Is that your highest budget? I have a used once Boardman Team Road bike up for £550… That is a great price!

All good so far! Thanks for the feedback guys.

San Juan Trail in SoCal is worth a look. The there is also a couple of trails at Laguna Niguel (Aliso & Wood Canyons) which is only about 10 miles from San Juan.

Built this up very recently, not weighed it yet but it seems pretty light. Great to ride!!

Seen several of the GF’s being ridden in the US, they seemed to handle well and were talked of very highly. Not sure that helps really?

The highlight has to be California!

Riding ‘The Repack’ with Charlie Kelly (and then having a BBQ at his house in the evening!!)…

Riding ‘The Downieville Downhill’…

Riding the Kamizaze at Mammoth Mountain…

Lots of amazing UK riding as well and too many pics too post – I just love MTB!

What sort of forks? As that is very weird? If you have a standard post mount fork and a hope post mount caliper then that should be the one you need?

I haven’t done the areas they are talking about above – but have done two trips (last two years) to California and can provide you with plenty of information for that area? Email me if you decide to go that far West. (Email in profile).

Ok – so I have been keeping away from the threads regarding Friday’s accident on the M5 for fear of saying the wrong thing. But after reading some of the comments on here I thought I would share my thoughts & feelings?

So, on Friday night I was traveling along the exact stretch of road where the M5 accident happened, in fact I drove through there approx 15mins before the accident and remember seeing the fireworks from Taunton RFC starting.

I drive this stretch of road many many times a year – but something was not right about the weather that night? Heavy Rain, Clear skies & stars, then thick fog, all within short stretches of the road? It was difficult to gauge wheat was about the be thrown at you next, so caution was advised.

However, despite this I had some complete idiot so close to my rear bumper (right through the section of motorway where the accident happened), in fact close – even in the dark, foggy & wet road conditions I can tell you it was a Y-Reg silver Mondeo estate (with bike racks on the roof, so I hoping are reading this!).

He remained this close for the duration of my time in the outside lane, flashing his lights and gesturing to me.

Before I get accused of holding traffic up – there were two lorries side by side (as there often is at this junction), so the outside lane was the only choice and given the conditions I was traveling just over 55mph.

Anyway, this one person and his actions caused several layers of feelings – from surprise to frustration to anger to relief (that he was now gone and no longer threatening my life). These feelings at any point could have caused me to retaliate and indeed this is something I see happening so often on the roads (I do about 35000 miles per year) – often where it becomes dangerous.

Following the incident above I traveled for approx another 45mins until I got home, by that time I had almost forgotten about what had happened and was just glad to home after a bad 4+ hr drive. However, the same emotions filled me all over again within minutes of being home as my wife then said “Oh thank god you are home!, I have just seen a really bad accident on the telly and knew you were coming that way”. I felt sorry for her and just hugged her.

I then felt quite strange about the whole thing for another couple of days after – in fact still find myself thinking “That could have been me” sometimes when I see the pictures.

I now just feel so sorry for those that have lost loved ones and hope they get some answers as to what happened that day.

So going back to the title thread “I see no ones learnt anything after Friday nights motorway carnage!!!” – NO. But they were doing it before the accident and I am sure it will be happening for a long time after – until someone who has the authority to change something does so, I have no idea what that might be – but I hope they work it out.

taxi25 – Member

I’ve never ordered a bike that wasn’t in stock !! once I’ve made my mind up that I want something, it has to happen straight away. If I had to wait months for a bike I’d want something different by the time it arrived.

That is me all over too!

I use Virgin as they cover MTB’ing whilst away. I buy an annual policy and that covers me when ever I go away on holiday or away MTB’ing. £80 for the year is roughly what I pay.

I haven’t done it but was talking to a guy at the Santa Cruz factory when I was over there about exactly that and he said that he would definitely stick a coil on there.

He did also say that if the frame size is smaller, sometimes you need to flip the shock over to allow for clearance (not sure what size your frame is so thought I had better add that bit).

If you are a fan of coil chocks and you’re not worried about weight, I’d go for it!

About 60-70 hours per week – but never do weekends anymore….That’s bike time!

Sorry I’m not going to be much use as I haven’t used them – but I would also be interested to know – I was considering changing to 160mm, but would happily go for the 150’s depending on the feedback here?

moniex – Member

To Itheisinger: We have four bikes on the roof, but two are tiny hardtails. How do you keep 4 alps bikes under the weight limit of the car roof? We have a Zafira and last year when adding up the bars, carriers and bikes (2 were kids bikes and 1 hardtail) we only just stayed under the weight limit of the car roof. My husband will take his Enduro next year instead of his hardtail, so we are thinking of removing all pedals and seat posts/saddles to stay under the limit.

Simone

The roof weight limit of the Honda CRV is 75kgs (165lbs) – so ‘even if’ each bike weighed 40lbs that would make: 4 x 40lbs = 160kgs. So therefore I didn’t really worry about it (and I know that a couple of the bikes were well under 40lbs).

If you wanted to shed some weight for you particular model of vehicle then all the ‘easy’ removal parts, i.e. pedals, saddles, posts & maybe if the cranks were as easy to remove as the Hollowtech ones, I might be tempted to remove them (but only if I HAD the get the weight down).

Top photos – thanks for sharing.

I thought I would post some initial results from the 6 questions – I have had a healthy response so far, so a good indication of your thoughts….

Would you take a Guided MTB Short Break in Devon (Dartmoor)?
66% would possibly or definitely take a short break to Devon.

Would you want to hire a bike?
98% of people wouldn’t want to hire a bike.

How many days would you want to stay?
48% would prefer a 2 day break & 43% would prefer a 3 day break.

What would be your maximum budget for the short break, including – Accommodation and Guiding?
53% of respondents would pay £200 for an MTB short break.

What type of accommodation would you want?
The choices were Bunkhouse (91%) & Camping Facilities 9% – although a few mentioned a B&B option for an additional cost.

Please give us a short paragraph on what you would expect from a ‘Guided Mountain Bike Short Break’.
This gave some very good insights into what you expected – but this one summed them all up quite well……

“different route each day, multiple route options, maps/pictures, route grading, trained and properly equipped guides, optional night ride, well stocked lbs, local pub! Big breakfast, packed lunch or planned lunch stop, Dinner”

Thank you to everyone that has responded so far, your feedback has been great and led to some further ideas and developments.

To undo the non drive side with the spanner up, you would need to push to the front of the bike. To undo the drive side with the spanner handle up, you would also need to push to the front of the bike.

VERY Strange? :| The only thing I can think of is the crank arm splines are worn and under pressure are slipping, but that would surely put the crank arms out of alignment?

As you look at the non-drive side of the frame isn’t it anti-clockwise to undo? And when looking at the drive side it is clockwise to undo? i.e. the other way around to how you are doing it?

I too have the feedback stand – it is great. That’s about it really.

Stuey 01 – the size is 56cm.

THIS is what you need.

Thule 591 Pro Racks for me all the way. Love them! I’ve had them nearly 3 years now.

You buy the bars etc. then buy the 591’s individually (per bike). A bit more expensive than many others, but worth every penny in my opinion. Very easy to secure the bike, no wind noise (well…very little anyway) & you can add racks and take them away from the bars depending how many bikes you want to carry.

Mine have been miles with the bikes on and not one issue. Here’s a pic of when we headed off the the Alps when I first got them…

JUST WATCH THE LOW CLEARANCE CAR PARKS!

I didn’t do the DIY thing and bought one of the ‘slightly expensive official ones’ – up side is that it works great! Never moves.

This is the only one I know of….

link

Not ideal, but you could put the M4’s on with a couple extra washers to accommodate the extra disc size.

Personally I don’t like to many washers on a brake mount, so I’d just sell the complete set of Avid’s you have and then buy some new rotors to suit the Hope’s.

There are loads of threads on certain makes of lights, but not knowing what the ‘best’ makes are…I’m not really sure what I am looking for?

New or Used Parts?

Either way it is possible, but you will arguably get a better build if you use good quality 2nd hand parts.

Is it a top swing XT 770 e-type mech?

Edit: I meant Top Swing XT 770-e type mech? If so, I too had researched a little further and discovered that it is not a match with the 48t chainring. You could just sell the 48t ring and purchase a 44t chainring? (I did this and kept the 36t Middle ring, I felt it was a good combination, i.e. 26-36-44)

I am hoping to catch the weekend crowd for some more survey responses. Thanks to all those that have taken the survey so far, the responses are very helpful.

It’s only 6 questions, so please let me have your thoughts…

Thanks All.

Stuey01 – Member

+1 for giving it another go.
Road cycling > mountain biking

What size is it, BTW? I may know someone.

I will check to size when I get home and let you know buddy.

njee20 – Member

Wasn’t really criticism. Do you not think (seriously) that this is likely to resolve itself over time? Particularly as it’s related to an acute injury.

Years back I made a bit of a mess of my knee (on the mtb) and had 2 months off, my first ride back (on the road) was **** horrible, my wrists were really painful, neck hurt etc etc, let alone the fact I still couldn’t really bend my knee. Had it been my first ever ride on a road bike I’d perhaps have been put off, but obviously things improve, and within a couple of weeks it was fine.

Would it not be more sensible to try different shoes, pedals, techniques, saddle/handlebar positions rather than throwing your hard earned away? I’m sure this will enrage you further but I personally cannot think of a reason that a road bike would hurt your foot more than an MTB, quite the opposite frankly.

Just a thought…

Ok buddy – I accept what you are saying and understand where you are coming from.

I suppose I thought that the injury/recovery would give me an opportunity to ‘get into road bikes’, but because of the initial pain etc. I just stayed off it and by the time I could ride again I just went back to my ‘beloved’ MTB and just can’t see me getting any use out of the bike now. Maybe it’s a classic case of ‘once bitten, twice shy’? Who knows? I just think I can getter better use out of the money on the area I really love, i.e. MTB.

I appreciate the explanation.

theflatboy – Member

relax, no need to rise to a little harmless banting. and unlucky, too. sounds shit.

my £200 offer still stands.

No worries buddy I am relaxed. Banter I can take (as you see from the initial posts) – uniformed criticism, I can’t.

Thanks for your offer of £200, somewhat below what I would take. Thanks though.

njee20 – Member

It looks a little on the large side for you, and you certainly need to sort your saddle angle out.

I would like to have as much money as you that you’re fully prepared to ‘pay’ £300+ for a 16 mile ride.

Next time, just send that money to me, I’ll get more enjoyment out of it. Or, do the sensible thing and try it for more than an hour…

This was a simple thread to ask advice, not to start making assumptions about me and how much money I have.

The facts are this – I had a very bad mountain bike accident a while ago (in which I nearly lost my foot) and the surgeon recommended that I try to get back fit (after 7 months in a cast) with a road bike (he was a keen cyclist and could see my passion for cycling – probably because I kept asking if I could ever ride again etc. etc. almost everyday!) as this may negate the higher risk of injury that MTB presents.

So when I purchased the bike it looked like it would be a longer term solution (not just 16 miles), but it just didn’t suit me and in fact it caused agony to my foot when trying to take on the hills of the Devon countryside.

I doidn’t feel that this required a full story of why I have the bike and why I am now getting rid – but there you have it.

Thanks for your comments though, I am sure you felt them necessary.

To answer your question – the Nomad.

However, I haven’t owned both but ridden many SC’s, inc. the Butcher mentioned above which is awesome!

In fact I would probably now go for the Butcher or even the Blur LTc – these two are with 10mm on rear travel and they can both run 160mm up front which is plenty for the UK and most other places.

The Nomad I think would be just a little cumbersome for constant ‘All Mountain’ duties.

wwaswas – Member

You have a talent that is better than your comedy on here!

ouch.

:lol: :wink:

_tom_ – Member

If you still have it in about a months time (provided I manage to get a job) I’ll probably actually make you a serious offer. It looks nice and I need a road bike again!

I will mate – thanks.

wwaswas – Member

I’d give you £100 and something seasonal;

Nice pumpkin – all your own work? You have a talent that is better than your comedy on here! :wink:

Stuey01 – Member

Did you buy it new?
RRP is £849, so I reckon a mint 2nd hand one would be £500 – £600.

And giving up after one 16 mile ride? Shame on you.

Yeah – thanks Stuey, that seems probably about right (and along my line of thinking.

As for giving up – I know…. I just didn’t enjoy it at all and at least I gave it go before counting it out completely – but I have been a life time ‘off roader’ and that I suppose sort of clouds my judgement?