C16 was my first ‘proper’ mtb.

I had the first model of the C16 – was released in 1994 as a 95 model. It came with a standard raked fork. The R7 fork was released with it in Jan 95. I remember this well as I was rather gutted that I didn’t have one.

email me your address and the dimensions of how much you want. I’ve got a massive sheet of it in the garage (I use it as a changing matt after surfing).

oh, I’m 6’5″, by the way.

knives is wot you need to be tooled up wiv in Plymuff, innit. Put dem bloody effniks in hospitow, bey!

Rather than a baton, maybe we could all get telescopic lances and defend ourselves in a jousting method?

I’d rather run the risk of a couple of Eastern Europeans swinging a bag at me in Plymouth than put up with hordes of blue-rinsed coach trippers bimbling around Tavi and getting in my way all summer. Still, living in North Devon offers me the best (worst) of both worlds.

Let’s all get some knives and sort the bitches out!

Really like the idea of a love/hate, but feel I may be a tad heavy. Would it twist like wet spaghetti under my superior man-girth?

That’s **** nice!

Chameleon would be nice but way too expensive. It was watching Sharki fly around on his yesterday that put the idea in my head.

Should also mention that I’m 6’5″ so needs to come up big too.

What I really want is a 31er to clear stream lips!

Not too keen on On-one frames, although I’ll take a look.

It might be worth ringing the Westcountry morning news, although they’ll probably drop the story for one about a difficult lamb birth or something! The Daily Mail might give you some money/CRC tokens though.

As a parallel, I have a friend who is a committed longboarder (surfer). He can’t paddle out in anything bigger than 4′ as his board is such a lump. However, he refuses to ride a shortboard out of pride/stubborness, and therefore loses out when the rest of us are rippin’.

Mountain biking is supposed to be fun! If you’re not enjoying your riding, then change. Sounds like Keavo has hit the nail on the head. I’d keep the nicer SS mtb (not sure why you’d need 2 bikes that are pretty much the same)and flog the other to finance a geared hardtail. If it’ll make you feel better, I recently sold my SS road bike to finance a geared one and have no regrets in doing so – I love it, in fact!

Perhaps you could try a mate’s bike for an afternoon?

Glad you’re okay. Sounds well sketchy.

On a different note, JulianWilson and fatmuthahubbard from STW have been creating loads of secluded singletrack in Cann. I’m sure they’d be glad to show you if you promise not to build poorly constructed kickers all over them.

Looks like we might have a wee wave today, so didn’t bother going to Woodbury today.

Just a few (pretty naff) photos from the medium group:

I actually love my Escort. It’s big enough for me to get a mattress, longboard and bike in, drives and parks like a normal car and gets 50mpg.

If you want a transporter, my mate works at the dealership in Plymouth and might be able to get you a good deal.

YetiboyJay, whereabouts are you?

Now that’s just cruel (tee hee).

Anyone who’s anyone in The Westcountry has a Transporter.

…I’ve got an Escort van.

Rich, that was without doubt the unluckiest ride I’ve ever witnessed. I did wonder afterwards whether it was due to your XC tyre being too narrow for the rims on your big freeride bike.

Give us a shout when you’ve got the brakes on your Scandal sorted. Would be good to meet up with you lads again and I’ll be happy to show you what you missed.

Mrs. Machine had kindly prepared a monsterous spag-bol for my arrival. SWEET!

Had a super day. Was really good to meet everybody, and how good was the sunshine!

It’s a beautiful morning in North Devon. Hurrah for Spring!

All packed and early to bed at half ten so fresh.

That was the plan until my niece woke me up at 4am. Still awake and feeling knackered now. BLOODY KIDS!

I had a 1st Generation Trance which I ran with 130mm up front – fantastic for chucking about the woods. I’m ~115kg and had no problems at all, including regular drops up to about 3′. Didn’t climb brilliantly though, although I still got about fine. An adjustable fork would have been great (as has been previously mentioned).

I was so happy with the frame that I bought a new 08 one a couple of months ago. I’m running that with 100mm up front as I’m a lot more xc orientated nowadays (I also went up a size to the 21″), but it still wallops through singletrack with ease. I have no problems keeping up with my mates on their 5-6″ bikes.

If anyone reading this fancies a well used 20″ Trance frame at a bargain price, I’m about to sell the old one (just need to give it a clean).

I’d also be up for a Trance love-in, and I thought the paint jobs on the 06 models were ace!

‘Ere, it’s bloody Barum, innit!

My trance shock (RP3) stuck down this winter. Apparently it’s really common when it’s cold. I serviced it myself and found it a really easy job to do. Shock works nicely now and took me 20mins. Does make a scary pop when it goes though.

With the bent hanger and the shock, I’d be asking for my money back. I can sell you a hanger for a few quid though.

I specialise in smoking cessation. Everything I HAVE to do is all based around the PCT acheiving a quit-target for the year. What I WANT to do is help people live better, healthier lives and feel good about themselves. I really like what I do but feel I could be more effective without the burden of a target hanging over me.

It’s fair enough that I have to display an effectiveness in what I’m doing, but healthcare targets are rubbish!

Chockabloke checking in.

I’ll be cruising over from Barnstaple and am well on for the double-hard bastard group. I might also nip down to Woodbury on Sunday morning. Any of you lot from up the line that are staying for the weekend are welcome to join me.

I wear baggies with a padded insert for MTB as they don’t fall to pieces whan I crash, and Lycra would/does. Always lycra for the road though.

I’d say both disciplines have their own fashion identity, although that probably tips more towards mtb in terms of fashion over function. You just have to look at snowboarding to see how fashion can really influence sports equipment – £400 waterproof trousers with your arse hanging out so far that snow just pours inside them.

Just about to head out for a road ride. Ensemble includes bib-knickers, LS jersey, branded ankle socks and mitts, all from the same manufacturer so I look ‘factory’. I believe I look rather dapper!

I’m gonna be heading over from Barnstaple with Snaps. Haven’t ridden the Qs since New Year, so intending on heading up there on Thursday afternoon to sneak some practice in. Sorry if I’m asking daft questions, but what has happened at Weacombe? Is it still rideable?

Are we still intending on having a BBQ afterwards? I’ll try not to bring a pack of 8 Spar sausages and then eat everyone else’s chicken (as a friend of mine did once before).

SWEET! Finally, some shorts that I can wear for work. Those tights look jolly comfy too, and I’ll bet they’re visible in traffic.

Gluten is a specific protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Oats contain a very similar protein that some coeliacs are able to tolerate. There’s certainly no such thing as good and bad gluten.

Diagnosis should be made with blood test to indicate inflammatory markers. This should then be repeated after a sustained period of gluten-free dietary intake. If there are none of the specific markers, job done! Gold standard testing is done by a biopsy of bowel tissue.

Barca, have you had a firm diagnosis of Coeliac Disease yet? If so, you should have been refered to a dietitian. They’ll be able to advise you on how to manage your disease and offer good tips on sources of recipes, foodstuffs, etc. A number of my patients used to mix different types of GF flour to bake their own bread – loads nicer than purchased loaves.

The dietitian should also discuss the danger of contamination from other foods. This is a really difficult problem for coeliacs. Common examples of contamination include putting your gluten-free bread in a toaster that’s used for toasting regular bread and crumbs ending up in the butter/marmite jar. Wooden spoons can also cause contamination.

I am doing a sponsored bike ride this summer and, yes, I will be contributing towards the sponsorship money, but your point is well received.

It’s great that so much money can be raised for charity by whatever means. I don’t think this whole climb for charity thing was bad, but I feel uncomfortable with multi-millionaires telling me to dig-deep. I would like to think that they contributed towards their total. Donald, how exactly can you guarantee that they did? Because Heat magazine says they’re all bloody good blokes?

As for watching children die in hospital, of course it’s not fun but I don’t need Bono to fly around the world to Zambia in his private jet to tell me it’s happening. However, I appreciate that the large majority of our population do.

I was trackstanding at a very busy roundabout once when an old bloke drove into me from behind. He told the police it was my fault as I looked like I was moving. Then denied it happened afterwards.

Police were completely disinterested when they arrived. No charges despite loads of witnesses (happened in front of a Gym window with about 20 people on steppers/treadmills watching) and took 11 months for his insurance to pay up for a new road bike.

scruff – Member
Im dead fit but found it hard to smoke a fag without wheezing on the Klein Matterhorn, its only about 3400m.

I hope you put the butt in your pocket. I used to live in Zermatt and the number of fag butts littered under the lifts is astounding/disgusting once the snow has melted.

As for ‘celebs’ hiking up a mountain, considering 2 of them are worth ten times the money they raised, it feels rather wrong that they’re off having fun in Africa and then asking us to cough up a couple of quid. I’m quite happy to give to charity though.

It’s shite! Went to visit a mate in Bedfordshire last year and it bored the shit out of me. XC loop takes about 20 mins and the Shore stuff became very tedious very quickly. It’s pretty good if you like that kind of thing though. The jump trails and 4X course also looked quite impressive.

Wiggle are doing 08 Hoss frames for under 200 quid.

You could consider asking someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
I slept on my arm last night and woke up with pins & needles in my hand, so it must definately be that.

I got my bike through Bikes for the NHS – it does work out slightly cheaper after tax deductions but not by much. It was convenient for me to have it deducted from my salary and all that, but I could probably have paid about the same if I’d have shopped around (I got a Giant Defy road bike and a pair of Rebas). I didn’t have a grand to pay up front though. As it is, I’ll end up paying about £850 for both items, so not the 40% saving they suggest in their ads.

It works out easier for the trust as they don’t have to shell out any money. It’s crap for us as it really restricted where we could shop. They were only able to offer me 3 local bike shops to use and refused to give me details of available shops out of my area. Meant I was forced to use a shop that I prefer not to frequent. They also limit your purchase to £920, rather than a grand like cyclescheme. Given the choice, I’d rather have the cyclescheme on offer. Shops aren’t keen to sign up to the NHS scheme as it takes 2 months before they get paid.

Surf goofy but ride regular. Does that make me weird or just special?

I’m on my second now, so I must like them.

Haldon sucks when it’s wet. I’d head to Woodbury Common instead. You’ll need someone to show you around though. I’d be happy to do so but I have to work, I’m afraid.

sm500, do you live locally? As Snaps said, it’s very wet at the minute but I know a few loops up there for when it’s dried out.I’d be happy to show you them but I won’t be about ’til mid March.