Boring soap pr original Sauce and shower puff here. Use much less gel than if you try and rub it on directly and does a bit of exfoliation too.

I dunno if there’s a Kielder MTB/trails facebook group, but Alex Maclennan (The FC guy for the North East) does use facebook (I’m in a Hamserley group) to and might be a more accurate way to get a good answer before heading over.

nbt – yeap, exactly why I thought I should follow up and am glad to have been cautious when the backcountry is made so accessible. I think it was 4 killed in Aosta (Courmayeur) and 8 in Italy total.

I thought I ought to follow up on my week in Courmayeur (last week).

Snow was good, blue skies mostly.

The itineraries I’d asked about earlier on in the thread were accessed from the top lifts although increasingly smaller cable cars). Thy were very therefore accessible and saw a lot of traffic. The Mrs was keen to go and get some proper off piste but the BiL had done some good backcountry in the weeks earlier so his itch was scratched and neither of us had the local knowledge or inclination to go and do those route ourselves. Good job really. Instead we all had a very sociable week skiing with the family, including a pair of 5 year-old nephews who put me to shame on the lines under the lifts etc.

We camped 4 nights (2 Lochranza, 2 on the south coast) then 2 nights at Auchrannie, which was great. Sign up to their mailing list, they sent us a discount/upgrade code soon after.

I’ll echo what t_r rays about LPG. My in-laws have a LPG tank – cost buttons to fill.

We have a pair of gas bottles so don’t stress about running out, but it’s a surprising amount of hassle to find a supplier when Go Outdoors have run out.

I’ve got a little cat-eye one that sits on my steerer tube (on the spacers below the stem).

It’s not great but it helps me look behind more often that I would otherwise.

Adding to the knowledge pool for Marathon Winters-

I used to run my marathon winters quite soft- 50-60 psi ish. I started running them harder (80-90 psi) as per the max inflation rating on the side, to reduce noise and increase speed.

On the rear (I’ve been using them 3 winters so far and keep on accidentally putting the same tyre back on the rear, so total maybe 12 months riding, 12 miles/day) I’ve lost about half of the spikes, those that remian have started wearing through the casing on the inside. I use panaracer flataway tyre inserts (who wants to fix a puncture on an alfine bike in the winter????!?!) and the studs have worn through that as well.

Luckily CRC had their tyres on sale and I got a replacement without bankrupting me!

If you think it’s flexy, check the tubes at the end of the lugs very carefully – that’s where mine went.

The Bombtrack Arose is nice, really like it. Maybe not quote as compliant as the Peregrine and the geo is different. I also rode an alu CX bike for 3 months in the interim while sorting the replacement so it’s difficult for an accurate comparison.

I got a low compression outer from Charlie the BikeMonger (this is the second time I’ve had to pimp his wares in the last ten minutes but I’m not a shill, honest) whish really helped sharpen up the rear disc on my commuting bike. I didn’t upgrade the front, now both lever have a very similar feel.

the liner isn’t replaceable (I can’t see that being practical or economic), but they are very stiff.

I replaced my Peregrine (it cracked through the downtube at the end of the lug, that was a scary ride home before I realised what had happened) with a Bombtrack Arise; Charlie the BikeMonger sells them.

I really wanted a Soma Wolverine for the split stays and ability to go belt-drive in the future but really couldn’t justify the extra (I use putoline chain wax so hardly have to lube the chain anyway).

Happy to send you some pics or chat, email in profile.

Hope the meeting sheds some light on the potential developments.

I read the opening paragraph and thought “Select Contracts, that sounds familiar” and yes – they developed the Christchurch Adventure Park over in NZ.

I’m not going to witter on about the riding in Worsleys forest there, because it was potentially a very different situation, but I’d be interested if they could say what lessons were learned from that development?

Search ebay for completed listings and see what they sold for.

Be prepared to be disappointed, unless you can be as selfless as mike.

If you really do want it to go to a good home, perhaps find a youth group or charity who want to do MTB activities and need help with equipment??

Well the police usually require 24hrs to register a missing person?

Isn’t that a dangerous urban myth and if you have good reason to believe a missing person needs help, to report it immediately?

from https://missingpersons.police.uk/resources/reporting-someone-missing

Dial 101 and inform them you would like to make a missing persons report, alternatively you can attend your local police station. It is a common belief that you have to wait 24 hours before reporting but this is not true, you can make a report to the police as soon as you think a person is missing.

Father Jack

That would be an ecumenical matter

Drac

Not on My iPad

;-p

There’s some nice pottery and a load of other rubbish at the Corris Craft Centre.

-4 in Newcastle, only 7 miles. Icy minor roads but my winter tyres have come in to their own.

The black does wear revealing grey/silver, but it’s not that bad and it’s less noticeable than the blank gunk that builds up on a silver cassette.

I have a pair of these (ok, I have one and the wife has one).

Much better than using an expander ring, very happy with them. No weigth penalty over XT + expander ring, large sprockets are in groups on a carrier so no digging in to the freehub for you Hope Pro 2 users.

We have them both running a mediaum cage mech (on a 1x FS) so I would imagine a short cage might be suitable with a hardtail. You might not have much wiggle room if you wanted to go up a chainring size though, someone who uses a short cage mech might suggest what their range is.

I will say though, that we upgraded both mechs from long cage to medium cage using a rad cage, which has an offset top jockey wheel. This improved shifting performance noticeably.

Schwalbe Marathon Winter til Fab/March then Schwalbe Marathon Tour (Greenguard),

Both fairly puncture proof and have reflective sidewalls.

I designed my own with DIY Kitchens. can’t knock the quality but you’ll spend a fair bit of time learning what you’ve got to include and even then you’ll miss a load of end panels and filler material! Luckily the lead time for single panels and flat pack bits is 7-10 working days, not the original 4+ weeks.

Anyone got any tips for Courmayer? Never been, haven’t ski’d for a few years. My Mrs and BiL is going to want to shred the gnarly gnar, I’m much more conservative and of average ability. I see some enticing itineraire from Helebronner and Creats Youla/Cresta D’Arp. Are they mega gnarly gnar? Necessary to bring skins/crampons? Other general ski area experience or tips?

the bolts you get for Rotors are a type of button head. You’ll want to make sure they have a torx socket instead of hex (which is normal for hex socket cap screws and button head) – else you’ll be rounding them off if you’re not careful.

5lab, TJ. the lights (mine were the moon nebula copies) are ok (poorly sealed, one died in the rain), are yours the same?

It wasn’t just one batch either, I got one about 3 years ago and decided that they must have fixed such an obvious design flaw and bought more a year later!!!

ideas? keep the TV sound system separate from the Hifi speakers and sub? Simpler. Or is it that you already have a sub that you’d like to use with a new soundbar?

The bracket for the Aldi light saddle mount is brittle and will break after at most a couple of months use. The wife and I have broken all four that we have had over the years.

If anyone has one spare, I’d be happy to butcher it up in to something more robust, but don’t waste your money on one if you want to keep it mounted to the saddle and not rattling off down the road :-E

Oh dang, those were good trails.

For a hilarious but fairly large book, try A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving (of the Cider House Rules fame).

I really need to read it again!

Like Boba Fett, I can’t be done with reading any more Haruki Murakami (I did enjoy the Wind Up Bird Chronicle but Norwegian Wood left me in a bad place) and same for Thomas Hardy. Thought We Need to Talk About Kevin was ok though.

Otherwise I’ll try anything I’ve heard of that’s on sale for 99p on the Kindle Store. Stephen King, Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe), James Bond….

It might have been thanks to a link on here that I signed up for BookBub, which is a daily/weekly email list of cheap e-books.

I would say that yes, it rolls faster than a MM Trailstar.

(he should be able to self certify but if) he needs a ‘sick note’ or letter from the doctor – at our GP there is an e-appointment thing on the portal (our GP uses System Online for the bookings). If you provide evidence (maybe a photo) they migth write you a letter without having to visit. Worth a look.

Also worth noting, the receptionist at our GP surgery doesn’t necessarily know about this…

I have some tough BD ones, carbon with a flick lock. Solid enough to ski tour.

I prefer the cheapo alpkit ones though. Because they break down in to 3 sections (with a shock cord type arrangement) they go much shorter meaning they cna easily go inside a bag when I’m not using them. the stronger BD ones a much longer when packed down.

Nip the mudhugger down with some velcro or a cable tie?

Mount it forwards??

countermeasures?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6tT1GapCe4

Mike keeps banging on about the EVOC bags – but I have several mates who travel a lot who concur.

The Mrs and I have done the lightweight option (Ground Effect Tardis) to maximise kit and to transport the bags around on train and automobile at the other end of the flight. We also emigrated using cardboard boxes. This however has left the bikes vulnerable to damage (the odd scuff, chipped paint and a crushed rear triangle*…)

* we only had one rear dropout spacer for two bikes.

Not what it will be

A community of absolute bellends, most of whom are lovely. Notionally about bikes, but…

If the costs are close then you’ll have o trade off the comfort of your own bike vs the wear & tear.

Transporting bikes by air can be quite hard on them. Do you have to buy a bike bag?

Transporting bikes around in the back of your car is a headache – they take up space that you might want for other kit.

However much of the riding you might want to do will be nowhere near decent hire shop (i.e. if you have particular requirements on your bike & fit).

Although TBF, I’d just be doing a few days riding form ChCh, Nelson, Alexandra and Rotovegas to keep me happy, lots of bike park and back country to do from there, which could work with hire bikes.

Rough costs:

air freight a bike ~ £250
fly with your bike as luggage ~ £100
bike hire ~ £40 per day

r/choosingbeggars is full of this, love it.

>> Can’t you deliver for me? I’m a single mother and my baby’s sick?

>> Wow you’re so rude, you’ve ruined her Christmas.

>> DIE IN A FIRE GO TO HELL BTICH LASAGNE

Ex professional count too?

Helen Gaskell does/did quite a bit of coaching.