When you’ve got to be at the trails for 10, but have an engine rebuild at 12

I’m busy wondering if that ‘Lotus’Carlton estate was the one whose owner used to frequently come into Wild Side in Tunbridge Wells around the millennium.

Ah it’s good we’ve got too the nub of it.
Basically, it’s fine to damage someone’s else’s stuff in a public place if you don’t like what they’ve done
And
Two wrongs do make a right.

Excellent.

What other “property” will you leave wherever you see fit and expect people to fit around it

I’d say there’s an example particularly relevant to this forum: a bicycle.

It’s a nice looking fancy bike.
Having said that, I’d love it if it turned out the headset top bearing cover was just a rubber cover hiding 2 large nuts, and it was in fact a quill stem.
It can’t be long until we go full circle, surely?!

Edit: this picture of a different Bianchi system suggests to me there might be a big fat cover thing going on
https://bikerumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2020-FSA-internally-routed-cockpit-integration_Vision-ACR-internal-routing-barstem.jpg

@PJM1974 I see your Kei$ha objection on a Miley Cyrus thread, and complete the triangle with the excellent Todd Barrage covering Kei$ha. With a Miley Cyrus ref. [AFI noises]

I was appalled when I found out that The Linda Lindas had covered a Talking Heads song, I’m a massive fan and I knew it would be awful.

Even they couldn’t make Talking Heads bearable.

About 178 tall here. 770-780 is the sweet spot for me.

Disclaimer: riding bikes gives me migraines, may not be the best person to ask.

I’m firmly in the ‘legally correct != Morally correct’camp here. If my child scraped his bike along the side of a car I’d be mortified, and like to think I’d try to contact the owner to sort out me paying for damage.
Everyone’s so hooked up on the car thing. Having something on a public space doesn’t automatically mean people have the right to damage it. If there was a narrow pavement with terraced houses fronting on to it, and a small person managed to smash a window wobbling his bars into it, in any think I could just shrug and walk on.
I’m genuinely surprised at some of the attitudes! (But not by the attitudes of some)

Am I the only one thinking that a 10yo on a 29er is a bit big, and that might be why you can’t find one? Lots of full adult bikes have the small sizes in 27.5 still.

My 11yo isn’t that lanky at about 145cm, but he’s on an xs 10 year old Giant 26″ FS and I’d say he’s only just comfy on it.

Another point I’d make is that unless he’s an absolute animal, I think the suggestions of a light xc frame and angle set are on point. At that age the light weight means the forces are a lot less on the frame, so you don’t need something built for max strength imo. There aren’t a lot of light xc frames with aggro geo because focusing on both seems mutually exclusive I’d have thought?

I’m going to stick my neck out and possibly be an arse here, but it’s there perhaps a bit of vicarious buying going on? When I picked my son’s bike up for him I was worried that the steep head angle might be a bit twitchy for him, and started trying to work out what angle set I could fit. But after watching him ride it for down some rooty trails, and watching him 6 months later clear the local tables, I’m now at peace with the fact that kids will just ride the crap out of whatever they’re given, until someone(in our case , me, The Internet, or Friends)tells them they need a better thing. :D

@joshvegas valid. Test kit on the way

@dooosuk something in my head is telling me it’s better and a bit more stable to shove something down it and whack some concrete in for a more solid base (it turns a 90 shortly after the opening) especially as a loo will be stuck on top of it and the floor will likely be tiled. But that’s not based on actual knowledge or experience.

Brilliant, thanks all! One way flap sound like a great idea as well.
Much appreciation.

Thanks :)
Plan is to go over the tires with screed, yeah. But a few pinged up on their own so curiosity took over! Haven’t had them tested but I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if they were. It’s an old house that has been prodded and poked a lot by rubbish DIYers like me over the years!

Drain is live at the inspection cover outside. There’s a 4 way junction and this is the lowest branch.

Cheers. No objection, just checking!

Just so we are clear. You know a hoover won’t help much with asbestos right?

Absolutely! That wasn’t on the tiles, only ones of those I’ve removed are the ones that pinged up on their own. One broke, a masked and suited me stopped.
The Henry was used to clear up the crumbly mess that was somehow suspended over the drain (that previously had a toilet perched on top -mystery of why the old tiles were bulging and damp is now solved)

What pedals? If Vaults, it’s because they’re a shit design. So many better options out there now

Took a Pro4 rear apart,spent ages getting the pawls and springs spotless. Popped them back in, nicely greased, wrestled with the freehub seal, finally got it seated, nice click, cassette back on, put bike together.
Wheeled forwards to test ride, pedals turned. Odd? Just a bit of friction from the seal selling in place. *Shrug*
Day on bike, put a pedal stroke in, clickclickckick.

Turns out that it’s dead easy to put the pawls in the wrong way round. I now had a bike with all the negatives of a fixie, and none of the positives of a bike that could be pedaled. Perfect for fakies, mind.

Hope the little one is ok, not nice at all :(

Speak to the school ASAP. Don’t go in all guns blazing, speak to the teacher/year head/head. All then the questions you’re asking us.
I’d expect the school to be speaking to the other child’s parents and keeping a close eye on their interactions with your. Incidents like this are rarely isolated so I suspect there’s already stuff going on at the school to deal with it.
You should also have an injury report slip at that age I think
If any of the above isn’t satisfactory, then kick off, but give the school a chance first, teachers have an often impossible job.

Bridging the lambda will likely still throw an error. If it’s buggered then replacing it or a fancy bit of test equipment is the only real test. Hell, even my 30 yo car throws an error if you try and do that!
But yeah, some element of parts darts still needed. If you can’t be arsed, eBay with no reserve is the way

This popped up on my YT feed. I think it does a pretty good job of illustrating the movements.

And this, like the rest of Cathro’s how to series, is great for drop techniques. https://youtu.be/uJJAW0iNhUY?si=2MdWDnPvS8yEGYdI

@molgrips technique of unweighting works well for some, but for others, like @joebristol describes, it’s more of a push. I’m still trying to get this right so I can get out if the bloody woods at the top of Dai Hard…

“moving the bars to hips on the take-off”
I’m no Matt Jones, but where did you hear that advice? It’s not how I’d describe it on most trail style. Bar humps are not cool. Steep dirt jumps are a different matter and do require more of that technique.

Not trying to teach to suck eggs, but can you bunny hop without SPDs? The people I watch with more worrying technique are the ones who can’t, IMO that’s kind of a basic requirement.

The best easy I can describe it is a rolling motion. Load up like a spring as you approach the lip, then release that energy and pull the bike up as you approach the lip. It’s like a modified hop -pull the front first, draw the back second.

But the best advice I can give is practice. Los. Find/build a small table, session it. Lots. Then some more. Get people to video you, and compare the timing. The best jumpers I know aren’t the ones who’ve been on a skills course, they’re the ones who grew up mucking about in the woods with their mates.

I like the effort he’s gone to to put it in a period kitchen. That’s dedication.

42 here, never had a U brake. Remember the first time I put some Avid vees on my Bear Valley SE to replace the cantis though. Blew my mind. Then I got some of the snowman ones with the parallel link (lx) and remember being Even more impressed.

I’m probably wrong, but the Aeris 145 is the same frame as a 120b isn’t it? I used to get quite pronounced pedal kickback on m 120 with a Hope Pro4.
I learned to ignore it, tbh!

I too have learnt a new colloquialism today.

Cleared out some old rolled up carpet* from my garage last year, shoved it in the boot of the car, put a load of stuff on it, set off for the tip. It was only when I was halfway there I realised that the car was starting to fill with angry wasps. It was the closest to pulling over and fly-tipping** I’ve ever been.

I learned a lot about wasps over the past few years, and I would say keep them if possible, they’re nature’s bin men/cleaners/pest control. They don’t return to old nests, so if you can ride out this year, you’ll be grand

*Turns out wasps like to nest in old carpet
**Wasp-tipping?

New Balance 574

There’s a reason every giffer over 40 with a beard wears them. They’re essentially square

This intrigues me a _lot_. I run in wide fit NB 860s and they’re the most comfortable, foot shaped things I’ve ever put on my flippers.

Another yup. I’ve got a 210 v2.1 and bloody love it. Had it about 3 years and all it needs is a 10 minute regrease once in a while and an occasional air top up.

My dad made a curry pot of some at uni, if that helps?

More seriously, depending on what they are, get in touch with local schools. We gave a bunch to the local primary and the rest went to the BHF book shop.

“in the heat of the moment these things do happen, it appears to at least be a big part of human nature.”

Aaaaaabsolute bollocks. You are tacitly excusing assault. Neither me, nor any of my mates, have ever got anywhere near to assaulting someone ‘in the heat of the moment’. If they or I had, I’d suggest a lot of introspection would be required for that person to sort their f*****g shit out.

@poly you are usually an excellent voice of reason and useful information on here, but that is a massive cognitive leap, and bang out IMHO

@thisisnotaspoon Good, good. Now we’re making some progress. But I fear that this is just a prologue.

Chooks would see crows/ravens as a challenge. I had to despatch a jackdaw that had been set upon by our flock. I think they’d had enough of the buggers stealing their food. Caught them with it pinned to the ground laying into it!

I don’t like to rag on brands, but I’ve unfortunately had nothing but bad experiences with e13 stuff. For that reason, and parts availability, I’d consider looking at replacing both cranks and ring for another brand with better spares availability. Unless the rest of the drivetrain is Shimano, SRAM and the 24mm Race Face cranks seen to have excellent aftermarket parts availability. Shimano rings are more expensive.

Xtra chains are only 40 quid at Biketart. Much better corrosion resistance too.

Tesa tape is great if you can get it to stick to the rim and conform to the contours. I found it a right **** to use with runs with a pronounced centre well.

If your reapplying monkey tape, just put it over the top, always worked for me. I’ve found if I just rip the tape off it leaves loads behind. If I remove it slowly it leaves far less.

I’ve taken to using Gorilla tape to seal, then a layer of electrical tape over the top as a sacrificial thing. Then it doesn’t pull the Gorilla tape off when I change tyres.

Tesco mixed baked beans > Heinz

Caterham 7 > Lotus

Skiffle bluegrass > Prince https://youtu.be/2E88jfL-BLc?si=L5S_AtKFOG08JCX7

Fight me.

Weeksy, is that you? :p

Petition for forum rule about no NBD threads until the B is actually in possession? :D

I was selling my comfy road bike, and fancied ticking off 100 miles ‘just because’. I used Ridewithgps whilst eating breakfast that day and planned a kidney-ish shaped route in the Cotswolds that has my house about the halfway mark so I could bail/refuel.
It was a rubbish route! First half was mostly ok, except a 10km track section that for some reason went to a gravel track and through a pheasant hatchery. Second half took me up a bloody rocky bridleway past a National Trust property full of walkers (on 32mm gp4000s). I later went down Fish Hill in the torrential rain, hid in a hedge from a downpour, had stomach cramps from gels, and had to go for a poo in a forest.

So, basically, my advice would be follow someone else’s route, plan in advance, and check you’re ok with the fuel you’re taking, and check the weather forecast

Basically, do the opposite of what I did.

Is it Unite Shimano rings that are a bit shite?

Edit: ah no, I think that was Burgtec

That Torridon video is one of my all time favourites. Beautiful film. Music composed and performed by her as well I believe.

Brilliant rider, always seems to lack the exposure she deserves.

I’ve had a Hope one for years, it’s been great. Original e13 one was, true to e13 form, crap. RaceFace not much better.

Another thing to consider is caliper alignment. I may be making this up, but iirc there’s 20×110 and 20×110 boost, and the disc is in a different place. So if yours are 20×110 boost, it wouldn’t even work if the axle and end caps fitted.

I was in the same position, upped the budget a smidge and got some Sony Linkbuds S. And they’re brilliant.

Clear, controlled, and powerful when they need to be. The sound cancelling isn’t amazing, but it’s fine for my purposes. And they fit better than anything else I’ve tried before. (Various Jabra, Creative, and Soundcore,)

Only negative is that the battery doesn’t seem to last quite as long as some of my previous ones, but I’ll happily take that for the fact everything else is brilliant!