I stopped by at ians place a while ago and got some old school shimano fluro sticker sets from him (80s) I should have asked to try out this porage he makes..considering the time i was there.

i like scots porage oats.the microwave seems do do a good job of it.

heaps of sugar.. mmmm.

This is what can happen,simon. i had a bike in a while back and the splits down the front of the alu headtube were about 15mm long (each)

the guy chuckled and said he would get it welded. he did, and its still going strong-(ish)

"safe" cars? yer never safe.

It makes me think of that RS4 that crashed near dundee a few weeks ago. the one that let a lamp post tear through most of the drivers side from front to back.

a euro ncap 50 star rating yesterday lol.. http://www.russiantruck.co.uk/sale/maz%20032.jpg

now THATS safe.

Not getting it is a bit of a theme today? change that and get the candlesticks out for hairy coming home then!

Maybe they have bowls under the counter in bikes and bowls.next time i visit Elgin i will give my horseshoe a purple rinse to see if they reveal any.

sootyandjim, he would cope with it no problem at all! he can ride dh/trails very well.heres him at airs rock,laggan. a few years ago now
http://martin-james.fotopic.net/p16216337.html

not sure what to make of seeing all the folk getting away from the building in their work clothes (shirt and tie) then seeing daniel makaskill in the S1JOB advert riding his bike with a shirt and tie on.. with the advert saying something like "enjoy your job" at the end.

piss a few folk off? hardly.its the chat forum and we are chatting about you. if they dont like it,they can go back to the bike forum.

enjoy yer rides!

im going to a track tomorrow..

with a bike.

but no motor.

;O)

"you will fall off and crash again"

Ive been getting all this negativity drummed into me from day one of motorcycling and im starting to wonder if too much of it will actually cause a freekin accident due to a lack of confidence brought on by others around me!

yes,keeping an eye open and yer wits about you is great along with doing as much as you can to stay on the bike.but to be saying (not just you,roger.magazines etc too) things like "you will crash,be hit or fall off… its only a matter of time" just isnt the way to put it to new riders.

No,dont jump down my throat JUST yet.bear with me.you have to admit that if we said to someone on here asking for advice on mtb riding technique we would say something along the lines of "go into a descent or steep drop all confident then you will most likely get through it better than if you went into it with the fear" ..wouldnt you agree? So between mtb and motorcycling, why change the attitude right around when we need as much confidence as we can get when the speeds are averaging 3 times higher and its cars and trucks that might be slapping us,not trees?!

lets get the confidence and GIVE the confidence. its possible, and possible to do it as well as getting the alertness/safety points across also.

http://martin-james.fotopic.net/p16053749.html

lol.

:::moves onto next thread… but still thinking about the noises from squeaky dolphins and creaky bottom brackets::

cant get those noises out of ma head.

Inverness to an teallach and back earlier this eve.on a motorbike though.

ahhh, you bought it online.

::moves onto next thread::

you buy a frame.. you get an owners manual.. its for you,the owner to read.manufacturers write things such as "we will repair or replace at our discretion"

what that means is: once they have seen the part at fault,THEY will have the final say as to who is paying for the new part at the end of the line. in todays tinternetty world things can be photographed and sent on to the distributor and then forwarded on to the manufacturer pretty quickly.within a matter of hours (more likely to be a few days) its possible to get an answer.

a lot of bike shops work in this way and having spoken to someone about this (consumer rights) they said that a customer has to accept that a period for the shop to get an answer is acceptable.when i asked about this "period".. she mentioned something along the lines of 7-10 days would be acceptable, anything around 3 weeks onwards and she said she would be looking at taking things a bit further but the "here,have a new one right now" idea wasnt the answer i got.and i didnt expect to hear that either.not quite the law as some people in here might think.

having said that, if i owned a shop and a frame failed within the warranty period at a weld with no evidence of a dent/twist/impact or anything else that would make me question the failure.. id replace it at my own discretion without contacting the distributor.if i had the part in stock id replace it as soon as i could fit the work in.

this is me looking at it from the customers point of view and sorting them out regardless of what a manufacturer says.if it looks like a problem with the frame then id sort them out.id be confident in the distributor agreeing with me if it was definately something that should be replaced.a lot more often than not,this is the case.

this might seem odd to some people and no way to run a business.i dont see it this way.the customer will acknowledge this and keep it in mind and will most likely return.not to mention the word of mouth.This is what i like to see when i go to a shop and they too get good word of mouth coming off it.(thinking about a purchase from hein gericke here where i was sorted out no questions asked regarding stitching in gloves coming out)

its excess oil from the build. like said above, ride it and take a rag out with you on the first few rides.if after a week or so theres oil running down the leg – arrange for the shop you bought it from the post it back to Fisher Outdoor.

fine in the stand but not on the trail?

Theres other things that can make a brand new brake seem poor surrounded by older kit such as:

at the rear:

lack of facing on the frame.

a poor bracket used (im thinking those cheap steel brackets that pop up on peoples bikes from time to time – ive seen problems solved once they have been replaced by a quality bracket)

a cup and cone hub with play in it.

a sealed bearing hub with worn bearings.

a hub that is a bit on the skimpy side that can flex around under hard use.

at the front:
same hub probs and the lack of facing.

legs moving independently under hard cornering with more body weight up front? (more so on usd forks perhaps? not quite sure)

bigger diameter rotors up front showing up the problems a little more so than the smaller ones used on the rear (picture the deflection at a radius of 80mm compared to a radius of around 100mm – if a rotor rubbed the pads at 80mm then its going to piss you off if its a further 20mm from the centre of the hub if you upgraded to bigger discs!).more so with cheaper cup and coned hubs.

All new brakes when fitted correctly run sweet.i cant think of a certain brake out there that consistently runs poor out of the box from new.they test them and put them into production and they all perform really well

..when fitted correctly.

is the chain the same age as the cassette and rings?

you want to come to Aviemore. got wolf spiders close by so we have, and they POUNCE! none of this web malarky going on lol.

all year thru from august-ish last year. done about 7500 so far on the 900 since october.dressing up to go out in temps as low as 3c isnt the best but if its a clear sunny day its worth it.. the wide angle stick-on mirror helps for the winter rides when you are a bit overdressed and cant do shoulder checks as easily! http://martin-james.fotopic.net/p59403792.html

riding over ice is fun.
http://martin-james.fotopic.net/p59403800.html

and although its a crap pic, if you look closely you can see how beautiful the night was.. until i punctured.
http://martin-james.fotopic.net/p59403791.html

the rest: http://martin-james.fotopic.net/c1722402_1.html

so how long could you get out of a fully charged battery combo then? and how fast are the petrol ones/battery ones?

check this out at 44 seconds.dont abuse them lol.. (the folk controlling the cars that is):OD

oh boy.crossing bridges and all that..

i dont know where to start.but seeing as how youve already got over bridge No1 by finding out what this all is,the next step,bridge crossing No2, is over the next day or so.. dont worry about anything else.

i will be back,along with all the others on here over the next day or so to see how you got on at bridge No 2 ;O)

i better go dry my eyes now.

I could tell you about a bmxer winning a road race. ON a bmx as well lol.

If they let you drive around to get a feel for the bike on your own before starting it all, like they will most likely do,id be thankful for this if i were to go back and do it again..

go real slow and get a feel for the turning circle and also the point where the steering lock is.also dont be afraid of feathering the back brake in U turns.let the clutch half out and hold it there as well, dont be shy or worry about letting it right out like you would in a car. you will control it much easier. the rear brake feathering is allowed and you wont get failed during the U turn as well so maybe try it out. i found this tip from the instructor pretty good (especially as the throttle/clutch operation wasnt the best on the bike i had)
coming off a mountainbike and having a good idea where you can turn to (with single crown forks) can be a bit dodgy i found.you can have something in the head from mountainbiking that wont help in the slightest.If i could go back id take a few left and right turns in the open carpark taking it slow to try and find the maximum amount i can turn before it locks off.
after passing i have dropped the bike coming out of a junction. i was positioned on a country road (T junction) to turn right.. but decided to go left.it was so quiet i sat there and sorted my gloves and visor out beforehand, it wasnt like there was cars everywhere! I took off and arghhhh.. i was at full lock and being so used to the mountainbike, i was expecting more turn.down i went.hopping on one leg but 183kgs was a bit too much for me on one leg lol.no cars so it was all ok.

the next thing id have loved to have had drummed into me after passing would be to always leave the bike in gear. flat ground or braes.braes for obvious reasons and also on the flat incase anyone walks into it or drives into it.it might be enough to keep it upright or to stop the side stand folding back up on itself.

so.. dont go out and buy something worth thousands and make those silly mistakes that i have! luckily my bike wasnt much more than 2k so i never moan about the scuffs ive put on it.

zzzz

thats pure pish.

just plug yer toes up the dogs arse.. its all going to add up to the same treatment if you let it lick yer toes.

just got this earlier today.
http://www.gregterzian.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/team_issue_1.jpg

Fat tread have the ex magazine demo bike left for sale. its sold as seen with a few scratches,couple of dings in the rims and a bit worn in the drive… but the whole bike is going for around what the frame RRPd for.

chamois cream.
and tell them to sit back,shut their holes,be thankful their getting to come with you… and enjoy the scenery!

i am clueless with bikes but i thought i read the vfr 800i or 800 fi? as being a better version. not sure if they said it was non vtec or if it was vtec also.i think it was some sales guy from DK motorcycles that mentioned it in a mag when talking vfr 800s.

on that note, its too hot in here so im off for a spin down loch ness!

buy a bottle of fluid threadlock for the cups ..not the pritt sticky version.get the spoke lengths right to begin with and dont waste yer time
laceing it to find out as you will only waste threadlock and patience!

use 16mm nipples.12mm can be used with a quality spoke key as they only protrude a little out of the cups but still possible.i`d also use dt proloc nipples.remember to take into account the length of the 16mm nipple in the calculations if you do choose to use them.

aye, just double check everything.number of cross,nipple length,flange diameters,etc etc. miss something out and you will be back to the start.

Go buy some haggis and see what it can do for you ;O)

::rubs pot belly::

well you best deflate it a little,upon. ;O)

Hi Kbrem, martin that sold you the brakes here!

instead of dropping down to the road that leads into Torridon, what you want to do after the hike from the first bothy you passed is to continue up past the bothy,past the loch,hike/ride up and over the highest point,traverse around the mountain until you can see the top of the coire thats next to the one you just rode up.so instead of descending right down towards the ling hut you want to keep a real beady eye out to the right for a gap in the mountain.look closely and you will see a track creeping up towards it. its a bike on the shoulder job and then you are heading back down towards achnashellach.dont go all the way down to the road though, hang a left and descend DOWN the trail to the coulin pass that you rode up! Theres a fork in the track you cant miss just before it all goes steeper before dropping down into achnashellach.

..then hang a right back to achnashellach on the coulin pass once you pass the bothy.you managed the nice section back to achnashellach though, its amazing once it gets steeper over all the worn down rocks but i like the descent down to the bothy better.lots of options.

Was there the other night on the motorbike. that road towards coulags is nuts.its like a giant racetrack littered with deer.:O)

well you could easily just pop off the kerb (with no helmet) into the path of passing motorcyclists like in the Charge fixie vid and possibly avoid the charges.

My brother had one. it caught fire on the way to work one morning and they tried to waft it out with a rolled up newspaper but it wasnt enough. The screen cracked and they had to pull over to make a proper job of it.

Its good fun filling it up with folk and swaying side to side and ducking down as folk walk by. it bottoms out on both sides with what looks like nobody in it.

if you get out of the saddle in the big ring and try letting body weight with a bit of effort take you over smaller climbs it can be quicker and easier than in the saddle.

I cant remember them ever being unhelpful.infact,quite often its the same folk on the phone over the years so i dunno where you get that from.

Hi aye.. the frame was an ultralite? hardtail. modified/trimmed down dropouts with softride fixed on at the rear if i remember right.

A v-brake would be the brake to run at the rear as theres no disc mount.

The forks need a bit of work,not much. new rubber cylinders/air seals up top (couple of quid – and easy to do as a home mechanic) to slip the needle in for inflation and they could be running fine.I dont think they ever saw mud so the internals are probably spotless!

weve got a few rocky ridges going for under 1k in the sale. spend money like that on a full suss bike and the rest of the kit is going to suffer compared to what youll get on hardtails.having said that,you could pick up a slightly older bike with similar kit to this years hardtails but get a full suss frame thrown in for similar money with it being a little more out of date.so many options.