If she lives Stockport side of Peaks and wants to email me (in profile)…

No you didn't miss it, its this Saturday coming – the 27th March. D'oh!

Can she get to Whinlatter on Saturday 20th March 2010, cos Cube have demo bikes for the Altura/Cyclewise Ladies' Day?

I think there has to be a bit of liking for the bike in the first place though.

I have always enjoyed riding bikes, but mostly as a means of transport – lived in a village and then chose to buy a bike instead of a years tube pass when living in London. Still it has taken me 4 years to get to a stage where me and Mr S are riding happily together at a similar level – although he is stronger and braver than me. He has put in some serious effort into getting me back into mtb – we had rigid steel mtb's before kids took over our lives. However I sought out other women to ride with – chased after a woman riding past on her mtb while I was walking the dog and then joined a womens mtb group. We have also put in a considerable amount of effort into getting the children (girls – now teenagers) to enjoy riding too.
I admit I am odd. I thought that everyone's dad taught their children (girls and boys) to mend punctures and only had this illusion shattered in the last four years..most notably by my brother in law who has a degree in astrophysics, but needed help with a puncture.
If I hadn't loved being out on a bike, I wouldn't have stuck at it, but I have and I love it and it helps keep me sane as well.

I had a Be One javelin as my first mtb after having kids etc and I really liked it. In hind sight it was a harsh ride with 80mm of travel and the current comfier On One Scandal with 130mm revelations means I am now much braver on rocky Peak descents, but even though it has now gone, still have fond memories AND I could still get down most of the stuff my mate could on her 5inch travel full susser.
Guess it depends what sort of riding you like as well.

The kids never had had problems with chainsuck before they changed bikes either – and they've also ridden a good few bike miles (some under more protest than others). Ones got truativ fire-ex, one an old set of xt cranks on (neither were new when first built). Fine now.

We had this problem when our kids started riding their on ones – one had a 456, the other an inbred. It stopped after a while and we didn't change anything, so not sure if they improved with their gear changes and didn't just continue peddling when it started to get chain suck – always take lube out and stick some on if needed.

Does it really matter? Surely the main thing is to stay sane, so you can look after your lovely babies?

Mother to 3 under age of 2 years – got first one out of nappies before the twins arrived and used terry squares for the first 6 months mostly, then nearly dying of exhaustion and, quite thick indeed, by this stage, realised that if I bought them and just ran up the credit card bill a bit more, it was a bit easier – then I started to do a few shifts at work to earn the money to pay off the credit card and oh joy! it was blissful to get out of the house. 8)

Citroen Berlingo can happily fit in camping equipment and 5 people and a dog for a weekend, but struggled once we got into biking, but the new shape is bigger – ours had plastic floor in boot, great for 2-3 muddy bikes. Now have a Galaxy (older version not one with seats that fold into the floor) – 3 bikes on the back, 2 on the top and a roof box if camping for more than a week to minimise that stressy feeling of will it all go back in! Both brilliant in their own way.

I upgraded from the axel comps to 80mm manitou skareb comps, if you are interested in buying a cheap alternative, whilst you save up for something better, get in touch.

130 on mine. I like it like that.

We have daughters, now old enough to fit adult frames. Decent bikes with decent forks, about 28lbs, that fit them and they feel comfortable on. Their riding has come on so quickly, even though they still claim they aren’t keen (come on! they are teenagers and it’s something their parents enjoy). Rode red route at GT at easter with 2 of them and it was brilliant to see them go for it, even the drop offs at the top. The investment (along with a few years of needing the patience of a saint, tears and tumbles etc) has been well worth it.
In the future, younger blokes may not have this dilemma of how/whether to get their g/f into mtb.

We have a ’53 diesel Berlingo. It’s brill. I can fit 3 bikes with both wheels off in the boot, with 5 of the 6 wheels. The only thing is one of the bikes has to be a small frame/ narrower handlebars if you want 3 in. Two fit beautifully..

My Scandal has a dual air rev on it and i like it like that. Would probably climb better if it had a U turn, but I’m rubbish at remembering to make adjustments when I’m riding and I can get up most things on it anyway (or most things that I can get up on my full susser, anyway). If I had loads of money and was putting a new fork on it now, I would probably go for a 12o Reba, but the rev works well.

I’ve got the Dainese ones, which are light and fit me well, but I’m tall and they aren’t neoprene. They do ladies ones now, http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=228&idproduct=21662, which might be worth trying and are a lot cheaper..

I changed from ISIS to external about this time last year and am still on the same bb (shimano), whereas with ISIS changing it every 3-6 months and tried FSA, Race face, Crank Bros…

Or what about the Norco Vixa
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gallery/article/norco-performance-bikes-2009-17630?img=5&pn=norco-performance-bikes-2009&mlc=news%2Farticle
But I don’t know if you can actually get hold of them in UK, but I’d like one.