tea and banana somewhere interesting / or with a view if possible. Not on night rides though.

add some salt, it’s great then. Proper 80’s style. Try to use latex gloves now mostly. Thanks, might try that at some stage.

having to add your own salt to swarfega to make it like to used to be made. Average without, great with. Not an issue really, just a bit annoying. Although it could be I have a weird variant.

new thermostat with gasket for £3 or £4 for me some time back. Admittabley the old one did sort of half die.

thanks everyone, really appreciated.

depends on the size and probably not suitable but you can get swish sticky leather patches on amazon to hide holes and maybe small cracks, although I guess yours are probably larger.

my line of thought would suggest cars like stags etc are going to need a fair bit of tinkering to keep them good, even once restored. Something like an older BMW or a Jap car, I would have thought would be less aggro if that’s what you are after and probably more straight forward getting parts etc. IMHO May be proven wrong though.

lidl had some in other day in one store. think they were wooden.

also worth being careful with the wheels so the rotors do not get pressure put on them and get bent.

bubble wrap and pipe lagging ( from BNQ maybe ) are your friend. Just remember to take extra and some duct tape for the return journey. Pipe lagging on the shock, rear mech, frame and more importantly the fork stanctions is always a winning combo.

Bars off and turned and maybe lower against the frame, rear mech, pedals off maybe, wheels off maybe, rear mech off and taped tight to frame. Just don’t leave anything sticking out.

Just tell them it’s an enduro bike ..that way it is guaranteed to get better treatment.( joking )

it is he ..the one with a magic carpet.

yeah.. that’s interesting. Took me until the end of the session to feel the bike again..felt like i was playing bukaroo at first. Absence makes heart stronger i guess, although I wouldn’t recommend it too much lol.
Ride for life.

Stock up on the 40 pence large dark and also the white Lidl chocolate blocks as I did once I’d gone in the cycling bits. Mmm 🙂

RIP Messiah. Peace.

the glasses are spot on – had similiar ones from them before and they have proved brilliant/ The styles for each colour are different too, ensuring a slightly different fit to suit all. £3 for a pair of polycarbinate lensed, good fitting / looking shades with great vision / lenses – tough too.

My local one also has good quality (i think) and german made ( i think )cycling multi tools for £2. Loads of different allen bolts, loads of nut heads and extension for sockets, and torx bolt and posidrive

Also look at the website for car accessories coming soon – £16 torque wrenches if you need one.

Don’t race but have been doing circa 7-15 mile urban bmx rides lately. Wall rides on a bmx are terrifying. Great training rides for strength and reactions. Do not tend to ride very fast on a bmx mostly ( unless bmx track )- so they’re different rides to mtbing really. Something a bit different. Such rides have been a blessing over this recent prolonged wet spell where all he trails have been bad. I ride a bit of bmx track and skatepark for fun too.

Don’t worry about the age thing. You’ll be having so much fun it doesn’t matter anyway.

maybe – strong enough ??

could be that the crack is destined to continued further regardless of the bad section being cut away.

probably best to replace.

first helmet a really cool small black and white boeri full facer from the mid eighties for bmx racing. First mtb helmet a bell ukon. Really good helmet with one downside – it made me look like an egg head. Amazingly i have just discovered you can still get them for £16 ish which is pretty good really if you don’t mind the side on profile.

badger

apparently wd40 works on goggles.

have a look at the Tom Dowie thread. Answers there.

thanks Tom, much appreciated.

They are good for the price. Heavy bit of kit. Well designed loop system. Not too long etc. However check the lock barrel’s. I think these may be the same as ones I’ve had in the past. The barrel is seperated at two or three points. I had some eejit trying to pick mine and they’d knocked the internal barrel pieces out of synch in the process, and I struggled to get the original key back in. 10 anxious minutes on my knees, on a busy road, cursing and fiddling around and I got it in just – wouldn’t want a repeat of that. On the positive it would be hard to break it free though and you could maybe get some similar but different locks, maybe. Just a heads up. The design may have changed though and the lock seems ok if it’s galvanised/hardened as I think the chain may be too. Also you’d probably struggle to find a similar chain alone for that price. Should also be fine with just the original key used.

akaskiddles or anyone?? – what are the ground conditions at the moment/ recently like at chicky?

does anyone know about training rides on empty stomach’s? ( ie early morning) and the advantages of these, or they safe etc? Good for weight loss etc?

for during a long ride I just take dried fruit and energy drink too – should I need this. Tend to carry these anyway as a well intended short blast often ends up as a long ride 🙂

think energy drinks tend have taurine and other ingredients etc too, so probably much more effective than just b vitamins. Guess gels are designed for during rides – so again probably better

I personally find the gt effects last for a good while – not just an instant boost. Guess it could be different or have no effect for others.

I guess – I should have posted pre ride in the title. Never tried any of this during a ride, although I am interested in this should anyone have any ideas.

I guess most of you take gels etc for races during the ride so these may not make sense, if that’s the case. Q10 would work, I should image, but I am not sure if it should or can be taken safely during exercise.For green tea – I use 3 or 4 tea bags in maybe and inch or two water works. Cover the teabags in cold water before adding boiling water and leave for maybe a few minutes.

why not just try it. There’s no downside if it doesn’t work. You’ve lost a pound for some tea bags. Never even googled it before – so I haven’t been influenced by internet chat.

Pre-ride so why does it matter how long it takes to process?

green tea

also there’s Co-Enzyme Q10. Energy booster. Have a google.

have a google – probably something online.

I do not know – but it works for me. B vits can be found in energy drinks.

nope doesn’t count – same with EPO

sustrans routes

freshly made retro bikes – aka the new mini, the new beetle, the new fiat 500 etc. Retro copies. Oh hang on it already happens with bmx’s and the zaskar etc 🙂

sucking up a jump at speed and staying on the ground is actually a skill one can acquire too. Live and let live. Surely the attraction of mtbing is that it’s so accessible to so many – lots of people can enjoy the thrill, all it takes is a bit of fitness.Then there’s the bikes – at a guess – ubber light xc bikes aren’t the best for jumping, although so many bikes now are so capable in so many areas.

repack rider – just out of interest what role did Marin bikes play in he early mtb scene? Were they linked to the Marin klunker scene?