Nope, neither have i. Ever!!

Bit of Shakey Graves. My boy has pointed me down the route of some great music recently!!

Shakey

My brother lives in an old manse just outside Nairn. Its a beautiful big house and he has a dog and two mad kids. They don’t spend inordinate amounts of time fixing and cleaning. The dog stays outside a lot which helps i reckon!

Maybe the more space you have the easier it becomes!

Uaed a set on some hope Pro4 6 bolt hubs. Works an absolute treat.

I do a lot of training over the winter and this year for the first time I have bought a program from fit4racing. My usual was concentrating on increasing my weights over the winter then with the increased strength gains focus on a more endurance focus nearer the end of winter. Probably because I didn’t really know what I was doing I didnt really see the benefits I was expecting. A month in with this program and on my ride out on Sunday there was a massive difference in how I felt overall. A lot stronger with more energy. Early days yet but so far so good.

Got a Push Eleven-six fitted on my turner RFX. Holy mother of god that thing turned a bike that was pretty amazing anyway into an absolute beast. The only word to describe what it gives you is traction. Endless traction. I have a set of Ribbon Coils up front as well so the bike is a portly 33lbs but riding it you would not guess. It just climbs and tracks so well. Point it down and it’s a magic carpet ride through the chunder.

Plus it needs to be warm to be slightly flexible. Electric tape is actually really good. Very flexible and doesn’t leave any residue.

I had this conversation with my uncle and grandad the other day. I am not a big smoker and i dont take pills or anything else but i am very pro legalisation. They on the other hand are so entrenched in their beliefs that ALL drugs are the devils work and wont even try and see the other side of the argument. So on that basis and the size of the voter pool who are of that generation and hence mostly that same opinion you can see why it wont happen unless very gradually. Its just not a vote winner at all.

Hey Jon, i am from Dundee and stand out with a full sleeve tattoo. Not sure how else to describe myself. Handsome and debonair is just me being modest 🙂

Hey up, thought i would pop my 2p worth in here. I got a place and finished the 2015 event. Looking back it was bloody emotional riding down those steps to the beach at Menton. I was finished in every way. I was so tired, my body did not want to ride another meter :-). I crossed the finish point with a couple of top lads i met from Sheffield. We were in different groups but as i set off before hand we met up at a stage start and finished it together. Its that kind of event like most are where you meet a lot of like minded people and really bond for a short while.

The riding is hard, you tend to find your own pace where you are trying really hard but remembering that it is blind and you need that awareness. Its gnarly. The climbing just feels relentless at times. But you are in a proper big mountain environment and the climbing / descending is part of that.

To talk a bit more of the camaraderie that an event like this brings. When we finished on the last day and were heading back to the campsite we met another bunch who were heading along to the beach front for a quick drink. What actually happened was about 30 of us ended up at this bar being bought drinks from Nico Lau. That man is an absolute gentleman. I am sure my misses would love him 😉 Most of the top pro riders are just sound blokes who are doing this for their own / sponsorship reasons etc. I didn’t meet any who were up their own arse.

Now to the crux of the matter for me. Why do you want to do something like this?? Its a genuine question. My reasons were that at that time i was loving racing. I am not fast in any way but i just loved racing. I came way further back the rankings that i expected to be which initially was a pin prick to the ego. After giving it a bit of time and a bit of thought i think i missed the whole point to a certain degree. Yes i was reveling in the fact i was in a big mountain environment which i loved. I was meeting people who i was slightly in awe of and who turned out to be the most amazing down to earth people. But i couldn’t see past the fact that for me it was a race. Now if i was to enter i would still charge as hard as i could but i would see it as more of an adventure. And an adventure id definitely is 🙂

Would i like to do it again? definitely. Not next year as i have other biking plans in the Pyrenees but maybe the year after if Ash decides to run it again and i can get a place. I think i would take so much more away from it a second time around.

If you have an itch to scratch then go for it. Its something i doubt you will ever forget!

I am one of the small percentage of people who really enjoys their job. It really suits me. It’s well paid and I get a lot of time off to enjoy the things in life that make me happy! Not a brag I promise but it took a long time for me to get to this position. What would I miss most of it all changed?? The time off for sure. So enjoy it while you have it buddy. Life is fleeting. Family and friends define your success in my opinion. Work just makes the cogs spin a little easier but it shouldn’t be the main focus!

I don’t think the OP’s a 70 year old or anyone’s mum though. he just wants an ebike to make climbing easier and for it to look like it’s not an ebike at all, which I guess tells us something.

What does it tell you rocketdog?? That an ebike will let me access a lot more descents than my normal bike?? Because that’s exactly what I said in my post.

As for ops question, I think the move will be to less powerful lighter bikes like the focus ebike roadie, which looks pretty much exactly like a normal bike but gives you a couple of hundred Watts extra up a climb and weighs about 12 kg.

Yep, that’s kinda what I was musing abiut today. My gnarpoon with a small not so powerful engine for those dull as dishwasher fireroads 😀

Hey geex, I change my mind on that mondraker, a photo on progression bikes Facebook made it look like it had a small battery and motor. On second look I was wrong.

Good points all round. But 2000m climbing on a single speed, why?

Ajantom, take today for instance. 3 and a half descents in Dunkeld. That’s a thousand meters of climbing and descending. On the last run I met a pair of lads who had come up from Newcastle and were absolutely buzzing about the quality of trails. Now they were both shattered but being on e-bikes they had covered well over twice the distance and got 8 descents in. Those numbers must knock through your blinkers a bit?? No?

Now I don’t need an ebike but I really do see the possibilities for opening up my riding area to me!

Benz, as with everything it depends what trade, line of work you are in. I’m a contractor and that’s the way I like it. I have as much work as I can deal with and nobody bothers if I turn jobs down. Long term I’ll be reet but in all honesty I’m sure I’ll get very bored of the North sea before it all comes crashing down.

For my 2p worth. I popped 10k into a Legal and General Global Index Tracker fund a year back. Its now up by 15 percent. Yep it can and will go down but have a look on youtube for a guy called Lars Kroijer who explains Passive Investing very well. All Wrapped up in a Stocks and shares ISA. BAboom!!!!

Yes, my 3 year old carbon frame looks like the military use it for target practice. For resale value definitely use it straight away. Next time i definitely will 🤨

Ok, keeping my hard earned for now. Did not notice any play while actually riding today. If it gets any worse I’ll fire them to TF Tuned but I’ll keep riding them which I all honesty is what they were made for. Cheers all.

You never know eh, im 99 percent sure 🙂

molgrips, i need a bit more riding on it to be sure. There was a very noticeable clunk last week but the bearings were shot. These have now been changed out so a wee ride out tomorrow will see how they feel. From just playing about on the street they are really not that bad. Only a couple of rides will tell. 🙂

Ooft, there is only a wee bit of play at the moment, not that bothered. Ill see what CRC say 🙂

BWD, cheers

Talking about Down Insulation, Sorry to hijack. I have an older North Face jacket that i never ever use. Is it possible to recycle it. Would any companies want the down that is inside??

It is, much bloody harder. The Callater descent is an absolute peach.

So the Montane Fireball arrived today……..

Great bit of kit. Packs up small, seems warm enough. 80’s retro styling 😀

What’s not to like. Cheers all👍👍

Burko I love Patagonia stuff but my wallet is a bit light at the moment.

Montane Fireball is winging its way to me at the moment. Thanks for all the heads up everybody. Hopefully autumn and winter riding just got a bit more comfortable!!

Brilliant, i knew this place would have the answer. Lots of reading to get through. Much appreciated 🙂

Got a 26″ samurai. It’s a thing of beauty. Bloody brilliant bike that just puts a smile ony face every time I ride it.

I have the V2 and i love the camera, it does everything i want for a compact. Wifi, flip screen etc.

As usual i bought mine second hand from Ebay and i couldn’t be happier.

I tend to favour the smaller companies when it comes to suspension . I have just killed a set of MRP stage forks they j had for 2 years. I just  bough a set of Manitou Mattoc pro’s for £265 from CRC. I didn’t buy them because they were cheap initially but I was reading a 39 page forum page on MTBR and the universal thinking was that they are bloody awesome. So a no brainer really.

I’m not averse to throwing money at some things but I do have a soft spot for small underdog companies pushing good products.

Thanks all, sorted now but good to know it’s just an Allen key job to get the lowers off.

Yep, based on the online love for these forks I pressed the buy button. £269 with British Cycling discount.

Mick, I understand the sentiment. Saying that I’d rather send my cash to someone like yourself.

If you did want to make a set of happily send you the cash first.

Hey mickmcd, great pics. I have no access to a lathe or turning tools unfortunately.

Leegee, thanks for the reply but as above. No access to these types of tools

I likey 🙂

Mate thats just normal brake noise with these e4’s. MIne do that i in all honesty i hardly notice it 🙂

Think you need new brakes to be fair if that’s annoying you. Not much you can do about it.

I really like MRP forks. The ribbon is a belter. I am still running a stage but have a ribbon coil on order. I get a reasonable deal from my LBS but I would happily pay a lot more for them.

Also have a look at Manitou Mattoc Pro forks. Saw a brand new set in pinkbike yesterday. My mate is running them and so far has been blown away

Carbon paste

Sirromj, same problem. Upgraded to 1.51 and I can hear the motors struggling. 1.50 seems to have killed it completely. Wish I hadn’t bothered now.

Infact scratch that. 1.51 kills the motor. 1.50 works a treat. As long as you press the mode button after start up.

I had a weird wee wobble with version 1.10 that happens on rough terrain. I think 1.50 has sorted it now.

What a great bit of kit when it works.