Yup fair point!

http://www.aistoncycleracks.co.uk

I was busy or err something

You can download standard ones on the net. http://www.iresign.com i think i used for mine. Looks a bit better with some length. A nice bit about i assure you of my continued help until i depart etc.

Aiston without doubt. I had a pendle wheel support before one of these and have used a thule as well and this is better built than any of them. It’s like a pendle wheel support but better in everyway.

http://www.aisontcycleracks.co.uk

There isn’t that much info on the site but give them a call. best racks ever.

e13 all the way for me. mrp’s are very good too but havnig tried both i found the e13 quieter which swung it for me.

Nope. Boxxers are unique for some unknown reason. From memory it used to be number 6 for hopes (check this though it was a while ago!).

I’ve got a spare boxxer to post mount adaptor for a few quid if it’ll help at all.

I’ve got 6 in total and use 4 regularly at the moment.

93 Zaskar/Commuter, 853 PA, Heckler and Sunday dh bike all get used regularly. All 4 used in last 9 days.

Commencal road and jump bikes get used a bit. Jump bike gets more use in summer on the local bmx tracks but very little use over winter. Road bike hasn’t been used yet this year but will do 300-500 miles over the year. Use of the road bike is a bit sporadic.

Clutch parts are £120 +vat, so 350 comfortable should sort that. Sub frame bushes again much less than 450. I guess you’ve been quoted for a new subframe where as now most people can just fit new bushes into the frame. takes the car off the road for a day or two while they cure though. More like 150n for this i’d have thought.

£500 quid now and keep running it. If it does need a DMF at some point this is about £500 from the quote i got yesterday from my local independent.

Fixed up I rekcon it’d be worth £3k tops as it is more like £2k.

No funding for the trail at all really. Volunteer built and we got some materials from the FC. A bit of sponsorship from a couple of companies and that’s about it. With the base wharncliffe has a sustainable trail would need to be fully surfaced and there isn’t the time/materials/money to do it on a volunteer basis.

Another issue at wharncliffe is the use of the trail by motos and mini motos. It’s very difficult to declare trails closed and keep people off them too.

Full face Troy lee are the best. THE very good and a fair bit cheaper.

Goggles wise electric’s are my favourites. £30 for some of last years models too.

Who you fly with has no impact on how the bag is handled as it’s airport crews who handle the bags. The airlines never touch them themselves. It’s one company at most airports that do all the baggage handling for everyone there.

Weight limits are a difficult one. Consider flying with a more expensive (initially) airline that will be cheaper in the end. BA didn’t charge extra for bikes last time i checked, KLM the same.
To get the panniers through as one I’d get them shrinkwrapped together thus making it one piece of luggage. If they are seperate they’ll be treated as a piece of luggage each.

Flat might be small but your right they’ll probably be back, keep them inside for a while at least.

Without doubt aiston. I’ve had a pendle before and the aiston version is better in every way and cheaper. 3 of my mates now have them after seeing mine.

Aiston is one bloke, call him if you want to know anything, he’s really helpful. I don’t have any pics of mine but you won’t be disappointed I guarantee it.

I was one of 2 best men for a friend last year. He had one to cover the school years and one for after. We both sat on the top table, did a speech each (but kept them short). It caused no problems and actually worked really well I reckon.

Oh and at the end of it all it’s your big day so do whatever will make you enjoy it most.

I bought this last night from a friend mate. Race truck for the new year, road trips etc too. Garage in the rear, double bed on top, single bed/bench seat, leisure battery with split charge for power, tv, cooker, mini 12v fridge etc. 200k miles but still feels fine to drive. Hoping for 30mpg.
Can’t wait for the first trip!

More pics:
http://winifredswift.pinkbike.com/album/van

Minishman – Dhers have the lowest front ends they can! Hence a small but growing trend for flat wide bars.

Your right about up = forwards tho.

I’m not sure you’ll get far with billing them for the work. You have to give them the opportunity to repair it themselves. Worth a try though.

I’m not sure under what law you’d reporting them to the police either. They just claim the brakes work when they drove/tested it and it failed after unexpectedly.

alpin you can’t blame them for only shipping to the card address surely? If they ship anywhere else and there is a problem they are instantly liable.

Steve_b77 Do the kielder one for a laugh but it’s no kind of taster at all! Nothing is prep for it!

bdunx assuming you’re a private buyer then auctions don’t generally work out well as 95%+ of the stuff that goes through will be plus VAT. It’s not too bad if you want smaller car derived vans (vauxhall combo, transit connect etc) as these go for a lot less so the vat amount doesn’t hurt so much. Try british car auctions online for some info, you can look at the auction catalogue online free too. If your interested in a van (or just to gauge prices) find somethng you like, ring up with the reg and ask for an idea of sale price, then add vat and the auction fee (ask the office how much usually a couple of hundred ish, more the more you spend) and you can compare this with the private ads you see around.

My vans mainly come from ebay and sometimes autotrader. I’ve bought my last 2 from ebay and managed to make a profit on selling them (first 6 months 20k later, 20% more than i paid, second 3 months 4k 50% more than i paid). It’ll mean travelling a bit but from Aberdeen that’s a bit of a given.

If you want any more help drop me an email and i’ll do what i can.
hardcastlesteve(at)hotmail(dot)com

One more word – stuck.

Hiace are rear wheel drive and always the first things i see stuck in race fields.

At that sort of price I’d stay clear of vito/transporter as they both hold their value to well (transporter especially). Have a look at renault trafic, vauxhall vivaro, nissan primastar (all the same van) similar size to the others but much cheaper. I’ve had a couple in the past. The only major problem known with them is gearboxes so walk if it feels at all notchy.

I saw an 05 with 100k go for 2800 on ebay the other week.

If you want one to use everyday I’d stay away from ducato/boxer as they’re a bit bigger and not that nice to drive.

I used to get £5k a year allowance before I went contracting. If i was doing that now I’d be buying a 55/06/56 mondeo tdci with 80k ish on it for £5k or less and running it for 2 years for very little money.

I saw a 55 plate with 92k for £2,700 the other day.

I used to get £5k a year allowance before I went contracting. If i was doing that now I’d be buying a 55/06/56 mondeo tdci with 80k ish on it for £5k or less and running it for 2 years for very little money.

I saw a 55 plate with 92k for £2,700 the other day.

Innerleithen one? I’d heard Kielder, Whinlatter and Ae but Whinlatter now seems to have disappeared from the list.

Oh and Zed, yes people do it on hardtails.

As a counter view. Definitely do it on a full on DH bike it’s loads more fun.

I’ve done it twice made the A final both times (about the fastest 350 riders from the qualifiers). You’re not going to win anyway so may as well have some fun doing it. The singletrack after the Glacier is the hardest bit technically in my view but it’s not so bad in the race as it is in practice as in the race you’re generally in a queue of riders so can’t hit stuff flat out.

The Oz race that’s mentioned in the packs is a standard dh race, 5 minute course, one of the best race courses in Europe. It’s a bit more competitive and you will have people setting off every 30 secs after and if they catch you have to move. In the mega if people catch you it’s all the same race so they have to get past you.

You can easily fill a week in the area so I’d go for a pack that gives you a weeks lift pass. You can use it for 1 day at Les Deux aples across the valley too. Loads of good trails to ride and esy to find from the map.

It’s definitely worth doing. Everyone should do it once but I’m glad i did it 05/06 when it was "only" 1400ish people and not half brits!

I built myself a dialled bikes 853 Prince albert for about that with 36’s, hope wheels, x7/lx mix, juicy 7’s etc. Used forks but everything else was new.

You enter online via the avalanche cup website. Here in fact…

https://www.activeeurope.com/Events/…etails&E=72929

Best places to stay are either Alp D’Huez or allemont. Staying in Bourg or Oz is a bit awkward and doesn’t work as well. If you have transport allemont is great as you can finish the day with a big long ride all the way ot the bottom of the valley. allemont is good for camping as there is a nice little site.

Many people just camp free by the lift station in alp d’huez but there aren’t any facilities. ADH is the only place with any nightlife!

Oh and don’t worry about not having done a dh race, this isn’t one.

I’d go for securing the van rather than the bikes in the van to be honest. Depending on what van it is (size, rear doors only, rear and side etc, lock security) then you want these:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/high-security-van-door-lock/path/vehicle-security
and these:
http://www.vangadgets.co.uk/van_lock_cover_plates.htm

It’s all about making touching the van too much hassle to be worth it.

Check the terms of the policy. But almost certainly yes.

It depends on the exact words used when she’s getting quotes/renewal/terms. But generally they ask not just if you’ve made claims but if you’ve had any claims or accidents (or incidents) in the past so many years. So yes in that case she should declare it.

If it goes through the company insurance and the insurance company pay for the repairs (as I understand it) it will go on the insurance databases and so any insurance cmpany could find it she’d made the claim. I reckon they only would if she were to claim on her policy though and would then declare it void due to undeclared information and pay nothing.

Electric goggles are really nice and a mate just got some of last years at a discounted price too. Be careful of buying anything to off the wall, the same guy had some dragons which he loved but just couldn’t get lenses/tear offs etc for them so had to get some new ones.

Cuckoo were yours taken on the cimb up to stanage pole and then on the road bit back toward burbage?

If I saw that fence too and thought it looked cool!

I’m kinda looking at this at the moment too and there are some killer deals on ebay.

I saw a 55 plate hatch with 90k on go for 2700 the other week. Only an LX but that is crazy cheap. Just have a good look around on ebay and see what floats your boat.

Titusrider – Eevn if you’re out of warranty I’d still give the importers a call to see if they’ll help.

I broke a 6.5 year old Santa cruz bullit around the seat tube with a similar 2 year warranty. I could have got a new front end to fix the problem for around £200ish but in the end got a whole heckler with new shock for a bargain price.

The only one I’ve ever weighed is my dh bike. Iron horse sunday with the DT cheese race wheels on 38lb.

Matt, I’ve just got the same belling ones as Graham S for my house, if you leave it til week after next my new kitchen should be in so your welcome to come and have a nosey about.

Comet were the cheapest place i could find (inculding online shops) for the things I wanted but didn’t have the oven in stock so i got that elsewhere.

Oh and budget wise these ones came in at about 500 with the extractor so well in your budget. Depends if mrs h if like mrs jeays and wants smeg stuff :)