Damned impressive all the same.

Hm. That’s a new one on me. If I was respraying maybe, and I couldn’t get the original decals.

Seek therapy!

Prepare to be mentally traumatised 🙂

Wouldn’t ride without them and I’ve never seen a thread dedicated to their danger. Their lack of use in mtb is more down to fashion than their actual benefits.

I know a guy who broke his with a torsion movement of the bone that caused the bone structure to shatter and, in sections, totally disintegrate. it was repaired successfully with plates and bone grafts. He’s still a very active cyclist, so there’s hope.

Good God Almighty! Send pictures to MBR for a prize I think!

Peaks have been debated in the infinite ‘are helmets actually any use’ war. This looks like the most extreme example in the case against peaks. And interestingly, the helmet didn’t prevent you from being knocked out either…hm.

Anyway, peaks can be done safely. just get an £8 cycling cap from Wiggle and wear it under the helmet. Much safer.

Hmm. I bought a full set of Cruds after accidental chucking out my ugly-but-brilliant SKD Mudboard.

As soon as I started to fit the front fender (constantly dropping the screws), I realised that that I’d bought a trio of pups.

Every one of the guards is poorly designed. Despite prior knowledge of the rear guard’s design flaw (rotating screw issue), I found myself unable to remove it without cutting it off. The downtube guard doesn’t work at all well with under frame routing and is way too long for many frames. The fender guard (the best one) has to be attached with a screw driver and a lot of patience.

Don’t be fooled by the positive reviews of these very poorly designed products. They are rubbish.

Bleedin’ Nora that’s harsh! The pain felt on the decent will be like an effing cakewalk after trying that lot :-/

Look at Ritchey wcs lock-ons. Superb and comfortable, and the ergo version are really chunky.

mine fell apart after about 3 short rides: absolutely rubbish.

Blimey! Mine are fantastic quality.

Well, I’ve racked up 30 rides in my two. I’ve been rained on and climbed 25% gradients in the blazing sun, and I can happily say they’re the best riding tops I’ve ever owned. Incredibly, they still smell as fresh as the day they arrived. I think you’d only need a couple for a years riding without washing them :-0

My medium is a slim fit without being too tight (I’m 5’8″ and slim). With some shrinkage to be expected after the first wash (3%?) the fit will be even better.

Highly recommended, but in my search for other merino tops I came across http://www.Rapha.cc

…niiiice! 🙂

But, but…Wry Nose, Honister, Newlands…30% gradients…lovely!

This blog about cycling on the lake’s passes gets it spot on!

😆 I know! It’s such a waste of Britains best landscape!

Good question! The Lakes rewards road and off-road riding. I’m just back from a week riding the passes on my ScandAL. I’ve set it up to flip easily between tarmac and XC, and I had ‘no problems’ doing the passes…well, apart from the usual heart failure! I also passed three guys on the top of Helvellyn. Not sure I’d want to heave their full sussers up there so again a lighter bike would make sense. On balance though, I prefer riding on-road in the lakes than off. Climbing out of Buttermere through the Newlands Pass in the pouring rain was more fun than I thought it’d be 😉

One last thing. They’ve been trimming the hedgerows on a lot of the lanes. Be prepared for flats :-/

Yeah. The RAF adopted Apache Gunships some years ago. It was probably on a training mission.

My Aunt is a missionary and has travelled the world. The only place she did not like was India for various reasons but mainly for the hygiene and how corrupt the country is. I would not bet against a back hander being paid for them to get these games the country has no infrastructure, they treat their poor people like sh–.

Sigh. You’ve clearly never been there and you’re quoting a ‘missionary aunty’. 🙄

I’ve worked there in business and found it to be a flawed but vibrant and amazing country and People.

Your comments may not be rascist, but they’re certainly very prejudiced.

the cunning desire shifts itself to ‘parts’

😀

How true. I’ve got two and frankly the full susser is gathering dust. It’s a superb bike but the hard tail does all of the sort of riding I like. I debated getting a road bike recently but that’s another door into parts excess…and roadie fashion addiction!

It strikes me that even if you’re happy with your hard hitting hitting, long travel hardtail, you’ll start to want it just a bit lighter, or more capable. Then, after you’ve got your 160mm front/rear travel monster, you’ll miss the simplicity of a hard tail…and then there’s the trip to the Alps. you’ll need an extra special bike for that. And the winter hack bike…and the commute bike…and the ‘spare’ bike…and those frames and old forks in the garage…and the ‘bits’ hamper in the garage…and the camelbacks, saddlebags, multiple gloves and helmets, tools, saddles…

Do runners have this problem?

😥

Wow Brant, you’ve been busy! Very exciting line up. Love it. Trouble is, your 1st generation ScandAL’s so good I can’t find an excuse to change it!

I ride an original scandium 26er on a near daily basis. It’s a light nimble and comfortable frame that builds into a lovely light bike. Can’t comment on the new all-aluminium version, but the older frame certainly lives up to it’s press awards.

Stick a light 100mmm fork on it and some skinny XC tyres and you’ll be as fast on the road as off.

Jont- try googling it.

Jont- try googling it.

Yep. One or two stories about frame failures is understandable, but there are quite a few about this one and all relate to the rear triangle. That redesign with the strut really made me think again about titanium as a frame material. If I saw a carbon or aluminium frame with one of those modifications I'd run away.

There are a couple of concerns for me with the older frame. Firstly there are far too many reports (often documented with photographs) of the same breakage in both the pre and post braced tail. Also, since brants departure, and with the introduction of the new design, on one was very critical of Lynskey and the quality of their work. The comments were quickly toned down, but taken alongside the rear failures, clearly suggests that on one was very unhappy with the frame's design and manufacturing quality.

The ti 456 looks a more convensional (and hopefully reliable) design, but only rider reports will tell.

Edit: interestingly lynskey have a number of frame designs that all incorporate the rear brace. Look for them on chainreactioncycles.com.

This thread has scared me. I know what I'm wearing from now on…

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=16417

This looks good too.

Reading between the lines of the article, I suspect that the big headphones were symptomatic of other behavioural traits on the bike: 'she was ignorant to the dangers of the road and thought she was invincible'.

I think we've all seen that sort of rider. lots of them in Edinburgh certainly.

http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/garmin-edge-800-revealed/8618.html

And it does OS too? That's great!

edit: Touchscreen…the deal's off!

Very sad story 😥

It does seem that some people just don't 'get' what riding a bike means, and just how dangerous it can be on the road.

Quite a trek indeed! But certainly doable. The trip to the city outskirts will be lovely. Thereafter…hmm. Leith? London Road? That'll slow you down.

I used to commute in from Linlithgow via the Union Canal (excuse to use the MTB on a daily basis). It was around 23 miles (it took 120 minutes-ish), after all the twists of the route. Got the train or a lift back one day a week to keep it sane though. God knows where I got the energy for all that.

It'll be busy, and the roads can be very tight, but you should be able to find a route along the A198 and B1348. An hour(factoring in traffic etc)? Depends on where you work in Edinburgh of course.

These all look the part. I do like the idea of thumb loops on the Altura though. Great idea.

To be fair, TJ is fundamentally right: Helmets don't stop concussion-type injuries. They just provide a certain level of protection.

If I faceplanted on a plank bridge, I'd expect to be staggering around for 10 minutes as if drunk, but as a helmet wearer, I'd be glad that I wasn't also blinded by blood from a deep gash in my forehead, and I'd also be delighted that there wasn't an egg sized lump swelling up.

I'd find comfort in that at least…

I was dropped on my head when I was small. No helmet and I am fine!

Hmmm…Yes, the voice of the Al Qaeda of helmet non-conformity there…

😉

For a balanced control outcome, can you please ride the course again for a week, but this time WITHOUT a helmet? Fanx

😉

As a confirmed Satmap fanboy, I'd be much more tempted to get one of the Garmin bike computers (the mapping version) over the Satmap for the bike. I've got an Edge 305, and while it doesn't provide any sort of real navigation with maps, it is the best cycling aide I've had (racing yourself in a Gran Turismo sort of way is great fun). My cycling fitness went through the roof with that unit. It's built like the brick proverbial too. I think the latest units do have maps, and Garmin do provide OS too on their top line models. I think the key thing to look for is GLOVED operation. Essential in my opinion.

Satmap is a brilliant general GPS though.

I'd say Satmap too. It ain't perfect but crucially you can fully operate it with gloves on. The MOD recently rejected touch-screen interfaces for field equipment due to this and other practicable reasons. Satmap have also moved into supplying the military. Got to be a good sign.

The down side is that the replaceable visor is easily marked, so the unit doesn't stay pristine for long. However, almost every part can be replaced so you can have the unit remade every now and again.

I went for a GPS after three disasters within a week last year in the Lakes. I'm good with maps and I've got a great sense of direction, but the clouds came down on Highstreet and we marched off in completely the wrong direction for nearly half an hour! Visibility was down to 15 feet at times though. The following day it happened again at Buttermere. We were completely lost when a couple walked past with an ancient GPS. We used it to find our position on the OS map.

That's the thing with GPS. When you have it, you feel like you've wasted the money because you only ever need it for a couple of seconds, and then it's back on the bag again. You feel like you always know where you are, and that's because with GPS, you do! It's subtle but extremely powerful.

That truck driver either has excellent eyesight or we're not getting the whole picture here…There might have been some sort of particularly noticeable 'device' involved… 😯

Briefly worked with Tim Piggot-Smith in the early 90's. One of the nicest people I've ever met. Also had Quentin Blake as a tutor for a couple of years. A really nice guy and surprisingly cool! Briefly met David Hockney and Peter Blake (he made the cover of Sgnt Peppper). Both came across as pleasant people, but quite quiet and reserved. Oh, and stood next to the then president of Coca Cola. Very charismatic and seemed very nice! 😀

Well, I learned to read and write the Hindi script fairly fluently from a 'Teach Yourself Languages' book/CD combo. Took about three months. That's got to be a good sign!

This was the series:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Teach+Yourself+Languages&x=0&y=0

This from Google:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-19/griffon-to-acquire-ames-true-temper-for-542-million.html

And this site:

http://www.truetemper.com/performance_tubing/tubing.asp

Drop 'em an email.

On One managed a first for me today: ordered two of their marino tops yesterday morning and received them today. Usual thing is that I can't ever remember a parcel from an internet purchase being delivered to me on a Saturday.

Oh, and they're superb tops by the way!