Heres another one where the footpath just stops due to boundary[/url]

I doubt its an old post man walk or anything. Its a failure of the UK RoW system.

You can clearly see it finishes on the boundary of the national park.

Which is probably the boundary of the civil parish.

Its probably a different planner who drew up the other definitive map.
So on one side its a footpath and the other nothing on the whims of 2 people in the 50’s.

There’s load of examples of these all round. Often a bridleway turns into a footpath on a CP boundary !

I’ll never get down the really tech stuff I can on my mtb, but the compromise is worth it for the other 99% of the trails/routes that I ride it on

But I wonder if there were some slight tweaks to the handlebar layout whether you could get down some slightly more tech stuff without losing any much speed on the road sections.

Presumably the CX bike is meant to be more capable off road than a Road bike with big tyres or a gravel bike but Im not convinced it is.

au contraire, drops are for descending
Arguably, ymmv, all imo of course, on your CX bike you probably shouldn’t be riding trails that are on the raggedy edge of your ability,

Drops are for going fast, not doing technical or rocky stuff.

I didn’t like it at first, but stuck with it and got used to it

I don’t like descending on drops as much because it puts my weight too far forward when it’s steep. On the other hand the hand position isn’t as good on the hoods

Even CX enthusiasts cant seem to agree how to use the bars on CX bikes !

I agree with Road bars for gravel bike as you say you are covering long distances with little tech.

Well I sold it and now have a 29er rigid for road/offroad mix and a road bike for road only.

So I cant get any better any more.

I would like to give something like this a try
Saracen Hack FB

But with some better components and 680 mm bars are ridiculously wide for its use.

Maybe I’d add some bar ends or tri bars or something similar for road sections.

More hand positions, less weight, different weight distribution, different body position?

These are all good things on road but to me there position specific for off road use.

I do not get why I would want to be in the drop’s off road.
Them little brakes on the tops are far too narrow.
Personally I preferred being on the hoods offroad even if I lost some breaking power and grip as this is the highest widest position.

There needs to be a high wide position for offroad.

Or maybe they are just better at riding stuff

I was nt very good at riding my CX bike I admit that.

Maybe it shows that people live places where CX is useful?
Or that they’ve set them up well for the sort of riding they do?

I still cant see how a lightweight rigid 29er will not offer a better compromise between a MTB and road bike. (excluding CX races I know nothing of these).

As I say I think most of my complaints would be answered if they just worked out some new bars for the discipline instead of sticking on road bars which dont make sense. (PS I like my road bars on my road bike)

I’m not sure where the straw man that CX bikes are not as good off road as mountain bike wandered in from. I mean, no shit Sherlock, you mean a fully rigid bike with drop bars and 35mm tyres isn’t going to be as fast as a mountain bike on rocky trails…

I’ve ridden 29er rigid with 1.75″ tyres and narrow-ish bars (sub 700). It’s nothing like a CX/gravel/adventure bike

Your missing my point completely both of you.

Yup, I’ve got a niner air9 Carbon with rigid forks and (medium-wide) bars.
They do different things – its good for more technical trails, bigger tyres allow more to be ridden.
I don’t ride it as much as my carbon cx, but its still a good bike to ride.

Fairnuff I’m honestly surprised by this answer, although it does show some people do want CX bikes.

To me I don’t get why they do different things, and the rigid 29er(with narrow bars + tyres) is much much much much better offroad and similar on road.

one question I would ask or CX enthusiasts is have any of you ridden a lightweight 29er rigid with lightweight tyres (preferably tubeless) something like a 1.9″ or maybe 1.8″ ? (say with narrowish bars 640mm or so)

Is there anyone who says they prefer a CX after riding this set up ?

as mentioned above to me the main issue is the drop bar.

Coming from a mtb background I dont get it.

What i want in a CX bike is something that is decently fast on road but u can do a bit offroad on.

To that end it the bars have a narrow low position for getting in a more aero comfortable position for road and a wider higher position giving more control offroad.

If i was design the bars for a bike of this type, They would be a bit like the jones bars but narrower (say 600mm) and longer at the front.

maybe something like this but not so narrow.

or even bull horn bars with extensions to the side.

i’ve been told off for saying this before. But I dont really see the point of CX bikes (except for maybe CX racing). In my opinion a 29er flat bar rigid is about 1000 times better off road (Even with say 1.9″ tyres) and not that much slower on road.

But I suppose its horses for courses.

I got into MTBing as a teenager. I was interested in bikes then.
I might have even been more interested in tinkering with bikes than actual cycling.
I am 37 as you say I am now interested in cycling not bikes.
When its time for a new bike, I can rekindle my interest going long enough to buy a new bike.
What I’d really be interested in is a bike that requires zero maintenance.

my mates dad was Roger Bush I liked that one

can u report back whether it works or not.

mind tubless tyres that half work arent a great idea on road bikes

This is definitely something I experience as well.

Although I have a feeling that even when i’m riding well im not exactly using the suspension correctly as often I dont seem to notice if its locked out or not.

I find it worse with Hardtails.
Going from a rigid to a Full suss is nt quite as bad it forces me to change my riding style I sit back more and rarely stand up.

With a hardtail I want to stand up and really push the bike but because Im not used to the suspension I just tend to wallow in it.

do u mean these ?

click

I have some on my road bike from planetX. I assumed they weren’t tubeless compatible.

I havent seen any information to suggest they are.

“North Downs is part of the Surrey Hills”

Its part of AONB yes but often when people say the surrey hills they mean the greensand ridge ie Holmbury, Leith, Pitch etc.

This area is somewhat better for MTBing in the winter than the chalk based north downs (as u say).

Do u mean MTB or more just offroad pottle ?

Swinley is reasonably well draining, and u dont get any of that claggy sticky mud. But u do get alot of grinding paste spray. So u and bike will get very dirty but u wont get bogged down.

This is one of the main problems with MTBing in the SE I find, the summer riding is great but Winter riding is a bit meh.

22 miles is a long way.

I got a cyclocross for a ~13 mile ish commute.

But I began using the road more and more and stuck road wheel/tyres on it.

This enabled me to get the commute time down to 38 mins (on the best days) when it took 30 mins to drive.

My commute is now 26 miles, I have replaced the cyclocross bike with a proper road bike, which is a bit quicker still.

I do go cycle it offroad sometimes too, but I just use the MTB and it turns into a proper MTB ride.

When I swapped from a alu road bike frame to a carbon one, there seemed to be loads less flex round the BB area.

I seemed to be much more efficient at delivering power to the wheel.

Is this likely to be the case for MTB hardtails or are they already overbuilt round that area any how ?

Anyway, I went to dentist and turns out I had an infection in my gum. No pain, only a wee small lump I hadn’t even noticed. The dentist said she could smell the infection when she drilled in..yuck! A bit of drilling and a crown later and legs came back within 10 days. Might not be anything, but thought it was worth a post anyway

I was going to say this too, I’ve had huge problems with fatigue since I got a gum infection just before I hit 31. 37 now

I’ve had various teeth infection and gum infections since.

As the poster above says often I don’t actually feel the pain or it seems to be nothing.

But I just slowly go down and down until the issue is sorted then I slowly come back up. Unfortunately I just seem to have tooth issue after tooth issue since I hit 30.

Bloods have never shown any inflammation or infection, one time my thyroid was out though but since has recovered.

So would get teeth checked thoroughly.

Good guess, I was nt far off with “Pilgrimage route either to Canterbury or Saint Davids”

Offa’s Dyke’s gotta be in there and the SDW.

I doubt SDW will be in there as its not an ancient track.

I suppose there must of been a track of some sort along Offa’s Dyke, but it not really a trade route track like Icknield way/Ridgeway.

I’d hazard a guess we might get some sort of Pilgrimage route either to Canterbury or Saint Davids but thats more “middle age” than “ancient”.

To be honest he’s done the 2 big ones I’d think of as ancient, and to some extent they are the same track, the ridgeway finishing approximately where the Icknield way starts.

Could do a Roman road, like the A5 watling street I suppose but not really in the same vein as the previous episodes.

Dorset Ridgeway is one Julia Bradbury did on the BBC version.

I’d just be glad I’d made it to the other side and wast dead at the bottom of the gap.

I’d probably then bin the day job, start working in something safe like IT, and bimble around the woods on my MTB at the weekends.

ah maybe my life choices werent that bad after all.

Heres another oxfordshire one doesnt seem to have numbers for some reason either.

Click

I assume its the definite map you are looking for do a search for

Definite Map and the Country name ie
Definite Map Oxfordshire
Definite Map Wokingham

Here is the oxfordshire one
Click Here

Click on the squares and smaller maps give u the number. There seem to be alot in Oxford so the numbers are very high.

Here is the workingham one
click

It doesnt seem to have the numbers on which is annoying.

Both good suggestions but I would really like something made for the purpose.

I find it quite surprising it doesn’t exist already we seem to have every standard for thing in existence in the cycling world already.

Maybe the answer if just to sew some arm warmers on my self.

To be honest. Having used an m8000 side pull front mech I wonder why I am still using 1×11 on any bikes. The shifting between front rings is incredible.

I would be interested to try one of these. I’ve moved one back to 1×10, partly to try and save weight and partly because I never had good shifting at the front.

I recently got a new road bike with SRAM rival and the shifting at the front is so smooth. Would be good to try the latest shimano offering, might make me go back to 2 times.

cheers

I would say get a 29er.

But then I have only riden 26er’s and 29er rigid I havent ridden a 27.5″ rigid.

I would also get something light. That kind of the point of a rigid bike in my opinion.

That one u have linked to is very heavy.

any pictures or links ? what A-C height ?

Young Offenders or Dame Alice (climb/decent)

True I still haven’t done them. They are quite a way from me in Twyford and I had my first kid last August so I’ve been doing quite alot of road biking unfortunately. I used to commute back on MTB from didcot but I dont have the time most of the time now.

But the Chilterns is a very big place and to be fair I don’t now much of the 2/3rd’s north of the M40.

I would probably include the hills south of the Thames between Henley and Cookham in the Chilterns and I do know this area extremely well.

but to suggest that there are no decent loops to be had is just mischievous TBH.

This is not what im suggesting at all, I love riding in the Chilterns !

Im just suggesting that I think most people are underestimating how much local knowledge they have picked up either over time / from other riders.

I think suggesting just go for a few rides and your’ll automatically find some good trails is wrong.

Although as I have admitted above the OP is on the right side of the Chilterns (the scarp sloop), to find some good descents. So he has more chance of finding something that some one from Twyford.

Sticking to long boring bridleways is one of your problems. Try the more entertaining twisty singletrack instead.

I know the chilterns well now. I have been riding there since I went to Uni in Reading in 1998.

However I have had some pretty boring or depressingly wet rides there getting to know the place. It is not always possible from the OS map to work out which routes will be good, just from the gradient lines.

Anyone who claims you can just head out into the Chilterns and guarantees you will find some great MTBing first time is wrong (even if your happy with OS maps). You may find some great riding first time u may not as the OP stated.

However if the weather is nice your almost certain to have a great time cycling in the outdoors, as long as your not too hung up on finding “singletrack” or “trails”.

I don’t know how you find trails, but I just dive into the undergrowth on any tack or trail that looks promising. To say that:

Yeah pretty much the same here.
But there have been distinctly more times in the chilterns where I’ve followed a trail and 1 of 2 things has happend .

1. ok this is a bit boring/rubbish and im starting to lose a bit of altitude, ok still boring and im going quite fast now should I turn back nah !, ok suddenly Im at the bottom of a ruddy great hill and all I’ve done go down very quickly with no skill in a straight line, ok I suppose I ride back up it again.

2. Oh this look interesting, hmm bit wet, hmm bit muddy, hmm very muddy, probably dry round the corner, hmm ok I’ll get off and walk a bit followed by 1 mile walking through mud.

Riding round Crowthorne Wood, Bracknell Forest, Tunnel Hill etc doesnt tend to be like that. Generally u just see a route think that looks interesting, and 90% of the time it is !

on the other hand you are on the good side of the Chilterns where there is a descent gradient.

Personally I think every one is being a bit too positive and I think the OP has a point. Dont get me wrong I love riding in the Chilterns and have for many years. But its definetly not the MTB utopia that alot of you are suggesting.

1. There are ALOT of bridleways alot of these are Rubbish decsents !
The one given above is a perfect example of that
Wormsley Descent
The first bit which has been rerouted is ok but the rest is just a straight line down the hill.
On a Full Suss bike it is plain boring, on a dry day on a rigid its pretty dull, on a wet day on a rigid its very slippy which some may like.

2. Alot of the good trails are a bit tame on a FS, I would recommend a rigid 29er for the chilterns my self.

3. The chilterns can be rubbish in the Winter as the drainage is bad its soo muddy in alot of places. Late summer is the best time to ride.

4. There arent many twisty turny trails (but there are a few)

The chilterns is best for long rides, with reasonably long up’s and down’s with road sections to link bits.

I dunno where the OP lives. To the north of where I live is the chilterns. To the south is Bracknell forest and the army wood land ie Tunnel Hill etc etc.

Now these are area I would describe a teaming with trails just head in find what you can find it will probably be good. Also with the sandy soil the drainage is normally decent all year.

Personally I dont think the Chilterns is like that. I think some of the posters are down playing the amount of local knowledge they have learned over time or gained from others.

It is perfectly possible to ride up into the chilterns and basically find nothing but straight boring bridleways as the OP has done.

I have listed some sections on here which I think are good.
Chilterns Singletrack Post

I know I have missed some like young offenders.

“builder has quoted me £1800”

The tools you will need to buy to DIY, will cost you at least half of that. Let alone the materials. Unless you buy really crappy cheap tools which might just about last for the one job. But then, good quality tools will be an investment, if you plan to take on other jobs in the future.

I agree with this statement above. Although to some extent it depends on your mind frame.

1. If your doing it your self buy some decent tools they make a real difference to how quickly and easily you can do the job.

2. Again If doing it your self buy decent materials, dont be trying to save on this and that your’ll only be disappointed with the results.

The main reason not to get some one to do it is if your fussy.
If you are fussy and want some one to do it you need to plan every last detail ahead and tell them.

I find when I do stuff I tend to make it up as I go along (maybe not a good plan) but I do think deeply about stuff once I get going so Im normally pleased with the results.

I’ve found getting others in to the do jobs, I havent given enough info to them to begin with and stuff is never where I expect it.

You realise the ranges that are normal for blood tests are all but useless if you are training/fit/an athlete

I’ve always wondered about this.

I’ve had periods where I’ve felt rough my blood tests have always come back positive. But i’ve always thought it would have been good to have some test before I started feeling rough or at least when I’m feeling well to base line them off.

1. any problems with teeth or gums ?
Get them sorted by
a. Going to Dentist
b. Going to Hygentist

2. Is your thyroid function normal ?

everything looked a little bit further away

I find this with every type of glasses I’ve worn. Sunglasses clear, etc etc etc.

Its annoying as I find I often misstep when walking up pavements and stuff with sunglasses on.

Even though Im a bald slow short middle aged man, I actually have really really good vision in terms of clarity/depth/colours. I just find any glasses interfere with it and I cant deal with them.

So I never wear them, I occasionally get things in my eyes cycling, but not that often as I also have really long eyelashes that seem to protect them and they dont seem to irritate easily.

I actually think its cheating when people are allowed to use contacts/glasses for competitive sport of any kind as this is my one genetic advantage and its rendered pretty much useless.

Glasses should be banned from the Olympics as its mechanical dopping !!!