SV650 would tick a lot of boxes.

I’ll be in again, I did terribly last year – I don’t think I entered anything in the spreadsheet, but really enjoyed Rob’s weekly email! :)

I’m a few stone up again, so need to get back some much needed motivation.

I would pick the surly, there’s very little point in weight saving on a fat bike IMO, and the surly’s frame will ride better and last longer than an equivalent alu frame.  My karate monkey is 5 years old, takes a hell of a beating, rides super nice for a rigid bike, and it’s my favourite bike by far.  One day I’ll upgrade my dune frame to a moonlander when I’ve got the cash.

No one else noticed the gash in the top tube?  It’s in the smaller advert on the right that sometimes pops up…

My Super Commuter 8.  Love the bike so far, not used the motorbike or a car for over a month now.

It’s so nice riding to work in normal clothes and just enjoying the sun and sights. Can ride much harder on the days I take the normal bike too.

The other day on the way home from work, I had a little detour through Wharncliffe and Grenoside on the fire paths, and it was ace.  Making me think about getting an E-MTB too…

Denis99
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My Trek Super Commuter 8+ with NuVinci hub.

Had this bike about 8 months now. Enjoy being able to do a decent mileage and carry some photo equipment with me.

Very expensive to buy, but the NuVinci hub has been great, smooth, quiet, reliable.

Brooks saddle and a Thomsom layback post have been the only component changes.

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Nice.  I have the other version of this bike with 1×11 XT, I was tempted to pay the extra £200 for the internal hub gear version, but the red frame won me over.

I also went for a brooks saddle.

How do you find the magura brakes on your bike?  The shimano (M615) brakes on mine are ok in normal use, but fade scarily quick on longer descents when I’ve been out in the peaks.  I’m considering upgrading them to XT’s and ice tech rotors, which is a shame to have to do on a £3.8k bike!

_tom,  I don’t go as far as that, 11ish miles each way, but I have a trek hybrid e-bike that I use 2/3 days a week, unless I want a work out and I take the normal bike.

Being honest, it’s **** great!  I was always on the fence with e-bikes, but now I see there’s no need to be.  It’s strange how you think that you’ll lose some sense of pride etc.. from getting a bit of help with pedalling a bike around, but actually it’s just as much fun as any other bike (fun, isn’t that the reason most of us ride?), and who the hell doesn’t want to go up hills faster/easier?

I cant stress enough how nice it’s been in this hot weather to ride to work across hilly Sheffield, in the sun, wearing normal clothes, and arrive to and from work with only a slightly sweaty forehead!  I’d have got sweatier on the motorbike than on the e-bike.

I don’t think people should feel they need an excuse/reason to get an e-bike, and I hope eventually people who chose to not have one can be more welcoming.

As a previous sceptic, I can say e-bikes are great, and I’ve only had mine a few days.

I think unfortunately it is a very big leap to get people out of their cars, but if you only commute a short way and are already a keep cyclist or motorbike rider (basically you can cope with getting a bit wet and cold), then they make a lot of sense.

I can understand why people are sceptical (I was) because descents have to be earned etc etc.. but if your not training for anything and ride for fun and a bit of fitness, then an e-mtb is a great idea.  More miles, more descents, more time outside, still doing 50 to 70% of the work yourself so still getting a work out.  What’s not to like?

I’m talking purely pedal assist bikes here though, those conversions with a throttle are a different story…  Each to their own in the end I guess!

Picked the super commuter up today, was bitter sweet as I traded in my 10 year old cannondale badboy at evans to get £350 off. It was triggers broom of a bike, and had a lot of issues than needed sorting, but I loved it. :( £350 was a great price for it though.

back to the SC, what a price of kit! It’s easy to exceed the 27kmh limit on the flat in eco mode, and once you’re above that speed it’s surprisingly easy to carry speed without the motor helping. I thought it may struggle over 30kmh due to its weight – it has a lot of that – but it’s fine, just like any other balloon tyre hybrid I’ve ridden.

Did some experimenting on the hills, eco mode seems to just offset the bikes weight and give s you something close to normal.  Off mode is for when you want let strength training! All the others feel the same, but give increased speed as you go higher , with turbo sitting you at 27kmh while ever you turn the cranks fast enough!  It’s not effortless at all, it just turns climbing into more of an aerobic rather than a strength effort.  I was breathing really hard holding it at the limit on a long 6/7% hill. I can’t believe there are people who climb faster than that on fitness alone!

I was too excited to try riding up hill with as little effort as possible, but I’ll try tomorrow and see if you can do it without coming close to breaking a sweat.

Besides the motor stuff, It’s just a really nice bike, good finish, great lifeguard and rack system and the balloon tyres are ace.  Makes you giggle too!

Cant you get an ultrasonic collar thing to warn the birds?

The only thing I don’t really like about the trek is that the front fork wont take a rack.  But if I ever feel I need it, I can always put on a surly fork with some QR adapters.

2 panniers should be fine for me though.

If surly did an e-big fat dummy, I’d have that!

Malvern Rider, I was torn between a GSD or a trek super commuter, the super commuter won in then end as I don’t have much need for hauling a lot of stuff.  Went for the bike that suits me for 95% of what I want it for, and will find a way for the other 5%.

Cokie, a grom or Suzuki van van where top of the list when I was considering a 125.

That’s my problem at them min, a full week is doable, but a big ask on top of general work tiredness, cleaning, cooking, doing the washing up etc.. at home.

I’m hoping the e-bike will make things easier.

It’s also a 150m (vertical) descent to the local supermarket for me, so would help with quick trips where I need to carry a bag of shopping and don’t want a full on work out in cycling clothes to get back up home.

Not sure if they still do them, but my Mrs upgraded her Myka 26″ to an Orange Diva 29″.

Looks funny with a XS frame, but it’s a much lighter and nicer bike than the Myka was.

Had a Dark Souls 3 binge the last few weeks, helped by a long and nasty cold keeping me off the bike. :(

Put 10 ish hours into my main character, so up to about 120, then started another and finished the game in 40 hours.  May go onto Bloodborne now as I’ve only played it for a few hours at launch.

Not sure on how to make time if you have kids… if it’s a way of passing time I’m sure you can get  an hour here and there, but if your really into games (I have been since I was old enough to play them), then you make time.  Friday nights aren’t for wasting money in a pub, they’re for gaming. :)

Fat bike version required!

I like it, 1x is always a compromise somewhere I find, one that’s easy enough to live with, but still would be nice to have the range and choice of ratios of a 2x.

Pjay,

After this thread, I spent all weekend hiding from the ice and snow/slush and playing DS3!

Started a deprived and took a few goes at Gundyr, but muddled through.

Then realised I’d not finished the last DLC, so loaded up my main character and spent 13 hours getting through it!  It’s bull shit hard in areas, but fun.

Quick tip for a good shield, once you travel to the first area, the first posh looking knight you see with a spear and big shield is guarding a little area with some wooden raised walkways around it.  Once past him look for a wooden chest (on the second level of walkway) with a hollow sat next to it.  Be very carful when you attack the hollow, if you hit the chest it’ll break and the shield will be gone!  Once you get it, it’s the earliest 100% block shield you can get.  Makes life easier!

Normal Man,  Yea, that’s the one.  Zips are fiddly and it looks questionable (maybe doesn’t matter on a fat bike!), but it’s great to not having to carry a back pack.  :)

For winter I run a Spesh 2.2 ground control front, and 2.0 storm control rear.

Spring/Summer/Autum I run 2.2 Conti X-kings front and rear.

All tubeless on narrow standard MTB rims.

I did get to go home at lunch on Wednesday, and did get out on the fat bike.  It was a laugh, but hard work!

I found some really powdery deep snow that not even the fat bike could float over, just kept sinking in then washing out.  Everywhere else was ok though with a few inches of nice fresh snow.

I did some downhill singletrack with jumps and berms etc… but wasn’t brave enough to find out where the fat bike’s traction on snow ended.  If we had more snow I’d like to learn to get the most out of it, but considering it was -6 and no one was around, I was happy to enjoy a bimble (and the awesome views) and not risk crashing and hurting myself.

By the time I got home, the sun and temperature was going down, my water was all frozen, the bike was noisy frozen lump and the old legs where running out of steam.  The office was closed yesterday, so spent the day recovering, although my legs still hurt today.

Was properly good though.  :)

By the time you’ve finished 3 it’ll be about time for the re-master of DS1 (end of may I think) – I remember this being far harder than 2 or 3, but a much better game overall.

They did the same for DS2 and it was great!  I’d just finished 2 on the xbox 360 (with no DLC), and then got the re-master for the PS4 (cheaper to buy than buying the individual DLC for the 360) and thought I’d breeze through the standard game, but they changed all the enemy locations and types and made it a fresh challenge.

You can level up after Gundyr.

I cant remember which side, I think his right, but if you stick close to him at the correct side, he’ll very rarely land a hit.  As with all boss fights, keep moving and manage your stamina/defence – only hit when you have plenty of time to do so and can get back on the defensive before he attacks again.

IIRC, you can sprint to his ‘fog gate’ from the nearest bonfire without getting hit, so ignore the other enemies and just try different tactics to deal with him.  Once you know how you’ll wonder what the fuss was about. :)

You don’t get any instructions with DS games regardless of platform.  That’s part of the ‘hopeless’ atmosphere they create I guess.

Its worth persevering – the elation you’ll get when you finally make it through the horde and beat that boss you’ve been stuck on for a few hours make it well worth it!

You can grind and level up and become somewhat overpowered for lots of areas, but other areas remain hard no matter what equipment you have or what level you are.

Try different weapons too, you’ll click with some and not others.  My 60 year old mom is playing it (very slowly!) and does surprisingly well with heavy armour/shield and a massive great sword.  I thought that set up would be too slow and useless, but it works well as you can just have a battle of attrition and soak up and dish out hits and just see who runs out of life first!   Prefer light and agile myself.

I was in the same boat with DS1 when I got it, but as a series Dark Souls it’s really worth getting into.

Wish I could offer you advice like you constantly offered me last year Jon,  but I’m very much in the same situation and have been all year.  Not quite sure what the answer is, other than don’t be too hard on yourself and get back on it as soon as you can.

I worked my arse off to lose 2kg, and now two weeks later I’m back up.  Like you say, the “what’s the point” attitude creeps in. :(

I don’t even like junk food, sugary sweets make me feel like crap, crisps make me feel like salty crap, and takeaway food is just tasteless grease.  But I always crave it, and it seems the worse the food is, the more I want it.  Think its time I got some professional help with it, life cant revolve around food.

Awesome idea, In for a £10, hope it helps Bullheart.

They’re ok, bit stiffer than the bars I took off, but as it’s a fat bike it’s not really an issue. They’re also almost flat, so you need to consider that if you have risers on.

The bags a really handy bit of kit though, can get a jacket, fat inner tube, pump, multitool, some snacks and full size puncture kit in there with a bit of room to spare.  I’ve not tried strapping a drybag directly to it, but it works well with an Alpkit harness and drybag, plus you can still use the little confucious bag with the alpkit harness.

I don’t like you Hols2.  That’s all I have to add.

Well the dune is now 1×11, and has a bluto.

I went with a 30 tooth chainring, and the cassette is 11-42.  May consider the 46 in the future as I run it with 4.8 minions and it’s quite a heavy beast on the longer hills, but 42 is doable.  Biggest plus point is from the clutch mech, it’s now quiet on rocky stuff instead of the heavy 8 speed chain constantly rattling off the chainstay, which is nice.

The bluto is great, only done a few downhill runs on it so far and you can carry even more speed over stuff as bigger roots and rocks just get eaten up.  It feels like it would be super easy to get in trouble now though, I’ve had a few high speed run-offs through the bushes in the past when I’ve compressed the tyres too much and they squirm and follow a camber, and now it’s even faster so I think I’ll have to keep an eye on that.

I’ve also raised my bars up quite a bit with about 30mm of spacers under the stem, which looks naff, but I like how it rides now.

I actually only put some air in the fork, so I’ve not played with the slow speed rebound or the other rebound on the bottom of the fork yet.

I’ve read that the bluto’s are flexy, but I couldn’t;t feel any, and I’m not sure it would matter anyway when the contact point with the floor has a few inches of inbuilt flex!

It’s looking like a right freak of a bike now – It’s got Love Mud Confucious bars + bag (fat bike inner tubes are too big and heavy for a saddle pack, and I hate wearing a backpack), PDW fat fender and other mudguards strapped to it, and those 4.8 tyres look massive even for a fat bike!

When my surly was recovered by the police, the two arresting officers (who where mountain bikers) brought it back to me with an evidence tag on it and said to keep hold of the tag and not sell the bike in case it was needed in court.

Apparently things, and bits of things, go missing regularly in police stations, and they didn’t want that to happen to my bike!  That was news to me, but from that I’d not hand anything in.

Let them know you have it and check with Omega and see what happens.

Probably best to look at it as never finishing…

We went out on Friday for our anniversary, we drank and ate way too much, and there was a noisy wedding on at the hotel so we didn’t get much sleep at all.  Altogether it made me feel crap and tired all weekend – spent it all sat playing video games or sleeping instead of riding!

I had this on my Dune.  Note even a ratchet strap and 160 litre garage compressor would do it.  Also tried a motocross bead seater which just blew the tyre straight off the rim.  Gave up and put sealant in the tubes.

That facebook thing sucks, and premier users shouldn’t have to see it (Next thing you know it’ll be auto playing the videos like rubbish news sites).   It is quite hard to read with that background image…

That’s my only moan about the new forum.

Another pants week!  Down 0.3 kg, which considering I’ve worked hard to not have a sweet binge at all, and hit or exceeded my calorie targets all week, is disappointing.

Hopefully If I keep it up through the weekend and next week, I’ll start seeing some proper weight loss again.

BASTARD! I just spent £300 and forgot about this!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01F9KJNF8

Yea, Amazon only had one in stock I’m afraid.  No idea why it was £290 when other companies sell on the same advert for £500+, but I jumped at it.

I went veggie at new year.  Really easy actually, I find things like a veggie curry has more textures and flavours in it than a chicken curry.

I do feel better, but I’m struggling a bit to get enough protein in on riding days.  Seem to ache just a little bit more the day after than before.

I’ve been off most processed meat for a while though, well over a year.  Things like bacon/sausage sandwiches and fry ups smell nice, but once you’ve eaten them you’re left with the aftertaste of fat and salt, and feeling full and lethargic.

Try concentrating on how you’ll feel after eating rubbish, rather than how much you want it.  I do need to take this advice myself though, as I’m still partial to sugary snacks a few times a week…

We don’t do it, its another excuse to buy pointless folded bit of cardboard, but we got married on the 16th of Feb 5 years ago, so we’ve booked a meal and night back where we got hitched.

It was expensive, and we had to go for the “special valentines day meal” option.  :(

Your typical e bike user?

People who wanted an e-bike, so bought one?

Finally taken the plunge on upgrading my Dune, and bought a Bluto fork, a race face chainset and some new shiny XT gears.

I wanted to wait until the 8 speed stuff wore out, but that looks like it’ll take ages!  the bottom bracket doesn’t look too healthy now either – very rusty, but actually works fine.  I was bored and any excuse to buy new bits really.

Got a 100mm bluto from amazon for £290!  They only had one in stock, but I think its coming from their French warehouse as “next day delivery” has it arriving on Monday. :(

I’ve got a 30t hope N/W chainring at home to use with it.  Thinking of sticking a 22t granny on the chainset too, thought it may be fun to see what I can get it up with a 22 x 42 gear! :)

I’m now watching the clock, waiting for 5 to come around so I can go home and have pancakes!

I really need them now after I stupidly looked at the big mac thread, and I’m now really craving a nice burger!  I’ve been veggie since new year, so I’m hoping a selection of pancakes will be a good enough to make me forget about burgers!