On Skye – Glen Sligachan. Rocky, technical, physical riding in stunning scenery.

Kilmarie over to Camasunary then up the glen to Sligachan hotel. I always ride out and back (from either end), as the loop alternative you’ll see on some sites gets boggy and involves a fair bit of road riding. Not that the roads in those parts are unpleasant!

I do have a track pump and got the tyres up after 5-10 mins of frantic pumping – thats how I’ve always done it. Just looking for a better way.

When I tried the inflator, I did take the valve core out, yes… it just released in a very controlled manner

Good work… STW delivers

An update that anyone buying ARCs might be interested in…

I went for the ARC 27 and have just built up the front wheel on Hope Pro 4.

ERD is published as 558, but you need to add the height of the nipple head to that. Easton describe it as 558++ on the website (but not on the rim itself) where each + is the nipple head.

My DT Swiss brass nipples are about 1.5mm high, so I calculated spoke lengths from 561 (I also measured across the rim with spokes attached to nipples and got 561), and they were just about right.

Only the third wheel I’ve ever built but I’m pretty chuffed with it. No idea how these things ride yet though!

Got a carbon Defy with Ultegra discs end of last year. Utterly brilliant. I can single-finger brake to a standstill from the hoods, no problem. And they use the same pads as my MTBs :)

OK thanks. Good logic. Lots of 3rd party rings and chains and allsorts.

I’ve run mixed 9/10sp stuff in the past, but just wary of tighter toleranced 11sp stuff.

Thanks all – leaning toward the 27mm then as it seems a sensible option

(oh Hiscox also don’t require things like floor anchors for locking bikes to)

We use Hiscox. It is expensive – £550ish vs £250 cheapest quote on price comparison sites.

BUT they do cover everything to full value, don’t need to specify high-value items like bikes or engagement rings or laptops, are decent to speak to on the phone. I haven’t had to make a claim but parents did and it was straightforward.

Hey Maccruiskeen – might we take you up on your offer of the generator? Teacake and I are planning something, and we are (or I am) indeed based near Glasgow. I’ll fill you in with a bit more detail over email if you’re keen, and you can decide if we’re trustworthy types ;)

bob (at) refreshcycles dot com

OK, so it turns out you can run multiple themes using ‘multisite’ or a few other options. A bit complex.

I think I may go the localhost route to begin with.

Cheers all :)

B

Cheers Butcher. That’s what someone else suggested to me too, just not sure if I can have a different theme running on the subdomain?

My wife says GO SNORKELLING IT’S AWESOME!

And she’s right. Snorkelling in crystal clear water in the fissures at the tectonic plate split.

#jealous

@ourmaininthenorth – cheers for that. I’m in discussion with a talktalk person via their support forums and have challenged his assertions on how it works… if I get a satisfactory response, great, but if not I’ll seek out the SMC.

Modem/router is the Talktalk “superrouter” (Huawei) for fibre connections. It’s connected to the master socket and I am absolutely 100% sure there are no internal issues/interference – I’ve had several Openreach guys confirm that after numerous visits for another fault.

The downstream speed is consistent with FTTC at my distance from the exchange so I need to assume I am getting FTTC. (EDIT – like sharkbait says)

My big question then is around the 40/10 vs 40/2 products and whether the upstream component would improve with the former, given no other changes to equipment or line?

Cheers all

B

Case for: I’m paying for Fibre. The Openreach engineers digging around in the cabinet on an unrelated phone related issue a few weeks back didn’t doubt I was on Fibre.

Case against: Your doubts. Talktalk do not fill me with confidence.

How would I check? You have me thinking!

My router says Line Standard = VDSL, but I’m not sure that clarifies things.

Because none of the online availability tools recognise my postcode or phone number (including talktalk!) I struggle to get any kind of info!

Cheers all. Bikeradar seems relatively busy… not quite sure how I missed it?!

Will try some of the others mentioned too.

And yes, I’ll be sticking around on here :)

Hi all

Brief update after I went away last week (28 Sep – 2 Oct) for those who were considering something similar.

– flew to Geneva, train from the airport via Geneva CFF & Chambery to St Jean de Maurienne. Very easy, pretty cheap.

– stayed in St Jean de Maurienne at Hotel de l’Europe. Very cheap, clean, basic, friendly staff, secure bike room. Simple breakfast with lots of coffee.

– rented bike from Solaro cycles – nice people but not as slick as rental operations I’ve used in Mallorca. Bike was perfectly functional (Tiagra, alu) but I’d expected more (at least 105, ability to swap stem, loan of a multi tool). Only bike shop I could find in StJdM but I’d probably seek another outfit next time.

– weather was sunny thoughout. On the valley floor, it was about 10deg first thing in the morning rising to 18-20deg. Lovely. On the summits though, it’s bitterly cold – air temp 5deg roughly, but with the windchill it feels well below zero. There was snow and ice atop the Galibier. If it had been raining, its would have been chilly much of the time and summits/descents would have been verging on dangerous without many many clothes.

– Clothing – wore shorts and a longsleeve windstopper with a superlight rain/wind jacket & a buff in pocket. I’d probably wear more next time – maybe a base layer, thicker gloves, 3/4 legs. Cannot overstate how cold I got descending for 30mins at a time, even though on the climbs what I had was perfect.

– Stuff being open beyond the season, as this was – many things weren’t. On the valley floor it was very quiet but most shops open. In the higher towns and on summit cafes, about 1 in 5 were open. I was often the only person in when I stopped for coffee/croque monsieur/gaufre/etc. Tasty.

– I rode the following cols, and it was all totally brilliant – Chaussy, Lacets de Montvernier, Glandon, Croix de Fer, Mollard, Telegraphe, Galibier, Madeleine, La Toussuire. And there are more/ride in reverse/etc.

Summary – had a brilliant time, great place to go, would probably go at least a few weeks earlier next time.

Hope that’s of use to someone!

B

Thanks all.

Decision made – flights booked to Geneva, train booked to St Jean de Maurienne.

I’ll let you know how the weather is in 1st week of Oct!

Hmm I’m hoping snow wouldn’t start til November, but I’m not super keen on cold/wet.

Bourg D’Oisans maybe a good shout, short drive from Grenoble.

Lourdes looks interesting but not sure how best to fly there from Edinburgh/Glasgow – might be complicated.

Any other suggestions?

Cheers all

FB page is Refresh Cycles

I do have a pile of bits now, but they’ve generally come off bikes because they’re either cosmetically worn or say a cassette that’s a bit worn and I wouldn’t use on a Refresh bike, but might use on my own for a few months. If anyone needs grips/cassettes/chainrings for a winter hack bike just ask :)

Seasonality – yeah not sure how that’ll play out!

An update, a couple of months on, in case anyone is interested:

– I’ve made a reasonable margin on some bikes, and lost money on others.
– When I’ve lost money, it’s because I’ve found lots of serious problems needing sorted – knackered suspension, Reverb, whole drivetrain replacements, obscure bearings
– I don’t believe anyone has intentionally misled me – it’s just that many things aren’t obvious until they’re taken apart
– Some bikes have sold within 24h of being advertised, some have gone weeks without a sniff
– Wheel size really matters to some folks, and not at all to others – and there are glorious 26″ bikes available if you’re one of the latter
– There are lots of timewasters out there
– I have a very much expanded selection of tools :)

– I’m having fun
– I’ve met some really cool people
– I know a boatload more about bikes!!

I’m a little wiser/faster with every bike, tweaking the formula each time, still playing on them all!

Bob

Got a solo place. First ever solo 24h… uh oh

A ‘satisfaction’ guarantee – basically I want you to be happy.

I guess that means it’s as I described when I sold it to you and mechanically/functionally it’s perfect.

If it’s not, I make it right as soon as I can or you get your money back.

If someone takes the piss I’ll make a stand, but I’m of the view that if I treat customers well, karma will look after me.

Cynic-Al – I had considered splitting, but I’m not convinced it is more profitable. I also then have multiple parts to sell and need a marketplace in which to do that – eBay fees make it expensive (10% plus 3.4% paypal). Not ruling it out… may just need to try one and see if it makes money!

Liability insurance… good idea!!

Thanks for the encouragement.

Trailhound… sorry to hear that, I appreciate there’s a big difference between jumping and being pushed. Hope all goes well for you.

Sancho – thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful!!

I rode a Synapse carbon with Ultegra discs and 28mm tyres in Majorca a couple of weeks back

It was a superb road bike, but I don’t know if I’d feel all that comfortable riding on gravel for extended periods. I guess it does still feel like a proper road bike rather than a more CX thing?

Riding on the hills behind Dunblane-Bridge of Allan-Causewayhead is excellent. Just south of Cambusbarron too. Torwood forest has a wee bit that’s fun for an hour. On the road bike, there’s also a lot of nice riding in all directions.

I live between Plean and Denny – driving from here is super easy as you can go north, south or east on the motorway. These towns are nothing exciting but the countryside is nice.

Really nice areas I know of are Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Kings Park (in Stirling), Torwood. House prices reflect that though! There are plenty fast trains to Edin and Gla from Stirling.

Hope that’s useful…

B

mmm thanks for the input catfish but I don’t think that’s them… exploded diagram doesn’t show the drive side assy I can see (and the sticker does say ‘ratchet system’)

I just want to take the thing apart but don’t want to start hitting the axle with a mallet if I’m not supposed to!

:) point persuasively made

commuters it is!

Ah very interesting – Flat Out is quite close to what I imagined, but many more parts than bikes (makes sense I suppose)

My thinking was that there would be more value in higher end bikes – not because folks don’t know their value, but because the risk is potentially more expensive

It’s pretty hard, but you’ll get up it just fine, and feel good for doing so.

Thing is, it LOOKS awesome, so I’m pretty sure a lot of the reverence comes from that. Certainly, I love it both because it’s a challenge and it’s visually stunning.

B (39mins ish on a 34×25)

Thanks both – Sixt seems like the best shout so far. Scirocco’s and BMW 4/6 series etc.

Hmm thanks – hadn’t seen ‘Hertz Prestige’ before – but yes all I can see is executive behemoths…

Surely there are some decent smaller rental companies that don’t charge the earth? If not, I may go live in Italy and start one…

Cheers mate :)

We created a wee online gift-list (google doc!) of ‘things we’ll spend the money on’ and listed the things we wanted to do on honeymoon. Seemed to get a laugh and be well received!

It meant we got some really nice, well-thought out ‘physical’ presents and for those who didn’t know what to get, we got a cheque for “jetski hire”, “dinner for two at a lakeside restaurant” and most importantly, “2x MTB hire and a day’s guiding”.

We hired bikes from Cross Country Connection. Small company, negotiated a good rate to take XC bikes one day and DH the next as we fancied, took a guide for a morning to get us started and took advice the rest of the time. Loved it!

Thanks all, plenty to choose from and exactly what I was looking for. GR-221 looks awesome too. Need to do that.