I think that's a good pint mcboo, their core line of cycling products is extremely good and priced to compete with the top of line Perl Izumi and Assos gear, whilst the one off's raise awareness and continue to create a buzz about the brand.

I have the cross knickers and top, and very very nice they are too. They wick well, fit wonderfully, and look classy. Expensive? Maybe, then they'll look as a good in cross 5 season's time as they do now.

I do admire their business model and buy into their marketing, however a number of their products, (Paul Smith line, leather racing gloves), seem too overtly stylized.

Be interesting to see their new skin care range in a month or so. Wonder if we'll be able to use Rapha embrocation for our winter rides?

Free shipping with "SHIP208"

Hmmmm devil mode on 👿
Just by the Rapha, after a few months the cost will have vanished but you'll still get motivated putting it on.

My new toy, still way too fast for me

XT groupset with Mavic wheels, standard NN and RR rubber

Great service, spent an hour talking to Conrad about cross bikes, the guy can race and knows his stuff. Only thing that put me off it their top tube shape which is purely a personnel decision based on aesthetics.

General rule I was say to friends is 8 weeks of three to four one hour sessions a week will create a base level of fitness that will allow you to start training properly after the eighth week.

OK, close to an answer by njee20

Lots of people say this, but why?

Is it the stop start nature of off road riding?

Its just as easy to exceed lactic threshold on a mountain bike as a road bike. Seem odd that's all, not challenging you.

Absolutely agree, running is just so easy to do, lunch times, overnight business trips, just take a pair of shoes and some kit and away you go.

Not totally convinced by the bad knee thing either, (on the proviso of good shoes (changed regularly),good technique, and intelligent training methods)

I run twice a week and can bang out 38 for 10KM and 1:25 for a half, (running background).

I supplement this with two sessions on the bike at the weekend, normally up to 2 hours.

This pattern of training translates very well to XC riding/racing up to around the two hour mark. After that it all falls apart, (relatively).

I need more time in my legs on the bike. Simple.

What type of fitness increase do you want? Power, endurance, intensity? Running can help with some of these but not others.

Thanks, looks like I need go long and forget the intensity for the rest of the season.

Forgot to say that this book would be worth a read:
http://www.addnature.com/product.aspx?pf_id=CALAZOMTBSVERIGE

Agree bohusleden would be an excellent route, although NOT mountainous. Also from Göteborg is a long day ride to Borås on a well marked trail. More than happy to ride around the Göteborg area with you.

There can't be many carbon XC frames that are made to take 140 forks, it seems a very British thing to do.

Clearly the new 456 is perfect and possibly the only choice.

I had a bite a few years ago when I moved over here, it took a few weeks before the classic bulls-eye became big enough to really worry me, I never felt bad and trained through it.

Last year I either had a blood infection from an open wound or a tick bite, (both occurred in the same climbing trip), and within 48 hours my body had collapsed and went in to AE.

However everybody is different.

Seems an extremely quick reaction to be a tick, however seeing the GP is the best bet.

Its a long drive, 12 hours plus, from Göteborg to Åre.

Try asking on happymtb.org as they'll have a much better idea about specific places to spend time.

One issue with riding in Sweden is that nearly all the forests are farmed so it quite possible that tracks on maps no longer exist on the ground as they've been obliterated by machinery. Still I expect the mountain ranges to be a lot better.

The "Kungleden", Kings path, is the most popular long walking track in Sweden and is very well served the hostels along the way. Worth checking out the tourist office.
http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/en/

Bumped into a guy at Copenhagen station who had an older BFe, think it green in colour, he certainly had lots of green CK bling, and it looked great.

Else the new morris blue the Pace frame comes in is lovely.

Sports Tracker is an excellent free GPS tool. Records and stores routes with details like distance against speed, altitude against distance, speed against time. The only thing lacking is total height gained. Also has a zoomable map function

Many thanks BigButSlimmerBloke

I've just pulled one out of my leg! Arhhh all this talk about them and one just turns up at my desk, pretty sure it wasn't embedded there this morning!

Am I right in thinking these tick remover things don't actually prevent you from getting Lymes disease? But the only way you can get it is if your bitten by an infected Tick? – CORRECT

Good advice here on home made sports/isontonic drinks:

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/nutrition-homemade-sports-drink-25744

Basically you need more than simple squash can give you.

As for amounts see issue 53 of this magazine for a very well explained article. But roughly half a litre an hour of istonic drink on a hot day.

Thanks for the suggestions SoulRider and skidartist.

Sorry that I have appeared to offend Macavity with a rogue "e"

me: You look cute today
my son: I'm not cute I'm three and a half

Brilliant

Excellent decision.

Getting bitten by a tick does not mean you automatically have Lyme disease, however you get Lyme disease by being bitten by an infected tick. Seeing a GP is an absolute must no matter what.

I've had the whole bull's-eye thing twice now from over friendly Swedish ticks.

Off to the GP, a couple of week on penicillin and carry on as normal.

broken record time but try Shutt, made in the UK from very nice merino wool.

http://www.shuttvr.com/

It depends on the the amount of Merino wool per square cm, they can be made to warm or cool you.

See the Icebreaker site for some details.
http://www.icebreaker.com/site/catalog/weight.html?gender=Man&range=Bodyfit&weight=150

Merino will however smell a lot less and is generally harder wearing than synthetic technical material, (although quality plays its part here).

That link states its constructed from both nylon and merino, so at a guess not super effective at heat management.

I've just put a complete XT groupset on my latest build and its very very good. Most noticeable improvement over my old Deore based bike came from the shifters, they have a really nice feel to them.

SLX an excellent choice for value for money.

Linked up a couple of routes to create a great 35KM loop directly from the house. Managed to time it with the only 2 hour dry spell throughout the entire day.

Out again tonight for an hours blast on the local fireroads.

Brilliant set of posts Repack Rider!

I always fancied one of those Tioga solid rear wheels that Tomic sported for a season or 3.

Rode my boss's EX7 the other day on my normal trail, an excellent bike is my conclusion.

I ride a Trek hardtail, but very much enjoyed my day out on a bouncy bike.

I'd go as far as saying, (slightly patronizingly) that a Stumpjumper or EX would be the perfect bike for about 90% of people.

If its a hardtail then around 20lb is most doable without too much financial pain.

As has been said, anything lighter then its big bucks and fragile parts.

This thread reads like a very unsubtle advert.

ransos, I'm loving your bike! Fantastic effort

Thanks for posting that, great memories.

Suntour thumbies anyone?

My Gary Fisher A1 had a pump built into the seatpost, kinda cool that!

Agreed a book is by far the best bet to get solid advice.

However interval training is crucial as change of pace and knowing how hard and long you can push yourself without blowing up is extremely useful in all endurance sports.

Excellent, thanks for that!