If your w/kg (based on 95% of your best 20mins in the race) is over 2.5w/kg you will be taken out of the results. I can’t remember if KISS will put you in the C category results or not. A lot of the backmarkers in the C category will be borderline C/D so may be lower than 2.5 anyway.

I quite enjoyed racing on the mountain for a change. Managed to keep a steady pace up on the climb, then went for the TT bike switch at the top, caught and passed someone on the descent, managed to catch a second, but I couldn’t keep up with him on the flat. There was a group of 5 about 20secs ahead of me at the end, but I just couldn’t catch them. I think there will be a few people moved out of the category after that one.

Yes KISS race for me. I haven’t done the mountain route for ages, I am sure it will be great fun…

It certainly helps racing the same people week after week. I think if I could have kept up with you off the start it would have helped.

On the verge of moving up myself, keep ending up at just under 3.2W/Kg, I might have to dig a bit deeper than normal in tomorrow’s race.

Jason, are you my nemesis from the TFC series ??

LOL I think so. I will be missing the last race due to my bike club’s xmas do on Friday night.

Planning to do the KISS race on Pretzel tomorrow night.

I have been a signed up member to BRT for a few months. Being in a team adds an extra element to the races. A lot of us (try to) chat on Discord during a race. If you end up in a group with a team mate or two it adds to the strategy as the race unfolds. There is also a lot of vocal encouragement as people finish. The only problem is it is often hard to get in a group with team mates at the start of the race. The teams Facebook page also has a bit of chat about the races.

The first few minutes didn’t seem too bad, then it was pain and suffering for the last 20 minutes. I think I finished in just over 24 mins. Just over the C limits.

The TT format made a nice change. Normally you can get a rest for a few seconds here and there by sitting in a group, that was full beans the whole way around.

Gaz, I think that unit sends the power data it calculates direct (via ANT+) to Zwift. Zwift then turns that power into your speed on Zwift. I would imagine Trainer Road will work the same way. No idea on what it transmit to Garmin?

I will be giving the KISS TT race a go tonight. I think it will be the first time I have used the TT bike since they removed the draft affect. Interesting to see how it goes…

Sprinting at the end probably won’t affect your w/kg on Zwiftpower. It is based on 95% of your best 20min effort during the race, which normally happens in the first 20minutes of the race.

I normally do the TFC race, but am currently away with work so giving it a misss tonight. There is normally a good turn out of C riders.

I think I have used Zwift with a broadband speed of as low as 3Mbps, and it has worked fine. It doesn’t transfer loads of information, and the processing is done on your local machine. What is important is a stable connection, as if the signal drops other riders with vanish from your screeen.

You can test to see if Zwift works on your computer with your broadband speed before commiting to buy anything extra. Install the software, and choose ‘Just Watch’ to see if everything works okay.

I signed up to Zwift at the start of the year. I have found it very good so far and very immersive as turbo training goes. I prefer to do races/events on there, compared to the option of just riding around. The race I did last night had about 250 people in, a real mix of fitness, but I am sure everyone had a hard work out. The fact that I am ‘competing’ against other people makes it more motivating than say TrainerRoad or Sufferfest. I try to do two events a week. I am in a team who race on there, and we often chat during races which helps with team work and motivation.

Strangely the races are more like an mtb or CX race in that you need a super fast start to try and get in a good group, after a while the pace tends to settle down a bit.

Like some of the comments above I found it much more time efficient than going out on the bike. At the moment with work and family commitments I would struggle to get much time on the bike, but I am able to get a quality workout in a short space of time.

None of my bottle cage touches the frame. I think what you are referring to as clips is the pump holder that is mounted under the bottle cage. It isn’t part of the bottle cage.

I use a Specialised Zee Cage on mine. The same as the one on zerolight’s bike above. Works fine with a 750ml bottle. That is on a large carbon frame.

A friend of mine (actually my old boss) set up as a builder in East Preston a couple of years ago. If you do a search for Rex Building Services a link to his Facebook page should appear. I haven’t seen his work, but I would guess it good quality. Worth a try, and he mountain bikes too.

Like a few of the posters above I built up a 24″ wheeled bike for my kids. My son used it for a year or two, and now my daughter has it. I wanted to build something cheaper and lighter than the Islabike offering.

I started with a Kona Kula frame that was cheap from CRC. It has a Shimano 1×10 drive chain. 26t NW front ring, and 11-36 cassette which has been good enough to ride up pretty much everything we have tried. Shimano brakes. 150mm thorn cranks from SJS. 24″ Crest rims on some Hope hubs I had spare… Tubeless Rocket Rons. It now has RST First forks, although it originally had Pace carbon rigid forks. A short stem, with a longer one fitted as they have grown.

I have used directgap.co.uk a couple of times in the past. I have never claimed so no idea what that part of the service is like, but prices always seem competitive.

I have a little bit of knowledge on this :-) I work for the largest UK manufacturer of bricks, so we supply our fair share of slips. I haven’t dealt with the company you have mentioned, but as far as I can tell they just buy bricks from others and cut them into slips. There are actually a few of our bricks renamed on their website. The ones you are interested in aren’t made by my company. Ultimately the brick slips they are selling are just a cut brick, so quality should be pretty consistent from whoever you buy them from. For a small quantity their prices look to be okay.

Let me know if you want any more info.

Given a suitable space in the house I would go with an Eames Lounge Chair. I keep trying to find a reason to buy one.

I bought a 2nd hand Garmin 200 for my son. I think I bought it from the classifieds on this site, it wasn’t too expensive. Worth a trawl around eBay etc.

Jonv has the Fenceline Trail spot on. Years ago that was pretty much the only trail on Porridge Pot Hill. I don’t think I have ridden down it for ages, always seem to use it as a climb.

I can never get those tab bits to work. I had one on the turbo trainer the other day, and even that one ripped through.

I am guessing it will taste like the old fashioned cans of shandy.

I have taken out a couple of policies with http://www.directgap.co.uk in the past. Seemed good value, but I have never claimed from them so not sure what they are like in that respect.

I did have a PCP car stolen off my drive a few years ago. I had GAP insurance, but it happened in pretty much in the last month of the PCP contract so the insurance payout settled the out standing finance. On a PCP or lease contract I would make sure you have gap insurance from day 1.

Gap insurance from Audi is really expensive. On my current car I think it was £400ish compared to under £100 from a separate company.

Have a look on ebay for a 2nd hand one. I managed to pick up a bargain one for my son. Most are local collection only, so don’t sell for much.

I don’t think any of the cheap decent compact waterproof cameras will go to 18m. I have a Fuji XP, which is rated to 15m and I have used on plenty of dives to 12m (the max depth my son is currently allowed to dive to) I also have an Olympus TG4, which is more expensive, but again only waterproof to 15m. For the TG-4 I have a separate dive housing, which goes to around 40m, but certainly not a cheap option.

The GoPro style linked to above is probably the best bet, they seem to be getting very common underwater now a days.

And as mentioned above don’t use it for your OW dives, wait until you are confident in the water before having the camera with you.

I am doing the 6 hour solo too. Although just back from a two week family holiday, so not expecting to be very competitive.

Like Yak I will fit lights during the race. I think I will leave a spare helmet with a light set up ready to go. Depending on when I am due to finish I may or may not use a bar light. I am pretty sure last year it was only the last lap of the 6 hour that was fully dark, this year will be one lap less.

Looks very nice, what wheels are those and what weight is it?

Light Bicycle U shaped 55mm rims with Novatech hubs. Sorry I don’t think I have ever weighed it built up, frame and fork weights were very similar to yours.

Looks a lot like mine. Mine was from Ican, but frame looks the same. I have had mibe for almost two years, and no problems at all with it.

Mine is finished in Matt UD

I have several sets of LB rims, been very pleased with all of them. I think the oldest are now 3 and a bit years old. I also have an Ican CX/road frame, quality of the frame seems very good, and communication and service from Ican was as good, if not better, than LB. Never tried Ican for rims, but if the price was good I would probably give them a go.

I broke the tip of my left little finger in a crash a couple of years ago. Basically the bone fractured where the tendon joins at the top. After the crash i couldn’t straighten the finger and it turned a nice shade of purple. I ignored it for a few days, but it didn’t improve, I think a session in the swimming pool actually made it worse…. An x-ray showed the damage and I had to wear a splint to keep it straight for about 6 weeks. The worst bit was straightening it to put it in the splint.

I did ride my bike a bit with the splint on, but found it a bit painful as my little finger couldn’t grip the bar and was unsupported so bounced about a bit. A couple of years later and it is fine, with full movement.

My kids have found the Deore levers to be fine. My youngest is 7, and she has been using them for over a year without any issue.

When I looking for small 26″ wheel kids bikes I found the best option was to build something up. I had good, but not worth much 26″ wheels and forks in the loft, and managed to get a decent light weight 14″ frame, and then just bought a basic 1×10 drive train and brakes. Probably about £500 all in (not including the forks and wheels).

I think my oldest will out grow it at the start of next year, so have my eye out for the next suitable bike for him, most likely it will be a 16″ 650b, but nothing off the shelf looks to be the right spec for the money, so will probably build him something up around a frame again.

I have the same cranks. I use a direct mount oval ring, the rest of the drive train is sram GX 11 speed and it works perfectly.

Being flexible on the car tends to give the best lease deals. The cheapest ones are where a manufacturer is trying to move a particular model quickly.

Most of the lease companies are middlemen, basically putting a finance agreement in place between you and a finance company.

I have just taken out a new lease with Gateway2Lease they have been very good to deal with. Fast communication and for the car I wanted the cheapest prices. Happily recommend them

I use ALD for a car I pay for with an allowance from work. ALD are the finance company, so are good at offering non-standard packages, but lack a bit in the customer service side of the business. I bought a ex demo Audi A5 with their finance, it worked out around £100 per month cheaper than any deal I cold have got on a new one.

Start looking here :http://www.contracthireandleasing.com That searches lots of the deals.

There is a very long thread on PistonHeeads, but there is a lot to filter to find the best deals.

Actually just checked and I went with Hastings Direct and not Aviva, insurance documents clearly say that I am not the registered owner or keeper.

Having had a total loss on a PCP car (due to theft) I would say that it is worth making sure all the insurance details are 100% accurate and don’t just assume. Also don’t forget gap insurance.

I have just gone through this. A lease hire agreement in my case, with the lease company being registered owner and keeper. Check with the PCP company to clarify who is the registered keeper. I also have another car on a work based credit agreement, but I am registered owner and keeper on that. Most insurance companies seem to understand. Aviva worked out cheapest for me, AXA added to the premium as I wasn’t the registered keeper. A few (I think it was the Admiral group) had a statement that you had to own the car, although when I rang them to check they said it would be fine…

Also worth checking the PCP terms, on my new lease agreement it states insurance must have a maximum excess of £250. Never seen that before.

I bet there are lots of lease and PCP cars on the road that haven’t stated the right owner and keeper to the insurance company.

I have used mine with a single (narrow wide) ring since I have had it, and haven’t dropped the chain yet. That is with a XT rear mech.

Trimix, a copy would great too.

The nearest I have got to this sort of stuff is a few wreck penetration dives, but nowhere near these sort of levels of commitment. Dived a few easy caves around Gozo, but I don’t think the cave diving side of the sport really appeals to me.

The time went really quick, it was a fun course to ride which helped a lot. Although I was counting down the short sharp climbs on the last lap.

I did the 8 laps today and was surprised how good my legs felt, despite most of this year’s riding being based on the turbo trainer, and no long rides for a few months. Ripped the sidewall on my rear tyre on the 2nd lap, which lost a bit of time, but apart from that all good. I thought it was about as good as mtb racing will get, sunshine but not too hot and dry singletrack, but not too dusty.

John, my wife (Lou) made a comment when we got home that someone in Singular kit had said she must be local as she knew the singletrack so well. I guess that was you.

Had one for ages, maybe 7 or 8 years. Covered lots of miles with it carrying bikes, longest trip was to the south of France. Yes it does take kids bikes well, I have had a 14″ wheeled Islabike in it. Only issue with it is a plastic bit in the lock mechanism failed, it still works fine it just doesn’t lock. I would never ever trust these style locks to secure my bike from theft so not an issue really. It has developed a bit of play in one of the pivots, so will replace it at some stage, but I rarely use it nowadays as I have a towbar rack on my current car. I also have a Thule 598 which I prefer, the clamping mechanism feels a bit more secure, but I have had one of the wheel clamps break on the Thule.

I am pretty sure Mountain Trax had a demo set last year. Worth giving them a call if you haven’t already.