I had the older Pro FS (my son has it now), great bike with top level kit and a light frame. Seen a few Boardmans in the Gorrick 12 events and my mate still enters on his Team h/t.
I’d heard stories of poor service so I collected mine still in the box and assembled it at home.

Nothing wrong with buying from Halfords but the trick is finding the right person.

I’ve done this a number of times playing cricket. I assume they have strapped it to the adjacent finger? I always allowed 4-6 weeks.

I have a Ron/Ralph combination on my 29er. No complaints and I’ve kept them on all thru the winter which is just about doable where I live (Hampshire).
Went up tubeless really well although the Ralph leaked air thru the sidewalks for about a week until it settled down.

I’ve just fitted Enduros to my XC 29 full susser. – They are strong and run well.
They were only 4mm wider than the originals but the tyre sits better on the rim plus they are slightly lighter (obviously that might not apply to every bike).
I went for those rather than the XC’s because I’m 14st and some of the trails I ride are getting a bit rough.

If it’s anything like the events I’ve done/watched there will be all kind of bikes entered.
I started about 4 years ago and wished I’d gone for it earlier. Set yourself a realistic target and enjoy it.

The only thing you need to worry about is getting in the way but they will usually tell you which side they are coming past.

I have both – can’t tell the difference. As mentioned above the M8000’s look slightly better but that’s about it really.

Just in the process of fitting a Hope pick & mix – sealing is very impressive compared to what is currently in there.

If you can accept 2×10 then the Vitus Rapide 290 is on clearance at CRC @ £1099.

+1 for the Decathlon tights. Not sure which ones I ended getting but they were £59. They are a good fit but I did have to go up a size.
Helmets – whatever shape fits your head. As an example 661 fit me really well whereas Giro don’t – that doesn’t make them a bad helmet just not for me. Try before you buy.

I wore my ordinary varifocals for MTB, motorcycling and cricket for many years – never had an issue. It can take a while to get used to them, in my case 1 day but Mrs Patagonian took weeks.
The plastic lenses are tough enough to deal with whatever is thrown up in your face.
There are plenty of sports frames to choose from nowadays and plenty of deals to make a 2nd pair affordable. I certainly wouldn’t pay Oakley prices and then repeat it every two years when you need new lenses.

I can’t fault my CR’s or SLX’s but I wasn’t sold on the Elixir 7’s so replaced them with M8000 XT’s and they are ok, better than the others…probably not. They give you a couple of options that the SLX doesn’t have but braking performance is similar.
Value for money I’d go SLX, appearance XT :-)

Never tried the Guides but they get very good write ups although they seem very expensive.

I’ve just changed my carbon hard tail from 2×10 SRAM X9 to 1×11 M8000. I did it for a number of reasons but mainly because I couldn’t use the 39/11 so what was the point of having it? I went for a 32 up front which seems ok for now.
I’ve only ridden it twice so far but the ratios seem about right, 32/11 is just about ok – a bit low on a long fast section but how many of those do you get in a xc race?

Maybe I will get used to it but I’m not so keen on the new feel to the Shimano shifters, it feels heavy like scram but not as snappy.

180/160 for me. The 160 on the front it was delivered with just didn’t cut it whereas the back is fine as I can lock it whenever i want whatever the surface.

Lens implants…….have you old lenses removed and new plastic ones inserted, takes 20 minutes. They fit corrected lenses so no need for glasses anymore. Thank you NHS :-)
Made a huge difference to my life.

+1 for Bolle, I use the Contours…………along with lens implants.

Haven’t tried a TT but you can get a Boardman FS 26er in an R8

I was a senior manager for a very large British company, trust me you are already on your way out of the door so take the compromise agreement.
Ask for it to be described as voluntary redundancy so then you are entitled to job seekers allowance.
Even if you left on good terms our company policy regarding a reference was to only confirm dates of employment etc so that shouldn’t be an issue nowadays.

I really like that, when I rang them about 6 weeks ago it’s a pity they told me there was nothing in the pipeline so I ended up going elsewhere.

I recently went tubeless for the first time and found it really frustrating until I’d sorted a process that worked for me.
I did two sets of wheels – one TLR and one not, same with the tyres. If I’m honest it didn’t make a blind bit of difference to the end result.

I found the following……
Gorilla tape sealed the rims first time unlike the proper tape which was a disaster.
A track pump was hopeless, I splashed out on an Airshot and suddenly they were sealing first time. That doesn’t mean a ghetto inflator won’t work but I didn’t trust it to hold 140psi which is what I found I needed although I do like the conversion of a fire extinguisher into an air tank.
Remove the valve and use the Airshot to blast the tyre bead into place. Deflate and add the sealant, replace the valve then inflate tyre again.
They weren’t 100% airtight straight away but over the next 24 hours they sealed up.

I’ve got exactly the same issue and I got new connectors from …………. Maplins.
Description is dc power plug 2.5mm/5.5mm

Another +1 for Andalucia.
I’ve used these guys in the past, they are Brits who have moved out to live in one of the White Villages http://www.andaluciancyclingexperience.com

Fantastic, can’t wait for the next instalment.
How do you go about calculating strength required/forces involved ???

I’m in the process of buying another set of pedals too.
Nanos are very good but if I’m being really picky I could do without the raised centre section. My favourites are the new V12s but are they really that much better than the Nanos or MG1’s……probably not worth worrying about when you consider they are a lot more money.
So I think I’ll be going for another set of MG1’s.

I’ve used Superstar Organic and Sintered with no issues but I gave up on the Kevlars as they kept glazing over.

I dont believe chain stays or seat stays are a DIY repair – nothing to do with knowledge of composites – I just wouldn’t go down that path as I’m not going to ride something I don’t totally trust. Unless I could get to both sides of the damage its a non starter as a home repair. Yes they can be repaired professionally but that is a different matter.

The crack is well down the seat tube so if I was to repair it then an insert wouldn’t interfere with the normal seat post.
Diy Seat and chain stay repairs on a hard tail mtb I’ll pass on – I wouldn’t ever trust them and it would spoil the enjoyment of riding but hey that’s just me!

The crack is well down the seat tube so if I was to repair it then an insert wouldn’t interfere with the normal seat post.
Diy Seat and chain stay repairs on a hard tail mtb I’ll pass on – I wouldn’t ever trust them and it would spoil the enjoyment of riding but hey that’s just me!

@Cookeaa
No I never said bin it, I did consider repairing it (and one day I still might) but not without supporting the fix internally – glue alone won’t hold it.
So a seat tube with a cut down post glued in – yes. Any shaped part of the frame – no that’s not a diy fix.

And it’s worth mentioning that a professional repair was quoted at about 250 with an additional 80 if I wanted the fixed section painted which is getting close to the price of a new frame.

I’ve got the Rapide 290 and when I had a warranty issue recently CRC were excellent and made a decision very quickly.

But it isn’t just a case of mixing some epoxy and glueing it together as the structure of the fibre weave will have been compromised, you will need to replace that lost strength/rigidity and glue doesn’t do that. There will almost certainly be stress in that area and the crack will flex which causes it to open up again.
The only repair I would consider is one that involves inserting a support inside the damaged area.
In my example I was considering inserting/glueing a cutdown seat post as a repair but the warranty process was painless so why bother.

I basically ride the same circuit almost every time I go out and over the last seven years I’ve used 5 bikes – 4 aluminium (2 f/s) and one carbon – and only the carbon has failed with a cracked seat tube after very little use. All 5 are xc bikes used on an xc course.
If you look at the inside of the seat tube you can see a depression were the crack is so I guess it’s a manufacturing defect, the replacement has no such mark.
It’s certainly made me think twice about carbon and I don’t think I would go that route again.

However one of the alloy frames has severe corrosion so that material also has issues…..and steel isn’t an option for me.

That Astro website is interesting, I’ve never seen it before. Their carbon hard tail looks just like a Vitus Rapide and Devinci Wooky…………

Having had to hacksaw a Maxle out of my forks once I’d say you do need to put something on it!

Tubeless except for the commuter

They are no longer “Charge”, they have been rebranded as Fabric Scoop.

Aldi or Lidl?

Aldi or Lidl?

2FO’s for the summer and Shimano AM41 for the winter. Last time I tried Five Ten Impacts they were huge!

+1 for the pakajak. Evans do them for £34

I do the Gorrick torq in your sleep every year and that’s just about pushing my limits but I have the advantage of living there so I know the tracks. I would love to do xc events but as an ordinary rider the course needs to be doable – I have to walk away and go to work the next day.
What would convince me to take the plunge would be flowing tracks with no surprises and plenty of categories to suit all ages/abilities.
And as mentioned previously let’s have more events in the decent weather!