I have had a Ruffian (26") for about three years or so. I am very happy with it, great build quality and it has stood up to lots of use very well.

Clink, I was one of the (two?) Gunnar Ruffian owners at the BBB, I didn't do the drag race so it must have been the other guy you beat.

The prices look to have gone up a fair bit since I bought mine.

radoggair – Member

think the guy in the pic needs some cornering lessons !!
That is good cornering for Pants :D but why is he wearing full Winter gear? This race is in Summer!!!!

I did a lap of last years course after work today. It is all dry and dusty. The bracken is overgrown in a couple of places, but I am sure that will soon be cleared away. All in all a great course.

Pants, Lou and me are riding over there tomorrow afternoon, so will keep a look out for you – seeing a you have been in hiding for the past few weeks…

Don't forget that pre-entries close on Tuesday.

It is great isn't it :-)

We went with a like-a-bike to start with:

He is now on a Cnoc 14

And we have a Benin20 in the loft, that he should grow into in the next month or so…

I have been using a set of Cobalt wheels for just over a year now. So far I have been very happy with them, they have stayed totally true and I am still on the original bearing, although I think rear bearings will need changing soon. I really can't fault them.

I did have the problem with the freehub failing. 2pure sent a new one out very quickly, and it hasn't failed since.

low 30's at the moment, and about 20 degrees at night. I just got back from there at the weekend.

We spent the time at an all inculsive hotel on Lara Beach so have no idea what the rest of the area is like, but the 5* hotel was very good.

I got around the 121km in 6:47. I paced myself totally wrong, I went way too slow until the 2nd feedstation, then speeded up until the finish. I think it was only the last 5 miles where I had the rain.

I thought it was a very good route, a real nice mix of terrain. I was glad I had the route on the GPS as there were a few places where the signs seemed to have disappeared and it would have been very easy to take a wrong turn.

Overall a great day out, and excellent value for money considering the free food and pint glass.

I am entered in the 121km event. I think I am looking forward to it and just about to go and fit an extra bottle cage to the bike in preparation.

Already looking forward to a beer at the end!

One of these:
http://www.plainlazy.com/acatalog/info_wheeliesky.html

I have broken a steel frame, an aluminium frame and a titanium frame, but am yet to break either of my carbon frames. I am happy to stick with CF.

I did 2 out of 3. My brakes totally died just into the 2nd lap, I managed to mince my way down all the descents but hadn't brought any spare pads with me so called it a day at the end of the lap.

The fireroad was interesting on the way out – RWD and mud is always a good mix. I managed a few sideways moments on the way up the steepest hill. As well as cleaning the bike the car needs a decent wash as I seemed to get mud all over that too…

We had to get the seller of the place we bought to buy indemnity insurance to cover various bits of work that had been done on the house over the years. From memory I don't think it was that expensive.

I am just leaving the Crossmarks on, they will do fine at Swinley whatever the weather.

Mudguards for long wet rides off road, it makes a difference. On Sunday I am just doing three laps, so won't bother with mud guards – plus I am not too sure if I have one that will fit on my seatpost.

I have just noticed that Gorrick now have a map of the course on their website.

Personally I wouldn't expect to get a free shock pump with a suspension fork. I have bought several forks over the years, some on bikes and some by themselves, and have never received a shock pump with them.

On a similar note Planet-X didn't include a free track pump with the road bike I bought from them, how am I supposed to adjust the tyre pressure? I haven't used it for the past six months as both tyres are flat.

If you do head to Farnham I have always found Cafe Piccolo to be very good. Also I have found Borellis to be good too.

Of the places mentioned above:

The Rose and Thistle at Frimley Green is welcoming for kids during the day, the food is ok and they have a good selection of lagers and ale.

Unless you really want to go the a Harvester, avoid the Kings Head in Frimley Green as they really seem to have a problem with serving drinks – you will get your food before the drinks arrive.

I have always found the Gurka Palace in Farnborough good, it is not posh, but it is always very friendly and we have taken our young kids in there a couple of times with no problems – luckily my children avoided playing with the Gurka swords on the wall, unlike some of the 'adults' I have been in there with!

I have Paragon sliding dropouts on my single speed. As long as you use a decent tool you shouldn't have a problem. However I have found that mine did slightly round over time, so I have invested in a few spare bolts and just replace them at the first sign of rounding. The bolts are M8 x 16 stainless steel. My local bolt shop sells them for 20p each.

Oddly I have just checked and I think I have replaced all the original ones, but the replacement bolts have never rounded…

I really like mine. I have had it a year or two now, I bought it as a frame only and built it up as a sort of do it all build. I have used it for everything from the trails at Afan, to xc racing, to 12 hour solo enduros, and I also occasionally use it for towing my son about on his trailer bike… It goes up and down hill well and is fairly comfy for long rides.

The overall quality of the frame seems pretty good, and it is priced really well compared to other similar 853 frames.

I am 6 foot and the 19" frame is a really good fit for me.

Given the option I think I would go with a fork mounted rack on a carbon frame. However I have put my carbon roadbike frame into my Giro rack without any problems. As suggested above I put some helicopter tape onto the frame where the clamp jaws sit.

If you are buying roof bars then the genuine BMW ones are very good and quick to fit, and from memory weren't too expensive.

On my frame with a 73mm BB shell I had to go to a 118mm axle. With the suggested 113mm axle there was a paper thin space between the retaining ring and the end of the BB body.

I have just had new front discs and pads, and rear pads on my 1 series. For the front pads and discs the total was £309 plus VAT, for the rear pads only it was £131 plus VAT, that includes labour. So pretty much what you have been charged. That was at my local BMW garage, so I would have thought Kwik fit would be loads less.

Luckily for me it was paid for by the lease company. They were changed after 80,000 miles, they had tried to change them at the previous service, but the lease company wouldn't let them as they weren't worn enough… I think I still had about 5,000 miles until the onboard computer thought they should be changed.

Prices from the BMW invoice:
Front Pads £73.11 + Vat
Front Discs £113.20 + Vat
Rear Pads £57.35 + Vat
They also charged £17 front and back for a new sensor. The rest was all labour charges.

I always use ODI lock on grips on my carbon bars, I have never had a problem so far. I think you would struggle to get enough torque in the tiny screws to damage the bars through crushing.

Sorry about the pic quality, I should take a camera on a ride some time rather than using the dodgy camera on my phone!

The only issue I have had with the hub is the pawl retaining ring breaking, which seems a common (and sorted?) problem, other than that the bearings have lasted well. Certainly as good, or better, than something like a Hope Pro2. It looks like the bearings will be very simple to change too.

I went with 34:17 last year, and found it too spinny on the fireroad bits, but ok in the singletrack. If I was riding this year it would be 34:16. I think Rob Lee, who won the SS cat last year, was on 32:16.

I will be there but not racing :cry: My wife was keen to race, and we couldn't find anyone to look after the kids, so that is my job for the morning…

I did it last year and enjoyed it, the great weather helped. I remember the course being fairly tight and twisty, I managed to end up with a nice watch shaped bruise on my wrist where I bashed into a tree somewhere near the start of the lap.

I have used magnetic and fluid trainers. At normal cadence there is not much difference, but I found at a low cadence the magnetic one felt a bit 'choppy' and at a high cadence I could out spin the magnetic one, whereas the fluid one just ramps on the resistance as the cadence increases :twisted:

No point spending too much on your first one.

Sorry I miss read your post, I thought you were trying to run with a 160mm rotor. As it is a 180mm rotor, I guess it will be fine. So ignore everything I have written above :oops:

I will be surprised if it does, as post mount M4 calipers won't work on 160mm rotors. I have just looked at that mount, and I think your problem will be the caliper will hit the middle of it, I could be wrong?

I have had a set since summer last year (which seems a long time ago!) I am 85kg, and ride fairly smoothly, but like everyone I occasionally get things wrong and batter into things. I have used them for mainly xc flowing style trails, which do include drops and stuff. So far they have stayed very true, so pleased with them on the front.

I have only run 2.0 or 2.1 tyres on them, but I would imagine going to a 2.3 would be fine. I have run 2.3 Nooby Nics on Mavic Crosstrail rims, which are also 19mm wide with no problems.

The only issue I have had is the freehub body broke, that was replaced very quickly by 2pure, much better service than I have had trying to get hold of spares for Mavic wheels. I think the freehubs have now been upgraded to fix this problem. When I took the freehub off this was the first time I had looked at the inside of the wheels since they were new. The bearings had stayed pretty clean and were running smoothly.

Only downside I have found is the wheels are a bit of a magnet for sticks, I guess it is the big gaps between spokes.

I will add my vote to the Cnoc. My son has had once since he was 3. It is a great bike, and very well designed.

Give the wheel a shake, you should be able to hear if any Stans is left inside.

If you are using a Stans syringe it may not fit your mavic valves. It doesn't fit the ones on my mavic wheels – basically when you remove the core you are just left with a smooth valve and nothing for the end of the syringe to screw onto. Other valves are different and work ok.

It is not that hard to un-seat/re-seat the bead. Only remove one side, and if you wet the bead with some very soapy water you will find it should reseat and inflate very easily with a track pump.

oldgit, do you mean these ones:

Available from Aspire Velotech at a reasonable $87.50

No, but my wife is.

I did it last year on the single speed, this time it is my wife's turn and I will be looking after the kids… Last year I thought it was a great course, admittedly very flat, but lots of fun twisty single track. The weather last year was excellent, I hope this year is a repeat.

I was up there today and it is mainly dry under tyre, there is the odd puddle here or there, but no need for mud tyres, I would imagine something like a Racing Ralph would be a good bet. Hopefully we won't get any rain in the morning.

That is weird, mine has just broken the same way this morning too! I got mine last June, and have used them a fair bit, but not loads in the scale of things as they are on one of three bikes.

I have emailed 2pure (as I got them direct from them) and am just waiting their response. The wheels have a two year warranty so can't see it being a problem. If you have a look here : http://www.singletrackworld.com/2009/11/fresh-goods-31/ it looks like they are sorting out a new freehub that fixes the problem.

I recently laid a base for my kids playhouse. I managed to pick up a load of split bags of Blue Circle Slab Layer for about 50p each from Wickes which was ideal, and nice and easy. I then just put the biggest, cheapest slabs I could find on top of that.

No need for a membrane as weeds won't grow in the dark under the playhouse.

I had to send my 18 month old Hope Vision 4 light back to them a week or two ago. For some reason it had just stopped working. It was returned fully working within a couple of day, a great service and part of the reason my bikes all have a reasonable amount of Hope kit on them.

Most of my non-bike shoes are a size 45, and I find size 45 Sidi shoes a very good fit (wearing either summer socks, or woolie boolies). I did have a pair of Shimano 182 shoes (in size 45) and couldn't get on with them, I found them too tight around the toes.

I would also recommend Spinerval DVDs. They are a bit roadie biased, but easily keep you distracted for a decent hour work out on the turbo.

Loads of good suggestions above. The ones that I could recommend:

The Kari-Me sling mentioned above is very good. My wife used it loads, during the day she would often attach the baby and carry on with normal things. They do out grow it after 8 months or so, but up to then it is good – as long as you can figure out how it works…

Loads of new born baby vests, you will get through loads of these each day. Don't buy lots of nice 0-3 month old clothes, we found lots of people bought the baby these as presents anyway. You are better off saving your money and buying them nice clothes when they are a bit older.

While you won't need one for a while we have found this very good as a travel cot: http://www.pushchairs.co.uk/acatalog/travel_bed_moss.html#a484 It packs up small yet forms a very sturdy cot. We have used it all over the place.

Ear plugs are good for when it is your turn to get some sleep. And the comments about recording TV are very true too, you do end up awake at very odd times.

It does seem a bit random when it is open. I think it is always open over Christmas, Easter and in August, as mentioned above it is normally open in the evenings.

The area is mainly heathland (it is the largest area of heathland in Surrey) so the riding is fairly different to the other local areas, there is not loads of singletrack, but the fireroads all ok if you just want to get a few miles in. The perimeter track is not too bad for a 7 mile undulating fireroad ride – you can't get lost just follow the track, you just need to negotiate a couple of gates. The part of the ranges nearest Ash Vale often has lots of dog walkers, but as soon as you get slightly further away it is fairly deserted, just a few deer, cattle and occasionally lost soldiers wandering about

The last round of the Merida Brass Monkeys series was on the ranges, and they managed to put together a decent course. I think I have a GPS plot of the course if that is any good to you, although I doubt you will be able to find the course until all the snow has gone.

The area immediatley behind Ash (Normandy Hill & Gravelpit Hill) is out side the fenced off area and does (or at least used to) have some nice bits of singletrack and is worth an explore.