that video

If your bike can fit 28 mm tyres and the off road is more gravel track than rocky then I think you will be fine, I take my road bike on easy bridleways, gravel paths, toe paths e.t.c all the time with 25 – 28 mm tyres. Normal spoked wheel though (open pro rims) none of this low spoke count rubbish.

I'd say it's less dangerous than road biking in general, although to be honest there are too many variables on both sides.

alternatively you can get a train so swanage some times but I'm not sure where it stops (heritage line).

If the surley 135 mm hubs are any thing like the on one 135 mm hubs (and from memory they are) the actual hub body and flange spacing is wider so you can't just remove some parts to narrow it down.

Keep an eye / ear out for someone getting rid of a prefabricated concrete shed / garage. I got one for my dad for free doing this. People have to pay to get them taken aways so sell them cheap or for free with removal. A few trips with van / trailer, concrete base, good lock and you're done.

Even if they are not the size you want don't worry as the nature of them is that you can leave out a section to make it shorter. Making narrower is more difficult due to the roof trusses,

2nd hand canvas frame tent? Heavy but if you're in a car it does not matter and they are durable.

Good luck to all who enter, I'd love to have ago one year. Out of curiosity are there ant other cyclocross races like this? Or is the three peaks a the only one of it's style.

^^ Have you got your kid in the back there!

You're correct, my mistake however I doubt this is the schools reasoning, as I'm sure many of the other children rinding to school ride on the pavement.

Kids are cycling along the pavements, so not a road safety issue really. More of an encouraging kids to break the law thing…. Think there is definitely an underlying story here that we aren't hearing.

They are allowed to cycle on the pavements, it's not illegal.

One that does not make you look like an advertising billboard.

friction works the same – I've seen stuff saying you could 'gain' a few hundred metres over a 10mile TT (for the same expended power) just by switching to a ceramic BB.

Friction and gravity (for the purposes of a climb) are linear forces, this is why at greater speeds it's all about aerodynamics, as a small improvement can result in a better return for the same improvement.

well done, I'd recommend a skid pan & pass plus course for the night tiem / motorway driving too. I've got my HGV class C but still find myself learning about the best way to drive. I've yet to do the skid pan thing though but only hear good things.

If you can find the wall space go with a wall mounted work stand much more secure.

You don't have to use a rack, that's just what I use. It was more a post to warn you that the large saddlebags require more than just slap it on and go, it's not terribly well conveyed on the carradice website. They are solid setups though with whatever choice of support you go for.

I go for a rack because it's cheap and the load on my commuter bike can be heavyish. In that photo I had, bike tools (quite extensive, I'm paranoid!), u-lock, pump, shoes, work top, packed lunch, biscuits, gillet, arwarmers, map, phone, wallet, engineers square, rule, selection of files, selection of flat drill bits, all heavy dense stuff. Basically far more weight than you would have for a bivi trip, that's why I like the rack. A few good pics in this thread using the sqr system

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/large-saddlebags-any-good

JonEdwards – Member

OK, so why is people killing themselves through their own stupidity such a bad thing?

Serious injury, yes, because that costs taxpayers money to sort out, but frankly I could think of much worse ways to go than wrapping myself round a tree at 100+mph and dieing instantly, and I'd be quite happy to just be swept off the road and left there for the crows. I'm not gonna care am I?

I enjoy driving. Give me a nice *empty* country road and I'll drive it as hard as I dare (currently skill and car capability outweighs nerve by some margin – too much at stake). Why? It's fun. Exactly the same reason as I ride bikes. If I **** it up, it's my problem, and I'll have to live (or not) with the results. I'm hopless at overtaking, and I'm cautious on blind bends, simply because I don't want to involve others in my mistakes.

The fact is many accidents many accidents do involve lots of Innocent people, by their very nature the accidents are when something unexpected happens, whether it's a car pulling out of a junction or corner being sharper than you expect or some fuel on the road. If you want to race goto a race track, it's hardly an unfair think to ask.

Too many variables, weather, current location, time of year, available time, how often I've been doing one over the other, mood, can I incorporate the ride with an errand / visiting someon all go into making the decisions.

Bigface0_0 – Member

Cheers for the advise think Im going to order the Super C…

I have a variation on the super C camper (an old one) an it's excellent however the larger saddlebags such as the super c camper need support in my opinion. I've used it without support and find it swings. You can get small racks from nitto (http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=872) and loads of other options too such as the bag man support and SQR from carradice or I've seen something like this attached to the rear http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Unbranded-Alloy-Front-Carrier–Cantilever-Boss-Mounting–Black-Alloy-14021.htm. all depends on your bike and what the best options are. I'm using a cheap rack on my commuter.

http://www.lfgss.com/picture.php?albumid=904&pictureid=8277

Carradice duck cotton products are excellent and tough though. I've also go a pair of their super C front p[panniers which I use on the rear for other trips and they are tough as hell too.

Edric 64 – Member

Nearly as wide as Tandem spacing then

So it begs the question why not use tandem spacing?

Cost of running. A bike used for commuting tends to have high millage and low maintenance / cleaning regime.

Regenerative braking on a bike would not be worth the extra weight, complications, and resistance (due to back emf) for the amount energy saved.

Although I will add that I preffer to over the shoulder which is why the full frame bag is a little off putting.

Interesting Paul, thanks. I like seeing a UK perspective on this as I've been following it for a year or two but mostly with us riders for whom hike a bike is not part of MTBing.

yep

I would be interested in a front half one of these. I've boded strapping things in the frame before and like the weight distribution however it's alway a faff.

My one concern about a full frame bag rather than say just the front triangle is when you reach some to hike-a-bike sections, you can no longer shoulder the bike.

If you go for external b.b you must have your frame faced to get a good life out of the bearings, the b,b relies on parallel faces of the b.b shell, square taper b.b do not. You can still fit the b.b your self but take the frame to a bike shop for it to be faced, it will not cost much if the frame is already and stripped.

I don't see the problem, the retire and then live for ages before you die thing was clearly only ever a temporary blip in the way of life. 65 years old was only chosen as the age of retirement as it was the average age ex soldiers die at the time.

The biggest thing that need to be changed is age discrimination and the availability of part time jobs, which for many would give sufficient income to live off of. Re: discrimination, it can be hard to get anything other than B&Q type job for many older, despite their skills and qualifications, my dad has certainly found this to be true being someone who want to work past 65. RE: Part time work, this too is an unfortunate fact that there are very few part time jobs of any skill level, although I'm sure the demand is there, but it's the administration an organization.

A good example of a well written short story here,

http://www.rsf.org.uk/images/hist%2006x.jpg

The area for a good MTB book is something like great divide race or the Iditarod trail race. Again they are both long and allows for a nice narrative and for side diversion into the mind of the rider and flashbacks to preparations.

Similarly there are are some good touring books from people taking the rougher route, although not quite MTBing. As far as short routes go some of the route on the rsf routes web page are written well, but of course short and hence not a book.

BBC1 19:30: Rouge trades, west bank edition.

Muhammad is upset with housing developer / builder Abraham, a boundary dispute occurs and tensions rise. Hosted by Matt Allwright.

Three stars

Waderider – Member
That is that folk are decent everywhere in the world but London. Spiteful place.

Maybe I'll get a flaming from Londoners? Hopefully!

Having lived in London for too long I would not say that true, I'd say most people everywhere are ****, it's human nature, Londoners are no different. The worst London trait is the "London is the center of the universe view" and everything outside London is backwards because … (usually some bull shit reason to with some pretentious crap).

Just wear what ever you have if you want to wear a helmet in town, although personally I think peaks look a bit silly around town.

highclimber – Member

Dont bother if your just doing easy going stuff

Even a small fall on your head can cause a lot of damage. I most certainly would not take this advice!

Which is why I'm sure you ware a helmet for all activities.

**** the queen and **** god.

I would not sing it either.

travel lodge do a good deal on porn, otherwise take your corgi trouser press apart.

HoratioHufnagel – Member

and its only 2-3 hours to South Wales.

If you live in west London maybe and want to spend shit loads of fuel.

TandemJeremy – Member

Or does the south start south of Newcastle? I can never remeber

A friend of mine from Bounremouth considers Oxford the north!

brooess you sum it up for me too.

There are less options for long routes (without ultra complicated navigation resulting in spending as much time looking at maps than riding!) it more pockets of some trails in woods. That's my personal experience anyway. Most of the places i've ridden in the south are fun but it more like going to a skatpark rather than riding somewhere. Dartmoor is very good though and less like that in my limited experience.

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