@dessie72 it’s Vancouver so that’ll be a Seagull of some kind, just saying …..

I posted on the forum about squeaky helmets about 3 months ago. I have a Bell 4Forty and several people replied that their Bell DH helmets squeaked. I played around with the height adjustment and it disappeared.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/squeaky-helmet/

@Hannah Dobson, Yeah I think I invented a problem in my head that doesn’t actually exist :-)

Seems like a lot on money for not very good gloves. Given they come over your wrist and have multiple layers will a GPS watch still work under all that material? Actually I am not sure if this is a problem with any material covering, e.g. a thick jacket?

re the @misteralz comments – If including on the house contents policy make sure you read all the small print and ensure that you are covered away from your home. Most policies require you to take “reasonable” precautions when out, i.e. using a good lock.

Specific bike insurance is really expensive, most quotes I have had are more expensive than our house and contents policies combined! I have found that using the house contents insurance is best. We have 4 named  bikes on our policy, all worth (new) in excess of £2k each. It was only when I added the fourth bike that the policy had a significant increase, but I am talking tens of pounds not hundreds. Had two claims back in the 90’s and both were fully honoured new for old, fortunately since then I have not had to claim against the policy.

Lots of options at The Range and very cheap

Totally agree with @v7mfp it’s a shelf!
Do you really have all those products? If yes, Muc Off should give you the “universal multi purpose bottle holder and storage solution” for free.
This is definitely near the top of the “1st World” problems list :-)

Thanks all, good to know how other folk have found them, think I will save my money. To be honest I was asking for a friend who always has major problems removing and mounting his tyres, thought these tools might help.

We had a “faff” pub once, The Blue Vinny in Puddletown, whenever we met there to start a ride something would go wrong ….

After the worst day at work ever in 35 years, I rushed to pub for the Wednesday night ride only to discover I had left my front wheel at home having removed it to get the bike in the car! Said I would meet the guys later, never did as I went home and opened a bottle of Single Malt instead.

A mate turned up only to find his rear tyre had exploded along with the inner tube, his bike rack was a little to near the exhaust on his Landy. Called a mate who was on route and got him to go home and pick up a spare tyre and inner tube.

Same bloke turned up with a flat tyre and found his replacement tube was actually for his road bike.

Someone else turned up and had left their saddle and stem at home having removed it to get the bike in the car.

A mate who was always late wasn’t there at the appointed time so we rang him, “just finished breakfast and putting the bike in the van”. The ride started 45 minutes late as of course he had some faff to do before we could leave. After this ride we always told him the meeting time was 30 minutes earlier than it actually was. He never knew as he was still late on most occasions!

@simmo – change the apple for apple chutney, add the Cheddar and you’ve got a proper sandwich.
Great article Amanda. To quote Joni Mitchell “… you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone …”

@thegeneralist – Pretty presumptuous on your part about where people get out to ride, sometimes the only source of refreshment is the local town, the natural habitat of Spoons and Costa.

Good list!
Always forget to put the plastic gloves on when servicing the bike, black greasy fingers are the usual prompt that I have forgotten them. Don’t feel I have serviced the bike properly if my hands are clean afterwards :-)
I would also add to the list:
> Visit a proper pub during or post ride, not bloody Spoons!
> If there is a coffee & cake stop on route use an independent shop, not bloody CostaBucks!
> Check your tools and spares before you go out, recently rode with a mate who had a puncture and found 5 (count ’em!) empty CO2 cartridges in his backpack :-)

@dove1 – Re Frontier 29ner availability, I had this reply to my enquiry to Alpkit …..

Thanks for getting in touch, 
We do still supply this as a 29er – just pop a note on the order or let us know once it’s placed and i can swap the wheels over for you. Apologies for the confusion, looks to be some work needed on the website. I’ll report this back.
All the best,

Depends on your budget, some of those bikes mentioned above can be expensive and difficult to get The Sonder Frontier comes highly rated, great value for money and comes in a variety of builds, 27.5, 29ner, rigid forks, sus forks, SRAM and Shimano. I started purchasing from Alpkit recently and they seem like a very good (and ethical) company to deal with.

@racefaceec90 – I did (40 miles) of the Ridgeway as part of the King Alfred’s Way at the end of last September, it was probably the best part of the KAW in my opinion. We went from Avebury to Streatley as part of the KAW route, great views, big skies and great tracks, a warm sunny day also helped the vibe. Could be a very good two day ride, Avebury to the Thames (Streatley/Goring), overnight there and ride back the next day.

p.s. Taunton Leisure website has them in a sale at £170

Sounds like a lot of money for a bag that you seem to be finding lots of faults with?

I bought the Halfords 1600 lumen last year, haven’t used it a huge amount, but very happy with it and its held a full charge all winter (so far) when it hasn’t been used. 8 modes a bit OTT, I probably use 3 of them, could be useful if you are running out of power though to make it last a bit longer.

@dove1 – Thanks, going to give them a call when the hols are over, but saw this thread and just wondered if anyone on STW knew the answer.

@miky2341 – Doesn’t matter which Frontier build you choose (Shimano or SRAM, sus or rigid forks) as far as I can see, they all say “29ner Bike” but only seem to offer 27.5.

I’m thinking of getting a Frontier for bike packing in 2022 and am confused by the Alpkit website. It says the bike is a 29ner (which I want) on the main web page for all the build variations, but if you click “buy now” the only wheel option is 27.5? Can anyone throw any light on this?

Those gloves may be expensive, although I found quite a few places doing them at just over £80 (possibly last years design), not much more than I paid for my Pow ski mitts which I luv. You can’t put too higher price on keeping your fingers dry and warm. Black Diamond do excellent kit, my wife bought some of their walking poles while in Chamonix and my reaction was “how much!”. Then I used them for a 3 week trek in Nepal and they were brilliant.

@chakaping – nice bit of “wattle & daub” instead of a shiny frame, should deter bike thieves at least :-)

Hopefully out this afternoon, has hardly stopped raining here in Dorset since Xmas Eve, need an Ark not an MTB :-) Today is supposedly dry, but just with 40-50mph wind gusts!

I saw Chris Rea on TV last night in a re-run of the Whitehouse & Mortimer Go Christmas Fishing, first aired last Christmas. Given the amount of surgery he has had, the number of organs he has had removed and the way he was walking (like he was on a boat deck covered in ice at sea in a force 10 gale) I am not sure he should be driving anywhere!

Really! This is e-bike specific? I say again, really!!
Two very small bottles of lube make this the ultimate e-bike Muc Off kit, WTF.
Somewhere there is a Muc Off marketing executive who is wetting himself/herself because people believe their marketing hype.

Does it have to be a “trail centre”? Loads of “natural” trails close to Hungerford, Lambourn Downs, Marlborough Downs, Vale of Pewsey and 40 miles of the Ridgeway. Forsake the trail centres, get a map out, go explore. Less driving more riding.

Sunny in south Dorset on Friday, but blowing a hooley. My mate Rich starting the descent of Post Office Hill to Osprey Quay on Portland. They used to used to lower huge slabs of Portland stone down this hill!

Beer52 – trendy, but expensive. £3 for a small can is too much. I can buy a 750ml bottle of good French/Belgian beer or two 500ml bottles of various English ales from Lidl/Aldi for that price. Unlike @pyro I had no trouble when asking a nice lady at Beer52 to cancel my subscription.

@thenorthwind –  Got a pair of the Floe Trousers from Alpkit two weeks ago, good fit, nice material, side vents and seem well made. Done a few rides in them so far and very pleased. They seem wind proof, haven’t tried them in the rain yet, but my legs stayed dry when riding on wet trails. They were a reasonable price, £64, in a “black Friday” sale. I also liked that they come in different leg sizes, I am 5′ 11″, 31″ inside leg and about 36″ waist, went for the XL Regular and they are a perfect fit. The waist band is very adjustable so no problems there. Went for the blue ones, why is the majority of kit boring black? Overall very pleased so far.

I live in rural Dorset and drive and MTB the local lanes. The simple fact is that in rural areas you can legally drive much faster than in towns and cities and therefore when an accident happens you are more likely to be killed. In line with the quoted cyclist stats more vehicle occupants are killed on rural roads than in built up areas. The interesting part of these stats, as a few people have mentioned, is the increased number of cyclists and the number of miles they are doing. Without delving too deep into the stats it looks like there are now fewer deaths when looked at from this perspective.

If you want to look at stats in a more realistic/objective way read The Tiger That Isn’t by Michael Blastland & Andrew Dilnot. It will make you look at stats in a completely different way.

I recently attended a Driver Awareness Course and apparently UK drivers are the 4th best in the world, hard to believe I know, the figures came from the World Health Organisation. We are only bettered by Norway, Sweden and Holland.

“but I do live in that ‘very average’ world between medium and large”
Otherwise known as Marge :-)

but I do live in that ‘very average’ world between medium and large
Otherwise known as Marge :-)

@andrewh – did my basic Chainsaw ticket (NTPC Level 2) in 2019 at a cost of about £1k, I volunteer with the RSPB in Dorset and they put me through the course. It’s one week long (5 days) which included the written and practical assessments. We did it at an Ash planation and all the trees had “Ash die back”, so we could fell as many as we liked. Very physical work and as I was 63 at the time and had always worked in an office environment the course was the hardest weeks work I had ever done!

@bruneep – Great videos, but while the devastation looks bad this happens all the time in nature and will create great opportunities for other plants and wildlife. Non native Pine forests are dead places for native wildlife, just listen in the spring you rarely hear bird song, so something like this event means that after a “healing” period and if left alone you will get a more diverse and much better mix of flora and fauna in the area. It always amazes me how quickly nature will take over and make things better if left to itself.

@docrobster – I upload my pics to the post image website then just paste the “forum link” associated with the pic here.
https://postimages.org/

Best thread I have read in ages, kudos @masterdabber and the folks who helped you
I am 66 today and get out a couple of times a week on my Stumpjumper. A lot of solo rides since the pandemic started so taking care on the gnar, letting someone know where you are going and using a tracker if possible (I have been using Whatsapp linked to my wife’s phone) is all good advice.
Hope you are out and about on your bike again by springtime.
Don’t know if you ski/snowboard as well (?), but in France you get a free lift pass at 75, something to aim for, it’s certainly on my bucket list :-)

I’ve seen loads of nearly new bikes on the “Buy and Sell cycling stuff in the south west” FB group, mostly stating bought last year now not being used!

@Hannah Dobson – clearly these aren’t available to us muggles! :-)

OK I give up, how are those bikes not falling over? Photoshopped out the props?