ah ok i thought someone was going to tell me some scientific explanation about energy stores and endurance training to increase them! But 'we're all different' will do :-)

cannondale CX9 and kona Jake the snake are both 46/36 according to wheelbase website, and the other one i looked at the trek X0-1 is 46/38.

But i reckon the wiggle focus mares is the best deal around, even if i did have to change any chainrings / cassette to get an ideal gearing.

thanks for the replies, looks like a cyclocross bike it is then!

Just need to find a good deal now. Tempted by the wiggle focus mares, and you can even try it for 7 days and send it back if you dont like it according to the website!

if you let me know the route you are doing i can print off some A4 sheets from Memory map for you covering the relevant bits of your route and you can just take these with you.

I dont have the fancy waterproof paper that you can get though so dont get them wet or fold them up and stick them in a freezer bag in your back pocket or something.

Email me your route and i'll try do it tomorrow.

no but i'd like the profile feature.. well providing it can show me a profile of a route i've pre planned and show where i am on the profile plot. Also they show a few other things like total ascent (which the non altimeter ones dont do) and i'd like the electonic compass for walking with, thats why was thinking of the Vista model. But if it deoesnt do the profile thing like the Garmin Edge does i might just get a more basic model.

dont watch unless you want to see the snail…

I had to look for it as i cant get any tv tdf coverage

if its not too late…

I'd get (and have got) this one

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26744

means you can use it with a torque wrench to get it tightened correctly (if you've got a torque wrench…)

Nice secure fit, didnt scratch my hope BB at all when i installed it

Lowey – whats that path in the photo with all the hairpins? How rocky is it?

sounds like they will be good for me then as i hate the sweaty back thing. Just seen the Deuter ones as well, and the Hammerhead mentioned by erny looks like a really good deal, will have to check one out in a shop tomorrow!

Thanks Leku :D

I’ve not done it before either and have heard mixed reports, but only way to find out is to go and try it myself so am hopefully heading over on Sunday

Windermere – Garburn – kentmere – sadgill – gatesgarth – haweswater – Nan Bield – Kentmere – then the track past kentmere hall that leads climbs up and over to High House eventually. And back to Windermere.

I’ve a feeling it might be a long (timewise) ride….

just have a look in your local model shop, bound to be a humbrol shade that matches close enough. I used car touch up pain on mine as my car colour was close enough :-)

just been reading some of the records and apparently its been done on a motorised bar stool as well!! i’d like to see a picture of that, how did he steer it?!

got mine from skidrive

http://www.skidrive.co.uk

whats the Rock n roll gold one like, or is it just a dryer weather version of the extreme?

+1 for the elete.

Try the small pocket size bottle to see if you like it then get a bigger one works out quite a bit cheaper (well it did when i got mine from chain reaction a while ago)

does cold beer not work the same :D

Never tried cold baths except for injuries, but have you tried the recovery drinks like SIS Rego? Theres loads of different makes, but i find the Rego works well for me and my legs dont feel as bad the next day if i use it.

yeah they race and are very into having the right kit, little white socks, bike always perfect, nice clean watter bottles, carbon fibre cages etc…

i was thinking it was maybe just a looks thing as my bike looks nicer without the bag but i just prefer not having stuffed wedged in pockets (except maybe one snack)

escher shore…

the mind boggles 8O

how do you get off?!!

well as no one else has said it..

MY FORKS HAVE BEEN FAULTLESS FOR YEARS :D

yes, they really have! Fox float RLC, 2006. Never lifted the seals or taken the legs off, used them in the alps, lakes, yorskhire all year round. I just wash the bike with a hose occaisionally, and wipe any crap off the stanchions if they’re really bad and spray + bounce with some finish line wet lube then wipe again. Been serviced once (march this year) by TFT who said internally were in excellent condition on the work sheet. So not all Fox are rubbish :-)

edit: I bet they break tomorrow now….

one in Bourg is good (clean, want too expensive couple years ago), dead handy for the big supemarket and sports/bike shop, + only a about 3 mins ride from the funicular train to take you up to Arc 1600 and the lifts.

http://www.campingsavoie.com/Siteanglais/Savoie/clients/versoyen/f1.html

ah well a lesson learned, as Samuri says above, bin them all and wait for snail mail!

yeah i normally check the web address, but this came out as:

http://secure.hmrc.gov.uk.hmrc-service.com/tax-refund/refund.php

so it looked sort of ok to my non expert eye!

I’ve had ones before that have obviously been redirecting to unofficial sites

actually one thing that made it suspicios was the inland revenue logo on that form didnt seem right

cheers i’ll try that tonight! Not sure if i should be looking forward to tonights ride or not now though :?

what sort of stuff do i do for interval training to make it effective? Is this where you do flat out sprinting stuff then easier riding for a bit, then flat out again? Should i do this on hills or flat, and what sort of distances / times / reps

grumm – yeah but i live right near the troutbeck side so could make a nice short-ish loop if its doable this way

smuttie – ah ok, i’ll just man up like grumm says and do the long Garburn / gatesgarth / nan bield monster then!

well i was only playing with it on the climb, to see if how the blowoff thing worked, but yeah i suppose it wasnt really a good place to try it :oops:

ah ok maybe i was expecting too much of it on garburn pass. I’ll try it on some smoother long climbs

rickmeister – whats so special about the bike crate things you linked to? Doesnt show much detail on the website. Do they have some internal bits inside the box to prevent it squashing and reducing the chance of the bike being crushed?

whats hydroforming. If i google it will i get a simple answer or something i wont understand??? And did they use that in ’97 as i never heard it mentioned in brochures until last few years..

I’ll need to see how much postage is for a frame first..

But as its its still fully built i dont know the weight yet! I’ll keep your offer in mind and see how what happens over next few days :-)

ok i have some measurements!

No indication of size on frame number.

I measured the top tube (C on the kona geometry link above) and standover height (bit trickier as i dont know how tyre size affects this, but was 27″ to top tube) and C was 22.5″ so that makes it a 17″frame.

I’m about 175cm tall and it was a nice chuckable size. As the pics i took show, the top tube is quite slobing so loads of clearance, and hence the quite long seatpost.

Ok someone mentioned £300 somewhere above! If i say that price am i going to get laughed at?!! It looks like theres enough people on here with ideas about values that the ones not interested due to it being the wrong size will maybe point me in the right dircetion of a price!!!

i’ll do some measuring and post up in a bit, and i’ll check out the frame number as well.

Bigdawg – no price at all yet. I started this thread originally as i wasnt sure if it was worth selling. Anyway pics are up now but i really have no idea of what i should ask for it or what people pay for retro frmaes / bikes!

Ideally i’ll sell it as a bike as i cant be bothered to strip it down and havent got anywhere to store the bits.

If anyone needs more pics let me know and i’ll add them to the flickr site.

Maybe this should go in classifieds now :?

Anway frame size or measurements will be up in a bit when i’ve finished my cuppa. I downloaded a 97 kona catalogue from retro bike but bizarrely even though there are geometry measurements the seat tube size isnt listed!

kona geometry 97

BUMP for the people who expressed an interest in this…

ok bike is here! I cleaned it up a bit and have some pics.

***Firstly i’m not sure if its a 16 or 17″, i’ll measure it in a bit, but do i measure from centre of BB to centre of TT or to the top of the seat tube? Or somewhere else?!***

As a complete bike the spec is:
Explosif frame colombus Max OR tubing Gold colour of soon to be determined size!
Marzocchi Marathon S forks 2003 80mm travel, no stanchion damage
LX or DX V brakes, not sure how to tell!
LX rear mech, Front is XT
Shifters…XT THUMBIES both sides!!!! 7 speed
Mavic 217 rims on um the silver hubs (LX?)
KONA race light bar
Bog standard stem and headset (current clamp on style not quill)
OGK grips
Control tech seatpost
Sugino Mighty Chainset
a very battered Joe murray race light saddle!

A few chips around the dropouts chainset but no major chainsuck gouges (had a chainsuck plate fitted). All chips are easily touch-up-able and i found the best colour was a gold one in the humbrol model range, but sadly cant remember the actual name!

Also got a set of Project 2 forks, but these are threaded and would need a quill stem to fit them.

So, what should i ask for it?! If its not going to go for much in the condition its in then i may give it to my bikeless brother.

I’m in the lakes (windermere) if anyone who’s interested wants to see it

pics at kona explosif[/url]

the marks on the headtube logo photo arent scratches its some residue from tape i used to stop cable rubs. They come off but i need some WD40 to get rid of them all!

how small does this it pack up, is it similar to the featherlite thing thats goes in an apple sized stuffsack?

ride this…

dont say that….

or i might end up keepig it and selling the epic for a big travel bike!

i use this:

truflo

works with the threaded cartridges from tyreinflators.co.uk, and doesnt weigh much

theres a chance it might be with me again this weekend, but depends on space in a mates car. Anyway i’ll keep an eye on this thread and ressurect it if it dies once i’ve checked the bike over and got pics :-)

Might even have to have a ride on it agin!!!