Will be riding Sunday but certainly will be recording the ITV4 coverage. Should be some excellent stock car touring car racing, enjoy.

Well I’m impressed that someone rode any part of the grannytrap (having just learnt that’s what it’s called!).
It’s not easy climbing up it without a bike, nevermind when you’re carrying one. It is very steep and finding footholds to walk down is hard enough.

Credit where its due [tips hat]

Hey Brycey, this mean you and Stewart need to go have another crack at it? Can I come and collect the broken bones??

Oh, and one thing to watch out for:
might be because I’m using Big ‘uns which use a 5 bolt disc, but there was no clearance between the disc bolt heads and the inside of the fork leg. I had to grind a few mm off the heads to get the wheel to turn without fouling.

I have the same set-up on the tandem, Ti6’s on ‘zochhi 66’s. As suggested above they have a unique mount adaptor for various combinations of disc size & IS / post mount.

There’s one here:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Hope_Mono_6Ti_Bracket/5360020205/

It’s the Manitou one you want (as Manitou invented post mount). Don’t get the ‘Marzccohi’ one, I made that mistake, that’s specific to Junior T’s or something similar.
The standard front mount is for a 203mm disc, you can’t go smaller.

Hope will be able to help, we had to get a new bracket from them to go up from 185 to 203 on the rear of the tandem.

Rob

James Bond museum in Keswick is brill. After seeing all the cars there’s then a wee cinema to watch a compliation of the car chases.

Been nearly 10 years since my last visit but the Q’s are fantastic tandem territory. Smiths Combe was one of our favourites.

Recall doing it on the tandem with JonEdwards of this parish on our back wheel, listening to my shouted directions to Sandy so he could keep up!
Happy days, but now a long trip from bonny Scotland.

I was lucky enough to polish MN-E when I was an apprentice at RR Hucknall. It was hangered up at East Midlands Airport and when the maintenance guys went up to service her us boys got to go along.
Happy days but a tragic loss.

Rob

3192ft was todays high point, the summit of Ben Lomond. In the cloud and rain so couldn’t see a thing.
That decent is interesting on a hardtail isn’t it???

Will cod liver oil cure a creaking pike?

before I opened the thread I was going to suggest the local VD clinic……

I'll get me coat………

I'm sure you're already aware, but just incase remember that you can't weld ti to dissimilar metals, so the fitting would have to be ti, like those very neat looking ones from Paragon.
Eeeek, the amount of blueing on those indi fab welds is worrying!

Rob

Had my RC40's for a good few years now.
According to the Pace instructions, 10wt is standard and is what I used when I ran the standard spring.
Recently I fitted a light spring which made the fork feel fantastic, but it went through the travel a bit quick, so I've changed to 20wt oil to increase the compression damping.
Have been using the Rock Oil from CRC.

Rob

would it be wrong to say that they moved to a new level when Donnie jacked and Bruce came on board

no it wouldn't, would completely agree iainc.

Have been a huge fan since first hearing Hearthammer when it was released as a single from The Big Wheel. They are massively better live with Bruce than with Donnie.

Rob

I was in Toulouse in a meeting at Airbus.
French guy came running into the room talking at a million miles an hour to his French colleagues before one of them translated for us. Went back to the hotel and watched the news (in French), jaw on the floor.
That night met some guys in the restaraunt from Pratt & Whitney who were stuck in Toulouse due to all the flights being grounded. They had family who worked in the WTC and couldn't get in contact.

Scary.
Rob

Might be able to make for the first annual reunion!! Will consult the diary……

Did it for the first time on Saturday on the P7 with 140mm RC40's. It's certainly 'redder' than a Glentress red and have to agree with twiggy, plenty of arm pump.
The top boardwalk section is scary fast once you get confident how grippy & well banked it is (in the dry!). We had a shower about lunchtime Saturday and the top section stayed pretty grippy, but the bottom section just after the bedrock was like ice and I finished up in the bog, which sounds just like mr plow! In fact as I was picking myself up and checking for broken bits, someone came off at the same point and landed in the bog the other side of the boardwalk.

I mangaged 5 runs and would've done another had it not been for the rain and a pretty dead leg from the crash.

Highly recommended though.

Rob

tandemonium,
you sound suspiciously like Paul & squealling nic from NATS?

Rob (& Sandy, ex of NATS!)

Cupra, we're in Dunoon over on the west, but Glentress is a fairly common destination for us on a Friday or Sunday. If you fancy a trip from the kingdom of Fife to GT and meeting up there so you and your good lady can have a go on an FS tandem then drop me an email.

We've even got our old Cannondale tandem frame in the garage if you fancy building your own.

Rob

Have just got Dirt off the shelf and into the video. About to pay my own wee tribute.

[raises glass] To JMC. Ride & remember.

Supposed to be halfway up Ben Lomond by now, but the weather is grim!!
Bike tinkering & watching touring cars instead.

Use your mirrors, I know it sounds stupid but I didn't use mine properly for a long time and cudnt get my head around it.

dead right. There's a huge difference between looking 'at' the mirror and actually looking 'in' the mirror!

Slight variation on Pieface's technique (many ways to skin a cat etc etc)

stop parallel with target car but slightly ahead.
tilt n/s wing mirror down so you can see the rear wheel & kerb (obviously leccy mirrors help here).

reverse till ends of cars are almost level, quick check in blindspot (so you dont swing out and take out passing STW rider commuting to/from work), one turn L.
when car is at 45 degrees (or half past one on clockface if easier to visualise), one turn back (R) so wheels straight.

back in using n/s mirror too check the closing gap between rear wheel & kerb, then another turn R when a good drain width from kerb. Tweak as necessary with more/less R lock using n/s mirror to judge.

look fwd, and just as coming parallel with kerb, one turn L to straighten wheels.

Just keep it sloooooow. Many people rush to finish quickly and it goes pete tong. Just make the impatient buggers wait while you get it right first time!!

Hope that helps.
Rob

[inserts spanner in the works]
always used short cage myself since my first Clockwork in about 1992 and never had a problem. Currently using short cage on the P7 with 11-34 and 22/32/44. Full suss might not work, what with chain growth and such jiggery pokery.

[removes spanner]

Rob

Booked 🙂

Better get those tubes fixed Edward, sounds like we'll be needing them 🙂

Rob

PS – has the smell of pine worn off yet?

Brill pics. We've got that ride in the diary for mid-August, consider appetites well and truly whetted!!

Rob

Have just got home from a week's hols down that way:
sure I saw the same bike riding downhill on the main road into Windermere yesterday afternoon, was hoping the kid at the back had a braking parachute in that rucksack!

Last night: Skerryvore at the Queens Hall here in Dunoon.
Next: nothing planned but it'll probably be Runrig (again!)

Rob

That's superb, really liked that 🙂

lol @ tazzymtb.

that and special "tandem lines"

tandems being the irresistable force that will plough through any immovable object, switchbacks included.

Hope BB's now come with aluminium spacers, but you can make your own to replace the plastic ones.

You know that old cassette lying on the garage floor? Split the sprockets and you'll get some metal spacers. File off the tabs on the inside and you've made some BB spacers 🙂

I'm glad I posted this as I hadn't realised the ratchet was replaceable!

well as we all saved you ££'s by telling you, do we all get a dividend payout?? 😉

Rob

Yep, I did a wiper seal & oil change on my RC40's last month.

Go direct to Pace for the wiper seals & foam rings as Tim doesn't stock them, he has to pay the same as us for them. Was about £30 posted from Pace.

For other parts & servicing go to Tim, also aka 'the worlds most helpful bloke' and a complete fountain of knowledge of all things boingy from Yorkshire.

Rob

Just had a picnic near Toward lighthouse, looking over to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, with Goatfell on Arran peeping over the top.
Hang on, just here…….

and Mrs tandemwarriors enjoying a wee glass…

a stunning summer evening here in Scotland. Happy days 🙂

nbt+1 & macavity, having been told off by the lady in the teashop for pronouncing it wrong!!!

Hope can replace the pawl ring for you. They have a tool that engages in the (slightly knackered) teeth with a dirty great breaker bar on the end which unscrews the pawl ring.

The Big Un on the tandem was in a worse state than that, so knackered in fact that their tool wouldn't engage in the stumps that used to be teeth! They sent the wheel back to me and I set about it with a dremel, grinding a slot in the ring and using a drift to unscrew it. Hope were so impressed they sent me a new pawl ring and pawls free of charge!

Happy fettling!

Rob

You have fettled well, my young apprentice.

One in the Helensburgh area, " Accidon't " .

I prefer to be more straight forward, "Argyll Driver Training".

Rob

Is the event so crap you've got to geek on STW whilst there?

nope, we only live a few hours away so had just been up for the day, hence the post written at home late last night.
Weather still great today so hope you'll have a good 'un tomorrow 😀

nope not him. Looked like a group of 3 mates enjoying themselves and sharing a very intelligent (for mountain bikers!) sense of humour. The 4x qualifying was much less exciting than last year, so without them it'd have been quite dull. Think Rob Warner should look out, his commentators job could be under threat!

Rob (who's back in Dunoon today, got to work. Poo. Enjoy the sunshine everyone).