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Why does road bike mean flat back? Just set your road bike up for the kind of riding you want to do – sensible drop to the tops of the bars (rather than super-low), sensible reach to the hoods etc. Then you still have loads of hand positions, you still have a comfortable reach etc, but you don’t have to ride around on a compromised bike.

A decent Audax type frame will take 28mm tyres if you want, plus mudguards, plus rack. And will be quicker, more comfortable and much less embarrassing than a whybrid.

Regular road brakes are perfectly adequate btw – “long drop” for 28mm tyres/mudguards.

Comfier than a road bike? Eh? How can restricting your positions to a choice of one be more comfy?

Plus a road bike is perfectly capable of rolling down a towpath if you fit slightly larger rubber.

What? Apart from being slow on the road and rubbish off-road?

8 speed. Or 7 for that matter.

Please. No more whybrids!

I’d like a ‘cross bike, but not for general road transport purposes – for that I’d recommend a bike designed for the purpose, ie proper drop bar’d road bike to which you can fit mudguards. Once you’ve used guards, there’s no turning back!

I’ve got a Kinesis Racelight Tk, which I find a great bike – comfy, fast, attractive, versatile.

Any road bike will get you along un-made roads/tracks, but you need plenty of pressure in the tyres to avoid flats.

Just bumping this back up the list – I’d be interested to know also!

Hope freewheel sounds like its broken too my ears – terrible irritating noise! Almost as bad as King. Give me a silent freewheel any day. Regular Deore is ok with me.

Have you pushed the pistons all the way back in?

I think they’re great – had mine in regular use for over a year and there’s not a mark on it.

Anyone tried a Knife – slimmer, more scantly padded, lighter version of the Spoon?

Don’t change tyres without trying them! You might think they’re just fine, despite what you’ve read.

Tyre pressure makes much more difference than tyre choice – I reckon about three quarters of people coming to see us for skills training have way too much air in. 30-35psi as a rough guide, even lower if you dare. So it feels like an orange, not an apple.

Avid Flak Jackets and Gore gear cables both have thin sleeves to go around the exposed cable bits.

I have come to the conclusion that it is far easier and just as effective to just drop the cable outers from the stops every now and then and flush out with gt85. Even then I’m only talking every few months.

A mate of mine spend 3 week over Xmas when he fall of his bike going from his to the LBS (that less than a mile pointing down) because someone step in front of him. So the simple question is how much money would the society have saved if his was wearing a helmet.

Well – that’s selecting an experience to fit a (not very good) argument. I know people that have been run over when crossing the road – they may have been helped by wearing a helmet.

There is a serious point in all this familiar fog – cycling is made out to be far more dangerous than it actually is. You are twice as likely to sustain head injuries as a pedestrian than a cyclist (per time spent), yet from the popular view you’d expect cycling to be vastly more hazardous.

The linked quiz is good. Have a go – very interesting

Average number of miles cycled per death in Britain? 15 million

If you can afford it and enjoy the company of the guide, definitely – maximise your holiday!

That is merely because you have tried it – once you do you’ll never look back and you’ll wonder why you were ever so daft.

I’ve given one a thorough test – I usually ride an Specialized fsr120, so that’s what I’m comparing it to…

– Climbing at least as good, despite quite a few extra pounds.
– Very very solid feeling, confidence inspriring – feels a bit like you just can’t fall off it.
– Tyres a bit ott for me – huge volume, very round, but quite small blocks – still worked ok
– Fork offset and all that – isn’t it enough to know that it has been well designed? At least there is a manufacturer that specifies the offset to go with the head angle, whereas everyone else makes-do.
– Stability is excellent – you can pretty much take your hands off at any time.
– Not aware of any rear shock issues, but do know that it certainly works in practice.
– If I had one I’d be changing the saddle and grips to my usual faves (same for any bike) and I might change the stem, just because it looks out of place next to the very chunky top tube.

Get a test ride – you may well like it. Try something else as well though, I’d say – 140mm is a lot more travel than is strictly needed virtually anywhere in the UK.

Broken one spoke? I’ve seen bikes ridden for months, properly off-road, with several spokes out!

Are you locking your elbows when you’re doing that? Just try dropping your elbows and shoulders and only laying your hands on the bars – in other words don’t lean on the bars at all.

Take a look at the map and see if you can visualise where that is. I’ve lived here for 43 years (born in Friday Street on the side of Leith Hill) and I’ve probably been through that wood a mere handful of times ever. It isn’t “on Leith Hill”, in the same sense that the tower is – or anything like.

Traffic down Coldharbour Lane might be a snag, but it wouldn’t go through the village itself I assume because the site is not near the village.

That depends on how fast you hit that first section really [:wink:]

Well – I’m talking about running no brakes all the way from the previous tight right hander. I suppose if you big-ring sprint down the hill then braking might be needed!

We might one day find resources to add some berming – the trail bed on that section is made of material from Pitch Hill quarry – someone has to transport it over to Holmbury Hill, then it has to be man-handled to the appropriate spot and set in place. Other stuff to do first!

The plan is that BKB will get a new ending, which will have a similar character to the top section (ie it won’t do what it does now and and up with a scrabble straight down the fall-line).

Those three un-bermed bends are all rideable without braking you know… Takes a few runs through to build up the confidence but if your technique is decent it certainly can be done. Can’t make it too easy eh?

The old start just went straight down the fall line, so it would have had to alter at some point in time anyway. Add that to the fact that it was over the Iron Age fort and there’s no way it could be preserved. All credit to the land owners and hurtwood control though for not only being open-minded about mountain biking but also making resources and good-will available to help.

Hey – that’s nice news. Not sure why there have been any negative comments, because as far as I’m concerned the newly built stuff rides really really well. There may well be some tidying up on Doc in the pipeline, plus extending the Yog stuff all the way through. Plus maintenance on Barry’s/Silent Treatment – lots still to do.

If anyone can spare a little time do get in touch via Hurtwoodcontrol.co.uk and maybe lend a hand on a dig day?

Not half as embarrassing as getting all togged up in super baggy freeride clothing and getting yourself a big-hitting horse-sized “aggressive xc” bike to go with it just to disguise the fact that you’re a bit tubby and slow!

Real leather is not a very realistic or necessary prerequisite if you ask me. Even super expensive Selle Italia saddles are Lorica, which isn’t “real leather” either. Spoons are really good – also interesting is the Knife, which is a slimmer lighter version. Plus you can get leather Spoons – the ti rail version. The plastic of my normal Spoon is completely unmarked after well over a year of abuse, plus it doesn’t absorb water, plus it looks like leather anyway.

I love the proper old Flites, but they are really hard to get now. No idea why they felt the need to bring out the new shape – they already had the classic, definitive saddle.

I love dogs, including my own. But – number one golden absolute rule of having a dog is taking responsibility for its behaviour. Biting people is not acceptable under any circumstances. I’d be telling the farmer that if I ever saw it out of control again I would be reporting it to the police. “Never bitten anyone before” is total bs too.

Squirt GT85. Ride off and forget about it.

Guinness and peanuts. Simple.

Head for the Hills in Dorking, if that’s anywhere near you. Don’t know what demo bikes they have, but very nice chaps.

No no – Bromptons certainly are cool. Had a spin on one that a bloke down the pub had arrived on – was a hoot to ride. Mind you, I was in an advanced state of refreshment at the time, so probably anything would have been fun to ride.

The standard wisdom these days seems to be that riding with flat pedals sharpens up your riding skills – but I’d contend that riding in the 80s/90s flat back, flat bars position really puts a premium on riding well. You just have to get your weight of the bars and ride on your feet not your hands when it gets technical – which is exactly as it should be anyway, except modern equipment doesn’t punish you for getting it wrong.

Got to say, I still love the aesthetic, but I don’t ride the old Explosif much these days because it is so ridiculously stiff.

soobalias – didn’t say I couldn’t ride it like that, only that I didn’t like it like that.

Confidence and control descending at speed is very much helped by holding your head and body correctly, having good footwork, looking down the trail properly, etc – the instinct to go out and change equipment to rectify lack of confidence and control is often a mistake.

I’m mystified with the current fad for “slack angled” bikes – seems it is all bloody MBR can ever say. What exactly is wrong with a bike that turns eagerly when you want it to? If stock steering is too lively for you I’d suggest that you give your riding some attention before screwing the handling of your bike with longer forks. Or am I wrong?

Having the option to very occasionally add an extra inch to the front I suppose I can see the benefit of, but for most riding most of the time the geometry that the bike designer built-in would be my first choice.

Must admit I did once put 100mm forks on my old Explosif – but that was because I couldn’t cheaply get 80mm. I didn’t care for the results – very vague steering, esp going uphill.

Another fan of Conti GP 4 Season 25mm here. Roads round my way are carppy, potholed, leaf-strewn back-lanes – 25mm gives you a lot more puncture protection and confidence without being any more draggy.

Preload does not alter spring rate, progressive spring or otherwise.

In the new Windwave catalogue they stress that Marz have tightened-up their quality control for 2009 – of course it is easy to say that. Could mean that the 2009 forks are the way to go.

Be interested to know the result.

I don’t think a heavier spring will be ideal, because you’d need tons of rebound damping to keep it under control and your ride height will be increased even more than with extra preload.

Another suggestion (and this isn’t a joke!) – something as simple as using a firmer saddle will change your perception of the way the bike pedals, as will using slightly slimmer tyres (if your current tyres are big’uns).

Sorry I_Ache – thought you didn’t realise. Adding preload will effectively use up the very soft initial part of the suspension – it is true that it is a somewhat crude way to tune but it is definitely worth trying because you already have it there and I’m pretty sure it will do some of what you are looking for. Certainly I think you’d be crazy to spend on something else without trying the preload setting, because it wsii so quick to try. And Free!