Rich,

Yup. morning on the Frendo Spur.

Agree – great trails.

Golspie – start of the superb finale

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Balblair – great rocky riding

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Sleeperzzz is, as Jojo says, quirky and unique and two minutes walk from the Pittentrail Inn, also “quirky and unique” in a Highland Theme Pub sort of way…

:D

Macho Fantastico.

Very good.

Bono estente!

Got to be Chanel 9 Neus

Sporto mit Antonios Gubbas – Interuptor Bastardo – zero

Meteorologicos manana – oooh! scorchio!

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Sanny,

Glad to hear you’re interested.

I’m putting a plan together which I’ll email out to my mailing list (currently standing at 14!). Send me an email and I’ll add you to the list.

I’ll just repeat the accommodation arrangements – it’s DIY. Bunkhouse filling fast (mostly Fifers!) and camping “discouraged” but you might want to make up your own mind about that…

Cheers,
SC

El Hadj Diouf anyone?

According to i-tunes, mine is “The Love of Richard Nixon” by Manics, but I don’t agree.

“Holiday in Cambodia” is a close second though…

This is too hard.

No, wait….

Probably Neil Young “Heart of Gold”.

Mcmoonter,

good news. Can you drop me an email with names etc. so I know who/how many to expect in total?

Cheers.

(I’m sure I’ll know some of them)

It’s a zero-stack headset. Cups press inside the headtube so they are flush with the top and the bearings sit inside these just like a normal headset.

Try FSA[/url] or Cane Creek

I give up…

I’m in the bunkhouse, but I might upgrade to a room in the hotel since I’m a bit of an anti-social sleeper (I swear and fight in my sleep…). That’s you all warned.

I don’t fight when I’m awake, BTW, just in case anyone is coming along just for a rumble.

Three Pebble Slab.

Great route – I seem to remember a big pocket near the start of the upper slab which nicely swallows up a Friend 4…

Beats my pair of jacks…

I was in Fat Tread last weekend and they had a second-hand XS frame for a very good price…

You’d better call them quick!

I’ve had mine since March 2006 and it’s been a really great bike.

In that time I’ve ridden it a lot and I’ve given it as much of a pasting as my cowardly, skinny ass will allow.

It’s currently in having the rear suspension bearings replaced for the second time. £37 for the bearing kit. Fit them yourself for free if you have the tools/knowledge (I don’t).

Fat Tread will supply all you need parts-wise and they are super helpful. They are no longer the importer but they still sell and service Titus bikes. There are a few Titus dealers up and down the UK who would do the same, I’m sure – check the Titus website for local dealers.

You’ll not regret it.

OH – the only thing that I need to do regularly is replace the lower shock bushing (every 3 or 4 months) but it’s a very easy job and the part costs £4

Smee/Glupton,

I’m looking forward to meeting you on the Glen Clova weekend and I’m willing to take it at face value that you are a real nice guy in the flesh, just “misunderstood”.

However, your online persona is a tedious arse and it’s possibly that online persona that people want to see “dead”. I don’t think anyone on here actually wishes death on a real person, so why not try being the person you are in real life.

:D

Pish game, but no matter.

Cheers guys – lots of good info there.

I’m just waiting on the verdict on my 06 Revs. If, as I suspect, they are beyond the pale, I’ll take the plunge on the BETD ones.

Assuming they are OEM, what will the warranty be like?

Swello,

Geograph suggests the bit from the Kinlochhourn road to pick up the Abhainn Chosaidh would be a bit of a ball-ache. Might be worth it though for the remainder of the ride.

Great website for route planning.

New Revs would be my first choice too, but they are very pricey right now.

Floats look good on paper and are lighter, but it’d be good to know what others think before taking the plunge.

Back
Up
My
Precious

The section between Inversnaid and the north end of the loch.

Standard solution is to take the ferry across to Inveruglas and ride up the road (busy!) to rejoin at Inverarnan.

You put me on the spot Ton!

I’m only thinking about it just now – Revs are in for a service but they may be dead which means new forks. I’d prefer new Revs with the Maxle but BETD are doing a good deal on the Floats…

Tell you what mate – I’ll take it. Mail me and we’ll sort out payment. Even if I don’t use them now, I might in the future.

Cheers.

Ricoh GX100 is another one to consider. Lovely camera to use with lots of SLR-like controls as well as point-shoot options. Superb lens, especially for macro shots which are stunning.

Very customisable too.

Are you doing the race? Foolishly, I am[/url].

All the maps for each of this year’s stages are on the Transalp[/url] site.

Ton,

I’m hoping I can either do it myself with a skean dhu and a lump hammer or I can get someone else to do it for a barrowful of neeps.

Cheers. Dude.

It’s been a long time since I said ten Hail Mary’s, but I feel it’s a fair penance for my neglect.

How difficult a job is it? Any special tools needed?

(Stripping the forks, that is. Ten Hail Marys’ I know how to do)

Who’s whining?

It’s a great, quirky song and you can take or leave the political content.

No doubt someone will be along to tell me I have a chip on my shoulder for being “Scotch”

:o)

Yup – it’s Cap in Hand.

“I can tell the dif’rence ‘tween margarine and butter
I can sat Saskatchewen without starting to stutter”

Genius.

First week in August, you say?

Look out for Culicoides impunctatus and just don’t stop…

Gore Bike Wear.

Very comfy and neatly cut (even on a skinny bastard like me).

If you’re willing to get a custom build then an XS Titus Motolite would do the job.

Yup.

Fat Tread Bikes[/url] have an ex-demo XS frame going for £300 (bargain) and an ex-demo Small full-build for £1700 (also a bargain).

Give them a call – they’re very helpful.

Fat Tread Bikes in Aviemore are selling off some ex-demo bikes.

You’d get a 4-grand Titus Motolite (size small) for £1700. I was in there yesterday and it looks to be in pretty good nick with a top-notch spec.

The pricelist is here. I know it’s probably not very local, but it may be worth a call…

SC

Elliot Erwitt.

…for starters

Where: Dunfermline to Kirkcaldy via Crossgates, Mossmorran and Auchtertool (no, really…). I aim to do this mostly off road once things dry out and I’ve done some more exploring.

What: Red Kinesis Maxlight XCPro2

Hi guys,

I’ve made some enquiries about accommodation for the weekend of 2/3 May. The bunkhouse is available and you might want to book yourself into the hotel (posh option!). I eventually got a response re. camping and the party line is “no camping” in the hotel grounds or surrounding fields… I not sure if they are able to enforce this under our access laws, so you might want to take your chances. Tom (hungrymonkey) was camping hereabouts in November, so he might be able to shed some more light on how to go about it discreetly. Tom? I’ve certainly seen people camping around here in recent years.

I’m basically going to shift the responsibility for arranging accommodation onto individuals. Best do it soon because it’s a popular area and a holiday weekend.

I’ll put together a rough outline of the arrangements over the weekend and post it here next week. It should be pretty straightforward – rendezvous place and time, route details etc.

Cheers,

Stuart.

UPDATE – so far I have emails from 8 bods – please get in touch if you are going to be there because I’ll send updates by email which will have more detail in them than what is posted here.

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Handsome fella.

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Stonechat.

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A shag’s a shag.

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Tystie (black guillemot).