@boblo – Make a hole in the container on the opposite end to the nozzle while you are pouring. That way the air can get in and no vomit or mess. Obviously works better if you use the whole bottle and don’t plan to store the rest of the container in your boot ;-)

It is an offence to ride a pedal cycle on a road or other public place whilst being unfit through drink or drugs…

True, but….

My drinking is also at a bimbling pace when I am on a country pub/bike bimble. I also suspect/hope the police have better things to do than stop me on a bridleway miles from a town to do a breath test.

Guide dog buffets would be a terrible idea, they are Labradors after all and labs are well known for being the hungriest animals in the world! A friends lab managed to often a 18kg bag of dog food and ate until he was sick, he then ate the sick :-)

My question, do you think pets get annoyed when we go out to work for the day or enjoy a day of relaxing on the sofa?

Looks great, I bet it rides great too!

so what strategy do you employ to go slower?

Pubs, my bimbling rides are normally between pubs. One of lifes great pleasures is an offroad bimble between country pubs.

I know paisley freight will send a box and packaging and then collect the bike if the seller is willing to take it apart and package?

Otherwise Shiply.com used to list the job for independent couriers to quote for, I used them in the past for moving large, unpackageable items like car seats.

I’ve used something similar to this to get a mate out of trouble when he rounded his through axle – https://www.screwfix.com/p/bolt-extractor-set-5-pieces/1112V?kpid=1112V&cm_mmc=Google-_-Datafeed-_-Tools?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=Google-_-TOKEN1-_-TOKEN2&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI847RntzzhgMVc5hQBh1wsgvCEAQYASABEgIcMfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Worked really well, so well that it was out in 30 seconds and my mate moaned that it wasn’t worth him driving 30 minutes to mine to do it :-)

Not keeping tools or tubes on your bike? In this country at least, anything strapped to a tube is going to be covered in crap by the time you want to use it, and after a couple of years will have seized if they had any moving parts (a pump for instance)

I’ve had a pump on my frame for about 10 years and it is still absolutely fine, it just gets hosed off with the rest of the bike.

For storage, I have a tube, multitool, tubeless repair kit and some tyre levers in a saddle bag in the front triangle of my frame. The outer bag gets a bit muddy when conditions are really bad but the stuff inside is in a ziplock bag so it is also fine.

I like having it on the bike, means I have the right stuff for that bike and I don’t forget it!

This is on my to do list at the moment, is Yellow Jersey still the go-to for uplifted, MTB travel insurance?

Some Spesh tyres available at Balfes for £22 each

Hillbilly – https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/components/tyres-tubes/specialized-hillbilly-grid-trail-t9-mountain-bike-tyre-black-29-x-24__38593

Purgatory – https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/components/tyres-tubes/specialized-purgatory-grid-trail-2bliss-ready-29-x-24-t9-tyre-in-black__48643

Thursday night ride with a post ride pint or 4, standard Thursday evening come to think of it!

Another for smidge, worked ok in Scotland last summer

Apparently “Insurers say rises are partly due to general inflation, rising car repair costs – with garages charging more for parts and labour – and paying out more for written-off cars, due to the value of used cars getting ever higher”

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips/2023/10/31/

On the customer services thing, our work customer service team deal with phone calls as 1st priority, web chat as 2nd and email as and when but aiming to get back to you within a few days.

The BB is disappointing on an expensive bike but as the frame isn’t damaged and the BB is disposable, I’d just replace it if it needs it and move on. From their perspective, it may have been perfectly fine when it left them and been damaged by the customer. Hard to prove either way.

I have all sorts from various phones over the years. I have one contact called “boring ****, don’t answer”, its a bloke I used to work with who had a habit of calling in the car on his way home from work to discuss something that happened during the day and he would be near impossible to get off the phone. I guess at some point I updated the contact so I didn’t forget and get stuck talking to him for half the evening :-)

Bit torn on that one.

On the one hand, it is progress in the industry and the technology will (in theory anyway) trickle down to lower spec stuff and will get cheaper. By just banning everything new stunts progress.

On the other hand it means those with bigger budgets have an advantage…

F that, the only time I see 5am is when I’m go mountain biking a decent drive away ;-)

Kramer
Let’s face it, a lot of what, traditionally was called XC mountain biking is in fact gravel biking and is better served by using a gravel bike because they’re quicker and more fun.

Depends what you used to ride and call XC? I know somebody who said similar so I took him for a local (what I call XC ride) and he nearly cried. Rutted bridleways, rooty forest paths, dried horse hoof prints and the odd drop or jump when we can find it.

Look at the world cup XC courses, would you ride those on a gravel bike?

Lovely words, he sounds like a true gentleman. RIP.

 

Nice bike. I like Trek, I think they make well thought out bikes for a good price.

Yes, about 10 years and counting.

Lucky escape! I’ve had the same thing happen before but luckily only exiting the a trail centre car park, I had to stop the car and do the walk of shame to correct it while the whole trail centre cafe looked on.

Madness, for the price of a VIP ticket you could have a nice week in the alps riding bikes ;-)

Are they part of the ice bath/crossfit/weight lifting/wild swimming ladies mid life starter pack?

…those with one bike only almost exclusively ride a full sus. Those that are a bit new tend to go for longer travel full sus as it aids confidence. Those of us who ride hardtails almost always have a full sus as well which we use for bigger days out. We ride the hardtails for the simplicity of week in week out maintenance over the winter and wet weather mudfest that is british mountainbiking.

Agreed, same as my group. Adding one more observation – some of our group have ebikes for bigger big days out too.

Go on then, Ive entered. I wasn’t too bothered if I won the last 2 raffles but I’d really like this one please.

have you tried putting new insidey stuff back inside?

Cant go wrong with anything from Topeak or Lezyne in my experience.

@ready – Any chance you can share the link? I did it years and years ago (before I was mapped my rides) but it was wet, cold and windy so I’d like to try again in better conditions.

Does anybody know roughly which trails the enduro normally use? Glentress, golfie, off piste or is it different every time?

Worst I have ever tasted is in the Swinley cafe, this was a few years back so it may have improved but I am too traumatized to try again.

800mm – that’s how they came. I planned ride a bit and cut them down if needed, they felt comfortable so I left them as they are. I am tall with ape like arms though.

In that case, have a browse here – https://lakesmtb.co.uk/lake-district-routes/

I’ve done a good few of them and all have been brilliant.

Except, it does.  You’ve got things which are much denser/heavier than water (steel) and things which are much less dense/heavy than water (air).  Add them together and you’ll float or sink depending on whether you’re at a net gain or not.

Nope, self evidently magic ;-)

Boats, how can that many tons of steel float on water?

I tend to stick to Stans but have used Joes, Peatys and a few others over the years. All work fine, the only one I’ve had an issue with is Muc Off, it wouldn’t seal even the smallest of holes.

Not just ebike vs normal but I think my body thermostat is broken. This morning I walked the dogs at 7am, I was in shorts and a long sleeved t shirt and I bumped into 2 people in winter coats, 1 had a wooly hat on!

I like Whinlatter, a quick blast around the South loop then the north, decide your favourite and do it again.

Nice cafe too.

That’s a lovely looking thing! Congrats.

I wasn’t a fan when I did it, a good bit of the boardwalk was in poor condition and the wire had worn away or broken so it was incredible slippery. The rocky stuff was better but still not as good as the WC track. I found the blue waste of a trip in the gondola too.