Final payment on the frame just been made. Shock is with Loco. Tried to describe to him what I’m after (hopefully makes sense, but probably not knowing me!), so it’s in his hands and I’ll see how it goes…..

TLR,

When you say you’ve spent the last 2 yrs trying to get your AM to work, what exactly do you mean?

Cheers,

Alex

Yep, pretty much agree with Messiah. QR on the back is fine as it means I don’t have to buy a new wheel and the frame is probably stiff enough anyway. ISCG would be nice in case I wanted to fit a Hammerschidt at some point in the future but would probably be more likely to go 1*10….

Van shock will be heading Loco’s way tomorrow to have a look at.

Cheers for all the advice,

Alex

Really wanted one of these since I saw a demo one at Skyline Cycles in Desert Camo. Shouldn’t really be buying it with twins due next month and a loft conversion to pay for, but the price is great and what with cost of new kit going up I thought now was the time to buy. Looks like I’ll use the Van for the time being to save some money.

Kit will all be existing, 2005 Z1s that refuse to die, superstar/stans wheels, some saint and a fairly old Pace stem….. Hopefully in due course I’ll some new Bombers, dropper seatpost and I’ll see about shocks. Not sure about the bombers as have a pair of 2004 Z1s on my hardtail that have really been hammered and still refuse to die…..

Ian shut the Drop-Off at Glyncorrwg November time last year. The guys from Skyline have taken over the lease and should have a cafe up and running in the next month or so, once the refurbishments to the building have been completed….

If I have time I’ll do Whites, then climb back up to the top. Where you come out on the fireroad (if you don’t take the Black descent), if you turn right, scoot along the fireroad for about two miles, take the first right, drop down and just before you enter the trees turn right you end up at the start of Deadwood (Waymarker 66 on the map).

Cheers for the comments guys. Am in the process of buying one of last years frames off Mike & Steve the Nicolai importers, and am stretching myself to afford it. Realise that a new shock would be the best way to go but had resigned myself to using the old Van until I could afford a new shock. However Mike offered me either a DHX4.0 or DHXair at a good price, which got me thinking….. Most of my riding will be at Afan/Glyncorrwg/Cwmcarn/Brechfa and I’ll use the short travel setting. Currently ride a hardtail.

Met a guy riding an AM at Glyncorrwg the other weekend with a DHX air who liked it. Really want something fairly simple that I can fit and forget, so was thinking the Van would be good. Did think about sending it off for a service/tune. Have read an interesting discussion between Loco & SkylineGTR (Kev from Skyline & now Schmoos?) about the merits of a PUSH tune, I was thinking of contacting Loco about tuning the Van….

Penhydd due to open in May. Whites & the Wall both open. Some surface water on Whites, particularly the first part of Goodwood, but generally running well, as is the Wall. Some sections of Skyline shut, but diversions in place. Not sure whether these effect the July loop.

Skyline cafe due to open in a month or so.

Would have suggested Brechfa, but the bus isn’t there at the moment….

Penhydd closed until May.

Wall and Whites all open.

There were some closures on Skyline before Christmas because of maintenance work, but I think most of it is open again. Best place to
check is the Skyline Cycles website…

Drop-Off cafe closed. Skyline cafe open in about a month, but some of the ex-staff sometimes have a van by the bike shop selling food.

Aren’t Rowan Sorrell’s Orange frames all a polished finish? Think Luffy has got one as well….

Cheers guys. Looks like I’ll have to get over my preference for Shimano QRs and go try something else…..

Night ride there irregularly. Park at Glyncorrwg, Afan or down at Pontrhydyfen. Heard stories about cars being broken into down at Pontrhydyfen but been OK so far. I’ve got a season ticket for parking that covers both Afan & Glyncorrwg, so never had a problem parking at either site……

Never heard a complaint about people nightriding on the trails, but not sure about the legality of it…. The emergency services may have something to say if they have to come and get you in case of an accident…..

Currently using a 9 speed system but am after a new chainset. Only reason for looking at the 10-speed system is price. Everything else would be 9-speed (chain, cassette, mechs & shifters).

Will have to investigate whether the spacing between the rings on a 10 speed chainset differs to a 9 speed chainset…..

Cheers,

Alex

I get a £300 a month car allowance on top of my salary which is taxed. I then claim 20p per mile for miles I do with work (doesn’t include commuting to and from work). I probably do 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year with work visiting sites. Not a problem adding business use to my insurance.

The car allowance is to cover the cost of owning the car and mileage allowance for running costs. I have an old Focus estate, some guys have new cars on lease schemes and some guys are running really old bangers….

Hi guys, looking at getting a Joystick to replace a Fenix torch that’s a couple of years old. Can I use the TwoFish Lockblock (http://thephotonshop.co.uk/page64.htm) to mount it to a helmet or is the proper mount better?

Cheers,

Alex

What fork are you putting on it? I’ve got a Pike on mine and whilst it’s great in long travel mode, it’s a blast on smoother stuff with the fork shortened….

I’m 5’11” and ride a large Sovereign. I’d say I’ve got short legs and mainly went with a large for TT length. Even then I run it with a 90mm stem and fairly wide bars…

Hope that helps,

Alex

Having checked the settings the Altitude Data Source is from Maps, not from GPS. It’s currently loaded with 1:50000 OS maps..

Geoff,

Looking at them, that’s what I would say, but then what does the figure on the SATMAP unit relate to? I’m thinking it may be a combined up and down figure……

Alex

Mister P,

Can I ask what mudguards they are?

Cheers,

Alex

Thank-you

How do the Freeriders come up size wise? Am an 8.5 in vans am wondering whether I need an 8 or a 9 in the 5.10s…..

Cheers,

Alex

There's a bike trailer rusting away behind the Glyncorwg Ponds Centre, which I think is the one they used to use for the uplift when it was running.

Don't know who has ownership of it mind…..

Really like the sound of it, but a little unsure about day 2 and how I'll be feeling after Day 1….

The last time we loaded a pile of bikes into a trailer we got a load of off-cut carpets (1m*2m or so) that one of the shops were chucking out to wedge between the bikes, so that could be an idea? Could I bring my bike ina bike bag, or would that be too big?

Looks like you've got it sorted with the lorry, but if the minibuses had roofracks, you could probably have got 4 or 5 bikes on each minibus, which would have reduced the load for the Transit…

I've had one with first direct for about 6 yrs or so. I got it when I was working away from home a lot and had a lot of expenses going through my account, which were paid weekly so i had a fair bit of money sat in my account before the credit card bill came in.

The first direct one I've got links a number of accounts together, which I find great for managing money and budgeting.

Now I'm not doing so much travelling with work, I might be able to find a better way of doing things, but I really like dealing wih first direct, so may well just stick with what I've got….

Dan,

That's the one I was thinking of doing. Not sure now….. Have you got numbers together? I provisionally put my name down, but have yet to have further details through from Matthew…

Alex

Dan,

Can I ask what charity? Was thinking of doing one of the charity Holyhead to Cardiff rides in September…..

Cheers,

Alex

Rynys Camp-site (01690 710218), across the road from the Falls Cafe. Great views, good site, but a bit of a walk down the main road to the nearest pub….

Cheers gents, some food for thought there. Really like the look of your bike Mark….

Not really bothered about speed, just think it may be a bit more comfortable over the potholes…..

Agree with mrmichaelwright – Luffy's a great host and I think the bus is a great idea…..

Did the blue & green route's on Saturday with a friend's lad who I think is 13 and he loved it. Climbs aren't as bad as on the red route but the downs are pretty good. Did the two routes in about an hour and a half.
Luffy's also got his Drop-Off cafe bus parked in the Byrgwm car park most weekends which is great, and if you fancy some more riding you can always make shorter loops out of both the black and the green routes.

Final section of the green route is a lot of fun if you're carrying speed….

A sign for the door to warn visitors not to knock or ring the bell as you're all asleep and won't appreciate being woken up….

Thank-you

The Vagabond Bunkhouse

Never stayed, only walked past, but thinking of staying there soon.

Otherwise this place has a bunkhouse Glan-Aber[/url]/ Stayed in it a few years ago, and it's OK

Just under an hour each way

Mechanical Design Engineer

Drive car in on a monday morning, leave it in the car park, bike the rest of the week and drive home on a friday evening. I need a car available at work for site visits, so it sits in the car park all week and is my effectively my locker with all my kit in.

Generally when I ride into work the roads are fairly quiet, and then busy on the way home.

Overall I would say they are more stupid on the way home, but this is probably due to the increased number of vehicles on the road.

In the morning the biggest problems tend to be delivery drivers at speed in built up areas and cars with windscreens not properly cleared.

In the evenings it tends to be the usual with cars going all over the place, diving down side roads, pulling out in front of you, racing to lights etc….

All of it compounded by the fact people seem to think they can park their cars anywhere these days and get away with it, even on double yellows…..

I've been using these http://www.gprecyko.com/en/battery_pack.html and they work fine

Rode the Penhydd on Saturday and the only section closed then was the Hidden Valley. Why not phone the lads at the Skyline Afan shop to see what they know?

Balckburn Mars 4 and a Fibreflare…….