Bump

Would love to be there, picked a good day for it.

Wally, thanks.

I think in some climates (like Oz) they sold the Anthem with 100mm as standard (I know in the UK 80mm was the spec). The only reason I thought it was worth a cheeky additional 20mm was the Anthem thread on MTBR – plenty of people seemed to have mucked around with the geometry on theirs. I would only be using mine for the typical weekend trail riding, so either way it would be enough for me.

Doesn’t seem that bikes hold their value – lucky for me (except if the frame snaps in two).

Thank you Holyzeus, very helpful.

Upgrades I suspect cost him more than the value of the bike – £300 on Hope wheels, £400 + for fork, bar and stem (all bought at the same time) and brakes probably cost a packet. I also managed to ‘inherit’ his old dt swiss/Mavic 717 wheelset, now serving time on my wife’s upgraded rockhopper.

Bump for avoiding the mother in law at Sunday lunch crowd.

I rate them. Have got a pair of freeriders I think, they grip well and are comfy.

They do not seem to absorb water like my old 661 skate shoes, which were like a sponge and fell apart at the sole (as well as being massively heavy).

Expensive, but worth it.

I have a 2.1 (closer to about 1.4). Not bad in mud, it is thin with knobs not too close together, but rolls a lot better than my trailraker, unsurprisingly. Slippy on roots, but so is everything.

Run an Advent up front with a Crossmark rear, making the most of the dry trails at the moment. Looks like the trails are not staying that dry after today…

Anyone run an ignitor 2.35 as a front tyre in the winter? Is a high roller better up front for general winter use – Ardent tyres do not love the local mud.

Oh, I don’t have a beard, camper van or Audi before getting a pasting.

Well I enjoyed it. I know it comes across as all a bit spiritual, (which is definitely not me), but I enjoyed the different locations and the fact that it wasn’t all just gnarr hard core riding.

I think the whole idea of the path/journey seemed a bit forced, but not sure they were meaning to be smug about it.

Jsinglet – glad it is not just me then, I began to think I was doing something stupid.

Got back from riding around Surrey Hills yesterday evening, the left crank arm was literally floppy as it was so loose.

Time to change to Shimano me thinks. At least I know it will just work.

Thanks Redted, but probably looking to go away from truvativ to another brand. I will probably transfer old chain rings onto new cranks to keep the new rings fresh and wear all the old stuff out together before using up newer rings.

Oh, meant to say it is a 3 x 9 set up with standard 68/73 mm bb shell.

Second that, QE2 Collective have done a great job.

Frankenokian! Are you a surgeon dropoff?

Good effort on the waste not skills.

Did Winchester to Lewes (bailer early on 2nd day as weather was terrible). Train to London and back out again.

Riding back seems more of a rewarding way to return, even if it does take another day. Train takes a good few hours anyway.

Will order stem and see, I suppose it is easy to change just the stem and leave the other bits attached to the bar. Never been in fashion – still ride with a seat pack and a water bottle and quite like to play Bon Jovi loud in the car by myself.

Mandog, will this make me like Steve Peat then? If not, will want a refund.

Hard tail with a 115mm fork, from the south west, live in the south east and have one bike and no Audi. It is an easy decision of ‘which bike to take’ when you only have one.

Just got the one bike. An unfashionable 26 inch wheeled hardtail mountain bike.

Beyond your price range as stated above, but a basic 4×4 Dacia Duster looks amazing value at £11k. No a/c or even cd player, but £100 and a trip to Halfords could sought out the music and you might not need a/c in Scotland.

Just thought I would mention it, might be some finance deals available. I think they are for January 2013 delivery.

Bought a very expensive pair of Oakley Splitjackets with transition/prescription lenses. Got them at the same time as a normal pair of everyday specs, so got a small discount. Very pleased with them so far, but they were half the price of my bike! Can wear them in low light to brighter sun, so plan on using them in the winter.

Only issue is they look a bit Team America, World Police.

Can’t be bothered with contacts, although seems the better option for most sports.

Maxxis Wormdrive. Remember them being cheapish for 1.9 semi slick, even used them off road properly.

I have plumped for some magic cross rides in the end. I know the spokes are funny bladed efforts, but it seemed a good deal.

I might keep hold of the old rims and just leave some mud tyres on them for when it is super gloppy around where I live, which I expect won’t be far away.

Thank you all for your input. My next bike will hopefully have Hope hubs on a decent set of hand built wheels.

Thanks Jonk – I saw those Mavic cross rides.

Edited – have checked out the spec and see they are 19mm wide. Might be on order then…

Thanks Jonk, they don’t appear to do a disc version any more.

Regardless at that price (assuming I go for a lower end Mavic rim) they would be under £70 and better than servicing a knackered wheel.

Are 319 rims basically just a slightly fatter/stronger version of a 317? Is it worth forking out the extra for a Hope hub? If I do stick with Shimano hubs, what are the advantages of XT over Deore? I am restricted to 6 bolt.

Load of ironing out, wife is in bed and I am listening to antisocial music, loafing on the internet and drinking fresh coffee. I truly am one crazy mo-fo. :wink:

Again no lines of marching powder of the flesh of naked hookers, but I like going out for a ride, coming back late, dropping mud all over the house. Drop my clothes on the floor and commence slamming a pizza in the oven while I have a shower and then putting on some low grade action film – preferably something with Chuck Norris/Van Damme/Seagal, as that is a sure sign it will be aimed at my low level of intellect.

That and listening to rap music in my gruds, whilst getting some breakfast in the morning.

MTBR tips for a Limey going to Tahoe thread, even with STW special ‘what tyre for Tahoe in Sept’ question thrown in

See MTBR forum link above – lots of helpful replies from some locals.

I had two weeks relaxing in Tahoe last Sept/October. Sunny and very warm 1st week, snow in the second.

Definitely go to a bike shop – I spoke to the guys in Olympic bike shop, Tahoe City. He spent 30 mins highlighting all the best local trails on a map, whilst my wife got sunburn outside. I felt so guilty for taking up his time I bought a water bottle – although the Trek EX8 in stock looked like a good deal…

Map is called: ‘Lake Tahoe Basin Trail Map’ – there are literally hundreds of trails.

Tahoe Rim Trail, Mr Toads, Armstrong Connector, Flume Trail all on the map.

Best ride for me was from Tahoe Meadows (located NE on the lake, on the road pas past Incline Lake), south on the ridge, down the Flume Trail and back around Marlette Lake (located half way down on the east shore of Tahoe). Really amazing scenery. There is also a ‘Tryolean Downhill’ trail which people were shuttling. Looked fun, but have a small todger and a hard tail, so too much of a big boys ride for me.

Also Armstrong Connector up to Armstrong Pass, back down connector and Cedar/Corral a real blast (on the descent). Climb is up to 8,500 ft though. (SE lake).

We stayed NW of the lake – south lake is busier, more night life and a bit more touristy.

Yuba expeditions were really helpful on email advice, but I never made it up to Downievile – trails looked very good.

Last bit of advice would be pack a spare set of lungs – the climbs were tough, but the views were awesome and after 7 days of riding trails/road (mixed up to keep the wife happy), I was a lot fitter on return to the UK. Would go back (but would try and buy a full susser by then).

Have a look on mtbr.com – they have a whole car and biker thread – lots of alternatives such as ‘searsucker’ mounts and other random ideas. Worth a look…

Awesome fun and despite lack of skills/big cojones I really enjoyed it. I would like to do it again and hope for better weather at the top. Take a pair of warm gloves and a jacket.

I put the fattest tires on my hardtail that I could fit in the frame/fork, mostly to give a bit of extra grip and cushioning.

I did a lot of hike a bike as I found it hard to keep forward momentum on some of the steeper parts.

Anyone know any good Halfords stores round the M25/Surrey/Berks?

She has more bikes than me. We ride together a fair bit and she does not want to see me as a tubby lump.

Having said that, she has two basic bikes (Specialized Crossroads Hybrid and an upgraded Rockhopper) and she has kept up with people with light road bikes on longish road rides (i.e. round IOW, L2P) and climbs up Afan with the best of them.

Frustrating, as I am always trying to find an excuse to buy something newer/shinier/pimpier and she is happy to make do with what she has, which makes me feel kind of a chopper wanting to get another bike when I have a perfectly serviceable hardtail (she also contributes more to the Gribble retirement fund…).

My Decathlon Rockrider 8xc/8.2 mash up. Only one I have, but she gets used in all weathers.

1972 – agree totally with your post above. It is about setting an example. I am not going to argue about proper cycle lanes, training, high vis cycling gear/lighting, nor how effective a helmet might be. The more aware people are of road safety full stop, the better, if that means making sure people wear a helmet, I don’t think that is such a bad ace to start. I know people claim we are in a Nanny State. If Wiggo thinks he has a point, good on him for saying it. I am sure he is all to aware of the discussion in cycling on this issue.

I do personally always wear a helmet, only because I think of there is any chance it may one day do some good, then it has been worthwhile getting it out of the cupboard. A helmet was once useful to me at Afan and that was enough for me. That’s my choice though. When I were a lad I didn’t think like that and I was lucky never to fall on my melon, I never wore a helmet.

Diggers – funnily enough I looked at the Escarpe 2. Both seem amazing value, noticed the price of Kona Dawg frame has just gone up. Also, I am slightly put off by restricting the size of a rear tyre.

I have looked at the Trance x4 too – seems good value.

Thanks for your comments – chakaping, am just getting budget costs together at the moment before I make the decision either way.

Tinsy, good tip, will have a look at cheaper headsets. Only thought of Hope as I was going to ask the LBS to fit it (and I wanted to support them on that part of the purchase at least). If it is worth waiting an getting better wheels (rather than cheapo ones), I thought I might get these from LBS as they are good value and they stock nice pimp Hope ones.

Restless, that looks like a nice bike – what tyre clearance do you get on the back? I quite like the idea of running fatter rubber (I like 2.25 plus for summer).

Bump for the ‘It is Monday morning, oh crikes I have 5 more days of this’ crowd.

Thanks both, very helpful. I was way out, they must haul ass. I take it they have their wheatabix of a morning?

Last night cheese and onion sarnie and Dr Pepper (so misunderstood)m

Tonight a banana and pastry.