I love the predictability of this place.

Thread Title includes “Dogs”
Pro dog and Anti dog protesters line up
Everyone shouts at each other
Nothing changes
Start a new thread about helmets
Pro helmet and Anti helmet protesters line up
Everyone shouts at each other
Nothing changes
Thread Title includes “Dogs”
Pro dog and Anti dog protesters line up
Everyone shouts at each other
Nothing changes

FFS, no one is going to take any notice – if people want to take their dogs with them, they will. If people don’t want to see dogs, they’ll moan (on tinternet, not in real life).

Oh yeah, it’s discussion – and it does get entertaining at times.

(Dog owner but wouldn’t ride anywhere with them as they’ll make me crash)

Find out what you have got, and resell (correctly) on STW classifieds. No one should lose out then, as, after all, it could have been an honest mistake.

numplumz – you had a cracking ride! Better time and placing than last year even though the course was 3 miles shorter. Saw you at the 1st stop then you pulled out lots of time on me.

Does anyone have the secret of long lasting brakes? Whilst walking the dog today I was think of some disc shield that encases the disc and caliper. Not much good for airflow, but good for a wet horrible course like Kielder where brake cooling is not an issue. Or are there some secret carbon based pads that last forever? (My Hopes are through the backing plates on their 2nd set of pads – the piston popped out of the fronts so they didn’t work as the fluid was leaking out).

I didn’t bother with any chain oil at the tech stops as firstly it just washes straight off, and secondly the water acts as a lube (but the sand doesn’t!).

I might have a look inside the forks tomorrow to see how the seals/oil has fared.

Slow down you mad fool! You need to use your brakes a bit….

Looks great fun and glad you’re OK

F*** me that was hard. Didn’t enjoy the first half, then as I was changing pads at the 50mile feed station, the marshall said that loads of people were bailing out, so it gave me more determination to carry on. 2nd set of pads died at about 70 miles, then for the last 10 miles, the back brake didn’t work, and the front lever just went to the bars, so had to run all the downhills. It seemed a bit wrong getting back on the bike to pedal up hill!

I was expecting the last 5 miles to be about 8 miles, so I was so happy when the “1 mile to go” sign appeared on the final descent. And the girls at the last Checkpoint weren’t fibbing when they said it was all downhill from here (unlike last year!!).

Epic event, well done to all the finishers, and an 8 hour finishing time is truly fantastic.

Welcome to the world of suspension forks! You have classic stanchion wear caused by bits of dirt in the seals and poor servicing. Forks need a lot more tlc than a service every 10 months. There’s no way to fix what you have, you can either buy new forks or run them further into the ground

Sorry Graham, doing the Kielder100 this weekend or I’d be up for it.

I know it’s a good riding area, and it should be a cracking event – good luck with it.

Van cough cough
who is the guilty person who has de-industrialised the West?

I think you’ll find it’s all of us who buy foreign cars, toasters, washing machines, TVs, bikes, motorbikes, mobile phones blah blah. We buy foreign stuff becasue we want the choice (and maybe better stuff than the UK/Western industries supply).

All the time we want more for less, Manufacturers are being forced to look elsewhere for cheaper ways of producing stuff, and that means (in many cases) that manufacturing goes overseas, followed by the support industry that goes with it.

It’s our own fault!

So, the answer to this is to not look at Western governments, but our own buying habits and do what the Far East people encourages, and buy locally produced goods. Import taxation can help here, but that won’t change our views, only what we can afford.

And the answer to the OP – yes, bike industry is taking the pee. But it charges what it thinks we will collectively pay. If we all refuse to pay that price, the prices will (over time) come down – after all, they can’t sell a 2010 frame for 2011 prices because no one will pay that – they need to see that no one will pay 2011 prices for a 2011 frame either.

Do nothing, except wait for them to come back. Then employ the “stuff them in the boot of your car and drive them a long long way away” technique.

It’s what some people do with vermin.

Not sure about advice in this instance, but next time, use additional strapping (I never trust the standard straps – I always double up)

I think it’s great that girls want to ride bikes – it’s a bloke dominated thing that should be more equal.
Not all girls are into pink though – my other half doesn’t do biking, but she does love the outdoors (and that isn’t the bit of pavement between John Lewis and Monsoon).

More girls on the trails is what we need

I’m in. 1.5L camelback, Racing ralphs and bike stripped to it’s absolute lightest – did it last year in 10:17, so going to break the 10 hour mark this year (or die trying!)

I would definitely return it to Ashima – they may be interested in such a failure, although they may well blame it on incorrectly torqued fixing bolts or other such bollo888. In their shoes I would seriously think about beefing up the spokes, as the whole braking surface has rotated around the hub fixings. Nasty. You should at least get Ashima to contribute towards a new hub.

Healing vibes though – not a good way to end the day

Bad luck – you missed out some great riding. An alternative (that I did a month ago) is to start halfway up the PBW (I started in Tintwhistle), then do the up, MTL and down. This was 100 miles, and is a real taster of the harder end of the PBW double. Even this was a full 12 hour day of non stop riding though.

Have another crack, but don’t wait for the wetter weather as the north end will eat your brakes and gears when wet.

What do you want? Speed or economy?

Speed – go for the 2.2
Economy – go for the 2.0 140PS (performance is still great)

I have always had manuals, and they are good, but never had an auto/powershift so cannot compare

Swedish man walks into Boots
“I’d like some deoderent please” he says to the assistant

“Certainly sir. Ball or aerosol?”

“Neither, I want it for my armpits”

that’s tiny!

If it ws on the brake side I’d worry, but given the worst case scenario, what would happen if it snapped?

Why not ask cynic-al if he can fix it (see frankenbike thread)?

Chris,
whether it was your fault or the cyclists fault, you’ll get flamed on here regardless, but the best piece of advice I can give you is to examine what you did, and ask whether you could have prevented it, for instance by choosing a different place to do a 3 point turn, or even not doing a 3 point turn in the road – was there a gateway or anything you could have used to turn round without blocking the road?

It’s often not about who’s at fault, but about what you can do to avoid an incident. Unfortunately this comes with experience, which you’ll get over the coming years (sorry if this sounds patronising, but I am teaching my youngest to drive at the moment, and it’s surprising how different his attitude is to mine, even though I have a bit more experience than him….)

speckledbob – what’s this thread got to do with trailquesting? It’s got more to do with epic rides.

Whats a SPOT (apart from one of things teenagers burst in the mirror)?

Came round a corner on a narrow country lane whilst thinking “hope there’s nothing coming towards me”, only to be met by an ambulance. He stopped, I nearly didn’t, but I was thinking as I skidded towards it “I could hit worse things…..”. I stopped and ran back up the road to give him space to pass. As he went past he asked “any more up there? I’m taking one of your lot to hospital”. Turned out there was a sportive that day that 2 riders had crashed on, and he was taking the injured one to hospital – could have been a bit of a cyclists day out to casualty….

MTG,
you’re probably more likely to put yourself out of action, rather than your bike – silly crash leading to busted bone or head or something. In this situation you might as well be 5 miles from home as 50 miles from home as your only route out is a 3rd party help (ambulance or farmer or something). But, things like this are very rare, and it is surprising how resourceful you could be when stuck.
My strategy is to take basic spares to fix tyres, chain, loose bolts etc, a phone to summon help if in range, a 1st aid kit (really basic) to strap things together or stop dirt getting in, and a waterproof to help keep warm. Then leave a route description with a trusted one and go ride – if you get stuck you have 2 choices – get out or stay put. Getting out involves walking, crawling or scootering etc. Staying put involves finding a warm ditch or somewhere to get a bit of warmth.

Haven’t needed to employ the emergency strategies yet, but I rely on the fact that not many people die in this country from being outside all night. Of course, not reading newspapers helps keep my niaivety.

Of course,she could be covering for someone. Does she have a young son/daughter (around 17ish), or another half who is already banned, etc etc. She really may not know what happened if she wasn’t driving.

Either way, get legal advice, make an official statement to the police, and you can always add further statements as you remember more detail. Don’t settle amicably – this needs to go on her (insurance) record, especially if the police don’t take it further.

Healing vibes and I hope it gets sorted

1. 3 feet tall
2. flat head
3. turns into a pizza at midnight

I haven’t had much luck finding one that is all 3.

normally cowgirl style

Seeing people riding with their instep on the pedals, it’s so wrong it makes me want to shout at you! You clearly have no idea how to ride a bike!

KInd of hard to enforce though eh? I have only ever ridden there on the HONC, but I seem to remember there being quite a lot of bridleways.

All the ranger can legally do is ask you to leave, although I do see that continued disobedience is likely to prompt some further action (not sure what – non MTB gates etc?)

use a 48t ramped deore front ring and it drops all the time when dropping off kerbs and stuff. Fitted my own chain device (a front mech cage and a plastic bracket) and it’s been fine since.

Erm, share the joy, give me your credit card and PIN so I can have a go

sounds like a seal problem in the lever (master cylinder). You can get new seal kits, but I found it a right pain getting the main pushrod seal back in the cylinder (the lip seal has to go past a step in the bore). Local bike shop helped out for nothing

Alan,
have done Roych Clough a few times, and you’re right, it is a great trail. I did it on a 90mm full suss (my trusty 2002 Stumpjumper), and I have to say, on Rooley Moor I was congratulating myself on not bringing my hardtail – I am short enough already and don’t need any more help with a compressed spine! A hardtail 29er with bouncy tyres is probably optimum, but I haven’t got one!

I think the hardest section was the bits before the MTL – I was seriously considering my sanity for those bits. Would be good to hook up if I do decide to go for a double attempt, but as you say, a 200mile ride off road is a different consideration to 100miles. Maybe next year….. Not sure if I would fancy the thought of doing some of that at night, and you are very much on your own (which is great until mechanicals or worse happen).

Good point that Brassneck – I’ve tried that before and it’s worked OK, I was just in a rush this time, plus I was having trouble getting the tyres seated.

I’ve used JRA and Stans before and they’ve been fine, just couldn’t work out what was different this time.

Hi Alan,
did the Pennine BWay from Tintwhistle and the MTL and back yesterday, and it was tougher than I expected! Pretty good effort doing the full Pennine bridleway and MTL. I found the shear relentlessness of it the most tiring, with it being either up or down, and the terrain is always rough. Was looking forward to the road sections for quite a while, but they never lasted long. The cobbles and paved sections I also found hard, not for the riding but for the constant roughness – it was wet yesterday so I must admit I minced the downhills – those paved sections are slippery in the wet. Did a 12.5 hour 100mile route, with 6.10 for the MTL, so I was quite happy, but not qure if my legs had the extra 100 miles you did – respect is due!
I might have a go at the double next year when the memories of the pain have disappeared….

I’m starting at Tintwhistle, so hoping to get a good 95miles in. No idea on time, as I’ve not ridden up there before. Am starting at 6.30am, and am expecting 10-13 hours total ride time – did last years Kielder in just over 10 hours, so on paper, it all sounds feasible. My bailout plan involves much coldness, so you could say I don’t have one….

cheers both, Clockwise it is then

Clutch is not a “men with big thighs” type clutch – pressure to operate is similar to a car. When the clutch is let out, any jolts or lack of smoothness then it could end up being expensive with the DMF failing in the future

Oh yes, if you buy it, and it needs tyres, I have a set of good (6mm plus) tyres on steel rims going for not much. Even have wheeltrims!

Have a very good test drive, looking/feeling for any kind of driveline klunk/klonk/knock or shudder – any sign, walk away. Also check the warranty history, as there are good vans and not so good vans.
My T5 is great, but in 60,000miles has had under warranty:
turbo
sliding door lock
exhaust pressure sensor
3 x dual mass flywheels (at least one was faulty)
both driveshafts
2 x clutch (the 2nd replaced after the dealer damaged the input shaft oil seal)
rear number plate lamps (first MOT under warranty!)

As I contributed to the last clutch/DMF replacement (total cost £1500), I get a 2 year warranty on those parts – might be worth it!

There are vans out there that have never had anything go wrong, but you need to go in with eyes wide open and don’t be swayed by supply issues or shiny paint.

Also, check out London sellers – next years Low Emission rules might mean that older (Euro 3) vans are going cheap – from what I have been told van drivers inside the M25 might need to be Euro4 (DPF) to evade the Low Emission tax (or something like that – worth looking into)

Also, if your van is a 6 speed (check it is, not just a 6 speed gearknob), then it is a 2.5, and either a 130PS (likely) or 174PS (not likely). 174’s command a real premium, so the seller will be using this.

I love my van – had it 2 years, and it’s a decent camper conversion, but if I hadn’t spent so much time on the insides, I might have swapped for another more reliable van.

Terra Nova Laser Comp – excellent little tent, roomy for one, very cosy for 2. You can go lighter with a single skin tent, but expect some condensation – the old Polaris tent was about 600gram, but very hard to come by. SupAir tents are also V light. Considered a hooped bivvy bag? They are OK, with some space around the head end

Three Fish,
that’s been done – it’s all been kept clean, the parallelogram pivots have been oiled, the jockeys cleaned and oiled – they are all fine and as new. The pivot that has seized is the one that joins the cage to the derailleur body, and keeps the chain taught; the one with the spring in that “should” be packed with grease. I haven’t been able to get in there to see of any grease is required, but I would expect a bit of grease on £70 worth of rear mech.