What kept her at the top and even made her haters admire her.
Was that she was so fearsome on the international stage. Like when she stood up to Argentina over the falklands.

I’ve had hit and miss quality on nearly all the cycle clothing brands I’ve tried.
For me its more about the product than that brand.
I’ve had a few pairs of baggies over the years and the best were Endura zymes and you can get them pretty cheap.

I’ve got a 2009 5 that has the slacker head angle. I find its fantastic at trail centres and big descents. But I rode a 2007 5 at cannock chase and it was really good but compared to the one I own its a completely different animal. The slacker 5 is just such a lazy ride. It’s not much fun for pootle round the woods ( I have a soul for that) but show it a technical long descent and its a lot of fun.

During the bad weather last winter in Edinburgh people managed to get to work, shop etc.
It just was a lot more inconvenient but people had no alternative other than to walk, car share and catch the bus.
This just goes to show that people will find a way to get about without constantly relying on the car if they are forced to.

Driving in the UK 9/10 is easier and cheaper than the alternative.
This must change now.
When there is not enough natural resources in the world to go round and our economy is too poor to buy them we need to be in a position to cope.

I have a 2006 On-one inbred sitting in my garage that’s not been ridden this year. I could sell you it for about £150 if you fancy it.
It’s a fully rigid single speed with sliding dropouts and Hayes 9 discs.

When I went to one ring I found I wore out chains and cassettes much quicker than before.
But with a stainless steel ring up front and a lack of front mech cable and shifter it probably balances out long term cost wise.

Had mine for about 4 years and ridden 10,000+ miles on the same bearing.
it does need a new one now ad its a bit noisy whilst peddling.
imo its a great product and I just can’t trust the cheap ones after having hurt myself on their failings.

When I first got my road bike I used up half my brake blocks up in the first week of riding. But I’m on the same set over 2 years and a good few thousand miles later.
On a mountain bike you brake really late when approaching a corner because of discs and big sticky tyres.
With a road bike once I realised that you have brake much earlier you can really cut through corners at speeds that cars struggle to keep up with you.
Have faith in road tyres, they are much better than you’d think possible.
Be very gentle when braking in the wet and don’t Brake when the bike is leaned over or it could slide.
I found riding a road bike help make me a smoother rider on the road and on the dirt.
Descending a twisty road at speed on a racey light weight road bike is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done on a bike. period.

I’m in. First time for me and I am expecting to finish.
Although my knees have been a bit sore lately.

I will always try and buy British if its good quality.
But sometimes its hard to find out if something is British designed or made or even its just the head office thats in the UK. I Think companies do this because most people are simply driven by cost when buying and that their is no weight to a Made in Britain sticker. Also companies source materials and part manufacture from all over the world so its hard to shout how British you are when all you do in the UK is the finishing and packaging of the product.
If their was a UK body that guaranteed a certain standard like the Lion mark on eggs then that could help companies show how good they are and consumers make a choice.

Not everything with Made in Germany stamped on it is good quality.
I once ordered some holesaws at work and received these made in Germany ones and they were terrible. They were ruined after just one use. I ordered some UK made Starrett ones and you could drill a hundred holes before wearing them out.

I really like the black for all its climbing and its fast descending.
But take a full suss with 2.3 tyres and you’ll enjoy the descents much more (deliverance especially).
I did 2 laps on my Soul the other week and found it just battered me.

In my experience they’re brittle so a hammer and screw driver will do the trick.

They are not what i would call all’rounders.
I’ve got a five and is amazing at trail centers with a winch to the tip and plummet to the bottom.
But for a xc ride round where I live it sucks the life out the ride.
It just make everything sooooo easy and my Soul is so much more fun at general riding.
My pal has a Trek Fuel and he rides it everywhere, but for me I’d stick to a 100mm ish full suss like an Orange ST4 or something similar.

I have a 5 with a RP23 and climb at trail centres with it on level 2, level 3 on the road and off when descending. If I’m riding more natural stuff I tend to leave it on level 1 unless I’m descending something worth me dropping my saddle.
My pall has a Carbon Blur xc and leaves his pro pedal off as he thinks it makes no difference. When he enquired at Jungle they said that the shock is set with a minimal pro pedal tune.
Make from that what you will.

Bought a Cotic Soul and now ride nothing else off road. So get yourself one with durable but pretty light build, a height adjustable fork and a spare lightweight wheels shod with racy tyre and it will be ideal for anything. Mine weighs 25lbs with a set of trail tyres on and weighs 23lbs with lighter wheels and tyres.

Thanks for the replys.

I’ve had a Cotic Soul for about 1 year now and in my opinion it is the ultimate allrounder.
When I bought it I pretty much exclusively rode it for 6 months.
It made my Inbred feel heavy, my Orange 5 feel boring/uninspiring and my Scandal feel a fragile wobbly mess. All my bikes are good in their own ways but put an adjustable fork on the front, a fast large volume tyre on the back and a big grippy tyre on the front and it will feel right no matter where or what you ride.
I’m thinking that if I had a spare set of wheels with slick fitted I could probably go from 5 to 1 bike. That would cheer the wife up.
Buy one.

The road bikes I see around Edinburgh are 9 times out of 10 either Specialized, Giant or Trek.
I’d love to see some Bianchis out and about instead of the boring mass market offerings by the big boys.
I am a bit of a fan of Italian bikes fan though.

I have a hardly used on-one scandal 18″ frame for sale if you want.
Edinburgh based if you fancy coming round and having a look.
The frame weighs about 1.5kg and I built it up with average kit (lx) and it weighed approx 23.5lbs.

I take it that most of you guys don’t ride in wet muddy conditions?
Ive worn out a lot of the clothes you’ve mentioned including my Endura zymes.
My shorts all wear out where they rub with my saddle.

All the wheels I’ve had start to lose spoke tension and the rim moves closer to the stays.
I reckon this is due to disc brakes twisting the hub from the one side.

Had the same thing happen to me. When I googled the problem there was reams of similar stories.
Mine was over 2 years old, so I didn’t bother claiming.
I just use the big ring now.