Folks, thanks for the input, cooopersport1 and mu3266, I will be in touch with a load more infomation, mu3266 can you drop me an e-mail at markdkb2000@yahoo.co.uk .

Thanks.

As for hundreds on a qual? no, it was free, thousands on a bike? no one made you, hundreds on insurance? no, none required – I think £300 to spend 2 weeks in the Pyrenees is pretty awseome, if it all sounds stressful, you probably aren’t up to the job….

Thanks for the input, we have 12 days in which to cover the distance, and yes, I can foresee a lot of slog !!

If at all possible I’ll avoid the rope and crampon scenario…..

Pretty much as I suspected, sh*theads !!

thanks.

thanks for all the input folks, I’ll probably take a punt on a set of switch/430 and see what happens, I had no idea they’re after sales care was so poor/non-existent….
Mark

Thanks folks, the mech came with the frame, there is only a small amount of adjustment possible and I don’t use a “big” chanring, maybe I’ll see how it goes….

Roger that mate, if I’d bothered to read any of the shimano instructions I’ve had over the years I’d have known, thanks.

I can recommend the MBLA TCL qual as a good starting point, I did it a few years ago. Well organised people , they send you a decent book to raed a couple of times before your course covering pretty much every eventuality you might have to deal with as a leader, their “tutors” are all very experienced riders/guides and the whole deal seemed well planned and thorough. If you are planning on leading a lot it’s worth moving on to their MBL qual as soon as you can.

I have several friends who have the MIAS qual and the impression I got was it’s not quite as thorough/rigorous in terms of First aid/emergency proceedures, mech skills and indeed assessing your riding ability as an instructor/leader.

This may all depend on your instructor though…

I’m fairly sure you can lead abroad with the MBLA qual and not MIAS too, but worth checking out properly.

hope this helps

When it comes to aircrew, I concurr, what annoys me even more than the uselessness is the blatant money wasting. I’ve seen them waste thousands of pounds, substantially over paying overseas allowances and staying in hotels whan military accommodation, of a high standard, is readily available, for example in Norway. That particular example involved about 200 people !

Aircraft never seem to break down in shitholes either, Cyprus, Canada or the US will do nicely for a short “all expenses paid” break.

I actually got told once, on an Operational tour, not too expect helicopter casualty evacuation if it was required, nice one, I’ll just bleed to death then – GET A GRIP YOU T***S !!

If anyone else, civilian or military, was as bad at their job as the RAF flying ponces are at theirs we’d have been kicked out ages ago.

Having said that, most of the ground based trades etc are ok.

Mate, drop me a mail at markdkb2000@yahoo.co.uk, might be able to help out with vehicles etc.

Where is event held?

cheers, mark

thanks jonb, rough as in not a nice smooth or even click, I’ll check the axle tomorrow!

Mark

Decisions decisions, so many to choose from…

Definitely that Jamie Oliver twunt, smug little ****

Been several times, although not recently, definitely a buzz but I’d still rather cane some good trails on my bike.

It’s another sport which seems to attract more than it’s fair share of knobs and posers too ! Also expensive.

Whilst watching the Lord of the Rings a friends girlfriend asked him where middle earth was.

genius.

I also resided in Chivenor for a few years and did a lot of riding around Braunton/ilfracombe/Woolacombe/Coombe Martin. There is enough to keep you interested in the local area, I used to go to Exmoor every couple of weeks for some more challenging stuff. you can be in Simonsbath in about 40 mins, Minehead in an hour.

Chris and the lads at Southfork in Braunton quite often have a shop ride out, well worth a look – both the shop and the ride !!

so yes, you're a lucky b*****d – I live in flinkin' Essex now and it's poo. Enjoy.

Like northwind I use a lot of second hand kit and would also get fairly medieval on people who try to rip me off, if it's expensive kit (ie a frame) try to view it and inspect thoroughly – you'll soon be able to tell if the guys a muppet or not. There are good deals to be had but like the others say if the ad is ropey and they do not know their arse from their elbow leave well alone.

heihei,
I've had one and two of my mates now have them. I'd suggest a 19.5" frame – their sizing is well confusing though, i think it's a 18.5 virtual and 19.5 actual.

The 17.5/18.5 will probably be too small – hope this helps.

Thanks folks, it was Russ's version I was particularly interested in.

I've checked out the website/route, looks nasty, might tackle it with some mates as a non-stop "relay" and see how quick we can do it…

Russ, might be in touch to pick your brains !

Mate, I tried to get a frame stripped and polished by Argos in Bristol, they advised against it as it may become corroded easily, and a few other reasons I can't remember – bottom line was I took their word for it as they know their stuff, on the whole.

It may dep on what alloy your frame is, dunno…

I had one, about that year too – very good bike, didn't notice too much bob, very capable on proper (Welsh) terrain, reliable and pretty strong, for that price it's a steal….

+1, I really don't get the whole downtube length thing. Why do they insist on fitting "control" tyres, surely if you intend to test one brand against another, test the f***ing thing as the manufacturer intended.

Having said that I do buy MBR now and then, they don't feel the need to be "niche" or ride circus bikes etc.

Elfinsafety, janesy is right, that "temtwr" or whatever it's called is supposed to be a fairly easy intro or taster of c-y-b – I'm pretty sure if you'd done MBR, Beast or Tarw you'd have had a much better experience.

I'd give it another chance…

yep it's your one mate, I'll be in touch ref a test ride
regards
Mark

It's because they're overpaid primadonnas who think they're "'ard".

I know, I checked – online.

Cables were dry as a bone, now cleaned and lubed – sound like warranty time ? Thanks chaps

A mate of mine known as "sheepsteeth" on the bikeradar forum has fitted a fox unit to his enduro – might be worth giving him a shout to see what dimensions he fitted.

Exactly what gerry has just said, (and barry bethel) particularly about technique – you can really mess your lower back doing deadlift – start easy. Dorsal raises also good, and possibly light bent over row too. Pull ups/heaves won't work your lower back but will develop upper body strength in general which will help you when caning it downhill !!

Hi All
I've just had a quick skim through most of the above and thought I'd add a bit more info. My dear old mum is on the town/district council in Leighton Buzzard, a few miles from Woburn and knowing I'm a keen biker told me what she knows about potential closure of the trails there.

It is very likely that the trails and surounding area will be closed, and fairly soon. As another forum member has said the council are fairly pro-cycling and the Duke who is not really for or against cycling was quite happy for this area to be used for jumps etc. Within reason.

More recently however, trail construction has spread over a wider area, which was only really a minor concern to the landowner, the real problem as I think he sees it, is the usage of the area by a wider , more unsavoury spectrum of the population for non-cycling related activities (dogging/drugs/parties etc) once all the healthy, wholesome bikers are at home in bed.

I don't know what, if any, evidence there is to support this – but that's his feelings at the moment, so I'm lead to believe. A very unfortunate situation indeed, but the usual story of some idiots spoiling things for the majority of sensible landusers. I don't even think discussions with the landowner would help here, unless the biking community can police the area – not likely.

I'll hassle the old dear for more intelligence as soon as she knows anything !! BTW she didn't explain dogging – any ideas ??!!

Moggy, if it's the shock bushings you'll need a specialist tool to remove them, it's basically a drift, some LBS's have their own, my LBS is a giant dealer but has made his own drift which handily fits spesh bikes.

you'll also need replacement hardware, you can get the parts from Mojo or BETD and a few others, just tell them your year, make and model, some people swear by the BETD items which apparently last longer, personnaly I go for Fox original parts from Mojo.

You need a vice to press all the bits together. it's not rocket science but takes care, you are dealing with expensive parts !!

If you need bearings, you can find out the numbers required for each pivot point on an fsr on Leisure lakes site and them either order them from LL or get them from a specialist bearing supplier which is a bit cheaper. I'm not an uber bearing expert, but SKF or NKE make decent quality items which don't cost a fortune (NKE about £6 each).

Again you need specialist tools to press fit or remove bearings from fsr frames, I would recommend getting a shop to do this, particularly if you are as ham fisted as I am, you'll only break an alloy frame once…

hope this helps.

Dobbsie, will do mate, hope all is good with you.

I was in similar situation a couple of days ago and was advised by the mechanic at Skyline cycles to fit SLX/deore type stuff (£10 the pair) as I'd never know the difference. I did and he was absolutely correct.

Some shimano replacement part prices are utterly ridiculous – jockey wheels and chainrings being just two examples.

After a quick skim through some of the above, and reading the smart-arse responses to my previous post, I thought I'd chuck in a couple more points;

Some of you clearly have too much time on your hands.

No-one is suggesting there is some sort of military-civvy them and us theme developing here, grow up people.

The times article states that it's source was an Afghan investigator and the incident involved US and Afghan SF – did I mention how corrupt the Afghan are? (not all clearly, but a lot of them).

People are still getting tied up in knots about things they can't change, or don't know the full story about.

Regards to roper,anokdale and backhander.

OUT.

anokdale is right, military personel do not have a choice where they go, they do have some influence on their actions of course, they do not have the luxury of always making a considered decision over a lengthy period of time and on-the-spot reactions to situations are the norm.

I've spent 18 yrs in the military, hence the "cdo" (commando) tag after my nickname and completed 5 op tours in Iraq/Afghan – I've never seen a soldier from any "coalition" force act in a cruel or unnecesssary fashion, most just want to help the locals get back to some sort of normality.

It would not be outside the realms of possibility for the Taliban to pretend to be policeman, or infact be policemen, how much do you think an Afghan policeman gets paid, how could he "improve" his incoming cashflow – might I suggest corruption.

There have been documented cases of mistreatment/torture and the individuals concerned were held to account and faced severe discipline.

I can't help thinking that some people get themselves worked up into a right state about things that they
a. Don't completely understand
b. Don't generally have access all the facts about
c. usually take massively out of context
d. Couldn't change anyway,

Go and ride your bikes…

Many thanks for the input everyone, I know they're a much loved classic, and obviously for a reason – I've had several stumpy's and love them but hanker after something stronger. Still need to get uphill regularly though, the Pitch idea has just made life harder as well, much head scratching to do…..

Argos Racing in Bristol (I think) have an excellent reputation and will accept posted/couriered frames. Their site has examples of their work.

Mate, I've had an older 575 and a 2008 Ex 8 – they're both virtually faultless. My 575 had the fairly poo 5th Element shock, the Fox equipped ones are superb. They'll both hold their value ok, which to buy? I'll put it this way – I've had several high end bikes over the years, if I won the lottery tomorrow and could have any bike I'd get another 575.

very versatile, build it light for xc/trail or burly for more hairy stuff…

If you are not to concerned about the post try absolutely soaking the whole seat clamp area in penetrating oil for a day or two, then turn the frame upside down and clamp the top of the post (where the saddle fits) into a vice and turn the frame by hand. forgot to mention you need a vice…. It ain't pretty but it can work.

good luck!

Some places will sell you a bike, ship it here and put a slightly innaccurate value on the box so you don't get stung. Drop me an e-mail and I'll tell you what my mate did……
markdkb2000@yahoo.co.uk

thanks all, decision made, although peterpoddy has a point…

Rhino
Thought I'd give you the benfit of my extreme wisdom (!)

1. You never get anything close to the original value of bikes when you sell them. typically you could lop 50% off the value just by wheeling it out of the shop. BUT You can with some bikes ask way more than 50% when you come to sell secondhand, depends on a lot of things, brand, desirability, reviews, condition/use etc etc. I'd suggest asking £1500 ono for yours, it's vartually a new frame with decent kit, if you get £1250 then you got your 50%, anything more is a bonus. I've probably sold 40 bikes in the last 12 years.

2. I agree with b r, you'd potentially be selling one of the most highly rated trail/xc bikes of the last 2 years, with proven technology to buy something not so well regarded or proven…..

Thanks all, jd-boy, that's exactly what I'll go with,(Middleburn slick-shift/hardcoat) I assume they fit no problems?
mark