Retro – I heard the coating was meant to be colour changing but so far it’s remained the dark green!

Yep – the forks are 29er and 650b wheels

ChiefGG – so are you saying it’s all good then? I took it on another spin yesterday and once again it felt great, yes it may be the best climbing bike however it rides down and across brilliantly. I was sure I was going to change it to 29 straight away but might give it a few more rides. Also, the Hans dampf tyres will make it feel draggy on the climbs too…… I think…

Yeh, its defo a hybrid of sorts. i’m going to ride it again today and see what i think, on the descents it felt good and hit some Strava PR’s when comparing against my 2016 FIVE. so not bad for a first outing and before putting on my normal tyres / setting up forks, climbing on the other hand was a bit wandery. however this may be to do with the grand total of 12 hours sleep since last Saturday!

managed to get the pic to upload….

[/url]Untitled by Jonathan Truesdale[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Nerd – feel pleased to be getting out. the Wife is a keen rider so feels my pain and was the one to suggest it. actually think it did me some good as needed to get the blood flowing as have just been staring at my little daughter non stop! i don’t think i can change the travel on these, i’ve tweeted Ohlins to ask the question. forks feel pretty supple so that would be the favoured option.

Observations

1. When the first response to your thread starts like this you know you’re going to enjoy wasting your employers money reading the replies

Superficial – Member

Whatever you get it’ll be wrong in some obscure circumstance that you only encounter a few times a year so your hormonal wife will insist you buy a second sh***ing pram so now you have twice the number of prams cluttering up the hallway.

2. Scrolling further down, reading this. I started to panic a little bit as I’m known for being indecisive at best….. then looked at the cute baby picture and all ok again…

cp – Member

Second hand, don’t spend a fortune. Mini cp HATED, like properly royally HATED the pram. Hated being on his back, hated being enclosed. screamed…. As soon as we could use it in stroller mode (i.e. sat more upright) he was great. Maxi Cosi Cabrio car seat fit on the pram chassis, that’s useful. He liked being sat in that.

3. This looks like an amazing deal. Thanks for the heads up. we will be considering it. Just to feel warm inside at the saving on RRP.

HoratioHufnagel – Member
We bought an uppababy vista 2nd hand, seems good, tho our baby is still a couple of weeks away (argh!)

However, i’ve since noticed this on hotukdeals and it is pretty much identical, and only 200 quid brand new…

4. Interesting insight. We’d very much got our heart set on a system that would allow us to not have to disturb baby when moving from car to pram. Lots of people we have spoken to have said its a must but good to hear another opinion. i Also got a v good deal on an ergo baby sling which friends have raved about so think the baby will spend a fair bit of time in that.

phiiiiil – Member
The official advice is that under four weeks they should only be in a car seat for no more then half an hour, then two hours (I think) max above that.

We never bothered getting a seat that fits the buggy, it’s never been a problem just moving her between buggy, sling or car seat.

5.Advice that has been tested over the ages, however the fact I’m getting so much data on here will allow me to navigate that conversation and hopefully buy once… not to mention I can deflect any anger re decision to the hive mind that is STW. Trust me i’ve blamed STW before many a time… like when we drove to Oxford from Leeds on a sunday afternoon to pick up a PACE Full susser on a whim (njee – think that was you!), or the time someone was selling Josh Brycleands ‘old jump bike’ located in County Durham so i ‘just had to buy it’ on a whim on a Sunday afternoon, never to do as much as a bunny hop on it once in my possession…. didn’t work those times though

wobbliscott – Member

So i’d just go with whatever your wife wants, if not then you’ll just end up buying twice

6. All questions that i’ll be asking the mrs before we part with cash. We live out of the way, between 2 small towns with not many houses (less than 10) / no shops within a couple of miles so actual walking about would be done when we get places. So think the size, ease of fold and weight will all be major factors

What is your wife/partner going to be doing day in day out whilst you’re at work?

Where do you live in relation to baby groups etc.?

UppaBaby Vista here too, but we live somewhere where you always walk. Baby groups, shops, cafes, pubs. It’s been in daily use for the past 3.5yrs and has been faultless for our two kids.

The basket underneath was the biggest/most accessible of all the ones we looked at so useful when getting bits when out and about.

Think about your daily life before buying anything.

7. Defo a factor with the chariot decision, however this is the one thing we have already made our minds up about. In Finale Lagure last year we saw lots of continental European families who had/raved about the single version. so if they can fit in their car / van for their hols then we can make fit in our house / garage…. plus gives me an excuse to buy another bike appropriate to tow ! I’m in eBay hunt mode for a ‘deal’. as you don’t seem to lose any money if bought 2nd hand (or like you from USA)

They are fantastic but we were living in Paris when the kids were small and the Chariot was too wide for the pavements or to get in the shops; and this was the single version! I’d even have to take a rear wheel off to get it through the front door to our flat and into the lift. Long story short, by the time we moved to the ‘burbs the kids were ready to ride their own bikes and the Chariot was sold…(at zero loss).

8. The mrs has this on her list. however we don’t think it works with the car seat she wants. which is annoying as it looks ideal. i even started to get a little bit excited thinking about making the tyres tubeless

teacake – Member

More seriously, We got a Mountain Buggy +One – it takes two kids in a tandem style. It had a clip on moses basket bit and then from 6 months we had the seats in. Works for us but it is big so crap for shops and city life – doesn’t worry us.

9. Added to the list for us to look at. Good insights

damomcg – Member
For what it’s worth the Out n About Nipper is the best kept secret. You mainly see their double buggies pushed by parents of twins or by child minders but you don’t often see the single. We’ve had two singles over 9 years and they’ve been bomb-proof. They go from new born to heavy weight 3 year old and are light when folded. They are only £250!! Compared to all the other over-designed, over plasticy stuff you can’t go wrong.
For the winter I’d recommend purchasing the foot muff thing as well.

Plenty of opinions for you OP.

10. another one on the list. Feedback we have read says the same.

Egg pram – expensive but very well made compared to the competitors, folds and unfolds using one hand.

11. Damn, id started to enjoy being in the other camp where I was prepared to go against advice and not get a system…

makecoldplayhistory – Member
My advice:

go for a ‘system’ where the car seat clips into a base in the car as well as on the buggy part al la below. Nothing worse than waking a baby to put it in the car and having them scream all the way home.

12. Another alternative opinion to what we seem to have drilled into us,

glasgowdan – Member
To add, I’ve not been fussed about a car base clip system at all. Baby seats come with clips on the sides for the car seatbelt to strap around and it takes seconds to do.

13. The point of this thread is to show her the responses too. I think with the number of responses from intelligent like minded cyclists I might have a chance

outofbreath – Member
You need a pram as cheap and light with as little bulk as possible.

Your wife will want to spend four figures and buy a pram the size and weight of a truck that will totally fill your boot.

You will do the latter, not the former.

14. On the list and good to know. think this is the 3rd recommendation in this thread.

thetallpaul – Member
Can recommend the Bugaboo Chameleon.

15. 4th recommendation now for the Bugaboo Chameleon…

tinybits – Member
I’m not a trendy hipster dad so I got a pram, not a sling. If you want a pram, go for a pram.
We got a Bugaboo Chameleon as above and found it brilliant. We paid £400 second hand and sold it 2 kids later for nearly £300 – that’s the cheapest child thing I think I bought!

16. based upon this amazingly insightful thread I’m petitioning the MRS to look at:

> Babystyle Oyster
> Uppababy vista / jogger / whatever else – loads of recommendations in this thread
> the Britax hot uk deal pram
> Babyjogger City GT / other prams in range
> Mountainbaby to see if we do actually have options re car seat compatibly
> Egg pram based upon it being mentioned on here in same terms as reviews online

i’ll need to read the thread again to really digest incase I’ve missed others to try, the other piece of advice we will take is once we have chosen said baby transporter we will then LOOK FOR A 2ND HAND DEAL.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I now feel confident enough to approach my good lady and have a proper alpha male conversation re what she should/ really/ possibly /hopefully/ if she really wants to / consider before ultimately making the wrong choice of pram (my fault no doubt)

Thanks to all the fathers / people who just really like prams – much appreciated

I’ll digest all the info when I’m getting paid at work tomorrow so thanks for all the responses as all the associated research will keep me well away from being productive for atleast a couple of hours (I’ll blame the uks productivity being in decline due to brexit or something)

I haven’t watched the programme but I’m in Melbourne at the moment and couldn’t believe it was compulsory to wear a helmet. However, one good thing is the fact that you have to be able to purchase a helmet for $5 or less within 50 metres of a city bike

We are partially through converting a 2015 T5, when I say ‘we are’ I mean the various companies that are doing each bit. It might cost more than you think if you don’t do it yourself

Our van is SWB and don’t want a tow ball or bike rack so everything we do has to have in mind we will be transporting bikes inside the van & a dog etc, also we didn’t want a California as we use this as a 2nd vehicle so wanted the ability to clip everything out including bed/seats so could use as a van if needed without damaging the interior.

We were also defo going down the pop top roof route but have decided to give it 6mts to see if ok without as think they look wack (unless you get a hi-lo roof fitted) + cost a lot of dosh

Costs so far
Captains seats with swivels and rear seat bed on rails (caravelle system) – 3.5k fitted

Adding Windows, insulation, sound deadaning, lighting, Sargent power system, single 110 leisure battery, Webasto diesal heater etc etc (all the stuff to convert from a panel van to something more like a day van) – £6k

Cooking, shower, storage pod that fastens to rails and slides out of back of van – £2.6k

Then obvs there the other bits like awnings, mattress toppers, seat covers etc etc that add up.

As the others have said its really easy. I’ve gone the other way to this in last week and to give you an idea I sold the drivers captain chair plus the twin plus the bases for £400 – that’s from a 2015 van. That was cheap but if you go through eBay I reckon you can get a double for £150.

Easy to change, I’ve just removed the bulkhead and as it was welded to the floor I had to remove front seats, easy job 10 mins with the wife giving me a hand. You will need the additional bolts as its a 6 bolt base but if you google it it’s an easy job.

I’ve had both at various times on different cars.

The whispbars look so much better and sit much closer to the roof on my car (it’s a golf R so requires the foot pack)

A friend bought the whispbars and sent them back as he thought they were loud, not loud as in aero through wind but when bikes on the roof they ‘click’ a little when over rough ground as there is more movement in the bar as think they are made from thinner material so flex a little more.

It has never bothered me or the wife on mine and can live with it just for the improved looks. Quality is fine and easy to fit / remove as like the design re how they all fit together and on the car.

Prob doesn’t help that much with you decision but just some user feedback

rene59 – it has absolutely nothing to do with it but it gets me mad that I pay through the nose, get my bins collected once every 2 weeks, maintain my own road and access to my house, queue for 20 mins to get into the local recycling depot, get a sticker on my uncollected recycle bin for leaving the top on a robinsons cordial bottle (I think I’m going to stop recycling in protest).

On top of those shortcomings (bad value for money) there has been zero formal engagement with locals, I was stood on Sunday listening to the arguments and whilst I was stood there they were handing out free plants for people to complete surveys on what they would like to happen with the local area, whilst I was there 2 of the 4 people surveyed didn’t even live in Yorkshire! But yet, ME who lives in the vicinity and pays a stupid amount of council tax can also complete the survey and it will carry the same weight as someone who has come to visit family from Essex and will never come again….. I’m going to drive into lancs and see if I can get involved with any fracking questionnaires the council send out, I quite fancy a fracking site over the border and not near where I live. And hopefully they will accept my responses the same way they would Mrs Brown’s who will be living a few hundred metres away.

I don’t even know why I care, I quite fancy a centre parks near my house, as family and friends won’t actually need to stay in my house when they visit. I also think the nature reserve should be opened up for bikes as will keep the crap riders away from the DH tracks in the woods and knacker my newly built berms.

Thanks everybody for the comments.

I don’t understand enough about the ins and outs but as a local in the area (I live within 400m of the nature reserve) and someone that pays band F council tax I would have expected some engagement from the council re proposals. The petition prob won’t change anything but at the very least force some engagement.

For anyone that does live in the area I have looked into the issue in more detail today I have found Calderdale stamped plans talking about:

The development of a hotel next to Cromwell house and a ‘centre parks’ style resort between said hotel and the pipe works

And

Negotiated access for the public to the watersports centre (my house backs on to this) – The chairman of the centre knew nothing about this until the other week

Interesting stuff!

Really great event, only the 2nd Enduro I’ve done and the 1st for the wife. thought really well organised and marshalled, we managed to get in a campsite 1/2 mile up the road so couldn’t comment on the camping facilities.

Split my tyre half way down stage 1 so was going to throw the towel in (I’m carrying a knee injury so shouldn’t be riding anyway and thought a omen) – I then saw a guy run past me with 2 punctures. I also remembered the guy who I saw on the practice lap yesterday with a prosthetic leg so thought what the hell – SO glad I did, had a great day out.

Looking at the leader board there were already people coming in with sub 17:30min overall so really puts your riding in perspective!

Mine

S1 = 15:15
S2 = 3:22
S3 = 4:33
S4 = 3:59
S5 = 2:44

The Mrs

S1 = 7:01
S2 = 4:15
S3 = 6:10 – she crashed and thought she’d Bryceland’ed her ankle
S4 = 4:45
S5 = 3:22

Worth adding this guy had only ridden it twice and had had his previous bike stolen 2 months prior.

As a lesson for all, he jumped out of the car to run into a LBS and less than 2 mins later it was gone. yes we can say it should’ve been locked on but how many of us think it won’t be me. 2 mins is all it takes, full daylight and on a very busy road.

Good luck in getting it back!

I can’t help you re the 650b but I can tell you I love my Mk2 Bandit 29 (running 140 forks) I now only have 1 MTB – sold my Alpine 160 and cotic soul as just didn’t get used….

Just put this in my ensuite.

We spent a day looking for a new shower. Great quality and looks very nice now installed.

So u like it then! Happy days

Yes! I am converted!

I have read your post but not all the replies so i may be well off the mark with my response…..

I’ve just bought a ‘new geo’ Bandit 29 after spending the last 18 mts on a Alpine 160 (my bigger bike) and Cotic Soul (my wed night ride bike :-) ).

I’m running 140 mm forks up front and 50mm stem (after trying a 70mm). i’m 5 11 fyi

I have absolutely no problem lifting the front end,it feels totally stable descending and then planted when going up hill.

After 5 rides i can say it is the BEST bike related decision i have ever made, after owning Fives, Mojo’s, Blur LTc’s etc etc i can’t see me keeping the Cotic as will always be thinking i could’ve brought the bandit out.

Even with the crappy weather I am climbing faster than i have ever before regardless of how technical the climb is, descending is a total hoot too. I’m not beating my PB’s on the downs YET due to conditions but i have absolutely no doubt I will.

I was out with a mate yesterday who has been off work for 3 months and has done nothing apart from ride / train / swim – He was on his XC bike and said he has never pushed himself so hard to keep up. Trust me its not my skill level or fitness level improving that broke the man.

I had started to ride my CX bike much more than MTB, since buying the Bandit I have not touched the CX…

Just gone from an Alpine 160 to a Bandit 29 (new shorter travel version) and ABSOLUTLEY love it.

Tackling everything I would normally and it doesn’t feel dramatically different apart from being lighter and rolls much faster.
(I’m running 140 up front through)

Ton – How big was this guy? He must have balls the size of the moon to jump out of the car to square up with a guy the size of you!!

Both the wife and I went through the same debate.

She ended up with at Arkose 3 and I managed to get a Caadx with 105 for less than a grand. Both are great but we both agree the caadx is a ‘better’ bike. Yes it might only have Canti’s but it’s sooo much more lighter and build quality is excellent (not saying the pinnacle build quality isn’t good but not as good).

Absolutely love my cx, I have not ridden my soul or alpine 160 since getting 2 mts ago! The wife’s Five and Cove HJ have not been touched either!

Me too, it’s been happening for over a week but thought I was pressing an ad by mistake.

I’m browsing on iphone 5 and redirected me to a dragon game.

Annoying!

Bastards! I’m in Brighouse and will keep an eye out.

I’ve shared this thread with my cycling buddies too.

Tracks in the vid are (however there are lots of people who have different names for them)

Peckett
Punch t’wall
Blue Pig (not alternate, just the mid section)
Back to Punch t’wall
Beechnuts

Ali’s wound +1. Super drifty at the moment, would be fun on the fatty!

I’d try these. I bet the bottom of beechnuts would be great at the mo on a fat bike!

Had a 2008 dsg. Fantastic car, loved driving it and found the DSG to be awesome. When I bought it I thought I’d use the paddles or sport mode, in reality I just kept it in drive and found it an absolute pleasure to drive.

For the 18mts I had it it averaged 27mpg and that was a real mix of driving.

It handled brilliantly and was faultless for the time I had it. Only dowside was at the time I had it they were quite desirebale to thieves in the area and whilst on a MTB holiday it was stolen.

The wife now has a mini jcw which in paper is more powerful and quicker 0-60 but in reality the golf had much more usable power – can’t see why you’d need a quicker car than the golf for British roads.

As a brand name under Santander, yes.

Err, not sure they do. And to confirm Santander will only let you do 50% on I/O

this defo has got people talking…..

I can see what TA mean about their holidays and Hebden, for those of us who know Hebden there are some seriously techy runs which are not too dissimilar to the routes found around Les Arcs albeit much shorter.

I’m sure a number of you can name the descents in this hebden vid….

I think it depends what you want to get out of the vehicle. the fact you are looking at the FR spec means you want somthing thats sporty……..

I’ve had this engine in a golf GT.

As you will have experienced it has bags of torque and when driven sensibly can return good MPG

My real world experience saw me get 36mpg during the year I had it, I’d come from a Mk5 GTi to this and it felt fine to drive when I first got it. All that torque is addictive. However, within a couple of months I was bored. It was great in a straight line and on the motorway but if you wanted to make progress on nice ‘driving’ roads the low end torque and heavy engine didn’t make it feel very dynamic or sporty.

I sold it to go back to a turbo’d petrol

EXO are good (I run 2.5 Minion F EXO’s on front and back) but I split both on a recent Lakes trip.

When I got back I thought i’d replace them with some UST DH versions I had in the garage but as soon as I picked up a 2.5 DH UST Minion o realised why i’d gone to EXO!

Good for a weight saving but not bombproof

If you read AA Gill’s review in this weeks Sunday Times he would suggest not.

Working fine via website.

Not available for download, tho. You in the UK?

Still not working for me and yes, in the uk.

Maybe it’s due to me being on ipad? I’ll try on computer.

Will it be on iplayer at any point in the future?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p011923h/Up/

Thanks but its showing unavailable?

It’s not on iplayer! (Anyone know how this iplayer shizzle works? Will it be on iplayer at any point in the future?)

I reeet fancied a good cry too!

See here….

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/femur-carbon-456-frame

He bought another 456 c straight away so he must not have any issues with its duribility!

If anybody fancies a full carbon Meta 5 frame then look here…..

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/commencal-meta-5-carbon-frame-2011-small

I need it gone ASAP as its taking up space! Offers invited.

Don’t bother.

Me and the Mrs were up there last week, the section after tunnel is actually a pretty good challenge to clean and its worth pushing back to tunnel to session. Rest of it is crap, you’d need a 29er to ride it :-)

I’ve either sold the bike/frame before the headset died.

Currently got hope on 2 bikes and both running perfectly after 2 years of abuse (infancy compared to some of you above!)

Well, the part of my thigh that is really hurting has not bruised yet. The top of thigh/hip/arse is nicely bruising though.

Taking tomorrow off work as holiday don’t even want to work from home as sitting down for long periods and then getting up is doing me no good. Plus, I want to be ok to ride at the weekend :)

Dare I be the first to say it but a metal frame probably would have bent anyway and left you with a broken bone due to the smaller diameter.

Fully agree, I was on my Soul when we crashed and that went in the opposite direction and on reflection that was a blessing. My leg is hurting* today so imagine if my mate weighed anymore I’d be laying down now with a serious femur fracture

* flipping killing me

Might be worth an email on the off chance?

yes, I’ll even offer my rear end for crash testing!

Bit of Duct tape and some cable ties and it’ll be right as rain.

Defo worth a try. It’s a single speed and I don’t think the fact he spends 99% stood up mashing the pedals puts extreme stresses through the BB or down tube so would definitely hold up*

*perhaps

Yeah, our friend is a paramedic who was over at the house last night and she said the same – looking forward to stepping out of bed tomorrow!

He’s had it for 18 months plus don’t think they warrenty arse to frame contact :)