There’s a regular ride from Bury Road carpark in Chingford that is well worth joining – it starts at 11am on Saturdays – rides last until about 4ish with a 2pm lunchstop – mileage varies on conditions – Epping can be very boggy in winter. It’ll cover all the best singletrack in the forest regularly.

More info here: http://mbro35.co.uk/

I bought one because I’m obviously incredibly vain. Cost £4.50 to stick it on my facebook cover photo. https://www.facebook.com/Marcgear

Made a webbing harness to fit a 5L drybag as a seat pack, and some straps to hold a bigger drybag on the bars and keep it off the head-tube (which would have worked if I’d had a longer stem)

Whigfield – Saturday Night, for my crimes.

I’d rather my office booked something good far in advance, than ended up booking something shite, because they only remembered about it too late

There are a few parts where there is a high sense of danger – savage predator attacks and such – It would have been a bit much for mine when they were three.

Some Advice:

* Thank the previous speaker.
* Don’t fret, Everyone is on your side – it’s the easiest gig you’ll ever do – people *want* to launch at your jokes.
* Short and sweet is better than too long.
* Don’t do it drunk.
* Traditionally you should compliment the bridesmaids and what a great job they’ve done looking after the bride.
* End seriously

Mine are insured with ETA – not cheap but comprehensive cover.

I paid for installation. Took them no time at all and was worth every penny because it looked like something that would be really hard to do on my own.

It’s the 29er one and has got two mountain bikes, a hybrid and three kids bikes (various sizes) in it.

Cassettes – Not a lot of difference between the top and bottom ends really
Gloves and socks – the Aldi ones are a superb bargain.
Innertubes – the cheaper you can find them, the better.

The highrollers. But it really depends on the riding you do. Maybe the Ardent, or one of each.

Make up the bed as soon as it’s delivered. Not just assemble it, but the actual bedding. Then it’s ready to collapse into, at the end of an exhausting day.

This. And put up something at the window; curtians/whatever.

Banh Mi.

Fry it up with some sweet chilli sauce, stuff it in a baguette spread with some pate, crunchy pickled cucumber, carrot etc, coriander and fresh chilli.

RAF Typhoons.

What do you waste it on? Understanding that has gotta be the first step.

Charley the Bikemonger has some

My #1 tip would be to find out what the _real_ success criteria (and metrics for accessing them) for the project are (hint: it’s never hitting milestones, or coming in on budget) and focus on meeting them.

Forget the triangle talk; you can deliver a successful project that is late, over budget and low quality.

If there genuinely are not measurable success criteria, or they’re long forgotten or no longer relevant; then get the project shit-canned on this basis because otherwise it’s a death-march doomed to fail.

Dales are pretty big, whereabouts are you going to be based?

Have avoided 20″ as his older brothers 20″ Dawes has a top tube that’s too long for him… but I’ll check out the Beinn. Cheers.

I taped my frame using BikeTarts tape, it went on easily and I’d use it again, but search the forum because there’s half a dozen similar threads.

When I lost some off my canyon I replaced them with the Ragley bolt-ons (linked above) which I’m really happy with. Worth the tenner and they look good on the bike too.

AlexSimon: Just over a grand. Alpkit offered the Yari and GX chainset at a discount because of some stock issues and it was too good a deal to turn down.

I got one last week. Mine weighs in about 12-13kg – its pretty light. Only ridden it once, took it around Gisburn last Friday and it was tons of fun, very grippy, climbed well and plenty of fun when pointed down the hill too.

I got the NX build, but got alpkit to add a Reverb, and they upsold me to the Yari fork and GX chainset too. I’ll prob change the QR seatpost clamp at some point.

Get a red one that fits both your head and your budget and comes with a go-pro mount

I have a medium Spectral and am very happy with its sizing. I’m 5’10” and it recommended a small for me but I went against it. If you normally ride a 17″/18″ ‘medium’ then I’d go with that – otherwise stick to the recommendation.

Things in London

Manon

Stayed there last year – had a fab time despite terrible weather. Persuaded the wife to let me hire a bike for a days riding :DDD

If I’m riding somewhere I don’t know I plan my route on the OS map on my phone, then export it as a GPX which I chuck on my garmin edgse 300.

During the ride the garmin acts as a quick reference and keeps me pointing the right way, while the phone is there as a backup. If I’m in any doubt whether my battery will last I’d take a hardcopy OS map as well.

Haha. I’m not planning on spending every ride at Gisburn :) but I’m obviously going to check it out. I just wanted repliers to know that I knew it was nearby. As I said, the main reason for the move was hiking/biking/camping and stuff in one of the best areas in the country for it.

Amazing response – cheers everyone.

I’m going to be living off Gargrave Road – so fairly central and its not a huge place anyway.
Checking out strava segments is a good tip – I’ll check the heatmap thing as well. The skipton loop looks like a good starting point as well. The advice on the pubs is also very welcome. I’ve been in the woolly sheep, and I’ll make a note of the others.

I don’t want to piss off any landowners or anything, so I’ll try and avoid anywhere marked as off limits – at least until I get an idea of where you can and can’t get away with it.

Can’t wait :D

Really helpful – thanks :)

I’ll certianly checkout the bike shop because thats always a good starting point. I haven’t checked out any of the guidebooks – I expect i’ll be able to find a few once I’m up there. I’ve downloaded the Bingley GPX from http://www.cyclebradford.org.uk/routes/favouriteroutes/mtbxc/bingley-bash/ and I’ll see what’s what. Thanks B.A.Nana :)

I have one too – I’m really happy with it, but then it’s a way better bike than I am rider. I’ve changed the grips but mostly because I had some ODI rogues hanging about that are really comfy. Canyon bike fit thing recommended a small, but I ignored and went for a medium which was the right decision. The bar is bit wide for me though – but easily cut down.

It climbs pretty well (would climb even better if I lost a few kg) and just floats down the descents at Swinley. I reckon the 7.0 EX is better value though. I ordered that originally but the wait time was too long so I paid a but more for the model they had in stock.

The work is the same – you moved a mass a certian distance uphill – but the effect is not the same.

Losing a pound of fat is effectively losing pound off your bodies insulation, it has to work less hard to keep you cool, which means you’ll need fewer calories and fluids to maintain the correct body temperature and as a result you will be able to maintain effort levels for longer.

I could do to lose about 70lbs and I can’t shave that off the bike by using more carbon fibre.

First time they ask:
“I am much more interested in <type of work> at <name of company> than in the size of your initial offer”

Second time they ask:
“I will consider any reasonable offer”

Third time they ask, and any other time they ask:
“You are in a much better position to know how much I am worth to your business than I am”

You can use the same size bolts if you fit a bash ring, which is a good idea, because it’ll look neat, and it’ll help keep the chain on without having to run a chain device (although it could still slip on the inside. My 1×9 has an on-one stainless 32T (£20), hope bash ring (£32) and a jump stop (http://n-gear.com/index.html – £10).

Or you can spend a fortune on some e-thirteen chain device and/or a wide-narrow chainring (which admittedly I have on the 1×11)

I’d recommend ODI Rogue’s

Am moving from Essex to Skipton for better biking, scenery, hiking, schools, and ale.