My frends have a 2003 Berlingo and we got 3 bikes and 3 passengers in with ease. Maybe you can 4 and 4 if the smaller split seat is folded or removed but I’m not sure. I tried the 3 bikes, 3 pasengers in my C-Max and it was real tight squeeze. In both cases the larger split seat was folded up but NOT removed. From 2007, the Berlingos have more space than the older models. Some have roof rails so I reckon that’s would allow 4 bikes and 4 passengers in comfort. Yes I’m hoping to trade my 06 C-Max for a much newer Berlingo.
Make sure you get the VTR or XTR version with 90 bhp engine rather than the VT with only 75 bhp.

You could do worse than the On-One Whippet at £700 on the classifieds. If I didn’t have me Salsa, I might be tempted myself.

Oh yes….The Salsa El-Mariachi of course. Mines NOT for sale LOL.

Tshhhhh – dump those whacky pedals and get some XTs or XTRs and yoi’ll be fine.

Similar to Steve_b77 now. I had the standard 42/32/24 XT triple and liked it a lot. However it’s just worn out and I’ve replaced the 3 rings with just two TA rings at 38/26t. Only had a couple of rides but pedalling seems good so far. I think it seems quieter when it gets really muddy. Obviously the 26t ring is gonna get a lot more use than the granny on the triple so it will be interesting to see how it holds up.

Thankyou kindly for that info Paul.

Bump!

I’ve got the Northwaves (not the latest model) and I’ve been pretty happy with them. I got tired of my overshoes repeatedly slipping off my shoes in muddy conditions so I treated myself. I’ve found them warm, comfortable, and waterproof. I’d say the only shortcoming (and it’s not been a problem for me so far) is that they don’t seal snugly round the ankle like the Shimano M81. I guess if you went through deep water you’d instantly get a boot full, wheras with the Shimanos you’d only get a little water in. Having said that, I’ve been through many streams, fords and deep(ish) puddles and the water hasn’t come over the tops of my Northwaves yet.

There are usually medium Souls on Ebay – I wouldn’t worry too much about having the mk.3 unless you’re set on dropper post.

I saw a superb reveiw of the Genesis Core 50 (or was it the 30?) in WMB a couple of years back when it won their all-round hardtail shoot-out. I used to ride a Soul but ride 29er now, but I recently rode my mate’s Cove Handjob and was very impressed. I’d add that to your shortlist too. Moving away from steel for a moment I reckon the Whyte 905 would be a very comfortable all-day bike too.

For me both riding and spectating on tv are all about the landscape and terrain. The TDF has the best riders but then so do the other grand tours. The TDF route always has beautiful surroundings to feast your eyes on(even when the stages is in flat terrain heading for a bunch sprint.)
I like riding MTB XC trails for days out, so of course I watched the Olympic XC. I should have enjoyed it even more than road cycling, but I didn’t cos doing short repetitive loops of that very artificial looking circuit was just Dull Dull Dull.
The olympic organisers should take lessons from the Downhill Marathon events on Extreme Sports – there’s loads of excitement there and lots fabulous natural terrain to see. Make it a bit pedally with climbing roughly equal to descent and some stunning terrain to look at and you’ve got a winner.

While we’re on the subject of Shimano chainsets, are the SLX and XT chainrings all interchangeable?

I did it in 3 days a few years back. I started from Eastbourne about 8.30 am after a nice cooked breakfast in a B&B. ;-)

Thanks Lucien.

Tomthumb – when I first entered my age and details, the polar set a default max heart rate of 169. After reaching 185 and not having a problem I set it to 185 – I agree that if I pushed myself even harder it might be slightly higher. I imagine that for a 51 year-old it’s not gonna be much higher.

Hope – Peaks – big budget? Lucky B’stard LOL! Turner 5-spot SC Blur LT? If you fancy 29er – Salsa Spearfish or Horsethief maybe? What do they say in 18-Bikes? Of course you could just blow the lot in The Woodbine Cafe.

Thanks for answering guys.
The FT4 reckons I burned 1314 calories durning 1hour 46mins of biking my local loop. My riding buddy said that was probably 25% more than it should be.

User info is correct as far as I can see:
Weight 80kg, Height 178cm, birth date 04/01/1961, Sex Male,Max Heart Rate 185. I set this last value after noticing my heart rate was 185 after I’d sprinted up a particularly steep bit of un-paved road as fast as I could.

I think the FT4 is a cheapo model and as far as I know it doesn’t have a fitness test on it.

LOL – that takes the Bisuit!

Can you just turn up and do it on the day or do you have to pre-book. I was gonna do the TVT Hot Challenge from Vernham Dean on Sunday but the Island sounds good too.
Timmy

Hey Hey Mboy – you should check out the Pacentis TL28 on JRA if you want really wide and light. (I think they are 28mm ext) They won’t save you any money though, but the boys at JRA seem to rate them. They might not suit tight clearances. I went for 355s on my flux and Arch EX for me new Salsa.

Thanks for that guys. You’re quite right Mboy: I’m afraid I got a bit impatient in the shop when they didn’t have a Salsa. I’ll probably regret it for the rest of my life!

Aren’t the Rocket Rons supposed to be a bit delicate Tazzy?

It’s a lovely bike – put some gears on that will get you up the big hills without having to suffer the humiliation of pushing. Fits a 120mm bolt-thru fork, some nice wheels (stans tubeless) and a pair of Hope Minis (or whatever they call ’em these days) You’ll be laughing!

Excellent – thank you Muchly! :D

I’m about 81 kg now but I was 87kg for most of the last 2 years. I’ve had a pair of Stans wheels from JRA for the last 2 years with no probs. Stans ZTR hubs and 355 rim front and Arch rim rear (both with DT supercomps)JRA do most hubs – I preferred ZTRs as they were quieter and smoother running. I ran them with tubes for ages and recently went tubeless – should have done it ages ago. Highly reccommended. They’d probably reccommend Crest rims to you as they are the new design. Use ordinary tyres tubeless but NOT actual tubeless tyres as they are a bugger to mount.

They’re going on a Salsa El Mariachi ti. I weigh about 178lbs (a bit under 13 stone), and the most technical riding I’d do would be Brecons, South downs, some Peaks, and Church Stetton trails, and the Builth Wells and Ruthin half-marathons (though I’d like to get fit enough to try a 75k). It sounds as if the X2 Evo’s would be right for me.
And Creamegg: – I’ve had the same pair of Minis (bought new in Feb 2008) on several bikes and have found them excellent so I won’t be getting Shimanos cos I love hope too lol.

They’re going on a Salsa El Mariachi ti. I weigh about 178lbs (a bit under 13 stone), and the most technical riding I’d do would be Brecons, South downs, some Peaks, and Church Stetton trails, and the Builth Wells and Ruthin half-marathons (though I’d like to get fit enough to try a 75k). It sounds as if the X2 Evo’s would be right for me.
And Creamegg: – I’ve had the same pair of Minis (bought new in Feb 2008) on several bikes and have found them excellent so I won’t be getting Shimanos cos I love hope too lol.

Cheers I heard that was the grease to use, but I think the gun has a shaped nozzle to fit so I was planning to buy the kit if I can fine anyone who has ’em in stock.
btw. for any locals who have one: chatty_timmy@yahoo.co.uk

I used to make A3 prints from Nikon LS30 (scsi) and LS40 (usb) scanners. You should be able to find them cheap on Ebay. It’s a bit time consuming but you can get great results.

I thought Hope and solved the BB reliability problem with their standard external offering. I thought rubbish BB’s badly sealed BB’s were a thing of the past. The spearfish seems like a fantasic bike so why spoil it with dodgy new un-tried standard?

Thank you very much chappies! I watched the excellent videos on your link Tom and I feel a lot better informed – especially about the importance of drinking beer.

I’ve come from a 2008 Superlight to a new 2010 DW Flux after trying a Heckler for a few months. I have the Maxle Revelations from the Heckler fitted to the Flux (travel shortend to 120mm).
Moving from Superlight to Flux you get added lateral stiffness, comfort, AND it pedals better. On top of all that you get far more speed and confidence downhill. I don’t ride technical downhills myself but on the average fast, loose bridleway, I reckon the Flux feels far more like a Heckler a Superlight. Even with its puny quick release rear and old fashioned 1.125 inch headtube, the Flux really wants you to let those brakes off.

Cheers – acutally I was using the ‘Ten-Bikes Jeff’ calculation method and was just checking up on what he told me. ;-)

I am going 10-speed at the same time as doing the chainrings so no probs with the 11-36 cassette. I’ve got a new pair of TA 38/28 rings ready, but I see I’ll have to swap the 28 for 26 inner to retain the lowest gear of my current 9 speed setup.

Thanks for the advice. :-)

Re Pink Wheeles earlier:

“Oooooh Hello – My Name’s Julian and this is my friend Sandy” ;-)

Why not simply remove the cleats from yer current boots – or don’t fit ’em in the first place?

PS. Northwave Celcius are good too.

I’ve just got a Hope but the reason was aestheic. I’ve got a gold CK on my currently black adodised frame and it looks okay but gold would look like a complete dog’s breakfast on my new copper colour Flux (hey at that price, beggers can’t be choosers! LOL) – so enter the new black Hope – function without the bling.

There’s a good trail from the Lower Barn to the top of Winter Hill and a cracking descent to Belmont. :-)

Lot of folks like the way Fox ride and say they’re fine, but me and my brother have had reliability problems with 3 pairs.
I had a Vanilla 32 which had a catastrophic leak after just over a year’s use. I’d washed and wiped the stanchions after every ride but when I sent it to mojo they said I had not done maintenance and the stanchions were damaaged beyond repair inside the sliders. They refused a warranty repair.I scrapped it and bought a new Rockshox Rev which was fine until both our bikes got stolen.
We then got a pair of built-up Oranges which had Fox Floats on them. After 13 months riding, exactly the same thing happened (first to my fork and then the same to my brother’s fork about 2 weeks later) In both cases warrantly repairs were refused. We scrapped both forks and bought Rockshox.
That was March 09. It may be that Fox have improved their seals since then (I wouldn’t know). I do know we’ve never had problems with RockShox Rebas or Revs.

Thank You. :-)

Now THAT’S the spirit!

PS. I only go if it’s dry and a full moon.

It’s about time Fox fitted some decent seals and put a robust coating on their stanchions.

Just seen the youtube video of the guy assembling the apple green 5 Spot – I’m in Love!