Fiat Scudo window van here. 3 in the front with removeable 3 seater bench in the back. Will take my cross bike,hardtail or full-sus across the rear storage (behind the bench seat) without wheels off. If we’re both riding then my wife’s bike goes in front of the bench seat with the front wheel off.

With the rear bench removed we can get 3 bikes with no wheels off. In the summer we’ll be living in this van for 2 weeks in the Alps. We’ll be building a platform across the rear with the bikes underneath and we’ll sleep on top. Should be pretty comfortable….i hope!

I find a QR seat clamp works well 😉

Yep, April according to Madison b2b. We’ve had them on back order for months!

I was interested in getting one myself as i get a hot head from the Xen but want the better coverage these types of helmets offer.

Sorry, should have been more specific. It’ll be used mostly for biking, we do walk alot too but don’t mind using maps for that.

I mentioned Garmin as i can get them through work.

I see…probably wrong size as i ride a 54 but probably should have bought a 52! I didn’t have much experience of cross or road bikes when i made use of my staff purchase allowance!

When are you supposed to use drops?

I ride a 20 mile round trip on my Vapour and never feel the need to use the drops, ever. The odd time i’ve attempted to use them it felt horrible…but that may be because it felt soooooo low compared to any MTB set-up.

Considering what some consider good looking when it comes to cycle clothing i’m amazed at the above comments!….cos most SPD footwear looks soooo good hey?!

I’ve had a pair for a while and they have been superb. Lighter than 5.10’s, way more weather-proof and pretty much as grippy too. Better too than the old DX shoe Shimano replaced with the AM40.

Come on STW!!! I’d like to see my posts from the last two weeks please!!!!!!!

Thats good…i think i may contact them to see if they might do a guide only option seeing as accomodation will be our van 😀

Chunky: were OTP any good? We’d like to use their services possibly this year.

Try OTB holidays for guiding. We were there for our honeymoon in May 2009…no biking though as there was too much snow still but we found loads of singletrack around the Findeln village area on the Sunnegga side of the resort where we did alot of walking. The Gornergrat area has some superb riding too plus you can use the train as uplift (You can buy a special bike pass for the lifts).The Rothorn and Blauherd area above Sunnega is also good.

It is a very popular resort for walkers so i personally wouldn’t bother going during July or August. We’ll be stopping there for a couple of days to ride the stuff we found in 2009….but not until early September as part of a 3 week Alps road trip.

Had a 2010 514 Zesty for a while and my wife owns a 575. I’d choose the 575 as it climbs better and on flat singletrack it just pedals so damn well. She has used to good effect in the Alps too. The new improved 575 looks even better too.

My 514 however wallowed in the mid-stroke of the shock, blow through the travel (despite constant adjustments) and…well…let’s just say i made good use of the warranty!!!!

60a i imagine. I use the LUST version on the rear in the summer…a superb tyre in on hardpack or rocky trails.

When i’m not riding i’m working in a bikeshop 🙂

3 for me….

2011 Genesis Vapour with upgrades.

2007 Cove Handjob

2011 Nicolai Helius AM

and my Wife has a 2009 Yeti 575 and 2007 GT Legato.

You’re not wrong geetee! I’ve gone from running Ardent and Ignitor LUST at over 900g each to running the new Mountain King ProTection tyres at 620g each. Even with tubes the difference is amazing, might try the MK’s tubeless at some point too!

I think i’ll be saving the LUST tyres for the Alps from now on!

Enjoyed a loop of The Wall trail at Afan today. It was almost perfect….no big puddles and a nice amount of grip with just the odd patch of speed sapping mud.

I’ve used Ardent,Crossmark, Ignitor (all LUST), Minion (wire bead) and am now running the new Mountain Kings on the Flow rim.

The MK’s are being run with tubes but all the others were run tubeless with just the yellow tape being used.

No photos of my rebuilt Cove Handjob and Genesis Vapour.

What Mountain Bike mag are running 36’s and Crank Brothers wheels on Helius AM…they encountered exactly the same problem! Their solution was to take a file to the post mounts!

Just entered….looking forward to it already! 😀

I think they’re lovely 😀 as seen here on my Nicolai. These are the Fubar Acute in polished alloy (Lo-rise).

Nice width, shape etc. I’m not fussy…looks are far more important!!!!

I run 50/34 and a 12-34 SLX cassette and XT mid-cage mech my Vapour. I found the previous 12-25 cassette useless for the long climb home every night especially once i hit the off-road parts of my commute. The new cassette means i can just spin up and not need to get up of the saddle.

I have a pair of the new Mountain King 2.2 ProTection (Black Chilli)tyres on the go right now and am very impressed. They roll very fast and gave superb grip on the snow and ice covered trails round these parts. They also come up as a true 2.2 unlike the the Rubber Queens that are huge even in 2.2 flavour.

Tomorrow morning will be their first outing in ordinary conditions seeing as the snow has finally gone!

I ran 2.2 Rubber Queen UST tyres for a week in the Alps this year and generally they were very good although the grip on wet roots could have been better…they weren’t the Black Chilli ones though.

Well, i’ll be doing my first ride in SPD’s tomorrow morning after 4 years of riding on flat pedals. At this stage i think they both have pro’s and con’s, i may have a different opinion after tomorrow though!!

I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be attached to my bike on the stuff i have ridden in the Alps or indeed any technical and fast descent full-stop. But on flat,pedally singletrack (like all my local stuff) then SPD’s are probably better. Guess we’ll see 🙂

Full-sus=Flats and Hardtail=SPD’s.

No problems here with Crossmark LUST, Ardent LUST, Ignitor LUST and single ply wire bead Minions.

All used with yellow tape. The minions were a pain to seat but sorted by leaving overnight with a tube installed to fully seat the bead on one side. Never needed levers to get any of these tyres on.

1:43 scale model of a Pisten Bully piste machine, complete with crane on the rear!
Loads of chocolates.
Some cash…that’ll be for this summers Alps trip then.

and i spent the evening rebuilding my hardtail with lots of Shimano presents from me to me 😀

fadda….I have cycled within metres of what they discovered there 4 times this week!!! Makes me feel slightly sick at the thought of what was there 🙁

A scale model of a Pisten Bully machine from my wife (bought from the manufacturer in Germany!)…..i have a slight obession with these amazing machines!!! I had a childhood spent watching piste machines pass by our chalet every evening during the winter.

IMO the 5 would be way too slack with 36’s to make an all-round bike. For the Alps ut would be great but i found the standard Pro too slack for flat, twisty singletrack. 36’s are also alot heavier as you pointed out.

Just check out the Mojo Trail Diaries videos to see how capable a Pro is when ridden by a good rider (Rowan Sorrell).

Grantway: You’re talking nonsense as usual regarding the 5’s swingarm….Where do you get this info from?!!!!!

Certainly is! Been riding through A.Court and 50 Acre every morning this week on my commute and it’s riding well. Bit slippy in places but no mud…all frozen solid.

Another XT?!

Much like round here when it’s frozen…each corner has a dozen frozen mini berms to catch your tyre 🙂

Looking forward to getting out tomorrow on my Nic.

Never get your foot out unless you really are going flat out!

Nice AM geetee 😉

Quality and Crankbrothers in the same sentence?!!!!!

All worthwhile options but i wouldn’t of chosen the UST option. Could the shop not have done a deal involving a set of Hope Hoops on Flow or Crest rims?

They’re wider and lighter than the Mavics and give you the option of using any tyre you like.

I’ve had 2 Orange 5’s…great bikes…. but prefer linkages now 😉

Enjoy!

Well….to anyone that cares: Leaving a tube in overnight has worked a treat.

Unseated one side, removed the tube, added latex & valve, reseated bead and after a few pumps….tubeless tyre! Looks like the bead just needed a little assistance.

glynP: I had no problems inflating a UST Maxxis tyre on my rear Flow rim (2.25 Ardent). Took seconds using a track pump. Only used yellow tape.

Just tried fitting a Maxxis Minion DHF 2.35 (Wire bead) to a new front Flow rim and have given up for the night!!! Just wouldn’t work at all. Have left it with a tube installed in a bid to get the beads to fit better.

I’m giving normal tyres a go as the UST tyres are abit weighty.

Intended use is local hacking around the woods type stuff which means no big climbs, all pretty flat stuff.

Pretty sure cassette range is 11-25 but will have to double check that.

I was hoping i might be able to use a Middleburn Uno set-up.

Intended use is local hacking around the woods type stuff which means no big climbs, all pretty flat stuff.

Pretty sure cassette range is 11-25 but will have to double check that.

I was hoping i might be able to use a Middleburn Uno set-up.