First thing I do when fitting new handlebar tape is throw away the included end plugs and reuse my ones with a screw in that don’t fall out.

What about the bits of supposedly sticky tape they give you for finishing the bar tape in the middle. They are the most unsticky things in the universe. Fit one and turn your back to get the other one out of the box and you can hear it unpeeling itself…

Insulation tape every time.

Cycleworks in Leatherhead have Schwalbe 29er tyres. Think they had Racing Ralph and Nobby Nics as well as Specialized in 29er. Good area to ride in as well!

There is a Defy 2 version which I have. Think it is MB526. Has faster processor and bigger battery.

I don’t worry about riding in the rain and don’t have a protective case at all. But I’m not going to push my luck by giving it a dip!

Thought for a second there was a secret trail centre at Thorpe Park. Oh well.

Not the HD version. Axle fits in and wheel runs perfectly when all bolted up. Just that the sealing is crap. Think they have fitted the wrong size O rings.

Black Park race sounds good think I’ll have get my singlespeed out and have a go.

I have a race face seatpost on my other bike and have always liked their bombproof clamp.

Chain reaction have a sale on Race Face seatposts and I got a Next SL carbon for £45. Not silly light but good enough.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=49964

Road section is the key to a good start, you may struggle to hold your position on singlespeed.

Easy to say get there early but I got stuck right in the middle of the scrum and crossed the start 3 minutes after the top 100.

Locked out the suspension and hammered the first 10 miles and just got in front of a big group just before the first off road climb.

Lots of my club members have entered this year but they will have to get in the scrum whereas I should be safe in the first 100.

I found the wet rocky climb about halfway after the football club the hardest.

Great event. Not what I expected at all.

Cheers for the replies.

Googled SDG I-Beam. I have a new Specialized saddle so that won’t work.

Njee20 – if it is a 30.9 I might be interested

Looking like the Prolite could be the one. But not on new website.

Someone old guy in my wife’s club told me! But I admit there is no evidence to back it up. Looking at the route picture it is very vague and people might be reading it wrong.

Personally, think it’s a shame if they took out the climb of Staples Lane as that has some great views over London. Also it’s harder than Newlands as it does drag on over the top.

Apparently Coombe Bottom descent is too steep for the olympics and they are going over Newlands Corner instead.

Box Hill was really busy yesterday as Pebblecombe was closed off due to the level crossing being closed. So I went down box hill for the first time in about 10 years. It was ridiculously busy.

Frame needs fair amount of work to get it decent. Get the BB and post out and then respray.

It is a 56cm seat tube centre to top and 56cm top tube.
Free to a good home. I’m in Epsom, Surrey

My spate of mystery punctures turned out to be the brake blocks misaligned so they were just above the rim and were touching the side wall of the tyre. Ruined 2 tyres including a brand new one. Just made a horizontal slit just above the bead.

I have the hope hoops with the straight pull spokes and stans crest rims.
They helpfully put spare spokes in the box, but they are the J bend ones!

I got one of these. Works really well.
Made in England!

http://www.toolstop.co.uk/norbar-13262-torque-wrench-1-4-ratchet-adjustable-dual-scale-1-20-n.m-10-180-lbf.in-p11812

Emperor of the North is a great film.
EB was really nasty in it. Not for squeamish!

You will have to change the corner uprights. They have slots at 90 degrees to each other whereas the uprights in the walls have their slots at 180 degrees.

As suggested above probably best to build a shed lean to on the back.

B+M Ixon Iq

+1 for a longer bolt. Worked for me. But I did get flamed on another mtb forum for suggesting this. 🙂

I wear size 43 specialized and went for a MW80 in size 44. Perfect. 🙂

I thought it was great esp the second half.
The rutted section at the top of the first climb was my least favourite part…

The big advantage for me is that your savings are tax free. If I put 10K into my offset mortgage I get interest at the mortgage rate and pay no tax at all. I have instant access as well.

I think a bike shop owner friend told me it was about 10%.

What used to wind him up is when the customer would agree the price for a bike, they would get to the till, and then they would see the 0% sign and say I might as well have it on 0% then! 10% down the drain.

I’m a strong road rider and have used standard 53/39 for years but I like the compact on my work/training bike because the 50 ring is a lot more useful for everything apart from racing.

If I had a 54 ring I would be nearer the bottom of the cassette just riding around. With a 50 I am in the middle of the block normally.

Just put it in the 34 for the steep climbs. I can even use the 50 for quite a few hills.

Get a compact.

Sounds like my air pressure is about right then. It wasn’t a hard whack just a fairly gentle knock.

Cheers

Thank you for noting our recent move to daily deals. I claim it was Jules’ idea, but he says it was mine. I think he got it off Mike at Sports Direct.

The good thing about Daily Deals is that it isn’t the only thing you can concentrate on, and believe me, comments about our showroom’s shortfalls are taken VERY seriously. We’ve improved manpower in there, are continuing to do so.

I have just taken myself off the mailing list as I couldn’t cope with the daily deals. Only a matter of time before I bought something I didn’t need, just because it was cheap!

Kryton57 – I’m with you all the way on protein supplements but am dubious about creatine. It’s normally a very small part of a normal diet so eating a lot of it makes me nervous.

There is quite a few articles on google about “creatine banned in france” but there isn’t much official stuff I could find.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ACreatine_supplements#Ban_in_France_and_elsewhere

Years ago when creatine supplements first came out I bought some. A months supply was £40!!!! Decided against it and took the bottle back unopened as didn’t want to a) spend that forever if it worked and b) felt a bit uneasy that I was buying better performance (as opposed to a better bike of course!)

I use Allsports Amino Load and can really recommend it. Used to really struggle to ride to work after a hard turbo session the night before but quick bottle of AL and I’m good to go in the morning.

Very light to drink, no thick shakes.

No creatine in it. I don’t get the theory that a little bit of something does you good so if you had loads of it you will be awesome. You would have to eat loads of raw meat to get the dose from some of these creatine supplements.

Creatine is also banned in France as well.

Cheers for the replies.
I am quite attached to my teeth having spent more on one tooth this year than my bike cost!

Did a climb last weekend that was right leg…….left leg…….right leg…….left leg so strain on the chain can be pretty high!

Hopefully, new KMC singlespeed chain will work with Surly ring but may need a new sprocket. Worth getting a Surly one?

Surely a nice chain must ride better and quieter than a worn out one?

lost mine months ago and the crank hasn’t come off.
I’m really asking for it now…

Sold out of Coffee mugs only got Tea mugs left.

Worst bit – coming down the rutted descent in the woods in the middle of the night. Keeping to the left nicely then finding a guy running with his bike on left as well. Thought I could pass him on the right in the ruts. I did not make it… He then said to me “that’s why I’m not riding down it”

Also, sliding off on the last corner on damp grass at 4am wasn’t that great.

Best bit – Everyone in my team wanted to do the same number of laps. Trouble was that needed me to do my fastest lap to get in before 12.
All the riders going slow and stopped on the run into the finish all moved over and were cheering as I steamed past. Took 2 minutes off best time and my team mate was last rider to start a final lap. Whole team was chuffed as we moved up onto the podium.

track pump in the end worked fine.
Wife had to buy another bottle of washing up liquid as it had suddenly gone very low…
Hopefully next time will be a bit easier.

Result!
Left new tyres fully pumped up with tubes to 60 psi for a few hours.
Both inflated straight away!

Cheers hughjengin
Think I will put them on for the weekend but pack a set of Mud X as a precaution!

hughjengin – Specialized say Sauserwinds are good for mud. Do you think they will be OK as a mud tyre for Mayhem at the weekend?

Cheers for all the replies. Lots of good tips.
We have a compressor at work, will try that tomorrow.
Removing one bead to get tube out is a good idea.
Cleaning rim is probably another good tip.

Cheers for the replies. Sounds like Ralphs are well worth a try.
Impressed that you rode the climb. I can’t seem to transfer my road climbing abilities to off road at the moment. Maybe should have tried it in the middle ring.

was it this one?

I have one of these and the rattle drives me mad! It also does reset itself randomly. Come to think of it all the recent cateye lights and computers rattle. The mounts are really poor.

Just got a Specialized Speedzone Sport Wireless. Impressed so far. nice display. Won’t buy another cateye again.