Keen to do some more natural stuff at some point, so I’ve marked this for future info. Is the Lhairig Ghru best ridden East to West? From my experience walking round there, could be a bit rough for riding in places.

As a man who just sold his hardtail to replace it with a short travel full-sus, I do agree. My last ride on the hardtail was a hoot as ever. You can’t beat a lightweight hardtail for having fun getting the back end to step out of line when putting the power down out of corners.

I think my full-sus will be less tiring for racing, and quicker over bumpy stuff (you can’t just sit in the saddle and keep pedalling the same way on a hardtail), but I’ll always be keen to keep a hardtail/rigid bike in the stable when I have room and funds.

Ah, darn it. Sorry mods – wrong forum.

Guess I was just a bit spoilt with the X9/X0 bits that came on my old Epic. The XT barrel adjusters etc just felt a bit cheaper. Hoping the XT brakes rub a bit less than Avids though.

I’ve stuck on my Charge saddle as I’m used to it, and it is also marginally lighter than the stock one. Tyres are about the only thing I can see me changing in the short term. Will wear the Crossmarks down then stick on my usual Nobby Nic / Racing Ralph setup. If I keep it for a few years I’ll probably go 2×10, but I’m in no rush to do that.

Just got one myself. Not ridden it yet (first ride this Saturday), but liked my demo ride the other week.

Having come from a SRAM / Avid setup on my other bikes, I find the Shimano bits a bit cheap feeling, but thought it rode well enough on my demo. Looking forward to putting it through its paces.

What changes have people made to theirs?

Crank brothers for a decent amount of float so you can find your natural position without thinking about it?

Incorrect cache/firewall settings on your mac or in your router?

Track pump for pumping up tyres whenever possible should help (saves moving the valve around too much with your hand pump).

I find iPhoto ace for organising photos. On the rare occasion that I edit photos, I export them to PS Elements, then import the edited file into iPhoto as a new photo.

Have you used iPhoto yet? For home user photo organisation, I think you would struggle to beat it.

I have a Spoon on one bike and a Knife on the other (basically a lighter Spoon). I like them both. They are quite firm, but I find them comfy enough. Good bang for yer buck.

I ordered some shorts half an hour ago. Worked fine, but a little slow when applying the discount code.

The real issues are two – one its 8 miles to the hills on gently sloping well made paths and two – the local trails involve hills I can only just get up in granny

I assume you refer to the Pentlands? It is a bit of a pain getting to the Pentlands from Trinity on my 32:15 setup, but not too bad. I think you’ll find 32:17 too slow for well made flatish paths. Singlespeed fine when you get to the hills though – I find it ideal round Glentress red, and would probably be able to do my standard Pentlands route on it.

Thanks chaps. Job done. Apologies for the massive photo!

I think my problem was choosing my woman first, which makes buying new bikes infinitely more difficult.

TBC – I see you got those Cannondale’s on the website pretty sharpish. Any plans for Scalpels at any point?

Mabie Forest is a train ride away in Dumfries, and has bike hire available. Only a few miles from Dumfries train station so you can ride there, or get a bus nearer I would imagine if you are hiring.

Sounds nasty. To balance things out, I’ve been to Dalby once, and saw no serious injuries and no ambulances.

Unlike the STW massive to remain silent for so long. Maybe the Giant Anthem is too common for niche STW tastes. I’ll get my coat.

We struggled as well, 30% deposit, less than 3 x our joint salary needed and we couldn’t get the money, eventually had to drop about 10k, which we were going to use for a new kitchen and bathroom to get approved.

Stupid thing is, I bet they would have offered you a £15,000 unsecured loan though.

I am led to believe that Nationwide have just implemented a new system without fully training staff and are taking ages to process anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if this occasionally manifests itself in declines for people that shouldn’t be declined. Where in Scotland are you? I can recommend a broker who has spent the last few weeks kicking up a fuss on behalf of several clients with Nationwide.

It is sometimes useful to have a broker who can get the lender’s “BDM” to knock heads together internally.

The newer Scandals are just plain old alu (no Scandium). I have one in 16″ which weighs in at 3.5lbs.

Not the most comfortable ride on bumpy rocky bits, so I’m going back to short travel full sus, but it is a nice, light, fun frame. The light, stiff back frame means you can have a lot of fun getting the back end to step out of line when you stamp on the pedals whilst out of the saddle. As above, I run mine with 100mm forks.

Not the lightest wheels in the world, but I've had a set on my rigid singlespeed for the past 8 months, and they have been fine. Look more expensive than they are, and seem good for the money – £130 or so from Merlin for a pair!

What if you make a claim though?

If you have your bike nicked from the roof of your car, your standalone policy will not affect your quote for the following year. What is the M&S stance on this?

If M&S bumps up your policy quote up for the following year because you have claimed on your home insurance for having your bike nicked, I would imagine that this could quickly negate any initial saving.

That does look like a ridiculously small gear at Dundee!

Thanks for the advice. Think I'll dip my toe in for a few rounds this year to keep fit, and maybe see if I can acquire a CX bike next year. Best get practising with my running – I was knackered climbing a few stairs with the bike yesterday!

Thanks – maybe up the gearing a bit, but I suspect 32:12 might be a bit tough. Maybe go for 32:14. I have rigid carbon forks, so that'll do.

Thanks for the tyres suggestion – I'll go and have a look.

Thanks folks. Someone must have nipped in and used the £5 off £25 before I got there, but I stocked up on inner tubes to use the £5 off £50. Cheers

I am off today, but decided not to bother riding, as I went out on my singlespeed last night instead and the weather looks a bit rough.

I similarly had some midweek riding at Carron Valley on my own a few months ago. Took the rigid singlespeed down and did two fulls laps, plus a further stint round the final jumps section. They may not be the most technically challenging trails in the world, but it was still fun on the rigid singlespeed. The last section is good for practising your jumping technique too, as you get a good line of doubles and tabletops to build up your confidence on.

Stuff the naysayers – have a good day!

Details on Giant Australia's website already for some models (mountain bikes etc).

Thanks for the heads up. Glad we just decided to do GT Black instead (although there is racing on at GT this weekend too apparently).

Pretty sure that Dales had an x3 in at the weekend for £1350 or so in the sale. Might be a medium, so might be worth giving them a buzz.

Giles,

2011 Anthems are on the Giant Australia website, and will probably be the same spec in the UK. Comes with 3 x 10 drivetrain, which doesn't bother me (I'd rather have 3×9 or 2×10) and some other minor changes. The colour of the X2 is hideous to my eyes though, so I prefer the 2010 model. I've picked mine up for £1600 (the bike shop sponsors the XC series I race in, so all racers get 20% off).

Dales Cycles in Glasgow have only a Demo bike left in medium which they are doing for £1500. I am riding it next week, but they are looking to sell it after that I believe, and I'm told it'll be in great condition.

I also think that Giant have them at £1600 in their own stores, although I'm not near a Giant store, so can't confirm that. At lot of other stores seem to be low on stock.

I am 5ft7" and rode a medium (18") Anthem around the streets by a shop I am buying it from at the weekend. Medium was spot on for me, and I had the seatpost reasonably far up, so you should be okay with a medium too I would reckon.

I should mention though that I like quite a high seatpost and a reasonably stretched out position, as I use it for racing.

Thanks – will give that a shot. Sorry for the hijack!

I don't use the matchmaker clamps, but I did overtighten the bolt on my RH SRAM shifter clamp the other day, so I now need a new clamp. Not having any luck finding any anywhere else, so just adding my tuppenceworth here. Please drop me an email if you have one!

Nice video. I'm sure one of my team mates mentioned he encountered the race leader. Sadly I didn't. Maybe next time. :s

First 10 hour race for me. Did it in a trio which was a good idea, as it gave plenty of time to wash bikes, put on some dry clothes and fuel up before the next lap. I found the course brilliant. A good mix of muddy rooty sections to test handling, and the fast red finish was a blast.

The trails will hopefully be fine when they dry out or the mud gets washed off. The rooty muddy bits are a mess, but they aren't part of the main trails so presumably won't be used much until the next race (SXC or whatever).

So I'm after a grippy, fast, 2.2ish tyre that doesn't rip or pinch flat… Help!

One set of tubeless (nobby nics maybe?) and just let some air out when it looks slippy?

Oops, should say "week" not "wee" in the heading. Thanks, I'll look into alternatives.

I do have friends in Aberdeen or could maybe take it part way on the train before getting on the bus, as I think the train runs the first half of the journey.

Solution look for a problem?

You folks were fairly zipping down the Water of Leith last night. Too fast for my short legs to keep up on the singlespeed! I'll need to find a new job so I can join you all some time. Looks like I'll need to bring the gears though.

Thanks for the info SJ – will take an OS map and try to figure it own over the summer. Will have to see if I can fit in a wee Gisburn ride some other time too.