i have the Rebas as per the pic and have been running them since early december for 3 ish rides per week. I have to say I am really impressed. They work well and are continuing to be faultless despite a complete lack of maintenance.

I have also been impressed with the two sets of pikes i have and the reliability of those gives real confidence in recommending Rockshox every time.

will be there aboard a lime green superlight riding solo 12 hours and hoping to continue for most of the 12 hours and cover a decent milage.

i expect i will be going quite slowly as i have developed a cold over the last day.

The best I have come up with is an old semi slick tyre cut to length with the bead cut off. It works brilliantly and looks good too! No pics sorry.

I have 2 spare frames
Loads of chainrings
2 cassettes
SRAM Rocket Shifters
3 front mechs
Bars & Stem
Seatposts various
Seat clamps various
Wheels 2 back 1 front, road pair.
Tyres – about 10 or 15. ish. Mostly part worn.
Thats about it. I think.
Oh and most of a spare road bike which may sometime be turned into a commuting hack if I can be bothered.

Thanks.

OK – BBQ on friday will mostly be steak, possibly some kebab and lots of pasta salad and probably a lettuce leaf to look good!

Another dumb course question. Which way does the course run, there seems to be no indication on the web site, I assume it goes across the top left to right but I am not entirely sure about, I kind of know the area but have never done the course.

Gary – thanks. If the forecasters say its gonna be dry then will run with the SB8’s!

Mr A – OK that sounds fine. Just gonna stick with what is on there then. 2.1 nevs unless it is dry and run the Superlight unless conditions really poor inwhich case silly speed.

Cheers.

SC – hoping, no, praying for nice weather.

so – the kenda small block 8’s that i am due to pick up from the bike shop later may not be needed!

Mr A – how well will the trail hold up to rain? Will I get muddy?

I reckon there is nothing wrong with running both.

2 sussers on 4in one 5in and a bit tougher. I also run a Steel singlespeed which is great.

Changing between them is always for a change, or bad weather!

Unlikely to be scamming for their own benefit if they ring the amount they say into the till. Cash will need to meet till total each night.

IMHO – just pressure – long queues of hungry mountain bikers and issues with remembering prices and adding up. What they actually need is a decent till that has the pricing programmed in. Then everyone is happy and the staff are under less pressure. I guess working there is a bit like a pub where the prices can be wrong quite a lot. Suggeste people just politely correct (as has happened in the instances suggested) and the mistake is rectified. No worries.

Why are people so keen to think the worst?

Not limited to standard halfords stock. There are however limitations on what Halfords can get hold of. So no On One, Cotic etc. Halfords also stick very cleanly to RRP and the £1000 limit. So check you can get what you want before ordering.

Another vote here for milkshakes etc.

Always been inclined towards these before reading that it was a good idea. I do tend to hit a petrol station on the way home for bigger rides to get one of these.

Altenatively syrup pud and custard is very good, especially with beer.

Purple Extreme is what I am on too. It does seem to do a pretty good job.

Mine did me well today, as ever and sorted out some replacement plates to go in my shoes, these seem not to be available other than with Shimano Cleats, I run Times.

A small but essential item that saved me a lot of hassle and indeed some cost.

All at a very reasonable price too. Cycle Kingdom in Fleet.

I have 2 fave LBS’s, both different and both very handy.

What do I like –

-getting faulty stuff looked at quickly and without any real hassle.
-not having to post stuff off when it goes wrong.
-someone to talk to about all problems biking.
-someone who will take a pair of forks in on Friday morning and have them serviced and ready for me on Saturday morning – and not charge me £80 odd for the privelege.
-someone who will take you out for a ride, show you new trails and not want any money.
-tea.
-ok so sometimes they have to order stuff in, but usually it will still be quicker than CRC who seem to have slowed down recently.
-free parking in town.

The list really is very long, the service is great and the pricing is competitive is you buy buscuits and are loyal.

That is my two penneth.

SC

Thanks Captain!

Will give that a go. The LBS has offered to take it apart and re-build the hub for me today so will make sure the QR is covered by doing that bit myself.

Fingers crossed.

It sounds like most transmission / chainset creaks and does it only really under power. No noises when I bounce the suspension or indeed when I pedal gently, so I get it only really on hills or when pushing hard on the flat. I can’t make it creak on a down hill no matter what I do.

Unlikely to be dirty qr / axle etc. as the QR is only about 3 weeks old and the hub is no more than 6 or 8 weeks old. I also keep the bike pretty spotless as PP can no doubt attest. The one i have been running for 3 years is absolutely fine and never been touched!!

As I said, I have changed just about everything including swapping the wheels to eliminate the creak and narrowed it down to the hub.

I hate it when the bike creaks, it is just one of my bugbears.

SLX all the way seems to be the sensible option.

Wellies are the most useful thing and an excellent slipper substitute! If you can fit cleats to them they would be the best thing ever.

Money – the food tent works much better than a BBQ when it is raining and has more variety.

Lots of guy ropes and pegs for your gazibo! I had a brand new gazibo before the last one. I ended up with a number of bent poles and some muddy cloth.

i think the idea could be a goer, but not in a ware house. What you really want is a tower block with some nice up and down ramps. Imagine what could be done in say Canary Wharf!!

My thinking goes like this – good idea – what we need is someone / or indeed some people to set them selves up as an internet dealer to get trade price on kit. We can then buy stuff through them at substantially less than RRP.

But problems will be in the form of protectionism, loss of dealerships etc. In other words once we make a success of it we will either loose dealership status or it will be too much work for people to do for free, or we will take over the world and there will be no one to fix bikes when they go wrong, and the co-op will probably have a lot of warranty issues to deal with, for free and with no substantial pay back for the hassle and cost. So – possibly not the greatest idea.

Far better to build a good rapport with your dealer and persuade them to give a discount.

get organised. yeah right.

have we got a date yet or am i missing something???

happy to play for the trolls – date permitting.

oh and hagh harrrgh!

instant love – that is a challenge because i usually need to fiddle with bikes to get them as i want them. so it will have to be something i have built myself.

Cove Stiffee – just wonderful especially with 140mm Pikes. – now sold.

Turner 5 Spot – really good at most stuff and ultra reliable.

SC Superlight – it just works really, ideal for my current riding and i can’t stop taking it out riding.

I also really liked my early 90’s Kona Explosif and Orange Pretige. All the others I have not been sorry to get rid of.

I would like to throw the Whyte PRST 1 into the ring.

I never rode one but they just look wrong on so very many levels.

As for bike I have actually riddne and hated instantly.

Saracen Estay steel thing from 1990 ish in white with Maguras and orange forks. All wrong.

1990 ish Specialized Stumpjumper Team – it really was a gate.

An early Trek Liquid – just did not work for me.

garage hooked up to house burglar alarm with ability to set garage only! extra £50 when the house was built, money well spent.

i test it regularly much to the annoyance of neighbours. go to garage – open door – alarm goes off – rush into house unset alarm – get bike out! :oops:

defo sounds like a plan to me. have fun.

I have to admit I do occasionally ask myself why I have both. The Turner came first and is quite heavily built. I have started doing quite a lot of faster XC type riding over the last year or so and wanted a quicker bike, hence the SL.

I just can’t bring myself to part with the Turner which is also a lot more suitable for the bigger stuff in Scotland etc.

Owning both is justifiable. Just!

its nice to be classed as right, if only by a couple of you. Cheers. :D

to make life more complicated it could be worth trying to squeeze Kielder in there too. Although I have never been it is on the list for sometime this year, a four day trip which is currently looking like:
Kirroughtree, Glentress, Innerliethen, Kielder.

pleased you are sorted. I hope you are allowed out to play again soon.

I am running Kenda 2.1 Blue Groove and Nevegal UST’s with Stans Sealant, although to be honest artists latex will do an equally good job.

I have found these tyres to be fine for most things, no problems with rocks or indeed light mud and they work well at trail centres. Probably just about big enough for the alps although I would change for 2.3’s if most of the climbing is taken care of by lifts.

go now. get it sorted. take a friend and your ipod. you could be there some time.

Newcastleton – not really worth the effort IMHO.

Defo stay in the west for:
Day 1 – Dalbeattie & Mabie
Day 2 – Kirroughtree
Day 3 – Ae
Day 4 – Glentress
Day 5 – Innerleithen.

I am running a 320d, get around 45mpg and can do 2 bikes for a week away, although with a larger frame it is betwe to take a both wheels out. Just because it creates more space.

The A4 does have more room and a Skoda would also be a good option as someone has previously suggested.

I picked up a girlie Spesh frame at a reasonable price and then built it with a girlie saddle and loads of bits I had knocking around. So it worked out reasonably cheap and I know I can re-sell the bits and get 90% of the money back.

Mrs S thought it was very sweet and didn’t even mind the fact it took me the best part of 6 months to build it. Doesn’t even mind that her wheels are going to Scotland with me this weekend as ‘group spares’! :oops:

more to the point. Where is that rock slab chute thing. I want to go there.

I had a Stiffee of similar vintage and they work fine with 140mm Pikes.

It’s not too bad from Dumfries, if you stick in a ride at Laggan and Balblair. For some of us Dumfries is halfway! But it is still worth the trip!

i am there next a week on Sunday – and really looking forward to it!

one idea is to actually force the commute.

stick the bike in the back of the car together with bike stuff and work clothes for the following day. Ride home, leave the car at work and ride to work the following day. you have no choice so much easier to find the motivation.

i am very lucky, working at the same place as Mrs SC she I get to ride home in the sunshine and she drives so i never have to commute in to work which is really nice.