Thanks all. PM’s sent and responded to.

OK, thanks again everyone.

@eat_more_cheese – does this look like your suggested route? https://www.plotaroute.com/map/1162501 Your offer of getting a gas canister would be great, as long as it were convenient to meet up en route (I’ll obviously paypal you the money).

@moonsaballon. I’ll PM you now, that’s a really kind offer. If you’re keen for a ride it’s be great to meet up. No worries if it doesn’t work for you (see new route above).

@codybrennan. That would be brilliant, although I probably wouldn’t be at yours till ~9pm? Don’t want to be an inconvenience if you’ve got an early start the next day or young kids? I’ll PM you.

Thanks again to everyone :)

Wow, thanks everyone for the kind offers of help, general advice and a lawn. I’m definitely not an axe murderer, axes are far too messy!

I’ll check the map to make sense of all the advice and come back to you all individually via PMs.

Thanks again, I’ve done heaps of multi-week touring and decades of riding but this will be my first multi-day solo trip so I’m strangely slightly nervous :)

Both my wife and I have run ultegra discs for 3 years now. Zero problems. Much much more faffing on our MTBs.

I’ve booked an optimistic flight to Geneva on the 15th August with the plan to ride home. Fingers crossed the quarentine is no longer necessary elaee it’s off. But at £80 one way Inc bike I can take the hit if it doesn’t come off.

I’m slightly nervous about what might happen if the quarentine kicks back in as I’m riding from Geneva to Calais… By I can cross that bridge (channel) when I get there.

I did Sports Science BSc and then PhD at one of the top Sports Sci Unis in the country (20 odd years ago mind). I loved working with athletes & performance optimisation, but hated the endless hours pipetting in the lab only to find you’d messed up the reagent somewhere along the line. After a spell lecturing I moved into teaching and now teach Maths part-time and run an endurance coaching business part time where I get to use the knowledge and experience that sits on the foundation of my degree.

Would I change it, no chance. I love endurance sport and the insights and grounding in sports science lead to endless additional enjoyment doing (and coaching/discussing) the sports I love. I did realise very early on in my degree that to stand out in Sports Science you need a good degree grade, no 3rd class honours if you want to stay in the field.

Course mates of mine now work in a variety of fields, physio (another degree), banking, marketing, running their own business, teaching, research in a variety of fields, working in sports nutrition for a huge multinational… just like any science degree the jobs are the ones you chase with enthusiasm. I would say that if you’re looking for big bucks then there’s better ways to spend three years, but in terms of a fascinating subject that can lead into a career in sport I’d recommend it.

Everytime I’ve gone away from Shimano pads I’ve regretted it, glazing or rapid wear or, on one occasion, pad/backing seperation (!).

Probably just bad luck in all cases but I just look out for deals on Shimano now.

Thanks @cougar.

Hmmm. Reading back I think the answer is obvious, PS4 because thats what he’d like and I’m happy to spoil him right now as he’s having a shit time and I’ve got to own some responsibility for that.

Any tips on deals/what to look out for? I’m guessing consoles are as pricey as bikes right now 🙄

I’ve used OSB (free) and that’s been really good.

@tjagain I assumed it would make the wax stick better (if there was no oil/grease on the surface of the chain). Do you not find that?

PS thanks for all the input into this thread.

I’m loving the waxing. Homebrew mix of parrafin wax,bees wax, PTFE and molybdenum disulfide (all procured via eBay). Using a second hand rice cooker (but regretting that as no wire basket so it’s annoying to fish chains out with a bent spoke while wax drips everywhere).

I’ve done all 10 bikes in the household, very satisfying.

Id recommend Josh Partners chain cleaning technique https://youtu.be/yM4c7MwEmMs as easy and fast (obvs after cleaning the chain as normal if it’s a longer). If it’s a new chain I think a good clean first in solvent is a good idea to get out any little bits of metal that would create extra friction (you can see them in the white spirit after the clean).

@sillyoldman. Thanks, since my post I’ve borrowed the latest diagnostics box from my LBS (I have the 1st gen but that doesn’t find current drains) and ascertained that in one bike it’s the rear mech that is ‘probably’ draining the system and in the other it’s definitely the battery. Have you had experiernce of corroded terminals? Is it something you can spot visually? My 4-port junction is basically in the BB shell and must always be damp in winter…

@furrner. Thanks, that’s reassuring. I think I’ll need to get a better soldering iron then, mine is a super cheapo one that I a mate gave me. Any advice as to type/cost/what to look for?

OUr Minky one seems to do the job, although you have to double wrap the cleat when hanging your bike from it!

Yup, got a Stages Powermeter from them, quick service. Warrenty support was excellent when I had a problem with them. Would def use them again.

I’ve got a Burls custom titanium road/gravel bike and so has my wife and they’re lovely, the geometry and sizing was tweaked to match what we wanted and the quality is really good. I’d definitely recommend them.

Just rung the 0161 number again (tried every hour today), got through this time via option 1 and they’ve just refunded the money (£500 ISH). No problems, I guess the rush to get a refund has died off a bit.

Now fingers crossed they don’t go bust and we get to go to Majorca next April instead!

I found some 661 adult small elbow/forearm pads that worked really well for my son about that age. Mesh neoprene type sleeve then hard plastic for the knee and shin.

Brilliant, thanks all, will research all those ideas and bulk buy smidge!

All my students (16-18 yr olds) know their height in feet/inches and weight in stones/llbs. Only a few also know them in metric too.

Interestingly they struggle to then estimate the length of an inch or a foot but they can hold their fingers up for a cm. Rulers I guess?

At least they didn’t eat through the wiring on your solar panels and thus cost you £1000! You may hate them… I really really really hate them!

I’d definitely head south west and check out the monastery climbs at Felantix and Randa, both lovely climbs and a nice break from the mountains. I’ve got loads of gpx routes, pm me your email and I’ll send some over when I’m back home in a few days.

10 years old. Not sure what 10 Ur old is. Stupid phone!

I’m too old to be really revelant to your Q OP but we use a white noise app every night and find it helps. There’s also sleeping mindfulness type relaxation recordings too, or audio books. My son (10) listens to Harry Potter audiobooks when he can’t sleep, works a treat. Good luck!

Loads of interesting stuff here, thanks to all the contributors. Almost at the buy and try point.

What quick links are people (re)using? If it’s going on my road bike I’m a bit nervous about resuing on in case it goes pop in a sprint, or a baby robin dies. Or am I being overly nervous?

Read it in a oner. Loved it. Thanks.

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

Really appreciate everyone’s advice. Been bonkers at work so haven’t had time to strip them down. I did get a ziptie in there eventually but it didn’t work so I’m guessing it’s overenthusiastic greasing and possibly installing the lowers with the pistons compressed. Either way, going to have a go tomorrow evening and will report back.

Thanks again.

@t0mmm after much wiggling I still can get a ziptie past the seals. I’ll drop the legs this afternoon and reinstall with the rods fully out.

@honourablegeorge thanks, that’s also a possibility. I was enthusiastic with grease thinking it’d make it slipperier! Hopefully the lower leg reinstall will fix, otherwise I’ll have to take the new air spring back out and clean it. 🙄

Thanks both.

@K it’s Def on properly, but I’ll check it’s not blocked 👍

@t0mmm thanks. That definitely could have happened. You mean sneak it past the seal where the stanchion enters the lower?

BSM, Les Arcs and Tignes (along with the rest for STW it seems) in August with the family. Cannot wait! #prayfordry

I was in the same race @weeksy. Been on Zwift for a while but generally just go to Wattopia and do 2 reps up the big climb. Thought I’d try a race…

I found it mega hard to back off when drafting. I have a dumb turbo and get power from my SRM so not sure if that changes things but drafting seems to make FA difference to my effort/power. As a result I yo-yo up and down the group like an overexcited puppy.

You were right about the first lap, quiet steady all things considered. But when you got popped off the group I was absolutely hanging on for dear life then it all seemed to back off and then people were waiting for the gallop (through which i mainly went backwards).

A good smash fest though.

Guessing (hoping) you’ve taken off by now but if not, and you like maths, try Odds and Evenings.

Alternatively, and less geeky, Freakonomics radio has some good episodes.

Lastly, and surprisingly, I really enjoyed “Where do We Begin?” Recommended by a friend, thought I’d hate it but gave it a go, was hooked.

I did it for my son’s last bike. 26″ Reba’s set at 100mm travel, 24″ wheels (stans. crest)

Absolutely no problems apart from making it a tiny bit slacker which, given his keenness for going downhill fast and a matching hatred of riding uphill, wasn’t really a problem!

I’ll have a look, I might still have the rims. Pm me if you’re interested.

It’ll be miserable if you’re expecting to win.  But it’ll be fun if you’re expecting to ride your bike while trying to combine riding smoothly through technical stuff with breathing through your ears.

Basically, as long as ambitions for glory aren’t your motivation you’ll have fun!  Good luck :)

@pobaker.  How did your nipper get on?

This is good, nice work WCA.

I’m worries about your wrists… Not for any particular reason other than they are a bit like ankles and you don’t have a great track record with ankles.

Whatever it ends up looking like, it’ll have been fun.

@pobaker. Nice one 👍 see you there.

@pobaker. The afternoon race is on a two dot DH track which they’re using for the Enduro the next day (Cougar Root if you know it). It’s cheeky and my son (who’s ridden La 8 in BSM if that helps) is happy on it.  The morning race is still a fun course, fast and flowy singletrack for the first half then a little fireroad transition then a short but steep and tight last section (Wormhole).

If you’ve got the day why no do the morning one then ride the afternoon course a few times and see what your son thinks?

Maybe see you there, I’m marshalling the kids race in the afternoon so will be around.

@tetrode. I reckon you’d be ok riding together. It’s pretty low key I think (you could always have a mechanical that takes just the right amount of time to fix!)