The next episode of surron action is up and already getting a a kicking. The guys a complete tool

So i’m 5.9” tall and live in Essex so definitely not blessed with steep or long hills but i’m very much in favour of the long, low and slack.

Bikes went from a medium commencal meta to a large banshee splitfire to a “medium “ longer geomatron with 500mm reach. I would say that even if I wanted an xc/trail bike I would still want it to be LLS which there are no bikes that fit the bill. Bikes are generally designed around to things, going up hill or down it. The reach measurement does depend on the length of the bike as well as seat tube angle. Why anyone would was a slack seat angle putting the weight over the rear wheel and not in the middle of the wheel is behound me. As soon as you point the bike down a hill the seat is dropped, is out of the way and it’s only the top tube length comes into play of how the bike will handle.

Stem length is another thing to discuss. If you’re riding a corner properly to shouldn’t be turning the bars much but leaning the bike over (again making the stem less of a requirement to man handle the front wheel (think of a tiler on a boat V a steering wheel of a car. A more direct connection to the steering inputs and direction change).

To me a bike should be like a custom suit to make sure it fits your exact fit (like a bike fit for road bikes) but there a only a few frames that truly allows you to adjust it to fit it to you (g1 being the only one or go custom athertons (but it’s custom one fit and not adjustable after it’s been made).

I’ve got a Marino steel frame. Reasons I went for it over other frames where sliding dropouts as I like a short back end that brings the fun back into a long slow and slack from. 29 wheels as they roll better which I think is better for a hardtail as you will be shakers around more on a hardtail. Ability to run 2.6 tyres for more comfort as it’s a hardtail. I ride clips on the hardtail but flats on the full sus, think it’s really worth doing to make riding rougher ground more enjoyable.

I’ve got Dutch family and I would definitely say that to a lot of people they may come across rude but to me at least I find them just factual. They are all very eccentric but because they are all eccentric it’s just normal.

My Dutch cousin told me about when he was 20 (15 years back) he had just got his first proper job and what do all 20 something with money do, spend it down the pub. Que his mum having a moan so he decided to move out with a mate. The estate agent told them that no one would rent to two 20 something guys, they asked what would make them more appealing. They were told if they were couple it would be less of an issue. They honestly started to look into getting a civil partnership but thankfully found somewhere that was happy with their age. They see an issue, they see a solution and they solve it.

Rightly or wrongly, for me i have started to travel to the next nearest riding spot (lucky can do a fair bit of riding from the front door in the local country park wood land but it’s a lot bizzier than normal with people traveling from outside the area so technically safer for me to no ride local). I also view it that I travel 25 mile away for work (to make someone else profit) go traveling to nearest riding spot for house hunting (which I am actually doing) and Dominic f**king Cummins

mind and use your harness and fall arrest correctly, you are supplied with this aren’t you?

Even if you are given a harness and fall arrest you would need a rescue plan and other person to be near by to raise the alarm if need be.

Definitely a no from me. In any situation like this (or any health and safety issue) might be worth asking for it to be put into writing of what is meant to happen and who is going to take responsibility if something goes wrong, people soon wind their necks in when it’s their name stamped on to bad and unsafe practice.

Inheritance tax from everyone that died of covid

A friend borrowed my van this week as his car is dying. He didn’t know you should wait for the curly orange symbol to go off on the dashboard or that diesel engines don’t have spark plugs.

Reminds me of when I was down at Southampton boat show. A promotor/owner of an fully electric sailing boat was singing its praises about how little maintenance is needed and saying something alongs the lungs of you wouldn’t ever have to get your hands dirty changing the spark plugs on an engine… don’t think Diesel engines have spark plugs to change in the first place

Have order a bike and frame from them and have had loads of friends buy from them as one of the few local shops that sell top end brands. Mixed results with them, great prices but customer service if things go wrong can be iffy (hand a mate who evil developed an issue with paint coming off because chain ring was touching, blamed customer. Next day found that the chain stay was cracked and was allowing flex in the stay to touch the ring, could do a warranty claim so go sorted quickly).

In normal year I would be over Surrey most/every weekend. I’ve got an enduro rig and a aggressive hardtail, I would happily take either but would say there is such a wealth of trails over there that you can make a ride to suit your requirements. I would say don’t ride there off a satnav but get a local to show you round with a ride to suit you

Rimpack insert on the rear of both bikes (enduro rig and hard core hardtail). Both bike running 2.5 aggressor dd on the rear on 30mm internal carbon rims. I just like the added protection they other while running lower pressure to make ride comfort and grip (because of lower pressure) better

Woah, that prices up favourably! Any further fall out with customers post ‘Sick’ debacle?..

I end up buying one of the sell off frames. As a whole process i’m pretty happy with it. That was 2 years ago now (how time flies) and geometry has caught up a fair bit with the mass market so there are other options about. Think I would be buying off the peg now if I wanted something 64 degrees head angle, custom if any more. I don’t think his involvement with sick has hurt his reputation, in fact I would say the complete opposite.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_trespass_of_Kinder_Scout

Really worth knowing about kinder scout trespass, nothing changes by being quiet. I think the affects of covid might be the catalyst to get land access changed

Get tyre on the rim without the insert, then take one side off to insert the insert afterwards. Take your time with lots of little pushes of the tyre into the middle of the rim. I run the 2.3-26 rimpack in a 2.6 tyre which worked very well when inserting, on the 2.3 tyre beforehand it was a pain to get in and even bigger pain to remove

just you, or with the rest of the Avengers?

Just bought a more… eeerrr stealthy black pair of these, tested them out in the snow today, very happy with them but a lot more money than the jazzy coloured pair

I bought a second hand mk1 g16 which is good but the g1 with all its extra adjustability is next level bike (as well as price which is the main limiting factor for me). There’s are not many frames with reaches above 500 and not be an xl. Privateer is definitely one to look at but again not the adjustment present in the frame. The pole looks good, be interested in long term review.

Have heard some real mixed reports of pole and their bike so good to see you are enjoying it. There are quite a few riders that had the switch to geomatrons instead. The frame still looks small for you with the seat at full extension

For me I generally use Colman’s but then I use loads of it when making anything with mince meat (spaghetti or shepherds pie etc) rather than as a condiment on a dinner itself

Use to have the super 2r with mips before changing it out for the dh. The original super 2r was more comfortable without the mips I found (as there was less padding).

The dh is an overall improvement in fit for me and comfortable (though the racket strap cradle can be uncomfortable if done up too tight). As for the chin bar, for the tyre of riding I do that requires it (fire road up, enduro trail down) I tend to just hang it around the neck as it’s out the way for the climb but easy to reach/forces you to put it on fo the downs. I would only ever put it on the pack pack if the up isn’t really an up so need to do some riding or the time going up is more than 20mins.

Narrow country lanes… don’t overtake cyclists when traffic is coming the other way.

I didn’t mean trying to overtake with traffic coming the other way – I meant meant tight as if a car is just trying to pass two riders abreast when coming the other way. The rides went behind each other for 30 second there would be a bigger gap between them

again, to try and understand your point of view how do cyclists “not help the cause”

Example of this that I have come across a few time, country lane that’s narrow for two cars (would have slow up or pull in to pass another car). I know it’s perfectly legal to ride two abreast so the riders take up simular width to a small car but it also makes it impossible to over take safety and give room or even pass when coming the over way.

To be fair there are a lot of cyclists/road riders that don’t help the cause. Do enough driving around and it can be a right pain to over take a large group on a country lane. If I am out on the road (linking up woods) I tend to try and wave on or hand block if I can see further around the road that the car behind. Most drivers do thank back. I can probably count on one hand the number of times this has been done back to me when driving.

Not wearing a mask or gloves for day to day activities but if we have visitors on site we are expected to wear masking as well as then. Do have a heat monitor everyone as to walk past. We are on a site with 30 max workers and do try and keep a bit of distance between the different departments. Most of us are limiting contact with outside of the company/friends instead.

In the process of moving and it’s been a complete pain in the arse, not just because of covid but linked.

So we are trying to sell our two bedroom flat which while it’s been put on the market at a good realistic price for the area we haven’t had that many people view it or any offers. The first time buyers market is shot at the moment because of covid, job uncertainty, banks wanting a bigger deposit and proof that it’s all your money and not from the bank of mum & dad. Less people want to live in a flat if you are in lockdown and the area I live is satiated with flats for sale, a mixture of new builds and people getting rid of buy to let’s because of change in tax rules (and what can be claimed back).

The houses we have been looking at are 3/4 bed (happy to go for 3 if all good sizes but realistically it’s 3 and a box). Most of the 4 are converted to 4 with mixed results of effectiveness (not square rooms, extension that limits access somewhere else to the property). Have looked into properties that need a lot of work to even live in (and stay in the flat) but prices are cheaper (just get to put your own stamp on it). The biggest fun and games has been any property that comes on for sale at a good price for what it is sells before it even gets on Rightmove or once it’s dropped in price (£25k being the norm).

In the end we have put on offer on a house (only the second offer we have done) at the asking price. They did have another offer beforehand but they did not have a mortgage in principle. It’s below our budget because it’s location so the plan is to rent the flat out as we can’t sell at the moment and home to sell within 3 years (to be able to claim stamp duty back), if not will keep renting it out.

The fun and games for us has been the people that we are buying from the a house above has fallen through (that house had changed estate agents and previsionly sold (to the people we are buying from) but other people had views and put an offer in through the original estate agents by an extra £20k right before Xmas. Our sellers have matched that but the other buyer have put an even higher on the house). They were only selling because they had seen this house (one off old wooden cottage) so unless they find something they really want we’re not moving ay time soon and if we do move the stamp duty freeze will have run out.

oakleymuppet
Free Member

My ability to resist the whisky and get up in the morning

In that order?

If you wanted the whole long, low and slack experience I would recommend a nicolai (had mine g16 mk1 for 3 years now and will probably only replace it with a newer g16). I’m on the fb geomatron page and there are plenty of people that have owned a pole and switched to nicolai’s due to the customer service, breakages and suspension not as good.

If you can’t justify the cost (and it’s a high cost though I can’t think of another frame that you can set it up in what ever wheel size you want, travel options and even geometry settings to suit you) a cotic would be my pick between the two

Only a pup at 35 so probably started out in 1995 with going out at the weekend with my older brother (1994/5 diamondbacks WCF) on my school bike (Claud Butter). Later on after much saving from part time job was able to buy a 2000 jobs cindercone. Had a few year break due to women, cars and alcohol before getting back in to riding because of women, cars and alcohol. Been ridding for 20 years in total.

I’m not vegetarian or vegan but the misses is vegetarian so tend to make lots of vegetarian food with a bit of meat on the size. Did this tonight (well roughly as I always play around with what goes in to suit flavours).

https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/roasted-brussel-sprout-pasta/

We do it with roasted vine tomatoes with truffle oil (10 mins) and some bacon for me and fake bacon for the misses ( the salty the better to contrast the bitterness of the sprouts).

Think 27.5”+ came out after boost was introduced so you might have to get wheels built rather than off the shelf

I would never rotate tyres around for fundamentals that a tyre will wear according to the suspension setup of the car (camber, toe in and caster and change in suspension due to weight in car). The minute you swop the wheels around the tyre will have to wear into the new set up. The tyres will give less grip to begin with then wear into the correct setup, this will wear the tyres out quicker.

Generally keep my bikes for 2-3 year. This means changing them to keep in line with new standards/charge in geometry but bought a year into the rollout of said new standard. I have previously bought a frame (banshee spitfire) that could take 26 or 27.5 wheels so allowed me to make the switch when I wanted. Tend to but top end parts but only in the sales.

Do have a mate that buys and changed very quickly (quickest was a month, longest a year, average 3-4 months).

This summer I was converted to the ways of the bum bag for my rides but I have switched back to a smaller bag for winter months as I like to take 2 jackets one for cold/stopping for mechanicals or food and one for wet weather /spray). Do still have frame bags for essentials still.

Was over Surrey hills Saturday and then more local Sunday. Surrey car parks were bizzy (like a summers day) but if you headed away from the centre it was fine. Think I’ve lost count of the number of families that were lost and had to ask for directions (always fun when they say they want to get back to the car park and I say which one). As much as I don’t like it being as bizzy as it is it’s the country side etiquette of new riders (ebikes not helping for the noobies ) and walkers that will lead to land access right issues. It may be a positive for the future though, who knows

So all cranes and lifting tackle has to be inspected by an insurance company to deem it safe to used (LOLER). As others has said, not a problem to be under the boom but definitely not under the load itself (use my favourite health and safety say – never put your fingers were you wouldn’t put your d**k)

Got a set of carbon roval phatties, 30mm internal but weigh around 1500g (in 27.5” guester). Best of both worlds. Had them for 3 year with no issues, only just had rear wheel rebuild with new spoke/nipples due to spokes starting to get a bit baggy and was worth keeping them going

Have bought a bike and frame from them before. Have had 15+ friends buy from them. While the prices are very good they really aren’t that good when it comes to warranty issues and the customer service that goes along with it. The frame I bought developed a crack in it outside of 2 year warranty, was able to get in contact with manufacturer through them and agree a crash replacement but because they wouldn’t be making an earning from it they was interesting in the sale and couldn’t be bothered chasing up the sale. Other friend had a high end carbon frame have issues with paint wear on chainstays just over a month into ownership, they said it was due to bottom bracket wrongly installed by my mate (even thought it was a shop build) causing the chainring to rub, it was only a week latter that he found a crack in the swingarm and came to the conclusion that it was flex in the frame that caused the rubbing. No cost to shop as warranty to manufacture so happy to resolve it.

Order tyres a few weeks into the first lockdown, took 3 weeks for them to turn up. Can only presume that they ordered them in, just very annoying that advertised that they were in stock.

Try weecog custom bags, I paid £50ish for a small bag (though it was very large small bag to fit a geomatron). Get some cardboard out to make a stencil for what you’re after and take measurements.

Live in Essex which isn’t renowned for its hills or mountain biking but surprised by how big the scene is. For local mid week rides I generally will do either 1) a longer xc ride/road/footpath ride that can clock up over 20miles but only 1000ft climbed (steady leg spin) 2) a trail ride taking into account as much downhill heading trail to clock up 15miles and more like 1500ft climbed (more of attacking every be of the ride with only a few stops).

Come the weekend Over Surrey I will try and get 20mile and over 3000ft climbed but have been known to get 15miles with 3500ft climbs (all with slow pedal ups and attack the descents).

My point there’s no definite answer but would say use 10mile/1000ft as a guild because it depends on how you ride thoughs miles.