Most Santa Cruz are still screw in….what better excuse to spend six grand on a Bronson! :D

I guided there for a season with Bikevillage. There is an absolutely endless supply of singletrack, everything is linkable if you have a good map and a strong pair of legs.

To get across from les coches to la Roche there’s a few options, some of which are fire road only, others involve getting the lift up to plan bois then getting some traversey singletrack across. The easiest way to describe it is basically head up above les coches then head hard right, pick up what you can until you hit the main road to la plagne.

Buy an IGN map either when you’re there or in advance, the detail on them is cracking. It’s a hell of a ride up to Roche de Mio!

Spend the money you would do on paying a bike shop to do it on getting the correct rim/tyre combo and it takes less time than putting a tube in

**Ahem, obviously not riding on public roads aged 14 on an untaxed vehicle to get there though, obviously…cough** :D

The rider follow was an experiment that came off fairly well. It was a very tight and steep switch back section of trail. I was able to walk straight down the middle of the turns while my mate was riding the proper line.

Know it well, I grew up in the village at the top of the hill, used to spend hours down there on my little 125 gasser tearing the grass banks to bits and trying to hone my throttle control

^^^^^what manxambassador said about the weather. I went up there in the works van last Friday and look what happened there!:

Looks like you were pretty lucky with the weather :-)

**no Police Officers were hurt in the making of this picture

Have booked the weekend off for the Manx 100 too, can see myself just doing the 100k version though, it’ll be a tough enough challenge.

Just hope the snow’s gone by then :D

Not fancy doing it on a tandem penny farthing or something similar this year Jonclimber?

I’m in for this year as usual, this will be my 10th start. Can’t see me bettering my 3hrs 32mins time of 2009 for a while. Looking forward to pleasing the photographers on the way down to Brandywell though :D

Hoping to lose a bit of timber for this year too :-)

Agreed. As long as the likes of Bike Discount keep doing them for such a good price,I won’t be running anything else. The ultimate do it all tyre

It would be a good deal if it was 2008. Things have moved on a great deal since then.

Google the new Deore brakes if you’re looking for a bargain…as well as something that works

Take your own bike. I guided in the valley with BikeVillage and the very few guests who didn’t bring their own bike regretted it. They hired shoddy bags of shit from the local shops that aren’t a patch on the ski hire set up for the winter season and were trying to get used to them all week.

You’ve got a good bike, pack it well and take it with you

I’ve got a spare 15mm axle in my spares box, email me robinarnold69@hotmail.com if you still need one

I fitted mine last night to a regular Shimano BB, fits fine, dunno what the bit on the description means about BB30 as its most definitely not a 30mm axle. Probably just a typo

A mate of mine has a pair if these:

Lake winter boots

And raves about them. He’s a hard man but with ballerina’s feet so these are the only ones for him

If you mount the racks AndyR has highlighted vertically and ram the rear wheel in, compressing the tyre in, it should more or less stay put without having to tie anything down at all. The problem comes when you mount bikes by the front wheel and they can swivel about the headset bearings easily. Anchored by the rear wheel it’s going nowhere

I used to run X0 9 speed, they were really lovely, positive but still light. Went to Sleepless in 2010 and lost count after a lap how many accidental double shifts I’d had when i was tring to click down just one more gear on the field edges about a third of the way round the lap….it was so infuriating! Nonetheless they were lovely shifters.

I went 10 speed last year and treated myself to a pair of XTRM980 shifters and can safely say I won’t be going back to SRAM in a hurry. The XTR are wonderfully positive without being light and wooly, love marrying them to my M780 brakes on one mount as they are in the perfect position for my hands. The two way, multi release cable release paddle is a god send.

Personally I think it’s horrendous, feels like it’s not attached to anything… I think the main point of my rant is just to say it divides opinion and therefore worth trying before you buy if you can.

I disagree on this, especially when used with a shadow + rear mech, they don’t feel too light at all

Has to be XTR for me

Something like this?

I really don’t get the whole ‘name on the top tube’ thing.

It’s just so self indulgent (i’m thinking the same extent as that prick on Radio 2 – Steve ‘Love the Show’ Wright (who gives a monkeys who you are?! Let your riding do the talking and let your rivals try and figure it out once they’re crying over the results sheet!)

Either that or it’s a stroke of genius in case you nurf yourself on a tree and can’t remember your name when you get picked up by mountain rescue.

Thoughts?

Whilst we’re on the subject of sharing gratuitous pictures of our bikes, he is my beloved 4RT when new up on the moor above my parents’ house. Recently sold on due to no time to ride because of work and family commitments

Thanks guys. Didn’t know what iCloud did, but safe to say I do now. Just hope it’s as simple to recover the stuff from icloud back on to the replacement! Much obliged

I rode a 20 inch Monty when I was in my teens then got on one a couple of years back and couldn’t believe how small and unstable it felt, and I’m only 5ft 8. My recommendation would be to get a 24. Seems to work ok for Danny Macaskill

Bikevillage.co.uk sounds right up your street…me and the wife went there on honeymoon last year…mega!

I guided in the valley over three years and can safely say it’s an absolutely ENDLESS supply of techy, long, scenic singletrack. The chap I worked for is still finding new trails and he’s lived there for 12 years. You could do a week of using the lift assisted stuff and never ride the same trail twice, then you could ride for another three months and do the same.

It’s awesome, Bourg St Maurice is a lovely quaint town and the transport links are excellent. Have a look at bikevillage.co.uk for a taster

I had the same fears when I got mine a few weeks ago, but fitted anyway. They work fine, and save weight 8)

Zefal no mud, bit fiddly to fit but once on, very sturdy and effective

+1 for Bike Village, fantastic setting, quality people. Sounds right up your street

20 :-)

If it loses hydraulic pressure it’ll drop to the bottom

It’s the bracket axle unit, number 1 on that diagram. Found one online, just ordered. Praying it arrives for Sundays race!

Thanks

What Shaggy said, that’s what I did,great value

A most entertaining thread, well done all.

Should have gone to Specsavers Bike Village :D

Andrew, plenty of us three legged type on here, drop me an email closer to the time and we’ll organise something. The vid above is my local loop, absolutely loads of stuff to ride, virtually none of it marked so helps to have some local knowledge on your side.

robinarnold69@hotmail.com

Rob

2.3 volume XR4 is bigger than my 2.35 Hans Dampf

The benefit is that they sit flush with the edges of the BB shell so it can be wider and the whole downtube/BB area stiffer. They are also out of the firing line of the shite.

Apparently…for both reasons

That amount is simply incredible, a fitting tribute

I worked with Chris and Busty at BV, both amazing fellas full of enthusiasm and a thirst for adventure.

They’ll leave a massive hole in everyone’s lives who has had the pleasure of knowing them.

RIP lads

I’m using the funnel system which works well. They recommend to use a bag on the end of the hose once you’ve pushed fluid up using a syringe. However, I kept the syringe on last night and used it to help ‘suck’ the fluid back down like with the avid system. Worked a treat and I got loads more air out using this method. Much cleaner too. Two really good bleeds later I’ll use this method again

Mine took two weeks to arrive but it’s a good deal all the same

Put the stem on in the desired position, then put a 3mm spacer resting on top, then the top cap. As long as your bolt is long enough it will preload the headset without any issues. Once the stem bolts are tight, remove the spacer and tighten the top cap down loosely.

Once the headset is preloaded the top cap serves no purpose apart stopping it look daft and mud getting down there

Hainman: new generation 10 speed stuff only