make it opaque

i prefer my cross bike for most local rides and road riding too with a 2nd pair of wheels (newcastle based – blue lardy jake the snake). local trails, waggonways, derwent walk and the like its great. really fast on smooth paths, much faster on the road than a mtb, good fun on the technical stuff too but you wouldn’t want to be doing anything too technical but even then if you do just see it as cross training get it on yer shoulder and run it! i’ve ridden both dalby and hamsterley red/black routes on it – going off drop offs in the drop handlebars is certainly an experience!

EDIT: and yes check out NECCL they are fun/cheap/welcoming races and you’d be fine riding anything too

ours has been on/off all weekend. seem to be back in a good patch now

couple of times now – both with fixie bike riders riding like idiots/ignoring any sense of highway code. 2 idiots ran red lights and popped out from behind a large van straight in front of me at a controlled T junction as i was pulling out onto the main road. luckily managed to stop just shy of one of them who sh@t himself and fell off his bike. his mate then decided to hurl abuse at us as if we were at fault! also a guy who ran red lights and rode across traffic on a busy roundabout, he popped out from behind a van luckily i saw him in time before i turned him into paste…

single wheel rear trailers for off road definitely the way to go. i know people with BOB Yaks/Ibex (some doing RTW trips as we speak) and i and other friends have the edinburgh bikes version – both good. BOB is a little more robust, had no problems using it off road

forgot to add i always insist they put the bike bag on first, that way if there is a problem you can put parts/stuff in you hold luggage

never had an issue but seen people being busted for being overweight. always take my helmet strapped to my hand luggage too

What’s wrong with just enjoying sliding about?

and breaking your hip like someone i know did…

another option for snow is a snow chain – wrap some chain from wilko/b&q round your rim/tyre all the way round the wheel and then tie wrap the ends together nice and tight. sounds like a tank on tarmac but great on hardpacked snow. easy to put on/take off a wheel with disc brakes in about 5 mins. worked fine for me with a home made spike tyre on the front last winter (panaracer fire xc with about 50 1/2″ screws put through the knobs from the inside and lined with an old tube/gaffer tape)

yoda – thanks for that. just checked the map and ingleborough has the bridleway to the top

first time for me. did 4:46 which i was pretty happy with considering practically zero training except for my local runs/rides. could have pushed much harder but i was suffering obscene levels of cramp i’ve never experienced before and was determined not to let that stop me. going for 4:30 next time maybe a bit quicker. pleasantly surprised with the level of grip from the 35mm landcruisers at 80psi!

i don’t have the map to hand now but am i right in thinking the pen-y-ghent climb/descent is bridleway so fair game for the mtb? the mrs was asking about us going for a ride up there to see what it was like and could be a bit of fun on a more suitable bike…

Thing is I see a lot of cheap as chips headtorches with 5w LEDs for about a tenner, and wondered if anyone had any experience running with them?

i’ve got one of those, and an alpkit gamma which is my regular night walking/camping/running choice. fancied the ebay one for night running off road where the alpkit one struggles a with providing enough light/spread. the ebay one a lot brighter and can be focussed with the bezel to give you spot/flood etc. it’s not as well made and appears a bit rough and ready too. the LED unit doesn’t have a very secure/lockable hinge and looks like it will flop about when you’re running. i was going to use zip ties/tape/other bodge materials to hold it in place securely before i take it out with me (not dark enough when i go out running at the moment so having used it properly yet). also the plastic is not very well finished on the back of the head unit – i was going to make a padded cover so i don’t end up with a rectangle engraved on my forehead… 8O tbh may be more hassle than what its worth for some people, but i think i’ll get use out of it

as poly above, i’ve had a wanted ad for a copy too! 3rd in line now though but if anyone does have one spare i’ll have it

i’m often down there, ride most of the old and new stuff but open to new (to me) trails as well. in fact i might pop down there tomorrow after work. on a silver heckler or a blue jake the snake depending if i drive or ride out :D

sorry can’t be of help, i’ve not been riding there but i’m interested in peoples suggestions too (we’re planning on visiting in the new year). wasn’t sure whether to take road/cx bike or mtb