Not a commentator on the political threads, but on the topic of Reform’s first day in parliament and subsidised hospitality: I can’t be the only one imagining Farage slipping a 12″ badboy out from under his ill-fitting double-breasted jacket, can i…?

Thanks all.  This is a 6 digit plate, so might be worth having a look!? I’ll see what i can dig up.

I think most people have covered the essentials, regarding cheap kit (Ebay, Decathlon, TK Maxx) lip balm and the advantage of a few lessons beforehand.

i’d also add- definitely wear helmets- you might not fall hard enough, but chairlift bars hurt, and the rail of a ski falling over/ your chidren dropping them on you is pretty sharp.

Also, as you are in Italy, there is no excuse not to stop for a Bombardino: https://club-vino.co.uk/bombardino-what-is-it-and-how-do-i-make-the-best-bombardino/

Sorry if this is done to death/before…

Anyone have recommendations of whereabouts to stay for a Whistler trip? Hoping to go at Easter with the family, teenagers like a bit of life…  Not sure if whistler village is too lively, or if Blackcomb side is too quiet!? Close to lifts/ slopes is defintely preferred. Thanks!

Edit- what’s parking like too? Planning on a few days in Vancouver first and driving up, so would it be a terrible idea to book something without guaranteed parking?

I started a ‘what hardtail’ thread here early in the summer, and true to form, I’ll recommend what I have- a Bird Forge:

-Steel

-140mm

-different enough from my other bikes (gravel and 140/150mm full suss)

XC capable with the right tyres, but great fun around a trail centre/smooth (small!)  jumps drops, etc

I’m also in Oxfordshire, so this is my preference for Chilterns rides, Swinners, or light Surrey type riding.

@fasgadh Yes, good point about Limousins, and they can run like horses!

I’m not directly involved in farming nowadays, but my brother is. All of his suckler cows are now Stabilisers, which are nice and placid. Sticking to the topic of cattle-H&S, they are a pretty nondescript brown breed, which look a bit like any number of beef x store cattle, and i’d question most people’s ability to judge them from the edge of a field, with calves or not.

There are a few trend that have affected the situation: Suckler herds have become common since the extensification subsidies until the early 00’s. Beef cattle being less labor intensive, and the collapse of small producers in milk production as well as the recent trend of grass-fed beef as a preference means they are more viable. As a result there are lot more cows and calves in lowland pasture where there weren’t 20 years ago.  Also, since the BSE crisis, there is a 30 month maximum age stipulation for prime beef cattle. (there’s a bit more latitude now, but commercially, it’s under 30 months) Hence, a lot more younger cattle than years ago.

It’s also probably the case that a lot fewer dog owners encounter cattle, so they and their dogs aren’t used to the animals, nor can they identify potential dangers, like cows and calves. As has been noted above, there’s a balance between an uncontrolled dog off the lead, chasing livestock, and an owner being trampled by keeping their dog on the lead close to them and being unable to fend off cattle. Personally, I would avoid cows in a field with cattle if I had my dogs with me, but if I did have a load of cows run towards me, I’d let them off and trust my recall- dogs can usually outrun cattle. Also, cattle will chase you if you run -because, why not!? It’s fun for them. Stand your ground, wave your arms and shout every expletive you know at them and they will generally get scared- they’re not looking for a fight. Carrying a stick makes you a lot more confident, and if it feels bad, whack them across the nose with it, that stops everything but the most determined dairy bull, and you shouldn’t have got near to them at all. -And don’t get behind any heifers or cows, even a little kick in the shin hurts like ****,

In the end though, farming communities, and anyone who wants to see greater public awareness and value in the countryside, needs to encourage access. No-one will care about an environment they have no access to or knowledge of. There is definitely a lot of toxic behaviour by farmers and defintely some massive ignorance by walkers, but it doesn’t have to be a polarising issue.

it’s probably specialist knowledge for many, unsurprisingly, but the situation was likely not illegal. From your quote of the coutryside act:

“… it does not belong to a recognised dairy breed and is at large in any field or enclosure in which cows or heifers are also at large.

A dairy breed defined by the act is one of the following: Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry.”

At first glance, most beef breeds, such as Herefords, Simmentals, Charolais, Aberdeen Angus, Limousin present a much bigger, muscular physique in a mature bull than a Friesian/Holstein but I know I’d rather be in a field with a dopey Angus or Hereford than a lanky black and white beastie…

A bit more domesticated XC riding, but Goring on Thames gives you access to riding both on the Ridgeway to the West, and up into the Chilterns to the East/North. As a point-to-point, a loop can be done up to the north and then East to Henley Station to head home.

Used to do a lot of Surrey Hills rides from Reading to  Dorking Deepdene or Gomshall, a bit of spin out to Redlands or Peaslake, but the added advantage of a beer on the train for the way home!

What would Massa Marittima be like in the summer? I like hot weather riding, doesn’t faze me.

I’m currently split between some proper big alpine style riding, such as Whiteroom backcountry, or somewhere a bit more novel. Probably the riding I’ve enjoyed the most was Slovenia, partially because i had few expectations and it was a totally new destination for me.

Thanks all. For those looking for trips in Feb, would Blacktown trails in Madrid suit? Usually coldish, but dry round there I think?

Can slack types like me join late? I have two days in hand….

Only 49 mins ride and back to the shop on Saturday, but today was a good 3 hours (moving time) winching up and descending in the FOD.

👆 Yeah, but skinny tubes look nice, so steel = betterer.

Very much agree about the lighter/shorter travel options, I’m local to Chilterns riding, so that’s the intended terrain. I do want it to be slack/modern geo enough for pop and have fun on trail centre stuff too though.

I’d forgotten about the Holt- a thing of beauty. What travel fork do they take?

Edit- some of these are probably out of budget, true… But there’s nothing like browsing a selection of niche hardtails!

Thanks all so far- I’d looked at, then fogotten the Sonder. I have an older Camino, so generally convinced by the quality of that.

Back in the murky past of 26″ I had a DMR Switchback followed by a V2 Cotic Soul, not to menition riding a few 90’s chromo frames… Even by the advent of the V2 Soul the frames were getting beefire, but there’s still a definite ride quality about steel.

That Ra is lovely- might be a bit out of budget though. Conversely, I am not against an On-one, ive had a lot fo fun on an older gas-pipe Inbred!

Interesting what you say about the Pipedream- I expected it to be the funnest- I’m currently watching the Hardtail Party review, so will see what thay say.

I’m currently doing a lot of bare plaster painting in a house extension, and i’m using a Wagner sprayer for the first time. A 50/50 primer is essential, which i’m following with a cheap Leyland trade matt white everywhere.

Top colour coats are so far, a mix of Valspar and F&B. Both are going on fine with the sprayer and the finish is noice… I dont think it uses much more paint either, once you consider how much is soaked up by rollers, etc.

Edit- agreed about F&B being a bit thin- for the sprayer, all emulsion needs a 5-10% dilution, but it wasnt really needed with the F&B, it sprayed easy.

You mention Swinley and local bridleways, are you a Chilterns rider? I am, and I fitted a Racing Ralph/ Racing Ray combo on my trail bike last year, and they were brilliantly fast in the dry, but didn’t prove durable with the flints.

I’d also advocate Vittoria Barzos, minimally heavier for a lot more reliability and all round performance. Nobbys are another food shout, slightly more aggressive again.

Always enjoy a Tongsheng thread.

Mine has just passed 4000km, doing 25 miles each way to work, built on a Planet X London Road. It’s a 250 motor with a 48v battery. I’ve had a couple of wires work loose on the battery, but other than that, it’s been faultless.

You can buy a spider for the crank to mount different chainrings, they are available on Ebay. (I have done so to fit a thick/thin ring) I can’t see why you would want a double front, I have 44-27 as my lowest gear, and it’s fine to spin up seated on every bit of the Chilterns I’ve attempted to ride up. (Road and smooth gravel only though…)

I had a wart on a finger for a couple of years- tried the freezer, salicylic acid both scholl and Bazooka didnt work. I started using superglue, Which I would top up a couple of times a week and then trim back every week or so. It went in about 3 weeks.

I think the trick is to keep it as constantly covered as possible- trim then immediately recover, and put more on to keep a good ‘shell’ over it. It just fell off one day leaving smooth skin and no trace!

For anyone thinking about longevity- I have one of these 750 TSDZ02 motors with a 48v hailong battery, (downtube mount) and no thumb throttle. (the devil’s work- and heavily reduces range) Adaptors for thick/thin chainrings are available on ebay/aliexpress, and I’ve used it for my rolling commute of 25 miles since September 2020. I went for the bigger motor as I often carry panniers/laptop/clothes. I’ve clocked up over 5000 km on it with no internal bearing/ blue nylon drive replacement. This has all been commuting on back lanes though, so steady cadence, not cranking hard off road!

For @drj and anyone else planning a trip to Greece:

I’m just back from a 2 week trip to Paros and the coast near Athens. It’s been great, Greek people are very conscientious about masks, etc. Living a generally outdoor life helps. Greek authorities were thorough and sympathetic to deal with, though as we flew back, we were asked by our check in, for a receipt with price paid for our 2 day tests in the UK. (on top of the 72 hour test, vaccination certs, and proof of booked 2 day tests) I can’t see how the cost of tests is of any relevance to boating a flight home, but might be something to consider.

I have no experience of foiling, kite surfing or windsurfing but after being in Greece last week, the idea of wing foiling as a new activity really appeals.

I was speaking to a friend over there who is a very experienced windsurfer, now developing his foil skills. He commented that in my position, wingfoiling would be the best option to try first. From the bit of the video up there I watched, this seems reasonable. Anyone with experience agree?

I have a hard shell roof tent mounted on a SWB Tourneo Custom. It’s not the ideal solution as a camper, day van, people carrier or carrying loads, but by adding or removing the RTT, different rows of seats and the internal bed platform I’ve made, it can be made to do all of the above. I bought mine from here about 4 years ago and it’s still in great nick and gets plenty of use: Adventurehire

A pop-top would be better for convenience and access from inside the van, but they cost a load more. An LWB hightop transit would be a better stealth camper, (and probably the best option for the OP) but ours is also a family vehicle, so height barriers, fuel efficiency, etc aren’t issues if I take the RTT off. If I go for a trip on my own, it’s great to sleep up top and have bikes/boards/camping gear inside the van.

With the RTT on and a bed platform inside, which works with the rear seats, we’ve done a couple of 3-week continental road trips as a family of four, along with bikes, body boards, camping gear, etc. It’s quicker to put up or take down than the inflatable Decathlon awning we have to go alongside it. It also deals with the wet/wind fine, as it has zip-off storm sides/flysheet. We were in Pembrokeshire last weekend and it was a lot quieter in the wind and rain than in the awning! (Not as good as sleeping inside the van though…)

The only downsides we’ve had are- 1) it’s heavy to lift on, needs 2 at least to lift on. 2) if it’s windy, we have to tie the straps up, as they flap on the hard shell and make noise all night. (Takes 3 minutes with a bungee cord) 3) I seem to spend a lot of time walking round in the roof of the van when opening or closing it- some strategically placed strips of chequerplate and/or helitape are a good idea.

The one thing that can’t be avoided is climbing down the ladder to pee in the night. Drink whisky instead of beer…

Thought I’d update this thread, particularly if anyone else is thinking of a second set of road wheels for their gravel bike.

In the end I went for the Hunt Aero Lights. I missed the boat for the Prime Attaquer wheels, and they sold out before I could overcome my indecisiveness, and really I thought the Hunt ones had nicer logos…😆

They are everything I wanted: distinctly lighter than my Grail wheels, noticeably stiff and sprightly when climbing. I also decided against anything very aero, as I’m running wide flared drops, so it would seem and bit daft to worry about the rim profile… It’s probably 10 years since I bought a good quality set of Road wheels (Fulcrum Racing 1’s) but these are cheaper and easily as good.

Agh! I think the choice for me is now between the Hunt Aero Light and the Prime attaquer wheels listed above- both look ideal and distinct enough from my current Grail wheels to stand out as more ‘road’.

Any experience with the build quality of the Prime wheels? I don’t tend to trust the reviews on CRC, they are all over the place.

Thanks all- that last post echoes a lot of my thinking, I am in no way a quick climber, so I doubt the Aero Lights would give much advantage. Also they would be for local riding- Chilterns/Newbury Downs, so lots of steady climbs, with flats between.

Controversial, but why not stick slicker tyres on the Grails?

That’s what I’m doing at the moment, but I’d like to eliminate the faff of changing tyres, especially tubeless.

Also- I did look at the Prime wheels, and they look pretty good, but my frame is the V1, with QR dropouts. CRC don’t have rear adaptors, and Hunt have all options so seems a better bet…?

My apologies, if this doesn’t work, I’m not conversant with quoting etc, as @dannyh queries (quite rightly) about this

Its maybe not an accident that the Whitehouse is legislating one way and Trump is encouraging people to protest another. People from his own team are bankrolling the protestors and paying their bail.

There’s some interesting points about the election strategy here and it seems to be done in plain sight…

This might be a bit abstract, but Zaireeka by the Flaming Lips- produced so you can reproduce it yourself!

Also, and especially, The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips

Both work of Dave Fridmann and very distinct. The production of the latter is superb. So many different layers of sound, and with the particular complication of very lo-fi live drums, yet tight and distinct instrumentation.

I’d also champion the work of Nigel Godrich, producer of much of Radiohead’s output, and a surprising amount of work from that era, but I find these albums particularly good in production terms:

Kid A
Amnesiac
Hail to the Thief- Radiohead

Terror Twilight- Pavement

The Eraser
Anima-Thom Yorke

Sea Change-Beck (such an brilliant redirection of Beck’s sound in this album)

I changed my 29” DT M1900 splines on my AM9 for a pair of these in the winter, and although I’ve only done a handful of rides on them, they have transformed the handling of and pick-up speed of the bike.

I was lucky enough to get a couple of days riding in Portugal at the end of February, and they were stiff and capable on properly chunky/rocky terrain, while being light enough for 1000m+ climbing days. They’ve got to be some of the best wheels in that price range.

As long as it’s big enough for your needs- We have an AWD Tesla M3, through a similar work scheme. The 300 mile range is pretty realistic. We drove a family of 4 to the Alps (French ones) last week and back. It took us about an hour and a half longer to get back than friends in a regular car, so we had a proper lunch and pee stops…

Check out the Tesla supercharger network to see if it’s handy for your regular journeys would be my tip. Also, if you want to drive on the continent, the Ionity network chargers are very fast, and share the same plug as the M3.

I have a large AM9, and I run it with a 170mm stealth reverb. I’ve got a 33” inside leg, and the dropper sticks out about an inch and a half, but could go all the way down if I needed.

I don’t know if you’re looking generally, but I’ve had some excellent experiences with Italian Rifugi. At the time I was walking rather than riding, but the standouts were Umbria, Abruzzo and a Via Ferrata trip in the Sud Tyrol/ Dolomiti.

Another resource is this: good for long distance walking routes. Not sure how rideable they are.

https://www.turismo.politicheagricole.it/cammini/

@tjagain, thanks for that. I have been looking into this a bit and I wondered about the rear hub vs crank drive for a lightish weight build. There’s a lot of detail on dedicated forums, but fewer comments about ride quality/ similarity to a regular bike, instead they are focussed on output/distance.

I was also recommended the latter but haven’t found much feedback as to pedal feel/ max cadence.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike/769-16768-q128c-135mm-500w-rear-driving-ebike-hub-motor-wheel-ebike-kit.html

This thread gets my interest too, as I want to build a kit onto my camino for commuting. @tjagain – Interesting what you say about torque sensing and the weaknesses of rear hubs for hill climbing. I’m interested in the TSDZ2, does anyone know if it allows for relatively high cadence (80rpm-ish) spinning up hills?

This looks pretty solid:

http://www.pswpower.com/ven.php?cargo.2018-4c-gj4p

I read via FB that it’s running really well, especially as the fire roads have now been upgraded so the climb is easier…! Anyone been this week for an update? I’m heading there tomorrow.

In the MTB no man’s land of NW Leicestershire for extended family Xmas, so 3 laps of Hick’s lodge, before home for scoffing.

Ah, fair enough- I’d not clicked through to check closely. I’d say it’s worth a punt, you can always ask them if it’s a set of fork which have been returned before?

I bought an immaculate set of brand new, Boxxer red Lyriks in the spring from them, which had been seconded as it had a mark on the steerer. Whoever does the descriptions is pretty minimal, so I suspect they are just reusing old advert pics/format to sell multiples of ex demo/returned/seconded stock.

Thought I’d revive this- Ideally i’d be buying a whole bike, but realistically I’m more looking at a groupset or individual components. Does anyone know if any of these are made in taipei, and can be bought locally?

This is full of pretty pics, of shiny parts…

Having ridden some of the more well-known steep-off piste trails in those parts, you don’t really need a lot of travel, more the right angles and low standover/as long a dropper as you can fit for the steep.

I’ve done some 1000m descent days, with some localish riders on Whyte s-150 or t-130’s in the Wylie and Tirpentwys areas while I was on my Bird AM9, and they weren’t slowed down or holding back! Some of the newer slack XC bikes like the SC Tallboy, or the Yeti SB-100 would probably be ok if they have low standover and you’re not planning to ride that stuff for the whole ride?