@AndyR

Where we are in Greece it’s just all about long dirt road climbs up to around 1,500 metres followed by either similarly long dirt road descents or mule track (kalderimi) descents which are just rocks and then more rocks – a lot is rideable, but it just gets to be no fun after a kilometre or so.
And then you have the f*cking thorns.. Nice singletrack is like hen’s teeth.

Sounds like where I worked on Lefkas. There was one good singletrack descent, but the rest was primarily fireroad.

Strangely I feel more compelled (and comfortable) going for a run in extreme weather. I remember heading out in one of the blizzards we had earlier this year – hardly saw a soul in 3hrs or so. One of the coolest bits was gliding over a couple of hilly fields and not seeing any life (or prints) for miles. Made me feel like a yeti, so much so that I even indulged in running like one for a bit. Made me happy.

Yes! :D

Did that last winter. Was ace!

(and no bike cleaning afterwards)

I’ve ridden all over the northern hemisphere. The UK does have some absolutely excellent, with Scotland standing out for me. Similarly I rode near Big Sur in California which was great, I always love riding in Spain with its abundance of singletrack and massive open spaces, the riding in northern Italy is wonderful and varied, the riding in France is awesome but crowded, the West Indies has some real rain forest gems and as previously mentioned, Croatia has some incredible riding where bumping into another rider is a reason to stop and chat because it’s so rare.

On the flipside, I love Scotland but hate midges. I love where I live now, but it does get awfully messy in the winter, and is crowded on the trails (although not as crowded as Brackley or the North Downs).

Is there anywhere better than the UK? Probably, but it really does depend on what you want.

Personally I do intend to move somewhere warmer at the end of the day, but it will be near to good riding.

Croatia was terrible there the seven months I guided there.

Horribly dry, rocky and technical, masses of horrible space, disgustingly empty trails, terrible food and hate-filled locals.

Awful. Utterly awful.

Utilitarian commuter.

I’m off night riding tonight so I’ll have a go at craking one off.

8O

I suppose at least it’ll be dark…

Ace bike though – I fancy swapping my five for an alpine.

I thought that until I rode a demo and found it a little too short and the geometry not different enough to warrant a change. Sticking with the Five now, even though it does occasionally get a little out of its depth while riding in places like the Alps. It also still has the grin factor. :D

If I were to change I’d probably get an ST4 and a Blood for very specific roles.

I’ve got a Canon S90 compact which has a decent size sensor, can be run fully manual and shoots RAW – I’d hoped that it’d do the job nearly as well as my SLR.

Unfortunately so far I’ve been a little disappointed.

So if I covered my seat in salt and then dropped a few rippers, it’d do the job?

*contemplates best way of smuggling salt onto a plane*

For some reason porridge gives me a quick attack of explosive shits, which I then feel empty after.

For that reason it’s not my energy food of choice.

I like the colour!

Wouldn’t have it meself like, but I think it works with the white. :-D

Not used one, but like Altura kit on the whole.

I’d say do it.

Go on try something different, you know you want to…………

Last time I did that I got arrested. :oops:

All of them?

I’m struggling to think of one that hasn’t.

Even well-known logos like Specialized’s have been tweaked.

I’m sure there’s a minor bird joke there somewhere…

(although realistically it was probably closed down by Maggie)

Are you a miner?

SS = low maintenance.

My primary reason for SSing.

I probably don’t count though because my SS isn’t niche enough (it even has a sus fork).

As much as I love bikes, I have to admit to not really liking bike tattoos, probably because I don’t feel they transfer well as an image for body art – they’re too fiddly and spindly.

THE ONE UPGRADE YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY DO IS XM819 TUBELESS!!!!!! SERIOUSLY FOR 100QUID OR WHAT EVER IT IS,ITS WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!

I agree – got them on mine and have ridden in the Alps, in Spain, Wales etc. etc. with barely a murmur. Very good rims.

So right apart from the rear and pedal reflectors. :P

I don’t know if I’m that bothered about RLJ when it’s done (in my eyes) at a minimum and responsibly. I just don’t perceive the same threat from traffic at lights.

Maybe we need to categorise RLJing?

Is an RLJ when someone turns left through a light when the road is clear, or when someone sails through a red as if protected by a shield of invincibility? Or is it all the same (you lawbreaker, you)?

So those of you that believe that there is no excuse for RLJ are your bikes fully legal? Red reflector on the back, pedal reflectors, ce marked lights? ( non ce marked lights are not strictly legal)

I don’t know if it’s the same now, but when I worked in a shop it was only legal for a shop to supply a bike with front, rear, pedal and wheel reflectors. Once the bike had been bought the owner could remove them if they wanted to.

I wonder how many anti-RLJers are cheeky trail riders…

:lol:

I have the tin opener – anyone got the can of worms?

:wink:

Rubbish – I am putting no one in any danger and its not a sport and I am not an ambassador

Are you riding a bike? Well done – you are now a cycling ambassador to everyone that sees you while on it.

You can disagree all you want, but it remains that practically every non-cyclist that sees you on your commute riding your bike is going to pigeon-hole you ‘cyclist’ in the same way that every person with a big stick on a golf course is a golfer and everyone behind the wheel of a BMW is a BMW-driver.

It’s stereotyping, but that’s just how it is.

I won’t bore you with the details of the politics with local policing here, suffice to say that clear up rates aren’t as high here as they are in other areas. Mind you, it does mean all the drug dealers, prostitutes and other scrotes get pushed into one zone, away from where the nice decent people live.

And I bet they don’t jump reds where the decent people live either. ;-)

Jumping red-lights puts you at the same level as ar$e-hole drivers.

You’re an ambassador for your sport whether you like it or not.

Every time you run a red it’s another excuse for the Daily Mail to run an ‘evil, lawbreaking cyclist’ rant.

Advice?

Buy a Japanese car.

+2 DeadlyDarcy.

Crap news – sorry dude. :(

The whole image thing is b0ll0cks IMO – there are c0cks aplenty in every type of car. I’ve stuck with Germanic brands for the last 9 years and swear by them regardless of what all those (often envious) pr1cks think.

Certain executive Germanic cars just seem to have more than their fair share. :wink:

I’d like a stand with two positive points of contact to prevent bike movement whilst being worked on (at the moment I clamp the seatpost and angle the bike so the front wheel sits on the ground).

Bearing the above in mind, if the clamping system did involve using the fork as a point of contact, it should be be adaptable for all the current dropout systems out there.

Regarding current conventional clamping systems, I’m non-plussed whether it’s a cam or screw system – I’ve used both and both have positives and negatives.

Liking the tray and bottle opener ideas (I have a tray on my old Blackburn stand – very useful) and the light has some merit.

I live in a flat, so bolting to the floor for me is a no-go. I also sit my stand on a towel to catch crap – a specific absorbent mat could be a good accessory.

Good luck!

Or more to the point: what Five for the South Downs? ;-)

Re: bar and stem etc., I’m thinking of discount at time of sale, but fair point.

Also, yes – brakes are certainly one place where I’d be spending my extra pennies.

However, if I were regularly Alps-bound though I’d maybe consider a bigger, adjustable fork. I went twice last year and having an extra 20mm (oo-er) was a definite benefit.

Edit: just read the above – great minds. ;-) And yes, I also own a Five :-)

No experience of the Maxles, so can’t comment.

Do you really want the extra faff and complications of an RLC fork? Will you realistically use the compression damping?

Otherwise sounds on the money. Personally I think a decent headset is a good investment. I’d also be tempted to get a lighter post (and maybe even bar and stem) at the point of sale.

Re: the Boxxers, unless you’re planning to ride purely downhill I’d avoid and get a single crown.

The Patriot 66s started in 2005 as well, IIRC. Personally I’d get nothing older than that and preferably be looking for something a lot newer (the 2007 model was lovely).

An 8 year old big-hit frame with DH forks is not a wise investment.

I’d agree with David. A platform shock has a ‘platform’ in it which requires a certain amount of force to ‘blow through’.

Essentially, what it gives you is a smaller amount of travel until you take a hit that exceeds the ‘platform’ settings, which then allows the rest of the shock to be used.

To put it into a real-world situation, when climbing you will have a small amount of travel due to the platform, but as soon as your bike starts taking hits descending – because of the greater forces involved – the shock will fully open and active (the platform will be continually getting ‘blown through’)

Bel-Air convert here.

I like WTBs (especially the Speed V, Laser and old SST), but dislike the WTB Rocket quite intensely. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Rocket I’d probably still be using WTBs now.

It really was quite sh!t.

FWIW, I used a Patriot as a guide bike in Chamonix, in 2003. Loved it then, even with its ‘long’ 125mm Vanillas! It climbed well (especially over the technical stuff) as long as you didn’t mind sitting and apinning, and was ace fun on the downs.

Over 3 mins and nobody has slated the five for being overprice/ugly blah blah nonsense.

STW you disappoint me. :lol:

Got a Five with Lyriks – insanely adaptable bike. Love it.

Want a big rig, but for 90% of my riding the Five works.