Soma

Serious props to you for picking yourself up again after all that 😯

My two ‘biggest’ crashes have been on the road. First one back in 96 had me off the bike at speed and a crack straight down the middle of the helmet. – I hadn’t even been aware I’d hit my head at the time.

Second one in 2000 was a wheel coming together. I pulled in too quickly and basically caught my rear wheel in a friends front quick release. Tore every NDS spoke out of my wheel, which unsurprisingly then collapsed.

Back to last week. That helmet is a few years old so out of warranty. I also have a suspicion I might of caught my Exposure bar light with my face as it sheared out of it’s quick release mount. That may have been the cause of the lens scratching.

CGG – I’ll leave you a message on the B’ton MTB forum

Fack somafunk those look nasty. 😯

I’ve always found Met to fit me the best. You any recommendations?

I certainly wouldn’t want any permanent damage to myself but every time I’ve had a spill on a bike, the first thing I worry about is the cost of any bike repairs.

And no that’s a Exposure Diablo 😆

[edit] very droll Mr purist. For that, I’m now going to bore you rigid and explain that those photos are focus stack composites. The vertical one is made up of 10 shots to get a decent dof. 😛

If anyone is feeling especially bloody minded, you can point out that the upkeep of the local highways and pavements actually comes from your county council’s council/community/poll tax.

So if you’re riding on one of your local non trunk roads and some forkwit comes out with the usual cobblers, ask them where they live. If they’re not local, tell to them “git orrf moi road”.*

* Obviously this argument only works under certain circumstances and is probably only suited to making you feel morally correct/superior

AS CGG says, Stanmer arguably has the most variety though you’ll probably want to bring lights.

Alternatively I know a chap in Robertsbridge, not far from Ninfield. PM your email and I’ll pass it on.

Finally, Bedgebury is not that far from you but I don’t know what the score is with ‘out of hours’ parking.

‘Road’ jersey’s typically have three pockets at the back. You’ll be amazed what you can cram in there but typically I’ll have a mini pump, spare tube, multi tool, repair kit and some gels or energy bars.

I’m sure someone will be along with a video of pro cyclists cramming half a dozen bottles in to these pockets to give to team mates during a race.

Yep, still raining in mid Sussex and not looking fantastic for today

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:00000.1.03876

Right , I’m off to dig the ‘winter’ bike out for this morning’s commute.

Professional driver = someone who has been trained to drive a vehicle for their job i.e emergency services, HGVs and buses.

Someone who drives for a living = taxi drivers, couriers, sales reps.

The taxi driver in the OP was/is a cock. Unfortunately even being trained doesn’t necessarily make you a better driver person as a clubmate will attest to as he got knocked of his bike by a local bus.

woodsman – Member

haha – don’t take any notice of the strava listings for our group last night, we were stopping and gassing whilst the rest of the group caught up. I’m sure Pengy’s time is super quick though.

And along with CGG’s early bail and my technical fork up in Coldean, the guys would have lost more time waiting.

Mrs A gave up asking years ago and it works for us. She has an idea of some things, mainly the camera gear but otherwise it’s all good.

Conversely when she has a minor guilt trip on spend on clothes, I do occasionally say do you know who much I’ve spent?

footflaps
Since I have one, I may as well use it!

Great bit of kit, if not rather expensive. I got a Dust Deputy ultimate cyclone to go on the top of mine.

What footflaps forgot to mention was the Festool vacuum cleaner just out of shot. – That green hose is a giveaway 🙄

Budget another 300+ notes for one of those 😉

Thanks munro but being Mr impatient I’m hoping to get this fixed before tonight’s ride home. If it’s good, I’ll then use this wagon tomorrow to throw myself at the scenery round the Brighton Big Dog course.

[edit]

Thanks Mark but see above

Cheers guys

I guess I was being optimistically naive with what I’d cobbled together.

As this is a frankenbike bodge of old left over parts, I’m not going to do dedicated rings. I’ll grab one of the e13’s to see how tonight’s return trip fares, otherwise I might ‘revert’ back to 2 X 9.

My other bikes are pucker 2 X 10 but this is an experiment with a ‘play’ bike.

Mike

e-13’s unit like this? –

I had kind of hoped the bottom roller of the Gamut might have kept some tension, but clearly not.

Barking mad he is 😀

Well done Chris and good to meet you. 🙂

I had the ‘advantage’ of not having to hump a load of overnight gear, which really helps with keeping the weight down.

Conditions wise there were a few small puddles up along the Ditchling Beacon area otherwise it was all good. The chalky bits were fine with no slippery bits.

Did have a 30mph brown short moment hooning down into Alfriston where I took one of the speed bumps wrong and landed it rather further over the bars than was sensible.

Chaps, I guess you’ll be out riding for a couple of hours tomorrow?

I’m meeting up with Gribble early on and was wondering whether to try and swing by on my way back from Ebo.

Chris YGM

hora

That road looks bloody scary. You willingly rode on that?

Yeah, why not? DC’s are often a darn sight safer than SC roads

Me back in 2010 just about to finish a 25 mile time trial

And yes I know I look like I’ve mugged some kid for his bike

Gribble

Where are you staying overnight?

If you fancy some company on day 2, I may be able to ride down and meet up with you if you want? Email in my profile if interested.

In the meantime, there aren’t really any food stops in the second half, unless you drop off the trail and into one of the villages / Lewes.

There’s a Texaco garage just down the road from Housedean farm. You have to drop down to the A27 regardless so an extra 1/5 mile detour or so won’t make a lot of difference.

Alfriston also has shops / pubs if you want a break before the final 8 miles and two climbs.

Hmm

cyclistm

Yeah he wants me to join him on Wednesday. I think ill pass

Hmm I’ll drop him a line to see what he’s up to.

825 miles, of which 452 were on a MTB

Gribble

Amberley is near as damn it half way and there’s various places to stay and eat.

The http://www.thegeorgeanddragonhoughton.co.uk/ does great food.

If you haven’t already, get thee over to http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/, which is a great resource on the SDW.

Mark

Mr Pelham had a scorchio ride out of Ebo last week until he trashed a tyre around Ditchling way.

🙂

Things to bear in mind

The route through Exton isn’t immediately obvious.
I took a high path through QECP just after the A3. Staying on the road is flatter.
The sharp right turn at Blackcap, after Ditchling Beacon, isn’t that obvious when you’re hooning down the trail.
The drag up and around Kingston is err a drag….
Enjoy the view as you ride up Itfold hill, after Southease 😉
Check out the route through Alfriston as it kinks about a bit.
Once you get over Windover Hill and are heading down towards Jevington, make sure you bear right in the woods otherwise you’ll go off course.
The final hill out of Jevington is a slog but you can then cane it across through Eastbourne golf course, over the A259 and down to the ‘new’ finish.

Good luck and enjoy

asterix
…….Arn’t the wheels important or are all those lovely looking deep carbons rims mostly fashion?

What size would Sir like his can of worms?

Deeper wheels are more efficient but you can very quickly get into some complicated maths / heated debates on gains versus cost/efficiency.

If we’re just talking road bikes as opposed to TT wagons, I’d question whether you’d notice any appreciable difference between brands / models, when out on the road.

I don’t doubt that aero road bikes will require less effort to push through the air but you’re going to be into some serious measurebating to justify any discernible time savings on a typical ride.

Of course if you want to spunk cash on something that looks bling and puts a smile on your face, then go for it.

spacemonkey …… think I’ll stick with ‘nanas and water/Torq. Ta for the PSA though.

As a roadie, gels easily slip up the leg of bib shorts. I’m not sure bananas would be quite such a good idea….. 😆

spacemonkey – Member

Are they any good though?

I always thought the High 5 stuff was full of chems and BS.

I’ve been using High 5 stuff for a few years now. SIS stuff always gave me err, ‘stomach issues’.

The H5 isogels are easy to consume and don’t necessarily need water. I’ve found gels do give me a boost. Whether that’s a placebo effect or not I honestly can’t say but they work for me. YMMV

Cheers that man 8). 50 isogels and a box of bars arrived this morning.

Gels are dated July 14.

Gribble

Here’s my ride from two weeks ago on Garmin connect. You should be able to download it from there?

I had a small technical issue starting it at the King Alfred statue but you probably know where that is.

As for comfort, I did that on my full sus which took the sting out of the rock hard surface and it’s attendant vibration.

Don’t muck about with that cheap Miele tat. What you want is a nice Swiss V Zug. I’ll let you do the currency conversion……. 😯

Tubs are usually lighter, roll better and wheels are lighter. I used to run my tubs at 180psi for minimum rolling resistance but now tend to leave them at 140.

The downsides are they are difficult to repair (unless you have plenty of time and like a bit of sowing) and they’re not cheap.

Oh and as you glue / tape them on, have faith they won’t roll of the rim.

What are these shower things you speak of?

The forks feel smooth enough, they’re just don’t seem to travel.

Is a seal change a DIYable job? – I’m reasonable with the spanners.

I thought oop norf was supposed to be hilly? 😉 😛

3500 more feet in 23 less miles

Only joking as a couple of those climbs look proper steep.

Bails

Sorry I guess my question should be, I don’t appear to have full travel in my XX’s.

If I get 75% travel on the RT’s it’s probably 50% for the XX’s. Or looking at it another way, I’m probably getting 3″ of travel in the XX’s. (Please ignore sag for this figures)

I’m sceptical that the pressures should be /that/ different?

Oh and neither have been serviced.

No pearls of wisdom from the STW massive?

As a slight digression, I wonder how many people could ride 100m in sub 10 secs? – Don’t forget that it’d be a standing start which would mean the sprinters would be away before you’re wound the power up.

I seem to be going through front (Shimano) pads like there’s no tomorrow. Swapping wheels did cure one squealing episode so I thought it must have been a mucky rotor.

Wasn’t the case but another set of pads did sort things.

I’ve got three sets of pads still with some life in them but no blowtorch. Caning down hills doesn’t work so any ideas on alternate cleaning options?