…a hoot down the west coast singletrack of Scotland (To the car guys: if you’ve never been there, do!)

This. In any car, pretty much.

I got a couple of TranzX droppers from Bike-Discount.de (like this) for 100 Euros a pop. Seem fine so far – in fact they’ve got better with each ride. Don’t know how long they’ll last but very happy at the moment.

They also come in a decent range of sizes, and they have stealth versions for an extra E10.00

bikebouy – Member
Alfa Romeo GT1600 Junior. Bought for £900, restored to (almost) perfection by me and a mate, sold to the Coal man who wanted it for his wife.. pestered me for 2 months.. sold for £2500. You can’t by a red bucket these days for that. Mind, it was 1999 when I sold it.
Also an AlfaSud 15Ti, bought £400 (I kid you not) sold for £800 or thereabouts, rebuilt the front struts and almost rewired the thing.. such a fun car, sold for £600.

Snap – more or less. My Alfasud 1.5ti was genuinely completely rust free when I sold it… for £600! Wonderful car which I’d have back in a heartbeat. I did get £4,000 for my equally smart GT Junior, though (also in 1999).

The one that hurt most, though was my 1750 boat-tail Spider which went for £4,750. Six months later my very car (complete with distinctive no plate) was on the cover of Classic and Sportscar magazine.

Wonder if my Skoda Fabia diesel will prompt a similar post in 15 years….?

Fabia estate works for me. Polo sized, but swallows my 29er whole. If economy matters go for the 1.9 diesel – same MPG in the real world as the 1.4, and it will just refuse to die (my sister’s has about 220k miles on the clock and doesn’t miss a beat)!

I assume that a Seat Ibiza estate would be the same, but they’ve not been around as long so may be over budget.

Wife came too.
Her first ride.
She loved it!!

Thanks again, particularly to jimdubleyou for the link to lifewire. Worked perfectly!!

(Although having looked through exactly what I’ve been copying, I’m not sure I should have bothered: we’re just going to have to listen to more of her music in the car now…)

Thanks all, good advice (esp Rockhopper!).

Time for a play methinks…

Main job is a manager in a Museum. Mostly great, and it’s something I honestly believe in and think is massively under-appreciated (our specific field – not necessarily all museums, per se), but there’s a silly amount of work, there’s no money in it (personally, nor for the organization), and I don’t get to spend enough time interacting with visitors.

I also “ush” at a local theatre, which is brilliant. It’s minimum wage stuff, but basically involves chatting with the customers and making sure they have a good evening. I also see bits of lots of plays, and whilst a lot aren’t to my taste, better a night at an open-air theatre than a night in front of the telly. The view’s ok, too.

In my spare time I help out on father-in-law’s farm. Mostly at planting time (they don’t trust me with a knife for harvest). I love it, as it’s just a whole day spent on the back of a planter, in the fresh air, talking crap with the best of them. Downside is it’s voluntary (working for family) and eats into my annual leave from my other jobs.

All told, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Crispy, last time I was at Cardinham (3, maybe 4 weeks ago) large parts were closed for forestry work, with a hefty fire road diversion. The signs said it’d be like that until April iirc. Might want to give it a miss.

Sorry for the thread hijack…

Try here …. about 50p each depending on how many you need.

Much better mood today, after a happy hour browsing the Harveys website.

I’ve only used Harvey’s maps once (the 1:40,000 covering the Hadrian’s Wall path), and although I’ve been absorbing OS maps since birth, I have to say I really liked it. Anyone got views on their 1:25,000 mapping – and suitability of the 1:40,000 for bike navigation / planning?

martinhutch – Member
At least you’ll know when urine the right location.

Too soon for humour! (Although that did make me laugh).

On the bright side, I have an excuse to hit the OS website, and the cat-loving Mrs Pz feels she can’t really object. Might have to exaggerate the number of maps I need to replace…

I’ve got the Cougar, and whilst I don’t have anything to compare it with, it’s brilliant. We’ve got the bike-trailer kit and the “stroller” kit, and I love the fact that you can store whichever you’re not using onboard. Means you can, for example, ride into town, park up and convert it into a pushchair to go and do the shopping. (Takes less than minute to convert).

Our lad had his first trip in it being towed behind the bike a few days before he turned 5 months.

I’m sure the top-of-the-range model is nice, but I wonder if it justifies the extra cost – the Cougar’s not exactly cheap anyway, and then you have to fork out for the Infant Sling, then the Baby supporter (which we’ve just moved up to at 9.5 months), bike kit, etc. I got ours from babyhuys.com – cost £530 last summer. I don’t know how the exchange rate will have changed.

Great bit of kit…

ETA: Think carefully before going for the 2-seater. I umm-ed and ahh-ed, but I’m glad I went for the single in the end – it’s quite wide and will only just fit through a couple of narrow spots on my regular routes.

My two-penn’orth (although based on non-current versions of both):

I had a 2012 Orange 5, which I loved. It had an RP23 shock and Marzocchi RC3 44 ti forks (150mm). A super capable bike and really engaging. Im not the most hard-core rider and I’m sure I was “over-biked”, but it was so playful and so much fun it always made me smile. Was also handy climber, although not light in that build.

However, my riding (which was always skewed to natural trails) started taking in steeper, rougher and rockier lines and I found that even on the Orange I’d reached the limits of my ability / confidence. Following a “friend of a friend” recommendation I bought a 2014 Prime, built with CCDB Air and 150mm Pikes (51mm offset). My thinking was that I’d ride both bike alternately, and sell one of them at the end of the year.

I haven’t ridden my Orange once since then. For me, the Banshee is awesome. More secure on the rough stuff, faster on the smooth stuff, and the way it picks up speed when you point it downhill is like pushing a boulder off a cliff. It climbs with less effort and it’s also given me the confidence to start getting off the ground – something it does much better than I expected. Also feels lighter than the Orange (though I’m not sure it is).

Having said that, I took it for its first trail centre trip recently and it didn’t really feel like it’s natural environment (although still fun). But when I swapped with my much faster buddy who normally rides a Giant Trance he couldn’t believe how much faster he was on the Prime, even on the blues and the reds.

I don’t know how 2017 versions of either bike compare to mine, but I would (and do – ad nauseum) recommend the Prime to anyone. If you’re anywhere near West Cornwall you’re more than welcome to have a play on mine…

“Muppet”, “Spanner” or “Doofus” – depending on how affectionately they’re being used.

(I’m the kind of sad coward who’ll just slink away if genuinely riled – and then think of a brilliant smack-down that I should have used half an hour later)

Wow – thanks for all the ideas. I’ve got some serious free-trials-ing to do…

Sound advice as always, Perchy. Sound advice….

Thanks for the suggestions – really helpful. I like the idea of being close to a pool as he loves swimming, and as you say something to do if/when the weather is poor would be wise. Elterwater looks great – I’ll google for similar set-ups around the country.

Thanks again!

Hatchback or estate?

Estate is great – road bike gets swallowed whole, or two mountain bikes with just front wheels removed (Orange Five and Banshee Prime, both Large, so not tiny bikes). No need to drop droppers, slide front seats forward or anything. Three people and three bikes is a bit more tetris-like and I always end out taking back wheels out too, but it’ll go.

Of course you can never admit to driving a Fabia if you want any kudos with the T5 / Defender / Audi S-Line brigade…

Another vote for the Thule Chariot with baby sling. Been using ours since nipper was 4 months (9 months now). Younger than that and you might find yourself stressing over how much they’re being jolted over every little bump (very little in reality, but that’s not necessarily what it’ll feel like).

xherbivorex – Depending on how you’ll use it I’d recommend the single seater, unless you’re going to be carrying particularly much. There’s plenty of room around the inside for toys, and there’s a surprisingly big ‘boot’ on the back for the change bag, shopping, spare jacket, etc. If you’ll ever use it in the pushchair configuration (or on narrow-ish paths) the width of the 2-seater could be a bit unwieldy. For me, one of the best things about the chariot is being able to ride into town, tie the bike up, and have it converted to a pushchair in under a minute. There are also a couple of places I ride where the single-seater only just fits through gates – a 2 seater definitely wouldn’t.

If you’re anywhere near west Cornwall you’re more than welcome to have a try with mine – it’s a lot of money if you’re not sure!

I’ve always been a strictly wheels-on-the-ground kind of rider, but have just recently worked up to some small drops, maybe 2-3ft absolute max. I very rarely ride trail centres or anything man-made (once a year, perhaps) so I’m used to lower speeds and more caution than might be ideal. It’s a good excuse, anyway! The age thing hasn’t bothered me so much – I’m the wrong side of 50, but the improvement in bikes has outpaced any drop in my confidence over the last 10 years.

The tip which has really made a difference recently is one I got from my wife having (horse) jumping lessons: by the time you take off you should NOT be looking at the landing… your focus should be five seconds further down the trail / round the arena. Certainly stopped me from panic braking at (or just after) the last possible moment.

Any kind of jump will have me mincing with the best of them though. Can’t see that changing!

What fuel’s it using, OP? We have a coal fired AGA. It’s the only cooker we’ve got, it does the hot water, and we’ve no central heating, which means it’s always on, 363 days / year (a couple of days to go out, service and relight.)

Pros: Lovely warmth in the house – the kitchen is the only room that’s not cold in winter. It sounds really naff, but it’s almost like having a big grumbly pet in the kitchen – makes a lovely sound as the coal works its way down, and sulks if you neglect it. Perfect for toast, slow-roasting, and big, simple dinners (the oven space is huge). Cheap and quick way to boil a kettle. I’m surprised that posters above say the ‘hot’ hot plate doesn’t get really hot enough – ours is sometimes glowing gently if you turn all the lights off! Great for drying clothes over (string some lines across the kitchen ceiling if there aren’t already).

Cons: Really inflexible for cooking. We basically have two ovens, one at about 250c, the other about 100c. Any recipes needing something in between require creativity! Similarly with the hot plates – stupidly hot, or just about simmering, makes it hard to, for example heat butter nicely without burning it. Needs to be ‘fed’ coal twice a day, and have the ash pan emptied daily (and a sod to relight if it goes out), which makes holidays awkward.

It goes through about 2.5 – 3 tonnes of coal a year, so that’s about £1k annually. But then we don’t have any other heating bills, and only use electricity for lighting and the washing machine.

HTH – not sure how much applies to other fuel AGAs.

Depending on sizing, it might worth looking at a Sabbath September AR-1. Discs, takes racks / guards, and is a lovely ride.

Other builds are available….

Horses can’t vomit, so they can actually die from travel sickness

Ooooh, thanks for the heads-up. If I can get childcare sorted I’ll be along for this (been meaning to do it for a few years). Is there a record for the slowest ever completion, cos I could be in with a shout!

I got some Lake 303 boots last year for winter commuting. I’d been finding that, no matter what I did / wore, my feet were painfully cold (then somehow painfully numb) from about 5 miles into my ride until half an hour or so afterwards. Clearly some circulation issues…

The Lakes are great. I wouldn’t say I have toasty feet, but they merely get cold now. A huge improvement – but then they should be at the price (even though I got mine in a one-off sale at Halfords)! Whether it’s worth it to you is up to you, but if you do go for them I’d go up a size (and get a wide fitting, unless you’ve really thin feet).

There’s a good view of Three Cocks when you’re on the top of Lord Hereford’s Knob, in the Black Mountains.

Not rude, but I do like Ding Dong (has to be said in a Terry Thomas way) and Grumbla, both round here. And Tonkin Down sounds distinctly meteorological…

ETA Oh and there’s a Virgin Terrace and a Salubrious Terrace in St Ives. Both misleadingly named…

That Niva website is amazing…. take a look at the “USED SALE!” tab.

12 grand for what looks like a stretch version (and is the ugliest car I’ve seen in a long time)? And the last 2 photos appear to show all the parts that have already fallen off…

Another vote for the Banshee Prime. “Only” 130mm rear travel but with a 150mm Pike and CCDB Air it’s way better than I am, without being dull on the easy stuff. Also climbs fantastically.

Woodsmoke is very evocative: it takes me back to a VentureScouts weekend in a tumbledown shack at the foot of the Sugar Loaf near Abergavenny, and then 10 years later to the very chocolate-box village I lived in, in the Cotswolds (a whole lifetime ago).

Better than that is the smell of hot sun on skin. Always reminds me of my first girlfriend – and always will.

But no. 1 has to be simple suntan lotion – when I was 19 I worked a season as a canoeing instructor on the Ardeche in France, and the smell of suntan lotion always, always takes me straight back, no matter how incongruous the circumstances.

In the tradition of recommending what I’ve got, have a look at the Banshee Prime (currently on sale at Bike Tart (don’t know how to embed the URL, due to ampersands)). Flip chips give you 3 options for angles, and it’s an awesome bike.

If you’re anywhere near West Cornwall, you’re more than welcome to try mine…

My sister-in-law’s folks have run a successful family campsite in Cornwall for years. Strikes me as being massively hard work, and far from glamourous.

There’s lots of cleaning up after people, and dealing with overly high expectations, a sense of entitlement and overly low standards of behaviour…. and this is on a campsite with clear family-friendly, no-groups, no-loud-music policies.

There’s ok money to be made (down here at least), although the season is short. There’s 6-8 weeks each year when they’re full, or 44 – 46 weeks when they’re only part-booked at best, and they have to be there 7-days-a-week for cleaning the bogs, running the shop, sorting problems, and cutting the grass!

I’ve worked in tourism for nearly 20 years (different field, if you’ll pardon the pun), and it does wear you down. Whilst 99% of people are lovely, the combination of the other 1% and the relentless hard work, long hours and unspectacular pay means that most people move on sooner or later.

Sorry, don’t mean to p*ss on your bonfire. You just need to really want to do it (and then keep remembering that 99% are lovely)!

Oooh, good shout, Perchy. Specially if he did something like this. Would suit him down to the ground…

Thanks for the replies (yes, even yours, petec!)…

I’ll get myself on a course, and also try to get along to the local club’s Friday evening paddles to see if I can scrounge a go in whatever they’re all paddling.

I couldn’t tell you why, but I’m drawn to composite rather than RM. I have access to an old Dancer and a sit-on (don’t tell anyone), neither of which do much for me – I just find them a bit cumbersome, somehow. No doubt I’m projecting, and not all plastic boats are the same, but it’s probably coloured my judgement subconsciously. I’m not sure my budget will run to composite, anyway!

Anyway, great advice, so thanks. I’ll get myself some training, and then go back to looking for my “quiver killer”.

I was looking for much the same thing and have now got a Sabbath September disc. I bought it as a frameset for £1400 (from Fat Birds – don’t know if they’re still doing that offer) and have built it up with mainly Ultegra-level components… admittedly came in about £400 above your budget but savings could easily be made.

It’s 19lbs dead, with pedals and mudguards, and a lovely, lovely ride. Can’t recommend it enough!

rwamartin has it spot on.

My first is 3 months old now, and I’m 4 years older than you, so don’t let that worry you. In fact, while i’m probably more tired than I would have been at 25, I’m also a lot more chilled and less stressed out about the whole adventure.

Have fun, and make sure you both create some space for the other one to have some ‘me’ time. (Otherwise, just sell your bikes). Oh and ignore everyone who says “this is the easy bit” to you… as far as I can see you’ll be hearing that for the rest of your life now…!

Bad news… hope they come good asap.

Does anyone know whether the Prime is prone to the same issues with cracked frames as the Spitfire?

If you’re in Porthcurno to see the Minack, it’s worth heading a couple of hundred metres down the hill to the Telegraph Museum – specially if the weather’s rough.

A hidden gem, and an introduction to the almost unknown story of the first global telecommunications network.

DISCLAIMER: I’m biased, as I work there. (Is there any interest in us offering an STW discount)?

I’d go to the Telegraph Museum in Porthcurno, though I’m biased as I work there. Genuinely fascinating place, just up from a gorgeous beach for when the weather clears, and it’s got secret wartime tunnels. What’s not to like?