A little winter riding teaser. First ride down through fresh snow was so slow like riding through mud. Once it started to get compacted grip completely changed. Can’t really comment on which tyres are best but riding in snow is a good laugh!

Maybe worth hunting out some threads on “what tyres” for the strathpuffer, i’m sure there have been various discussions for it including home made ice spikes.

lol what can I say, I’m so last year! Had previously seen the one with him heading to Brands Hatch but not that one.

bri 72 – have pinged you an email

Bedmaker – have dropped you a wee email with some details.

Anyone used tandtfireinstallations from Drumnadrochit? Also Cairngorm Stove centre in Grantown on Spey?

Putting the sizes into http://www.alloywheels.com/Tyre_Calculator there is a 1.39% increase in outside tyre diameter so speedo will read 70mph when your actually doing 70.97mph. They recommend not greater than 2.5% difference so I would say you were fine.

I’m currently looking at dropping from 18″ to 16″ with a deeper profile for winter tyres mainly due to the fact the tyres are cheaper.

Not sure on what rims you will need, would imagine them to be similar stud pattern/sizing.

I prefer go with the second set of rims/wheels, that way you can change them yourself (if you’re happy enough doing that) and it keeps your good alloy wheels protected from the salt, grit etc through the winter. Just need somehwere to store the ones not in use.

Cruachan power station? Get to learn how the hydro electric scheme works and also get a trip inside the mountain to the generating station

The bridge over the atlantic is somewhere south of Oban as well

Anyone had one installed in a house without a fireplace? Options are straight up through upstairs bedroom cupboard and then through the roof with the flu or out through the wall and up the outside. Had read out and up was more expensive due to angle flu joints?

Worth taking out the 100mm of soil or whatever depth the wood chippings are to be. Stick a membrane down, helps stop weeds and also helps prevent contamination/mixing of your bark chips/soil shoudl you ever want to take them out. Wouldn’t do any harm sticking some weed killer down after taking the top soil off before the membrane goes down. Every little helps in preventing weeds!

Other option is stick wood chips over the top of everything and pick the weeds as they grow. Just requires more maintenance…

2 x weetabix and skimmed milk in the morning for past while for me

had the same problem for the last few items i bought. Ended up messaging them advising i had left feedback and would be appreciated if tehy could do the same. Not how it’s meant to work though.

Singlespeed hardtail (32:16) and geared (3×9) full sus. Hourses for courses, right tool for the job and all that. SS is great on undulating routes, works you on hills (could drop the gearing but would remove the challenge), can be a PITA if riding in a group with gears on hills, you have to be at the front so you can attack the hill or you’ll get bogged down by the spinners and can end up spinning out on low speeds.

Full sus geared does it all from steep climbs to fast descents and can give legs a change/break if out for a long day.

There is something nice about the simplicity of a singlespeed though.

Mate ran 3 up front for a wee while with single on rear, used rear mech as tensioner. Almost defeats the simplistic principle though.

Got a mate who has set up a couple of fixed mtb’s. Had a wee play on one for a while and it’s just wrong! I enjoy a good SS ride in the right terrain but fixed was just wrong, pedals were always in the wrong place for obstacles, downhills were felt as had to really control the pedals and almost reverse pedal (front brake only). He said you get used to the “quirks”, small rear wheel hops to tweak pedal positions and the like. Could possibly see it being ok(ish) on a road bike but not for mtb.

Think I will stick with the singlespeed and full sus for now thanks

I went with a spacer below and a couple of spacers above the stem to keep a wee bit extra length shoud I ever want to swap the forks to a different bike.

Doens’t look that bad as long as you don’t go for crazy lengths above. Can tweak the final bar height through the stem length/angle to keep it at your favoured riding height as well.

Possibly a deeper stem would take up a few mm as well saving on spacers…..

anyone know if you can order an item not listed as part of their stock but from one of the brands they deal with? If so, would it be available under there discount deal?

Currently thinking of putting one in the back left corner of our living room of our 12 year old detached house with flue going straight up through a cupboard upstairs (possibly need to be boxed in) and then out the roof (seemingly cheaper than out though a hole in the side of the house and up according to the internet).

Was thinking of fitting a standard rectangular stove at an angle across the corner but don’t think it would fit as it would be a bit tight for the doors out to the conservatory on the back wall. They are approximately 600mm from the side wall and open inwards.

Came across a corner stove which could be feasible but not many around to choose from. Would give good views from all angles in the living room

Anything to worry about with that sort of install?

The wood store would also add a little distance from the conservatory door/back wall.

Anyone else got any tight corner options?

I hit 30 this year and have no idea where time is going, less and less time to do anything! So many plans for this year and never had an opportunity to get them ticked off. If it continues to get faster as I get older, I ain’t looking forward to 40’s!!!!

Apologies got service mileages slightly wrong. Was typing on phone. Was sent this with regards service history.

The car has been serviced by us (sales garage) when we received it on 09/07/2012. Before that it was serviced on 30/07/2008 at 13,914 miles and on 17/06/2011 at29,285 miles. The next service is likely to be a relatively large service as it is likely to include the every 60,000 km interval. The toothed belt isdue to be replaced on the car every 120,000km so that is a long distanceaway at the minute.

Would guess it was on variable. I understand they have a service light/indicator on the dash which flashes up ir tells you. The 3yr gap was a little concerning. Should i really be that worried with such low mileage gor the age of car (2006)?

Thanks guys, will have a look into a caddy. Think I also have an old laptop where the psu died, I may be able to pinch the hardrive from it (from reading think they are 2.5″) and use it as extra storage as well. Hopefully it’s just the psu that’s gone and the caddy will do the trick. Fortunately I have a back up of it on another hard drive (powered by usb :wink: )

Cheers guys, tried the running from usb alone but it didn’t work. Output on supply cables shown as 19v and 12v

I take it any 3.5″ HD case/caddy would suffice? Anything i should be looking for in particular in them? best places to source them? Hopefully get one by the weekend (away with work this week)and things will be good again

Teaches me to rush things looked out!

As said above, always better to try to leave on good terms, no point dragging it out. It’s a small world at the end of the day. If you’ve made the decision to go, then look forward, can’t change the past. Sample from a previous resignation letter

Dear insert Employer,

After careful thought and consideration, I have decided to resign from my position as isert title with insert company effective insert date.

Although this has been a difficult decision to make, I have been offered an opportunity that I believe will help me reach my long-term career goals. This decision was not an easy one and involved many hours of thoughtful consideration, particularly with respect to my own plans for my future. I am confident, however, that this new position represents a positive move toward fulfilling my career goals. I hope you will understand my reasons for moving on.

Please be assured that I will do all I can to assist in the smooth transfer of my responsibilities before leaving.

I have enjoyed being a part of the insert company team and am thankful for the opportunities given to me during my time here. I owe a great deal to the company and wish you all the best in future endeavours.

I wish you, and the entire team at insert company the best of luck in the future.

I hope that I can rely on you for a positive reference in future.

Yours Sincerely

Can double up your tesco club card vouchers for use as jessops just now. Effectively halfs the rpice of anything purchased…

android market saying the demo version was only valid for 16 days….

I’m currently using the free memory map app (mmtracker) (just for viewing maps and locating where i am i.e. no tracking) but then I had the maps already

Mate flew out there yesterday for a weeks kitesurfing. Supposed to be excellent!

Would be interested to hear opinions as well as just built up my old rockehopper as a singlespeed (also run a spesh enduro) and considering a carbon post to drop a bit of weight and add a bit of comfort.

cheers for all the comments. Couple of mates have traffics, one a LWB low top (panel van self camper converted- main vehicle) and one a SWB high top (panel van -second vehicle) Have driven a LWB traffic minibus for a couple of days a couple of years ago and was impressed with how it drove. The scooby isn’t the turbo as mentioned above hence is more of a warm hatch than a hot hatch, great fun in winter though ;) plus i should really be trying to behave on the roads as will get caught someday…

Cant really do both as don’t really have space to park both and think the running costs of 2 vehicles would soon add up hence having to go with just the one.

Like the idea of a berlingo/people carrier, had a berlingo hired for a week on holiday and was impressed with the space and how it drove but at the end of the day it is still a citreon…..maybe it’s bad to go on past reputations…poorly made and lots of electrial problems?

Good mix of views above, wife has seat altea diesel which we would could probably make a good combo with a van if she was happy to drive a van on occasion…..

Work may be changing in the next 6 months which may have an influence on mileage as well….

hhmmm i’m so indecisive!!

oh, and would be interesting to see how people store their bikes in there vans.

Rape alarm (hidden) with some fishing line tied to the bike and conected to the pull out pin

cheers guys, will check them out. Looks like the wigwams are almost booked out over the weekends anyway…

Recently converted my old rockhopper. Used a straight edge to get the chain line from the front ring to teh rear and a dmr chain tensioner for the tension. Had to tension down the way as rear triangle got in when tried to tension it up the way to give more chain wrap round the rear cog.

Is the chain slipping (i.e. skipping forward under load) or coming off completely? Are all bits the same age?

Are 10 spd chains ok to use for singlespeeds? Remember reading they wern’t ideal as they are alot narrower but i may very well be wrong.

Just done it on my bike. Just need the bigger rotor and new adapter, bolt them on on, enjoy the incresed braking power :) Simples!

Rode Golspie on the on the 12th Feb and Balblair/Carbisdale on the 19th Feb. No snow around, all in pretty good condition. Not much snow around just now although there is a colder snap passing through. Wouldn’t be to worried about it though.

Not quite today but this was a little video I made from an early December snow ride :) No snow up in Inverness just now, must have missed it all :(

would have to be post to post mount to fit the same caliper.

have heard xt / xtr are pretty darn good. Also Formula the one are supposed to be awesome but rather pricey.

HD version of Grantown Woods should now be live :)

Just noticed Vimeo had downgraded the quality of the original Grantown Woods upload (think it was due to uploading the Learnie film in HD the same week). Will get it replaced with the HD version. Sorry about that!!

Used two different cameras which will have affected some of the exposure/metering levels. Light was also fading towards the end which didn’t help. There was some footage that just couldn’t be used as was too dark. I know with more powerful editing software (and time) some of the levels could be corrected to make it more even throughout. Something to be played with in the future.

cheers for the comments

Any other feedback or critique for improving the next vids?

Cheers guys, they are relatively new trails that have just been built. Think there are a few more planned, someone also mentioned a possible pump track. The trails in the film aren’t actually that long (not worth a trip from Aberdeen to be honest). If you’re in the area with some spare time then there’s plenty singletrack in the area to combine it with. Guys at Basecamp bikes in the town should be able to assist with local maps and stuff although it’s almost a go and wander and see what you find type ride as no dedicated markers/trails for the singletrack.

Stuff in the video is basically a fairly small circuit with a few different line types, i.e. very small climb and then ride the differing lines. Pretty much all the features are shown in the video.

They are in the woods near the road bridge over the Spey on the way to Keith.

Enjoy!!

Was a common fault with those models. mine cracked as well back in 2006, was replaced by specialized under warranty. dont think i had the original receipt. they were going to replace it with a stumpy as the enduro had been upgraded but i paid extra and got a replacement enduro frame.

Can you get a hack saw blade across the head and then use a large flat head screw driver…although no good if head recessed into something though