I ride the South Downs anywhere between Brighton and Eastbourne, been really impressed with the Bontrager XR4’s 2.2s I got a couple of months ago, been in Friston Forest, on slippery chalk, clay, gravel, mud and grass and they’ve been great, I’d say a true allrounder, quite big though but I prefer bigger tyres and they clear quite well if a little draggy in the sloppy mud today.

Please keep the encouragement and success stories coming 🙂 struggled to get out of bed this morning, took the dog for a walk this morning and felt like I wanted to keep going and not come back, escape from it all. Gotta go cos I’m late already!

Time management is an issue with me, I used to have lots of free time which seems to have gone now, you feel your just getting there then something else crops up, seems like there’s no end, I try to prioritise but it just goes tits-up!

😆 MTFU, yeah I know, just feel like a good moan, it’s only 9 months really, 20 years ago I could probably deal with it better but mid 40’s it’s quite a change and difficult to get into the mindset of working all night and weekends after workng all day, hard on the old brain…

Ok, great advice, thanks, will look at exercises to strenghen the ankles. I’m just walking a bit and running a bit at the moment but it’s been a while since I’ve done some running so I’ll ease into a bit more. Thanks.

I did look on CRC, typed in ‘cane creek’ into the search but couldn’t find the parts and looking on cane creeks website I can’t find it on there either, think they might not do this headset anymore or now call it something else, so might not be able to get the part?

So, if anyone knows of another headset that can easily change between 1 1/8th and 1.5 I’d appreciate it as I might have to buy and fit a new one?

highclimber – Yep, that’s the headset, thanks for finding that, so looks like you can just change the top and bottom bits to fit the steerers, just need to find where to get the parts now. The bike’s got boxxers on so thinking of putting on some shorter 160mm singlecrown forks as there’s some good deals on 1.5in forks around and saving the boxxers for trips to the alps 😀

Ah, google comes up with Extra UK as the distriutors, I’ll contact them.

Measure your knee, look at the sizing chart …. then get the next size smaller, they will stretch, and if you get the correct size after about a weeks use they will feel a bit loose – imo

Yes and no, this was the answer I would get when I asked teachers about the profession where I worked.
I’ve just started a PGCE after working in a DT department for 3 years, I really enjoyed working with the children and in the classroom, it can be great fun if you are in an area that you are passionate about and the ideas that would come out of the children were inspiring. As for the holidays, boy do you need them, anyone that moans about how long and often teachers holidays are has probably never worked with children in that way, it’s full on under pressure all day, you need to be on your toes and on top of things, perform everyday and get the best exam results you can at the end of the year.
As mentioned get into schools to get experience but not just in the classroom find out about lesson plans, schemes of work, H&S issues, school policy’s etc., coming from a practical subject the amount of paperwork, information, assignments, reading lists and lectures that have been thrown at me in my first week is very daunting and the terminology used will have you reading everything 2 or 3 times trying to work out what the hell they are on about! I have a headache just thinking about it now. I’m 44 and it’s hard to adjust to studying and the resulting change in lifestyle, it’s 10 years since I was in that environment, so the sooner you do it the better!

I did look into those Formula Mega but on enquiring the rear hose is too short (1400mm) for my bike and any spare parts for Formula’s seem expensive – I looked into getting a new rear hose and I think it was about £36 for the kit, plus you got the hassle of bleeding them too, so in the end decided to stick with the SLX’s

I got one recently, it’s bigger than I thought it would be, quite long, I got the M/L and it’s 57cm long and 27cm wide although this makes it more low profile on your back rather than sticking out a lot like another pack I have that is the same capacity but shorter, I’m about 5’10” and think the small would be fine too. Very nicely made bit of kit, expensive, but I’m off to the alps soon so thought it would be good with the back protector and big enough to carry pads etc and all-day kit. Plenty of space and pockets everywhwere to stow stuff, compression straps and a built in rain cover, well designed. Used it on a local loop and just compressed it down and used it on a 20mile off road commute where I’ve had to carry complete change of clothes, towel, etc, very comfortable. The waist belt has a kind of gripping material on it and is done up using velcro and buckle, feels very secure.

😆

Think I might be locking up a 203mm rear too easily.

Scott they look good, good reviews too, not sure about 203mm rear though, although that could be changed to a 180 if I find it too much, Formula rotors look expensive though.

Thanks, all food for thought. I managed to blue my discs on a transalp trip last year, but they were 185/160 XT levers deore calipers oe pads, not all day downhill stuff but there were some long descents, taking a heavier bike this time and I’m no racing wippet.

Just thinking if I’m constantly doing long downhill runs it might be better to have stronger brakes that require less pulling on the levers to get good braking, less hand cramps at the end of the day. But, I know what you mean about the skills course, I did mean to do one, but don’t think there’s any local so would need to travel … something I might look into.

Mmm, interesting review doug, thanks.

I reckon I’ll go with the Saints, from reading reviews and google’ing it seems they will be the most reliable so I reckon they’ll be worth the extra £’s

My only dilemma now is what size rotors to go for, I was thinking 203F and 180R, I’ve got those at the moment with some SLX’s but can’t honestly say I notice a big difference between my XT’s with 180/160’s, but if I get the Saints will it be too much with 203/180’s … I’ve just started laughing to myself while I’m typing that, can you have ‘too much’ braking? I’m hoping to get decent one-finger braking for those long descents, so 203/180’s it is! 😆

I’ve had something like this twice this year, blasterworm or something, locked me out of doing anything like system restore, accessing control panel, anything adminstrative, had to have the hard drive wiped and everything re-installed, it’s happened when I’ve just been researching bike stuff, images of something, and there was something pop-up in front of or covering the image and when I click to close it all the trouble started, so just be careful what you click on. And this was with a paid for internet security anti-virus. My local PC guy that sorted it out gave me a cd that you can boot from on startup and run linux from on a windows pc just to access the internet using the ram memory, says you won’t get anything like that?

The bearings are 1614RS, I found them a bit difficult to find from normal bearing suppliers, I think they are an imperial size and don’t have a metric equivelent, I waited about a year before SCUK had some in stock, luckily I had a set already that I’d replaced and just wanted some spares, first time I changed them! Didn’t think mine had any play until I changed the shock from a vanilla to a float then you could feel it with no shock in place.

Click HERE

Although they have them listed as old Superlight, they are not, I have a 2002 Superlight and they are a different bearing, phone them just to check and make sure they DO have them in stock. I found the best place for shock bushings to be mojo, just let them know the bike and year and they’ll supply a pair the correct size.

trail rat, me or the op? Think the op’s is a black and polished one?

Here’s a pic of the rear mech cable routing on my old Heckler, as long as you have the kink from frame to swingarm and a decent radius to the rear mech it should be ok, never had any problems and the cable outer from the frame to the swingarm compresses under suspension action so shouldn’t affect it?

Have you checked the main bearings for play? If wobbley you can get them from SCUK and they are an absolute doddle to replace.

Good bike btw, took my old one over the Alps last year, no problems at all. I’ve got some UTurn Rebas on mine 80-115mm perfect.

Mmm, looks like I could do with a bit of a wiring tidy up in there too!

Yeah, I guess bolt on to the ball is fine otherwise they wouldn’t make them, just seem odd how something so big with heavy bikes on it doesn’t rotate around the ball?

Really prefer a wheel support one, I’d worry about the bikes bashing into each other on a hanging one and having sloping top tubes the bike would hang at funny angles, and I’d still need to get a lighting board as the bikes would obsure number plate and lights.

Wiksey, if you could do some photos and email them or post up here I’d appreciate it.

Couple of pics of the old girl for those interested, I’ve been cleaning it today, long overdue, and a pic of what’s in the back! 😀

Wiksey, I did wonder about those one’s, but there website isn’t very clear on fitting and no zoom in or detailed images, also wondering how those hooks on the upright bars adjust to fit toptubes and they look a bit narrow too, you find them ok? Handlebars won’t be a problem as I can quickly undo the stem and turn the bars.

snakebite, looking around the only one’s I seem to find to fit my towbar are those type but you hang the bikes on those and I’d prefer to have the wheel suppoert type.

I’ve seen some that tilt right back which could be good, but they all look like tow ball fitting, so I might just get a bolt on ball, but not sure I like the idea of bolting a couple of £k’s bikes to a ball?

I always try to work my routes out so I go down Windover Hill, and if you do the SDW Winchester to Eastbourne you’ll go up it right near the end, and just after this there’s another one to go up, Bourne Hill, just after you go all the way back down again to Jevington. That’s the thing with the downs, you spend 20 mins climbing, 5 mins descending, then 20 mins climbing, 5 mins descending, and repeat … it’s all up and down.

I regretted was leaving the suntan lotion at home

Yeah, I’ve even got tan lines on my arms!

This is Windover Hill, exposed chalk and flint all the way from the top of the SDW down to the gate, or from the bottom to the top if your climbing up it ….

Was out yesterday on the SDW, Eastbourne end, and Friston Forest, conditions at the moment are superb, dry and fast, if you get rain it will be sloppy in low lying areas and the chalk will be slippery, but it tends to dry up quick on the top of the downs, I’ve yet to shred tyres up on flints in 20 odd years or riding here, most of the flinty chalk tracks are smooth with large bits of worn flint – they hurt if you slip and land on them, I get more problems on the tracks going off the downs where the farmers cut the hedges. Did the BHF Randonee thing last year on Michelin XC Dry’s with one puncture from a large bent rusty nail.

Did a test video in the forest yesterday with my cam on the seatpost (better half following me and first time she’s been on the bike since last summer), it’s long and not ‘sick to the power of rad’ but you’ll get an idea of what it’s like at the mo …

I’m awaiting 2 refunds at the moment from CRC, 1 from something I returned as it was the wrong size so asked them to refund to paypal – this was on the card that got scammed, not had that yet, but the other item I’ve just been told it’s not in stock, something I purchased with my £30 voucher and paypal, but it’s still listed as being in stock, so after a phone call I’m told it’s not in stock 🙄 so they are going to refund me, ok … so I’ve been sent an email saying I’ve been refunded, but nothing is showing up from paypal, erm, so where have they paid the money to then? 😕

Here’s the video for it, it’s on the Contour headcam website

CLICK HERE

Mmm, only 0.1% of customers affected eh, be nice if CRC offered a nice big discount to those who’ve had the hassle of their card being scammed then, 20% off my next order please, afterall it’s only 0.1% of their sales for that period (apparently?) so it would be nothing to them! 😐

Maybe they don’t store any details online or in online account information, but I’m just curious now as to how they can make refunds then, I’m guessing they must have something stored somewhere? How do they refund to my account without the card details I piad with? (unfortunately this is the first time I’ve returned something as it’s the wrong size) ❓

There is no facility that I can see for storing/updating card account details on CRC

Yeah, I can’t see anything either, I’m sure there used to be? I think someone else posted that the ‘remove card details’ option was no longer there, when my card got scammed it was one of the first things I did but when I clicked on it it stated no card details held, think I’ll email CRC back and see what they have to say?

It was a refund that I had requested from an order that was never delivered.

That’s interesting. I have something from my order that was purchased on a card that was scammed and has now been stopped and replaced, I contacted CRC about how they would refund my payment as the card has been stopped and this was in the email I got back:

‘We would ask you to update your card details in your CRC online account.
Once we have the new details we will be able to process the refund as soon as we process your return.’

Mmm, not sure I want to do that at the moment thanks! 😯

I did ask if they could paypal me the refund but they didn’t answer that, but I might insist.

Milkie – that looks good for handlebar mounted! Can it be mounted on the frame using the handlebar mount too? And how did you get the route and speed etc in the video?

Apparently you can extract the GPS data from the video of the Contour and put it back again if you want to edit it, I did ask support as I was thinking of using 2 cameras, one GPS and one HD and combining the 2 and having the map on it … but don’t know how you’d do it as I haven’t tried it.

+1 for the Topeak Hexus

It’s got everything I’ve ever needed so far, chain tool works great, allen keys small enough for those tiny bolts on lock-on grips and brake lever reach adjusters, all in a very small compact solid package … my only gripe is the T25 torx thing is like a separate socket and can get lost, as mine did in Kathmandu when I was dismantling my bike, but I contacted extra uk and they sent me 2 new ones free 🙂

Reading this, seems some of the banks have done quite well to spot these transactions and stop them, thankfully! I’ve had my card replaced and £20 refunded in 4 days, but my confidence in CRC has gone at the moment, I’m amazed they don’t have some kind of statement or news item up on their homepage.

They do know about this thread, I spoke to them earlier, they assured me they are doing all they can.

This is the software I was thinking of VREVEAL it’s more for visual effects but good at smoothing out, enhancing colours, contrast, white balance etc. 🙂 … but you can only output to SD on the free version.

You can make the colours better on the Contour with the Storyteller software, I found if you adjust the contrast (to make it slightly darker) you get more vivid colours, out the box it’s a bit washed out so it takes a bit of messing around with. There’s also a great piece of free software you can get for adjusting videos, I’ll put a link up if I can find it. The GPS and bluetooth/smartphone is a great idea.

I didn’t click on, or use, the £10 voucher as I hadn’t had it when I made my purchase 8 days ago, I did get the £10 later that same day though and was going to use it but items I wanted were not in stock – so you still might get fleeced?