How long are your legs?
Do you spin or grind?

If yours are short like mine & prefer to spin then 170’s are perfect.

Like Amplebrew I used to get very sore knees afterlong rides or when using the big ring alot.

They are also better if you are recovering from any knee surgery.
I had a new ligament.

I only made the change this year after a conversation with another rider
who said that 170’s might be better for a shortarse like me.
Big difference .No knee pain.

Small con is changing the cranks on all your bikes.
i took a full suss abroad for a week and forgot to change from 175 to 170.
No problems whilst there , but my knees where vvv bad the week after.
J.

Was planning on the Chilterns this morning , but my guide cancelled.
So off I went to Epping -dry as a bone & saw three deers.hurrah.

it’ll be like the Somme on sunday. :cry:

J

new pedal time.

my gore one is the best – had it yonks
but I also have a Mavic one which was about £20 quid cheaper –
more of a roadie thing but works a treat –
very fetching red with blue collar.nice.

"skids are for kids."

"gravity works."

"just one more little tap over this hill."

iain1775 – thank you.I do like a bit of twisty undulating S.Track tho'.

0091paddy -Thanks. checked chase trails website ,the map shows the closed bits – not too long. nice one.

BTW – Whats the cafe like?

Not the Brecon Beast…..but…
Yesterday there was some kind of run around Ranmore common,Surrey.
I passed a drinks station and for the next 100 yards the BW was littered with gels,cups etc.

As i was catching up to a straggler i saw her drop gels and cups.
I stopped cycling , picked up the items she'd dropped and when i got alongside her asked her if she had forgotten these items.
She told me that she hadn't dropped them and then to **** off!.
GRR.
I stopped at the next race steward and put them in her binbag.
lazy bastids.

I got a p7 this year after quite a few years riding a sub5 and then mainly an Evo 4 -ali hardtail.(still got both)
When I started off on the p7 i thought it was a little too heavy and I soon got used to that.Once it picks up speed ,crikey.

I don't know about rider and bike becoming one , but i do know that
I can ride things more confidently & quicker on the p7 than on the evo.
That however, may be to do with the frame geometry and the bigger fork methinks.
Ruminant – my full suss is now for the lakes/spain only.I still love me full suss , but now I want to take the p7 everywhere.
Also, I can ride the p7 all day and have no upper body fatigue,
the same can't be said for the evo.

What about Elbry??

thank you very much.
That's a fine job.
J.

When I can't get to sleep properly the night after because my limbs are
aching.

When you've gotten to the bottom of a descent and you see the grin on your companion's face resembles that of a bag of chips!!

When I've seen some lovely wildlife – deer , red squirrel ,snake etc.
or flowers too!thinking May bluebells.

Trusslebabes – Like wise – we had a good crack. Glad you got round ok .
next year you'll be showing your mate who was ill how to do it!

J.

..blue shirt who helped me out of Newcastleton to name a few.

/wave

"Thanks it was a pleasure "

nice one.

J.

Big congratulations to anyone who finished &
fair play to anyone who gave it a go.

An excellent route, brilliantly organised throughout(though the music at the castle was a little lame :D ).

I met some really cool people ,ross , mark ,bloke with a blue shirt who helped me out of Newcastleton to name a few.
Good to meet up with george again too.

I was chatting to mark about miketually's spreadsheet when a voice behind said "I did that" and lo and behold there he was, the man himself.
Very amusing…to me at least.

I think I amused a fella by swearing at the hill all the way up the Lonesome pine at 96 miles. sorry.

Definitely want to do it next year….does it get easier when you know what to expect?

Jason.

Hello.
black p7 here .
Staying in Kielder.
J.

Kenda nevegal rear /blue groove front and you won't go wrong.

the slate can be deadly when wet , or more fun!

Glad it's not just me who's excited/nervous.

Bike is clean and I've decided to use my camelbak (2l bladder)for water – tubes stapped to frame.
As for the drop bags, I'm sticking gels,cereal bars,nurofen and a lovely sausage roll(with a satchet of brown sauce!) in each of mine.
If there are any cakes & 'nanas left then I'll eat that too.

On the down side the brake pads i ordered haven't arrived yet!
and the rear tyre that was looking perfectly worn now has a slight tear in the sidewall.A$$cheeks.
Dead chuffed the weather looks like being kind – in the back of my mind I was dreading a wet one.

I'm up on friday afternoon.
Can't wait.

J.

Skiddaw figure of 8 – up Latrigg,to Skiddaw House ,down to Mungrisedale,
Up & over Caldbeck Common , round past Overwater , up Dash Falls ,Back to Skiddaw House ,down to Blencathra centre/Threlkeld and a gentle warm down on the railway line. lovely.

You can change the start/finish around – depends on the time of day coming down Latrigg.

sorry for any spelling mistakes.
J.

ride your bike more.

I went up two weeks ago and in my opinion it is rough enough to justify
a 2.1 tyre – even some of the fire road descents are quite loose .

For greasy chopsticks (see what I did there?) do not miss STICK&BOWL.
Very lovely ,sometimes greasy chinese cafe. 'tis old school.
not too expensive either.
I used to dine there 1 or twice a week back in the day.
Special fried noodles please…..don't forget the optional chilli on the far right of the counter.
It's nearly opposite Kennsington gardens Hotel.

Recently got a p7 with 140mm forks.So much fun.
The sub5 hasn't had a look in since early july!

I'm in the South east now , I bought the sub 5 when I was in Cumbria.
A hard tail is all you need really, darn sarf.
However the p7 had me grinning like a bag o'chips at the weekend doing
Langdales,Whinlatter & Skiddaw fig8, so the Sub5 may soon be redundant.

I went on Friday.
Did the lonesome pine/bloody bush and the deadwater trails as advised on another kielder thread.
What I learned ,is that I will definitely need at least a couple sets of spare brake pads if it rains or has rained in the preceding 24/48 hours.
Sandtastic!
The hills aren't too bad but a hundred miles of them will hurt.

My new p7 is lovely.
you can ride it all day and it soaks up all the abuse the trail can give.
After riding either an ali htail or my ful suss for years,
now , after riding the p7, my body(back ache etc) feels as though it's been on the full suss.
they are pricey though and I was suprised how heavy a steel bike was.
but once it gets going….crikey.top fun.

Hey BR.
Me !!
I'm in the same boat seeing as it was you who reccommended both the phone and the bloody sportstracker.
I was counting on your I.T. wizardry to help me out.

see you soon Mr.

I'm off to Kielder on Friday morning.Say hello if you see a P7.

There's a cycling ninja/darth vader –
full black baloclava & hockeytype masked individual ,
I ve seen around Tottenham Hale -very scary –
Like an evil stig off top gear , he's always heading south when i see him.
Never had the balls to say hello whilst waiting for the lights to change.
Although I have whistled the Star Wars theme.

sofatester –
thanks for that ….
, when i next get a flier I'll explore.
I may have gotten lost through it recently…just following my compass..
I deffo came across a cheeky path into a lovely church as Karinofnine described. I got to it from old knebworth following cheeky paths and then i came out at Mardley Hill,after Woolmer green(b197) – Bridleway after railway bridge and then followed my nose.
I agree though, alot of the lanes and paths are ace.

I did my commute from Stevenage(bridal way ,off Hertford road)up past Datchworth/Bramfield this weekend.
On Friday afternoon on the little climb that goes past the Bombholes
i was nearly knocked off by a road!!! motorbike.
Came from nowhere like a rocket.
I've had a little look around for singletrack but when commuting doesn't leave much time for playing.
Is Mardley woods on the way to Hertfod?(I head SW for the canal)

J.

I have recently had the same problem with thomson post and a P7 frame.
I tried the carbon paste stuff and I greased the seatpost clamp bolt.
I even phoned orange to check if it needed a shim or I wasn't damaging the frame.(Ididn't and wasn't)

In the end it was what jambo said… I had the seat post clamp the wrong way round……..
i.e. seatpost hinge next to slot on frame.
Doh.soft lad.

grangers – you wash the item in it then spin dry on a low temperature.
Has always worked for me.

Enjoyed that.
Thanks.
My Dad took me camping at Grange- bottom of Castle Crag.
Everytime I do the Borrowdale Bash I have a laal moment.

I tore my anterior cruciate ligament.
You will need to rest it as advised.
When you can move it take it easy….I thought I was ok after 8 weeks,
went up to head a ball (playing footie) and as i landed my ligament gave way.V painful.
I eventuallly needed a MRI scan and then surgery to replace ligament.

If you have any after effects like that pursue the scan.
I gave up football and was able to cycle etc a long time before I had the surgery though…and 8 weeks after….. :-)

Nettles for me.
The epping brambles at the moment make you(me) look like a serial self harmer….
" another little paper cut….ooohhh nice"

did a week in spain recently – their brambles are horrendous.

Warburtons do a hot cross bun loaf –
make little sarnies with lemon curd in it. deee..lish.

harvest bars work for me and elevenses

woman in a 4×4 passes me and then decided she was going to park on the left.
I braked , endo-ed and smacked into the back of her.
Bent my rear mech , few bumps and cuts.
After i calmed down the woman was sobbing and howling.
I had to console her! I told her she would have to replace the mech.
Fair play to her, she took me and bike to the bank and gave me £100!
I had asked for £50 for the mech.
I then straightened the mech and continued the commute.
I did buy a new mech with the cash though.
J.

ton – if you don't want to give the impression you don't like people
may i suggest you refrain from saying you think the O.P. is a complete something or other.Or that you hope they get knocked off their bike.

the artist formerly known as str – have you read my previous replies on this thread? If you don't believe me then thats cool by me.

move along,nothing to see here.

I prefer to climb from Troutbeck and down into Kentmere.
It's a challenging climb ,but it's a carry up from Kentmere for me.
I always come back past dubbs(i think) resovoir so you get the downhill too. :-)

Either way is fun though.

Just read the o.p. again,for the life of me I can't
see any glee in the text. I wasn't happy the dog died.
I just think there's an element of Karma – call it what you will.

Honestly not trolling ,just reporting a strange incident whilst cycling.
Like loads of folk on here.

But if I can take one positive out of the whole experience,
I've joined the not so select few of people whom Ton isn't struck on/thinks is stupid.Super.

pretty much anything by Daft Punk, try "harder faster sronger"(sic) and "alive".
They have a live album it's amazing for spinning along to.
The tracks are already mixed.
J.