UK Bike Skills was one of the companies I had looked at but was struggling to see where they ran their courses from. Do they coach you on natural trails or is it more purpose built skills areas?
Perhaps as you say, its best to talk to the company and see which level coarse they recommend for you rather than taking a guess and making the wrong call

Interesting, thank you. I’ll have a fiddle and see how i get on

So? Did they? I’m also looking to remove my bash guard and wondered if this is the parts I need to infill the spaces in the crank arms

I’m also getting the 2015 the same as yours. I’m 5ft9 and going for the medium so hopefully i’ll get on well with it. I’ve already identified the longer stem as my first potential change and get rid of the bash guard but i think i’ll ride it for a good few weeks and see how i get on with it first. Interesting about the fork token, i’ll bare that in mind thanks

Great pic, lovely bike. How you finding it? I’m going to pick one up this weekend hopefully, anything i should look out for?

I think its easy to say its a fad and that you’ve ridden perfectly fine without it for x amount of years on ‘proper mountains’ etc but I guess progression can only be a good thing and if it allows you to enjoy your riding more then where’s the harm?

That said though, I have been riding the same 26 inch wheeled steel hardtail for years and have never significantly upgraded it in that time. Mostly due to the cost of these ‘fads’ as stand alone parts.
I am collecting a new bike this week though with 650b, 1×11, dropper etc but I’m under no illusion that in 3 years time I’ll still be riding (hopefully)this then dated technology when everyone is raving about their new 28.25 inch wheels and 1×30 gearing. C’est la vie. Just go ride and enjoy it 🙂

Wow that’s my next 10 years of riding sorted then… Thanks guys, I’ve got a week off in September so will be planning a route to take in as many of these as I can.
I think being in the south of England where the terrain is relatively tame compared to say the Lakes or Wales I’m used to really having to search out good riding spots often with the help of locals.
I’m sure all these suggested places have some awesome hidden routes that you’d never find in a day visit but its good to know you could turn up and enjoy yourself on the more obvious routes

Some really good suggestions. I’m based in the South so looking at anything that is reasonably driveable in a day or over a weekend but i have mates in wales/ yorkshire/ cornwall so could easily combine a visit

You’d be wrong in assuming its always the newbs and shopping bike riders lacking common sense and trail etiquette. Many a time at Swinley (albeit on the red trail) I’ve come round a corner or out of the forest sections to find 2 or 3 expensive bling mountain bikes abandoned across the trail whilst the riders all crowd round comparing strava times or whatever.

Some would say natural selection but i’d be pretty upset if it was me or one of my friends that we injured hitting some of these idiots

Reviving an old post for this one.
So I’ve singled it down to the bike I want and saved the cash to pay half up front and 0% finance the other half so I’m ready to go.
I’ve noticed that a few shops are quoting 2016 bikes to come in stock mid august-september but I’ve found a shop already offering a 12% discount on 2015 bikes.
So do i:
-wait for a few weeks and see if other places are offering more than a 12% discount but potentially risk them selling their few remaining bikes in stock.
-buy it now, forget about the money and enjoy it for the remaining (hopefully dry) weeks

I’m not sure what the likely discount will be once the new bikes come in?

Thanks for the offer but unfortunately I’m a short*rse so need a medium

Thanks guys. I think I’m correct in saying last years works has the same frame as this years s? I’m thinking the extra spec such as forks, wheels and tyres alone make the works better value for money. Only reservation is the 1×11. I run 2×10 on my handrail and very rarely use the granny ring. I’m sure this has been covered before but are the gear ratios roughly the same on 1×11?

I moved to a new area so had no real riding buddies as such and not knowing local riding spots I did a bit of research into local clubs. After reading the club facebook page i presumed they’d be a pretty decent standard and attended one of their rides. After a particularly frosty reception at a carpark full of more expensive bikes than the world cup circuit we then set off for what is likely the most tame and dull ride I’ve ever been on. Endless miles of slow paced gravel fireroads interrupted by frequent bike tinkering stops to ‘go into climb suspension setting’ and adjust tyre pressure.
Shame really as a regular group of decent like minded riders to go for a blast with and explore the local trails would be great but all the snobbery and general dullness has only made riding on my own more appealing.

Thanks, i’ll give the kevlar ones a go and see how i get on. I’m assuming that for the M670 slx im needing the S5K pads from superstar?

Thanks for that, really helpful. Just looked on superstar website and the difference in cost between each type is a pound so based on kevlars being the best compromise would you recommend getting a couple of sets of those?
I just ride local trails, trail centers and xc stuff so nothing too extreme

Ok thanks I’ll try that. Any tips as to which pads to go for?

I hadn’t considered the finance option. Getting the T-130 S over 24 months doesn’t seems a bad idea. Only worry i would have is that if i don’t get on with it is there an option to sell it and pay off the remaining finance? Obviously there will be a bit of negative equity to clear but no different to if you paid out for it in full and lost a bit of cash selling it.
Would mean that i could have it straight away and enjoy the summer on it.

Sorry to hijack. Recently moved to one of the local villages nearby to Moors valley and have explored the local area a bit and ridden Moors Valley a fair few times but could do with some route advice/ somebody to show me some of the more off piste singletrack around moors valley and in Ringwood/ Verwood forest. Anybody regularly ride there and wouldn’t mind a tag along? Happy to pay my way in flapjacks and wagon wheels 🙂

Ok thanks for the heads up. Is that £5 per rim or per decal? Seeing as there are 4 per rim that would seem a little steep!

Very nice. Where did you get your dt Swiss decals from?

The Velcro hemlet mount thing is a bit of a faff to get on and off so I just leave mine on and remove the light when I don’t need it.
Good service from c and b seen, mine arrived the day after ordering and fully charged ready to use.

I bought the 1200 last week and its ideal to mount on your head. I bought the extra waterproof battery kit which comes with the helmet mount and the extension cable so that you can fit the battery into your camelbak and just run the cable up to your helmet. I had to cable tie the cable to the back of my helmet to stop it flapping around and now its perfect. I just run it on its own without bar light and it seems plenty bright enough for me.

thanks for all the info guys. I’ll keep an eye out on the calendars of both of those clubs for rides coming up. Just ordered some lights so will start checking out some of the routes.

bikebouy- let me know when you are around, would be good to go for a ride.

Likewise if anyone else is local and thinking of an evening ride just let me know.

That place looks good, do you ride that as part of your Wednesday evening ride?

Cheers for the info. I live near Lordswood and have also been to qecp a couple of times so am familiar with those. Just wondered if there was anything ridable from work.
I will keep an eye out for the rides posted on that club website and pop down, would be good to ride with a different group

I would quote (architectural technologist) about £750-900 to undertake survey, a few possible options, a set of planning drawings inc all associated forms and design and access statements etc. Then another £300-500 for building regulations drawings and submission.
Ranges in price allow for complexity of proposals, any specific site requirements or constraints (conservation area etc)
If you can find a local one man band type of structural engineer you can probably get him down to about £150-200 per beam again depending on the complexity and quantity. But make sure he has correct insurances in place
Don’t forget to allow for local authority fees for planning and building regs.
Also you may want to have a look on the planning portal at the permitted development section as there is a chance that yours may fall within it. But be sure to check the original planning permission document incase permitted development rights were removed from your property when it was granted. Hope this helps

I’m swaying more towards the South, no point driving further than necessary.
I like the look of the Twrch trail at Cwmcarn, could do that on the Sunday then head home. So That lives the longer ride on the Saturday, Afan or Fod? Both are about an hour away from Cwmcarn going by google maps.

Afan website says W2 includes ‘two of the most demanding descents in the UK’ is that really the case or a bit of an exaggeration?

Our original plan was to visit Bike Park Wales but unfortunately the uplifts are now fully booked for that weekend. 6,7,8th September is our dates.

Ok some good suggestions there. So we are looking to leave work early on the Friday to drive up, stay over and be able to start riding nice and early on the Saturday. Then head back home on the Sunday evening so was thinking a different place for each day could be the way to go.

I was thinking a trail centre one day and then maybe some longer more natural singletrack riding the next day. We mostly ride singletrack, trail centres and xc loops up to about 30 odd miles so something along those lines would be good.

Looks pretty impressive. What if I were to bring one of those old fashioned 26″ hardtails that people used to ride?

Are you me?

I just double checked and I am definitely me 🙂

I will take a look at the endures. What size do you have?

I run the usual 2×10 with 26/ 38 up front and 11-36t cassette.
I find the most useful gear for my type of riding/ fitness is 38 up front and 32t on the cassette but that obviously gives a pretty poor chainline. If I change down to the 26 chainring and the appropriate gear on the back the chain becomes pretty slack and noisy.
so 30t or 32t chainring when I go 1×10?

Also in my experience builders easily recognise when a set of drawings isn’t 100% accurate or conclusive and tend to pull a fast one by adding extras for things which he knows are needed but ‘aren’t shown on the drawings’.

Being an architectural technologist I would say that a fair amount of my projects are regularising and retrospectively sorting out projects where people have tried to save money and done the drawings and applications themselves.
Personally I would say that if you find a competent person, be it an architect, technician or anyone else who has the expertise to produce accurate drawings then their fees will easily be recouped by preventing costly errors on site.
Plus on a regular basis I will visit peoples houses who are 100% set on what they want but when I give them some alternative ideas and options they more often that not change their mind. This could be aesthetic, practical or cost saving suggestions.

Ah ok, I recorded it on the strava app on my phone. I don’t have a garmin but wondered if the strava app had some sort of playback feature, obviously not. Is there even a way that you can turn the map feature to satellite (like google maps) so that you could roughly follow it on the screen?

I’m really considering going from 2×10 to 1×10 purely just to see what the hype is all about. How does this this change affect you in the real world? I’m not exactly a superfit racing snake but have a reasonable level of fitness. I don’t tend to use the full range of gears on every ride but there are definitely times when I put it down to the lowest gear and just spin up long climbs. Is it just in my mind and I will drop down into my new lowest gear and it wont make too much difference or will I be left puffing or even pushing?

Cool cheers. obviously my forum search skills aren’t up to scratch!

Since when did 5’9 become short arse?

5’9 isn’t a short arse but unfortunately I made a typo and I’m actually 5’7!

Looks like a stem and bar swap from my chameleon might be in order to try and work out if its that. cheers guys

Ok thanks. Coxford Road is a long road, meet down the end by Dunvegan drive I assume? sorry for all the questions

Ok cool, see you there. I’m not familiar with Coxford Rd, is there parking there?