I prefer not to wear a backpack if possible and prefer to use two bottles, a saddle bag, frame bag and pockets.
If other people want to use a backpack, that’s up to them.

Is it OK for me to have a preference without criticising other people’s preference ?

Tsk, BMW drivers.
String ’em up. It’s the only language they understand.

Mat, one thing I’ve learned from mountain bike racing is that you can never tell how fast someone is just by looking at their bike. I guess it’s the same for TTs and tris.

I’ve noticed that when I ride with other mountain bikers, I am always the fastest coasting down non technical descents like roads and grassy fields, for example. I put it down to weight, big wheels and high tyre pressures.
When I went out with those roadies recently, I was having to pedal to keep up as they all coasted down hill.
I think, at my level, once everyone is on skinny high pressure tyres, a few grams one way or the other isn’t going to make a big difference to my speed.

Thanks for the advice.
“Clubman’s bike”, yes,that’s the phrase I was looking for. 😀
I looked at Ribble and I like their on line custom build option. Something similar with SRAM Rival worked out about £100 more. If I was paying full RRP, then I think the Ribble may have been the better deal, but in the end I’ve gone for the discounted Ex Demo Verenti.

I went out on a mid week run with a local club recently as a guest. Four old guys on road bikes and me on my 29er hardtail. I kept up. 8)
I’ll definitely be joining a club and getting involved in organised events once I’ve learned what the difference is between an audax, a brevet, a sportive and a randonneur.

When you do the rear brakes, don’t forget you’ll have to release the handbrake. You will need to chock the front wheels, leave the gear stick in 1st gear and don’t attempt this on an incline.

Only if it’s front wheel drive. Won’t make any difference on rear wheel drive, you’ll be relying solely on the wheel chocks, so make sure they are well wedged under the tyres.

I bought a standard 29er frame recently and the only thing I regret is the lack of a split chainstay or seatstay.
If I was designing a custom frame now, I’d make it belt drive compatible.

… the one that really, really winds me up is the attitude you get from self righteous weekend walkers who look at you like you shouldn’t be there…

I find it amusing the different reactions I get whether I’m on a mountain bike, motorbike (trail bike), Land Rover or car.

Trail bike definitely gets the most indignant glares. 😀

The only vehicle access to my house is a along a footpath through Forestry Commission land.
I don’t know the exact legal situation, but anyone who lives here and anyone with reasonable cause to visit treats it as a road.
I would imagine there are lots of houses around the country with access across private land and this is a fairly common situation.

Never tried Park, but Lezyne are the only ones I have tried that worked properly.

No need for a clutch, just back off the pedal pressure slightly when shifting, same as a Rohloff I would imagine.

Incidently, did anyone else spot the Rohloff dropout on that Endorfin ?
That raises the interesting possibility of an 18 x 14, or 252 speed transmission. 😀

I heard of someone planning to ride all the UK’s navigable waterways once.
About 2000 to 3000 miles depending on whether you just count the main canal network or include all the disjointed bits of river as well.
Good choice if you don’t like hills. 😉

You’re right,you know.
Is it just the perspective, or is that crank not going to turn ? 😕

If you click on “Original Document” in the link above, there’s a load of exploded diagrams on the last few pages.
Looks to be a mixture of conventional and epicyclic gears.

$150 for a logo ?
And I thought £30 for Lynskey stickers was steep.

i reckon i’ve sent pics to at least 20 people off here in the past couple of months

Is that one pic to 20 people or 20 different pics ?

SO why does the middlering wear quicker than the large if both used equally?

Because it is smaller, so there is more leverage.

Imagine a 160mm crank for the sake of using round numbers.
Round numbers again,imagine a 100kg rider.
With a chainring of 80mm radius, however many teeth that might be, with 100kg on the pedal,there is 200kg force on the chain.
With a 40mm radius chainring, for the same pedalling effort, there is now 400kg force on the chain.
Not only is a smaller chainring subject to a greater load, that load is spread over fewer teeth.

Tubs are available for CX aren’t they ?
It wouldn’t be too much of a leap of technology to go from a heavyweight, wide CX rim & tyre to a lightweight, narrow 29er XC rim & tyre.

We’ve done the electronic shifter.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/electronic-rohloff

The lightweight twistgrip looks good, but why go to the trouble of designing a whole new shifter and still not make it drop bar compatible ?

Rough guide.
Put the chain on the big ring.
Grab the furthest forward part of the chain and pull it away from the ring.
If it clears a tooth completely, it is worn out.

The SFN shouldn’t have any load on it while you’re riding.
What exactly is working loose ?

I think I got up to about 500 before the novelty wore off.

tyranny of the majority

🙄

And today’s Ironic Post award goes to TheFunkyMonkey. 😛

So not only are you a piss poor driver, you carnt spell either

Evening bump 😀

I reckon I’ll pick one of those up today.

Has anyone got any opinions on the cheap speedo ?
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/SID-8CCD319C-CFFAE67C/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_14173.htm
I use a GPS for significant rides, but thought about getting two cheap speedos to leave on the bikes permanently to keep track of my total annual mileage.
Any reason why these wouldn’t do the job ?

I played for the school rugby team and the local under 15s.
Other than riding in a team of four at Mountain Mayhem once, I’ve had no interest in team sports since then.

Is this also true in Ghana? Or just the UK?

I don’t know. I was just going by the selection of foods in the “Ethnic” section in my local supermarket. Perhaps someone who has been in a Ghanan supermarket could tell us.

into de_void, yes, I live in a rural, and therefore almost exclusively white, area.
We’ve got several tourist attractions round here, including a forest, a river, a safari park, a steam railway and lots of caravan parks and I can’t help noticing that most of the summer visitors are white too.
It’s something that’s always struck me as a curiosity, although I realise that by simply mentioning an observation some people are going to jump to conclusions.

Charlie, “ethnic” means any ethnicity other than white, just as “the environment” means any environment other than one that’s got buildings in it.

MTBing is a very white middle class sport and also cycling in african, asian countries is a means of transport and not enjoyment.

For most mountain bikers, cycling is neither a sport or a means of transport, it is a hobby.
Think of a hobby, any hobby, do a google images search.
What colour are the people in the background ?
Mountain biking is no different to radio control car racing, kite flying, rock climbing, wood carving, etc.

Just an observation and a curiosity, although I’m sure someone will manage to turn it in to an argument and get the thread locked.

What a great course, the best I have ever raced on.
Four laps and 5750 Kcal in 4:08.
My tracklog

A quick look on Memory Map and I can only see one Byway near Hope, just to the East of Great Hucklow.

I don’t know the trail. Are you sure it’s a bridleway, not a Byway, RUPP or BOAT ?

Link to a map of the area ?

Lego’s good, but Meccano’s better. 😉

I’m in for four laps.

If you see a big fat beardy bloke in Vegan Cyclists kit on a Lynskey Rohloff 29er, say hello.

…90k Levington Blast…400 riders and I think I saw 2 29ers in total (including mine)…

Was the other one a Lynskey being ridden by a rather handsome chap in Vegan Cyclists kit heckling the 26er riders on the singletrack by any chance ? 😉

Shift worker.

Incidentally, has anyone else noticed how quiet the forum is at 3am ?

…even when they do fail the nut holds them on the axle…

No they don’t.
The hole in the middle of the outer race is bigger than the nut.
Once the bearing has collapsed, the pedal body, complete with outer race, will slide over the spindle, complete with nut and inner race.

…so it’s just a question of replacing the cartridge bearings when they start to get some play.

Except that I have found the time between the bearings feeling or sounding worn to them failing completely can be less than half an hour.

Despite my criticisms, I still use them, but with the following provisions.
Having broken two egg beater spindles, I now use ward Industries titanium spindles which have got a 235lb rider weight limit.
Ignore Crank Brothers’/2pure’s advice on bearings. Remove the rubber seals and purge the bearings with grease far more often than the recommended 100 hour interval.

I’m still using a 20 year old Land Rover as my everyday transport. 😀

I’ve had a Wahl one for a few years and it’s still cutting well.

Four laps of the Forest of Dean Enduro. 😀