Well today went better. On bridleways so many more options for picking the lines. Let a bit of pressure out of the tyres, that helped, but inevitably ended up with a pinch flat before the day was out (ok, I was messing around a bit by then!)

Rode light, kept a looser grip on the bars, and did half the mileage. Felt great at the end of the day! I did put my thick gloves on for the descent (it was cold and raining on the fells today) and that made a big difference, definitely want thicker grips for my larger hands.

I’m sold on a wider front tyre and grips and reckon that will be it sorted. Also need a new rear calliper as I missed having no rear brake on a few sections :? A large order awaits on pay day!

Most importantly though, I had LOADS of fun and feel like I’m riding better for it.

Rab Vapour Rise works well. Shrugs of moderate weather, wicks well, and is great for active use (not very warm unless you’re moving, as that’s how it’s designed). Throw a lightweight rain smock over it if the weather is really foul for prolonged periods. It stays quite warm even when damp though.

Coleman Nightstar lantern 8)

Mine are black, and made from Zircal, does that mean I’m gonna die :?

Thanks all, lots of advice to consider above.

The forks are Kensis Maxlight XLT’s, they absorb big hits very well and also flex noticeably under braking (more than I expected). I did a lot of research and like the fact that these are reliant on design, rather than material, for their qualities (shaped like forks used to be :wink: ).

Cheapest thing for me to try will be the grips and larger front tyre. I’ll see how that goes before spending money elsewhere. I suspect the larger tyre will make the most noticeable difference, and that’s free for me to try at least.

We are riding tomorrow, so I’ll swap front wheels with my mate and let you know how the fatter front tyre goes.

Flats and Cane Creek Ergo bar-ends. A change of position will give your hands some rest.

Totally agree, I have those already and wouldn’t be without them. I’m always on them as soon as I can be.

Reagrding relaxing, I think fatter grips will help with this. I never considered it before, but mine are pretty narrow and even a loose grip requires my hand to be curled quite a bit.

Definitely do NOT want wider bars. Don’t like them at all (have tried bikes with them). Would rather put suspension forks back on than go with wider bars! (I don’t like wide, or rise bars btw).

Are these the ESI grips mentioned above?

D0NK – You can’t rush progress! I’m very happy with them so see no reason to change I guess.

Just had a thought actually, my mate has some Verticals (2.3″) on his bike. We run the same discs so I’ll borrow his front wheel and give it a go, that’ll be free 8)

D0NK – Yeah, I noticed the sidewalls are looking a bit cracked now, they’e a bit last-decade :lol: They never fail to impress me though. I’m running EA70 bars at the moment, no sweep on them. Bigger grips may well help as I have largish hand, and I’ll need to look into the sweep thing a bit more.

Cheers.

I’m running Lizard Skin grips at the moment.

Lizard Skin Grips

Looks like I’ll be getting ESI grips! Cheapest thing to change first as well 8)

Cheers.

I recommend the Tortec Reflector Guards as an alternative.

Tortec Guards

Sign up to their newsletter and get £5 off your order. Then get another £5 voucher after you review your order. Got my Blackburn EX1 pannier rack and mudguards in two separate orders, saving me £10 on the already cheapest prices for them 8)

Even the most basic of cars can have distractions…

As you say, you’ll remove the panniers anyway, so no, not really. You have to remove the rear skewer rather than just loosening it, but that’s not that much of a pain. If it is, I suggest a different hobby, or puncture resistant tyres! It is a very, very stable rack.

+1 for the Draper (or Toolstations version of it). Plenty good enough for home use. I used mine a hell of a lot for several projects.

I am looking for a rack but one that needs to take rough of road beatings with possible high speed op road riding to. For bikepack racing purposes.

Again, Blackburn EXP1. Or spend 3 times the money and get an Old Man Mountain Sherpa…

Blackburn EXP1 QR mounted rack from Tredz, with seat tube clamp, or P-clip. Easy :wink:

Shame they’re not flat :roll:

I’ve recently added some Kinesis Maxlight XLT forks to my hard tail and I’m very impressed with the ride. They are aluminium, but the point is that it’s as much to do with the design of them as the material. I was set on carbon, but got the Kenesis at half the price so took a punt. As I say, very impressed, definitely not buzzy or harsh.

I gotta ask, what’s wrong with a QR rear wheel?

it seems that my life’s mission is to find a decent rear light.

Give up. Buy one for a tenner and replace it each year, or work out what you are doing wrong,,,,

Smart Lunar R1, more than good enough, 2 AAA’s (like you asked for). I can’t be bothered with charging lights to be honest.

most websites with multiple branches you can check the stock of a particular branch, not this one though,

Maybe you could have phoned them to double check they’re in store? You must have know it would have been close to closing before you headed to Rotheram, 1min could easily have been 5 or 10mins. They were closed because you didn’t make it before closing time, I don’t see how that is there problem.

I think that folk expect FAR too much these days and need to get a grip, or face a life of disappointment, anger and frustration. Its only stuff.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing. For me that’s what bike touring is about – making do with what you have and just going.

I’m in the process of something similar, so this is inspiring stuff – a reminder to keep it simple.

If you’re not bothered about “quality” so much, the Dunlop range in Sports Direct is pretty good for pannier racks and panniers. They’re not bad either, looking at them. Just a bit of a faff to put on and off, and not waterproof, but you could leave them on and line them with rubble sacks.

Yeah, I’m happy with the Blackburn rack, it’s very sturdy, and only cost me £25 with a Tredz voucher 8)

Good tip about the Rockhopper. I may go that way in the future, it would be nice to have a “spare” bike for the commute also, maybe one with winter tyres on.

I had a Hardrock years ago. Bought it and a week later went to Ireland for a week with a rucksack on…that was painful. I learned nobly tyres make enough noise to drive you mad, “comp” spec meant it’ll wear out in a week, and carrying a rucksack was a daft idea. Had a great time though!

I took mine out for a “half-loaded” test ride today, and it went quite well. Handled better than I feared, although I think I’ll be needing some weight up front once I get it fully laden.

Pics and a description of the rack and stuff I mentioend above are now here if it helps anyone converting their hardtail[/url]

Had it, but found it noisy,only heated the two closest rooms properly. This was a very old system also. Mine heated the water as well. I wouldn’t choose to have it, but I wouldn’t let it stop me buying a house that did.

You could always opt for electric panel heaters with fan boosters. You might not need to go gas central heating, depending how you like to use the system. My utility bills have never been cheaper since moving and having no gas now.

Maybe try a rack guard – these are kayak protectors, long piece of cable with a loop one end and a toggle one end. You wrap it round the rack or bikes and chuck the toggle end in the car and close the door. Job done.

My car was broken into by them forcing the door frame over from the top. Dunno how the glass didn’t smash, but it was plenty big enough gap for them to reach in and steal nothing from the glove box (nowt in it!). Anyway, not sure giving them a cable to yank on would deter them. They’re not gonna care about damaging your car.

I also throw my rack in the boot.

I converted mine recently, for commuting and touring. Have a read here if you like:

From Mountain Bike to Touring Bike[/url]

Racks and mudguards are easy enough to fit to most frames and forks with some DIY.

The Conti SportContact are a great tyre for commuting, grip well on the road in wet and dry. Would have gone for 1.3″ for commuting, but fully loaded I think the 1.6″ was the right choice.

Having switched from Outlook to Mac Mail (and Mac from PC), I couldn’t believe that all I had to do was type in my email address and password when I first opened Mail, and boom, Yahoo account done. No messing with pop forwarding addresses and all that rubbish. I now have 3 email accounts running in Mail and it works a treat.

Not sure what issues you’re having, but it could be worth popping in to an Apple store (book an appointment first), I find that they know their stuff and can usually fix things – for free!

Black and white saddle, with white grips, would look better I reckon. But who cares what it looks like, it’s not an accessory, it’s a tool.

Sounds like just the job. As you say, looking for wind resistance rather than windproof. Should be a versatile bit of kit. Cheers.

Sell your purple bits and buy the frame colour you want. Have fun!

Ortlieb small (or medium if needed).

Next 8)

Arm yourself for what? Ring them, let them exchange it, or get a refund. Simple. As said, probably a genuine mistake when someone didn’t check a returned item properly. No need to be an arse about it, it’s not likely they’ve done it on purpose.

Is this not any good?

Or this one?

Given that I shopped around and bought some rigid forks last month, I can confidently say that there are plenty of 100mm, 1″1/8 rigid forks available.

Given the market for this bike, keeping components standard and easily available wherever you are in the world (except maybe Singletrack world :wink: ) makes perfect sense.

Looks a bit like this:

8)

Take it back, they’ll replace it or send it for testing (then replace it), Goretex has a lifetime guarantee.