But i must admit… i’m not as confident as i was lol.

Genuinely, don’t sweat it! There will be situations where you miss your 130 when it’s not quite as tough a trail but you’ll absolutely love the capability of the 160. Straight out of the box it needs your weight further forward than the 130 to get the best out of it but the places you’re talking about taking it it’ll be in it’s element.

If I had to get rid of one I don’t know which it would be so I definitely don’t have one rated miles ahead of the other… That’s between a 2017 G-160 RS and a 2019 T-130 S.

Hang fire on selling the 130 until you’ve ridden it if you can!

I have both, the 160 is amazing. BPW, the Alps, enduro stuff around the Tweed valley and I love it BUT the cross country and flowy stuff it’s just not as fun as the 130. It really needs to get up to crazy speeds (to me) for it to come alive but the 130 is fun messing around popping off stuff and carrying a lot less speed…

You’ve got 5 months of full paid sick leave available and have an injury that is being aggravated by being at work, if the latest incident has set you back several weeks then you shouldn’t be at work. You came back too soon and delayed recovery so the simple option is to get back to the docs, get signed off and see a physio (or maybe change the one you have) and follow their instructions to the letter for 3-5 months while not at work.

You’re trying to hard not to leave them a person down which doesn’t sound like it’s helped anyone. Even if that doesn’t fix it you’d be 5 months closer to 60…

Mine isn’t insured and has just been diagnosed with diabetes. He’s been pretty healthy the five years I’ve had him but getting a bit of fear how much it’ll end up costing!

When my Jeep’s battery was on the way out I’d get a jump start from whoever wandered out of work at the right time. Was probably very luck not to fry any ECUs jumping the big 4.7 V8 off all sorts!

Last one I helped with was two cars outside work, all hooked up but the dead one wouldn’t start. Pointed out that the -ve connected to a bit of plastic wasn’t helping and it fired up straight away hooked up to metal :)

Two bits of wood running across the rear of the loading bay screwed into the floor with crossing ones at various sizes to make a rack. Rear wheels slot in and can cope with my 2.6 regular tyre down to road ones with the various sizes. Bungee cord dropping from the roof at the front through the frame/fork and back to an eyelet. Never moves even when I forget the bungee. Cost was a couple of screw as the wood was in the garage when I bought the house.

I’ve got a T-130 and a G-160. It was a really hard decision which one was going out to Chatel this year, the 160 won out as it’s got better brakes. The 130 is an incredible bike. I prefer to jump that as it feels a lot more playful but the 160 does give a bit more bail out.

Find the 130 a lot more fun and playful and the 160 a complete beast, really got to let it go to get the most out of it. I’m a fairly average rider but I can get down most of the stuff I ride as quick on either bike until it gets really technical when the 160 will be slightly quicker.

Have you gone 140mm fork on the 130?

There’s no way I’d be getting rid of the 130, it’s fun everywhere rather than just where it gets really rough! The geometry is so similar though it’s really easy to jump between them and be straight up to speed.

Saracen Zen about ten years ago. Looked round my spares and realised I just needed a frame for a spare hardtail. Only criteria was steel. Got it for £60 delivered, built it up and it instantly became my go to bike which I started upgrading pretty quickly! Only issue on delivery was someone had fitted the cranks at 12 o’clock and 5 o’clock, took a while to realise why it pedalled weirdly and longer to cut them off with a wee metal saw.

Still gets a run out every now and then or did until a Cotic Soul bargain winter bike arrived a few months ago.

Last 26″ bike was definitely this. Demo’d a Remedy 8, think it was 18.5″ virtual size. It was amazing, did the enduro trails at Inners faster than on the bike I knew inside out. Back in the shop I bought the 19.5″ Remedy 9 ex-display bike, we had them standing against each other and couldn’t see a difference size wise.

Rode it around reds and loved it until I went down a steep enduro trail where it just didn’t feel right. Although it was great round most of what I rode it actually set me back a considerable amount on riding steep stuff. Guess there was nothing wrong with the bike/frame just the size didn’t suit me.

Slept in my Transit crew cab for the Macavalanche years ago in the Glencoe car park. Never got above freezing all day and night was down to -6 IIRC. Didn’t have it converted at all, stuck an inflatable mattress across the back seats, two sleeping bags, various blankets and wore a hat all night. Windows were covered in cardboard to darken it and blanket down from the roof over the front seats. Actually had a decent night sleep too and wasn’t cold until I needed to get out in the morning.

Not sure if that’s remotely helpful but it is possible to spend a night here in there in an unconverted van below freezing (might have thought twice about it at -15 though!!). That was also a completely still weekend so there was no issue with draughts getting in the van.

The crew cab can just fit a single blow up mattress across the back seats with enough room to sleep for me at 5’10, any taller and a four or more seater can’t have a bulkhead as you’re going to need to sleep in the rear part (that might also be colder than the front of a crew was for me).

Aye, adrenalin works well too, but to me vans and trailers will always seem like a bodged sticking plaster type solution, an actual fixed chairlift would give the place a feeling of a resort, something tangible, a visible reason to go there.

The idea of going to the Nevis range always excites me more than a day on an uplift bus tbh

Absolutely agree with that (and the quicker turnaround point). Just can’t see how the business case could actually stack up against an improved van service. Was it not about £13m previously estimated to stick in a fixed uplift? Not sure if they’re planning something enclosed – it could be pretty grim heading up the hill soaked through in an open uplift!

I would absolutely love a chairlift, or even better a network across the valley, but I just can’t see how it makes financial sense just for bikers.

Genuinely do hope I’m wrong though and it helps to develop the Tweed Valley into even more of a biking resort – and hopefully not at the expense of other parts of the valley.

I just don’t get the obsession with the chairlift/rollercoaster, the BPW model seems to work incredibly well. Why aren’t they looking to let adrenaline (or another company) expand to run a service all week still covering Innerleithen trails and adding in up to the high road point of the Golfie. Very aware it still leaves a push up to the top trails which I’ve not got an answer for but the van uplift model seems so much easier than building a dedicated mechanism to get to the top.

Even if they ran at Inners only Monday to Thursday and then up the Golfie as well at the weekend and split out the busses across the sites. Would be a lot easier to split out the trails into different gradings too as the Golfie will be very difficult to cater for easy/blue type trails with the way it loses gradient.

I’d also be incredibly worried about the popularity of e-bikes if spending millions on a fixed uplift, sure there will still be some wanting an uplift but there will be plenty justifying the outlay against not having to pay for uplifts…

As above though, I genuinely do hope it is successful and will be a customer whichever way it turns out!

Just back in from riding mine. Had an old 26″ steel Saracen Zen that I used to love that I tried to resurrect last winter but it needed a full overhaul which I couldn’t justify. Couple of months ago a mate mentions he’s offered his 27.5 Soul to another mate for a bargain price so I jump on first refusal and get it.

Now got a bright orange Soul with Pikes running 1×10 with my old Guide R brakes and hideous Aldi mudguards and it owes me less than £500 with a spare fork still to sell. My T130 just needed a cassette and chain, luckily CRC had one in a sale but that’s still £90, the whole drivetrain on the Soul was less than that. Had a real smile on my face too and felt I properly had to concentrate on trails I’d normally just cruise down!

I use one of the cheap online places, normally Goggles 4u, and buy two pairs in as cheap a deal as possible. Quality of the frames has been a bit mixed in the past, only one pair that I couldn’t use on the bike as the fit was awful (used for working on bikes/car/painting/DIY now) but generally they do fine as a set of mtb specs for 6 months. Last order was £22 for two pairs and they were both spot on in terms of prescription and fit and actually looked ok too.

Have the same experience with prescription lenses as mentioned above that they scratch no matter what coating and how careful you are when out in the gritty dust or mud so quite happy that I can clean them on my t-shirt without being overly bothered how long they last.

The Lezyne unscrewing the valve does my head in. Happened twice when I borrowed one. Pumped it up so well and then a massive whoosh of disappointment. One guy I ride with tried it five times and took the core out every time, refused use of another pump too and pushed out. Ended up buying an adaptor for it which (to me) defies the point of having that pump.

I always carry two tubes, one of them is bound to be the one I left in my bag from the last puncture so the other has a decent chance of being good! Actually need to check as I gave away my last good one to a pair of lads who weren’t carrying one between them so may just be a ruined tube I’m carrying around now.

Have to agree with mech hanger but make double sure it’s the right one.

Spent the first night of my first trip out there reshaping the wrong hanger with a dremel. Bodged one lasted the rest of the week too!

It’s not as hard on tyres as some places but as you’ll be mostly going up by chairlifts go for tyres with super thick sidewalls.

I have used Goggles 4u many times (no connection to them at all, just always had good experience). Not cycling specific but cheap enough to use and throw away. Got the measurement last time in the opticians when they were replacing my lenses in my good glasses. Did have to write the distance between eyes down as it didn’t come on the printed prescription.

Frame design and fitting is a bit hit and miss, had one set that are an awful fit a few years ago but still use them when working on the car/bikes or painting now. Generally buy two sets every 12 to 18 months and use them for biking only. Wipe them on dirty riding kit way too often, throw them in bags and leave them lose around the van as I just don’t care about them. Vision is spot on and the last pair have lasted really, really well. Have crashed in them and had branches hit them without them breaking but never had a full on impact on them to know how they’d perform. Oh yeah, the set before last were massive and looked horrific on me but they had really good coverage and vision was spot on so put up with them for around 6 embarrassing months!

Last order was £22 for two pairs and they were probably the best ones I’ve had from them. Delivery is normally around a week too.

Doubt there is much weight difference between them and some of the old school DH bikes that would have been up and down them loads. My old Session 10 would have given the current e-bikes a run for their money weight wise and I bet loads of them did seasons out there.

If they get moaned at they could take the batteries on the lift with them off the bike.

Just been alerted to 2 full F&R XT 4 pots minus rotors for £140 all in…shall I do it?

Only once you’ve let me know where from (assuming new and available for more than one set)!

Been having this exact thought this morning! Liking the look and price of the Guide REs as an upgrade from the Guide R but it all seems to be a bit of a minefield. From the reviews I’ve been reading I’m between the XTs and the REs.

On a hot day in Pila I did ok with the front with a radiated 203 rotor but the 180 rear was struggling.

Do your XTs not have the option of keeping the levers and changing to the M8020 calipers for a cheap upgrade?

Laggan isn’t far off the A9 if you’re using that, Golspie definitely (probably my favourite trail centre). Was tempted to do a day trip to Cape Wrath but didn’t have a full day. Torridon isn’t far off the route, devils staircase, Fort William…

Some of those may not be on the exact route, I followed the general route and made my own alterations based on what way I felt like turning some of the time.

Did it last year in the really hot spell we had in June, was too hot to ride Torridon but generally was a superb trip without too much over planning. Threw a tent in and decided where I wanted to stay through the day, only firm booking I had was the ferry and accommodation on Orkney which I added on.

I had a Boardman CX from around that time, one of their first CX bikes I think. Liked it on the road but always thought it was a bit scary off-road. Where you said you have to pick your lines rings very true. Snapped up an Arkose my mate was selling, mainly due to the hydraulic brakes, it was an eye opener to how much better CX bikes had got in a few years. Didn’t feel as much of a road bike with knobbly tyres. Sure the newer Boardies feel much better too.

Wouldn’t put too much emphasis on how you remember the Boardman feeling off-road.

The fan heater in the rear seat will only work if the car is completely dry, stick one in the back of my damp van after a wet, muddy bike has been in there and it steams up worse than ever!

Never ridden the old one, there seemed to be a lot of people converting to a 140mm fork so I went with the 2019 130 S rather than one of the 2018 sale ones to get it with the 140.

I’m absolutely delighted with it, two months in and my G160 hasn’t had a look in. Best bike I’ve owned by a long way. Will be an interesting decision whether the 130 or 160 head out with me to the French and Italian Alps this year or if the 160 actually gets sold.

Loving the 2.6 Hillbilly on the front, doesn’t seem at all draggy and completely predictable in all conditions. Previously had a 2.3 Butcher on the front of the other bike and didn’t get on with it, that’s on the back at the moment where I’m much happier with it.

We booked a Chrysler Grand Voyager (or similar) for the same from Geneva, might actually have had three bikes but can’t remember exact details of the trip now! Similar turned out to be a Galaxy which caused a bit of a panic as the Grand is a fair bit bigger. The Galaxy was ideal, could fit the bike bags upright and a person in the back seat.

Watch out for 7 seaters, the folded down seats may not get out the way enough to let the bike bags sit upright – from memory the Voyager’s seats would have folded into the floor. The hire company was going to remove them for us if the bikes didn’t fit as we’d expressed concerns that it was smaller than the one we selected but there was a fair bit of reluctance to have a set of seats kicking around for a week. Galaxy will definitely work though.

For three seater vans the third seat isn’t comfortable. I spend a couple of hours in one at the weekend and my knee still hurts.

I bought my house exactly like this, part-ex from the builder. Had been on the market for a few months and the estate agent told me it was now at the lowest price they would go down to. My solicitor offered lower but got absolutely no movement at all on the price, it really was as low as they would go.

Be prepared for conditions in the sale where they won’t guarantee anything left there, unlike a normal sale where you can complain if bits and pieces aren’t working as expected their contract was essentially a sold as seen type contract. Fairly painless sale though apart from those points.

Stayed in one of the campsites just outside the track. Mega track to spectate at, we ended up at the top of Eau Rouge almost every day. It’s a long track and got very busy so once we’d done our initial wander round everything during practice we picked our point and set up there every day.

Ripped the backside out my shorts on the way in one day and had to sit with my jacket tied round my waist, was freezing by the end of the day. Then the soles fell off my boots on the way out the circuit.

Was one of the quieter campsites, was quiet enough but still managed to get absolutely hammered with some lads in the campsite. Was a great laugh until packing up the campsite and a massive drive home the next day which I wasn’t taking any part of the driving until we were well through England on the way to Scotland.

Would definitely recommend it. The camping option was great there too, just being able to walk in without having to worry about someone being sober or catching a busy bus was great.

Got a G160 and recently got a T130 S.

This year’s 130 has a 140mm fork with a bigger offset which is meant to make it even better, never ridden the old one to compare. Have set faster times on the 130 on off-piste Glentress and Innerleithen stuff than the 160, not the super steep or super gnarly stuff though. Wouldn’t hesitate to point it down anything I would do on the 160 though.

The 130 is such a fun bike, it would be between that and the S150 as a do everything bike. If I was getting a single bike it would have been the 150 but as I’ve kept the 160 the 130 was the better fit for me. Was pretty close to getting the S120 but as I’m quite heavy I decided against 29er wheels for the extra flex when jumping, destroyed the mech and a few spokes on my old T129 when landing a badly timed (very small) tailwhip. Know they have got more stiff since then but didn’t take the risk.

Sky Movies or Netflix, takes me quite a few nights to get through a film now. Used to be able to sit through a couple a night but now-a-days I can’t seem to watch anything film length without getting distracted unless it’s absolutely amazing.

What is it? ^^

Mine? Cube Stereo 140mm FS with Bosch, motor was 6 months out of warranty but replaced FOC once they’d had a look at the usage reports :)

I’ve finally sorted all my problems with my ebike that sat around for a year. That includes a brand new replacement motor. Swore all the time it was in the shop that it was getting sold with the brand new motor as a big selling point but threads like this are making me have massive second thoughts!

My mate is going through something very similar, not got any direct experience as I don’t have kids but he vented last time we caught up.

He’s said he’s seeing very positive results from both taking up a new shared hobby which happens to be mountain biking. Gets them out of the battleground and onto neutral territory where they can be mates rather than just seeing each other as fighting partners. Think it’s pretty important to both be starting from scratch to share it rather than something you’re already good at.

However you listen to it I’ll bet it’s better than me for the next month – secondhand from a pop-up ice rink in the car park, playing 5 year old plus pop songs at the volume where the speakers have started to distort. And they’ve not got enough music to cover 12-5 every day so there’s a lot of repeating. Going to be a long month!

Just over budget ( for this year) but in the true STW way of recommending what you’ve got?

A Whtye T-130s

The 2018 version is available for £1900. Any thoughts on it?

Went up to 140mm offset fork this year. Never rode last years but there were a lot of comments on owners threads that it rides better as a 140.

Picked mine up last weekend, it’s set PBs uphill and downhill including an enduro trail that I’ve previously had my G160 down in the dry.

Possible to get a 10% discount too from what I’ve heard, got offered that after I’d done a Whyte demo day.

By all accounts though the 2018 is a cracking bike, it won loads of magazine tests. Just the 2019 is likely an even better great bike :)

Couple of other thoughts from me, if anyone joins you they ride at your pace and to your route. If it’s too fast or slow for them tough, they can do one. You need to always be on a pace you’re happy with.

One we never did that I wish we had, get a few miles in before breakfast. Get up and have a couple of bars then pedal a few miles to get a proper breakfast. If you’ve done 20 miles before you’ve even had breakfast you’re a long way into your daily target.

Know where bike shops are and how to get to them.

Have some sports massage options available. It can make a massive difference.

I wore sealskinz with a pair of gaiters over them but under my knee pads one winter. Looked absolutely stupid but kept my feet dry. One of my worst mornings on an uplift was with waterproof socks holding water and not having to do enough pedaling to warm up. Stuck normal socks on in the afternoon and although wet were so much more pleasant.

Last winter solution was waterproof trousers with a fairly tight cuff over the waterproof socks which worked too.

Am currently preferring the fit and feel of the Aldi ones to Sealskinz.

That’s Land’s End to John O’Groats three times. Massive challenge.

Attempted JOGLE a few years ago as an overweight but reasonably fit mid 30s regular biker. 6 months intense training saw me as fit as I’d ever been but still not fit enough.

By day 3 or 4 I was in trouble with injuries, the group was going too fast and should have split early on every day (the 100+ mile leg from Inverness to Glasgow was done at a 20+ average). By day 5 I was pedalling with one leg to get to the hostel, day 6 I climbed off the bike as I was pushing up hills unable to put weight on my right leg. It really, really hurt quitting especially with a lot of sponsorship behind me. Not really got back into road biking since.

Even slowing it down there will be days where everything will hurt. The slower guys in our group needed an easy day on day 9, they slowed it down even more, lost the support van, missed dinner and had to get rescued as it got dark (they went back to where they climbed off the next day).

We stayed in hostels most nights, the day after a rubbish night sleep due to a snorer is awful. The weather was glorious for us but self-supported you’re not going to have down days to wash and dry your kit.

I’d honestly say it sounds like you’re setting your sights very, very high. If you’re going for it I’d recommend at least a year of training with multiple back to back 100s. I missed that, did a few 100+ rides but never followed up with a long day in the saddle the next day, would have gone out on the mtb or something.

Try riding 10 miles a day (or increase depending how fit you are), every day for a month. It’s more difficult than it sounds when you’re legs are tired and you get a couple of days with stinking weather. Hitting that many miles in a month isn’t difficult but the commitment to climb on your bike every day no matter what is very difficult.

Keeping from getting ill during a month of being totally run down will be tough too.

If you do go for it good luck! Sorry for the negativity, just from personal experience I’d say it’s one for someone super fit to start with…

With no commitments and a month free I’d be packing a touring bike and gear and heading somewhere warm that would be interesting to explore to pedal round and enjoy without putting the pressure on for hitting mileage targets. Actually that’s not true, I’d be packing the van up with road and mountain bikes and setting up in the Alps for a month. That would be a superb month off :)

Honda Civic Tourer definitely worth a look.

The hatch was every bit as good at swallowing bikes and golf clubs as my Leon estate is. Superbly well thought out car for interior space.

Two people I know got new cars around the same time, one BMW 2 series that was in almost every week for squeaks and rattles (not even exaggerating, it went away for at least two weeks as it had to go back to Germany to get sorted) and another bought a new Qashqui which he’s not been able to drive for over a month as the handbrake engages randomly. That’s one of the issues that saw him back at the dealers 12 times in the first 18 months. In the two years I had the Civic there wasn’t a single squeak, rattle or issue with it.

1.6 diesel never felt slow and it averaged mid 50mpg even with a short commute.

A mate got one due to my recommendation, he does quite a lot of mileage and spends a lot of commuting time in his (hatch too) and last time I saw him he thanked me for suggesting it.

Another mate had the 2005 2.2 diesel , first of the funny shaped ones. Took it to well over 150k and apart from routine servicing and consumables it just kept going and going. Only got rid of it as he was bored of it I think, 9 years in the same car from memory.

I’m currently liking my Leon Cupra estate but for a commuting mobile that needed a decent bit of economy I think I’d be going for the Civic.

Same as a few others, cooked a pizza, tasted funny and pizza tray was impossible to clean. Mate I was living with worked out the polystyrene disc was missing and I’d eaten it. Wasn’t even the worst pizza I’d eaten. Unfortunately there was no alcohol involved to blame.