My thoughts echo what Farmerguy said. I’ve had my FS comp a couple of weeks now, did two 40 miles rides this week and each time I ride it I’m convinced I made a good choice! My reasoning against a reduced epic was that I preferred the spec list of the chisel comp and didn’t want to have to upgrade or swap parts.

It’s done really well on and around the ridgeway so far.

I picked up my Chisel FS Comp on Wednesday, bought from Newbury concept store via C2W scheme.  Coming from road/gravel, its hard to give useful feedback to you guys (my last MTB was a 26 inch Marin!). I am happy with it though, if anyone is local to OX11 you are welcome to take a look. Any questions give me a shout, I haven’t weighed it yet…

Johnny, I recognise that pub garden! Interesting you suggest the forge, I’ll take a look. Thanks all for the suggestions, stanton don’t do full builds by the look of it. Same with the pasta party? Can’t be dealing with hassle of buying bits to build up a bike on the cyclescheme.

Thanks all, sounds like I can’t go wrong with the solaris, having looked at the bird website I can probably get similar spec for similar money with a zero 29er

Chestrockwell- I have looked at the Pace options but can’t see how they are cheaper- maybe frameset is but complete bikes seem pricey! Solaris has a build option at £2.2k which looks decent enough. Pace options are a little confusing to me

Thanks all, I’m keen not to go to gnarly & long travel, as much as I might imagine needing a chunky HT, I feel that 90% of my riding I’d be overbiked? P7 was on the list but again, a bit too burly? Happy to be corrected though

Only just seen this thread, first year of any CX racing for me after owning a CX bike for years! Mid-week or saturday races suit me best, does anyone know of any through the winter? Did the Supermarine series at Swindon in September, great fun. Based in oxfordshire but happy to travel a bit 🙂

FYI Pollensa and Port de Pollensa are 2 separate places, not far from each other. We stayed self catering in Pollensa which suited us fine, and is actually closer to Sa Calobra etc. Loved it. Bus from the airport to accommodation, and then bus to bike hire in Port de Pollensa (pro cycle hire), ride back to accommodation.
Nice enough area

36 mins…

https://www.strava.com/activities/2641514349

This is a route I did a while ago, nice mix of quiet roads and bridleways. I’m in Didcot so let me know if you want any further pointers from Newbury to Oxford.

Mechanical design engineer at the UK’s synchrotron. Spend most of the day sat behind a desk designing things that may benefit the human race, but Joe Public is very unlikely to see anything I design!

How would Gairloch in Mid September sound? Friend of a friend has a holiday let there that’s available in September. Change of plan but what is Scotland like in September?

This thread always makes we look forward to the next opportunity for a proper walk… Being based in Oxfordshire somewhat limits hillwalking! What are peoples recommendations for a base for a week of walking in the UK in May/June? Will probably try and book somewhere to sleep (B&B or airbnb) for at least some of the nights, with a bit of wild camping mixed in. Done North and South Wales, and Lakes, although wouldn’t mind going back to the Lakes, but somewhere in Scotland would be nice.

I’ve been to Mull two or three times for a couple of weeks at a time- I haven’t done a Staffatours trip but been to Fingals Cave with Turus Mara. They do a trip where you land on Lunga(?) to see the puffins and then take you to Fingals Cave and land there. Was a great trip. They do trips from Ulva ferry terminal on Mull. Basically don’t stay on an extremity and there will be things worth doing/walking in most directions. I have stayed at Pennyghael and Ballygown. Let me know where you decide to stay and I can recommend walks in the locality- don’t underestimate how long it takes to drive across the island.

Some might hold this against them…. Might they be the type to pull out last minute due to a change of mind, or become spooked by a minor issue? They have history of doing it.

Yes, worth checking, although I wouldn’t assume anything negative – we are just pulling out fairly late due to next door neighbour assault/criminal damage issues that weren’t disclosed until contracts were ready to sign 🙁

Really depends what your priority is – speed, money or ease. Make a list of the definite ‘no’s’, call them up and tell them you’ve had lots of good offers so it’s a no. Ask yourself how much 2K matters, talk to the others if you want some more money from them but it sounds like you’re not going to gain a lot from doing that. Personally I’d go for buyers that seem like they will be easy to deal with and most likely to complete the sale, especially as the offers are all close.
I wouldn’t advise trying to play them against each other too much, it’ll only get messy and if it was me I think I’d get annoyed pretty quickly. So decide what price you want, and stick with that as your negotiation number. Where are the offers in relation to the asking price?

A Defender camper is classic Insta-beard bragging over substance.

Haha, sounds about right! I think they are really only useful if you are in the outback somewhere, and even then something else would be better than a defender.
Maybe I should be spending the money on converting our T4 instead!
I should probably start a new topic but I’d be interested to see what options there are for removable beds etc for a van- I’d like to be able to put a folding bed in the van but I wouldn’t want to sacrifice the load carrying capacity the rest of the time.

cool, seems like an obvious no then. Maybe elsewhere in the UK would be better, but it’s a fine line between roads and technical off-road so it’s unlikely to be as good as it sounds. A few hire companies do mention that some gentle off-roading is fine, but that ‘they will know if we have been where we shouldn’t’.

Time to re consider I think…

Nemo Tensor insulated mummy here, no complaints and really does pack small and light. Comfy enough too.

46cm cowchippers here, only had them a couple of months but love them. I’ve got the slightly pricier alloy ones, not sure how much difference it makes.

Well we have heard from both rental properties on Mull (one week at each), that we will be able to go as planned, from England, on 10th May! Not sure where they got their info from as I can’t see anything certain online, but it’s a good sign. Does anyone know if NS is still giving her update today?
Edit – getting ahead of myself, update was promised on 20th.

Looking at media reports, most of them are saying that travel between England and Scotland will (all being well) resume for non-essential purposes on 26th April, but surely if Scotland is all at tier 3 this will not be allowed. What gives?

Thanks for all the replies, all good info, in response to your comments-
The geometry is definitely important, I remember test riding a Croix de fer and being very unimpressed with the ‘feel’.
DKNWHY- Thanks for the offer but I’d prefer a complete build else I’ll end up spending even more!

Interesting about GRX, it was down as a nice luxury but good to hear it is worth the premium/wait.
There’s a Camino AL on ebay which has an option of being built with GRX, they are optimistic with pricing but I guess that’s supply and demand in action.

I was hoping to avoid buying a bike in COVID times due to the price inflation and lack of stock, but got some trips planned this summer and don’t want the bike to let me down. And the relentless BB creak is getting annoying.

Well we didn’t need to wait until the 20th for some good news after all! Pleased for you Scots, that have been much more restricted than us English for some time.
So if I’m correct :
April 16th -Free travel around mainland
April 26th -All go to tier 3, travel allowed to Islands (all at tier 3), no holidays from rest of UK
May 17th -All go tier 2, holidays available from rest of UK

Does this sound correct?
ETA: If this is correct, what are the chances of the May 17th unlock happening a week earlier?!

She said… “I mentioned earlier on that the next scheduled briefing that I will give here given that we are in a pre election period will be Tuesday 20 April. If there are any unforeseen developments there may be a briefing before that, but the next scheduled one will be 20 April.

At that point I hope – that if the virus is still under control – that I will confirm the further reopening that is due to take place on 26 April. And at that point I hope also to give more detail of what we think will be possible in the middle of May and afterwards to try to continue where we can accelerate that journey back to much greater normality.”

Not sure whether that means no information will be given before then? who knows

Nope, looks like we have to wait until the 20th for more info…

Yep, I will lose money if I decide it’s a no. Already postponed from last May so can’t postpone again ie carry the deposits over.

Cheers, yes it is looking unlikely. I’d rather have a definite no, than the maybe that we have at the moment. First world problems I know…

Any news about opening up travel restrictions, and when travel to the Islands (specifically Mull) will be permitted for us heathens from south of the border? Sturgeon said she would be consulting the island authorities about opening up at end of april, but I haven’t seen anything since. Not sure whether to cancel and book somewhere in England rather than be left until everywhere else is booked up. Going away from 10th May.

Panaracer Pasela PT’s, in 35c flavour. my wide winter/touring/rough-road tyre of choice. Grippy enough, fast enough, and no punctures since I fitted them – approx 2500 miles so far. Seem to wear well too, compared to my g-ones. Also fitted to GFs hybrid and our tandem 🙂

Guess this question has already been asked a few times in the last 80 pages, but is there any hope of me (oxfordshire) being allowed on to Mull for 2 weeks in May? Postponed holiday from last May, reality is gradually sinking in that it’s unlikely to happen

As others have said, ‘Ending’ lockdown means lots of different things. A lot of people (including me) would appreciate being able to see one or two other people, (I haven’t seen my GF this year), whereas other people want pubs, clubs, shops etc to open. It all depends on individual circumstances. I think there needs to be some relaxing of rules, but no great ‘unlock’ of all restrictions for a while yet. If there is no movement towards relaxing the rules soon, I’m sure more and more people will feel less inclined to follow the rules, including young people, and those vaccinated. At the moment it feels like there are more and more reasons being given to extend lockdown: give time to vaccinate x,y,z people, to prevent chance of more strains, to protect vulnerable people who can’t be vaccinated, protect NHS…. All valid sounding reasons but it gets to the point where it feels like lockdown’s never going to end.
Also it goes without saying that we need to follow the data, not random dates and political decisions.
Ramble over.

Before this COVID malarkey I was cycling 5 miles to work each day, with a formal shirt folded in my rucksack. Depends on type of shirt I guess but I was suprised how tidy they looked. Possibly not the best idea if you don’t have time to do a practice run.

Volunteering is indeed a good idea, my local vaccination centre is looking for non-healthcare volunteers, so that way you meet lots of people and feel like you are helping us get out of this 🙂

Following on from StuE, G-ones have done me well (ridgeway etc as well as 100 mile road/bridleway rides) as long as theres not deep mud/slop. The SKs look like they’d be marginally better for slidey stuff.

Thanks endomick, Pro sounds about right for me

Thanks, Jagwire look ideal, I’ll try to resist lairy colours though! Is there any appreciable difference between the elite, pro and sport?!

Yep, Northwave Celsius for me too, well worth the outlay. So much more convenient than faffing around with overshoes.

Yep 700c for sure, I assumed they’d be 27″ originally! ERD looks similar from my rough measurement, will need to have a closer look.
Tom, you may have a point, they’ve been fine for several hundred miles and they aren’t exactly lightweight spokes. If I could find a wheelset for £200ish I’d buy that. Its got a rear hub brake and ideally I’d like something that roughly suits the age of the bike.

No pretty sure its not to do with grip, I took it as my body/heart prioritising legs over arms! Feels prickly on back of hands mostly, so different to numbness from hand position(which I have had before). Goes away after a few seconds of turning the wick down! Might be worth seeing someone about it if you are worried, you only get one heart after all (normally!)