It’s a rear mech, what maintenance is required? Nothing in the manual about regular oiling of pivots.
Never pressure washed, not used through the salty winter.

My XT mech on my commuter has seen 10,000 miles of use over 4 years and not needed any attention.

Why fail?

Not sure if this helps, but my dog was suffering stiff joints, and 2 glucosamine tablets a day have made him much more sprightly, and no signs of stiffness in his joints. This is despite there being no evidence to say it works. Try it for a month, see what happens – after you get a proper diagnosis.

Why kill them ? They are pollinating your vegs (or something). they’ll be gone in a few months

depends on the voltage in the wires, and the weather, but anywhere between 0cm and 5000cm. You would be a winner of the Darwin awards for trying though

Thanks Graham for the free advertising, I am the organiser of this trailquest, and having ridden the area several times over the past few weeks, I can assure any potential riders that the riding is not just “flat bridleways”. If anyone thinks this trailquesting lark is easy/boring, just try to clear the course I have set in the 3 hour time limit – most of you will go home crying!

Yes, Leamington is not reknowned for it’s techy stuff, but you can still have a good few hours out and about enjoying being outside. The fact that a map is involved is really secondary – there’s a shedload of cracking pubs in the area, and you could use them to supply liquid refreshment.

Give it a go, at least if you live in the Midlands, apart from half a day of your life (and a tenner), what have you got to lose?

the ones I saw on their stand at the Mountain Mayhem looked like they were worth their cost. The clamping area looked like a casting, whereas other more expensive types are forged or machined. I suspect this will be the weakest part. However, I have no data from their testing….

Defo a mink. Stoats are about that size but have a white underbelly and are normally lighter brown. Weasels are about 9 inches long including the tail (tiny really).
Pine Marten also have a pale chin/underbelly, and aren’t normally around the midlands (look further north).

Mink have been around for a couple of decades in this country, and there seems to be plenty of rabbits for them to eat – but they are decimating animals like water voles (share the same sort of habitat). Not good news for the locals…….

Can’t say I am sad that some thieving lowlife is now dead. Should be more of I think (dead thieving lowlifes). I am fed up with people thinking they can have whatever they want and that there are no consequences.

You rode into someone deliberately. Your fault, even if he is a nobber. If you were in a car would you do the same or actually slow down/stop?

Sorry, you’re in the wrong

Show them this little Youtube video

If the link doesn’t work search for “Train Loop the loop”

makes me giggle when I watch it

Sarge,
that was me that said that (I think). It seemed to be the way that I passed people on the flats and climbs and got overtaken on the descents. Still, didn’t crash so I justify my mincing to myself…

Best Bits
Jump of Doom was ace – even jumped it one one of my laps! Found all the riders I met /overtook/overtook me to be really good natured and courteous. Not using the granny ring for any of the course (except 1 little bit at the top of the Kenda climb on lap 3). All the supporters. Girl riding for Scott looked fantastic in lycra (she wasn’t the only one who looked great, just the only one I noticed as I went up the monument climb. Great atmosphere, great team.

Worst Bit
F###wits with a big generator in the caravan/tents next to me. When I asked (politely) if they could turn it off at 10.30 and then again at 11.30 to be answered with “I am not sure if we can”. Won’t be getting a kitchen fitted by them!

The very fact that this thread has got to 5 pages shows to me that many people (on here) have an opinion on Trailquests (and their ilk). I think trailbreak-martin has got it bang on – MTB is changing, and TQ is not what most riders are now looking for (that also explains why the age group of people doing TQs is generally 35+).

So, the options on increasing participation in TQs are:
close trail centres (not popular)
encourage mags to “make TQ trendy”
get existing participants to smile more
change the name to “Hell of the Trail” or “Adventure MegaChallenge” or something a little more exciting

I have taped off a big section of field, and I might not even turn up.

I think I’ll extend the taped area to include ensuite facilities

oligjb

he was in the wrong for not checking his mirrors, but you could easily have avoided the accident. Consequently both at fault (the extent to which blame might be apportioned may not be equal).

I have had a couple of near misses recently, and whilst not my fault, if I had been riding differently (slower) then I could have avoided the incident – consequently I now slow down for corners! It (hopefully) saves the car drivers paintwork, and a hospital visit for me.

As a TQ organiser and competitor, this is a really interesting thread. A lot of posters have done TQs, and it seems most have enjoyed them, but have stopped for whatever reason. Most posters don’t do TQs, and want to “just ride their bikes”. Trailquests for me get you to ride in an area you would normally drive past – sometimes you wouldn’t normally ride there as the riding is poor, sometimes the riding is great. It’s rarely a technical gnarrfest, but there are often those little snippets of woodland singletrack or fast descent that make your local trails fun.

Riding for me is about enjoying being outside and getting some blood pumping – the social side is secondary, but still important. The “stop/start” nature is mentioned above, but how many trail centre riders stop at the end of every section or the top of every molehill? That is real stop/ start.

The image problem is a difficult one to fix – maybe we need to have more images of glamourous girls (or blokes) on the adverts etc?

why didn’t you phone them from the shop?

Isn’t a SS just a 3×9 where it’s stuck in 1 gear?

Not married – but have lived together for 23 years. 3 grown kids, all of whom are great, and none of whom want us to get married. When people ask why we’re not married, I tongue in cheek say “we don’t want the commitment – either can leave at any time”. There is a point to get married though – as a dad, I had no legal right of access to the kids (until they were under 18), as we were not married. Also, inheritance tax is payable should either die; (Common law only exists legally in Scotland). So, the point of getting married is in case you split up (splitting up includes dying!).

At the end of the day, the decision is yours (and your partners).

All, the bike shops round our way seem to be booming. The ones that closed down a few years ago seemed to be the family run, “we’ve always done it this way” type shops, who never had websites, on line sales, repair facilities etc etc. Judging by the number of fantastic bikes on the Dragon ride yesterday (didn’t see much worth less than £2k), cycling is a sport with a lot of money being spent in it.

Great ride, and the weather held off. The timing chip thing – they are pointing at people bending the number and damaging the timing chip. Mine worked, but a mates didn’t, so now there’s only his word against my evidence that he was faster than me! (by about 20 minutes).

Was a bit pee’d off by the number of gel & bar wrappers discarded – no excuse for that. Also, having to ride past the entrance to Afan without popping in for a cheeky lap was well out of order.

Just outside gold time as well, so, as a non roadie, I am well chuffed. And I didn’t jump any red lights or anything!

OK, I’ve had enough. 3 years and have wanted to do the WRT since the first one, and haven’t done any yet. I promise to myself to enter the next one, or a similar event. Fantastic job to all, and to Stuart for raising such a huge sum of cash.

it wasn’t that long ago that CRC were putting ads in mags that showed how good and quick their deliveries were – and peoples experiences matched this. What has happened to them for people to start moving custom elsewhere?

I have no axe to grind, as they have always been good with me, but 2 years ago no one ever dared to slag CRC off. The story seems different now……

Looks good, but can’t you play with bits that don’t have such a serious failure mode? Drinks bottle cage, or bar ends or something. Brakes and forks are definite blood letting time if they go wrong…..
Keep up the good work though

is that it?

I buy packs of 10 from a bearing supplier, then replace at the first sign of play. My 2002 stumpjumper is still going strong this way. Best thing is to get the proper tool (about £15-20 from BETD), then swapping bushes is a 5 minute job, and if you service the shock at the same time, it’s a 20 minute job. The good thing is that the bush normally needs replacing before the shock needs a service, so combining the service and bush replacement keeps the shock going well (still original shock after 9 years on my stumpy, and no signs of wear yet – over 7000 miles)

It’s when hair starts growing out of your ears or nose, or your eyebrows start growing uncontrollably.

The crown race only holds the bearing inner race still while the outer race spins round – so (as an engineer), I would say it doesn’t matter whether it is split or not. As it’s tapered, the overall diameter isn’t critical, so if you split the crown race the bearing will just sit a fraction higher.
The only downside might be that you need to tweak the headset a few times to overcome any settling of a non pressed on crown race.

So, hacksaw out and file off the burrs, and avoid scratching the paint on the fork crown.

Record is 12 hours 10 by Terrahawk (over 9 hours riding time, 12 hours total). John hooligan did it in about 12 hours 20 before it all got “signposted” (yellow painted arrows). You’d have to pick a dry spell to improve much on either.

I dropped into my local bike shop. They fitted a new rivnut, and a sparkly new bolt, for nothing (and I’m not even a great customer). They do know my face though

that’s a good average, I tend to have a mental block about sitting at 30km/hr – I struggle to get past that. Usual average for a similar style ride is high 20’s (km/hr)

Nice one, thanks all – compressing the forks on the entry is what my mate suggested, so I just need to practice to get the timing sorted. Next challenge is to bunny hop rather than spud hop, but that’s a long way off….

so what help are you after? The fault code tells you where the problem is, and links above tell you what might be wrong. You now need a mechanic/sparky and an open wallet.

Intermittent warning lights often just mean that the diagnostic is not running on every drive cycle, or that the fault is not always there. Still something wrong though.

I reckon my Sportive with Ultegra groupset and Shimano RS10 wheels is about 18 pounds. Maybe a smidge more (weighed with £2.99 luggage scales so probably a guide only). Very competitive weight for the money.

Ordered my Ribble Sportive via Cyclescheme, and after talking to Ribble they said they would allow up to £300 over the £1000 threshold, so I paid £1300 for the Sportive plus upgrades. There is also a £65 admin charge for doing the Cycle to Work scheme. The bike arrived in less than 2 weeks, and has been spot on since (haven’t had any loose bolts, misligned brakes or anything in over 2000 miles)

It’s a great wilderness ride – I rode it last year, but did it in 1 day, then camped at Mach and rode back on the road the next day. Excellent day out – you will go for miles without seeing anyone. Loads of spots for wild camping, and plenty of water etc etc. You will enjoy it!

Bob trailer – it is doable with one, there will be some pushing though. Nothing too technical that a trailer would struggle with – I took a rucksack, but went super lightweight.

superfli, you must be able to spend a day on your own? For me, it is part of the enjoyment of biking, but maybe I am unique in that respect. You can always take an ipod, or talk to yourself – works for me (talking to myself also means I get to spend more time on my own!).

Just do it – you never know, you might enjoy it – certainly gives a lot of thinking time (or brain in neutral, just looking at nature, time).

The Engine Control module knows exactly how much fuel is going into the engine. It calculates fuel usage through injector pulsewidth and flow rate (this is corrected using the oxygen sensors in the exhaust to control to the correct air fuel ratio). The amount of fuel added by the purge system is also added to this number. Then a correction factor is added (which will be unique to each manufacturer and engine type) which is the bit that makes the trip computer less accurate. This is to give the trip computer an optimistic reading, making the car appear to be more efficient than reality. Most people will quote their trip computer number as gospel, so this works in a manufacturers favour. This correction factor will be around 3% for some cars. The only bit the ECM does not know is the tyre circumference – a predetermine number is used, but this does not compensate for wear/pressure/after market fitment etc etc. So, inaccuracy is caused by tyre circumference and the correction factor – could be 7-10% on a bad car. Any other calculation the driver does is more likely to contain error (for instance, how accurate is the fuel pump used to fill the tank?) Should be within government tolerances (probably 0.5%), but is it?

Another one for St Davids, but Pencarnan Farm Campsite has fantastic views of St Davids Head, Ramsey Island and Whitesands bay. Right on the coastal path, tis a brilliant (if slightly costly) campsite. Good walking to Whitesands, it’s own little beach (Portsele) and 5 mile coastal walk to Porthclais harbour. Very safe for youngsters also- my 3 had some excellent holidays there. Some good riding across the Preseli’s as well.