we have a Facebook group for riders, happy for you or anyone to join us.  Not really a club just a group of 30’s and 40 something’s who enjoy MTb riding.

Russyh what’s the FB group name? I’m looking for some new riding buddies in Cheltenham.

Why not just keep the Mondeo until you see the first sign of spendy problems and then get another Mondeo? They are a silly price for the higher milers with a great spec and as you’ll know the overall driving and ownership experience is excellent.

Have you thought why your six and seven year old are cribbing (cramming?) for SATs exams? Do ten minutes and then write a note in their homework diary saying how you don’t feel that your child’s education is in anyway benefitting from being caught up in a teacher evaluation exercise. As for spellings, it’s not the 1950s, these kids are going to have way bigger challenges when they hit the labour market in 10-15 years time.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/is-there-any-singletrack-on-jersey

Fat bike would be great, but I doubt you’ll be able to hire one over there

Heat maps have stopped working for me. Maybe they’re having some tech issues.

There’s a magazine too, apparently.

The article is based on the incorrect assumption that the places listed are part of the UK. They are all independent self-governing overseas territories or crown dependencies with no control from Westminster.

Put 20″ conti explorers on a isla Beinn 20 and it’s a “mountain bike”. You can run them at very low psi when a 5yo girl weighs around 20kg. Kids this age don’t benefit from the bigger fat tyres which are just adding weight and weight = shorter rides and tears.

Your heading for tears with that bike. It’s 12kg, which is 50% heavier than the STW favourite Islabike. Sus forks and big tyres are pointless for 5yo, weight is everything.

I had the same issue with mine on the first ride. Returned it to CRC and they replaced it under warranty- no issues. The new one goes up like a rocket! You’d be better doing this than risk buggering it up and voiding your 2 year warranty.

I’ve only just found out that Google assistant understands “hey Google”!

And “hey boo boo” if you’re smarter than the average bear

I play BBC radio on mine and use it as a kitchen timer. The kids like to ask it silly questions. Oh and it’ll sing Happy Birthday. It’s not changed my life!

Tell AXA you want the full amount in cash. A quick call to them and a lovely lady sorted it out for me as well as giving me some well needed sympathy for my recent loss.

I have the Endura Singletrack, which I’ve been impressed with. £57 at CRC or similar at leisure lakes is excellent value.

I hadn’t spotted that it was cable actuated. I’ve always gone for hydro Reverbs previously, thinking that cables were less effective, but no evidence of this.
Good shout on selling the old one for spares, they’re going for about £50 on ebay.

I assume you’re talking about the gear outer cable rather than a brake hose as the hoses all route external on mine. The outer for the rear mech goes under the BB shell and then into the drive side chainstay. It sound like this bit of hose is too short. It’s a complete piece inside the chainstay, so can’t you just push some back from the rear mech and make is loser under the BB?

This sounds like the common fault on these Guide brakes. SRAM have been replacing them under warranty. It seems to be something to do with the piston assembly, which some say is worse in the heat (proper heat, not our summer temps!). I’m probably going to replace the piston if I can source one.
There was a recent thread on here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-non-returning-guide-lever-saga

I’ve ridden 417 a few times and it’s vaguely comparable to the final descent on the Verderers.
The corners are quite sharp on the blue and it’s steeper. It depends on the kid’s skill level, but I’d be a little bit scared going down there with my 8yo, just that he’d go too fast.
That said, check out the videos of the 417 owners kid (6yo?) getting some serious air!

sillysilly, how did you get it to SRAM? I thought you had to send it via an LBS. I got mine from OnOne, so I’ve little chance of them looking at my 2015 brake.

I’ve got this problem, but mine are out of warranty. Has anyone had success in replacing the lever internals with this kit from Amazon

worth bearing in mind that your maximum roof load is 100Kg. It’s easy to reach that with a couple of bikes on racks and a full box.
There’s probably some conservativeness in the 100Kg figure and you’re not doing autobahn speeds, but do you want to risk it?

It’s the cliff paths and beaches which are worth taking a bike over for. The rest of the riding you can easily get more of and better in the UK. Greve and Rozel are tiny woods- the island’s only 9×5 miles.
I took my fatty over last summer and did a 40Km ride on the beaches from Gorey to L’etacq with only about 4Km off the sand, including visiting a fort 1.5Km out to sea (Seymour Tower). You’ll need a spring tide to get the full distance and it’ll be neap when you’re there, but still worth doing, even on a non-fatty.
The cliff paths are also a great cheeky ride with the spectacular views and a few moderately techy bits.

I have also been told by A&E once you’ve had a few tetanus jabs you’re covered for life.

Did you report this to the police? It’s an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act. Next time it could be a child this dog bites.

A noisy jet has woken me up in Cheltenham over the last couple of weeks. I got a peek of it through the clouds one morning and thought it was an F111, until I found out they don’t fly anymore.
B1 fits the bill. Thanks!

PS I think it flew over Cheltenham at about 10am Saturday going towards Evesham.

Depends where you are coming from. You don’t want to spend half of your day off driving.
I found Nant-yr-Arian quiet dull. Yes it has the wide open spaces, but there’s quite a bit of climbing without any good singletrack descents.

I did this tour last weekend. Skip Nant y Arian. It’s a big XC fire road disapointment. Lots of climbing without the reward of single track descents.
The evening on Snowdon will be way quieter than prior to 10am. We didn’t come across any walkers on the way down. Rangers and telegraph valley is a much better descent than back down the Llanberis. Pete’s eats for pre ascent food. Spice curry house post.
Penmachno is good but be prepared to get wet.
A half day at Antur was enough.
Climachx descent is ace.
E-bike hire is £65 at coed y brenin

There needs to be a deterrent. Bring back the dog license + mandatory dog micro chipping. Record the DNA of every dog (paid from the high tax). If a tree hanger is found the authorities analyse the poo and the offending owner has one warning, then second offence and their dog is euthanaised.
Won’t go down well with the liberals.

Asgard’s warranty must have changed! When i asked them 2 years ago, they said that as long as i painted the holes with their recommended product, I’d still be under warranty. Got an email to prove it.
That said, the thing could be used as a nuclear fallout bunker so four holes don’t bother it :-)

I fitted the Double Doofer into my Asgard, which is sitting on my patio.
I lifted a slab to dig a 30cm deep hole and filled it with concrete using BlueCircle ExtraRapid Cement. I left it for a few days (not 3 weeks) and then drilled the four holes into the centre of the Asgard floor (painted with anti-rust) then into the concrete.
It’s a belt-and-brace approach, as the Asgard is high security without a ground anchor, but after having my bikes nicked from the garden shed I wanted to maximise my chances.
A 2m Pragmasis chain fits through 3 bikes – you don’t want much slack, it makes it easier to cut if touching the floor.

La Palma in the Canary Islands ticks all those boxes (not Las Palmas). Check out bike-station.de for hire, guides and uplift (not just for German speakers)

Why spend hundreds or more likely thousands on a bike and scrimp on a bit of decent lube?
Squirt lube everytime for me and I don’t get a load of crud stuck to my drive train like you’ll get with engine/chainsaw lube.

I alway struggle to throw away old mags. I’ve a copy of MBR issues #1 somewhere in the loft.

It helps to take a photo of the wiring before you disconnect it, if you’re not used to these things.

I had one of these last year on a BH weekend in Cornwall. The most painful thing I’ve experienced, worse than dislocations and broken ribs.
I came across the NHS dentist madness that is that they won’t prescribe antibiotics until there is signs of swelling or raised temperature. The thing is the pain comes before these symptoms so you get the unbearable pain and a dentist can’t prescribe pain killers, so you’re left to the over the counter stuff, which didn’t cut it. I visted a MIU and they refused to give me pain relief. I was tempted to self extract with a pair of plyers.
Good luck to her.

I rode Cannock a couple of weeks ago on the same bike. It’s perfect for those trails.
If you’re riding it like a trail bike, then you’re at risk of pinch flats if you go too low running tubes. I’d keep the rear above 10psi and a bit less up front.
I’m 77kg and have found 8 rear and 7 front to be the sweet spot running tubeless – you’ll be wanting to go tubeless asap.
Those comments above about really low psi tend to be for more XC riding on sand and snow.

Thanks guys, some really useful advice. I can see now that a backpack is not such a good idea. I’m only dipping my toe into it at this stage, just a night or two camping, so it seems like a frame bag would be a good idea with either a seatpack or a dry bag on the bars.
Wildcat looks like a good company hadn’t come across them.

Decent wheels and tyres is what makes a good fatbike, particularly tubeless – this is the big let-down on the O-O as you could probably end up spending another £500 on decent wheel and tyres.

The OO Emmental wheels and Floater tyres may not be bling, but they are just fine for trail riding. With a bit of googling you can get them setup tubeless. Definitely not a requirement to upgrade from day 1.

I demo’ed the Transmitter and loved it. Would make a great bike for the winter. Tyres might need to be changed as they were a bit slippy and be aware that there’s not as much choice in plus tyres at this time compared to 650b. I’ve no experience of the Orange, but if you are riding more tarmac I image that would be faster. Both are good bikes.

Will switching from 32T to 30T make any discernible difference? I could do with a bit more assist on the hills now winter’s coming.

Cheers billmc, but this is La Palma, not Las Palmas. It’s the less visited Canary island.

I’m going in two weeks and need to book somewhere to stay, what did you find?
I found this interesting blog[/url] from Hannah Barnes when she visited to go biking. This was before the days of the direct UK flights. I’m tempted to get a day’s biking if I can find somewhere to hire.