Decided to go with the Neoprene option this winter too,the Endura Nemo gloves seem OK so far but time and a long Winter will tell. Also bought some Neoprene wetsuit gloves to try,very similar but slightly cheaper than the Endura ones not tried them yet.Also (Neoprene overload alert) bought a pair of Neoprene wetsuit socks to try,again cheaper than the equivalent Sealskinz,will report back in due course.
Maybe I`m subconsciously thinking of taking up Surfing instead ?

Had a day like this today-First day out on the new bike,bought it running tubeless so ordered some Stans fluid to top up with from CRC which didn’t arrive in time,never had a puncture in dozens of rides here so decided to ride anyway , drove the 30 miles plus bridge-toll got 3 miles into ride only to have first puncture in years with spare tubes stored safely in my van in the car-park.Long walk back to the car park cussing my own stupidity and lesson learned.

I’d recommend Timpsons,pretty cheap and did a good job for me

Love seeing the Wild boars whilst riding in the FOD,still pretty surreal and makes my day.
Laughing like a loon after really pushing your luck on that scary fast descent knowing that you JUST about got away with it,again.
Hearing the pitter-patter sound of the forecasted rain just as you get home after a ride,and knowing that just for that moment yin time you’re smarter than Mother Nature herself.

Pretty bittersweet this,laughing at the stories then realising that this whole thread could by snippets from my life this year alone.On the plus-side I do have my own office now !
But seriously I do need to calm down a bit,when you’re regularly contemplating /fantasising about maiming people its probably time to get help isn’t it ?

How topical,I also have a 2013 five and have been looking for another one to set up light as mine’s a little bulky with 36`s etc,been keeping a keen eye on prices and they still seem to sell easily enough at the right price it seems.Anything priced £1300-ish seems to sell quickly,although you still get straight a steerer ones advertised at around £1k too.

I’m the middle child of 3,both my older Sister and younger Brother have needed parents help in many ways whereas I never have.I’m very close to my siblings still and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest,and never has either.I’m just glad they’ve had parents to help them,if you think about it its an issue that many folk without parents still alive would love to have…

Ive honestly given this a thought either,I personally like to ride continually without stopping and most people pull to one side when they hear people approaching,as do i,I wouldnt dream of asking a waiting group whether it was OK if I rode though,maybe the groups that I pass are pretty obviously having a chat and a jolly that it`s not applicable anyway.
If they want to wait for clear track then Its their choice,shouldnt affect what Im doing surely ?

Molgrips,because doing it twice nearly finished me off !
It was really windy up there on Saturday though.

I posted my dislike for Cafell a few weeks back as I really do enjoy the technicality of the Twrch ascent and the manic last descent back to the carpark,but paradoxically after a few weeks form afore-mentioned juvenile rant I cant wait to go back and try Cafell again,so go figure ….
Did the Brecon Gap route twice this weekend,`twas a near-death experience I tell thee.

Thank for the input guys,maybe I just need to ride it a few more times and give it a chance then.
Anyone know how long the Twrch is likely to be closed for,it must be coming up to a month by now already

Wonder if they’re also intending to somehow replicate that awful tappety-sound as sported by the original Viva

+1 for the fledgling outlaw renegade Bristol MTB group !
I’m in Kingswood,ride most weekends at the usual haunts so FOD,Cwmcarn,Quantocks,Exmoor and occasionally the Brecons too (not all in the same weekend obviously)

From a personal perspective this place is an absolute mine of information,but as mentioned above it does come across as very middle-class and at times almost elite-ist.I’m of average intelligence but occasionally have to Google what the hell some of you are talking about,and I mean terminology not technically !
I’d honestly rather view than post,as the typical reply % seems to consist of 15% helpful debate 15% agreement and 70% immediate high-brow judgemental smugness.
Its almost like certain people revel in being the first to belittle a new post on here,Noel Coward had nothing on some of you bitches!
N.B believe me I checked those percentages totalled 100% far too many times before posting,and almost auto-spelled Noel as Neil,imagine the irony of that !

Anyone else click on this expecting a thread about Steroids ?

After much deliberation I joined the Vee Dub club by buying a T5 recently and love it,a few mates have them already so it made sense,and lets be honest they look pretty sweet too don`t they.Mine sits in my warehouse during the week and functions as a weekend toy,biking fishing and outdoor stuff loaded and ready to rock,best of both worlds really.

After much deliberation I joined the Vee Dub club by buying a T5 recently and love it,a few mates have them already so it made sense,and lets be honest they look pretty sweet too don`t they.Mine sits in my warehouse during the week and functions as a weekend toy,biking fishing and outdoor stuff loaded and ready to rock,best of both worlds really.

Thanks Chambord,I was wondering why that kept happening !

I feel your pain (literally),tore my medial meniscus last year and it took a while to recover,really spiteful little injury that one !
Im currently recovering from having fair amount of skin cancer taken from 2 sites,and as much as I really missed my escapism through biking ive really enjoyed having lots of rest and time doing nothing too,i really needed it though.
Swimmings a great idea if you are able to, maybe use the recovery time as a training camp to strengthen other areas of your body,its surprising what you can achieve with a few months of repetition and itll still feel as though you`re making gains in strength for when youre back biking again.
Injuries sure suck though

OK thanks guys,I’m usually pretty shrewd but this is something that I hadn’t even considered.
Oh for the days when the damned thing blowing up a couple of miles down the road was worse case scenario !

I’m currently looking too and its a complete scammers paradise,such a minefield and very few sellers seem genuine.A lot of the Vantrader scams are really obvious though,almost always immaculate desirable models with all extras at a fraction of the expected price,the ads are usually in capitals and 4-something £ and @80k mileage.Ridiculous really

In my early twenties I was driving for a large motorcycle superstore in Bristol (Fowlers if anyone’s local) ran by Old man Fowler himself,lovely affable old guy who still rode motorcycles daily even in his 70’s.Leaving work one evening with my colleagues we noticed old man Fowler wheeling a brand new demo VFR 750 out of the showroom to ride home,the perks of owning the company eh! I leave the car park behind him in one of his own Transit’s
and follow him down the road at a safe distance,safe until he stops in the road to see why one of his directors is waving at him from the staff carpark.Unfortunately I’m also wondering the same thing,and shunt him down the road at speed whilst everything else is happening in slow-motion,including him desperately trying to persuade his aged legs to keep the bike upright at running speed before they collapse in a heap with the bike on top of him.Thankfully he wasn’t badly hurt,but running the top Boss over in his own van whilst a director watched wasn’t my finest moment.
I went straight to the pub where my mates wondered why I was unusually quiet,and on explaining why the whole bar erupted en-mass in laughter.
It was a talking point at work for weeks,and recalling it still makes me shiver even now.Amazingly there were never any repercussions at all and I continued working there for many years after the incident

Just clicked over to 16 years,I employ 2 of my best mates so its not too bad as work goes,still worry about becoming institutionalised though.

Caddy Max is a good call rumple,fairly rare but a fraction of the price of a similar Transporter,only 2 seats in the front and not quite so wide,they tend to start at about 5k for a nice one 2008-ish though.

Ive sort of had the same dilemma,and a budget of 3k gets you a lot more Vivaro than it does Transporter,although respective residual values are relative too-The Transporter will keep its value as they always do, whilst anything else will depreciate as expected.I have access to a medium Transit through work and its fine size-wise for bikes,sleeping and accessories and parking wise its similar to a car anyway so a perfect compromise.
The Vivaro`s do seem to come with the inherent Vauxhall electrical problems though,and the 6 speed gearbox is a lot more desirable then the 5 speed box.
We have ran vehicles from most manufacturers,and if you buy wisely with good mileage and history they`ll all be suitable,avoid the Mercedes Vito though.

Great job and very inspiring too,I`m kinda torn as I would love a camper van project but have a Van provided by work gratis,camped/biked/fished out of it all last Summer but would like a project to individualise like yours.
Maybe I just don`t realise how lucky I am ..

I feel your pain mate,separated from the love of my life in late 2013 and still nowhere near over it yet.My only advice is to try not to torture yourself anymore if possible,its completely normal to think about it constantly but try not to end every though with ‘what if?’.Its the past for a reason,accept that it’s probably never coming back,enjoy being a Dad to the children and just ride out the time until you begin to feel more over it,because that feeling will come mate.If its any consolation we all go through this stuff at some point,its just your turn to deal with it now unfortunately ! You’ll get through it though,we all do eventually.
Maybe immerse yourself in a project,work on sorting things that you don’t like about yourself instead of wallowing in these feelings too.

Beefheart I’m with you on this,we’ve all had diverse upbringings but some of the stories on this thread are shocking (and hilarious too thankfully)
I might have blocked it out but thankfully I can never remember seeing my parents nekked,and for that I’m eternally grateful!
The rule of thumb with my kids was once they started pointing at it it was time to cover it up !
Interesting topic though,another STW classic in the making.

What was the trophy for,surfer? I’m sensing something that you’re proud of but don’t really want to talk about ……;-)

Rather topically we used to have to deal with City-Link far too often,and it wasn`t unusual to stay on hold for 20-odd minutes at a time,a couple of times per day.I used to ring them and hold them on speaker phone as background music,to the point of subconsciously humming the hold message at the strangest times outside of the working environment.
I didnt exactly celebrate their recent demise,but I wasnt at all surprised either.

^^I was just browsing anonymously but felt compelled to log-in to pay my respects to the use of “turgid”,a criminally under-used adjective but wholly appropriate given the subject matter.

Half-decent new tyres are relatively cheap now anyway,especially if you haggle hard for x4.IMHO it’s worth buying new if only for peace-of-mind over false economy.

I’m in Bristol and through a career in logistics deal with famous-ish people regularly.Used to see the Massive Attack guys often,have been to their homes many times,and Mushroom still calls in weekly (he’s just gained his pilots licence !)Met Banksie before i knew who he was,see Nick Walker most weeks.Knew the group Portishead well,speak to Peter Gabriel occasionally,have been to Noel Edmonds house too.I used to box and trained with Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno on separate occasions.Ex sister-in-law worked in media management so I’ve met Brucie,Rolf Harris,and many of the Strictly cast at the time.No stories to tell though,mainly nice (if a little quirky) people.

Stunning images geetee, dramatic and despondent captured in equal measure.
Striking clarity and colours too.

Amazing pics,although that ice looks treacherous.
Did the Gap a couple of times earlier this year and loved it,such an incredible ride.

Claudia Winkleman for me-invariably struggling to follow the autocue whilst squinting uncomfortably through far too many layers of eye-liner,her presenting style’s more of a plea for forgiveness rather than anything comfortable or reassuring

Heading for Bikepark Wales on Boxing Day,it`ll be my first time there so getting pretty excited now 🙂
First Xmas of being single after 27 (occasionally happy) years of constant relationships, so enjoying the freedom rather than sitting around drowning in seasonal negativity and pointless reminiscing !