Mary bars are a lot wider (645mm vs 560mm)

I also found my 13 mile commute from Twickenham to the City really good training. It was done at warp factor 10 and I found a route that didn’t involve stopping for too many lights. I was riding at not far off max for around half an hour twice a day and it made a huge difference to my (recreational level only) fitness. I would also do the off detour round Richmond Park for a few laps to turn the ride home in to a decent distance.

I don’t think I’ll bother posting a photo of my chain ring/calf interface. Not exactly in the league of these bad-boy injuries!

I can well believe it. My wife lives on Facebook and mumsnet.

Whether she spends more time there than I do here is another matter 😉

The path to Hampton (and beyond – you can ride all the way to Winsdor very easily 99% on cycle paths along the river) is pretty much uninterupted.

Richmond Park is nice now and then. Personally I find it too dull to ride to often. I don’t know how ericemel manages it every day. I’d rather watch telly than ride Richmond Park every day!

The only ones I’ve used that I thought were terrible were Continental Gravitys

And oddly, I like Gravitys, at least on the rear wheel (and not in sticky mud)

Not got that set up but it is meant to work.

Don’t worry, I am also correct about Racing Ralphs being great 🙂

On-One are doing them pretty cheap at the moment by the way.

Maxxis Swampthings

In my limited experience, very rarely are tyres terrible. A soft compound, knobbly one will grip in wet conditions, a less knobbly, harder one will be fast in dry conditions. There is no “perfect” tyre so ultimately you just have to take the plunge. Fortunately, tyres are relatively cheap and easy to sell on 2nd hand so if you buy ones you don’t like it is an easy mistake to correct.

They are air forks, right? It couldn’t be easier to let the air out and measure how much they compress. Why not just do this?

Ah. I’ve got you. That would explain it. Ta

I am intruiged as to what changes Orange made to the P7 to cater for longer forks that they didn’t publish in their specs. I have checked their catalogues and seat and head angles didn’t change from ’98 (I think) to the current bikes, although admittedly they were pretty slack to start with (relatively)

A2Z pads have been great in my XT brakes so far but I haven’t had them that long. Noticably stronger braking than standard XT and only £8.99

http://www.woollyhatshop.com/view_product.php?id=2465

Racing Ralphs. Cracking tyre. If you ride in rocky areas (which it sounds like you don’t) you need the Snakeskin versions though

I am still a big fan of Bonty Revolt Super X’s. Look like they have no grip but are amazingly good and fast as you like. Often on sale too.

If the frame has disc mounts (which it seems to) it is post 2001 I believe. I don’t think they made any changes to the frame from 2001 until the current frame was introduced, at least the geometry stayed the same (I discovered this when researching my brother’s pre-2001 P7 the other day).

Not sure about the forks but they do seem to have a lot of stantion showing!

Are there really no off-the-peg bikes that come in a size that is suitable? What seat tube and top tube lengths do you need?

I’ve not heard of custom frames in carbon or alu, I’m afraid.

I am sure you will be able to get tickets on the day but better to get them in advance.

And keep your voices down when you go – I like my peace and quiet 😉

Recyling for my old magazines, although I wish there was a better use for them 🙁

If you want to test ride a Singular you need to contact “Sam” on this forum and he will try to set you up with one.

FWIW, I have exactly the same problem. I have had it on two different bikes with 3 different sets of disk brakes. I have also inspected my current callipers very carefully looking for leaks so I am 99% sure it isn’t leaking callipers in my case. My current theory is that it is oil from my chain getting on to the disk somehow or contamination from lovely London roads. It is damn annoying. Fit new pads and clean disks – lovely braking. A few days later, mysteriously crap rear brake that provides no retardation at all. It drives me mad.

Just in case chain oil is a common denominator between us “suffers”, I use Purple Extreme chain lube. I might change to something more clingy just to see if it helps.

I think I mis-read the original post! Oops. If it just new bearings you need either somewhere like CRC or your local bearing supplier should be able to sort you out. The bearings should be stamped with a type/size which your bearing supplier should be able to match.

It is actually a very easy DIY job if you want to save a tenner or so of LBS fees.

Old headset can be knocked out with a large screwdriver and hammer although I use an old seat tube and hammer as the seat tube has a nice large surface area. And the new headset can be fitted with a block of wood and a mallet. No special training or skills required.

Sounds like a new headset to me as I am not sure you can replace just a bottom cup. FSA Orbit XL 11 gets my vote. £20 at On-One (rather than the usual £30)

Sam recommends Specialized Captains FWIW.

I don’t have a Swift but have a similar constraint on my Scandal 29er and have just fitted a Maxxis Ardent 2.25″. I would have fitted a Racing Ralph 2.25″ as I really rate them in 2.4″ but fancied trying something different. I haven’t had a chance to use the Ardent properly in anger yet but on local dry trails it has been fine so far. Not noticably draggy and plenty grippy.

Singletrack rated it “Recommended” and said that because it is thinner than most softshells it is more versatile. Definitely not a winter-only jacket.

Racing Ralph for the rear.

Racing Ralphs – On One

although I am now trying a Maxxis Ardent on the rear as my 2.4″ Racing Ralph was a bit too wide (2.25″ RR would have been fine but I fancied trying something different)

I agree. Great movie. Have you seen Pan’s Labyrinth also directed by Guillermo del Toro? Also great.

A slight hijack, but does anyone else find that if you mount a torch on your helmet with a Lockblock it wobbles around a lot? I have tried packing out the gaps through which the velco straps pass but there is still too much movement in it. Some of the movement I am sure is due to the fact the block is so soft.

What is becoming my usual response to any post even vaguely refering to “4 inches of travel” – a Santa Cruz Blur 4X if you can find one.

I have a spare 2.4″ Racing Ralph – let me know if you are interested. It is basically brand new.

They are great tyres in 29″ size. Much grippier than you would think. I have managed with them front and rear on my Scandal 29er all winter although clearly they don’t grip as much as a proper mud tyre. They clear really well though. 2.4″ is a bit too wide for the rear of my Scandal though so I am selling one and keeping one on the front

(I have replaced the rear tyre with an Ardent but have only managed a local pootle on it so far)

Islabikes seem to get the thumbs up as a first “proper” bike but I don’t know if they classify as a mountain bike as I assume they don’t have gears etc. Should be fine for flat towpaths etc though. My 3 yr old is almost due for a pedal bike and I plan on getting one of these.

Singular Swift – Sam can get one sent to your local LBS to build up under C2W

You should always by bikes with your heart, so good choice.

I suspect none of the bikes mentioned on this thread would be a bad choice though.

2.4″ Racing Ralph, assuming 0.05″ isnt a problem 😉

Damn. I wouldn’t be happy if that happended to me. I had a dog run about 100m from its owner at Mach 10 towards me and my two kids in their bike trailer today. It got to within about 1m before stopping and turning around. It gave me a bit of a shock to be honest and I was very close to giving it a good punt in the head. Gave me a bit of a fright and it had bitten me or my children it would have been reported straight away.

Having a word with the farmer and/or checking it is chained up in the future seems reasonable but you can’t have dogs running around biting people.

Apart from having to make sure you have at least 30psi in a NN, I have never had any issues with them and haven’t felt the need to move on to anything else since fitting them to my bike. I am always amazed to hear stories of people having difficulty with them.

Moose Cycles in Colliers Wood

http://www.moosecycles.com/contact.php

Very nice chaps there. I think the manager of the shop is actually the owner so he cares about small details like customers 😉

My XT pods have that too, but it is a fairly small amount of adjustment, and not enough adjustment for me unfortunately.

I actually find I can get better positioning with my old SRAM Rocket shifters and XT brake levers than I can with XT shifters and brake levers.

I have toyed with the idea of Dual Control but I slapped myself out of it 😉