Great looking bike and loads of chainring clearance but I would worry about that downtube with rockstrikes.

We’ve just got an Amarok with a hard top that sit flush with the cabin roof. It handles pretty well for the size of it, the ride is a bit crashy on country roads but very smooth on decent surfaces. One of our kids was a serial puker and she doesn’t get sick in it. Its very quiet on the motorway and will sit in sixth at 80 or 90 no problem. We’re just back from a trip, it did 29mpg with out any effort to conserve fuel. We had 4 big kit bags, a double pram, a high chair and 2 bikes in the back, and it was just about half full. It costs us the same as a van in BIK and fuel benefit. They’re not for everyone but if you want 4×4 and serious load caacity they can make a lot of sense.

I haven’t been there for a while, isn’t the area around the Face clear of trees? There are some lift towers round there that might give good angles for TV?

I picked up some route ideas by following links from Morznet.com. You have Col De Joux Plan over to Samoens, Col de Ranfolly on the back road to Taninges (avoiding Les Gets), Col de La Ramaz from Mieussy towards Les Gets. The you have the Avoriaz/Montriond loop. You can do an out and back to Champery by road (not great, too much traffic) or head down towards Lake Geneva. If you want to go a bit further afield there is nice riding in the Chamonix valley or theres a good loop over Col de Colmbiere and back round by Flumet, Megeve etc.

The banks have been screwing trading businesses with good credit histories ever since the crisis. I expect this to be a bit of a disaster. The banks will trouser the loans and then refuse to pass them on unless they have a punitive rate of interest, a load of extra charges, and all kinds of guarantees from the SME in question.

I have a Dixon in Belfast if you want to give it a lash, its a Large with 150mm 36 Floats on. You’d need to have something for me to ride though!

It can’t be more than 20 minutes up the road from Trient to Vallorcine. I have never bothered taking the train, I always just pedal and then take the telecabine back up to Col de Balme.

Actually loads of people can and do ignore the local laws, in practise you will never have a problem as long as you’re polite and considerate.

The Petit Balcons and trails around Le Tour are better-suited to an XC bike. You might like to do some exploring from Les Houches, some gentle terrain there and nice views. Or you could section some of the Tour de Mont Blanc route, pretty much anything on it ought to give you a good day out.

Ride where you like and be very nice to people. Most of the good bike trails aren’t popular with walkers.

FreerideNick’s list is good. One of the other guys on here did some stuff around Emosson last year, down to Switzerland.

The nature reserve descent from Le Tour is good. If you’re heading down from Le Tour at the end of the day take the Petit Balcon from underneath the Le Tour glacier, there is a short climb and then nice flowy stuff down to Argentiere, its way nicer than taking the road.

Got a phenomenal deal on an SX Trail from them a couple of years ago, goo customer service too.

I’m not bothered really, its frustrating if somebody is happy to give a decent price to a fellow enthusiast, and its frustrating if every decent deal is snapped up immediately and goes on eBay within a week. At the same time I have sold stuff which I knew would end up on eBay, because I wanted cash for the job lot.

Its funny when you get the whole story about “this is just what I need to finish my build, etc, etc…”

If you are worried about the climbing ability just space them down to 140. I am slightly lighter than you but I noticed a big difference going from 32 QR15s to 36 Floats (at 150mm).

Really great spot, only 20 minutes ride from my in-laws. The last time I was doing the descent line down the right hand side, and coming back up the road, it makes for a good bit of fitness training. I’m really looking forward to going back when the stuff over the road is dried out – it was a swamp over the Winter.

How do Sidis shape up for width? Are Spesh & Bontrager the widest fit out there?

Geometry is virtually identical to some of the Niner range.

I would probably go for a Larsen 2.35, they roll very well on tarmac climbs and have a decent amount of grip on trails. You probably won’t run into loads of slick mud like you get in PdS after a downpour. On the Chamonix side the trails have a fair bit of gravel, grit and babyhead rocks, like most hiking routes. The EXO casing might be a good idea, although I rode a standard 2.35 Ignitor all round Chamonix last year and it held up fine.

Which way are you going, guided or have you organised it yourself?

Baron on the front, far grippier and more predictable than a High Roller.

A dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.. Get a proper surfboard and learn to surf

I actually already have a ropey old surfboard, its pretty rare to get conditions good enough to use it.

could you not use a windsurfing board in the same way for a fraction of the price?.

Some of the newer ones maybe, the old shape ones I can use are useless in the surf without a sail on them.

Depending on how old your kids are, have you considered a kayak (sit-on) instead?

Yeah I have mucked about in a kayak but I get a it of back and I think the SUP will be more fun in small waves. I would like to surf more in the future but I have two young kids so until they are less of a handful I need something I can grab a quick hour on when we’re near the water. If I get a half/full day away I would rather be on the bike.

Naish Nalu 10’10” AST
Circle One Heritage 11′
Starboard Widepoint 10.5′, Drive 10.5′, 11.2′ Blend

If anybody knows anything about any of these brands or boards I’d appreciate your opinion. Still waiting to have my login improved on SUP forum!

Apart from the Strava thing I’m sorted.

I am talking about the Dunfanaghy area here. There is great surfing when the conditions are right, but its not particularly often compared to the likes of Bundoran. A lot of the time the waves aren’t that big at all, hence the occasional surfers that I see are usually sitting in their cars looking a bit disconsolate. Unless all the surfers have been hiding every time I’ve walked the dog for the past 20 years I don’t think I’ll be in anyone’s way.

Just to reiterate for all the budding Dead Presidents on the forum, I AM NOT INTENDING TO USE THIS BOARD FOR WAVE SURFING IN A LINEUP. Take your repressed anger elsewhere, or grow a pair and discuss your feelings with the people who actually cause them in real life.

Circle One Bamboo
Nash Nalu
Surftech Laird
Surftech Wingnut

Any of these particularly good?

I am a bit suspicious of anything with a mast hole for windsurfing, are they too much of a compromise? They’re cheaper but I have access to a couple of old windsurfers anyway.

Thanks very much folks, log-in is pending for the SUP UK forum.

I think a 12 footer sounds about right, good for flat water and smaller waves until I get the hang of it.

I doubt I’ll find many lineups in Donegal but if I do I’ll try and find a grown-up to tell me what the craic is with protocol.

Thanks for the link. I can see your point but I don’t have the time for another hobby that takes me away from the family for hours on end. I’m looking for something that everybody can have a bit of fun with for half an hour, either on flat water or in small waves.

Get them as solid as possible with the block in, then stick the wheels back in. Level the lever, open the reservoir and pump the lever. The oil level will probably drop. Keep adding a couple of drops and pumping it in until the lever is solid. At this point you can leave it zipped back tot he bar for a while to see if it will take any more. Add another couple of drops and close the reservoir. I have had a variety of Shimano brakes, the most hassle-free approach is to top up the fluid as soon as they feel a bit spongy.

I won a holiday with Alpine Elements, in one of their chalets in Chamonix. Fully catered, hot tub, etc etc. They got a lot of positive publicity out of the competition.

Two weeks before my holiday they rang me and told me they had decided to shut the chalet early for the season because I had chosen the last week and there were no other bookings. I pointed out that this was not the generous prize that they had originally offered, and they eventually gave me a tiny self-catered apartment in Cham Sud for the week.

I wasn’t actually all that surprised to be honest, having worked out there I would never, ever book a holiday with one of the big operations. There are small businesses in every area of the Alps where you will be looked after directly by the owners.

Thanks for clearing that up Dom. I was sorely tempted but I couldn’t wait. Is the carbon-rear frame in production as well?

I was told these wouldn’t be available until May when I enquired. Shame as they look really good!

For wheels, I’d recommend Hope Hoops (Pro IIs with Stans 29er). Not terribly cheap but I am running mine tubeless with regular Maxxis CX tyres – ace for low pressure without the punctures.

What rim/tyre combination are you using? Have you tried any road tyres on there?

I have been looking at building one of these with 105 (personal preference). I can’t quite make my mind up about the wheels, I don’t know if I want the clicking from a Pro2 on a cross/winter road bike and I would prefer rims with no braking surface. JRA have some Velocity rims with no braking surface, but they are 36h. Crests are an option but I would probably want to be able to run 28 road tyres as an option, which might be too small for the Crests.

You would be very unlucky to get a whole bad week in July, the rain usually comes in one big storm and then goes, or sometimes you’ll get a couple of afternoons storms in a row and the mornings will be dry.

MyProtein Total Protein has 46 grams of protein and 2.4 grams of carbs in a 60 gram serving. There are a couple of different types of protein in it so it will release gradually over the day and take the edge off your appetite.

I had my DeVinci Dixon out there last year, it takes a bit of abuse but still builds up pretty light. Freeborn have the 2011s on offer at the minute.

The 775s can be a real pain in the hole to get right. The two problems you will hear about are trapped air and blown seals. I used to be able to revive mine with bleeding and a cable-tie on the lever. Eventually the seals went. I haven’t had any problems with the SLXs, I top up the fluid as soon they feel soft and they work great.

In my experience VW dealers will put their arm in for repair with vehicles that are out of warranty. When you kick up a fuss they will offer a significant discount or even a free repair. I am fairly sure mine was planning to pocket the £2k they were going to charge me for a van repair and put it through as a warranty job with VW.

I use Jawbones on the bike, they are one of the best bits of kit I have. Off the bike I just use whatever is going cheap, that way I don’t have to feel bad when they get scratched, or one of the kids breaks them, or they disappear during a drinking session.

There is a lot of advice out there about inflating tubeless tyres to very high pressure, to make sure they’re seated. If you do that with Stans, particularly on non-UST tyres, they’ll just blow off the rim. I scared the bejaysus out of my neighbour a couple of years back, she thought somebody had been shot.

I gave up trying to put tubes in my Crest/Schwalbe set-up after about 5 minutes. They both popped no problem with a single run of yellow tape and the valve core removed. The tolerances between the rim/tape diameter and the thickness of the bead are key to the whole thing, tyres that will go up tubeless easily are always going to be tight with a tube in. I would worry about having to force a tube in there but I have only properly ripped one tyre in 5 years of riding.

Thanks folks, just what I was looking for. I suspect it will end up being the free option but it is great to have a low-cost option too.