great thread…

done myself a favour, got a bottle of Rare Breed in the post!! regular Wild Turkey is my favourite off-the-shelf tipple so looking forward to this – is it sacrilege to drink over ice?

i always go bourbon with ice / malts at room.

also flexed my clubcard and got a tenner off a bottle of Ardbeg 10. oosh. packs a punch.

Turn inside out and fix with gorilla tape!

No knee pain is more excruciating than the old tvvatgap!

Not for me unless I’m uplifting. Legs get too hot and knees raw.

Frame only versions of the previous Evo didn’t come out for a fair while after the release of the bike iirc…?

i dont care for outside lights. they are only seen by other people and are a ball ache to put up (& especially take down again!) but they’ll be going up this weekend! :D

tbf sports socks from Sportsdirect or wherever have been infinitely more reliable, durable, comfortable, cheaper than any bike specific ones ive ever had.

certainly noticed a lot more trees up in the windows locally. dont get it myself. i am a huge fan of christmas and i love decorating the house but not until well into December.. i get sick of them too soon otherwise..

TBH ive never been less arsed about it than this year tho :(

Slight hijack, but my issue isn’t as severe…

I fell off one of them hover board things at Christmas 2018 and slammed my wrist hard and bent it right back. I never went to A&E or anything, I just rested it and strapped it up… nearly two years later I’m still struggling. It’s not constantly painful, but it aches. its uncomfortable riding and is in pain afterwards. Likewise I can’t put much force through it, tried to push a heavy door the other day and it just gave way. Press-ups are impossible and just picking up the kids or dogs gives we shooting pains…

I’m not sure what I should do about it? I don’t wanna trouble A&E; do I see my gp, call 111 or pay to see a physio??

I was certain it wasn’t broken at the time but now I think it probably was and that it’s knitted itself together badly ??

Never quite understood wearing stuff on & off the bike, all my riding gear looks trashed within a few rides – waterproof jackets especially coz they don’t get washed! I wouldn’t dream of pottering about town in them when they’re permanently caked in shite… I’ve bought tops to wear riding before now that I’ve deemed too nice and kept them as civvies!

I was gonna post them hand guards that look like wing mirrors but seeing as most posts are just written to antagonise I’m gonna say Burgtec components. They are well too ubiquitous fanboi SantaCruz bandito for me. Although I’m lying coz I have the pedals !!

I also have a big mistrust for carbon bars, yet I have a 40mm rise carbon fat bar that I run periodically because it’s the absolute perfect shape and I can’t bring myself to buy the exact same thing in metal. I try a different shape metAl one for bit, realise I miss my carbon fatbar, stick that back on, get nervous, buy a different shape metal one and repeat!

Carbon rims tho. Wouldn’t touch them!!

Glyn Y Weddw Is a bit of a shithole. My in-laws live in Chwilog and we love the peninsular but one thing it does lack is nice pubs. The best at the moment is the recently done up Bruncynan Inn nr Nefyn. I quite like the goat too.. ty coch is a must but can be a bit touristy in peak times.

We have only had bad experiences at Dylan’s in Criccieth but there is a lovely new cafe on the main road called cafe 46 (don’t quote me, might be a different number) they do the best egg custard in the world!

FIL is a mad roady Lycra bandit and he reckons the cycling is amazing when you know your way around. I usually eff off into snowdonia for proper riding but there are trails on garn boduan and theres always nant g.

Really interesting thread this. been thinking about a caravan myself, also always dreamed of a camper but the idea of a tourer is growing on me…

we currently have a large-ish tent that we use 3 or 4 times a year, but im increasingly jealous looking at the set-ups up the tourer pitch end of the campsites! we camped over BH, paid for 4 nights but sacked it after 3. i could probably handle longer but the majority had had enough…

where do you folks peruse or purchase the vans from, any preferred dealers or websites? when ive googled any of the models mentioned here there does not seem to be many results…

also love the idea of having an extra guest bedroom on the drive at home!!

the Adria Altea 390DS looks just the job.

Camping in Silverdale at the weekend, managed to sneak off for an explore round Arnside Knott a couple of times… went out armed with full repertoire of retorts for the militant footbandits i was warned about but everyone i met was nice and friendly… obviously kept well away from the busier routes but found some pretty cool stuff from the trig point and in the woods out on the headland…

final run of the day i got 3 separate punctures in one tyre!! any puncture is pretty rare for me, 3 in one suggests some kind of sabotage!?

always end up squeezing out all the nice fresh juice trying to get the friggers back in!

i lost my temper once and got some new rings, put them in dry and added the lube afterwards with a syringe..

they’re built to be ridden, unlike footpaths, go for it.

Deity supracush 34mm.

was gonna say this until i read you dont want lock-ons.

they are really comfy tho, but you need to be a real shovelhanded bastard.

i also cant wear gloves with them, too much material between me and the bars. feels disconnected.

whats with all the international cricket and rugby but no world cup Downhill!?

agree with the no football ethos tho. i dont mind it myself but generally hate being in pubs where footy is on.

I must start riding a bit further from home

I live in Ramsbottom lancs, Saturday night i packed up the van then Sunday Morning was up and on the road at 05:30 heading for Keswick. Had a plan to ride the bash but with the Honister, Dale Head, Copper mines extension, 25miles ish.

I made it as far as the Grane Road (10 minutes) i thought wtf am i doing and turned back. stunning scenery round here and wall to wall blue skies, why spend 4hrs of my day driving… struggling to park and dodging footbandits all day – i got home, grabbed my bike straight out of the van and headed out. obviously i was out before all the crowds and had a glorious ride. explored a bit, got lost a bit, and still rode all my faves and even dug for a bit. managed a similar 25miles ish, but maybe not as much elevation…

i was home for dinner* and spent the afternoon outside the pub!

(*dinner not tea)

Atlanta is close to perfect. If I had to choose an ep… Teddy Perkins!

Only reason I’m not going is because it wouldn’t be fair ont mrs and kids for me to have a foreign jolly and not them..

i dont want it for free…

if you do your homework some of the best riding in the country is along the shores of Ladybower.

get to the top of Win Hill drop towards the north and explore.

Superglue it

bought a oneup post from wiggle which arrived the next day but they had no stock of oneup levers so i ordered one direct from oneup – then i noticed the banner mentioning they had a backlog and dispatch would be delayed 4 or 5 days. being the impatient sort i ordered a PNW Loam Lever from amazon with next day delivery. the PNW came and was fitted fine, but when the oneup one turned up i regretted not waiting as seemed a bit better for the money. neither are cheap, but the loam lever seems over priced for what you get…

essentially, i prefer the oneup lever to the pnw loam lever :)

Mont Blanc Enduro with Endless Trails/Ben Jones is a great trip

this looks the business! Their Italian Lakes trip looks amazing too.

How come their weeks are about 400 quid more expensive than the competition?

Ainsa is a lot further inland than i realised. Basquemtb only ride there Nov-March (i was thinking April – May or june) and there appears to be naff all other uplift companies.. but then again the EWS never uplifted..

Moab looks like an incredible experience, but is the riding actually that good? looks a bit lamo from the videos ive just watched…

we normally volunteer a couple of drivers. they drive down with a van full of bikes and gear, and spares!!

Alps to sea looks class. have you driven there?

whenever i have had more than one bike, nothing but the newest ever got used and the older ones were often raided for parts so got rid and just have one now.

The ultimate pyranees trip sounds awesome!! Could probably accept a few nights in a tent for that…

thanks for all the replies.

Although maybe should’ve put less emphasis on the less keen or non riders – in reality there probably won’t be any of those, but I’ll have to invite a few.

Basque mtb looking favourite atm… looks amazing but is a bit pricey and doesn’t include evening meals… that’s not a deal breaker but I always end up eating poorly when fending for myself.. burgers or pizzas every night!

i ride surrey whenever im in he area for work but personally wouldnt put ‘summer lightening’ and ‘must do trails’ in the same sentence ever. the fabled summer lightening must be one of the biggest disappointments ever as an outsider. fortunately i did find some good stuff to the north of the tower, a handful of trails starting all starting from roughly the same spot. superflow iirc, donnie brasco? couple of others.

once i discovered redlands i never went back to leith…

i am by no means the oracle of lakes riding, but ive not found many better views than this last night… note the gammy seatpost!

ha yeah he’s very annoying but i do like his enthusiasm and enjoy his videos.

quite often use them as source of inspiration/information for new tracks to find in the peak and lakes so cant complain when he’s riding my local ones… they missed the best ones anyway ;)

Anyone ordered anything in the last 3 weeks that’s turned up yet??

Really like the new route planner, especially being able to zoom right in on the heat map!!

Fair do’s :D

Just watched The Invisible Man. Absolutely brilliant