I can understand the too hot people….

too hot = sweaty = wet = very cold once you stop/cool down.

My F-i-L actually spends time looking after the Haughtongreen Bothy. He’s ridden in from the road-end on his brompton but had to push a bit where it was muddy. He’s said it would be ok but uninteresting on MTB. HTH

Munrobiker’s is the loop I did with ir_bandito and co.

The descent down Doups/Carlseddam doesn’t feature any of me riding – I didnt really feel like stopping was an option for much of it. The bottom pitch gets silly – the path has been diverted on to switch-backs that were too tight for me to get a bike round without cheating. If the grass was dry I’d consider having another crack at the fall-line… maybe.

Some fun rock features on the descent too but definitely not a track that would see many bikes and ride accordingly.

I rode with Trail Boss and Vigilantes in the Tough casing last year.

vincienup – I followed the instructions from vital mtb. You remove then ratchet plate piece and reassemble.

I didn’t already have a shifter but I did want to mount with the i-spec bolts. I think it’s also still cheaper than the southpaw or any other dedicated remote lever.

If you already have a shifter…..

My Lev is mounted to a XT lever, works very nicely.

Enduro is a combination of downhill speed to race, strength and fitness to complete the course intact and internet savvy to get entered 😳

Well I suppose I and 999 others were sitting there hitting refresh for a minute until they appeared….

click tickets, no change, refresh main page, click tickets….

Right, I’m in. See you lot there.

It won’t take off, and certainly not from LHR, never going to get built this century.

That cash cow is getting milked.

Refund policy is absurd this far in advance. Should be able to pass on entries as a minimum, they wouldn’t be out of pocket and everybody wins.

But there’s money to be made and so far the demand is there….

Basically there are so many people wanting to do the event it’s been nominally split in to two buckets:

my interpretation

Enduro – those who want to go hell for leather all the way
Sport – those who want to have a crack at riding the stages

also the same split for the 3-stage Sprint/Lite events.

/edit – as stated by qtip more elaborately above 🙂

Arthritis?

Be wary of googling for “fibromyalgia”, it seems to be a bit of a catch-all for any undiagnosed body/skeletal pain.

/edit

do you have an overly soft mattress?? Is it better when you go camping and have a less saggy bed?

Don’t forget that for rear lights, quantity is just as important as quality.

What if a light falls off? (and you don’t notice)?
What if the battery is flat after 5 minutes of your 30 minute commute? (and you don’t notice)?

Make sure you have at least 2 lights and maybe some spare batteries!

I also have one of the RSP ones. Great for all-round visibility and can be attached/detached without a bracket (has a good o-ring type clip). It has a good slow pulse mode that I think is more eye-catching than the normal rapid flashing.

+1 what al says about some light being too bright… it’s great to have that power for when the sun is right in your eyes (and therefore the eyes of someone driving behind you) but you might not want to be using it all the time.

There’s heap and heaps on threads on here discussing where to ride in NZ, I’ve contributed to them plenty.

For finding GPX files…. I dunno, I never used them. Most of the backcountry trails require so little navigational skills it wasn’t ever really necessary. If you know where the trail is and have a map then there’s often little to go wrong. Normally it’ll be “hike up a trail for 3 hours, turn around and ride back down” or “go on this trail, after an hour, follow the sign for XX hut”

Rude rock etc. are all signposted.

Most other backcountry type trails are self-explanatory.

Get a mapping app – the NZ topomap data is free to use so there’s lots of apps giving you access to (and ability to cache) the map tiles, legit and for free.

http://www.topomap.co.nz/

I still have my (Android) map app installed “New Zealand Topo Maps Free”. Can’t remember what the MRs used on iOS.

HTH

IFAIK the Mrs hasn’t signed up :paranoid: , but she does bear up with references to the STW world very well, bless her.

I had a sloppy ride in the Lakes a couple of weeks ago. The fella with the Rockguardz (I think) had a clean jersey and face. Me on the other hand…

Is the refunds policy worse than last year? 😕

That’s very disappointing, especially as the Mrs might not be riding this time.

No refund at all = unlikely to gamble on the Mrs. getting a ticket = less likely to make a weekend of it = I won’t bother going either.

I can comfortably ride at moderately high speed and pass by someone missing them by a few inches, its not a hard skill if you can ride a bike.

You are kidding, right? 😐

No wonder most of the populace thinks we’re knobends.

I empathise with your frustrations but must remind you to be humble, to share the public land and to suck it up, sunshine.

My mates complain about feeling watched, when you’re out night riding alone but none of them have spotted me yet.

Really enjoyed reading your write-up, thanks for sharing your personal and geographical adventure.

£20 + gift aid your way sir, as you’re too far from here to buy you a pint.

Just noticed the wording of his petition includes making it a treasonous act to imagine the UK becoming a member of the European Union 😯

Looks like I am guilty of thoughtcrime 😥

an honestly, I’m sure it’s being written in to some “anti-terror” legislation as we speak. The act of “imagining” a subversive act, which would hinder the Government in carrying out their work….

The new seal skins are pretty comfy, though there’s still some of that funny sensation that you’ll recognise. Never notice it much when I’m riding though.

Longer length is obviously a benefit to keeping the water out of the hole in the top, as is a the new Seal Skinz with the gripper cuff or even better a home-made gaiter.

The latest Sealskinz have a 1cm-ish gripper strip / seal inside the cuff to reduce water getting in from the top. No idea if they work, but it seems like a step in the right direction

I have a pair that I’ve only used once or twice – they;re definitely an improvement over my old ones. Much of that improvement comes from the longer length that I bought. The silicone cuff isn’t right at the top, so if water is running down your leg it’s still got a small gap to pool in before it seeps through.

A better solution, of a cuff sticking out at the top would be more effective until it was inevitably damaged.

mikewsmith – Member
No, I’ve had the pleasure of riding with some extremely talented and fit women. We all ride to our strengths.

Also my experience.

If I’m daydreaming on the way home pootling up the hill and you saunter pass me, I’m likely to pick my pace up a bit. Not your fault for being faster at that moment in time, just your fault for spoiling my reverie 😈

IIRC 15 mm is only 100 mm wide, but 20 mm axles are 110 mm wide so it’s not as simple as a tube/spacer.

Let’s say the offender’s “lock” is particularly unsubstantial…

Break the lock but don’t nick the bike.

Sure, you might be leaving the theft of said bike open to opportunity but either they’re a plum or they were trying to nick your bike after hours.

If your heart bleeds at that splash out on new lock with either your number to obtain the key or a combination lock – they’ll brute force the code eventually*

*took me about 10 minutes once, I was nicking my bike back.

Well yes. I’m no whippet but I’m fast enough that I could leave some people behind on climbs, but if I’m out on a social ride I don’t, because they are *social* rides – that’s the point.

Quite 🙂 Oh yes, we’ll race each other to some arbitrary gate (while not putting in as much effort that it’s obvious that we’re trying, but that’s part of the game) but then hold the gate open for each other and stop for some gassing. But that doesn’t sound like the OP’s mate.

Salsa Bend 2 are wider but similar sweep.

There are others, I’m sure more folk will be along to lend some ideas.

/edit – just seen your location. I’d happily lend you my Salsa Bend 2’s – they’re not fitted to anything at the moment. email me if interested.

Most posters seem to be ignoring the anti-social aspect to the OP, which was that his mate is an antisocial git.

You need to be honest with him, and soon. He’ll start using the excuse “oooh, I won’t be able to keep up with you without my e-bike now” though of course “well I’ll wait for you because what sort of mate would ride off without his mates…..”

You’re right to question, I’m not sure B+ makes sense on a FS for pissing around the the woods tech riding.

I’ve had a think (as I’m not going to splash the cash until I kill either of my current bikes) and the plus stuff would make sense on either

– rigid bikes to give them some squish, therefore some compliance & traction

– big mountain rocky riding. I was humiliated by a fella who rode all the way up Skiddaw on a plus* bike!

*was also an e-bike, that may have helped.

Good grief.

QFT.

I’m surprised that nobody has suggested that this thread carry a trigger warning because some people seem to be getting so bogged down by the fact you asked for an opinion because you couldn’t understand the purpose of this shanty.

Anyway, it’s taking the piss. I’m not surprised that neither building regs nor planning permission want to fob this off to each other. Neither probably have enough manpower left!

or is manpower a now outdated and sexist word… 😉

The new hose part should come with the banjo end (the end you cut) crimped on and the olive and barb for you to fit, once you’ve cut the other end to the desired length.

page broken. I’m also interested – any other recommendations?

Definitely don’t drain on to a grass pitch, where people might be putting up a tent on another day, that’s minging.

OK so there’s enough gushing praise on this thread, I’m just disappointed that there weren’t particularly many theatrical winks. There were however plenty of drinks for a sky-high fee.

You all miss the point.

Which is that you can now watch porn while you brew your tea, right?

My Mrs is on her second pair (too much crash damage to the first pair). I got them in chewy to try and help with her carpal tunnel – they may well have helped a bit.

The newer ones have a nice satin finish, which looks spot on with her matt carbon frame 🙂

cheap too, if you wait for a sale.

nasty graphics though 🙁

+1 for Draftsight. used it as a professional tool for a couple of years alongside SolidWorks and its pretty good. some things arent so slick but it does the job for most of it.