Barn doors for opening rear when someone blocks you in. Tailgate for every other scenario.

if you camp with it tailgate is way nicer.

That shuttle was one of the coldest times I can remember. It was 2 degrees and we waited in Lycra for well over an hour. Get there early !

Beta 951 or Facom for sliding T handles and PB Swiss for L handles.

It’s all tool porn though, Bondhus for the ‘just as good but cheaper’ option. They make Park’s Allen keys I believe.

For my money, one decent one and one cheap one is the way. The cheap one gets used for drinks and things that need to be accessed many times a day, the good one gets food and dairy in it and is to be opened as infrequently as possibly. Doing this we’ve managed to go for days at a time with nice fresh food still.

There will be freehub bearing and hub bearings, the knackered ones with be a pair of 6903 inside the hub itself in my experience. I have exactly the same problem with my set. I’ve changed them twice in 500 miles so presume something inside isn’t straight. Unfortunately my bike was ex-dem and no warranty.

They’re easy to service. Take off the rotor and cassette, one end cap pulls off to reveal a hole perpendicular through the axle, wedge an allen key in here then stick a 4mm (I think) in the other end of the axle and you’ll undo the opposite end cap. There’s a circlip holding the freehub on which needs to come out then you can just pull it apart. After this it’s a normal hub and hub can just tap out the axle and the bearings and press new ones in. A suitable bearing press can be had off eBay and it’s a pretty straightforward job.

I agree, they’re terrible hubs and it’s a bit of a shame on a rather nice bike. Hope it helps.

Woven wraps are great for really little ones as they take up next to no room. We moved on to a Baby bjorn and a Ergo baby for our twins once they were little bigger. Both are good but the Bjorn is easier to use. I have 2 Osprey Pocos for longer walks where we might need to carry some kit too. They brilliant but really big and 2 take up as much room as a double buggy in the boot.

All this stuff is available used on ebay super cheap if you’re patient. People buy it and never use it, I paid £50 and £60 for the Pocos and they were mint, but then I wasn’t in a hurry.

I got mine from Plush Hill Cycles in Church Stretton. Nice bunch and they had test models.

I’ve got a working cocker who loves coming riding. He’s 9 now and we’ve had him about 5 years. He adapted to it without much effort and runs to heal much better on a bike than on foot. I’ve trained him to run by my back wheel on the left side along the towpath to the trails which keeps him under control. As far as tips go, build up slowly, always encourage rarely tell off, be aware they’ll run after the odd animal, take water, and I’d use a short lead and ride one-handed to keep control to start with.

We ride in my local woods and do a short loop that involves a stream and a pond to swim in. Usually out for 60-90 mins and try to avoid really hot days. It’s amazing how far they’ll go with a bag of snacks, a bowl for water, and plenty of short stops. Obviously you’ll want to use a bit of common sense as they won’t tell you when they’re knackered.

Avoid trail centres for sure, even if you’ve got a well behaved trail dog, other people are twitchy about it and get annoyed. It’s not worth it, they don’t know that if you shout at him he’ll stop to look at what you want and get in the way but if you just ride at him he’ll be out the way in a flash.

It’s brilliant. It’s not the same as normal riding but it’s lovely to have company on any ride.

Bondhus make lots of Park’s Allen keys, mine have lasted well over a decade so far. Definitely some fancier brands out there. Some cost rather a lot of course. I like my Beta sliding ones the best.

PB Swiss

Beta

Wera

Wiha

Bondhus

Bahco

this is is a good read for the geeks.

https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/bike-allen-keys-42917/

Years ago I got excited and bought a 1 1/8th lifeline one to be fancy. I updated it to do tapered this year with a bit of gentle ‘persuasion’, works well, does all sizes now.

I had the pro max, they were appalling!

I’ve got a Spyre and a Hy-rd, I think the Spyre is better, the half hydro doesn’t offer enough benefit for the extra faff.

I’ve also got a set of Rival hydros, they’re much more like it. I’d say go Spyre or full hydro personally.

I see 3 options:

1. Push the seat forward

2. Fit a slackening headset and a consider the fork length. That way you can balance the reduction in stack height from the slacker head angle with the length of the forks to preserve the seat angle but get a slacker head angle.

3. Buy a bike with the geometry you want

Fitting a longer fork and slackening bushings will change the seat angle quite a bit.

I’ve got an eBay special ‘out front’ copy mounted backwards and a K-Edge stem cap one. I prefer the backwards ‘out front’, I looks like it’d fair better in a crash, and oddly I find it weird not being able to see my stem.

I did my iPad screen recently using a hot air gun. I was a bit careful, it wasn’t any real drama.

Replcebase do a good selection of small and perfectly adequate tools alongside loads of spares.

I found it an odd shock to tune but a great shock to ride.

I had it on my Starling for a few months and rode it a lot in that time. The traction was amazing as was the grip. It always felt a little overdamped in the compression though and turning the adjusters seemed to do very little compared to a Fox shock. It was a test shock borrowed from elsewhere and they had the same experience apparently. I stuck the shockwiz on it which seemed happy with the results. I did speak to an Öhlins tech who thought as I had the rebound at the slowest possible and the compression barely on at all that it probably needed a change in the shim stack for that bike.

Positives

-climbed great, like really oddly well

-felt like it kept the bike well balanced

-had enough progression and still felt ‘poppy’

-would buy and ride it

-construction is beautiful

Negatives

-car park test felt odd (not that it matters)

-struggled with high speed repeated hits like on BPW 50 shades. But then it’s a small lightweight shock, unlike an X2 or CCDBA.

I’d disagree with the comments of not being ok on big jumps and downhill. Have you seen Transition’s latest Scout video? I’ve happily taken my old 2015 one to Black Mountain Cycle Centre and ridden everything there without feeling under gunned, same with Bikepark Wales, and Italy and Madeira on hols (Apologies if I sounds like a bellend, I just think it handles everything fine). Sure, people on DH bikes might be quicker through really rough sections but it’s not generally the bike that holds me back. It’s a very capable bike. But as always, it’s a personal thing.

The alternatives I suggested were just the closest thing I could think of. I don’t think there is a proper alternative to the Scout, especially the new one. It’s a short travel bike for people that want long travel bike geo in a smaller package, no one else does this at the moment.

2018 Scout here, I don’t have any issues with 130mm of travel. Been to bigger travel bakes but keep coming back to the Scout. The shape is that of a bigger bike so you feel just as confident. Limiting the travel gives the bike a little more pop which I love about it. The Santa Cruz 5010 or Whyte 130 a probably worth a look.

Get a test ride on a Scout then make your mind up. BPW had most of the range for test last time I went there.

Astonishingly good riding. Really varied terrain. Freeride Madeira were great.

I suspect the rest of the island is what you make of it. Mostly old people and shops, or ok beaches and great surf depending on where you go. We had good food most of the time.

obviously due to the thread cutting process

I’m pretty sure spoke threads are rolled rather than cut to reduce stress at that point.

I’m not sure you can separate geometry from design really. Geometry is the biggest part of it, it is racey or comfortable, does it suit your local riding? Material, then quality of that material and tube profile come into it. Will it be stiff if you want stiff, or forgiving if you want forgiving? After that it’s probably finish and colour. If it’s a MTB what’s the shock like too.

Stick a proper Downhill tyre in there, that’s what they’re meant for. He’s young, rolling resistance surely isn’t a concern until you’re older and tired? Also if he’s going fast he may enjoy the support around corners that DH tyres give.

I’ve got a Cush-Core and whilst it feels totally bombproof even with no air in the tyre if you get a flat that doesn’t seal whilst out on the trail it’s going to be a total menace to get it out and fit a tube. I honestly think it would take me and a mate a good half an hour of swearing at it and our thumbs. I definitely wouldn’t ride it anywhere remote on the off chance I tore a sidewall. It’s currently sat on a spare wheel as I can’t get it off on my own.

A bunch of us chipped in a got one. The consensus was those that had a decent idea of what they were doing or what they wanted their suspension to feel like didn’t gain much, those that had no idea got good base setting and changed quite a lot.

My personal experience was that it pretty much just said everything was fine. If something wasn’t fine, I rode it a little longer and then it was happy.

What worries me was a mate used it, it said his settings were well out, so he altered them. The thing was, he turned all the dials the opposite way to that which the device reccomended. After another ride the divice reported it was now happy with his settings.

http://linkagedesign.blogspot.co.uk

This is the place to have a look for a progressive curve. You can change the language to English.

The transitions are only a little progressive. I owned one and thought that whilst the coil shock was lovely around corners and over off camber roots it was not progressive enough overall and I swapped between coil and air regularly to get some pop back.

The Starling Swoop is a great bike, I owned one and liked it. It is most definitely not progressive and you really don’t get much from it with a coil shock. It feels super plush as it’s so linear but it’s hard work to ride and needs a lot of encouragement to leave the ground. That’s no slight on it, it’s a great bike with an air shock full of spacers fitted, it just a linear ratio.

I’ve not ridden an Airdrop Edit but the curve of the linkage looks more progressive than a transition.

Magura wireless?

Strewth, they’re expensive now.

Send me an email (in profile), I’ve got a brand new grey 32t uno that might fit. Yours for postage and a small donation to a cycling charity of your choice. I inherited it so not looking to profit.

I’ve got a D15m, it’s a lovely guitar with all the warmth I could want. It suits my playing, I sometimes find brighter guitars a little unforgiving. It’s interesting playing it back to back with a spruce Taylor, it can sound almost dull for the first strum or two until your ears and technique adjusts. Different woods, different sounds I suppose.

I did one of these a while ago. I’m pretty sure some gentle tapping with an old small screwdriver between the two bearings got them out. If you don’t want to tap them all the way out you could just create enough gap to get a blind puller in there. Not ideal, but then it’s a tricky lot to get out and it solved the problem.

I’ve got a Scout with a Van RC MX tune and a Pushed Float X. They feel different, I run much less sag on the coil to compensate for the more linear stroke but it is more supple and I think there is more grip. Not having a climb switch is a problem when you think too hard about it but it’s easy to forget about once you go down again. I think on balance that I prefer the coil most of the time.

Surely that’s just a 6802 bearing? Enduro will be happy to supply those. The old bearing will likely have a numerical code written on the side of them.

Zip tie them together and leave the tail long, that way when you push the zip tie inside they don’t move about. You can also lag then with something soft and a few mm thick.

Been clamping on the stanchion (gently) for years with no problems. Small scratches don’t wreck dropper stanchions anyway, just sand them smooth and they’ll be fine, it’s not like a fork, there’s no oil in there and the air is inside the stanchion not the outer sleeve. They also move relatively few times a ride compared to a fork or shock. Sure, it’s not ideal but it’ll not wreck it.

The Kestrel is massively stiff, to the extent that I couldn’t push my bike up horrible steep bits whilst wearing them or I’d just get blisters.

They were great on the bike though, until the soles fell off both of them after 8 months. Replaced with a Giro Terraduro, stiff enough, comfier and still have their soles attached.

RicB, I found exactly that with my Scout. I’ve got a Float X and an Push MX tuned Van RC coil and whilst the coil has more grip and is more sensitive it doesn’t bounce and pop off things so much, makes it faster but less fun. Can’t speak for that lovely looking inline though.

My ARC 30s have faired well for 18 months. Three mates have put multiple dings in theirs though. Mine have one small dent and still hold air perfectly and run true, I’m happy with them. I agree that a low spoke count probably wouldn’t be ideal.

9 speed old XT on 10 speed 105 STIs with a Raceface ring, works fine. Came off once when I went OTB after the front wheel stopped in a foot deep mud bath, otherwise great.

I’d be careful with anything boost. I still had to run the BB spacer on the non-drive (wrong) side to get a decent chain line on my Hope cranks. Boost will surely exacerbate this?

How much does that lot add up to? Couldn’t you buy full XTR drive group for that money? I like my Hope cranks but I don’t think I’d take a drop in shifter or mech for them. Far more noticeable having better shifting than machined cranks IMO.

Edit: XTR seems to have gone up since Brexit!

They’ll be hard to find but ‘restaurant grade’ charcoal is the best as it burns at a good constant temp for longer meaning less refilling. But whatever charcoal will do as long as it’s not ‘easy light’.

Spatchcock (excuse me) the turkey too, it’ll cook in half the time (really) and be more even. It’ll make it far easier to do on the BBQ if it fits.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/how-to-spatchcock-cook-turkey-thanksgiving-fast-easy-way-spatchcocked.html

Indirect grilling is your friend too, but use a normal heat rather than the low heat mentioned in the article for smoking ribs.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/2-zone_indirect_cooking.html

Get a temp probe to prevent guessing 77-82 degrees c is the official answer. I’d do 72/3 and let it rest under foil for a while.

It’s really not very hard. Some might be a little overdone if you get bits too hot but it’ll taste great and you’ll enjoy it.

I’ve used Ellis Brigham a few times. They don’t do it in house though, it gets sent off. Not had a problem yet.

100% brisker for me too. Super thin palm.

Went through few sets last year trying to find one I liked and settled on an aluminium Renthal fat bar. Superstar was good, Spank was the wrong shape, carbon Renthal was waaaaay to stiff and gave me arm pump which surprised me. I just wish the ali fat bars came in black.