I find the IS a real bonus for indoor shots on my 17-85mm canon lens. Worth getting it on the 18-55 lens too if that is what you are going for. It will allow you to take indoor shots without the flash.

Jackass – where did you get the SS chaintug from? Looks like the same style as the On One version I’m currently using in black, so would make a nice addition to my bike. Ta.

Green frames work well with red bits imo. I need to update the photo, as I have since swapped the saddle for a black one (with red charge logo) and the crank arms are darker LX ones now too now (swapped from another bike). The red chainring bolts are quite subtle in this shot, and you can’t see the red SS spacer set.

[/url]
2010-03-01[/url] by pixelmix[/url], on Flickr

Does anyone actually think a shiny new visitor centre will see a big increase in the number of mountain bikers using the trails?

I think if there is a larger car park alongside, then that will increase numbers. At the moment, I suspect some people will be put off by the struggle to find a space at peak times. Personally, I won’t go any more than I do now (which is reasonably often). I find the current facilities adequate, and will still avoid the trails when it is busy. The new centre might attract more walkers though, who were possibly put off by the muddy, bike focused facilities.

The next Scandal batch is due next year. There isn’t anything else that I can think of that is light, cheap and SS compatible. Is an On-One Whippet too expensive (£399)?

Other options are the Cotic Simple (out of stock until next year, as above), Sirius Pipedream (heavier), or an Inbred (which you could swap later for a lighter frame if you find it too heavy).

I have an Inbred for my SS, and although it is a heavy frame, by the time you discount the drivetrain weight savings, it still adds up to a nice lightish bike.

1000 acres of land the FC has just bought (everything East of the Peel)should just about cover it

They won’t fit on the trails on a Saturday or Sunday though. :?

Had another play around with it just now. Seems to be that at the wider end of the zoom (17-24mm or thereabouts) it will only shout wide open (f4.0). If you try to decrease the aperture to f4.5 or below, it throws an error 99 code when you press the shutter.

Once you get past that part of the zoom (presumably into the part where f4.0 isn’t an option), it will shoot away at any aperture.

It is still £279 for the lens at the moment, so if it is £50 or so, it sounds like it would be worth getting repaired.

Downgrade – that red/black combo looks ace on your Inbred. I’m almost tempted to say that I prefer it to my green Inbred frame with black and red bits.

Mark / Druidh – I predict a good rush on turbo trainers for you this week. I might be in myself if I didn’t live in a top floor flat. Mind you, the old dear below me is a bit deaf…

Cracking snow yesterday at GT, but we’re now past that nice 3″ powder phase, so it’ll be too deep or too icy from now on. :(

Don’t envy your ride back up the hill this evenings gents.

I seem to remember I got told I was an idiot/similar for suggesting the same thing as your first paragraph

Ah yes, good times. Can’t beat a good STW grumpy argument.

The problem is that teachers generally don’t live next door to the school (you would have to be nuts to live beside your pupils) and do have to leave pretty early to get in for 8am or whenever.

My wife drives to Livingston every day. She got up as usual, all set to go. I cleared the car for her just before 7am, and thankfully she got a text just in time to say it was closed (last time it was closed she was almost at the start of the M8, having driven 8 miles or so). I am really glad she is off actually. I don’t fancy the idea of her getting stuck on the M8 on her own all day, or some idiot driving too quickly and running into the back of my shiny car at the lights!

The roads in Edinburgh don’t seem too bad, but at 7am they are a lot worse, and I guess that West Edinburgh / West Lothian is a lot worse still (my parents reckon they have 12″ of fluffy stuff by Balerno).

If only 50% of teachers make it in, you have a major health and safety issue for the council. Do you have enough teachers to adequately monitor the kids? What if there is a fire?

So who’s racing in snow then?

SCX at King’s Park in Glasgow was a little snowy today. Nothing too deep though, just a nice dusting. Glentress duathlon tomorrow looks like a much snowier affair!

certain gender thinking their Nissan Micra was suitable for driving through a car park covered in a foot of snow

To be fair, it isn’t a bad wee car in the snow if driven properly. My wife’s one was ace last winter. Small skinny tyres and front wheel drive means we could actually get out and about when the BMW drivers were still lighting up the rear wheels on their driveways. I don’t think our new car with 18″ 225 width wheels will have quite the same advantage.

Alright, I’ll bite then. ScottishCX at Kings Park in Glasgow tomorrow on the singlespeed (hangover permitting). There was a bit of a “will it be on / won’t it be on” saga over this yesterday one since Glasgow Council seem to have been wanting a big bond to ensure the grass is repaired. Seems to be on at the moment though.

Then offroad duathlon at Glentress on Sunday (snow permitting). Just need to fettle with the full-sus and put some sensible tyres on for that, and I’ll be all set.

Sure a good CX race will make you forget all about the man-flu (until about an hour afterwards).

I’ve ridden from Glasgow to Balerno (via Heriot Watt) along the canal a couple of times when I was a student (cheaper than the train fare to get the bike through for tight-arse students!) I almost landed in the canal at Broxburn on one occasion. Lack of concentration meant I nipped round the S-bends under an old bridge a bit quickly and landed on a big grassy bank a few inches from the canal. Thankfully only one schoolkid saw me, and he was kind enough not to laugh out loud.

Anyway, back on subject. On the rare occasion I ride along the canal, I’ll ride everything unless there is anyone around, in which case I’ll get off and walk. Saves giving cyclists a bad name as Paul says. Just apply a bit of common sense I reckon.

A mate of mine was jogging along and accidentally knocked a cyclist in. Apparently the cyclist was trying to squeeze past unannounced and basically rode into his arm. :-)

Dry and sunny in Edinburgh at the moment. This[/url] is quite a cool use of twitter.

you can’t affect too many trailside repairs with a credit card…

Handy for separating brake calipers though!

As seems to be the general consensus, I do 90% myself, but get spokes replaced/wheels trued and forks/shocks serviced by people who know what they are doing. The former is too fiddly for me to bodge in my usual fashion, and the latter looks like it could end in an expensive mess if I got it wrong.

If you only have one bike, and also have a reasonable amount of on-road in your commute, you will be bored silly on 32:16. I run 32:15 on my singlespeed for off road duties (Glentress and the like), as it gives a little bit more speed when I need to nip across town on the bike.

With skinny CX tyres on, I run either 32:12 or 32:13, but that would be tough going off road.

I’d start at 32:15 if I were you, and see how you get on from there.

If you are going any smaller at the back, you might want to increase to a 34t chainring instead, to give better chain wrap. 34:16 is quite close to 32:15 for example.

We need to set up some sort of self help group here. I really like the look of an On-One Whippet frame to replace my Inbred, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Inbred (except arguably the size and the weight).

I am also currently hankering after a CX bike, which is actually a lot more justifiable (although perhaps not in my wife’s mind).

The problem with too many bikes is that you just spend more time cleaning and fettling. I am riding both of my bikes this week (rigid SS Saturday for CX, and full sus Sunday), so both need some fettling and cleaning before they are ready to go.

James – I’ll post back once I eventually get around to getting it fixed. What was wrong with your 17-85?

i have no idea what i want for xmas 8D

timpol – Member
vouchers for uk bike skills/tony.

Problem solved.

Park Tools pizza cutter?

Great, thanks all.

Nice one, thanks Al. Just googled it, and seems to get a good review, so might pop in there next time I have a day off.

Thanks. Think I used Johnstone when I lived in Glasgow and needed the sensor cleaned. Will look at them again then if I can’t get anything closer to home.

Digital (350D body and a digi specific EF-S 17-85mm lens).

You’ll get a 3 year old micra for £4k very easily. I should have clarified though that the bike wasn’t upright, it was lying down in the back of the micra. I also used a boot rack quite often from Halfords with a couple of bikes on.

I think you’ll struggle to get a bike upright in a “standard” car. My Dad has a Volvo V70 which is supposed to take bikes upright using a mount thing, but it won’t take a lot of bikes, as 700c wheels are too big for it. If you want to go upright, you’ll need to look at something pretty tall (possible a Note or similar as you suggest).

In Scotland, chances are it’s the local drug restock, especially if you’re in a nice area

Yup, the ice cream van where I lived in Glasgow made it nice and obvious by stopping outside only one block of flats in the street, and not bothering with anyone/anywhere else at all.

Mind you, maybe there was a tubber with a love of 99s in the block and I’m reading too much into it.

Don’t have pics, but I used my wife’s Nissan Micra for a few years until we got rid of it. Not terribly exciting or trendy, but reliable, and nippy enough. We kept it for three years from new, and it didn’t have a single fault.

I could get a MTB in the back with the seats down and just taking the front wheel off. Still went in even with the saddle at silly XC height, and travelled like that with luggage for weekends away etc too.

You’ll get a bike in the back of pretty much anything I reckon.

Bound to be a good dumping shortly – the Glentress Duathlon is on on Sunday, and it wouldn’t be the same without a mud/blizzard combo.

You might want to see here[/url] for details to decide if you still want to go, or try somewhere else. Not sure how much of the duathlon overlaps with the trails.

Edit:- looking at the maps, not too much overlap I don’t think.

I rode a hardtail 29er and didn’t particularly notice the difference. It wasn’t on particularly rough trails though, and was only for half an hour. Might give it a shot again sometime, but being a bit of a short-arse, 29ers look a bit odd in my size. I also like the convenience of being able to put any wheel and tyre on any bike we have in the house.

initial penetration of the tail system

8O

You meant “trail system” right?

I’ve only had mine for a couple of months but I’m pretty pleased with it. I have a 2010 X2 which is reasonably light (the only bits I’m thinking of replacing are the bars and the rear cassette once it’s worn out).

I took it to Glentress last week, and it made the black climb bits much easier. Seems really quick pedalling uphill in the middle ring, and I had a hoot on the red descent too. I thought the descent would be a bit dull since I normally ride my rigid bike round GT red, but it was actually good fun.

Great fun round Innerleithen too. Not raced it yet since I intentionally got it after the end of the race season.

The wide bars will give you a bit of confidence for techy stuff, but you get XC lightweight for the climbs. The winner of the Downieville Classic won it on an Anthem this year, so seemed capable enough for him on the rougher stuff.

6.30pm at the shop again?

Cheers TBC

Hmm so is it Mojo tomorrow then or CX again?

Tis indeed the question on everyone’s lips. Although more accurately the question on my lips is Anthem or CX-ified Inbred. Can a SS Inbred outrun Edimbra’s finest characters? Decisions, decisions.

About time I made it out for a Wed night ride. Sounds like one for the MTB rather than the SS CX bike, oui?

TBC – Can I borrow a light please? I promise I’ll be well behaved and try not to pile into any trees whilst it is on my bars.

By “did Scotland” I did mean we went up and did all the 7 Staines and really only enjoyed a few.

Tip of the iceberg there. The 7Stanes are all in the Borders / D&G area, so only cover the bottom 10% of the country. You want to come up again, do one of your preferred Stanes on the way up to break the journey, then head on up the A9, and since you like trail centres, stop in at Laggan. You can nip across to Fort Bill and ride one of the many routes there for a day trip (new downhill XC red route?), and have some great natural biking in the Cairngorms too. Then on up the A9 towards Inverness, and take in any of Golspie, the Strathpuffer course trails at Contin and the Moray Monster trails. Return back down the A9 stopping off as you please (nice riding in Perthshire), and you can break up the journey home by going to Kielder or wherever floats your boat.

I always leave a commet on a thread if I’ve had a nice transaction. Sold a wheel to a nice gent off here the other week, who was a delight to deal with, so I left a comment thanking him, on the basis that hopefully next time he buys/sells something, people might trust him as a seller. I think it is a nice idea.

According to the spec page for the bike it came with (see here), it is a bottom swing one.

It is dual-pull as the cable can be routed from the top or the bottom. Cable routing will be from the top on the Scandal.

Definitely worked just fine on the Scandal. I ran it for about 9 months but got rid of that frame recently.

I used one of these on my Scandal. Worked a treat.

Sorry for the advert. You get the idea though.