goldenwonder

I wouldn’t for Thetford, not sticky enough iirc from when I raced there in the wet. I’d rather run something a bit bigger, have a touch more grip & comfort to be able to carry more speed. Medusa 1.8 maybe if you still want something narrow(ish)?

I eventually swapped to some Mud X’s for my last lap of last year’s D2D having got bored of fishtailing / cocking up a couple of slippery sections.

Oh and cheers traildog

In my limited exposure to cycle lanes, they’re generally badly laid out and invariably collection toughs for crud, glass, forkwits, parked cars etc.

When on a road bike I avoid what ones there are on my commute but do have to concur that two abreast tootling is a bit inconsiderate.

Some wag on Strava has aptly named one of my commute sections. There’s dedicated bus lanes on each side and a cycle path on the south side.

The ‘regulars’ use the bus lanes and folk out riding their bikes tend to keep to the cycle lane.

Ta

Obviously wouldn’t try on rock gardens et al but how about somewhere like Thetford (for the D2D)?

Oh and £28 for a pair off of Fleabay don’t sound too bad for an experiment.

Again, highly unlikely I’d muster the time to actually do this but were I to SS the 94 Cindercone, what / where’s the best place to start?

I’ll defo need a new 1″ threaded headset and the V brake cables were zipp tied to the frame due to lack of cable bosses. – Worth considering additional bosses, especially if I had new fixie drop outs fitted?

My 94 Cinder Cone has been in pieces since err 2005 when I got an Explosif.

I paid £350 for a set of Manitou Mach 5 elastomer forks which had about 1″ of usable travel. – I presume you can’t get elastomers etc any more?

Biggest upgrade was a set of XT v brakes in 97 which meant the thing finally stopped!

I should rebuild it with the original P2 fork etc but not enough time / inclination

The bucket and spade (holiday) airlines are often the worst and you usually don’t get much choice on who you can fly with with package holidays.

We go to Boston at least once a year and generally prefer the Virgin planes and crew. Unfortunately they fly out of T3 which is a bun fight dump so the sheer convenience of T5 often gives BA the edge. Never had a prob with BA but they can be a bit more snooty.

Best planes / airline we’ve flown has been Emirates, with Garuda the worst; – never a good sign seeing the stewies cross themselves on final.

I managed to snap a CF post on my CF bike t’other week. – World class bit of crap riding on my part saw the post snap about 2″ above the collar.

Generally speaking the post should be at least 3″ / 75mm in to the frame. – Check the minimum insertion mark on the post.

rickon

You’ve bust the seal – that cap shouldn’t weep fluid. I’ve done this twice now, send them back for warranty replacement.

You need to get all the air out of them, which is pretty hard to do – you’ll think you’ve got it all out, but if you hang the bike or the brakes upside down, while bleeding – you’ll see air bubbles come out.

Are you using the little plastic bucket to bleed them?

PS. Send them back under warranty.

@rse 🙁 but thanks for the info. 🙂

I do have the pucker Shim bucket (which I didn’t need for the XT’s).

For the 2nd full on bleed my mate and I spent over an hour doing a bleed up from the caliper, and a drain down.

Right, XT’s off the steel HT and a warranty return via Evans.

Ta

Fuzzy

I think you’ll find Wilko isn’t exactly hanging about at the mo .

I was involved in last year’s national / ESCA 24 where he utterly smashed his previous record. He and Jill came to the association’s award dinner and was so modest about his achievements.

Hutch is our best (non pro) Tester by a country mile. He can come across as aloof but does have a nice sardonic sense of humour.

He nearly broke my 25 event record in May in utterly dismal conditions.

Oh and here’s some snaps from last year’s National 10. As I wrote, I love the complete lack of ceremony on that start line. – It couldn’t be further from what Brad’s had this past month

bigdawg – Member

Oh and the olympic XC course is neither crap nor easy…Everyone whos actually ridden it and raced on it has said how good it is, it’s prob one of the most demanding courses Ive ridden (and Ive raced extensively in the UK, Some in Europe and in the US)

Its not designed as a trail centre, its not designed to be ridden on 30lb 8 inch full suspension bikes – its an olympic XC course, and next year theres tohe possibility of it being included in the local race series – I cant wait…

Said course will also have been chosen on it’s ability to accommodate thousands of spectators, tens if not hundreds of media trucks + probably a couple hundred of team and support vehicles.

It looks like it’s going to be open to joe public so I’d be up for having a spin or two around it.

I’m not trolling but I suspect some folk here believe they could out run some pros on some techy trails (and not full on DH tracks). Highly likely many hobbyists can do this once or twice, but I think the test is could you do it multiple times, at max effort, and without stopping? – I’m talking Strava KOM’ing EVERY trail, every time.

I’ve seen people moaning on how crap and easy the Olympic XC course is. I gather it isn’t that technical but how easy would it be on the 3rd lap when you’ve been passed by the entire pro field for the 2nd time?

FTR, I know my limits and make no claims about being able to keep up with anyone, on any type of bike, anywhere.

don simon
I still don’t see how a punter in the stand, no matter what kit they have, is going to pose any form of threat to the accredited pros, unless the have fragile egos.

It’s not the pro togs who get @rsey about accreditations etc, it’s the venue owners, event promoters, band/star/whatever management etc etc.

I was after some new boots and looked for Miendl stockists in the States.

This lead me to discover Cabelas which are fantastically OTT outdoor shops. Every cliche about the Yanks comes true in such places but because they have such a range of kit and stacks of customer reviews, I find them very useful.

Now this is no substitute for trying boots on but enjoy looking around

BigButSlimmerBloke – Member

What you need to do is upgrade to Dust 2.0 (more commonly known by it’s codename Angel). This should be disseminated throughout the building using the air conditioning.

Kwality 8)

On a more serious note, you might want to consider a ‘toner’ vacuum cleaner. These will allow regular cleaning of the PC’s and being electrostatic safe might actually be useful elsewhere in the lab / business. Also consider high grade HEPA vacuums.

A decent (vacuum) cleaner should be cheaper than buying new PC’s.

I put my sensible thoughts down back in pages err whatever. This post is just to keep this going as it’s clearly keeping some of us occupied.

Oh and Specialknees, can we please have the road in question?

If I was spectating I’d probably partake of a biere though I usually get all shocked of Tunbridge Wells at the price venues charge.

On the vague subject of athletes having a drink, Mrs A and I have commented on the way the swimmers have nonchalantly sauntered out to the pool side before a race. I said it would be funny if one of them was having a fag and flicked the butt in to the pool as they ambled to their block.

I quite liked the engineering of the Four4ths lights I saw at the recent Army Enduro.

The chap tried to tempt me with stuff but gave up after I rattled off the collection of USE Exposure lights I own. – I much prefer the single unit approach without extra cables but that’s a personal preference.

I have older Enduro and Race lights that have seen me through four winters / night riding. The current Strada has a different amount of run time and whilst I can’t quite put my finger on why, I don’t like the lack of low / 24h capability.

I also have a pair of their Redeye’s for the rear. They do noticeably affect battery run time and they don’t flash. – The Flash & Flare might be preferable if you want flashing lights?

Well done guys.

It’s not rad, gnnarrlly or awesome for many but still a good challenge.

Ned; – can’t beat late evening light 8)

YIAT – Going E out of East Dean would have been a nice little trudge on’t road 😉

+1 crazy legs

In fact you’ve just reminded me of a car v bike incident I had earlier in the year.

I was out photographing a running event and driving towards a T junction of a country lane with high hedges.

I was in no hurry and as I approached the junction to turn right, two sportive riders swept in from my left, completely cutting the corner.

Had I literally been 2 seconds earlier they would have gone straight over my bonnet. Fortunately they didn’t but that didn’t stop the woman on the back mouthing off at me as if their piss poor road skills were my fault.

Twasn’t worth chasing after them because they would have reacted in the same fashion as the OP’s encounter.

There are some world class knuckle dragging forkwit comments in this thread, and I’m mainly referring to the “roadies other type of cyclists are scum” comments.

You should be collectively ashamed.

Moving on, I’m stunned that the OP couldn’t get past a group of cyclists over a 4 mile stretch. Apparently Southern England has the busiest roads in the country but I can not think of a single time or place where I / a group of riders would hold up traffic for this amount of distance. – I can only presume this happened in some remote area of the UK?

Now we don’t have all the facts but I think the road riding group could have shown more consideration in holding traffic up. Be that a simple ‘sorry for the delay’ type wave or once they pulled in, being polite and reasonable.

The OP’s comments at the garage suggest a reasonable effort to engage them so the F O was childish in the extreme. – I can see the other side of the argument but if I was approached by someone who appeared to be a fellow cyclist and wasn’t venting steam, I wouldn’t immediately get all stroppy.

To the posters who referenced them all riding in the same (club) kit, you will generally find club riders are responsible human beings and very likely have been riding for many years.

A couple of additional comments.

I did the BHF London – Brighton night ride back in May and this was my first charity ride. Even being at the front of the ride I saw some really crap cycling on the Queen’s highways. Charity rides are on the whole a good thing but they don’t half bring out all sorts of people riding bikes*

Whenever I get a vehicle behind me for a period of time, I will whereever possible, indicate and pull in to let them past. – I don’t want X tonnes of van/bus/truck helping me down the road any more than they want to be stuck behind some bludy cyclist. 99% of the time I will get a toot or flash of thanks. – A tiny bit of courtesy goes along way as does a wave from me for folk who’ve waitied.

* = people riding bikes are not necessarily cyclists.

yesiamtom – Member

I would do it at night but A) I would cack my pants and B) I dont know the route well enough. perhaps in future though.

Riding it at night is brilliant and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

However I fully agree with the pants soiling comment; I had my music up quite loud for a lot of the woods as I know there’s animals in there but I don’t want to hear them!

I did a wee write up for Anthony at Bike Downs and here’s some more wafflege

cu dubh

If it’s for occasional use I’d say stick with a corded job.

I have a pair of Ryobi jobbies with nicd batteries. They’re pretty much useless now because they didn’t get a lot of use and the batteries just die.

Because I like toys, I started buying decent kit and now have Makita 18v li-on stuff. Unfortunately you start paying serious/silly money (like this).

Unless you’re aiming on doing things seriously and NEED cordless, buy a decent corded job. It’ll be a better long term investment. – carlosg’s link should be good.

Man up and go SDS

Something like this ere De Walt should cope with pretty much most situations

Here’s my track from last Aug – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106311084

That includes the ‘new’ way round old Winchester hill but not the revised final mile or so into Ebo.

There are a surprising number of places you can go wrong (I know from experience) and I’ve mucked up some navigation in fog, even with a GPS cookie trail.

Amberley is near as damn it half way so if you’re on a good one, you should get there in 5 hours or so.

FWIW

5/6/4 – 9:25 speedo, 12ish elapsed – rode with a group Win – Ebo
12/8/6 9:10 speedo, 12:30 elapsed – rode with a group Win – Ebo
21/6/8 9:45 speedo, 12ish elapsed – rode with a group Win – Ebo
24/7/9 11:15 speedo, 12:36 elapsed – solo at night Ebo – Winc
15/8/9 10:47 elapsed – solo at night Ebo – Winc
13/8/11 9:40 speed, 12:20 elapsed – rode with a group Winc – Ebo

Roughly talking an average 10mph but that nose dives very quickly as soon as you stop. My Aug 09 trip is the fastest I’ve ever done it and was part of my failed double attempt.

Speed merchants can easily do the whole lot in sub 10 hours and I think folk have done it in under 8!

LMK if you want gps tracks

Like Rio, I also have a Norbar TT20

http://www.london2012.com/cycling-road/event/men-road-race/coursemap/

mooman – Member

…. but be gentle. A friend of mine cracked his frame by giving it a too energetic tap

The bearing is on the crank, which I’ve taken out of the frame. – It would be a world record bolxup if I somehow managed to damage the frame!

rickon – Member

Last time this happened to me I popped to a mates, who put the bearing in a vice, and knocked the axle with a big hammer. Popped right off.

That’s so obvious I didn’t think of it! 🙄 8)

I want to reuse the bearing (tis new) so I’ll give this a gentle go

Cheers

Swalsey

Your levering description is exactly what I was referring to as jimmying!

I’ve got Plusgas so that’s not a prob but I’m not sure if I’ve a fine enough flat bade driver to get under the lip, and with enough leverage.

If you like trains then there’s the Bluebell railway[/url]

For motorsport fans I’d defo recommend the Goodwood Festival of Speed though that’s obviously date specific.

Staying out west, you actually get sandy beaches around Littlehampton area.

Unfortunately the two big decent zoos / animal sanctuaries are Marwell near Winchester and Port Lympne near Folkstone. Both are drivable from Brighton but not exactly local. – Drusilias has already been mentioned

H – Member

ahh thats even the same size frame! Is that Nick Dwyer? Think I recognise him from the wind tunnel.

That is indeed Mr Flyer. And seeing as you know (of) him, molgrips and njee weren’t convinced about my comments in the ’bio pace’ cranks thread. Care to comment?

If you have a road rear mech, just be aware that it might not have enough capacity to change a large ratio (mtb) cassette.

A compact chainset (50/34) would be the cheapest option but again you’ll probably have to change the bottom bracket.

Drilled the head off a CB bolt at the weekend with no dramas at all.

Did have a minor faff removing the threaded stub but the whole job took 5 mins tops.

H – Member

Still not cracked 20:00 yet for a 10 but there is always next year!

If you are getting a new TT bike bear in mind that lower doesnt always mean faster!

Good to see another HTC Plasma out there.

I also wouldn’t say your position necessarily look cramped. Here’s my mate Nick and his

A fellow tester posted some snaps from last year’s CTT National 10 mile champs

I currently have a Deuter Transalp 30 that’s a few years old now.

Ignoring the 13 – 20lb of crap I tend to ride with, it’s very comfortable and the rain cover has seen plenty of use this year.

Not cheap but then I’ve always commuted with rucksacks so wanted something reliable and designed for the job.

Fast Haggis

That certainly is old school 8)

My recently ‘retired’ Omega Ti Stealth

Not done any proper pics of the new wagon yet so don’t moan about photo rules 😛

And some fat twunt trying to ride it

As far as sizing goes, both of these are basically the same size as my other road bikes. The seat angle is steeper and I have fettled with stem lengths.

The 55 tooth chain ring needs a bit of winding up though that’s nothing compared to NikB’s 77 tooth CF dustbin lid as captured here in 2009.

Finally, there are three world class two wheeler peeps in these photos of our memorial trip to Italy back in March. I’ll be VERY impressed if anyone spots all three.

Jonny

If Kevin is the chap I think he is, he was trying some ultra wide angle stuff out the back of the course. LMK if he’s got them elsewhere.