Without sounding smug, I have one with all the fitting bits which was built into a Stans rim by the lovely people at 18 Bikes, it came from Germany where there doesn’t seem to be a shortage. I must say that I’m treating it gently, running it in like you would a car or motorbike gearbox. The only issue has been routing the actuating arm up the seatstay on my slotted scandal but I’ve solved that by using a silver no turn washer on one side and filed a chain tug for the drive side. Early days yet but it seems to work fine, the acid test will be doing the Pennine Bridleway from Kirkby Stephen to home in Penistone next month, followed by the WRT. It does seem bizarre to send hubs minus fitting kits, I was told this about a month ago and assumed the situation would be resolved by now.

Please?

Given their location, which is basically in the middle of a field in N Ireland, they would have qualified for massive Development Grant money to set up such an operation to employ a relatively high number of people in what is and was one of the most underdeveloped areas of the UK. Just wait until they completely automate the picking and packing operation and lay off all those workers in the name of cost saving. There’s also the hidden jobs cost of all those LBS’s who cannot expand or end up going out of business due to not making money on spares.

chris n did you know that you were just yards from the most comfortable Bothy in Wales? Gas fire, cooking and lighting all for nowt. Won’t say where it is but it provided a home to about 12 on the WRT last year.

Who’s going to pluck up the courage to ask what colour it is?

Be rude not to go as it’s only just down the trail from me. No use asking Tracey what colour bike she or Katie will be on as it will probably have changed by tomorrow 🙂

As this thread never seems to move far from the subject of sleeping mats, do the £40 Alpkit blow up ones contain some sort of insulation fluff to take the chill out of the ground or are they basically the same as the £15 airbed I bought from Go Outdoors recently to cushion my back against our rock hard camper van bed.(insulation not needed in the van)

I was just going to say that having Sean Kelly and David Duffield on packing probably explains the box size missmatch.
Aren’t regional development grants great!

Best invention ever but the replacement filters are very uncomfortable, and why do they sell them in the breakfast cereals aisle in the supermarket?

As we are a largish group, some of whom have limited off road experience, we have planned for 3 1/2 days, the accommodation fits better as well with bunkhouse at Clapham, Hotel at Earby and Youth Hostel at Mankinholes. Its 6000 metres of climbing so no ride in the park.

I’ve done quite a bit of research on the current status of the Pennine Bridleway as 13 of us are riding from Kirkby Stephen home to Penistone at the end of April. 140 miles in total. The further North you go the less complete the signing but the trail is basically there. There’s not much road at all, less than 20 miles on our route. The Mary Towneley loop which we’re doing the Eastern half of, is well marked and used, the trail from Summit via Hollingworth Lake is really scenic and well defined. We divert up above Denshaw, dropping down into Marsden, up to Wessenden Head then back into the Holme Valley and onto the Trans Pennine Trail at Dunford.

People who ride slowly spend more time on the bike so have to have more robust components. Simples 😉

There’s a company almost next door to Leisure Lakes in Bury which sells these gizmos for not much money. You can also call into LL for a laugh or to pick up the benefit of their wisdom, be rude not to.

Leben means live in the sense of being alive whereas wohnen means to live as in live in a house. I think the main problem is that English uses so many words which are spelt the same but mean different things. Also in reverse, trying to translate your sentance back into English is the reason why many Germans would say I have been living in Germany since six months. Hope that helps.

Hitting the Cote du Holmfirth tomorrow with some of the group that is riding the Pennine Bridleway from Kirkby Stephen to Penistone in April. Could be a wake up call for some who think that 140 miles almost all off road can be done sans training.

Charliemort, be careful to read the rules on tri bars, particularly if your partner is competing at Euro or World levels, my wife does the same in Duathlon. The rules say that for elite riders where the bike section can be a close quarters road race, nothing can extend beyond the brake levers so they have short stubby tri bars. AFAIK this rule doesn’t currently apply to age group but this could have changed. There is no point in training in a sleek aero position then having to change everything on race day, you also need to have a PHD in drafting to be sure you won’t get done for this as well. The rules for Euro and World champs races make the Mastricht Treaty look like Jackanory, they banned compression socks on the eve of last years euro champs which caused much consternation.

Definitely under the heading “anyone with an opinion” as I think I would just freak out. To solve the helmet on-off debate, empty your camelback and pull the valve off, shove it up their nose and squeeze the bladder? Would this get air in or cause more harm?

Buy the correct parts for the right frame. Why are you trying to run the gear changer up the seat stay? If you had the correct fitting kit it would run along the chain stay as Shimano designed to be fitted.

You could try to see if your LBS can order the correct non turn washers via Madison, or you can try bodge on a £400 hub and its fittings. For the sake of £15 you get the right bits to do the job correctly.

I’m openly admitting that I didn’t know the significance of the coloured washers before I bought the hub,I’ve never fitted one before. If the no turn washers were available from Madison, which they’re not, that would have been my first thought, which it was. My LBS has told me that Alfine fitting kits and spares are like rocking horse poo. I’m not looking to scrimp, just have the correct angle for the gear arm which matches the cable routing on the scandal frame i.e up the seatstay. Anyway, I,ve found the correct washer on my travels today, which incidentally is silver, thanks to the kind people at On One who had a grub through their nuts and bolts tray.

Sorry dandelion, I had a mini flounce after Bruneeps less than useful advice.It appears that 8 speed has a shorter arm than the 11 or it may be a trick of the photography, certainly all the other parts look similar. May be worth a punt to CRC or On One, £9.99 isn’t much and you can always send it back. Or call OnOne as they are now fitting 11’s to bikes.
Meanwhile, any other thoughts on my plan?

It was my almost LBS who told me that Madison were sending out hubs with no fitting kits. On One seem to be having the same problems.
Sorry Bruneep but I was looking for advice or similar experiences not smug replies highlighting my mistake. Guess the new improved Singletrack community doesn’t do help any more.

Not sure if the chain tugs will stop rotation of the hub tho.

Please read the thread, I’m looking to file a slot in the chain tug and use it together with the no turn washer.

Yes I know, have you tried getting any of them? My original post said they are not available, I’ve tried St John Street etc and a fairly reliable source had told be that Madison haven’t got any and are sending out Alfine 11 hubs with no fitting kits to shops which is about as much use as a Chocolate Teapot, my question is whether anyone here has alternateive ones to sell or if my bodge will work?

When I bought my 8-spd hub it came with all four washers so I could fit horiznatal, vertical, chainstay, seatstay.

So which ones did you use then? If it was the green Blue combo, can I buy the others please?

Any more thoughts please?

Mine came just with green and blue apparently it’s the same kit on the 8 speed but they’re like hens teeth as well, quite happy to pay for or swap if these are the right ones, part of the problem is that I’m looking to run the gear change bracket up the seat stay not along the chain stay.

If you are worried, just buy a set of genuine Hope pads, you will need them eventually anyway, they come with spare pins and retention bars.

Often seen in mixed ability/sex teams in Polaris, Adventure Racing etc, usual solution is a length of bungee cord with a 8ft length of plastic pipe to stop the cord falling into the wheel if the one behind catches up. Not sure if they are legal these days.

It also depends on whether it is an on or off road duathlon. For road, if you are serious about getting a good time, shoes are already clipped into pedals so you run into transition, take off your running shoes and run barefoot to a line where you are allowed to mount the bike. You can then slip into the bike shoes whilst pedalling, some really keen types have an elastic band to keep the pedals horizontal, its hooked from the pedal to the rear skewer. When coming back from the cycle, you have to dismount before a line which you do by doing a cyclocross dismount without shoes, then run barefoot into transition and put on your running shoes again. This, if done properly, can save 2 or more minutes which is a long time on a bike.
Oh and don’t forget, the first thing you do when getting to the bike is put your helmet on and buckle it up, you can be disqualified for touching your bike without a helmet on, its also the last thing you take off before the final run.

tales of high adventure and wet feet or possibly pub lock ins and wendy houses.

I’ve had to go back to the Teifi Inn since that episode, the landlord still talks about it.

Throughout May you spend every waking moment trying to figure out the best possible route to take, you’ll end up on here asking if anyone knows what the track between such and such and such and such is like.

And after all that still end up following me 😀

Looks like this year I’ll be out of my comfort zone if you are going East 😕

What is the WRT?

Its a bit like HRT but involves sleeping with sheep 🙂

The Welsh Ride Thing is the most fun I’ve had on a bike in ages.
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In fact, we’ve just had our distributors in for a two-hour meeting.

Were they late due to the snow 😉

If that Cotic is Ton’s the top tube must be about 20 foot long 🙂

Dispatched here too, all we need now is some sun.

Mike the bike shop that Simon1975’s bike is outside is Meckis in Torbole at the N end of Lake Garda, looks like they’ve done it up since I was there last, they do a bidon with the same slogan 😀

Surrounded By Zulus comment about tearing legs off is spot on. One further comment, Audaxes used to have a no mudguard, no ride rule, this has been relaxed but is still frowned upon for winter rides but Carradice saddlebags with bricks in is still de rigeur.

Assuming the Alfine sprocket is dished, the trick, apparently, is to turn it round so the teeth run further away from the hub, if it has the plastic guide, you will probably have to remove it. Alternatively get a Nexus sprocket. Just about to go through the same exercise with an 11 speed Alfine.

May be not the best thing to talk about when conducting redundancy interviews.

Nobody spotted the irony in the user name? You have indeed got feet of cheese 🙂

Looks like the Mail have got it wrong then, just for a change Offences against the person act

No, speeding isn’t illegal, the offence is called “furious cycling” I seem to remember that a guy was prosecuted a few years ago for this when he broke the 20mph speed limit through a city centre whilst out training in the middle of the night. Bobbies with nothing better to do iirc. Pretty sure you can’t be done by a speed camera.