Didn’t change anything on my heckler, just dropped the big ring in place of a bash. More ground clearance, and I never used the big ring anyhoo, except as a really grippy bash.
HT is 1 x 9 to encourage climbing technique and fitness, 36 up front.
I will never run a triple again.

I’m definitely still in with a +1 and a maybe +2. We will all be happy to run with the slow group as I have no idea what you guys idea of fast is.

I gave up motor cycles. Too much traffic to make it fun any more and I get so much more fun from playing in the woods on my mtb.

I used to commute through an army training area in Surrey. Leaving work in the dark in the winter months and riding the 4 or 5 miles of pitch dark woods with my little cat eye cube front light used to scare the bejeezers out of me, but I thoughly enjoyed it. More than once I had a squaddy on exercise jump out in front of me, either for a laugh or because there was a massive tank around the corner unlit.
Still love that nearly scared out of my wits feeling when riding through woods at night on my own. The lights are better now though allowing us to outrun the boogie man with confidence.

TurnerGuy, your work colleague is not religious, but retarded. Though I am aware that the 2 conditions are in no way mutually exclusive

Go tougher tyres IMO. Years ago I used Specialized Evil Twin DH tyres on my Kona Muni Mula for 2 or three years and never had a puncture in that time. Long group rides out were always punctuated by other people getting flats. Always ran fat sturdy tyres ever since, although I do generally prefer the larger volumed tyre anyway the reliability is definitely worth a little more weight.

I fitted some XTR inners into my Gore Rideon outers a few months ago and they were tight. Not so bad that I’m not using the combo but I reckon there are some variations in cable sizes out there.

Home

These guys. Not had any work done personally but they come highly recommended.

I’ve just stripped my 2006 Heckler (130 mm) and my Decade Virtue with 100mm forks and built the 130 vanilla’s into the HT frame with all the AM stuff. Really chuffed with the result. Essentially the same front end (even matched the bar height)with a nice light frame.

The Heckler was always my main man and the Virtue was for commuting or poncing up to the pub (always nice to have a clean bike to roll out on once you are showered, what?).

I am now a one bike man!… Ooh, hang on. That Covert would suit my now spare wheel set, hmm.

And so it continues..

3 days tops normally. Though the dispatched email from CRC is usually the next day. I find its the post that is the slowest factor. Always a wind up when looking forward to goodies arriving. Go and polish your spanners in anticipation. :-)

Yup, I’m out tonight. Lights charged. Really looking forward to getting out there, not been out since Saturday. Is that clock running slow? I’m sure it said 4:15 about an hour ago.

Thanks Phil, I do have a regular riding buddy that I know will be up for it. We are neither athelete’s nor super hero’s but can hussle for a pair of chubbers. Looking forward to it already!

I would love to come along. I’m only in Alton so just up the road. It would be really to meet some of you. Don’t really know the trails so it would be good to get a heads up on whats where.

Bringing it back round to bikes, just picked up a pair of Medusa’s from the LBS and got a nice discount for them remembering my name, sweet!

I have 2 bikes with Hope pro 2’s. I have an XT rear cassette on one and an SRAM ‘redwin’ on the other. I was doing a swtcheroo with the wheels in between bikes yesterday but wanted to keep the cassettes as they were as the rest on the drive trains remained as it was. I had to hammer (light one with a pin punch) them both off due to large burrs on the freehub and then dress said burrs out before refitting. Does this sound typical? Both cassettes are compatible as they both have alloy carriers I believe, and all less than 12 months old. It’s all working fine again but wondering what I’ll find when winter spits the bikes out at the other side.

Partial high jack of thread, sorry.

I ran an XTR 9 speed rear mech for a few months and eventually decided that its made of toffee. Had to straighten it out so many times. I used to try and dodge twiggy sections to save the mech! Rubbish! Luckily I found a guy in town who has a similar problem but we could make one good mech from the 2 shonky ones, so I sold mine. I went for the SLX and have had no problems since 3 months on. Seems tough enough.

Motorists, convince other road users that you have a more modern and gadget laden car by simply flicking you headlights on every time you drive under the shade of a tree.

Thats right, Mint Sauce is a sheep but his riding buddy, Coleman is definitely a cow. Hence the cow on a Colemans jar of mustard no?

“Why’s it got a picture of a moo-cow on it then? Eh? Eh?”

Its got a picture of a Moo-cow on it because the cows name is Coleman. Does nobody read mint sauce any more

Hope Vision 4 on the bars. Too many low branches in the woods for one on the noggin. Shame though, I can see the advantages just cant afford the repair costs.

I’m in Alton, been here about 6 years now, love it. I grew up in Fleet but its got too big and expensive for me. We have a small local woods thats easy to put a 20 mile loop together on the cheeky trails, lots of military land between Fleet and Aldershot and not far from the Surrey Hills. Alton is cheaper than Farnham and Fleet.

Bought a set of Snap on screwdrivers about 15 years ago, one a ratchet with interchangable bits so used as allen keys and torx also. Never needed to buy another since. Jolly expensive initially but they will out last me. I was on the tools in factories and out and about as a service engineer till 3 years ago so they have all had plenty of ‘professional’ use.

Aah, thank you Brakes. I love pancakes and bunnies. Pancakes more than bunnies mind, I’m one of the chubbers in the poll.

Speed boat mechanic for a summer. Only in Newhaven mind but even so…”Excuse me my man, there seems to be something wrong with my boat, do take it out for a spin and let me know what you think”, ” Erm, its the torque from the 5 litre V8 making it lean over a bit when you crank it wide open”, Ah, happy days.

Don’t need to open the link TJ, already laughing :lol:

I used to build aeroplane toilets for 3 years. Not as bad as it sounds as I worked along side a guy that refurbished returned ones. yuk.

Transition Bandit? £1,400. I’m considering changing my 2005 Heckler for one of these, lighter than a Butcher with 68 degree head angle, tapered steerer etc. I’ve got the 7 year ish itch I think.

In the green obviously

I’m just up the road also and in the woods most evenings. I will keep ’em peeled and put the word around. Hope your mate gets a result.

Dr Alimantado – Best Dressed Chicken in Town
U Roy – Dread in a Babylon

My faves

Another +1 for Raji’s. Had my first pair for a couple of months now, lovely. Particularly in lime green, Mmmm.

mcpayner94 – It is a standard SLX triple, the bash ring was one they had in the counter at the LBS, I just had a look on their site, its the ‘Supercharger’ that I’m using.

My boss uses HTC’s. He’s on his third one in 2 years due to failure. Rubbish.

Buy a pair of marigolds and spend the difference on bike stuff?

I got an E Thirteen bash ring on mine and it came with the longer bolts. :D

Yes, yes, yes. I fitted some about 18 months to 2 years ago. True fit and forget set up. My local woods has axle deep mud sections for around 9 months of the year and cable servicing was previously once a month. Never touched these since fitting except the occasional tweak at the shifter. They have out lived one XTR (made of toffee) rear mech.

I got a pair of DMR trailblades in white languishing in the shed if you are interested. They are ‘suspension geometry adjusted’ but dont know the axle to crown off hand. I also cut the steerer a little short as well. If you are interested, I will get the measuring stick out tonight and let you know what shape they are. They are not light though. I bought them for my Decade Virtue but got some Rockshox in pretty sharpish as I’m fat and old.

I believe there was an article from a bobby on the web site a little while ago that said it’s not technically illegal to cycle on a public footpath as long as it isn’t a pavement by the side of a road, depending on the local authority. I have taken that as carte blanche around my local area, which is not national trust or anything where there are heavy traffic issues. If I’m wrong I’m there will be a helpful soul to correct me very soon.

Is your 2g still working ok? Do you do all the software updates that arrive? Maybe the 3Gs still has plenty of life left in it yet then and I’m just impatient. Its the switching off mid call thats getting annoying. A friend of mine still uses a 3G but has stopped updating the software as it got slower with each upgrade.

Regular software updates for iPhone have made the old 3G almost obselete now and my 3Gs is going the same way, it keeps switching off and getting more and more easily confused. I would either go for the newer iPhone 4, wait for the alleged 5 or look elsewhere.

I know a few people that have had their Hotmail account hacked, me included. A simple password change has usually done the job, to something convoluted with nonsense words and numbers.

My mate has a Topeak Morph. Mine never leaves the bag when he’s along. Best trail pump ever. Fits in the pack but acts like a floor pump. Your riding again before anyone gets cold!