We camped up there last summer after a long hiatus (it used to be a regular weekend haunt when we lived in Bristol).

I really like the Star. Beer is very good and the garden is nice for the kids. Food is nothing fancy but good quality and mainly locally sourced. I had a really good steak there, I think my wife had a home made curry. Often have live music there too.

After getting stuck in muddy fields a couple of times and struggling with icy Dartmoor lanes over last winter, on the advice of a our local garage I stuck Nexen Radial ATs on the front of my T4 van and now have them all around.

From memory they were about £65 a corner. Really tough and dependable and fuel economy has been fine with them.

EDIT > These ones: http://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/nexen/radial-at-rv/195-70-r15-104r-113858?utm_source=compare%26utm_medium=google-shopping%26utm_campaign=tyre&gclid=CKHlnNr0pb4CFQP3wgodiXAAeQ

That’s my local loop and I ride it a fair bit. Have to admit that I’ve only cleaned that climb once, after a bone dry spell.

Even if I make it up the first rocky bit, most times I end up fouling the cranks in the top section on that step thingy.

Admittedly I’m on a rigid 29er which possibly isn’t the most suitable tool for the job, but I still love it.

Bottom part of the nutcracker often catches me out sometimes too.

I don’t let it bother me – a bit of a push sometimes is all part of the fun and give you the chance to enjoy the view.

:D at Brassneck

Just to rub it in…

Cornwall is lovely this time of the year but I’d agree with Tang that Devon would be a better choice if riding is the main consideration.

I’m biased but if you’re not too bothered about being on the coast then Eastern Dartmoor would be my recommendation – 30 mins down the A30 to Exeter area (cinemas, Crealy etc), and similar distance to Torbay for organised “fun” stuff if that’s your thing. Under an hour from either North Cornwall or South Devon Coasts for beaches. Lots of nice villages and places to eat in the area, most of which are generally very family friendly.

Moretonhampstead, Chagford and Bovey Tracey all have nice outdoor pools which will be opening in the next couple of weeks too, weather permitting. Pony Centre is nearby and good fun for little ‘uns.

It’s great for kids generally. Lots of rivers to splash in, woods to explore and rock tors to clamber on and terrific riding from the door. Our 4 year old loves it.

Can you tell I like it here? :-)

All of these have good riding from the door – first one is a good choice for kids (play area, swimming pool, animals etc), and only a couple of miles from the Nutcracker / Cleave:

http://www.helpfulholidays.com/property.asp?ref=A137&year=2014

http://www.helpfulholidays.com/property.asp?ref=A15&year=2014

http://www.helpfulholidays.com/property.asp?ref=A111&year=2014

http://www.helpfulholidays.com/property.asp?ref=A106&year=2014

What’s the frame? If you’re using an MTB frame with drops you may want a shorter stem than you would with flat bars. My guess would be that the back pain is due to being too stretched out. I had something similar when I stuck some Midges on my 1×1. A shorter stem with a couple of mm rise sorted it.

Failing that see if you can fit a pack of sissy wipes and tub of man-up cream into your saddle bag for your next ride :wink:

Isn’t the rear hub spacing different?

Our little boy got his balance bike for his 2nd birthday but didn’t really show a huge amount of interest until he was 3. After that there was no stopping him and at 4 he’s just graduated to his first pedal bike. They’re brilliant things for building confidence – all his mates are on bikes with stabilisers which he’s bypassed completely.

I’ll be sticking his Islabike Rothan in the classifieds in the next couple of days!

’95 T4 Westfalia. Part of the family now…

Excuse stock photo – have only had it a week so not had time to take pic yet. Far from exotic but I like it lots so far.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/news/cycle-friendly-councils-plan-to-leave-uk-and-join-netherlands

Default STW response but what about an Octavia Scout or 4×4? Good size boot, decent ground clearance, pretty economical and very capable.

We’ve got a Scout and love it. And we live in Devon. You’d need caving gear to explore some of the potholes in the lanes around here.

They’re a newish UK company, set up (I think) as a slightly cheaper alternative to Islabike but with a similar product line.

http://www.frogbikes.com/

Like Islabike their bikes use the same components as full size bikes so easy to service and maintain.

Seem to get very positive reviews:

http://totalwomenscycling.com/bikes-gear/mums-corner-frog-bikes-frog-62-kids-bike-review-17857/

http://www.cyclingactive.com/bikesgear/first-ride-frog-62-childs-bike

The link I posted was via Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op who I recently bought a bike from and was very impressed with their service.

Any reason it has to come from Halfords?

With a gun at my head, I’d go for the Blast, but if I had £200 to spend on a new kids bike I’d definitely be looking elsewhere.

With the discount this weekend, this comes in at only £20 more – it weighs just over 10kg whereas I’d guess the Blast comes in at about 14kg.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/frog-62

I’d echo all of the above. The other thing I’d add about cheap “supermarket specials” / BSOs is that they have virtually nil resale value and will likely have lots of “non serviceable” parts – consequently you’ll see any number of similar bikes at your local tip which will probably only be a couple of years old.

If you can stretch to it, it’s worth paying a bit more for something of better quality, even if it’s second hand – it’ll be lighter, better equipped, more reliable, easier to upgrade / fix, and more likely to get your kid into cycling and , when they outgrow it, you’ll be able to easily sell it on to offset the cost of the next bike…. it will almost certainly work out cheaper long term.

Islabikes have particularly good residuals as there is a lot of demand for them (the Beinn 24) – Frog bikes do some great kids bikes too (Frog 62), but may be a bit too new to come up secondhand otherwise look at secondandand options from the big bike companies (Specialized, Giant etc).

That Bungee cord has got to be a wind up surely.

Can see it getting interesting in woody singletrack… and what about if it comes off and smacks the following rider in the face.

Recumbent tandem?

http://www.2cancycle.co.uk/

Or a custom sidecar?

http://www.steves-workshop.co.uk/vehicles/sidecar/sidecarindex.htm

Or, as you say an adapted cargo bike. eg Surly Big Dummy – these guys seem to be enjoying it:

Have also used Finish Line for yonks but couldn’t get it locally so have been using this over the winter and it’s been really good. UK made too.

http://www.juicelubes.co.uk/chain-juice-wet-100ml.html

As above, March is peak time for controlled burns, here on Dartmoor the commoners can only burn on the lower moor until the end of March due to ground nesting birds. They can do it a it later on high ground with special permission.

We had 3 shouts to unattended burns last week, mind!

Have a look here….it’s kind of like Owners Direct for van owners. Click on the find a van link to search by area.

http://www.camperbug.co.uk/

I use a single Surly tugnut and a nutted skewer like the one pictured above and never had issues with it slipping. That’s riding 32:16 on Dartmoor too.

What Stoner says makes sense but I did have problems using a standard QR before I replaced it with the nutted skewer.

That is a road ride. Distances may look small but knowing the hills round here it’s definitely a decent enough challenge.

Saw some posters locally for this today funnily enough.

http://www.chicks.org.uk/cycling-events/tri-moor-cycle-challenge

My ears were burning :D

We’ve got plenty of dog friendly cottages on the books. Out of office today but let me know a bit more about what you’re after in terms of dates and location (eg coast or country….in a village or remote…riding from the door?) and will take a look.

Another option from EBC… Great spec for the price if you’re not bothered about discs http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-cross-pro-12?bct=browse%2fbicycles%2fcyclocross-bikes

Mine was delivered last week. :D Love it so far. Pretty light, quick and very comfy.

Another one to consider is the Verenti Substance- considered it myself but wanted something a tad lighter

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-substance-sora-2014-free-lifeline-basic-kit/

thepublican – cheers. YGM.

Doh!… thats Fingle Woods, East Dartmoor by the way.

I really rate the Draytek 2710n – most of our home based staff have them. Easy to setup in basic mode but loads of features if you want them. Great WiFi coverage too.

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=8106

We stayed here, near Carnac and the Cote Sauvage a few years back and it was great… hoping to go back later this year.

There are a few good surf spots on the Quiberon peninsular nearby and also a few family friendly bike routes in the area (loads of stone circles etc). Some really nice restaurants in Carnac itself too.

http://uk.lesmenhirs.com/

We had a similar issue when we moved to our current place. We had to go into a holiday let for a couple of weeks and did a 2 stage move – into storage and then out of storage into the new place. It was a pain – I think you should look to recover costs from your vendor who can then pass it down the chain.

Other than that I have no advice to offer other than if you suffer from ‘roids you should avoid letterboxes with spring-loaded flaps at all costs.

I’m 6’1″ with 32″ leg and I ride a 20″ KM. It’s one of the older models without the dropped top tube too but it’s pretty much bang on for sizing with an 80mm stem.

An 18 may be OK and would probably be a bit more chuckable but you may need a layback seatpost and slightly longer stem.

Such great bikes… I love mine.

Dodgy mobile pics of mine (running fatter rubber and Mary bars now) – plenty seatpost showing as you can see:

Ah… BLB is what I meant to say, not Brixton Bikes. Doh!

As it happens, I’ve been on a bit of a weird bar crawl in recent weeks :oops:

Soma Fabrications do a few with 22.2 dia which will take MTB levers:

Handlebars

The Sparrow may be an option if you flip it –

Sparrow Bar 490/520/560mm

Ridiculously difficult to find in the UK though- only place I’ve found them is here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SOMA-FABRICATIONS-Sparrow-Handle-Bar-alloy-490-520-560cm-25-4mm-/141193027730

A few more funky options here with 22.2 dia:

http://freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Handlebars,%20Headsets%20%26%20Stems.html

Also have a look at Brixton Bikes own brand

Nice cars. Just don’t get one in white.

Looks like a good option but do bear in mind that although they don’t advertise the fact, Halfords can order in pretty much anything if you ask them to so you don’t have to limit yourself to their stock bikes.

I got a Cotic Roadrat through bike to work via Halfords a few years back.

@Jambo Close, and equally wet :-)

I live in a small town in the NE of Dartmoor. Nice friendly community feel, good pubs and local shops.

We’re close enough to the North Cornwall coast to go for a post-work surf in the summer. Can ride or walk on the moor from the door and we have some pretty good bouldering and kayaking within a 10-15 min drive.

Exeter is only 25 mins down the road if we fancy some city life.

On the downside, it’s one of the wettest parts of southern Britain!

This one was taken at Penmon on Anglesey apparently!

https://www.facebook.com/kriswilliamsphotos

Thread resurrection as I’m in similar predicament… already have Marys on one of my bikes and was looking for the similar on t’other.

From what I’ve seen Soma Fabrications’ Clarence bars look to be pretty similar. Come in 25.4 as well but a tad tricky to get hold of in the UK I suspect.

Clarence Bar 25.4mm

Retained firefighter.

Didn’t sign up for the money, more to help in the community and do something hands on and useful which was a change from the (desk based) day job, but have to admit the extra few quid each month is useful.

Training in the first 12 months is quite a big commitment, and it helps to have an understanding other half!

<Prays pager doesn’t go off before romantic meal delivered this evening>