I set myself the same target. I thought that the arrival of mini-QTip in July might have put a spanner in the works, but thanks to a decent length commute I met my target last month. Up to 11,154 km now. Unfortunately, only 323 of those km have been on the mountain bike.

My aim for next year will be 10,000 km again but with significantly more off-road. I’d love to reach 2015’s off-road total of 1500 km but the combination of parental responsibilities and having moved to somewhere with no local trails means that’s unlikely.

+1 for the SixC bars

We have one baby and one (fairly small) dog. We have a VW Golf and a BMW 3 series estate. Golf boot fits the pram with one wheel removed but not much else, and when we were using the crib part of the pram that had to be put on the back seat. The BMW fits the pram easily without wheel removal, plus room for a fair bit of other stuff, but there’s no way the dog can fit in the boot too. My mum has a Civic Touring and although the boot is big, it’s definitely not as big as the BMW estate. You could put the pram on the back seat and the dog(s) in the boot, but putting a pram on the back seats is a massive faff and doesn’t leave much room for any other luggage.

Basically, unless you buy something huge, you’re not going to have enough room for everyone plus stuff unless you have the dog in the front with the passenger – and if you get a second dog then you’re screwed! The only car we’ve used that has room for the pram plus a dog in the boot is a VW Toureg, but even that might be a squeeze with a large dog.

Don’t worry though, after the arrival of your baby your wife will probably abandon all thoughts of a second dog. Also, the logistics of walking a single dog while pushing a pram are tricky enough – a second dog would be a nightmare unless all dog walking is done with someone else or without the baby.

Nice idea. It would be good to be able to add bikes to the compare list without having to go into each individual bike page – perhaps a dropdown from the list of bikes allowing the specific size to be added.

Also, when adding bike details, a table allowing entry of multiple frame sizes at the same time would be good. I added the details for a large 2017 Orange 5 (as it’s what I own) – I got the geometry info from Orange’s page, which was in a table with all frame sizes. If I’d been able to enter all frame sizes in one go then I would have done so. As it was, I just entered the info for the large.

Finally, the table for entering details should be clear about whether things like top tube and seat angle are actual or effective (I entered actual). I think this could be a possible source of confusion, especially as some manufacturers only give one or the other.

Will have to do it both ways at some point and decide for myself, but CW sounds like a good first option. Might leave it for next year though – that STW article suggests it’s pretty slippy at this time of year.

Cheers for the links monkeys feet – looks like a good resource.

Cheers faustus. A look at the OS map seems to confirm that the estuary part probably isn’t worth adding on. So, clockwise or anticlockwise? Route linked above suggests anticlockwise, but impossible to call based on contours alone.

Would that be this one?

I’ll be entering the ballot. Not done it before either.

@MisterP – not a problem with the Hope Pro 4s. They take an 11-speed road cassette.

Looks like a Superlight to me. I think it’s the lack of paint that makes it look bobbins.

I’m a fan of Gamut chain devices. Not the cheapest, but not MRP / E13 prices. Very light too. Not sure I’d want one with an integrated bash plate as the mounting plates aren’t the strongest (unless they thicken them up for the version with the bash plate).

Orange Five frame w/ Fox Float X EvOL shock
Rock Shox Pikes
Stans Flow Mk3 on Hope Pro 4 wheelset
XT M8000 cranks / chainring / cassette
XTR M9000 shifter / rear mech
Brand X Ascent dropper seatpost

Not here yet, but will be arriving over the next couple of weeks.
Excited is an understatement!

Excellent, medium cage it is – cheers guys.

?-1 2^3 ? ? and it was well tasty.

Ok, not geometry.

I’m an ex-Marsdenite, so cannot tell you what the Marsden bridleway descent (I presume you mean the packhorse descent) is like at the minute. However, Black Moss is boggy for the majority of the year. It’s also not a great trail if ridden in the direction you’re going in.

@cyclistm – not a big fan of the padless bib over shorts option, although it’s often my solution for commuting. Find it a little sweaty, it doubles the washing, and I’ve never found it to be quite as comfortable as bib tights.

@dovebiker & spaniardclimber – that’s very helpful, thanks. I run fairly hot and sweat a fair bit, plus not too bothered about being wet so long I’m warm. That, combined with the nano-coating wearing off, is leading me to think that I can rule out the No Rain option.

The enduro used to be sunday with the timed loop/practice Saturday. I’d hazard the returns on the bar are much better now they’ve switched days. Also the practice being Friday and not the same day as people are doing a full loop will improve crowding.

That was when the Sport was only 3 stages – made sense to switch it then. Now, with 3-stage Intro and Sprint events and 5-stage Enduro and Sport events, it seems like having the competitive Sprint and Enduro on Sunday would be the better option. I’d wager that it would lead to more people being entered in the events that they really want to/should be in, less issues with riders of disparate ability on course at the same time, and higher takings at the bar.

Im in for the full enduro saturday. Not taking it seriously just getting round and then hitting the beer.

Just hope i survive.

Sounds like the Sport would have been the better event for you. I think that this is one big flaw with the current setup. People enter the Saturday Enduro even if they don’t want to be competitive, just so that they can get pissed on the Saturday night. I’d switch the Enduro and Sport events, now that the Sport has all 5 stages. I think that would be the way forward to separate competitive and non-competitive riders as much as possible. As it is, there are a load of non-competitive riders in the Enduro, and a load of competitive riders in the Sport because they couldn’t get a place in the Enduro – unfortunately, I think that’s likely to end up in some problems on race day.

Put a couple of dents in mine but they still run true and seal tubelessly without bother. I’d buy them again.

Just entered the Sprint as well as the Sport – hadn’t realised that it was just a shorter format of the Enduro. I’d ignored it until now as I thought it was the version they used to do where it was just a timed loop. Makes me feel a little better about missing out on the main Enduro.

I only managed to get into the Sport. Little bit gutted, but will still be a great weekend.

Can anyone tell me the real world difference between the Enduro and Enduro sport?

All I can see is it’s on a different day and there’s no queuing?

Enduro is supposed to be for the more competitive types, so theoretically with the Enduro either:

a) there will be less riders getting in your way;

or

b) you will more likely to hold someone up.

Depending on how fast you are and on whether competitors really enter the Enduro / Enduro Sport according to competitiveness.

I did the Enduro in 2015 and had to find my way past quite a few people, but only got passed once (don’t think I held them up as I got out the way as soon as I heard ‘rider’), and finished towards the bottom of the middle third of the pack. In that year, however, the Enduro Sport was only 3 stages (now the Enduro Intro) so there were probably quite a lot of people entering the Enduro purely so that they could ride all 5 stages.

I think the new options make more sense, with the Enduro Sport being the best option for people wanting to ride all 5 stages but not fussed about how fast they get down. There will still be slower riders (like me) in the Enduro, but at least they should be trying to go fast and hopefully will be more aware when it comes to getting out of the way of faster riders.

Well, that was awful!

The bike I had the b-tension issues with is also a Giant Defy Advanced (albeit a 2015 model rather than 2014). As such, I’d guess that the 2014 model also comes with a short cage mech, and if the 2014 mech hanger is anything like the 2015 then you’ll probably run into issues like I did.

I swapped the 11-28 11-speed cassette to an 11-32 (both run with compact chainset). I haven’t felt the urge to switch back yet and have no issues with the jumps between ratios.

I did have to swap my short cage 105 mech for a medium cage. It was possible to bodge the short cage to work by replacing the b-tension screw with an extra long one (in fact an extra long one with a nut on the end due the angle causing the screw end to miss the lip on the hanger), but there was a lot less chain wrapped around the cassette.

any idea of the metres climbed running clockwise

err, same as anticlockwise!

If you’ve not tried it, aren’t you just guessing?

Absolutely, but it’s not a completely uneducated guess. I also run 23mm internal width rims on my DH bike with 2.5″ tyres and have absolutely no issues with them. All I meant was that I wasn’t convinced by the trend for wider = better in all cases.

My reasoning is, that for the width of tyre I’m running now, 23mm (or thereabouts) seems to give the ideal profile for the tread pattern of the tyres. I’m not finding a lack of grip, I’m not getting any tyre roll, and I can run the pressures that I want to run. I would imagine that a much wider rim would square off the tyre profile too much and this would come at the cost of cornering grip. As you say though, I haven’t actually tried.

If running wider tyres though, then wider rims definitely make sense.

Thomson Elite X4, although slightly over budget.

I went from Mavic XM 819s (essentially the same rim as yours) to Hope Tech Enduros (23mm internal). Despite only being slightly wider, there was a definite improvement in handling with no more tyre roll on cornering when running lowish pressures on 2.35″ tyres. I’ve not convinced of the benefit of going for super wide rims unless running wider tyres – with 2.35″ tyres I think the 23mm internal width is about spot on and gives a good tyre profile.

If you’re not having any issues with tyre roll at the pressure you choose to run with your chosen tyres then there is probably little to be gained. With my old 2.25″ High Roller LUSTs (which size up on the narrower than stated side of things) , I didn’t have any issues with the XM 819s.

I’ve got the Prism Road lens. As above, I think it would be too dark for off road use (despite not being the darkest of lenses). I’ve not used it off road, but when you ride into a tree-covered section of road it can be hard to see.

Doesn’t matter in the slightest – just found it amusing, especially in the light of recent discussions on here. Doesn’t harm anyone at all, especially given he was first off the line and rode it solo – i.e. there was no possibility of him riding like a bell end and causing issues with other riders like some sportive heroes that I’ve come across.

As I said before, it was an impressive time and all credit is due to him, but the choice of language to describe his achievement is laughable (you’d hope for better given his job title!).

@mikewsmith – I think you’ll find that real mean Strava their sportive

You are aware that many sportives have winners podiums, publish a top 3 etc?

Here are the winners (male and female) from the Etape Loch Ness 2016.

Indeed, but not this one. The organisers repeatedly announced that this was not a race, and published times were not sortable by completion time (I had to paste into Excel to work out the “rankings”). Also, the Etape Loch Ness that you cite as an example is ridden on closed roads, so at least “competitors” experience the same road conditions without traffic or traffic lights.

Bet he is quaking in his Rapha loafers this morning knowing he has offended the STW Sportive police. It’s amazing that some people are actually trying to ride the course in the fastest time they can, I know some will take pride in number of cake stops they had but others do actually like to push themselves.

Nothing wrong whatsoever with trying to ride the course in the fastest time they can – I did exactly that. All credit to him, he is pretty rapid – certainly a good deal faster than I am. However, while I did check my position I am well aware that a large percentage of entrants, both slower and faster than I, were not treating the event in the same way and as such any comparisons, apart from those against personal goals, are completely meaningless. For example “lead for 173km” is completely meaningless given that he set off in the first wave.

I won’t be trying for KOM on this one

I don’t think that kind of mileage requires any nutritional supplements. I average over 200km a week and don’t use any supplements or recovery products. You say that you are cycling more than you are used to – it’s probably just a case of getting used to the greater distance.

You say you have a nutribullet for breakfast once you get to work – presumably this means you are riding fasted every time you commute. Fasted rides have their place, but if you’re doing them all the time then that may be contributing to your tired legs.

Apart from that, try to replace the chocolate/crap with healthy snacks and make sure you’re getting enough protein in your diet.

Race Face SIXC bars @ 785mm. Love mine. £97 at CRC at the minute.

Thought it might be a moon on stick request.

Not looking for something that you can do on a trail bike but be compromised – pretty much any event can be done on a trail bike. Looking for an event where a trail bike would be the ideal bike, or at least close to it.

sorry, not sure if you want endurance or enduro.

Endurance, but suited to a trail bike (i.e. Technical trails)

@konanige – I disagree. If you ignore the effect of suspension then you can only use the figures given to compare bikes with the same suspension design and travel. The OP wants to compare hardtails and full sus bikes, and the effect of sag on the measurements will differ significantly and as such so will fit and ride feel. It’s why, in my opinion, sagged measurements would be potentially more useful than static geometry figures, but then that’s opening a can of worms as different riding styles and suspension designs suit differing amounts of sag. A bit of basic trigonometry comes in handy for exactly this sort of comparison.