but remeber don't torque it up loads because it's a big allen key! 3 NM is just enough to take up the play, a little more than finger tight.

You will not get carbon poles on a big tent like that for £100 they will be fiberglass.

In what way has the wheel given up? If it's just the rim just rebuild the wheel or get it rebuilt if you can't do it yourself.

Ride it like you are riding on a trail littered with ball bearings.

Chuck Norris rides single speed.

If you are only camping out overnight you should easily be able to bodge something together strapping stuff to your bike as you will not need spare cloths, just an extra top for the evening.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/pics/docs/00/00/58/04/small/bike.jpg

This is an old pic of a setup I used last year including 3 L of water! I carried tarp mate carried cooking stuff, food split between us. No special bags just stuff sacks strapped to bike. Rucksack has food 2 L bladder, jacket and hat for evening and sleeping mat. so the weight was really the water. Saddle wedge in front triangle with tools tubes and other misc.

Alternatively this is from another trip with a tent strapped to the bars insted of a tarp (longer trip).

Yes they make a significant difference, your sleeping bag offers no insulation to the ground when compressed. Cheapest is roll mat jobby, can be as cheap as £5.

I've a alpkit wee artic which is much more comfortable. I also carry a small peace of cut down roll mat that I use to sit on and place that under my feet if they get cold.

Hairychested – Member

A woman came to our shop last Friday asking for a rack to fit her car. What car do you drive? I asked. Yellow. It's outside. She replied. I walked out of the shop only to see a yellow Lambo parked at the bus stop. Couldn't help the poor thing, sadly.

Wow the pretty much sounds like the epitome of someone who has bucket loads stupidity, selfishness and more money than sense.

We the people do good completes.

I'm 6'2" and ride a 4 seasons I bought 2nd hand, I think it's 20.5" or 20.75" tt. I could do with a little extra length but I'm accustomed to riding a small bike as my previous BMX has a 19.5" TT. It fine really though as you get used to any bike once you've ridden it a bit. People / manufacturers over play the importance of small nuances.

What to buy? or what area? or what skate park?

Also many flyovers and tunnels are restricted even if the rest of the DC is not.

DC danger points are the junctions, it's best to be very careful and if it's at all busy, treat them like crossing a road, because people zoom along and overtake someone in lane one then cut in with no indication e.t.c, and the person driving like a dick can't see you because the car in lane one will be hiding you from view until he / she cuts across. Similarly when people head onto the road and they are coming off of the slip road they are not looking for you, this is not as dangerous as the people coming off of the DC though.

Personally though I'd still rather ride on a good dual carriageway with 70 mph traffic than some of the narrow windy busy 50 mph A roads with lorries that take up the entire lane trying to pass or zooming round corners.

allthepies – Member

I'm amazed when I see fools riding on the local A331 race trackdual carriageway.

They must be barking as there are several quieter alternatives.

The thing is if you're not local you don't know all of these little nice routes and navigating them can be very time consuming and very difficult if you're riding 200 – 300 km +. I've ridden long (200km) rides where I have made up a very good quite routes on minor roads however, it's increased my ride time by 25%+ minimum dealing with all the number turns, looking out for road names and signs, looking at a map and working out if I've made a wrong turn.

My dad had the exact same problem with his small farm in 70s, they want as much back then to connect. He used a massive generator which ran off of a tractor PTO shaft, cheaper than stand alone generator clearly. This ran, an auger, small milking parlor, lights and any other tools he was using. Worth considering. He used this method for over 25 years as far as I'm aware, probably longer.

check valve hole for burs, file if needed.

Edric 64 – Member

Some people on here really seem to have no respect for the country or those who own and work the land .

I'm sure this is true but this does not explain why you think that one person riding a bike over a footpath will have a worse effect for a farmer than one person walking, or even walking and pushing a bike over a footpath. If this is not what you mean I apologies but it's the impression that you are giving.

Having bridleway on your land is more hassle than a footpath and allowing cyclists. Bridleways require gates that can be opened to allow horses through and a bridleway going through crops is required to have a wider path than a footpath.

simonfbarnes – Member
For that matter, most of the rides I lead only have a dozen riders or less

A group of 12 is not a small group and hardly being sensitive to other users. That's quite a group!

Looked into exactly the same thing yesterday. Came across these two links which may be of use to you.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41506

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=7e619a697255d31dc039c4bbce1ec5ea&topic=808.0

Not liver there but my gran and uncle + family lived down there for years so I spent a fair amount of time down there. Nice place, limited job opportunists though, long way to a urban center if that is needed. Riding wise, from memory Devon in general has very few bridleways however Exmoor is close where there are more and Dartmoor is good for riding but it's a fair drive.

use bikehike to have a look at the surrounding track situation.

it depends if they are ones that take v-brake pads and hence loose halve of the tweak-ability of a pair of cantilevers of if they take proper post mount brake blocks. If either way go with koolstop salmons

post style
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=18811&src=froogle
v brake style
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=46439

Also there is this place short walk from Euston

Mario's Cafe in Warren Street , London , do a big breakfast for £10.
Eat it all in 20 mins with no drink to wash it down with and you get it free.

It's 10 eggs, 10 bacon, 10 sausage, 10 toast, 5 black puddings, tomatoes, beans and mushrooms.
No Chips !!!
http://forwardbutton.blogspot.com/2009/07/marios-cafe-london.html

Kings Cafe, walk between Kings cross and Euston and head north up chalton street, cheap with big portions and friendly staff

otherwise there are a few places on Eversholt street

There are a few papers out about erosion of foot vs bike wheels. Many report the same or less damage by bikes that by foot. However the latest paper I casually skimmed drew teh logical conclusion the MTBing has too broad an application to place it above or below hiking in terms of erosion. Just "riding along" has less erosion than walking but jumping, skidding e.t.c has more. Increased usage by whatever means also increases erosion obviously. Horse riding erosion is another matter.

Searching for the paper now will post link if I can find it.

The CTC has a very good document on this matter. I don't know how they are moving the debate along though or if this just sits on their website.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Campaigns/0604_DMox_NCAF_Future_of_Cycling_final.doc

As stated previously in this thread it's about taking care. The big problem with open access of bike to all footpaths would be on paths like the South west coastal path which is place is very narrow and steep, hence good MTBing but would be dangerous for walkers if cycling was openly allowed. This is where I think the CTCs idea has some good ideas with a graded system.

Using the current system all footpaths should be considered bridleways (as if you had a horse you would ride along a path if you had one in ye olden times) and the exception be footpaths rather than the other way around as it currently is.

The big problem is that law always has to work to the lowest common denominator, and while many will be reasonable the will always be the idiots say bombing along a narrow section of the SWCP as in my example during the height of summer.

Thanks. Top video.

yes old git, I've used that trick before. I've even used it when walking around central London (I tend to walk rather than tube it if not riding) when I've been caught out in a cold wind. Those free paper have to be good for something.

When riding I aim for warm and not dry. A light weight gillet + a proper insulation underneath comers me for most wet conditions, some times a soft shell. If I go out an am expecting rain during the ride, the gillet is in the back pocket. This is my default , if out for only a 2 -3 hours.

On a really long all day ride I'll have a big saddle bag and pack a proper water proof gortex sweat bucket though as when tired it's easier to get cold.

Build one, scape wood is all you need, bricks and a plank for basic or build a proper one from plans if you want a long lasting reliable one.

p.s this is a mini ramp

you want a lunch ramp

about 18" is the minimum worth going with even if you're not very confident, any less than that it like stepping off a curb, conversely don't go too big or you will need a down ramp too.

Plans here http://www.xtremeskater.com/ramp-plans/launch-ramp/

Adjust to required height and steepness. For a MTB you will want a longer ramp with a mellower curve than a ramp for a BMX.

Sounds like a top idea to me, who cares if it's original or not, if you have not done it it's original to you and that is all that matters.

I've ridden the southern tack and it's nice easy ride with a few river crossings. Takes a bit of navigation when deciding where to cross the river at the west end as the track carries on to a dead end and the track you are ment to follow looks like it's going the wrong way as it doubles back east for a few meters and the west ward heading track is hidden up the hill a little.

The brick – you may find you go a bit more hardcore that you think as you get into it – build the bike as tough as you can.

Yep I defiantly will be trying for a strong build but the budget does not run to King e.t.c. I was initially interested in the shimano due to the 145 mm spacing and option of 40 and 48 drilling options.

Thanks for the link to double_fort, I'll have a read through the archives.

Thanks for the replies. It's a shame to hear that about the shimano hub, the extra expense they charge over a standard xt hub seems to come with very little gain other than the option of 40 and 48 hole drilling.

[TandemJeremy]Is it for off-road use? You need IMO very low gears for offroad as its very tricky to stand on the pedals to climb – you need to sit and spin. we run 22/36 / bash with 11/34 cassette. Thats fine for us offroad

Yep off road and some touring too, some of which would be off road, bridleways, Scottish estate roads, Land rover tracks rather than hardcore routes obviously! I was thinking of the trails hub because you can fit 6 off of a 9 speed cassette on the freehub, meaning I could keep the low 22/34 gear and just loose a few of the top end gears, topping out at about 78 gear inches, which should be good enough for a 22 mph ish cruise on road without crazy cadence then just deal with freewheeling down hill! + Dishless + strong freehub seemed like a good idea. Not familiar with the biguns but they look like a another possibility at a similar price to the trails hub.

nbt – Member

The tandem we bought came with a Shimano XT tandem Hub, 145mm OLN. The one we borrowed first takes a "standard" 135mm OLN rear wheel, currently runs with a Hope ProII 36 hole wheelset – 20mm bolt through front, QR rear – with big strong rims fitted to it.

Jon and his missus are quite a bit beefier than Mrs NBT and me (mainly in the Jon department)

How are you finding the shimano hub? We would come in at about 130 kg + any luggage if touring (another 20 kg including food scaling up from my personal trips). So not massive.

I was thinking something like these beefy nimbus rims http://www.unicycle.uk.com/shop/shopdisplayproduct.asp?catalogid=942

They looks beefy and if they are good enough for unicycle trails with one persons weight on one wheel then logically, two people on two wheels should be good.

Thread dredge I know but this does not require a new thread.

What rear hubs are you guys running? What spoke count? Problems with freehubs? Anyone on the shimano HF08?

I'm building a tandem up at the moment and am toying with Hope pro II trails hub, not 145 OLN and only 36 spoke but dish-less and a beefed up freehub with 4 paws. A custom cassette and I think a good range of gearing could be achieved, topping out in the high seventies G.I. Opinions?

bluebird – Member

I'd say 2 feet high bunny hops is well and truly into trials territory.

But I agree, bunny hops are a good skill to have. And I wish I could manual for more than a few feet too

Agreed, 2' is a big hop but I think he must be talking about a internet 2' bunny hop.

For me personally it depends on the bike I'm on, BMX a good sized hop easy, my current MTB 10" at a guess would be a very good hop for me, higher saddle and stretched out position. Flats vs spd makes no difference. You can't compare hopping a jump bike with hopping a cross country bike to hopping a DH rig. I had a go on a BMW frame once just down the street and could bare left the front wheel much more than curb height!

drunk people, I always see odd shoes on top of bus shelters.

RE: Ferries.

What ferry you use depends on where you live and where you are heading. If you live in Kent then no matter, Dover e.t.c is the better port to head to. If you live in Plymouth and are heading to Brest the ferry to Roscoff ma be more expensive but you have to balance the added fuel + time of driving all the way east and all the way west again. If you live in Manchester than not too much in it but Portsmouth is slightly less mileage and avoids having ot go round London how much is that worth to you?, unless you want to head for Normandy then it's the Kent ports again. My girlfriends, best mates dad drives from Stirling every year to the south of France with a caravan, they go Portsmouth – S.T Marlo because there is a slow overnight crossing that means he can sleep for 6-7 hoursish on the ferry. Saves money on a night in a hotel, then can continue driving. So best ferry option depends on several factors.

Last time I was over there diesel was a little cheaper than here but not massively so.

France is no more expensive than the UK at worst and cheaper for many things but it's not cheap like going to parts of Spain or many other holiday destinations. Food is clearly excellent and much better priced than in the uk. Eat out for lunch, not for dinner. Lunch offer much better value, quite often a set menu. Went with the girlfriend two years ago and where we where they did MASSIVE bowel of chips + muscles for €7-8, for €20 a fruits of the sea mix for two to share, never had it but it was huge! very good quality. Look at the cost of decent sea food in the uk and guess the price of these dishes would be closer to double. A diffrent region might be big on beef dishes e.t.c

@franksinatra Make sure you are well fed this will make a big difference to how cold you feel. Pop to lidl they have cheap smoked sausages, yummy and full of fat, just what you need if cold and tired.

@Bigface0_0 I've done a few long camping trips off road but only this one-night bivi idea once so leading expert on this. I strapped a stuff sack to my handled bars, light weight bulky stuff tools in seat pack, water bottle, in cage for extra water, jacket strapped to bike and food + homemade meths stove + odds and ends in small backpack. I personally would not want everything in a backpack, spread the load over yourself and the bike. I was still able to bunny hop easily and do some small drops.

Wow, I never realised there was such animosity by some towards single speed. Talk about an irrational hatred!

Ride the bike you like / need. Change the setup as you like / need. I mainly ride around surrey (due to the fact that unfortunately I live in London) and for me personally if I rode gears and suspension I'd be bored as there would only be a handful of trails that would interest me. If I lived in Wales I would ride gears except for maybe in the muddiest trail inducing weather to as to save some wear on expensive cassettes. Someone else though may be happy to ride SS in Wales all the time, fine.

bear in mind that by august you will be in dear stalking season so some routes may not be advisable, no problem with land rover tracks e.t.c but stalkers tracks are a diffrent matter of course. Acropolises if I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here.

http://www.snh.org.uk/hillphones/

Not cheap but Hillberg do a light leight tent with a massive porch http://estore.websitepros.com/1764795/-strse-62/Hilleberg-Nallo-2-GT/Detail.bok

On the cheaper side I have a T3 ultralight pro from decathlon the new one is 2.9 kg, mine is a fw years old but holds up ok. about £80 I think.

Go up to a 6 mm bolt should be fine at long as there is enough meat to tap into.