Mine seems fine, although I am a bit of a lightweight at 85kg. I have noticed a bit of a creak coming from the bars if I pull hard on those, never really looked for where that noise is coming from.

The prizes did seemed a bit skewed towards event winners. I agree it would have been more in keeping with the spirit of the event to spread the prizes around abit. Maybe put everybody who competes in an event in a prize draw for the prizes, that way people who don't normally win will walk away with some things, and it would encourage more people to compete in events, even if they think they have no chance of winning.

Pants, stop moaning :-) The same thing happened at Are You Tough Enough, with the Mixed Pairs being combined with the Mens Pairs. You have never heard me moan about that have you?

I didn't think the lack of showers was major problem. If it meant an extra 2k going to charity that is fine by me.

We really enjoyed the weekend. My 4 year old son loved everything, my 8month old daughter seemed happy nearly all the time. I won a couple of prizes, my wife won a couple of quality prizes, so we all went home happy.

It was nice to see an event trying out a new format, rather than just copying the current trend for enduro style races. I got the impression that the family element of the event worked really well, with lots of happy kids.

The venue was really good. The drinks and catering were very good and sensibly priced.

The negatives:
The lack of an agenda was a pain, I rushed up to the arena a couple of times, only to find that events were delayed for an unknown amount of time. With me and my wife both trying to do things, while looking after two kids, it made it all really difficult. In the end we both missed events we had wanted to do.

It would have been nice to get some results from the xc race on the day, there weren't that many people taking part so it should have been fairly easy to even hand write a list. I am sure there was no need to delay the start of races until everyone had finished the previous race. The numbers weren't massive so it didn't really matter, but a downhill start straight into a bottle neck is not a great way to start an xc race.

The course was ok, ideal for an event that is trying to encourage people to ride. However it seemed to have loads of hairpin corners, something a bit more flowy would be good.

A compulsory pint at the end of each lap of the singlespeed race would help even things up a bit.

The event info pack was just a load of junk mail. An agenda and site plan in there would have been great.

It would have been nice to have more prizes for the kids. Even just a couple of sweets, or an ice cream for those taking part would be good. Although they all seemed to enjoy it anyway, even my son who managed to crash during the pedal bike race…

It would have been better to call people out by name rather than race number at the prize giving.

Other than that it was all great. Thanks for putting in the effort to run the event.

We are there with our two (a 4 year old and 9 month old), plus camping with friends who both have a couple of slightly older kids too. Turning up some time early Friday evening.

Their Bike Builder doesn't work in Firefox, or at least it never used to.

WCA, is there are an agenda for the BBB yet? Some idea of what is happening when would be great. I couldn't see any thing on the website. I am just trying to work out if it is worth me and my wife entering, we will have two young kids with us and we will both want to ride at some stage during the weekend, looking at your site looks like only one of us could be a competitor, the other would have to be a spectator – but I am not sure really.

Seat post/top tube join. I spotted a hairline crack about an inch long. Vernon Barker did a pretty good job of repairing it.

So are there any intact EBB Tinbreds still being ridden? Mine also cracked, although it has been repaired and is still being used. They don't seem the best example of 'titanium is for life'

I didn't think it was that bad in the 'mud' last year. I rode it all on Maxxis Crossmarks, which aren't too good in proper sticky mud. I can only remember one short section where I was struggling with traction, and I never had to pull mud from the bike. I finished 16th in the solo cat.

I agree about the traffic jam at the 1st bombhole on the 1st lap.

If they get your details from the DVLA that won't help them as their claim is against the driver of the car not the owner. They would need to prove it was you who parked the car. While it is probably legal, the whole privately monitored and enforced system seems to work only just inside the law.

If you ignore it expect letters through the post with increasing fines, followed by a couple of letters from bailiffs(who are probably part of the same parking company) they will threaten court action etc. If you keep ignoring them they will stop, as they seem to work on the principle that a high percentage of people will pay up with out question.

A lot of good advice here : http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/

My son started riding his bike at just over 3 years. He had got pretty good on his like-a-bike, and really had no need for stabilisers on his pedal bike. The bit he struggled with was learning the pedalling motion, that took him a couple of rides to master, but he soon picked it up. He has a Islabike Conc 14.

I am a 34 inch waist and 6 foot tall. I have a pair of XL Finchdean bib shorts, and they are a pretty decent fit. The legs are a slightly more generous cut than Assos.

If you are not sure you could always buy both sizes and then send back the ones you don't want. All you would have to pay is the return postage.

I would guess at 2003. My wife had one the same that we bought 2nd hand in 2005, I think it was at least two years old when we bought it.

I can recommend this guy who trades on ebay:

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/THE-TIME-MAN__W0QQ_armrsZ1

I have had two pictures printed by him and both were good quality with a super fast turn around. A few friends have also ordered from him. Frames are definitely of the cheaper nature compared to some, but my ones are fine with no warping or sagging.

Marmite, thanks for starting this thread.

My Sidi Hydros turned up this morning. A little damp and a bit smelly, but apart from that they are like new. A real bargain at £30 :-)

In a similar style to the one theotherjonv posted, we bought one of these:

http://www.camping-intl.com/products/tents/wynnster/utility-and-toilet-tents/2009-leisure-shelter

With the sides on it is great, very windproof and stays fairly warm, we have fitted 7-8 people sat around inside. The first time we used it was at Bristol Bikefest and it survived the torrential rain overnight without any leaks. When packed up it is a lot more compact than a normal gazebo style structure.

It is still very dusty up there. What tyres for dust???

The last descent into ‘Valley of Doom’ which I hear caused a few offs on Tuesday, has had a lot of the gravel cleared away so is now much easier.

I have had one for 12 months or so. Very pleased with it, however I am on the 2nd set of bearings, I guess I got 6 (wet)months or so out the first set. Uptake seems very good compared to other hubs too.

Sunday 5th July.

pants, are you sure it is the same as Enduro 6? That has a closed pit lane. So once you are in the pit area you can’t leave until the race has finished, which means when you partner is out racing you just have to sit in the pit area – with no chance to look around all the trade stands.

It better not be as I have the kids arriving in the afternoon…

That reminds me, I better sort my entry out :oops:

I did a lap of the course this morning and it is definitely one of the better (if not the best!) enduro courses in the UK. Lots of fun singletrack :D

Hopefully your experience with Yeti warranty will be much like mine.

I broke my 3 year old ASR and the LBS I bought it from were no longer a Yeti dealer. I emailed Yeti in the States with photos, they asked me to take it to Bromley Bikes (who are fairly local to me) for a warranty inspection. When I turned up at Bromley Bikes, Yeti had already agreed to warranty replace it. I really couldn’t fault the service they gave.

Good luck getting your sorted.

We bought one of these a couple of years ago:

http://www.pushchairs.co.uk/acatalog/nomad_travel_bed.html

It folds up pretty small, is fairly light weight and has proved very durable. It is now being used by our 2nd child. We have used it every where from staying at friends houses to camping. We have even taken it on one foreign holiday too, as we couldn’t source a cot when we got there.

When we got our one it was pretty much the only one on the market – I think a few other makes may have appeared now too. Watch out for the small ones that are really only suitable for the first 12 months.

We have travelled aboard with both our two kids when they have been babies. We travelled to the Philippines with our oldest when he was 6 months old, and we are just back from Morroco and our youngest was 5 months on the way out. The Philippines flights were all with Cathy Pacific, which made it fairly easy as we had bulk head seats with a small cot (skycot)to put the baby in – as long haul flights go they were actually pretty easy. In comparison Morocco was on a charter flight with a baby on our lap for 3.5 hours, while it wasn’t too bad it was still a bit of a squash, especially when the food was handed out.

As mentioned in post above Medised is great, but it is no longer recommended for babies.

We have found the health care is often better abroad than it is in the UK, if you want to travel it is really not a reason not to go.

The current situation with bottles of water or milk on the plane is you are allowed to take them, but you will be asked to remove the top and drink from the bottle. They also swab the bag it is in to check for explosives. I would imagine that you would have any cartoons of milk taken off you, however you can buy these at Boots once through security.

Pete, have a look on the THT forum, there is a whole thread following the making of this bike. For some reason we all thought it was a joke when Lyn posted a picture of a load of tubes and said it was his new bike.

I had an annoying squeak from my rear Hope XC hub, it turned out I had managed to snap the rear axle in two…

I have ridden over there a few times, as you say great riding. A couple of random pics from various trips:

I have a macpac Koala (I think that is the one it is) which I bought 2nd hand off here a couple of years ago. We used it for our first kid from about 6 months and now our youngest has just grown into it at 6 months.

It is a great carrier, very comfy to wear and the kids seem more than happy sat in the back.

The only downside is there is no sun/rain shade, if it is sunny we make them wear a hat, and we don’t tend to go walking in the rain.

I had a broken Tinbred frame repaired by Vernon. He did a very good job and the turn around was quick too.

Take the insoles out? It works for me with my ones.

I bought an Altitude 853 frame in October last year. I built it up as a fairly nice spec bike. My frame is designed around 100mm travel forks, where as I think the new ones are designed for 130mm.

So far I am very happy with it, I mainly ride twisty, rooty singletrack and it seems to handle that sort of stuff fine. I rode it in the Lakes a couple of weeks ago and again it seemed pretty good when the going got a bit more rocky.

Build quality and finish is good. Lots of mud/tyre clearance at the back. The life time warranty on the frame is good too, although hopefully I won’t have to use it!

I am 6 foot and ride a 19″ frame:

saddle is now a little bit lower than in the picture.

I was over there this afternoon. There was a fair bit of rain this morning, but as the trails were very dry it hasn’t turned into a bog just yet, and is still riding fast – just lots of gritty puddles, I managed to kill a newish set of brake pads during the ride…

I should be riding there in the morning, and hopefully it will be a bit dryer than it was today.

I had a similar experience with them a year or so ago. Oddly it was a BB that was the problem then too.

I ordered a SQ taper BB and a set of pedals, a few days later the pedals turned up with a note on the invoice saying the BB was out of stock. Not the end of the world, but would have been nice if they had emailed me to let me know…

fingerbike, it is a UN54 73 x 113mm with RS8 cranks & Uno ring. With a 73 x 118mm BB I get about 3mm clearance each side, which seems about right.

Here is how mine looked with the 113mm axle:

You can just about see the black line by the drive side of the BB, that is the clearance. I thought it ‘might’ be ok so took it for a ride anyway. Within 5 miles or so a few bits of sand had jammed into the gap and made the BB start to slowly unscrew – this caused the non-drive side crank to jam against the BB, and caused a rather slow journey home.

I had to go for a 118mm axle, as 113mm was too short on my 73mm BB. The inside of the lockring was less than 1mm from the face of the BB with a 113mm axle – which isn’t enough clearance. That is with square taper.

I have been using a set of Middleburn cranks on my main bike for the past two years or so. I have just had to replace the original UN54 bottom bracket, but apart from that zero maintenance. Unlike external BBs the UN54 very slowly developed play, and I am sure I could have kept using it for another few months without any problems.

If you have a 73mm BB shell you will need a 118mm axle. I originally fitted a 113mm one on mine and the clearance between the crank and BB was minimal. It was so close that as soon as some dirt got in between them it started to unscrew the BB, which then made the cranks jam…

No I didn’t :?

I guess I better go and have a look at the video, although mine do seem fine.

I have found those new Hope braided cables are a bit of a nightmare to get the olive onto. I found that no matter how carefully I cut the cable the olive wouldn’t just slide on. In the end I had to force the olive open more than I was happy with to get it to fit – once it is all tightened up it has been fine.

I have just bleed my X2s and they are very firm, if yours are spongy something is wrong somewhere. I have just measured the bit of tubing I used and the internal diameter was somewhere between 3 and 4mm.

What age of child are the tag-alongs designed for? My son is 3.5 not sure if he is too young to go one? I see the Islabike one is marketed at 4+.