My favourite is still my old boss who picked up a bike catalogue off my desk one day…he exclaimed that one bike was £2,500 and didnt even come with pedals!

Dont stress about a road bike, just get some cheap wheels and some commute slicks with kevlar and swap them over.

I rode a road bike for about 2 years but found between the potholes and summer cyclists I now prefer to ride my hardtail with forks that mean my teeth dont rattle out and brakes that mean I can stop at short notice!

Training wise its bad news – loops of Richmond Park, Regents Park or city routes endlessly stopping for red lights 🙁 get an iPod (only for in the park mind!)

Upside is loads of cycle shops!

i’ve sent a few pairs back, mostly broken zips. Still comfy shorts though!

there is a decent loop in the singletrack route log that goes through falmer which allows for lots of customisation (getting lost!)

Have an awesome time!

I did it last year on a Nobby Nic front and a Ralph rear – tubeless. This was a pretty popular set up. Was surprised at how many Panaracer XC Pros I saw!

If you know like the two you suggested already maybe try your MKs on the front and the better rolly ones on the back?

Thats where I saw it! I knew I had read about biking in Slovenia but couldnt find it…will be into the loft tonight for my old copies of Singletrack 🙂 thanks Dave

My girl arms fit the small Endura ones, the only problem being they could be a bit longer!

thanks guys!

they dont seem to be loosing any air, the pressure was the same last night

the oil is enough to notice it looks wet but its not enough to be dripping

dont do it

just get delivery

third / fourth / fifth AQR

great guides and the hotel they use is perfect too 🙂

I’m looking at selling my flat – the local estate agent charges £180 but if you look up the direct.gov website it says you can do it yourself, apart from the energy rating. Depends how much time you have! I have most of the information from when I bought two years ago so am looking into being able to use that while I test the market.

Anyone after a one bed flat in South west london? (loft converted to bike workshop!)

I second the threes

4 years in Central London

1x knocked off by pedestrian = black eye, cuts, bent bike
1x came off on an ice patch last December, biggest bruise you ever saw & couldn’t sit for ages

once week minimum occurrance of run off road / into barrier / other kind of swear out load in shock moment.

now its “summer” – once a day on average witness to a summer cyclist becoming a statistic

oh – and would never consider going back to commuting my tube!

one happy hippy – do you know if the passat engine will fit in a T25?

Our original 1.6 diesel has gone gone gone and we are debating buying another similar engine or swapping it out entirely. Not sure if buying a second hand engine just means buying someone else’s problems!

not to put you off Smartay but anyone have or know of a diesel T25 engine going spare…mechanics just gave us some bad news 🙁

Keep us posted!

Stuff like this and worse happens every day 🙁

If you can, try and drive a few. I drove a few bays and then the T25 and ended up taking the less romantic but more comfortable, “sensible” option, although our T25 has still cost us a few grand to keep on the road in the last year (fingers crossed that the engine rebuild is the last of it now!)

and with the kids…look into awnings and back seat seat belts (esp if you are stuck on a bay, not all have them)

Do it! I thought about it for years and finally we bought a T25 last year. It has been awesome although it will take a bit longer to get anywhere. Get a bike rack asap (fiamma ones are c.£116 at JustKampers) if the van doesnt come with one. Then on your travels you can still get to the fridge / cooker

Quick warning – If you take things and the administrators find out you could be charged with theft as a servant, be fired and therefore loose any redundancy entitlement. The administrators will be keeping an eye out for this type of thing as it reduces the liabilities the company has…

BillOddie – height to gutter rail because the bit the goes from the awning structure and attaches to the van needs to be taught / not flap or hold water. Our van is actually 210cms high which is what I was using to internet research with but it turns out that the heights they quote are for the attachment point.

We have the added complication of a pop top which rules out the awnings which can use a rope over the van to secure. If your roof doesnt pop then you might be able to use the sucker attachments

I like the idea of getting the diamond reset. You can sell it to her that she can have it designer / custom / exactly how she wants it.

I also like the idea that you can have something else made for your mum too!

As for the materialistic side of things…I would like to think I’m not one of those girls at all, unless a bike is involved, but presented with the prospect of a shiny pretty sparkly thing to keep forever I was completely totally girly about it…imagine if someone said to you that you could only have one bike for the rest of your life?

We are shopping for awnings at the moment (VW T25) and went to a caravan place just east of Horsham – they are all set up and you can walk around them. Chose a Suncamp Aspect, sounds perfect for what you want it for…our problem was van height. Our van is only 180cms high which leaves you with only two choices, the Khyam tourer or the Just kampers one, both twice the price of the suncamp one and heavier / bulkier to cart around 🙁

what chvck said but then a little bit less for the front on rocks

I used to have an insureandgo annual policy – then I was going to Spain mountain biking. Just on a whim I decided to call and double check I was covered. Apparently I was…so long as I didnt go off road!

I now have dogtag – they will even cover you to race overseas

my bikes are covered by my M&S contents insurance, which covers you for loss away from home including overseas as far as I can tell

dont worry, you will get the hang of rolling out of bed pretty fast 🙂

I had about 10 days off the road bike the last time, a week the time before. You will know when you can get back on the MTB, you wont be riding around any little bump in the road anymore and you will be able to manage it without pain killers.

as for laughing, sneezing, sleeping that will all take longer I’m afraid. Then you will find wierd stuff that hurts. Last time I did mine it was a 3 hour trip back in my mate’s car with bucket seats, try getting out of those! or putting the hand brake on properly (lucky I dont live on a hill)

it does get you out of putting the dishes away in the high cupboards though!

oh and anything between 8 and 12 weeks before they are 95% again

I have one of the ceramic ones on both bikes –

one has lasted all last year and that included the transrockies, torq 12 (mudfest) etc. still spinning really nicely. Then again my team mate put one on his rockies bike at the same time, seized up not long after we got back although it got replaced by SS and has been fine since.

the other I put on the hard tail (ie winter mud bike) in December and its still sweet too.

never managed to loose any weight just riding although have gotten much fitter. As soon as you add a run in it starts to fall off…

My favourites are Endura Singletracks

All the womens specific baggies I have tried on are all too short, they stop half way down your thigh or a couple of inches above your knee, I prefer mine to come right down to my knees (but not 3/4s).

two months is more than enough time to convert your running fitness to biking fitness, but as others have said make sure you dont hurt yourself running! One way to do this is to cross train, perhaps include a ride instead of one of your shorter runs in the week…the important run is the long weekend one, you can substitute for one of the others no worries

wish I’d known this before I trained for a marathon…I like running but cant anymore 🙁

re the trail pixie question – the next working day is this saturday (4th). Trail maintenance is done by the BoB moutain bike club (www.bobmbc.com). I would assume all hands are welcome, get in touch with the Gorrick guys or the Bob info email and find out where to meet.

There are also a couple of guys in the club who are out mid week most weeks in the summer building new or fixing stuff between working days

I’ve got a brand new deore crankset and internal BB sitting around in the loft if anyone wants it I’m open to offers!

I just bought an Endura Pheonix – great ladies fit and £55 at cycle surgery (you can mail order but they are quite slow).

This replaced my previous jacket (gill freedom) which I loved but after 3 years of trashing and too many broken bits has been relegated to commute duties only. I did see a few on random websites in small sizes so she may find one!

I try and avoid ibruprofen on the basis that if it hurts and unless I cant sleep because of it that i’m probably better off with the pain not letting me over use what ever is injured.

I do use arnica for the swelling though, works a treat. The mouth spray is best but the tablets are good too. Might be good for you thisisnotaspoon?

I second the motodivas, the 2009 ones are pricey but if you are lucky enough to have small feet then there are loads of 2008 ones cheap cheap cheap. I prefer the ones with a ratchet buckle bit, although this is tricky when full of mud once you get the trick of them they are miles better than the velcro only ones.

I’ve also got some diadora ones which are cheap on CRC at the moment, they are ok but I only commute in them, they are too soft otherwise (probably only still using them becuase they are pretty shiny silver and sparkley blue)

great Video, which way did you go from the bottom of Weacombe combe?

If you get ones that fit right then they will be comfy enough to wear all the time. I wore mine (elbows, knees and shins) all week in France, riding up and down the hills was fine.
I wear them in the UK only if its rocky – Wales I have lost way too much skin and will def not ride without. Surrey Hills / Swinley never wear them. Quantocks it depends who I’m with and what mood I’m in / which bits we are going to ride.
Then again I always scrape elbows and that fleshy bit on the outside of your shin just below your knee, rarely just knees.
I used impact shorts for a while, with hip pads because I had a spate of falls where I’d get my hip bone but they were too much hassle / too hot

I like the peanut butter choc chip ones the best. Ok on a casual ride but if you are out all day on a big nonstop ride / enduro race type thing then they can get dry and harder to eat. Torq bars are easier to get down in this situation and fit better in your pocket.

Where:Tooting to London Wall mostly via Elephant & Castle, often via Richmond, Hyde Park, Regents Park or Hampstead

What: Blue Spech Allez Elite or black cotic soul

When: as soon as I can drag myself up for as long as I can until 8ish leaving 6/7ish

my ground effect ones dont have any grippers and therefore no bulgy bits 🙂

more and more are showing up to Gorricks but I guess thats just growth in line with the other male categories too. In my experience a field of 15 at any race would be good although spread across catagories at a Gorrick you would probably have 30+