The easy route up at Cwm Carn is up the tarmac road but it is still a couple of miles of climb followed by what could be a scary descent for a beginer. Even easier is to use the Cwmdown uplift van!
Bedgebury, apart from the v short black run, is generally easier with lots of sections that you can repeat by using the fire roads to get back again. There is also a family trail which is all fire road if the red sections are a bit much. The single track can get very gloopy in sections when is has rained a lot.
Bedgebury gives you more options if it turns out a bit too tough for your newbies.

Got my small yesterday fits perfectly, I usually have a small in Altura stuff as well. Used it in anger this morning. 6 miles on the road at -1c then 16 miles off road with rain, sleet then snow! I was getting a little warm off road before it snowed so took it off for a while. It folded down almost as small as my previous nylon jacket.
Put it back on for the 6 mile road ride back home in the pouring rain and got back warm and dry. For less than 40 quid it is a real bargain. Shame they have sold out.

First clean the inner post and wipe it over with the 2.5wt oil that came with the post and pump it up and down. Then try loosening the seat clamp a tiny bit. Next, try turning the speed control knob all the way from + to – and pumping the seat up and down. Next is a full bleed.
If none of that works it’s back to http://www.fisheroutdoor.co.uk/fisheroutdoor.html
usually via your supplying dealer.

How’s that going interesting 15mm conversion going to fit into your QR fork lowers?

Yes I did. I had to take the wife to Plymouth and had 4 hours to kill. Loads of space to park the car and didn’t see another soul other than someone walking their dog. I managed to dodge most of the downpours but the wind was a tad brisk. Most of the trail was more than moist but the scariest bit was driving back up the M5/M4 to London late this afternoon.

I have rust returned from a wet, windy and wild Dartmoor. Thanks to every one that made suggestions on routes etc. Special thanks to crispy bacon and sorry to Mbnut as I missed your post. That probably did you a favour as the weather was exceptional.

I think that most of the problems were with the early Reverbs that needed bleeding before fitting. Mine and 2 others that I know of with a manufacturing date after Feb 2011 have been faultless. The manufacturing date is shown on the end of the box.
Just make sure that you don’t let the seals dry out. A few drops of the supplied oil on the inner post and pumping it up and down does the trick.

Being a middle aged man I’m glad I ordered mine before they ran out of stock and it stopped snowing ;-)

Thanks nacho for the http://www.mtbtrailfinder.co.uk link.
I found a couple of routes that should suit.

2011 Reverb circa £170 depending on exchange rate.
http://www.bike-components.de/products/info/p25327_Reverb-Sattelstuetze-mit-Remote-Matchmaker-rechts-Modell-2011-.html

+1 for the Hope tapered with the HB136 reducer if you have 1 1/8th forks. Got mine fitted by the supplying dealer and the BB faced at no extra charge.

Check out sizing chart:
http://www.rapidracerproducts.com/NeoGuard.htm

Website works fine for me.

+1 for SIP compressors. Had mine for almost 20 years and it’s still going strong. You’ll spend as much again on air tools over time as you’ll keep adding to the collection.

Go on youtube and watch the official Stans video. All 11 minutes of it. That should sort your problems.

179 Euro for 2011 model plus aboout 15 Euro Shipping and card fee.
http://www.bike-components.de/products/info/p25327_Reverb-Sattelstuetze-mit-Remote-Matchmaker-rechts-Modell-2011-.html

I built a 2011 5 around Rockshox Revelation 150mm U turns with a 20mm maxle. I run them at 140mm most of the time and wind them out to 150mm on the steeper descents. At 11 stone I don’t feel need for a fatter fork.
I raced motor bikes (RD250LC) with 32 mm forks and yes I could feel those flexing but on a 13.5 kg mtb I don’t find it an issue.

+1 for the troll. This has got to be a wind up.

Have a look in the FAQ section on the Orange site.
http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/support/faqs/
It is specific to XTR and 2011 frames but should point you in the right direction with regard to 2×10 or not.

+1 for the Canon eos300d.They go for between £100 and £200 depending on what extras they have.For example

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS-300D-Digital-Rebel-6-5-MP-Digital-SLR-Camera-Silver-lens-/270846208871?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item3f0fb12b67
The wife has one and it was good enough for a double page spread in BBC Nature Magazine. It’s “only” a 6.5 mega pixel camera but it’s all about how you use those pixels.

Madison Flux saddle which is supposedly the same as the Charge is my best buy at 18 quid. Compares very favourably to a Fizik Gobi in use and mine and 3 others I know of do not creak after 6 months use.

A night out with Liz Hurley and some botox?

| have an Orange 5, 2011 in small and I fitted the 2011 Reverb 380mm with a 125mm drop. I works perfectly but if you fit a seat stem mounted rear mudguard you need to have about 50mm of the lower post showing between the seat clamp and the silver hex ring. The 2012 model has a black hex ring.
Hibike in Germany seems the cheapest.
Another tip is to regularly wipe the inner post with the 2.5wt oil that comes in the box and pump it up and down. If you don’t the seal goes dry and the post goes down on its own.

It’s all about the target market. The guys at Orange are not stupid, they have built a solid brand and what seems to be a sucessful company. It then seems that that they have to suffer from the effects of the “British Disease” that is the over whelming desire to knock sucess.
To my mind they have built a road bike aimed at their current customer that wants to cross over to a road bike but does not want a full on race bike.
Only time will tell if it is too expensive but a strong brand name can carry a premium when it come to pricing. Just look at the VW group, Audi and Skoda have many shared components in their same segment models but vastly different price points.
As for the look of the Carb-O? I like it but that’s my personal opinion.

I love my SRAM Attack grip shifter with XT f & r mech combo. Especially the fact that I can trim the front mech to stop any chain rub. I find them really intuative and there is nothing complex inside.

Best time to buy a cheap winter trail bike? Not at the end of summer!
Cheap trail bikes are normally a nightmare as they tend to be abused by spooty yoofs in fields. I would look for a twin cylinder road bike like a GS500, CB500 or eR5 as used by your local training school. An ex school bike will be well looked after but cosmetically tatty. Ideal for winter riding.

Life Time tracker is the way to go unless you are on a really tight budget and need to know exactly how much you have going out every month and don’t mind paying for the privilege.
A mortgage is a loan with a 25 year term so why do people take 2 year deals and then pay more fees to take out another one and another one? You may beat the banks a couple of times over the 25 years but not for the whole time.
With a tracker you know how much you are paying over base rate and are not in the position where the lender can change your rate over base rate as they see fit.
Deals are not as good as they were 5 years ago when you could get base plus 0.5% but there are deals around plus 2%.

One Giro Hex with 2 liners which I swap when one gets a bit smelly. A gentle hand wash soon freshens things up.

retro83
Not comparing to macbook as they generally use their graphics card and processor more efficiently than a PC. My point was that to edit HD video on a PC you will need to spend more than 300 quid at PC World.
I note that R J has revised his figure to £600.

A £300 laptop from PC World will not have the graphics or processor to edit HD video. To edit HD reliably you need an i7 quad or equivilent and at least 1gb of dedicated graphics card.

Cheers for the suggestions and the lack of slagging off the Old Boys. Looks like I have some good leads to go on.
Any recommendations for MTB travel insurance?

As you live in London you should have gone to http://www.bestforeignexchange.com/index.php
or any of the other central London exchanges. High St banks give amongst the worst rates especially when buying in foreign currency. It would have been fairly simple to google a better deal than the banks.
As for your case I would speak to the bank rather than random blokes that ride bikes. It sounds like a cock up has been made because at absolute worst I would have expected around 16,000 Euro last week.

I bought a 5 frame about 3 months ago and went for a 2011 over the 2012 as the 2011 has the RP23 fitted as standard. I use PP pos 2 for climbing and off the rest of the time.
You may still find a 2011 at dealers and it is the same as the 2012 other than the shock.

The mark up will probably be same if not less in percentage terms than an XT rear mech . All that carbon, titanium and electrickery costs plenty in terms of materials but even more in R&D.

I got some replacement ball bearings and a spring from Merlin. I gave them a call because by 2 week old ones were rusty and partially seized. I put the same amount back in but greased them and they have been fine for the last 8 months. I don’t think they list them as a separate part so you’ll need to ring them. Don’t know what they charge as mine were FOC warranty items.

Stand by for a controversial opinion.
I think that the CTC may be a tiny bit against helmet compulsion and there fore have a very different slant when presenting the findings on the relative merits of wearing or not wearing one.
The CTC were also very creative with stats when it came to motorcycles sharing bus lanes.
I too am against helmet compulsion but not to the point where I would twist stats to strengthen my argument.

I appreciate as long as it is not a legal requirement to wear a helmet, each individual should be free to make their own decision on the issue.
However, I think that actively discouraging others from wearing a helmet is taking it too far.
Claiming that wearing a helmet makes the injury worse in 30% of accidents sounds like the kind of stuff a Flat Earth Believer/Creationist would come up with.
Touch paper lit. I’ll retire to a safe distance.

+ another 1 for the drop in at the top of Barry Knows Best at Holmbury Hill. I always bottle it at the top despite doing more hairy stuff elsewhere. There are now 2 lines and I ride the right side which is easier but I still have to stop before I do it. It’s mental in every way.

680mm cut down from 720mm after I kept hitting trail side trees!
Typical case of reading magazine that said you must fit wider bars, spending the money, thinking it’s great and then realising that I am an individual.
Got suckered into it, not thinking that most journo’s are taller than me. Said journo probably feels obliged by way of free trips to fantastic launch locations provided by the importers of wide bars etc that have warehouses full to shift.

I have pal in a similar predicament. Every one said “get a 29er you lanky git” or words to that effect. He then tested 3 different 29ers and they just felt odd to him. He has found that he prefers the feel of 26 inch wheels in a 21 inch frame.
It’s all down to personal preference so try as many bikes as you can before you buy. Also be open minded and be prepared to try different sizes rather than assuming you need the biggest frame.
Another buddy was sold a large Trek although he is 5’8″. He just rode it and got used to it. 18 months later he bought a Medium and couldn’t believe how much better it felt. He has just tried a Small and guess what? It fits him “much better”.
Moral of the story: Try before you buy.