Its a normal chuck, I do have a 5mm masonary bit but I have never had much success with it but I wasn’t using a hammer drill til now. Is it a good idea to start small (ie 3mm hole) then move up to the 5mm one?

Any tips to avoid making an enormous mess if the plaster work or it is a bit unaviodable and something I will need to sort out afterwards?

Also you can start pushing up before 5 anyways to buy yourself a bit more time.

2.5hrs push up plus 20 mins down. I reckon you will be fine!

My friend is a mortgage adviser based in Cardiff. His name is Glenn Chapman and his comapny is called Hawthorne Mortgages, great bloke, very helpful and has done all my mortgages. Cannot recommend him enough.

I hadn’t thought of the longer cable idea!! Good plan. i’ll do that.

I warped my rear one badly just riding along! Actually i do not know how I did it but it was beyond help. I got a regular steel rotor and cannot to replace it and cannot tell the difference at all. I wouldn’t bother with the Icetech rotors again to be honest.

Got XT brakes with steel rotors + finned pads on my DH bike and coming down Snowdon the other day they were perfect. I reckon the finned pads are the best component at managing the heat.

Petes eats or the Spar in Llanberis.

It is awesome but I have a remedy which is awesomer! Plus road bike is great for, well, road riding!!

Post a picture of clever packaging so everyone will know how to do it next time!

I saw no publicity!

I did the same, except used multiple bin bags! They would easily fit through a letterbox. At that price I hope they are hand delivered by supermodels and fitted to the bike too!

Aracer – If I had only know that!!!! In the future I am going to use them!

I don’t think packaging is the issue its the length! They were under 500g but at 711mm long the only posting option is parcelforce! I feel you pain Calamity James.

I should have cut them in half and sent them in 2 x samller packages, would have been much cheaper!!

Leave at 5am up the top by 7.30 back in Petes eats by 8, bed again by 9.30.

What I meant was I wasn’t there for find any hidden singletrack or ride up any hills or do anything but use the lifts to take me and my DH bike to the top of the hill and then ride down it again.

You may argue that some of the tracks are not strictly full on DH ones, while some were more challenging. I still wore body armour, I still fell off and I still had a lot of fun! You could probably ride a lot of them without being padded up, like the local youths did, but to be honest I’m not as good as them and wearing armour make me feel invincible!!

I don’t think you can compare riding in the Alps for a week with regular UK riding as you do consecutive long days of riding. The more tired you get the more likely to mess up you are and then your pads become your friends. If you are thinking having “just one go” the DH runs they a FF and some goggles and knee protection are invaulable, if you intend to ride multiple DH runs then all the normal DH protection applies!

Last time I went out there all the local ripper kids just wore neck braces, FF and maybe knee pads. They were about 12, bounced on impact and were very good riders! I do not fall into any of those catagories so wore all my armour. I was only riding DH so didn’t feel foolish and when I did fall off I got up again. Its up to you really but being on holiday in such a great riding venue will make you want to try bigger and dafter things, you just cannot help it and it doesn’t take much to have an off. I’d take every bit of padding you have to be honest!

I think the tyres were at 90psi but then after the first flat the rear could have been lower. I checked the tyre for and foreign objects but nothing to be found plus when I checked the tube they were definately pinch flatted.

The tyre lever could realistically be the issue and will look into that! I will give the 25 Gatorskins a go and see what happens. Anyone know of any good deals on inner tubes too?

Part of me hopes I don’t fall in love with it…

I will continue my search but the decathlon bikes look like a good shout. What are the budget road bikes from the big mtb manufacturers like? Thinking along the lines of trek, giant, specialized etc.

A pal had one of these too and he really liked it! Used it as a DH bike and it did the trick! Good value bikes,

If I was riding alone I would do up and down Llanberis path. Rangers isn’t to be taken lightly especially if the weather turns a bit bad. Its brilliant don’t get me wrong but more potential to go wrong and not get found than the llanberis path!

I have gone from Tech V2s to standard XTs on my 224. Still pretty early days but I much prefer the feel of the XTs and there doesn’t seem to be any reduction in power with the 203mm rotors (same as I used with the V2s).

Nice one, hopefully by tomorrow it will be clearer still. The snow is disappearing pretty quick off the hills here so hopefully do the same in betws

Nice one, thanks for the info. I did have a 9″2 longboard and would love a new one but it is massively impractical in my tiny house! I do like the look of the Cortez 8″ too and @ 300 its a good deal.

So what are the epoxy boards? My old 7″2 mal was the traditional clarks foam blank covered in fibreglass, I figured the epoxy was something along those lines? I am probably massively wrong though!

Telegraph valley in the sun with no wind. That very rarely happens! Was fantastic.

Thanks for the comments – good to hear people running XT/SLX on their DH bikes. I am a bit more confident to go down that route now.

Good info regarding the SLX/XT!

I wish I could get on with my V2s, I have given tham plenty of chances but I just don’t.

Scruff – do you use the special ice tech rotors etc with your XT’s?

I will try screwing the bite point screw out and bleed tosee if it makes a diff. When the screwisscrewed all the way in does that mean minimum lever throw to get bite point?

Oops I should have said brakes! I agree with thebite point adjust on the xt being useless! Im fed up of my v2s not being all I want them to be. Will look into slx as a replacement.

If you want Rhosniegr too I’d be looking around Llanberis and ride Penmachno + Marin. Loads of campsites, bunkhouses, Hotels and pubs. Also near enough to Bangor and Caernarfon should you want to sample the high life there.

I have a panda with a Thule ProRide rack and can easily carry 2 DH bikes on the roof.

I love my one, however I do really fancy the Twin Air 4×4 too.

I just measured he hose on my current set up 700mm ‘should’ be fine. I think I even have 2 160mm rotor off my old subzero in the shed which should fit nicely. Hoarding stuff clearly pays off!

Toys, if you want them they are yours mail me on rhid14@hot mail.com to discuss.

From what I have read on other threads concerning the brakes you do get lever and caliper. I hope…..

That’s what I like to hear! They are for my spare/commuter HT so I am happy not to spend a fortune on new brakes for it. Thanks for the info.

Skids
Does replacing the lens etc require soldering? May give it a try!

Its the old white one yes, hence not sending back to MS.

I am not technically minded so, aside from opening it up and cleaning the lens, I am not capable of fixing it!

I’ll send it off to someone who knows stuff to fix.

Thanks for the replies.

Took it to bits cleaned the lens and rebuilt it. Still not working though so I’ll give console doctor a go. Thanks for the help

Nice one. I did look at a few of those guides. Do you need a load of special tools? Can I get away with my bike tool kit?

An old Howies Outback jacket for not freezing conditions and an old Howies Cross Jacket for colder days. Both fantastic and I hope I can find replacements when they eventually wear out!

When I used to be a drinker I used to love Sunday drinks. The fact you had to be in work the next day meant it was the kind of thing you shouldn’t really do so therefore more fun. Funnily enough only ever did it if I had the Monday off but it never really detracted from that fun!