Been using their 11 speed 10-48 on a SRAM XD set up with the Garbaruk mech arm and jockey wheels. Paired with their 42t oval chain ring on sram Force cranks. Rear Mech I bought the Force rear mech in short cage flavor (picked up cheap as nobody really uses them) and threw away the cage. I think this is from the mtb range and is one of the few mtb mechs with the same pull ratio as the Force road shifters.

Anyway, Ive knocked in c. 5000 km of gravel riding in all weathers incl a lot of muddy singletrack. Done one chain change and changed the bearings in the pulleys. Been ultra reliable and would rate the shifting on a par with SRAM.

Bought from Garbaruk direct and they were very helpful.

Hope this helps

Try dressing your schlong on the other side?

Thanks for that

@TrailRat

Excellent solution – where did you source the track and rollers?

Ta

Been looking at these tentatively.

> don’t find my bike on the turbo uncomfortable? <

Perhaps you are just lucky. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp – the average human body isn’t perfect enough to be locked into a fixed position and put through a precise range of mechanical movement for a long period of time. In my own case I have one leg noticeably longer than the other and I’m sure most people do to some extent. I don’t limp and I can preform at a decent enough level in most sports but a trainer or a rowing machine for example gets uncomfortable after 30 mins or so. Anything that allows a little movement will relieve that I’m thinking.

“ It’s 4 times the price. Is it 4 times as good as a C2?”

I said it would be my money no object choice. If you’ve got plenty of cash and you think its a better machine – so what? Bit like bikes really 🙂

Also, it ain’t 4 times the price at present – unless you are prepared to wait months.

Like I said, I’m not prepared to wait months, I don’t have cash to burn on the techno gym and I’m not going to line the pocket of folk peddling C2’s for upwards of +50% on list because they aren’t worth £1300+ to me.

I shall find out tomorrow if my decision was wise or not but amateurs post sounds encouraging.

Would mostly agree with all of the above re the Concept 2. Ive used gyms all over the country and literally every decent gym will have at least one of them sitting in the corner. They are good but at the same time very unremarkable. I do wonder why it seems so hard for other manufacturers to produce something equally as good at the same price point.

For me the negatives are: uncomfortable seat, foot straps that come loose (and Ive found that on every well used machine) and a surprising variance in resistance from machine to machine – maybe its the air? In the gym?

I’m just about to find out as Ive ordered one of these:

https://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/infiniti-r100-rowing-machine-by-bodymax

Doesn’t have Bluetooth like the C2 but does have a HR function and at the end of the day you have to ask yourself if having endless stats on Strava, for example, are actually going to help your fitness and conditioning. For me the answer is no, I just record the effort and bung it on Strava manully.

I wanted one now and whilst I can afford to, I cannot bring myself to stump up plus 50% and more to profiteers on EBay. Or buy some over priced baggy unit thats been rusting in someone’s shed.

My money-no-object purchase would be this:

https://www.technogym.com/gb/skillrow.html

Way better than the C2 but also 3.5 times the price

Looked at some of the other “immersive” subscription solutions but unless you are into getting barked down the screen at for £35 a month its still just rowing.

Yup, got a 42t oval on the front with a 10-48 Garbaruk cassette and mech extender / jockey wheels on my Gravel build.

Ive put 4000km on this set up and so far no issues.

Quality kit / good Comm’s from them

Take a look at the Nitecore br35.

1800L max and designed for both road and trail use. Been using one for a year for mixed trail and road

> It hadn’t occurred to me to put bikes in opposite directions – any issues with the rack going backwards?!<

Yup, only one.

Depending on your rack, and the speed you are driving…. and ONLY if you don’t strap the rear wheel down on the rack. It’s possible for the force of the wind to pivot / flip the bike over the back of the car with fairly spectacular consequences.

Been there.

Also…. think beyond the scheduled boat. Locals have boats so its all about how much you want to put yourself out. You’ll be able to find someone to take you out to Tarbet if you go for a jar in the Forge.

Ridden there twice. Once from Lochhournhead thro Barrisdale Bay, Inverie, Sourlies out to Kinlocharkaig And then the rest by road ( which is the “classic” loop)

You wont be indulging in that on a family trip, it’s tough and rather committing. But you can do out and backs to Barrisdale Bay and Sourlies and there’s a pleasant enough road ride out as far as Inverguseran to the NW. There is “track beyond this but we Did not have time to explore.

Not sure if you could make the boat service work but the other possibility it to do the trail on the other side of Loch Nevis from Tarbet to Morar along the shore of Loch Morar. That is rather excellent in either direction.

Little known fact but Inverie has man made trails – which will take you all of 10 mins to ride 🙂 Not sure what condition they are in these days.

I own one.

I would advise anyone to absolutely avoid as a “first dog” and certainly the pair, the OP describes.

We’ve had ours since he was a tiny pup and we had a German Shepherd from a pup prior to this so we knew what we were doing. I would describe training as highly challenging. They are very intelligent but that is largely focused on hunting, climbing, running etc and not on pleasing their human owners. They are almost cat – like in their demeanor at times, capable of being highly affectionate when it suits them but they can treat you with almost total disdain when they want. Super friendly towards humans… to the point any burglar can look forward to the dog rolling over to get his tummy tickled. Can be fickle with other dogs but I’d take a Husky over a Collie any day in that regard.

They can climb up – and down, almost any fence if they really have to (like a human – search “husky climbing” on you tube) and if they can’t go over they will dig. They are hunters par excellence and can easily catch rabbits, squirrel and even mice buried in the grass. They WILL kill whatever they catch. As others have said they are bred to run and their endurance is phenomenal so they do make superb trail dogs if you can keep them close at hand. Problem is, if you go anywhere near livestock their hunting instincts take over and they become a complete liability. You really have to have them on a lead for peace of mind.

They are stunning looking animals and we wouldn’t swop him for the world but you do need to be prepared to dedicate a lot of time to training and exercising them which is why you see a high proportion of owners with multiple dogs – it takes over their lives.

Lets get this into perspective. There isn’t a ski lift (incl the choo choo) within 200m vertical metres of the sacred plateau. All the lift served skiing at “Cairngorm” takes place in Coire Cas and Coire na Ciste. And of course the skiers are only using this when there’s snow on the ground.

As anyone who has ever spent time up there will know, the plateau is criss – crossed with damaging paths caused by hill walkers and, dare I say it, more recently Mountain Bikers.

Lift served skiing in Scotland occupies a tiny fraction of 1% of the land mass in the Highlands yet successive Governments have permitted the wanton destruction of our hills and glens by estate roads and tracks apparently necessary for “farming purposes.” Basically to access 100’s of thousands of acres of even more damaging and intensely and artificially managed grouse moors. The so called economic benefit from that little lot is a complete fallacy in my view.

I’d remove the train and replace it with a Gondola and chairlift system. This was an ill conceived and badly built HIE vanity project. I’d also remove HIE, they aren’t fit for purpose and will continue to mismanage “the hill.” I’d lay odds they will rip the arse out of whatever they say its going to cost and the public will be funding further £expensive repairs in another 10 or 15 years… plus of course the inevitable decommissioning costs in short order thereafter

That’s the real deal – it will be original. Bl**dy good deal too!

Bought tons of stuff from Fasttech they are a very reliable oufit

>Coire Cas is a very small part of the Cairngorm Mountains and an even smaller part of the CNPA. Most of the rest of the Park has been reduced to a wet upland desert through over-stocking of deer and its use as a grouse farm.<

This.

Not to mention the thousands of miles of LRT bashed across the CNP and most of the Highlands with not a jot of planning permission. Rode the Fungle and Firnmouth for the first time in years recently and was staggered by the sheer scale of new road building up there now. Controlled heather grazing and associated road networks as far as the eye could see.

HIE aren’t fit for purpose – neither is the train itself. Even if it’s repaired you’ve still got the problem of keeping the access road clear… and in fact the track itself. And just to **** things up completely they ripped the Ciste chairlift out.

As others have said a kluster**** of truly epic proportions.

Cheers and will do. Might succumb on the ebike front 🙂

Obtained under FOI:

http://www.winterhighland.info/cairngorm/FunicularRailwayConditionReport2016.pdf

Makes grim reading from a remedial point of view. Assuming the situation is economically recoverable this will cost many millions and the train will be out of action until Season 2020 at least.

And they cut out the Ciste infrastructure after this was produced. The HIE Board needs to be handed their jotters over the entire fiasco

What is this “wreckage and destruction” you speak of? Both these hills were still standing when I drove past them the other week.

Dumyat was already an eroded mess with “destructive tracks” all over it.  And had / still has the hand of man planted all over the top of it ( Cairn, brazier, trig point, some muckle memorial that would be far more appropriate at street level) But hey, as long as you can rag down it in its “natural state” that’s ok. Granted, the “path” they have blasted up there is completely inappropriate / overdone but I’m not seeing any evidence of this being repeated elsewhere?  What precisely is the problem with Ben Ledi for example – the mere fact they have tampered with the natural state of the hill?

Its a pity the MTB community cant get behind projects like Changing Tracks (now they really are trying to prevent destructive tracks built on an epic scale)  instead of moralising about wee hills like Dumyat.

http://www.scotlink.org/wp/files/Changing-Tracks_LINK_Hilltracks_Report.pdf

>It looks like they are trying to crowd-fund the construction of destructive tracks,<

Erm no it doesn’t…. It looks like they are trying to crowd fund a sustainable upland hill path using “light touch techniques”

The type of solution they advocate has been used in the ‘Gorms for over 10 years now i.e repairing the damage caused by tens of thousands of boots. I fully support this type of work – they should be applauded.

If you want to get animated about destructive tracks you don’t have to look very far in any direction. Dozens of the large estates have been bulldozing tracks at will through vast swathes of the Highlands for decades. On the flimsy pretext of “agricultural benefit” but generally because they can. For example If you drive up the road a little further and look at the hills West of the A9 around  Drumochter they are absolutely plastered with new LR and Quad tracks. All driven in so a small number of folk don’t have to hike up to shooting butts.

That’s Luskintyre in the background (on a bad day) Yeah, way overrated 🙂

Huisinis has a lovely wee beach too but its eclipsed by Treigh Mheilein, 2k further North

Yes it is.

But you cant buy the parts…

I contacted Extra when I ‘lost’ the spring out of one of my pairs of MX8’s and they replaced FOC. Even although they were out of warranty. So, top marks to Extra but Time pedals have gone downhill in recent years and the top end pedals are ludicrously over priced for what they are.The axle which holds the springs is knurled at each end. However, this isn’t enough to stop the twisting action on the spring walking the axle out of the resin body. Then you lose the spring…

This has now happened to me on two pairs of  MX8’s and a pair of Mavics ( Time licenced the design to Mavic for a few years but they’ve since dropped the range) In my view there’s an inherent design weakness.

Personally I’d just buy a pair of the old Time pedals ( the resin ones) that come up on ebay all the err.. time. That product was bombproof.

If you want to nail the sister – hire a kilt.

Being Scottish doesn’t matter although that’s obviously a bonus in any situation 🙂

Ach away it’s not a different problem at all. Trashing the landscape is just that – whether it’s some wee laddie with a shovel or an Estate Owner with a bulldozer.

FCS has justifiable concerns about litigation but then they could look to relinquishing / ceding control of some of the forests to the local communities instead of paying lip service to the

@ bigjim

I’m not advancing an argument for illegal trailbuilding, I made the point to set the problem in perspective. It’s tiny…

I’m sure there must be many on here, like me, who have spent time traversing hundreds of hills and glens who are simply awestruck by the sheer magnitude, ugliness and destruction of those bulldozed tracks.

The Landowners have got away with this because they sit outside the current planning regime.

Craig.

Ride in and out from Torridon on the road. Yes, on your mtb.

Stupendous views.

Going off the OP’s original point slightly but relevant nonetheless

“Now, there are various landowners (public and private) building and maintaining paths and tracks for recreational use bit these are often subject to tight planning regulations – particularly for things like windfarms, hydro schemes, hunting, shooting etc. but all are done by or with the permission of the landowner.”

Really? Hydro and Windfarms maybe just. But otherwise I’d say not…

The environmental impact of the thousands of miles of LRT’s bashed across our moors and Glens – without planning permission – in the name of “farming” and “estate management” utterly eclipse any cheeky trailbuilding within FC land and elsewhere. And the FC’s management of many of our forests seemingly cannot be questioned.

Not defending what these guys were doing across a sensitive historic site.

Its not much of a bike island tbh – six and two threes. The fat bike may be better for the two tracks and the beaches but the cx bike better for the road in between. On balance fat bike but better explored on foot

Stirling  perhaps tho Dumyat is little further from the town

Praxis. Excellent solution. Job done

Tiree fan here. Awesome wee island

Bad engineering but if you really prefer a frame with PF then Praxis has the answer. Got one on my Enduro and its been totally creak free

>Worth pinging an email off to the local MSP? Probably futile I know but…..<

To complain about path improvements?

Yup, utterly futile.

>Research the breed you dickheads.,<

I did you dickhead – no issues here. Cant speak for other types of Husky.

>Its the latest “dumb person” dog of the moment,

Really? Aren’t you the expert…

I’ve had a Siberian Husky for two years now. Firstly, we’ve actually trained him properly (hint) and this is vital with all breeds of dog. But secondly, what a brilliant pet: completely non aggressive with other dogs, same goes for humans – incl the postman. Doesn’t bark or whine, is obedient, very clean and easy to keep clean ( despite the white coat)highly intelligent and extremely affectionate.Also a brilliant trail dog as they can run all day long.

The only downsides are a tendency to dig and they do have a strong prey drive so squirrels, rabbits etc are toast if caught in the open. Mine can catch and kill mice at will and I’ve heard they can do the same with Rats and even Moles. For this reason they need to be on a lead anywhere near sheep or cattle but then you can say likewise for many dogs / breeds of dog.

Welding would be a non no in my view – without heat treating. And that’s not viable or any kind of guarantee tbh…

You haven’t completely destroyed the thread, there is more than enough metal in there to successfully repair with this:

http://www.jb-weld.co.uk/j-b-weld-epoxy-adhesive/j-b-weld-original-epoxy-adhesive

Make sure you completely de-grease first and take care when you re tap the hole

Adventure? Knoydart with a bit of careful planning. Cars, boats, trains, challenge, epic scenery and trails, Properly out there.

Skye and Raasay combined likewise. Parts of Sutherland and the ‘Gorms as above. Rannoch, Glencoe with train assist.

Depends on your idea of adventure and how much you want to put yourself out to organise