Not ridden either but did some armchair research last year when looking to build a 29er hardtail.
My take, for what its worth, would be;

Big Dog for MTB or Scandal for flat bar gravel, pub bike duties.

I would consider either equally for bike packing but would purchase based on what I ride generally.

I ended up getting a Stanton Switch9er as Mrs Wachowchow bought it for my 50th (Stanton Sherpa would sort have been the Scandal equivalent?) but the Big Dog was on my shortlist.

I put Hope Fortus 26 on my Switch9er as I wanted lighter / easier to pedal 2.4 Ardents for gentle broken leg recovery rides.
Moving into winter I just bought 2.3 High Rollers for under £30 each from CRC. Cheap I guess as they are not height of fashion tread pattern or size at the moment.
Always been happy with 2.3 tyres, usually use DHR / DHF combo on my old TR Scout.

It is, to use a phase I detest, a postcode lottery.

Our old local guy, now sacked, had a 50% or less hit rate and apparently had same size shoes as me as well as a regular car boot stall.

The person that looks after the area where my office is bloomin’ awful but just incompetent and lazy rather than criminal.

Our new local guy (2 years service) is a total legend and never fails to deliver*

*pun intended.

Leaf popping! Yes!!
Got both my little ones at it. Loved their little amazed faces when I first showed them. They have it down now.
Stone skipping.
Spend as much time in the woods as possible, whether on bike or not.
Outdoor raves, albeit legal ones these days.

A lad in my home town killed a cyclist on a local dual carriage way (A31 where they do time trials for those that know), while using his phone. It turned out he has 15 points on his licence for using his phone while driving but pleaded (whined like a biatch) in court that he needed his licence for work each time.
He got 9 years.
Here’s the thing. His family appealed (whined like biatches) stating that he should not have been driving and blamed the courts for not banning him sooner. Their argument, if the courts had done their job he wouldn’t be in prison.

Not a single moment of either the driver or his family taking responsibility for the fact that maybe he should put his phone down while driving.

This sense of entitlement does not come from or about class or how rich you are, its about who raised your arse and who taught you right from wrong.

Conversely, I have Factory 34 140mm 29er forks that I have set up using recommended settings, but recovering from a broken leg so not going full tilt, riding relatively tame terrain and only using around 60% of available travel from 20% sag.
Its fine for what I am using the bike for at the moment. My guess is, if I was up to speed and back riding what I want to be, I would be using a lot more travel with the current settings.

My lad went from his CNOC 14 straight to a 20″ Commencal Ramones at 5 years and the big increase in size actually put him back a little but only for a few months.
My daughter inherited the CNOC 14. Once it started to look too small I bought her a CNOC 16 which was a much easier transition and she was more confident straight off the bat.

You only have to turn your back for a few minutes when there this age and they grow out of their bikes almost as fast as their shoes.

Good this is about the CNOC’s is they are always really easy to move on to help finance the next one.

That looks awesome! She’s a lucky girl.

Butler to carry you out to the shed to save you walking all that way?

Got a full set of main pivots for Mrs Wachowchows 2006 HL 5-Spot a couple of weeks ago direct from David. Great guy / Company to deal with. Making only what he wants to ride will hopefully mean that everything he makes he is fully passionate about and invested in.

My opinion, you should respect his choice and let him make his own decisions / mistakes, but support him if you value the friendship.

My ex was toxic as hell and I never saw it, was warned but didn’t listen and lost mates over it. 20 years on she is ancient history and I have managed to rekindle my relationships with my friends.

A friend of mine is currently is a similar situation and has fallen out with his brother over it. Horrible situation.

Was talking to a guy the other day and he had a friend who didn’t get on with his missus. The friend bought a Tamiya Sand Scorcher RC car for their wedding present. Letting her know how he felt in nicest way I thought.

I bought a roll of it years ago and just cut off what I need.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/clarks-gear-cable-outer-dispenser-box/rp-prod71569?gs=1&sku=sku273217&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=base&gclid=CjwKCAjwj42UBhAAEiwACIhADlXkUOrD8ULFYXMgcES7gRvq2UcC9Iil4iZjRQU-0c-BieizyhmMlBoCOz4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Massive link for your (in) convenience.

Both my kids on Crank Bros Stamp 1’s in small. No problems with them. Older lad (10 but small for his age) rides rough trails / Rogate and likes to jump and he doesn’t notice them until the inevitable but very occasional pedal slap.

I have several bikes all still running tubes. The family have several bikes all still using tubes. I used to be a serial tyre swapper so don’t want the perceived faff of having to re seal every time. In reality I don’t really swap tyres out so much any more but have never felt the need to to go tubeless. Being a 50 year old fat lad of 14 1/2 stone I don’t see the benefit of being able to run super low pressures and only vary between 25 – 30 psi. I am not mentioning how often I puncture as that would be to court fate.

@swavis, No offence intended, just an idle quip. I made a few friends when I lived in Sutherland so I know it grates.

I always thought you were Scotch from Scotland. Like the eggs.

I went for the OneUp lever as I was buying their post. Works well enough for me, nice and easy to set up etc.

“So when Alex Jones was torturing the families of murdered children with his ignorant claims of tragedy actors etc, the pain that caused was all their fault?”

Blimey, the One Show has changed a bit since last time I watched.

Bike rack – long wheelbase

Plenty of comments in this thread you may find useful.

@easily, not bought any for years. I am still rotating my 3 pairs of Endura Zyme’s from way back.

I bloody love my 3/4 length shorts! Cooler than troos but keeps the knees cosy. Win, win.

50 years
5’11”
92 Kg

Yes, I could do with losing a bit of Terry. Leg broke in Sept. last year but found the kitchen before I could get out the house. Gently back on the bike now and hope to get down to 85 Kg where the majority of my nice clothes start to fit again.

“I have the rack, but not the bike”

Got any mates with long bikes? Or an LBS with an long bike in shop?

I have a cheapo Thule Ride on 9403 from Halfords which states maximum wheel base of 110 cm. Actual width is 105 cm.

Recently loaded my Stanton Switch9er, large, which has a stated wheel base of 1236mm and it was fine.

My lad has been using a loaner from the Hampshire Music Service for school lessons but has shown some promise and enthusiasm so we recently upgraded him to a ‘Roland Go: Keys’ which has traditional piano and the usual orchestral sounds but is a basic synth as well. He is really getting his Mark Rebillet on with it already!
Got it from Gear4Music.

iechyd da

Suns out, Hooray!

Live music tonight!

Power to Ukraine!

Can I suggest a trip to the dentist?

I had a reoccurring sinus / ear / throat / abscess issues about 20 odd years ago. Turned out the main issue was infection getting into my jaw / gums via teeth.

Oooooh,
The grand old Duke of York,
He had 12 million quid,
He gave it to someone he’d never met,
For something he never did.

N+1 = 2 Certainly in this case.

My standard response to anyone asking ‘do I need a mountain bike’ ever, will always be ‘yes damnit!’

The Met turns out be harbouring a culture of misogynism and a woman loses her job.

Another shout for Gransfors Bruks. They’re just lovely things to use. I have the small woodland axe which fits in my old MULE with a bit of handle poking out.

“Why does no one ever see ghost ants?”

Or dinosaur ghosts? They should be easy to see and they were around a lot longer than we will ever be.

My 7 year old asked the same question this morning. Spooky or what?!

Hi @polochon, I bought the 18″ and went for 140mm forks. As said above, I’m 5′ 11″ which is bang in the middle of Stantons sizes. They also recommended a 16″ to me but I ran the numbers compared to the Scout and stuck to my guns.
To be honest, what with supply issues of parts, waiting for the parts I wanted for the build and then breaking my leg in September I only finished the build last weekend.
Due to the fact that I am still in recovery from the injury I am not allowed to ride in the woods until they dry out, Doctors orders, so I have only been around my local streets so far.
I have fitted the same handlebars that I have on my large 2015 Scout (Raceface 785mm) but used a 35mm long stem on the Stanton where I have a 50mm long stem on the Scout.
My initial feeling is that it fits very nicely. Contact points are pretty much the same on both bikes which is ideal for me and what I wanted to achieve. Please bear in mind that I still can’t actually pedal while standing up yet so I have literally just had a trundle around but I have done plenty of trundling around on my Scout so I know where the bars and pedals are in relation to the rest of me. I can stand without pedalling (pedals level) and can move my weight around enough to know I am going to have a lot of fun on it

Having not ever owned a 29er before let alone a slack hardtail, I am really excited to get riding on it. The front wheel feels like its a long way away in front.

The build is intended for trail riding, XC, and maybe some bikepacking but with capability to stuff it down some steeps as well so I wanted it to be comfortable for an old man (50) on long days out. If I was a younger head banger looking for a full on enduro, light DH build I may have gone for the 16″ and longer forks, but currently I am super happy with my choice. They build up to a blooming lovely looking bike too.

If you think that’s a long winded response, imagine if I had actually spent some time on the thing!

Another thumbs up for Jedi @ UK Bike Skills. Best upgrade you can buy!

However, there may be other skills coaches more local. All would have some kind of qualification. Honestly, just having someone better than you to ride with and watch what you’re doing can bring some benefit.

Lovely looking job there Timbog.That looks incredible.

I always thought the pedestrian crossing the junction having priority was always a thing anyway?

There is a certain amount of irony in a horse box driver getting aggressive by being ever so slightly inconvenienced driving his vulnerable road users around.

Tom Baker = Dr Who.