FYI – I installed to have a look. Then unistalled it as my device is now asking me if I want to open EVERYTHING in the app. This is on Android and it’s where you click a link or shortcut in the OS that can be directed at one of several apps, eg a new email link on the lock screen.

Is there anyway to get any of the Memory Map maps that I’ve bought over the years onto the new app?

Having already paid for both paper and electronic copies of the maps I’ve no intention of paying an annual fee to be able to continue to use the data I’ve already paid for.

As an aside, if I was OS I wouldn’t be crowing about returning money to the public , given that you’re only achieving that by reselling a product that was paid for by the public in the first place. Maybe you should be cutting charges so you break even?

Upgraded my nephew at Christmas, looked at Isla, but we’ve for a Genesis in the end, better spec for the price and similar weight. It’s a great bike. No idea on resale, but not really a priority for me, it’ll go through a couple of other kids before we’re done with it, so will be getting on for 10 years of abuse first.

And bang on cue, Express is refusing to connect to the device!

Garmin are such a crock of shit when it comes to software aren’t they. I’ve had an Edge 705 for a few years now, it’s great on the bike. Well apart from that time it corrupted and reset itself and lost all my routes.

But the PC connection has been an endless fight, if I plug it in with any cable other than the one it comes with it’ll appear on the computer, but refuse to sync. The plugin must of been reinstalled a hundred times over the years to keep it working. And now it doesn’t work on Chrome, even though it has moderately happily worked for the last, what, 4 years?

I installed the Express stuff and it works, but it hasn’t bothered to install an icon for itself, so I’d have no idea which button to press to open it if it wasn’t for the fact that every single other software company manages to install an icon. No doubt they’ll come up with something else I need to use in 12 months time, hopefully that’ll come with an icon.

All that time and money spent trying to compete with Strava by adding crap to the Garmin Connect website, now it’s a complete mess. But without the plugin I have to bounce everything into connect so that it then syncs to Strava.

Can’t believe no one has taken them on with the hardware side of things, with the mess they’ve made of their software, they’re ripe for the picking by someone that can do things better.

OK, cool, that’s what I do anyway. Do you know a clever way of creating a course from the Strava data?

Wow! Thanks I’ve been meaning to plot some heatmap stuff onto Memory Map so I could navigate some new trails, but this is so much better!

Are you able to have the garmin follow the trails, so it beeps at you if you’ve gone wrong, or is it just lines on the screen.

Awesome!

If it helps date it, I had those forks on a 1996 Diamondback. They’re pretty good for 60mm elastomer forks.

Up Stonycroft Gill from Newlands.

Over Sail and Wandope to Whiteless Pike

When you get to the bottom, the easiest way back is left and up round Whiteless breast, Bleak Rigg and down the Rigg Beck singletrack back to Newlands.

The better way back is right and up Gasgale Gill, from there you can either go onto Grisedale Pike and down any number of ways, or drop in to Coledale.

The Coledale descent is really really good. Mind you, all the descents up there are really really good.

When you get to the bottom again if you’re not tired, back up Stonycroft and over Barrow is about 45-60 minutes, the descent off the front of Barrow is brilliant.

I have a bottle on the way from Australia, but I don’t think this is a long-term solution. Someone should stick it through a lab and find out what’s in it, it would be pretty easy to make if I knew what was in it.

If you stay in Buttermere I can highly recommend:

1. Scarth Gap to Ennerdale.
2. Push up that tongue of glacial moraine to your left, it’s called the Tongue, but not on every map.
3. Meet the path under Green Gable and follow it to your right.
4. Hack onto the top of Great Gable.
5. Amazing run down to the tarn.
6. Amazing run down to Borrowdale
7. Up Honister to the mine, then round the back of Fleetwith to another cracking decsent into Buttermere.

If you’re feeling frisky, between points 5 and 6 you could head up towards Scafell Pike and turn around when you’ve got as far as you think you can ride down.

There isn’t much better than the run from Sprinkling to Borrowdale, it’s miles and miles and miles of awesome.

Oh yeah, if you don’t have a dropper definitely do that!

Actually, thinking about it a bit more constructively, is the bike stock from the factory? Would you benefit from better brakes? Bigger rotors? Are the bars and stem right for you or just what came from the bike?

What about a Garmin so you can see where you’re going? One of the new fangled ones that’ll work with your phone to give you live Strava action?

On the rims, problem you have is that once you’ve paid for the rims you have to destroy a perfectly good set of wheels and pay someone to rebuild them. Means the rims you have now are either wasted or worthless as you can buy secondhand wheels for not much more than the cost of building your old rims into a wheel. Would you use two sets of wheels/tyres? Super grippy tyres for Lakes/Peaks, some fast rolling semi-slicks for local stuff? If not, might as well trash the rims you have first.

For £500 you won’t find a frame that’s more fun to ride than the 456 Carbon Evo.

If I was ever told it was one bike only it would be that one, no question.

If you don’t know the answer, then whatever it is you don’t really want/need. Put the money in a savings account and wait for the next big thing to arrive, you’ll know it when you see it.

If you really really need to spunk it up the wall, then some of those carbon rims and some massive tyres would be my approach.

I tried a dremel, but it struggled with the pig-iron that the cleats are made from. Angle grinder with a 1mm cutting disc though…..

I cut the cleats through enough to break them up, then lopped off the bolt head and replaced the bits inside the shoe as well. If they’re rusted solid, then the bits in the shoes will be a mess anyway and the next cleats will go the same way. Wouldn’t bother trying to get the screws out, just replace everything.

I bet the performance was better with the 66s though!

Never owned a bad pair of Bombers, and the 888 RC3Ti forks on my DH bike are amazing.

However, they’ve never been able to compete on trail bikes for me because they don’t do travel adjust. Completely kills it for me as it makes such a difference as you can go a size up with RS forks without losing the climbing ability.

Just ordered the £23 kit. Dammit!

Ha ha, yeah I suppose it is, though it wasn’t particularly meant to be. Just my experience of when I was best able to hustle a bike down a hill and why. I wasn’t riding SS exclusively, maybe 2-3 times a week. I’d guess once a week would be enough, but might take a few months longer to get the full benefit.

I can’t see I’ll ever have enough spare time that weights and stretching can be added in without ride time dropping, which will then slow me more than the weights etc would speed me up. And although I have a decent setup in my workshop for indoor training, it’s got nothing on real riding in the countryside!

That’s really useful, I didn’t realise I needed a kit to fit the battery! £10 on JE James, just ordered.

If yo’re time-limited and want to train on the bike, I reckon the best thing you can do is to get a single-speed.

I ride DH very occasionally, the only time I’ve been strong enough to ride top to bottom at fort William without stopping was after I’d been riding mostly SS for a few months.

You spend the whole time standing up, which gives you the strength you need to stay stood up on the bike when it gets rough on the descents. And wrenching yourself up the hills is great for your over-all core strength and arm strength too. All that strength training and you get to ride your bike at the same time too!

And yes, I have a few spare bikes, I’ve just been enjoying riding the hills out the back door recently though. Mountain bikes means driving and the cyclocross bike means railway lines, which are fairly flat. Want to avoid losing the bike if I can, but can cope if I miss something.

New front rings because I’ve changed nothing on the bike since I got it and they are worn, cassette and chain is the same. They shift OK as a set, a few more miles in them, but changing the cassette means new chain, means new rings. Not linked to the DI2 as such though. I suppose I could leave the new cassette off to begin with and properly wear out the stuff I have. Would be interesting to see if the DI2 improves the shifting of the worn kit.

It was £375, but may work out a bit more as the chap has had issues with the rear mech freezing occasionally, so that may need replacing. I’m hoping I get away with that, but we’ll see.

I’ve just been out to look at the bike, rear tyre is flat and yesterday’s ride has got the rear tyre down to the canvas. Literally haven’t changed a single thing on it since I got it early 2012, must have about 5000 miles on everything now. I actually have replacement gear cables to fit that were sent a few weeks after I got it because the factory didn’t leave a long enough rear mech loop for the SRAM mech. Looks like it’ll never get fitted now!

Anyway, all of the internal cable entrances and exits are large, with rigid gromits, so should be pretty easy to get everything inside. The battery mount was included and the frame is designed for it to hang off the underside of the bottom bracket, so I’m sorted for battery mounting. There’s actually a large bit of plastic that is the cable guide for the current gear setup, one bolt and that whole thing drops out to give good access to everything, so it all looks very simple!

I know, I’ve been concerned since the ‘road’ into the woods was upgraded. The wood was for sale a couple of years ago, so it’s not surprising that someone wants to take some trees out, but hopefully it won’t get too trashed.

My hockey training clashes with the Oddsox rides, but hopefully I’ll be able to get out with them a bit more soon. I’ve got three big jobs to finish in the house, then I’m having a break and riding some bikes.

I want to sneak up through Greenwell Park to get to Dipton, need to walk the footpaths in that area to see what will fly….

The run from Sprinkling Tarn all the way to Borrowdale is one of my absolute favourite descents, it goes on for miles and miles and has a bit of everything. Push up towards Scafell for a bit of extra descent too if you want more.

I’ve not done the Linning Crag one to compare, but you won’t go wrong with the push up Rossett Gill from Langdale then cracking on all the way to Borrowdale.

Epic epic descent!

I did see there was the Cannondale on there that wasn’t on your list, assumed you’d missed it off your post, at least you weren’t left without a bike at all! I didn’t actually twig until I saw the Juliana at the end of the list as there’s not many of those about.

Yeah, seems to be the way, if you don’t get them back very quickly they’re never seen again. Hopefully the insurance people play ball, what are you planning to replace them with?

We bought in the village nearly two years ago, but I was working in Manchester until June last year so haven’t really beent here long. Renovating the house has pretty much taken over so I haven’t been out on the bike much since I moved up, but hopefully that’ll change soon.

Would be intersted in picking your brains about local trails, I occasionally ride in Foxcover Woods and I’ve done a loop with Beamish Oddsox over South Stanley way, but I really want an off-road route to Pontop Pike as an out and back to Chopwell.

Just seen the theft reported in The Village Voice, didn’t realise you were so close. Have you had any more joy with the search?

It’s an interesting subject. I’d post a ride, but it wouldn’t be too far off what’s been posted in the first post as I live just off that route, in Lanchester.

When I ride from my parent’s house in the Lakes there’s scope for some pretty hard hills, I once did an out and back over Whinlatter, Newlands and Honister, which was pretty tough, but actually it’s hillier over here as you’re not forced to stay in the valley bottoms where it’s flat.

I can head out West and into the Pennines and there’s a pretty long continuous climb, but I can get more altitude in by staying within a few miles of the village and going up and down a lot. There’s one section I often tack onto the end of a ride that is basically dropping in and out of 4 small valleys, so 4 x 200ft climbs one after the other and over maybe 5 miles. It’s those sorts of routes that quickly get the climbing up, not the big climbs that tend not to be as steep.

I reckon Dartmoor might be able to win this challenge though, none of it’s flat and all the climbs are very steep!

I have Memory Map and I upload my routes onto that so I have a map with all the decent stuff marked. It’s good for looking at, for plotting new routes, but a bit cumbersome. Basecamp looks great though, I’m downloading it now….

Have you looked around Samoen? Think there’s a route map thing on the website if you google it. Actually it’s here:

http://www.samoens.com/en/summer/my-activities/cycling-mtb/lifts.html

Haven’t done any of it, but was up there a few years ago and it looked great for days out pedalling rather than the DH tracks up the valley in Les Gets etc.

Anyone ridden up there?

My rigid MTB is bolt through at the front and rear too. Not sure why you wouldn’t, except that the majority of rigid forks are (were?) QR only.

I’m in DH7 too and will keep my eyes open. Hope you get some more back.

Where abouts are you based, I’m probably not too far away? Keep meaning to explore Chopwell.

The Strava heat map thing is pretty good for working out where you can ride locally btw.

If it’s any consolation I have a set of 150mm 32s with a straight 1.5″ steerer. WTF. There’s literally no point in even trying to sell those, the market for them is non existent because who wants flexy forks on a bike that’s got a 1.5″ steerer??

They’re not bad forks so they’re sat in the shed and get an occasional airing on my Jekyll if I’m riding it places where Totems are a bit big.

Not had chance to have a proper look at your app, but looks interesting.

As a headsup I’ve been using TrackMe since Windows Mobile was a thing, you should have a look at it for some inspiration. It’s not exactly the same, but there’s broad cross-over. Basic difference is it uploads a .kml file to a server, which is then accessible on all sorts:

http://www.luisespinosa.com/central_eng.php

I haven’t explored it in ages, this thread prompted me to have another look, so I don’t know how good it is at alerts etc, but if you set it up then add your .kml file to Google Earth it’s pretty cool.

One thing to consider is that if someone is waiting for a text to say you’ve passed a point etc, what do they do if you don’t pass the point. And it’s pouring down. And you’re on your own. And the point was the top of Nan Bield etc? With a live stream you can at least see when data issues have stopped an update. If it causes partners to worry unnecessarily then I imagine a lot of people wouldn’t use it, so cracking that would be a good idea.

Anyway, good luck with it, definitely interested to see how it develops.

Interesting topic. I could see myself getting one as my off-road commute is 15 miles, with options to do some more fun stuff taking it up to 20. If I end up in the office every day, I wouldn’t be able to ride in every day, but an e-bike would take the edge off enough to make that a bit more likely.

I can see the appeal for leisure riding, if you can tune the setup so that you can do more fun stuff in your available ride time, or you can set it up so that you can stay out riding for longer before you get tired then that would be good.

I’ve not ridden one, but I imagine the weight must kill a lot of the fun on descents though? So lighter first. And it would obviously need to be easily hacked not to kill the fun at 15mph!

That’s quite interesting. I have a handful of climbs that only I’ve done and one proper KOM left.

August 2011 looks like the peak of my cycling career, for that 15 seconds near Tabley I was the king of the world!

http://www.strava.com/segments/5924403

Brings back happy memories!

Actually now I know that’s my one achievement that hasn’t been shattered I’m dreading the email from Strava announcing that some semi-pro has chipped a second off my time.

Fell off in Manchester last year, the new line out East is about the worst bit of road planning I’ve ever seen. If you miss the last second 90 degree cycletrack to oblivion, you’re forced to cross the track at 45 degrees. No chance.

One of my bikes is QR, I’ve used the same method with it and it seems OK.

The hook goes around the QR axle, but it sits against the inside edge of the fork, so the weight isn’t really on the axle itself. Mine certainly hasn’t bent yet anyway.

It’s more of a faff for QR as you have to remove wheel, remove axle from wheel and reverse each time you ride. You also need to bear in mind that without the wheel in a QR axle you can squash the two legs together by over-tightening the QR. Just do it tight enough that the safety tabs hold the axle in and don’t worry that the cam action isn’t overly tight, it’s your fork legs flexing.

If you have the space and can’t be arsed taking wheels off I can see the merits of leaving the wheels on, but if you’d rather use the room for something else it’s much better. You can also mount the bikes up higher as they’re not as long with the wheels off and if you’re putting them up into a roof space you can go higher again without the wheel hitting your tiles.

If you get them high enough then you could build a wheeled chest to sit under them that you can keep all your tools and kit in and incorporate a step so you can reach the bikes down easier. That was my plan, but I’ve since moved them to my gable wall and use a ladder to lift them up and down, so now they take up no floor space at all.

@colournoise – I hung my bikes like that, but they took up more room than was necessary. I’ve now got them hung in about half the space by removing the front wheel and hanging from the front axle. By turning the bars you get them in about 30cm of space per bike. I bought s-hooks from eBay and just hang the front wheel from the stem, to get the wheels out of the way.

Worth considering if you need to save more space.

I don’t mind paying for the work you’re doing to make the OS data available on mobile devices, ie I’ll pay for an App. But I object to paying for the data when it was paid for out of taxation in the first place.

The poster above is entirely right, owning a physical map (not just buying a new one now) should give access to that data in any format and at any scale as a bare minimum.