A roof mounted rack; BUT this is very much a second preference to having bike in back of estate car be bike whole or partially disassembled , ie front wheel off

As for dirt falling on car; depends on your car upkeep, a wash a year is OK and if it rains enough teh dirt washes off teh roof 🙂

well I never got the £250 odd on ebay I was asking for a 06 Trance with just cable rubs on it so i reckon youd be lucky to get £100 tops with that damage. It seems to me that the value of second hand bike frames / bits is very low indeed ):

LoCo thanks for that link, much more understandable now, I recognise teh compression tube / adjustabe gate now from when I converted a Reba Poploc to a crown lock and had to remove the red tube to get out the poploc return spring.

If you live in S Wales go for 13 -29 with a compact, cruise up the hills and freewheel above 35mph down other side; and if you venture out into mid Wales area you`ll be glad of the 29 at times 🙂
Aside from that I manage mid Wales with above in spring / autumn, or in summer 12-25

How about Glen Kinglass lodge (between Loch Etive and Bridge Orchy), as far as I know inhabited all year around, at least 10 miles from a tarred road. Bruar Lodge off A9 north of Pitlochry also?

Can this be expanded to which is the remotest inhabited spot in the UK mainland? Any takers on this one?
I`d reckon it is one of the houses up alongside Glen Etive accessed through the forestry from Taynuilt, or Crask Inn in Caithness

I too struggle to understand this technology and Im not altogether convinced that with my riding skills I could even tell the difference on the smaller points of fine tuning; as long as the fork feels smooth on small rough hits (eg stoney forest tracks) and works well on rockier stuff Ill be happy. But isn`t that what black box is meant to achieve once user settings are finalised??

There aren`t any it seems apart from teh sticker on the forks themselves; have had same issue on finding info but this may help

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=591938

At 180lb kitted out I`m using 100psi RLT Ti 120/150 dual position fork, and still to fiddle with other knobs yet. I got to this value by 20% sag; tried also 90 psi which was really plush at 25% sag, but found fork started to pack down to half travel on sustained rocky downhill. Still investigating best setup though

Some rotor thicknesses are fractionally different (talking 0.1 / 0.2 mm here)which can cause differences in lever bite positions. Dont think it is a good idea to run too small diameter, even just by 3-5mm overall, a rotor though as youre losing braking efficiency by not using all of the pad surface in addition to causing a lip on the pads.

Good to see that Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi are not featuring in this, !! 🙂 as per mfr service schedule I`m having the engine oil changed every
20 000 miles and all seems fine with it (94k on clock now). Found my previous Ford 1.9 TDCi a real pain though, more time in garage than on road it felt (ECU failure and flywheel break up, all under warranty thankfully)

personally I prefer the high gloss black version 🙂

Part of issue MAY be the cassette you`re using, as per previous thread alloy carriers are recommnded for the Hope alloy freehubs; and tehn correct tightening of the retaining of the retaining nut / collar should stop everything from slipping about.
There has been this debate previously about which sprocket also generates maximun torque on the freehub splines (it will be teh larger sprockets as they have the greatest leverage being applied to teh freehub splines>>> think of them as long spanners acting on teh freehub)

Cheers for that Gary, I was reckoning if / when I get a Cotic X on using Hope hubs , discs option, built up with Mavic 700c Open Pros with a campag 10 speed freehub, hopefully should be doable!

whereabouts do you ride around Sidmouth?? Peak Hill area? from my few visits there seem to be some decent bridleways around that bit.

My riding today = nil , damaged wrist still can`t put any pressure on it 🙁

possibly, depends how deep a tan it is; hope that mine from a week in Pyrenees (end August) will last but then it was a week of pure sun / mountain exposure and 30-40c !! bit more than average UK summer there!

If the Advantage goes on the back can it be run in mfr direction reversed for extra mud traction?? Anyone tried this?

mmmm, I`ve got teh 2.25 Adv for extra comfort though

Reckon you would be very unwise to try it at moment or for next week. It is very cold = very icy (potentail of large accumylated ice slicks across Gap track and on summit rock steps) and forecast is for summit temps MAXM -7c Monday + strong / gale NE winds (Met Office Mtn forecast page). There is also lying and then later drifting snow. It is a good ride but these conditions will make it very difficult and potentially dangerous. Good winter mountaineering conditions maybe but not MTBing IMHO. Wait until another day I suggest.

btw it was -18c near Builth Wells (15 miles from Brecon) last night, and today at home (35 miles away) temps have not got above -1c

A big plus for using a guide is if you`re limited to amount of visit tiem you can get best bits without initial mistakes and struggles; no matter how good guide books / online routes / GPS downloads may be a guide can seamlessly lead you along the trails, and save you on nav time (thanks again here crazy-legs for your guiding in Peaks after the Sportive, made a good day out a graet day out :). Local knowledfge cannot be bettered, yes you can diy and many people prefer that. However if you are away from honey pot areas soem of the tracks on the ground may be obscure and some on the ground may not exist on the map. It can be very difficult to convey correct route finding in a written guide for a user as someone writing the guide can be so familiar with the route as to overlook salient points of reference. A riding guide does away with all these issues and allows you to make most of the time spent riding rather than navigating

GOOD LUCK TO HIM! and yes rates of pay are low but I believe within industry standards

James, I agree that there will be bedding in of components but all of that shoud be taken care of by the builder before the wheel leaves the shop. There should be sufficient stretching, squeezing and detensioning done that once out of the shop the wheel should not need any retensioning. I have the callouses and carpel tunnel to show for it

True, on the occasions that I have built (just my own) wheels I did spend a lot of time squeezing, leaning sideways on teh rim etc (I even heard of a builder who walked on the wheeels!) but won`t there still be some longer term bedding in , after all no matter how much building squeezing etc that is a small proportion of the total tiem a wheel has being ridden and stressed at every rotation?

Re Hope Hoops, great wheels I agree having got both raod and MTB set; I believe that they are hand finished off at Hope, but even so my road wheels still required some retensioning after 1000 miles use, spokes had gone a bit soft

Retensioning IMO is not a myth; if you`ve got a new (aluminium) hub and rim and new (steel) spokes there will be some bed in at the hub & rim spoke holes and possibly stretch in the spokes themselves. Although probably very slight this will change the tension in the spokes >>>need to retension as a best option 🙂

>>>Hmmm, still wondering whether it’s worth going to Brecon this evening to run around the hills for four hours…

here`s sample of BBNP webcam might decide for you!!

http://www.breconbeacons.org/pages/livewebcam

getting breezy here too so plenty of wind chill factor around

Just under an inch snow Hereford / Powys border, but apparently much more over towards Builth Wells; problem here will be the minor roads and ice as it`s just the A44 and other A / B roads that will probably be treated, and sub zero temps making them icerinks (-9c overnight at Sennybridge). Ground has already been frozen solid for two days now

Any idea on frame weights (56 cm size) and can CAMPAGNOLO E/power shifter / brake levers be used with teh stock Tektro or Avid disc calipers? Theres really only one suitable road bike groupset afterall! (also if i did swop my existing farme to a Cotic X Id want to transfer over all teh Campag kit etc! 🙂

Its snowing moderately here (15miles from Rhayader), so theres plenty about on the hills now.
Ref Elan Valley if you want I could take you around a few of the trails there, (email me on that), as I do some MTB guiding over in that area anyway. Although most of routes can be readily navigated at points routs choice of sheep tracks isn`t so obvious! However given the longer term forecast, and possibility of further snow and ice, Elan Valley higher tops maight be rather difficult indeed.
Nant yr Arian will be about 45 min from you, but that too may be snowed up!
If you`re staying at / near Newbridge you also have the option of rides on Radnor Forest hills or the Gwaunceste / Llanbedr / Begwns hills areas, which have a good range of mostly grassy natural trails, plenty to go at but as above weather may well have upper hand again this winter (:

Re you last point, last winter here I couldn`t access most of the areas from late Dec to end Feb due to either deep snow on hills or highgly dodgy away from main road conditions (= untreated packed snow and ice)

Route advice, go somewhere else!

see http://www.mwis.org.uk/mountain/SD.PDF for Fridays weather forecast

Reckon Metcheck OK for a couple of days out but then can be wildly inaccurate from experience; best bet I`ve found is look at Met Office + MWIS + synoptic maps and go for a consensus view, and tehn treat with care! Although some weather patterns are better forecast than others and teh forecast developing high in central atlantic, which will pull down Ntherly winds, probably has a higher forecast certainty than tracking depression tracks across UK, position of which can greatly affect wind directions and rainfalls

Im surprised that it is said that teh oil will warm up enough toloosen off` the forks in cold weather! A few years ago I was riding around in Kielder Forest at about -10c and teh forks , Pace RC41s, actually got stiffer and stiffer during the ride until they became virtually locked out, no sign at all of oil warming up there 🙁

£130 @1:50k 3 years ago

Thanks all for input on this, I`ll have a look again at Babel; not sure though whether my v06 version Anquet will be up to task, maybe why it was quite cheap for whole of UK??!!

+++++1 for what Ambrose says, falls are NO joke, and steep neve is NOT place to be without kit and training.

Thanks, however I can`t see from their conversion listings a Mem Map to Anquet conversion, or am i missing this?

NO, looking back over my reviews posted over last year Wiggle have fairly posted both my positive and negative reviews (-ve reviews of Endura gloves, Assos winter longs, Conti Supersonic tubes for example)

buy lock on grips, that was my solution to carbon bar grip removal !

assuming the bars are alloy; try to thread in end of a spoke or similar object (eg kebab skewer) between grip and bar, and then gently spray WD40 or similar using the tube nozzle into gap formed by skewer / spoke. Try to rottae grip gently and sooner or later it will come off. To reapply clean inside grip, apply some soap, slip back on. DO NOT use above method for carbon bars btw 🙁

To do a proper ice axe arrest you need BOTH hands; one holding the axe at the head and forcing / guiding the pick into the snow, the second near the mid / end of handle to hold the axe steady under your body and stop it bouncing about. Single handed ice axe arrest is lilkely to end up with sharp bits of axe ending up in the user. You will also end up probably losing your bike if using the axe in an arrest situation. As above too crampons, be they full monty jobs or the strap on cheese grater types do give you extar grip but do not help stop you in a slip situation, indeed they can cause someraulting.

I`d reckon for some months to come only way to get onto Ben Nevis summit is with full winter mountaineering gear, not on a MTB . see
http://www.mwis.org.uk/mountain/WH.PDF for expected weather

yes point taken (eg Campag Record doesn`t spin too freely at first), just a bit of a simpler test than having to remove crank arms.
Also can test for side play by gently rocking side / side crank arms, gives indication of bearing wear

remove chain from chainset, spin chainset and listen for any noise / see how freely it spins. this will give you indication of BB condition, ie if it only spins around once I`d suggest BB bearings on way out, similarly if spins but is noisy

absolutely lethal on front in mud / peaty stuff, floated everywhere, went sideways. tried on back , reversed direction to that marked and not too bad on most terrain. Conclusion avoid at all cost on front unless dry