Those exact tyres are exactly what I’m running on my Bird Aeris AM. They’re good.

(Not the GravelKings!)

Anyone got the DHB Aeron Deep Winter Softshell Jacket? Am toying with ordering one, seem to review well. How are they in real life and how do they size up?

So I try, not always successfully, to get out on a bike however unpromising things seem. Sometimes it is as crap as it appears it will be. Occasionally it turns out to be something amazing. But it’s almost always better than I think and I’m happy to have been out. It helps that I can ride from my front door – I chose to live somewhere with decent riding – and that in some respects I have simple dog wiring and would happily chase sticks all day given the chance, but there’s a lot to be said for not dwelling on reasons not to and just to get on with it.

And ‘awesome’ doesn’t necessarily have to mean long or technical or particularly scenic. It can just be the sound of tyres buzzing on the trail. Or wet summer evening smells. Or getting to spend some quality time with a mate you haven’t seen for a while. I try to think about what the ride is rather than what it isn’t. It doesn’t always work, but I rarely regret having left the house even when conditions are less than stellar.”

^^^^ This. Absolutely this.

I am fortunate to get in a lot of riding (plus a bit of running), but a ‘proper’ ride is less frequent. I usually manage 3-6 rides per week, but most are 1-2 hours.

Great riding from the door, to suit a range of bikes (gravel, road, HT, FS) and weather conditions. And excellent riding within an hour’s drive.

Typically, through the week, I’ll do some version/mix of the following (not all of it, every week)

– post breakfast/pre-work ride once a week, usially gravel/MTB, 1-1.5 hours
– commute once per week (straight in, longer route home), usually gravel bike
– lunch ride/trail run once per week, 1-1.5 hours
– night ride with a mate or 2, 2-3 hours riding then a couple of beers (not every week, works out every 2-3 weeks). In the summer, train/drive out to ride is doable on occasion.
– ride on a Friday (my NWD) … when I can, it’ll be 2-4 hours, but currently elderley-parents-life-admin is taking precedence
– ride/run (1hr 15) on a Sunday morning whilst my parents are at church.
– longer weekend ride (half/two-thirds of a day) about once every 4-6 weeks.

Key to all of this is:
– variety of bikes (SS HT and gravel bike with full mudguards make winter slop possible)
– planning – check the weather regularly, negotiate with family, book with mates
– prepare bike/gear … choose the appropriate bike and get it ready in advance, lights charged & on the bike, shoes/boots/helmet/bumbag etc can all be got together in advance, so when your riding window arrives, you can be out of the door within a few minutes.
– life admin/domestic stuff – get these done when you can. I do washing, ironing, hoovering, DIY etc in the evenings instead of vegging in front of the TV.

So, I’m pretty fortunate overall. Work is flexible enough for me to WFH 2/3 days per week, and when I do commute, there’s decent ‘interesting’ route options. Good trails from the door (a Northern English city). Kids are older (still need a lot of ferrying around). Wife is understanding and accommodating (she has her own running/riding/singing/guitar-playing interests too). I’d like to do more bigger rides, but that will come in time.

Kraken
Terrago
MTB Team
Storm
Hybrid Team
Hack
45650b
Prophet
Pickenflick
Inbred
45650b
BigWig
Fortitide
Escapade
Contour
Pompino
AerisAM
Vandal

Literally zero of the bikes i have owned in the last 18 years have been bought because of the name.

“Conversely, you could just leave your phone at home? I spend enough time with my phone at work, the last thing I want is to have it with me on a run.”

I like to record my activities on Strava and somerimes take photos too, so a phone is useful to have. I rarely get interrupted with work stuff on my personal phone in any case.

Here (north Leeds), its about the wettest on the trails as I’ve ever known them. Even sections that usually hold up well, the ground is sodden and saturated, so any new rain has nowhere to go. Its just layer upon layer of slime and mud.

The springiness of the material

Hmmmm.

I am not a materials engineer, and dont know what springiniess is in technical terms, but intuitively, it does feel as though load would make a difference to ride-feel. I suppose, I feel, that if bike tubes ‘give’ or bend under load, the rate at which they return, or bend back again (rebound, if you like), will slow down when more weight is applied. So, does extra weight induce more damping?

I run 11/46 on my gravel bike with Sram Rival long cage 1x mech. I’d imagine 10/46 would work equally well?

Am I missing something, as this (and also the Fox 36 fork review) seem very short/light on information, not an in-depth review at all.

Just seen the IG pics … looks great! 👌

Is yours the Grurple? How’s it look in the daylight?

It might be worth checking that the axle is centred evenly through the hub, and that there is an even amount of axle showing both sides, as that is the bit that actually butts up to the dropout. I seem to recall that on older/cheaper wheels, particularly if cup & cone bearings, when servicing the bearings and stripping it down, if not put back together properly, you can get the axle showing more one side of the wheel than the other.

Quick flick, like the look, size, feel and smell.

No bike group test though? I know the aim of the mag isn’t to provide loads of bike/gear reviews … but I do really like a good group test.

And I think the days of chanting @brant x3, and him offering to pay for a replacement frame out of his own (moleskin trouser) pocket, is long-gone!

As per @el_boufador up there, some decent rides …

Monday night SS HT. Slop in the open, dry tack in the woods.

Commutes in, and out, yesterday.

And then, today. Forecast was heavy snow from around 7am, falling onto fairly dry trails, and temps around 0°c … so much promise. In the end, we had some sleet, then quite a lot of wet snow. I got out around 3ish for an hour. Looked pretty. Rode shitty. In hindsight, wished I’d just gone out first thing this morning whilst the trails were still in reasonable shape …

I didn’t particularly want/need a Status, it could’ve been a Privateer, SC or even a Yeti.

And no doubt, you will own at least one each of those over the coming few months! 😁

front seems a bit too fiddly and wobbly to bother,

I use the front guard, but don’t bother with the little bit that sits in front of the fork. Perhaps get a little bit more splash, but not enough to make it worth fitting.

Yeah, I put the tape on, as others have said, rubber + grit will scratch the frame otherwise. I also think the rubber grips better to the tape than eg a gloss painted frame; I’ve had zero issues with them slipping on bumpy ground.

Have you tried it with the mech clutch off?

Does the clutch need cleaning and re-greasing?

Jockey wheels worn, or bushings/bearings (in the jockey wheels) stiff?

Does the BB move freely (take the chain off and check that there’s no binding/drag in the BB)

Any stiff links in the chain?

You say the chain is worn, and whilst it might ‘work’ when the system is under load, when free-wheeling / back-pedalling, the chain and cassette may just not be meshing properly.

I have a (and love my) gravel bike.

I also dabbled with a Monstercross build around 3 years ago. Built around a Genesis Fortitude frame. SS (which I like; I usually have a SS HT and a SS CX/gravel/urban hack on the go). I ran it with MTB tyres for a bit (Ardent/Bonty XR2/3), and then with 40c gravel tyres.

I really wanted to like it. It looked cool …

But, I just didn’t get on with it. Too long for me, short stem (to try to make the bike fit) and narrow drop bars just made the steering ponderous and heavy. With MTB tyres on, it was OK on chunder, but the drop bars and steering limited how flickable it was. Heavy frame, fork, SS rather restricted the rides/terrain you could take it on. I thought it would occupy a unique niche between my lighter, zipper gravel bike, and my HT, but it ended up being the worst of both worlds … no faster on road/easy gravel (than the HT), no more capable off road than the gravel bike.

In my dreams, I would still like to think a monstercross has a place in my life, but think my “gravel+ / MTB-lite” niche is best covered by my Ti HT with carbon forks and fast 2″ XC tyres.

I has the Ride Wrap kit fitted by Bird (I think personally by @benpinnick) to my new Aeris AM … he’s done a top-notch job!

I did a generic FS RideWrap kit to my previous Swarf Contour. I didn’t do such a top-notch job. But then, I didn’t take loads of care and time, and essentially I just wanted to protect the key areas. Even so, it was reasonably straightforward to do a ‘not too awful’ job without spending a full weekend on it!

I’ve just gone with Nationwide,  I’ve listed all bikes (and replacement value) for anything over £500. Most expensive bike was £4800 though. They were considerably cheaper than my Aviva quote to continue.

I went with Paisley Freight due to a quick Google and seeing recommendations on here. Booked for today. Waited in all day. No show. Email at 5.55 this evening from APC (presumably subcontracted by Paisley) to say they will now collect tomorrow. So, need to change all my plans and be at home all day. Again.

Obviously, getting the email at 5.55 meant that trying to ring and speak to an actual person at either Paisley or APC before they close at 6pm was a fruitless exercise.

Not cheap either. £35 just to send, plus another £30 to insure to the necessary value.

Hmm. Have toyed with doing a 24hr event over the years, but never done one. How silly would it be to enter it now, 5 weeks out, with good base fitness (regular riding up to 3 hours) but no recent long rides under my belt?

What. A. Result.

Good on the lad. And good on you and everyone involved. 🏆

Might be worth subscribing to the planet x emails

Yeah, already subscribed… think I get 2 emails per day from them! However, encouraging to know they do go (or have been) on offer.

What’s wrong with a cheque-book? 🤷

This thread has amazed me. 2 pages of advice on whether or not a piece of plastic 8x5cm x 1mm is too much to carry around with you!

From the ‘Alloy XC Build’ thread, the Kinesis FF29 would be an option …

https://www.merlincycles.com/kinesis-ff29-mtb-frame-294484.html

Colour? Orange… 😀

🤦

Yeah. Sorry, not paying attention. Thought it was an Orange bike, rather than an orange bike!

Yes, you are being unreasonable in expecting your colleague to be back at work currently.

No, you would not be unreasonable in saying to your employer that what they have asked you to pick up, is not acceptable.

Yeah. I just noticed this. Have ended up spamming people with several messages when all I wanted to do was start a new para in the same message! 🙄

I’d try cleaning/sanding the pads, and cleaning (and a very light sanding) of the rotor first. Or, if the pads are worn, replace the pads.

I’ve rarely had issues with rear sprung tensioners; when I have, they have tended to be to do with chainline issues, worn teeth, or the cassette lockring not done up quite tight enough.

More recently, I’ve been using a BB mounted tensioner, which both looks great (better) and gives more chain wrap.

Bought and ridden FS bikes.

(And can’t change my username to keep up!)

Colour? Size?

That’s crap. Hope you get some good news.

Well. I’m by no means an expert reviewist!

I demo’d the new Aeris AM a few months back at Hamsterley which had them on F&R, I found them really fast rolling (for what they are), especially on the trail centre trails.

I now have my own Aeris AM, have a TC super trail / ultrasoft on the front, and a Big Betty super trail / soft on the back.

I think the combo works very well. I find it much more confidence inspiring than the DHF on the front. Perhaps not quite so comfortable (but then, I’m coming from a 2.6 DHF). I’m still learning to get more out of me, the bike and the tyres, but so far, am really liking the TC.

I’d be careful about feeding them to foxes. Raisins are meant to be poisonous/toxic to dogs, so may also well be for foxes?

Personally I don’t get the singlespeed thing

You do have to ‘get’ SS thing, to get the SS thing … if you see what I mean! And you probably have to give it more than one go. Also, I don’t think they work as well on certain terrain, to me it’s a bit pointless on steep prolonged stuff as when climbing, you either have to run a very low gear or walk, and then you’re spinning out going downhill.  SS works best on undulating (or flat) terrain.

But, the lightness, the directness of the drivetrain, and the reduced grinding of the chain in the slop does make it noticeably different to ride,  and quite compelling … if you ‘get’ it!

OP, any HT you like the look of / within budget can be easily run SS with a tensioner (rear or BB mounted, mine is the latter) with zero bother at all, so no real need to spend a premium on a fancy frame/dropouts (unless you want to/have the budget)

Edit: Oh … and 40 year old knees?? Mine are 56 tomorrow, so your knees have plenty of SS life in them yet!

On One Scandal GX for £500!

On-One Scandal SRAM GX Mountain Bike

@Daffy … Spur looks great.

But you lose points for playing it against that monstrous concrete wall.