My golden rule above tracking is to ride responsibly.  Especially if;

You’re alone

At night

In the Peaks

Second rule, Google Maps location sharing.

About five minutes ago, thanks for reminder.

Five bike, all moving free.

A small update on how this played out.

Fixing the car forward wasn’t an option, I took the advice from the garage to cut my losses and not throw any more money at it.

On eBay it went for 99p as spares or repairs and ended up being sold for £1200 which was way above expectations.

The guy who bought it, collected it and that’ll be the last I see of it.  All went smoothly.

Timing was good and we’ve already got my son sorted with a replacement and what looks like a way more appropriate set of wheels.

Happy all round and dad learnt a hard lesson.

Thanks again :-)

Thanks, I have the Worlds End route which some may be interested in, haven’t done it myself;

https://www.strava.com/routes/2845071169954771684

Also Llandegla Moors;

https://www.strava.com/routes/2845070989183919412

Only the once Chevy, was holidaying with the family but didn’t overly enjoy it.  Seemed to be pedalling constantly.

Deserves a second chance to be fair to it so it should be on the list as an option.

I couldn’t wait and jumped on the Putoline bandwagon.  Haven’t died yet.

Had very good results with Tesa 4289 so would recommend.

Waiting on some Tesa 4288 from ebay, got this version as it did the rim width I wanted/couldn’t find 28mm in 4289.

I’ve got a pair on my HT.  No issues and happy with them.

I’d say the rim anodising isn’t as robust as my XC wheels but just a minor grumble as my rims are a little marked due to rock strikes, etc.

Can’t comment on compatibility but I use XT 11-46 11 speed and have had decent success with AliExpress sprockets.

Some great responses and input, thank you.

Reformedfatty re;

“Dad’s going to end up sucking this one up” and yet you say it’s your sons car?

I’m the dad, trying his best to help his son with his first car.  Maybe not doing the best job to be honest, feeling I should have known better with the purchase, etc.  He can’t afford to replace, unless the garage can sort it I won’t be able to DIY, therefore me sucking it up and putting my hand in my pocket to help my son was my point of what I would do.

So I did help with paying for his first car and appreciate no one cares other than you thinking who bought the car has an influence of the problem at hand.

Anyway, tiny nibble from me.  The service book is pretty complete with stamps but no evidence of a timing belt change.  No receipts were included which is maybe part GDPR part not.  Maybe I call the garage(s) to find out the work they did.  I really don’t know.

I’ll speak to the garage tomorrow and see whether they can help further.  One question if people are still reading, any advice on how to maximise the scrap value please and ideas what it could be worth?

Thanks again STW, you’ve gone to some effort to help me.

Thanks everyone good advice and gives me a few things to check/look into.

I think dads going to end sucking this one up.

FYI it’s a 2010 ford Focus (1.6 Diesel).  Think it’s done in the region of 85k miles, not sure of service history so will check that.

This is Us…..thought it was pretty incredible.

I got the 6x Pro for £340 which I thought was a good price.

Bizarre that two days later I got a £30 refund from Amazon against the watch, no idea why but it took it to £310.

If you aren’t, use Keepa for tracking and alerting on Amazon prices.  Pretty brilliant IMO.

BFE Max, love it.

My head is ginormous.  I have two Specialized XL helmets and very happy.

+ 2 for Putoline

Had same, maybe worse, following a bale and rock strike in the Peaks.

Took mine to a bike spray shop who filled and re-sprayed the section.

Although the paint eventually rubbed off due to heal rub, I’ve had zero issues structurally.

Just forget it and send it.

Was an incredible day.  Riders did great, organisation was spot on, track mint, atmosphere fantastic.

Best one yet for me.

Was an incredible day.  Riders did great, organisation was spot on, track mint, atmosphere fantastic.

Best one yet for me.

Could have typed this myself, been thinking Flaremax for a while now.  But more I think the more I think Jeht.

In no rush, having recently got a BFEMax.

Report back on what you decide and how you go with it.

Does Chrome have a password manager?  I didn’t think so.  It remembers your passwords, but isn’t a password manager as far as I understand.

I moved from Lastpass to Bitwarden and wouldn’t look back.  Recommend it for everyone.

I have 500 passwords in my vault, every password is different.  I can install browser extensions to autofill password into websites.  Or access the Bitwarden website to access my passwords if required.  Works across all computers and phone and can be secured via finger print, password and pin.  Also 2FA.

Bitwarden also does 2FA for all your sites and passwords/2FA codes can be simply copied into a webpage by keyboard shortcuts.

Bitwarden has a password checker for your master password that you use to access your vault.  Last time I checked it’d take 9 years for it to be compromised by brute force attack.

https://bitwarden.com/password-strength/

Do it yourself.

Invisiframe don’t do my frame size.  So created paper templates for the complete frame.  Painstakingly cut them out and then applied to the frame.  Took ages but was my first new frame for years and wanted to do best job I could.

For the hard to apply sections, I ended up cutting v’s in the template so it’d go around corners and warp nicely.  Not perfect but I’m the guy who likes to do it himself and is happy with that, even if not 100% perfect.

Well worth a watch.

Very nice, it’s on my list. But I’m only 2 months into my BFEMax so another Cotic right not may be a stretch.

Need a Cotic Peaks ride though.

Having loved riding my On One Carbon EVO, an upgrade on that.

Boost and 29 inch wheels. Stealth dropper. Not bothered about internal routing.

@scotabroad

The orange is lovely, I’d go with that.

And then spend time before delivery, flopping between Green and Purple. Both amazing.

But think I’d play it safe and stick Orange.

I ordered the BFE Max and change from Yellow to Gun Metal before it arrived. Glad I did and Cotic were happy for me to change.

I’m with funkrodent. Those PX lights are/look exactly the same as the Magicshine MJ-872 which were selling for four times the cost of the PX unit.

I’ve had the Magicshine 872 for years and it’s been superb for 3 hr XC rides.

And well thought of back in the day;
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/accessories/lights/front-light/magicshine-mj-872-front-light-review/

Having purchased and replaced, I’d avoid anything that is a eBay Chinese special.

First ride out after having the frame delivered Christmas Eve Eve.

I’m a Lidl/Aldi > Lifeline convert also. No complaints, really happy and good value.

Ran a 26 On-One 456 Carbon Evo with 27.5 wheels for about four years.

Still alive.

Pedals are easy. They do up in the same way the wheels rotate when going forwards, and undo the way the wheels rotate when going backwards. Forwards = positive = doing up; backwards = undoing = negative.

I like this a lot. Thank you.

I do have my own method but posting it after reading this just makes it stupid.

https://www.cotic.co.uk/news/2021/wolfpack-tyres-cotic

I’m using them on two bikes. Both running tubeless, no complaints.

Got my first set from the Wolfpack webstite but as reported, doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. Got my last pair from BikeInn a few weeks ago.

Seem light, fast but not expecting to be brilliant through winter.

Also got the gunmetal copper on order @ XL.

Wil be running 130mm RS Pike.

Can’t wait for the frame to arrive.

QR rear wheel? Tighten that if so. Fixed my creaking anyway (after being adamant it was BB and then headset).

Is it a Hope BB? I ask as I had similar noise when I moved from Shimano to Hope BB.

Turned out that I’d not tightened the centre bolt enough that pulls the crank arm onto the crank axle. A quick few turns of that sorted my clicking.

I bought a LEZYNE POCKET DRIVE PUMP and it’s brilliant. Its so small, well built and never let me down. Its so small I forget its in my tool roll and sometimes pack an additional larger pump.

As mentioned, the HV version would be real worth checking out.

I didn’t appreciate they were none UK. Yeh my fault and got drawn in with the .co.uk address.

Shipped timely enough but been stuck in customs for a week.

Looks like they’ve only partially shipped my order as well so assume they’re advertising as ‘in stock’ when it’s not.

Overall, not the best.

I did a fare bit of research for a group trip recently. This is what I sent to the group.

I havent rode Clwydian Hills, love Marin, Llandegla but not done MegaDegla. Will give Penmachno the benefit of the doubt and try it one more time. Do like CYB and Cadir Idris was a lot of fun although tedious and a fun quick blast down.

Clwydian Hills.
Its in the Llandegla area and needs a little more research but I’ve found;
Singletrack Route (35km)
https://www.komoot.com/tour/162898340/zoom

MBR Killer Loop (30+km)
https://www.ridenorthwales.co.uk/listings/mbrs-killer-loop/

Few route options;
https://www.ridenorthwales.co.uk/agents/the-clwyds/

Llandegla or we could give MegaDegla a go which is Degla plus a bit
Option 1 – as a taster – https://www.strava.com/activities/913692567
Option 2 – full MegaDegla – https://www.strava.com/activities/184873937?hl=en-GB

Marin and Elins Revenge – https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10819606
(again a little bit different)

The Beast of Llangollen
Depending on what you’re after, I rode the beast of Llangollen route last year and whilst being one of the hardest rides I’ve done, it was definitely one of the most memorable. A couple of the descents were incredible, including one which was up there with the most technical I’ve ridden.
https://flattyres-mtb.co.uk/route-guides/north-wales-mtb-routes/the-beast-of-llangollen/

Also;
Made that. Nice route but is 30 miles. Some hard climbs. Great views.
https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/9039594/Glyn-Berwyn-Wayfarer

Conway Mountain – https://flattyres-mtb.co.uk/route-guides/north-wales-mtb-routes/conwy-and-the-north-wales-path/

Penmachno – https://www.strava.com/activities/2312655983

More South;
CYB – i.e. Dragons Back, Beast, etc.

Cadir Idris

Toilet brush.