OP, try talking to the people at the Cornish Lime Company (http://www.cornishlime.co.uk/) – really knowledgeable and helpful in my experience.

I’m not sure there’s any way to get a completely dry granite house down here – as you say it’s all about management. But echoing comments above, the worst thing you can do is seal it. Insulation and ventilation are the way forward. Have fun! (Where abouts in Cornwall are you)?

For a left-field choice, Evans are advertising the 2014 BMC TF03 with Fox 34 Floats and a stealth reverb for £2,600 here

150mm each end, extremely short chainstays (if that matters), extremely silly promo vid. Deliveries starting next month.

Would love to hear what they’re like (not that that’s a reason to get one, obviously)!

A corneal ulcer and the eye hospital telling me “no contact lenses for 8 weeks” had me looking 👿 in more than one way. Not sure how mountain-biking in glasses is going to go, but I guess I’m going to find out. Think I might get some science-teacher safety glasses to keep the worst of the grit off my specs.

Otherwise, looking forward to autumn colours and the start of night riding..

We’ve got a Clearview Pioneer and neighbours have Clearview Vision. No idea what they cost as both were there when we moved in, but they’re blooming marvellous. (Have had Morso stoves before which were good, but not as good).

Really easy to light, will burn anything, and even when we burned all our heavily treated decking the soot that built up on the glass burnt off in a few minutes (been here 3 years, still haven’t had to clean the glass once).

Ours can kick out enough heat to melt asbestos (*not tested in laboratory conditions) but it’s very easily adjusted so you can just keep it ticking over if you want. Our house is for sale now, and we’re trying to work out if we can take it with us!

Incidentally, ours is on a single slate slab (approx 30mm thick), which doesn’t seem to cause problems.

Whatever you get though, it’s going to be good – no better way to dry wet cycling gear than hanging it in the same room as a stove.

Last year I bought Mrs Pz a race entry to a triathlon. Not that she’d ever shown any interest in one, but as she was just getting into running it seemed like a good idea. Certainly got an interesting reaction!

If nothing else it was a good excuse for a weeknd away, and we can both now say that we’ve ticked that one off the list!

Did you hear about the dyslexic rock star? He choked on his own Vimto

There’s 2 parrots sitting on a perch. One says to the other “Can you smell fish?”

+1 for the gum shield.

Can’t stress this enough (with the benefit of hindsight). I too took a face-full of stick and whilst the dental bills hurt like hell, that’s nothing next to the pain just from breathing in cold air when half your teeth are cracked!

Damn damn damn.

Guess it’s time for another visit to Nurse Payne (no joke, that’s who I saw last time I was regularly in the local Physiotherapy department)!

Was just hoping that someone would say Mountain Biking was the best known cure for this!!

Thanks for all the feedback.

Or, if you want to do something that doesn’t involve whiskers…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/alternative-to-mo-vember

Can you fix cars? That sciroco will need some serious tlc to keep it on the road.[/quote]

Not so sure – I’ve had a Mk2 Golf a Mk3 Golf and a Mk2 Scirocco, and the Scirocco was by far the most reliable. For all that, though, Waderider is right… VWs aren’t actually that reliable / cheap-to-run / good (IME). Many Japanese makes will knock them into a cocked hat. If you see a bargain, get it, and to hell with the brand snobs and marketing junkies.

Maybe not the most helpful for most people out there, but if you’re in West Cornwall in need of bike help, Hayle Cycles have been brilliant for me. Mega friendly, mega efficient, and give the impression of not trying to rip you off. Cool guys indeed….

Anyone ridden a Rocky Element MSL?? A thing of beauty (IMO), but the head angle seems a tad steep by current standards…

Yeah, I’ve gone through that thought-process and tried the hardtail route before…

Sadly, I’m too old / lazy/ unskilled for that. I want something that’ll cosset me through the rough stuff and still leave me intact. (When I said that “I’m not afraid to ride a talent compensator” I guess that I meant “I’m really looking for a talent compensator”)!!

Thanks for the input, though – I just wish I was still good enough!

Hi Steve,

Fair point.

At my level of fitness, 5 yards is a long 1-in-3!

I guess I was over-stressing the hills. I’m in West Cornwall, so my hills tend to be from sea level, up to “land level”.

There are a couple of real b*stards (including one that is about 1-in-2.5 just round the inside of a hairpin – and that in itself is enough for the lazy git in me to want flexible gearing), but nothing that anyone should rightly call “long”. The worst is about 200 yards of sustained 1-in-4 (ish), at the top of which I know there’s another 3 miles before I stop climbing.

Having said all that, the total climb (over my 12 miles commute) is only about 260 metres vertical, so, yeah… I’m a lightweight.

Maybe I should have said “a couple of plenty-long-enough- 1-in-3s”.

Still want to be able to winch up them and hit 48mph (current pb) down them, though!

Reading everything above, I’m coming round to thinking that I want the fastest, roadie-est bike I can find that will still take 700×28 tyres, mudguards, and canti (or mini-V) brakes. Happy to carry a backpack if there’s no rack mounts.

Thoughts within these parameters…?

Hi Pix – yeah, I’ve offered up my 700 wheels to the On-One and it’s a little too tight for comfort (also, I already have a spare set of decent 26″ disc-hubbed wheels kicking around). I don’t really want to buy a new mtb frame and go from there, it was just a case of could I get my (very lovely) ti frame back in use?

I hadn’t seen the Pompetamine was available with the Alfine 11. Still not sure about horizontal dropouts with mudguards, though. Otherwise, very tempting.

Oh and another question for those who know about these things – can you get hydraulic disc brakes with levers for drop-bars (with integral shifters, ideally)?? I really, really like being in control of my braking!

Thanks very much for everyone’s input….

Anyone tried building a decent mtb frame into a roadie build? Sorely tempted by the thought of a tough, ti framed road bike, specially if I put on a short-ish rigid fork (it might be a bit slack otherwise). Or would that just be a pigs-ear of a bike?

I haven’t even thought about the component compatibility issues (would a road-bike chainset fit the BB shell of a hardcore hardtail, would I have to go for higher gearing to compensate for the smaller diameter wheels, etc). Also, not sure how those 26″ wheels would affect the “road-bike” mile-munching feel that I’m after for my commute?

Argh – too many things for my brain to cope with on a Friday afternoon!!

Thanks for the ideas. Any takes on how these bikes ride?

Not sure about the Alfine equipped bikes as I really think I’m gonna need as wide a gear-range as I can get (slowwwwww up those hills and faaaaaaaaaassssst back down them)!! Also, there’s the extra faffage of wheel removal with horizontal dropouts and mudguards. Bound to get a puncture when I’m running late for work.

Liking the look of the Cotic Roadrat.

Hi,

Been through the same dilemma looking for a 27.2″ dropper…

I had the older version of the Pure post (K850i? – I think) and it too died after a couple of months. After that I found something called an “All Mountain Post” from Precision Cycling Components advertised on the STW classifieds (only available new from the USA – http://www.precisioncyclingcomponents.com/ ) so I got that. It lasted about 18 months before the remote broke. I bodged a fix using an old, pre-indexing, roadie gear lever (ugly as sin, but it worked) and started saving for a Gravity Drooper.

I’ve now had the GD for a couple of months and (not wanting to tempt fate or anything), it’s been fine so far. A bit clunky, perhaps, but pretty intuitive and seems to have exactly the right amount of travel for any situation (I have the 3 + 1 version).

Incidentally, I think that one of the other – grossly inferior – mags reviewed seat posts this month, which included another 27.2″ make that was new to me. Unfortunately, as I was skimming in the newsagent and didn’t buy a copy, I can’t remember the make. Might be worth having a look at (or dropping an email to the editors at) MBR, though.

Sorry for the rambling reply. Hope it helps, anyway.

Thanks guys – really appreciate all the responses. TBH I’m happy to drive a bit more for good riding.

Also happy to get the map out and have fun linking up likely looking bits of bridleway. What is really useful is thoughts on what’s going to be a boggy hell and should be avoided, and what’ll still ride well when wet.

Also, any pointers on hard-navigate trails that I’ll want to avoid if the cloud comes down? I don’t want to be botehring the Dartmoor Rescue team particularly…

Cheers!!

Thanks Foxy & Crispy. Reckon I’ll dig out my wet weather gear and compass for when the cloud level comes down, and head out there.

Cheers!

Thanks all.

Think I’ll be looking at the Saloman Speedcross 2s and Saucony ProGrid Jazz.

I appreciate that everyone will fit different shoes from everyone else, so it was really about looking for the grip/cushioning compromise.

Do you know of any “proper” running shops down this way, Surf-Mat?

Thanks again!

Hi Kip,

I'm signed up for a 1-day course next month, with "Fully sussed" just outside Plymouth. Will let you know what it's like…

Yay! Good to know I'm not alone…

I've long bored all my friends with my idea that you need to have ridden a motorbike for 2 years before you can get a provisional car licence (Test – CBT. Test – full bike licence. Test – provisional car licence. Test – full car licence. Easy). And I'm a petrol-head who's never ridden a motorbike, not a pro-cycling zealot fascist.

Then again, my friends usually just look embarrassed and shart shuffling away from me!

+1 for staying local.

For one thing, there's always the danger that you don't get on with surfing (weird, I know, but apparently there are some people out there who don't). Going abroad to discover this is an expensive and boring exercise.

Have a couple of lessons in the UK, then buy a swell board – you'll get back exactly what you paid when you come to sell it (which you'll want to once you're up and running). Then just get out and surf your local break as often as you can.

You can always go to Morocco or wherever once you're good enough to really make the most of it

My first bike (an indeterminate secondhand clunker) was heavier than I was. Didn't stop me trying to get the wheels off the ground, though the crash landings were always "solid"!

Then, years later, there was the excitment when first experiencing indexed gears (on the downtube, natch). And then V-brakes…

A friend's just suggested I look at a Ventana El Ciclon. The irrational snob in me likes the idea of a boutique bike, the rational side thinks "would I just be paying more for the sake of being different?"

Any thoughts (on the bike, not my snobbishness)??

Si…I've emailed you, let me know what you think.

Ta!

davidtaylforth… "everything (that I'm likely to do)" is pretty much as per the original post:

DH? Nope
Dirt jumps? Not intentionally
4x? No
Trail centres? Too far away (I wouldn't rule out ever doing one – once – but it would be once-in-a-blue-moon)
Any form of racing? No.

Just slowly up some hills, along the top, and then down again as fast as I can.

Probably ought to say that I'm not very good at looking after my bike, either, so something that needs lots of love and care would probably suffer in my hands.

Re Zestys and Chumbas. Good call, should have thought of them. Anyone know anywhere in the (far) south west where I could sling a leg over one?

njee… the Nomad would be about the top of the budget. Depends on how good the bike is and what other stuff / cars / offspring I'm prepared to sell to fund it! I'm looking for the fabled "One bike to do everything (that I'm likely to do)" so want to find the right bike, then work out if / how I can afford it.

I ought to have said – I'm hoping to do the Passportes du Soleil next year (albeit at a gentle pace), so whatever I get will have to be up to that.

Of course, sometimes neither over- nor under-taking is safe in which case I simply sit in the queue and get my breath back.

Cool pics, wwaswas.

After my last ride I'd been thinking of a Cannondale Lefty with full "Boadicea" style wheel embellishments. Or maybe that stem-mounted flame thrower I've been toying with (just need to figure out how to stop the cable-ties from melting)…

My fave singletrack has suddenly grown to the point where I can't see my handlebars though the foliage for about half a mile of what ought to be buff, downward-pointing Nirvana. I've found that after a while the stings just blend into an all-over tingling, even where you're getting slapped round the face by the buggers.

It's the brambles lurking in there that really annoy me…!

Anyone got a flame-thrower I can borrow?

For big beaches try Perranporth, Watergate or Gwithian (but watch for rips if you're swimming at Gwithian). Away from the beach there's the Seal Snactuary at Gweek, The Cornish Cyder farm near Goonhavern, or even the Riskilly's Ice-Cream farm (!) on the Lizard near Coverack. If you don't mind going a littel further afield (~1hr), you can hire bikes in Penzance and pootle along the coastpatch to Marazion (can probably even get kiddie trailers). There's also cycle trails at Bissoe and Wadebridge – expect you could hire bikes there, too, but don't know for certain (I get a nosebleed if I go that far east).

Have a good holiday…

I improved my core stability by following this one weird rule….

Alternatively, if you're feeling old and stiff, try swimming. You can go as hard or as easy as you need / are in the mood for, and can really get that "good workout" feel without unduly stressing anything (apart from maybe your sinuses and your family's ability to tolerate the whole water-running-from-your-nose-at-the-table thing).

… or is that just me?

Is Davy an anthropologist, or the ghost of Erwin Schrodinger? And would it make a difference to the length?

Everyone… a huge thank you.

Will be taking my bike, a map (no GPS sadly) and a sense of anticipation at the thought of riding through trees rather than my usual gorse/heather combo…

Cheers! Steve

I don't think there's enough of me to do it justice I'm afraid (11st 6 weakling here)… Shame, I'd just about justified it to myself..!

Grumpy Steve – liking the FXR. What weight is the shock set for? (eyeing the piggy-bank, meaningfully….)