don’t believe you’ve mentioned where you’re coming from or what route you’d be taking to Aberdeen so giving you pointers on where to mtb on your way there or back isn’t really all that easy.
What sort of mtb riding do you like?
ie. traditional XC loop, hike a bike middle of nowhere trudge, Trail centre, technical descending… the list is endless but a clue as to what you’re looking for wouldn’t go a miss.

Do you ride clipped in or flats ?
with flats your weight will be further back.

Not always.

I ride both. but when clipped in I still ride with exactly the same technique I do with flats. my cleats are also positioned as far back as poss to allow this.

Not to post on here again after tomorrow.

6000ish miles. no smiles at all. CYCLING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS!!!
no walking, that sounds far too much fun.
Guestimate about 2000 were mtb, 100 BMX, 200 DH.. whatever that leaves were road.
110000m climbed. or descended as I prefer to think of it.

moar BMX and shagging predicted for 2015

chip – whooooooshhhh….

Have a good 2015 :D

thrusting forwards and back with a deviant or JCL laying there like a sack of spuds?

I know which NYE PARTAAY I’d rather have been at! :lol:

Without sounding too condescending, bring the appropriate bikes for what you are going to ride. Scotland is quite diverse as you know and all the options you’ve thought of will be great so you need to make your minds up what sort of riding you want to do. planning a great road trip is the easy part.

CX bikes aren’t really any more flexible. just a bit quicker on the dull sloggy bits off-road or a bit slower on nice tarmac but quite a bit less fun on all fun bits (unless fun for you is racing CX of course). worst of both worlds IMO.

lol. Devalue them properly by dispatching “that” Email to the former KOM ;)

Might give mediocre riders who get out in Jan-March a nice sense of achievement while the actual fast boys sit on their turbos and do long steady miles.

There’s a 60mph SSW here today. a couple of proper local KOMs could be taken fairly easily if I CBA getting out of bed.

you’re wrong Northwind.

if you could jump well you’d understand why ;)

You were kinda onto something… but you need that starting position as neutral as possible. hence the importance of finding your optimum bar height

Happy New Year :)

you didn’t get 46 KOMs. you got 46 2015KOMs. if you’re that bothered, don’t ride again until Oct ;)

lower doesn’t give more control. neither does higher. trying to replicate your cycling pros/heros bar position is laughable.

for each rider on each bike there will be an optimum height for control. I’m anal as hell about this (thank **** for 1mm spacers)

my advice is to experiment but above all if control (rather than comfort) is your goal. on your mtb set your bar height independently of saddle height. afterall when control is required most you should be stood up.

OMG! How on earth did you lot cope before this non-problem arose? :lol:

Didn’t mention pedalling at all. nevermind “just” pedalling Johnners.

mainly option “C”

only ever managed “D” myself and I’m a beast (in both #PWR! and size) ;)

I bend sprockets and crank arms far more frequently

Zedz – Don’t compare seat tube lengths or standover height when choosing a DH bike.
the only comparable (physical) measurements between your Yeti and a new DH frame are downtube and chainstay lengths. (TT length is often a poor reflection of size due to frame/suspension designs).
standover height will be poor at 5’6″ on most DH bikes. don’t let that phase you, once sagged it’s not so bad and if you ever need to stand with both feet on the floor during a run it’s gone way wrong already. ;)
Not everyone gets on with the longest frame they can manage either.
A DH bike being slacker with a longer fork and longer stays (most DH frames have longish stays) will be plenty stable enough for you without going to battleship proportions and forcing you to ride with no finesse. too short and it will handle like more of a play bike (not nec. all that bad a thing if you’re not planning on starting a racing career)
Try a few bikes if you can.

ok thanks.

I’ve tried bibs with less than ideal proportions too and also had bibs with adjustable mankini straps in the past. Endura IIRC. dunno if anything like that is still made.

I hate shorts myself. the drawstring waist cord never stays right for a whole ride and they don’t make me feel half as sexy ;)

Tell your mate Phil that’s not safe…

:D

Oh… so you mean’t baggy shorts?

ha ha.. right enough, nothing pantomime dame about a pair of bloomers over your tights is there? :P

Goan please explain exactly what it is about you that bibs don’t fit? :?

got a fairly mental mental image going on here with all this combined with the other guy and his Ron Hills UNDER his shorts

That much of an improvement Jon. we can hope :)

Thanks :)

Perfect.

Ha ha. Thanks. Do you know where it was bought?

Try a Sportive.
These are just like races. A grand starting/finishing area, feed stations, you even get a race number, a time and sometimes a little trophy or medal at the end. Everyone’s a winner! They also often cost a lot more to enter than actual real races but it’s well worth it as sportives are full of people who have zero clue how to ride in a race for you to “beat”. don’t worry too much about not having a road bike as there will almost always be some **** with something to prove off a cycling forum riding his fatbike with 800mm bars so you’ll be well under the radar on your normal mtb.

Can you take a pic of the cover please Ben?

That’s “lubricating” for Wolfgang.

a light coating of Vaseline would do a similar job of “greasing” the shifter internals. ;)

What would be the reason for the long rear if it isn’t for a small BB?

STABILITY!

As lightman alludes to, you clearly haven’t seen the AWESOME speeds these fatbike enthusiasts ride at.
No wonder they’re banned from Road racing, TT, Enduro and UCI DH events.

I use normal or roubaix 3/4 bibs all year round and just add knee warmers underneath when it’s particularly cold. this works really well for me.

*I suffer pretty badly from knee pain when it’s cold otherwise

way to overthink it Wolfgang. ;)

And thanks for stating the obvious regarding the ID of (cheap and readily available) brake outer. :roll:

In the case of a 7speed kids bike any unwanted compression from using brake outer is irellevent as:
The only tension in the “system” is from a puny spring in the rear mech
Being a 7 speed system the outer doesn’t need to be completely compressionless for tolerances to be perfectly adequate to “index” perfectly. (Gear outer isn’t entirely compressionless either BTW)
Braking forces (far greater) don’t cause brake outer any major detrimental problems with outer cable compression.

Yes, it’s a bodge and I wouldn’t dream of suggesting otherwise. Many others here are suggesting “bodging” the use of XT or XTR shifters and mechs. Which I might point out (unless you have access to a time machine) will be indexed to 8 speed at best.
8 speed and 7 speed do not even share the same cassette sprocket spacing. 7 speed sprockets being 5mm apart, 8 speed being 4.8mm (that’s 1.2mm difference in indexing across the cassette). Yes, it’s do-able but not exactly ideal.

I normally stay away from here for a reason.

Di2 it is.

I’ll repeat this once moar for the hard of reading.

REPLACE THE GEAR OUTER CABLE WITH BRAKE CABLE OUTER.

This will reduce the friction in his cables massively.
if it is still too stiff after you’ve done this, check how stiff the mech spring is by hand (by pinching the cable bolt and adjuster barrel between thumb and forefinger) some mechs are way stiffer than others, some of the cheapest non-series shimano mechs have a much lighter action than XT/XTR.

this solution should cost you less than a tenner but of course YOU won’t have XTR kudos at the trail centre.

Not that you’d actually ever find an XT or XTR 7 speed shifter ;)

Tyres will be fine. although, having said that if you MUST upgrade the bike tyres will make the biggest difference for your money. (Weight, rolling resistance and comfort).
As with mtb tyres simply learn to respect the boundaries of grip for the conditions and tyres you’re using. No tyre compound will help keep your wheels upright turning on wet/greasy drain covers/ice/Diesel spills etc.

You don’t say where, when or how long you plan on riding it.

Mudguards obviously aren’t essential if you’re only going to be a fairweather road cyclist. Otherwise it’s a no brainer. A rear LED is a good idea this time of year too.
If you are only planning on riding on your own lycra isn’t essential at all but in a group it’d be daft not to simply from a wind resistance point of view.

The only ESSENTIAL kit you NEED to buy is a spare tube (pref x2), a pump and possibly some sort of multi tool.

Yes there will be a difference.
Faff/cost depends on your hub not the frame.

Yes. change the gear cable outer to brake outer.

jamie – can you possibly do a fancy GIF to show us all what neoprene overshoes with vents look like? never seen such a thing

Ok. I’d have been too hot with all that gear on. (rode round Arthurs seat at 11pm lastnight). how about changing pedals and wearing whatever footwear you’d mtb in over the winter?

As above. do your shoes up looser

maybe eat more pies too. It really wasn’t all that cold in Edinburgh this weekend.

What pedals/shoes do you use?

mspaint bicycles though… such clean lines and so light and efficient (even with only one crank arm) ;)

“Bike”Neil said

Nothing. It’s Christmas Day which is family time. And, I’m not obsessed with bikes, I just enjoy riding them…

Ridden one, It’s Christmas Day which is about family time. And, My youngest is obsessed with bikes, and enjoyed riding her brand new one…

Funny that you’re posting on a bicycle forum during your ever so important “family time” ;)

Merry Christmas! ;D

me too al… me too :cry:

Check this noob dork, probably a mountainbiker.

got any examples of what you’re actually talking about?