Unequivocally the Lakes, with local knowledge.

Was that lots of bridleway stuff or lots of off-piste trails?

7Stanes tour

What was the best bit apart from inners and GT?

Only because I live in the tweed valley so they’re not a holiday.

West Highland Way Duathlon with the Wean

How old was the wean at the time?

our kids bikes get covered in scratches immediately but that one you linked to looks to be in great condition.

Some kids just don’t ride their bikes much

i would go 24+ rather than suspension

Likewise. I can only speak from my own experience but my 6 year old has an orbea mx20 with plus size tyres and he’s an absolute machine ascending and descending on it. He tried a friend’s 20in trek hardtail with front suspension once and he didn’t like it much.

At that sort of price point I’d be looking at second hand as there’s a really good resale market for kids MTB

E.g.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/vitus-24-junior-mountain-bike-kids-bike/1472124208

Are you sure it’s 750 for the battery? Would this not fit?

750 was what Ribble quoted me to replace it – tbh I didn’t ask but that may well have included pickup, labour etc.

I’ve not looked into replacing it myself but presumably it’s reasonably straightforward?

(although I imagine it must be on sale somewhere!)

It’s on sale various places for a lot less! No cycle to work unfortunately.

when you say it’s “died a death” what exactly died?

The terminal event was buckling the front wheel in a minor bump up a kerb (low energy impact so there was some sort of weakness there). But it also has lots of other bits and bobs (chain, cables, bar tape, at least one possibly two tyres, one set of brake pads) that need replacing and there’s a fair bit of cosmetic damage (scraped, some rust) to the frame, fork and stem. I think a new bike would probably be about twice the price of replacing all the broken bits but I would have a new bike.

I still like the Tongsheng one I put on my Genesis Tour de Fer 🙂

Is that the mid-drive one? Was it easy to install? Decent battery life?

but just thought does he have a full face helmet?

Yes. Plus knee pads and the all important gloves. He doesn’t like wearing gloves but has now learned the hard way.

We got really into orienteering (non bike)

That’s a good shout I’ll look into it. He loves a map and really enjoyed orienteering with beavers last year.

Bit of a distence but one of the best parks in the UK is at Dumbarton (unit23)

That’s a brilliant shout. Will def check it out.

My kids love a climbing wall. Eden rock just south of Edinburgh has an area just for kids

We’re on first name terms with the staff at eden rock and he had his last birthday party there.

Pump tracks. That Skelf place in Edinburgh looks great.

Skelf is indeed great! He basically learned to ride there.

Get a skateboard! You’re never too old!

I used to work in A&E. Saw a couple of unforgettable skateboard injuries in amateur adults. Soooooo…. No.

As you might know the UCI event ended recently and FLS have a very small number of trails to install as they were in areas used as race areas to support the event, these trails are planned to be open in late September 2023, this date is based on clear weather etc. but follows the programme provided by our design/build provider.

Finally a response from FLS, still don’t know why they are so poor at communicating this stuff.

Thanks for sharing this. End of September (weather depending) it is (hopefully).

According to the shop if you switch it to power level 0, there’s no drag at any speeds? Around the carpark there wasn’t any, and honestly mrs_oab won’t be at that speed through leg power…

I don’t think what the shop have said is correct, although from what you’ve said it sounds like it’ll be less of an issue for you than it is for me. I asked Ribble about it and flagged it when it went back to them briefly because of an unrelated electrical fault. They basically said, yeah it does drag, sorry about that. You can definitely appreciate the drag by how rapidly the wheel slows down if you just spin it freely e.g. with the bike up on maintenance stand.

Edit: the bike is now about 3 years old so maybe this is an issue they’ve managed to fix. Not sure.

Just wanted to chip in about the mahle motor. I have a Ribble cgr gravel ebike with a mahle hub motor that I was using for a 50ish mile round commute. Tbh I was pretty disappointed in the motor because of the drag it exerts on the rear hub when not powering it, e.g. if you’re coasting or exceeding 15.5mph. Real negative impact on the quality of the ride imo.

Was thinking of heading over next Sunday, couple of laps of the red – is it worth it or is a lot closed off ?

The red is fully (or near fully) open. It’s the new stuff, some of the offpiste stuff and the freeride that is closed.

Apparently the upper green will be repaired at some point, but it needs a harvester to clear the windblown trees. The damage is restricted area at the start. Likewise there are plans to reopen the black- Boundary is gone forever, so it is likely they will use Five Year Plan with a new entrance, then a new section to reopen Deliverance.

<p style=”text-align: left;”>That’s interesting. I’ve basically given up on the black and just ride the off piste enduro stuff if I’m looking for something challenging. I’m glad about the green – it’s still written up on the FLS website so I assumed they were going to do something about it at some point.</p>

Just wish they would be better at communicating, how hard can it be?

That’s basically it isn’t it. There’s been lots of “don’t do this, this is closed, don’t ride on that.” Like, there was a whole BBC news article telling people not to ride on the new stuff ahead of the champs! But no positive communication as to when we can expect to ride stuff or what they’re waiting to happen.

You weren’t the chap mrs_oab and I spoke to briefly at the top of the lower blue – the whoops section – by any chance?

Not me no. I had a long chat to another couple of dads at the skills track but that was it I think.

Crazy thing is it all looks pretty much complete and rideable to me.

I know! It’s so frustrating! I wonder if they just need to put some signs up or something

Smooth runs that are fun but manicured so you don’t face any real danger. Kids will love it.

I took the 6 year old to comrie croft last weekend and he had an absolute blast on the blue (that he decided was actually an orange because it’s a bit like the orange at laggan). It looks very similar in style.

Buzzards Nest will never reopen…it is being turned into fancy lodges…

Yeah I did know that. Likewise with the freeride park and zoom or bust. It’s all a big construction site up there now. I suppose what I’m getting it is that a lot of the downsides seem to have happened quickly and then all of the upsides (for this summer at least) have been delayed delayed delayed with no end to the delays in sight.

Yes likewise – was up today with the small boy although it is Sunday I suppose.

Really irritating. Given how much is now closed – and has been all summer – like the freeride park, zoom or bust, buzzards nest (not to mention the upper green loop which seems to have been totally forgotten about) there just seems to be a lack of movement now the champs have been and gone.

<p style=”text-align: left;”>What do you envision doing the most of on this bike?</p>

Having fun, mostly flowy trail centre stuff with some freeride. Occasional bikepacking.

Maybe, but I have a Blue Pig, and have done all day ‘xc’ rides on it as well as bashing out techy single-track and DH/Enduro style trails.

Very comfy for all types of riding IMHO.

The piece I think might be missing with the blue pig is more the pump track/DJ/free ride stuff. I always felt my bfe wasn’t nippy enough  for that. Maybe I just need more skills.

Hmm maybe, but I thought that one of the reasons the blue pig might feel a bit cumbersome is the geometry and the long travel fork, and the mmmbop has both of those things.

There are some really nice trails in Ladhope woods in Gala

I’ve heard of these the legendary not-on-trailforks trails. Are they easy to find?

Would the gypsy Glen route be too much?

Good thought. I think the descent would be fine but the ascent is looooooong the way I’ve always done it (from cardrona). I’m not sure if there’s an easier way to ascend.

👍👍👍

I’ve lived in Edinburgh, Inverness and the tweed valley.

Edinburgh – cons were noisy, polluted, awful traffic, very very expensive housing, difficult to ride or run anywhere interesting direct from the door (except for running in holyrood park, I found the pentlands pretty dull), I also found it _really_ unfriendly after moving there from yorkshire. Pros were good restaurants/cafes (presumably good retail opportunities but thats not really my thing), good public transport.

Inverness – Pros – good road cycling (car drivers weirdly seem to be more respectful to cyclists there), easy access to lots of amazing places (even just using public transport), friendly place, loads of other folk into the outdoors, affordable housing. Cons – it’s really far away from my family, everything in the supermarket or even online is more expensive, (you often have to pay extra for delivery with an IV postcode), I found the local area (say within about 20 miles of Inverness) a bit flat and uninspiring.

Tweed valley – Pros – amazing running, cycling, MTB, etc. from the doorstep, friendly, housing is affordable (although not cheap), lots of cool festivals like Tweedlove, EWS, etc. Cons – public transport is a bit iffy, gets super busy in the summer, no rock climbing (or indoor climbing) locally, the highlands are further away.

Well that was nice

We bought our son an islabike rothan aged 18 months. I think it was £80 second hand. It was red (v important) and has a rear brake which I initially removed. After his first proper crash I put it back on but I still don’t think he ever used the brake. He had absolutely no interest in it (despite my increasingly desperate attempts) until suddenly at about age 3 1/2 he loved it. Then he rode around everywhere on it for about 3 or 4 months until we got him a pedal bike then he never looked back.

A common story I hear from parents is that they’re not interested until they are, and that just depends on the child. Once they’re into it they usually pick it up very quickly. I always thought our son would be into it because he loved going on my bike and he was a quick developer physically, but I think at first he wasn’t interested because he could run faster than he could go on the balance bike. It’s really unpredictable and you just have to get one and see how they go.

After that we bought him the smallest islabike with pedals (Cnoc 14s, second hand £120 iirc) and literally the next day he was riding by himself on the pedal bike. Within a week he was doing 5 mile rides with us (on segregated cyclepath). He’s still no idea what a stabiliser is.

Perfect thanks.

Was there much pushing and/or carrying on the way up?

I wouldn’t take my 7 year old down blue doon.

Why not?

There are other trails at the nevis range I would take her on though.

Have you ridden some with her? Or just that you would in principle?

Is it actual hub drag you’re feeling or just the result of the motor switching off when you hit the limit?

I’m fairly confident it’s the hub. I had the same thought so I tried riding the bike with it switched off and it still feels very draggy compared to, say, my mountain bike which just had a normal rear wheel with a derailleur. My old commuter has hub gears so I’m used to a bit of drag but it’s much worse than that.

Do you know what sort of percentage efficiency you get with them? I’ve looked around online and re-read th reviews of my bike but there is nowhere that mentions this issue so far as I can see. It’s far and away the worst thing about the bike imo

Bah. Thought so.

It’s very disappointing how much less fun the bike is than I was expecting because of this.

Thanks for all the replies.

This is the first “new” bike I’ve bought in almost a decade. I’ve instead got four second hand bikes, all off gumtree etc, all of which have served me well, so it’s sort of a new experience even dealing with a bike company. If I were to cancel I’d probably go looking for another second hand ebike but those are few and far between too it would seem. For the time being I’ll probably wait unless it looks like bike companies might start collapsing, in which case I’ll have my £3k back thanks.

All useful stuff thanks

What I probably didn’t make clear is that my son is wee for his age – he generally will fit a bike that is for a child 1-2 years younger than him – and I don’t want him to be held back by this. I don’t reckon he’ll be ready for 20in wheels for another 2-3 years.

The 16in early riders look great – I might have to think seriously about one of those