mine also fell to bits… :( got hula hoops and their strong bushes now with no problems

some friends completed the BG round a few weekends ago in 23hours, you sound much more prepared i’m sure you’ll be fine and love it! good luck! :D

that’s sh1t – i’m in heaton as well, will keep an eye out for them. hope they turn up for you

thanks for that paul78 :D

my mate runs one for xc/touring with no problems, it’s clamps over the steerer and has a 1 1/8 bit for your normal stem to fit onto on top. might be fugly but it saves his back (he’s 6’5”…)

tough call between peaks or lakes for me. reckon it would be the lakes, easy to combine with good road riding, climbing, walking and nice wild camping too and not far from me folks… :wink:

i’d be interested in this also

i use mine for everything and it’s my most ridden bike. rack/guard/touring tyres with full panniers for commute/tour/shopping, trailer for hauling big stuff/beer, 35mm knobblies for the odd CX race and trail centre bash. currently singlespeeded and in CX mode for a local summer CX midweek series but happy commuting on it like that too

seems comfortable with anything you can chuck at it, even found it at home on the (small) jumps on our local trails/bmx track too :D

only gripe i have is i only have one of charliethebikemongers white ‘my dandy horse brings all the boys to the yard’ stickers on it… :wink:

you can always boil the pasta at home and stick the cooked pasta in a plastic tub. reheat in hot water at the campsite and add dolmio/ragu/tesco value pasta sauce – cant get much easier/quicker than that i reckon

stagg chilli is great too – heat it up and serve in wraps with grated cheese

cous cous is nice and quick too

which pub is it in barnsley? i’ll pop in when it’s open and report back :wink:

not done one before but i’m interested in giving one of the NEMBO league ones a go as they’ll be closest to me – thanks for the heads up MidlandTrailquestsGraham

off road C2C? (whitehaven – robin hoods bay)

got old (2005ish) shimano xt’s on my bikes – never had to touch them apart from new pads and treated to new disc rotors a couple of years ago. cheap to pick up on here too

i did the black for the first time in years a few weeks ago – had a good day, the new stuff like section 13 is great too. seems to be plenty of new dh trails built since i used to ride dh there around 7 years ago – i didn’t have time to ride any but will be going back with my asx soon :) you’ll have plenty to have a go at i reckon

a few of my friends/family all help out volunteering in various organisations (and have done so for years) so hopefully may give the OP some ideas. my girlfriend volunteers at the local neighbourhood park – organising events, clearing litter, raising funds for new/better signage, paths, fences etc. i’ve helped out too but struggle to do it regularly with work/other commitments. she also volunteers every now and again at a local volunteer run independent cinema/venue, as well as on ad-hoc voluntary days run by the council. i’m aiming to help out at my local bike charity a bit more but it’s proving more difficult than initially thought (it’s only open when i’m at work and there’s a waiting list!)

my nan helps out at her local community garden, she’s been given her own little plot now so she can grow her own veg to eat/trade with other folk there

my mum used to volunteer with a counselling charity, helping recently bereaved people through very traumatic times. pretty hard that one, she’s recently stopped doing it due to her work moving to evenings

one of my friends is a mentor for a local lad who’s previously got into trouble and is now back on the straight and narrow. not met him but heard that’s going well

a mate at work volunteers at the local community farm alternative weekends

ribble reynolds steel road bike – snapped top tube
kona stab primo 2002 – cracked shock mount
kona stab primo 2003 – bent the downtube in a crash
crc alloy xc frame – crack seat tube/top tube weld

front hole is the longer travel, rear the shorter one :)

ran my trailer on my old genesis day with horizontal drop outs fine – i did have a 10mm bolt up hub with EBC trailer axle nuts but didnt have any issue with slipping. i got them from my lbs (EBC newcastle) but available online too here

btw: hauled plenty of heavy gear including van batteries, lumps of metal for my van etc on it and it held up well!

lock on grips were a revolution for me when they came out – what a pain in the ass it was changing v-brake levers/shifter before them, still got a can of hairspray that i used to use to help get/stick the old rubber grips on :o

nice, liking the dog on the course at 36s, just ride round it! :D

all the gears, no ideas

if there’s a bike recycling/charity place near you they often run workshop classes – my girlfriend did one the other week and did a strip/clean/rebuild of her bike, could be worthwhile if you are unsure of anything

inbred?

6ft – old large/19inch fits like a glove

hope he turns up safe :-)

it’s as expensive as you want it to be really. sure there’s loads of people with a disposable income with high end latest trend/technology bikes, other folk with all the gear and no idea, some people with ancient rigid kona/ss’s etc etc but if someone’s enjoying the outdoors and getting fit on a £200 halfords or old 2nd hand bike thats cool too. plus everyones got to start somewhere, i think the image that some of the mags give that you NEED a £2k bike just to ride off road puts many people off the sport and is a bit detrimental to the public image of mtb’ers. personally i have just as much fun on my old rigid raleigh as i do on my heckler – horses for courses really

tatras mountains in slovakia were nice and cheap for us a few years ago

slovenia/croatia would be good too – fancied going for a while some good biking there as well

mite/ant infestation?

that woodcock book linked to above is good but the maps aren’t the best in it – would be definately worthwhile getting the OS maps as well as mentioned. the original book if you can get it has better maps – worth trying to find one if you can

got the montane smock, super light but not the most waterproof but ideal to keep showers/wind off. doubles up as a windproof jacket as well, great with a gilet

with my old xt’s (not latest ones) stripping the case off and giving it a good old dose of gt85 helped to free up the crud that got in the mechanism and jammed it without having to take it to bits any further – maybe worth a punt before you unleash the springs and ratchets! :-)

ben – maybe the hecklers been great but fancy a change (i’ve had it 5 years now and gone through a few forks/shocks on it!) and something i can use for dh days too as then i can get rid of my asx and create some more space! hows that carbon thing you bought holding up? :wink:

neninja – cheers for the heads up there, i’ll give them a ring tomoro and maybe pop by after a hamsterley mission, cheers! :D

MC – that would be good then the sleeveless top was just what people i’ve spoken to who have done tri’s before have told me – made me feel like i’d be a bit of a tit doing it in anything else! :cry:

something like this?

i need to get one too as doing a triathlon this year. how serious these guy take it worries me and my slightly more chilled out approach to racing 8O

thanks for that, none in stock but will try a few dealers from the saracen website, cheers

give them a go and see how you get on with them on some trails you are familiar with. don’t worry about fancy pedals and shoes some cheap v8’s from classifieds and skate shoes from tk maxx will be fine for now as you’ve not lost much if you don’t like them and decide to sell on. before fivetens came out i preferred the vans waffle sole type trainers for years, in fact i’m actually thinking of going back due to the cost of fiveten shoes! i’ve always ridden flats and only got spds a few years ago as i thought it may help for xc riding (which it did) but i’m happy on either. you do have to ride slightly differently but there’s not much in it IMO, just ride what you feel comfortable with

and although not the best curry house in town by a mile, Rupalis (of Viz fame and ironically on the bigg market) can entertain 12 lads easy enough :-)

avoid the bigg market. loads of bars on collingwood street and the gate area that would be fine for stag do – seems to have taken over from the quayside. bars on the quayside still good for afternoon beers by the river, so are all the bars on osborne road in jesmond (good happy hour 5-7). train station area better for proper beer/pubs – there are more but generally more out of town. don’t reckon the trip to whitley bay would be worth it tbh (not been for years mind so only what i’ve heard). don’t worry about fancy dress, loads of folk do with no problems. whatever you do don’t come dressed as smurfs, we see loads of them!!!! enjoy!

happens often where i ride, they make good bunny hop practice! if big i just move them off the trail and carry on, not worth getting worked up about imo