“As you know, a lot of houses in Dartmouth are relatively limited in space (and I would assume any useful storage too); garages in the town are like hen’s teeth.”

I did suspect this but thought that some of the properties further up the hill may have more useful storage space. I’m going to try my luck on the Dartmouth community Facebook page. According to my mum they are fairly active.

“Out of town in the surrounding countryside, there are a number of farms, but not sure how happy you are with your Cotic stored in a barn/outbuilding.”

Wouldn’t be that bothered if dry and secure but get the feeling they would not be.

“Are there any clever storage options you could look at for your Mum’s house (like hanging the bike off a wall, bike bag at the back of a cupboard etc? I am sure you have considered all options, but thought I would ask.”

It’s politically sensitive as I had a nasty accident a couple of years ago and my Mum doesn’t want to show support towards my ‘suicidal’ hobby especially with regards to my wife.

“You’re looking to pay someone that store it, or alternatively allow someone use it as their bike so long as you can use it when you’re about?”

Yes, that’s exactly it.

I visit twice a year, 2-3 weeks in summer and 2 weeks at crimbo.

I have some DT EX 1501 splines, 1800ish gr according to manufacturer. I have found a set of DT 350 carbon rims on 350 hubs for a decent price second hand.

Paired with lighter tyres I would expect them to make a significant difference.

Thanks to all for the contributions. We have had a longer talk and spent a great weekend together.

I have tried to explain that in the future I won’t be attempting anything that could seriously injure me and although there are risks involved that I will do my best to avoid them.

The ultimatum was her way of getting through.

Like I mentioned before, my accident is a result of me thinking I was at the same level I was when riding more regularly in years leading up to having the little ones.

I’m looking forward to getting back some fitness on a bike of some kind soon.

Vonplatz – do you have anyone who knows both you and your wife that you could talk to about this? Asking a bunch of randoms on an internet forum ostensibly about riding bikes isn’t necessarily going to give you an unbiased answer. She may be overreacting, but equally you could be the kind of rider who is a risk to the creatures that inhabit the subsoil (meaning someone who crashes so hard they squish the earthworms).

Yes, and they have mirrored more or less what had been said here.

Tone it down, compromise etc.

I know that I’m not going to get an unbiased answer here. I thought I could vent a little bit though and I have surprisingly found some very thoughtful and intelligent advice (not you singlespeedstu) on here in the past.

Thanks for the replies.

Addressing some of the points made:

I have had some very serious injuries and that is of concern to myself as well as her. I don’t even know what it will be like to get back on the bike at the moment but I am pretty damned sure that I will be sticking to my limits in the future. Despite my terrible record I am not the worst rider in the world, maybe just too gun ho. I have been on skills courses and found them useful in different degrees. Part of the problem with the latest crash was new bike syndrome. I have had a two year near hiatus from riding as my children are now 4 and 2 so I was not going out riding as much. As I thought that we were turning a corner in terms of the demands of taking care of the two of them I treated myself to a new bike and went back to riding features that I had ridden before without really getting back up to speed. BIG MISTAKE.

About taking time away from my family, does any hobby not make you take time away from family? I do spend the odd Saturday up in the hills but these were negotiated and offset by constant willingness to let the other half spend time on her own, with friends etc. I have to admit that I have constantly made more demands time wise than she has but the issue here is my safety and commitment to the family (though of course there ara other factors)

Addressing other issues regarding getting a new wife or the relationship being over, I think my other half is employing a bit of brinkmanship in terms of threatening to end everything. I’m not trying to explain away a deeper problem in the relationship but perhaps a middle ground be found.

This has been a very hard period for both of us and tensions are running very high.

question answered in full

Great! I obviously need to spend more time on the internets. Are you a Starling owner?

That’s not a particularly inspiring story.

I’ll be shipping in a CRC bike bag but if they chuck something heavy on top it will be just as buggered.

I guess it sounds like I have to get it insured FTW.

Even for a man who spent 100E on an enduro BumBag, 220E is just too rich for my blood.

Hopefully they’ll come down in price…

I guess you could argue that you’re getting two pairs of shoes (or one and half). I wonder if it will be sold in modules?

Went with the Sombrios. They looked the lightest from the blurb. We shall see when they arrive…

Go to Syntace site. Delivery 3.50 euro

It looks ok but I need to get in from behind the bearings and tap them out as I can’t access both sides of the linkage at once. Any other suggestions?

I’ve been shying away from reading responses in shame. Headset was not assembled properly and the winning answer goes to rocketman. Bottom bearing had popped open under torque as it was assembled upside down in cup. I put it the right way and it popped right back into place.

Never perform maintenance and try and care for a 16mnth old child at the same time (glad her mum never reads this). :oops:

Late night crew?

Would the starnut be culpable for the lack of adjustment?

Thanks for all the comments, maybe should have shopped around a bit better when I was purchasing them. I went on a recommendation of a friend who said that they were bang on for the price.

I can’t say that I enjoy night riding all that much as a major part of what I like about cycling is seeing the trees etc. I just think that a night ride is better than no ride.

Maybe dropping a whole load of cash would change that but I doubt it somehow. The Ay-Ups are great for riding around my local trails on my own when I get home from work during winter.

Just got back from a week away in Deutschland funnily enough and parts were delivered last week. Half price because of the lack of response from Liteville so at least they have atoned for not responding as quickly as they should have before.

Big thanks to Michael for sorting it out mit ze gurmanz.

Just source one of these bad boys:

Oh yesssss.

I’ll pop down the LBS to see if they’ve got anything, they might even have an original part!

I could ride back to the trailhead but it’s about 45 min by car plus a 45 min techy climb… not that sure where I left it either. Ho hum.

I’m not sure but I think they may have an O ring in them…

In case you haven’t seen it… Related thread:
here

I just contacted rebbens@live.co.uk (Michael cycle) to see if he can get any.

I need exactly the same part. I emailed Liteville over the summer and it took them months to get back to me. They requested a photo of the part and I haven’t got round to taking it. Have you had any joy?

Friend had some Superstar kevlar in the alps. He changed his pads 4 times in one week and the pads wore deep grooves into his rotors. False economy in however much he saved on the formula originals.

OK, worked it out…

I can’t seem to get the photos to work, google drive only offers a copy link option which is what I’m doing then copying said link into img.

Unlimited Budget?

The Ultimate Lounge Chair Is Back on Sale

I know that SS is the antithesis of faffing around but it seems like a faff to do so for this express purpose. Perhaps i could resist the urge to change gears…

Is singlespeeding a bit stressful for knees unless you live in Holland?

I don’t have access to a turbo trainer and don’t fancy joining a gym. Can you do intervals on normal terrain with steep climbs etc?

Crashing is normal, it is a inherently dangerous sport and you should expect the occasional off.

Three crashes in three weeks is well over what would be considered normal however. Skills courses can accelerate learning but there is no substitute for putting hours in on the bike.

I got some skiing lessons recently and my instructor said that he always tried to identify which type of learner his students were, as visual learners, more pratical, more conceptual etc. he said I was a conceptual learner and recommended that I read some web pages on basic technique as to see why I had to do certain things on the skis. I have also found reading technique books for MTB to be useful (the one by Brian lopes and some other guy)

I would recommend a course as they have been beneficial to me personally (Ed is great).

Quite a lot more spendy but very high performance wheels for price:

Spank Oozy 295 Wheels

Great reviews and I am very happy with them. Service from Spank is good too, they don’t have a distributor in Spain who stocks parts but they shipped me some spokes direct from the factory in Taiwan.

I’ve got glandular fever and an inflamed liver according to blood work. I feel generally fatigued, can’t face going out on the bike, sore throat and generally unwell. I’ve been told no booze for 4 months and no sport that could result in trauma to abdomen like judo and er… Mtb?! Shame as I’ve got a holiday booked in the alps for early July.

Finisterre:80% / 20% “polamide”

Thanks for the link to the supernatural ones, i think that for the price the fact it less than 50% merino is a bit of a put off. Has anyone tried them?

liteville offer 5 year frame replacement plus 5 year half price on new frame that is transferable between owners. My only dealing with them so far has been to tell them that one of my logos fell off and a bit of paint had rubbed and they sent me a new logo and paint free of charge. Pretty good.

Vonplatz, I’ll be interested to see what you make of the two. I’d been riding the Cotic a few times and really got into the handling and loving having a nice steel hardtail. Got back on the Liteville this week for Afan, BPW and Cwncarn. Initially the 301 felt cumbersome and slow to respond, but once into it, it’s s bloody awesome bike, but completely different character to the Soul

They are very different beasts of course. I generally ride them in different places saving the Liteville for big mountain days and using the Soul for bombing about local woods/more of an XC bent.

The Liteville is bigger, heavier and definitely needs more body language to heave about but I’d rather be on the german bike when heading full pelt through a rock garden or hitting some nasty routes. The soul is responsive and give a real sense of connection to the terrain.

I have no strava data to back this up but the soul definitely feels faster on trails it (or me on it) can handle. One of the worst crashes I’ve ever had was on the soul. It was the penultimate day of term and the next day I was about to start my summer holiday, went out with a mate and I was feeling really quick on all the ups but especially the downs. On the last descent before hitting the bar I messed up a small jump at full pelt and slid along the summer baked Madrid hardpack for about 7 meters. Wouldn’t have happened on the Liteville as it would have just soaked up my mistake. :oops:

OP

We are MTB soul mates separated by hundreds of km but joined by STW (choking back the tears).

Personally very happy with both.

26 Soul and now the Liteville has 26 in the rear too.

Does anyone know how good the On One case is?

I’m also heading to the alps and don’t fancy splashing out on an Evoc.

Op officially the guiding companies don’t offer coaching, they’ll give you tips for sure. TBH it’s quite late to booked guided trips to the Alps, most sell out by a late Dec as availability is limited and season is short. BTW 4th to 11th is a full week so whats the problem ? Destination X sells out later than Les Arcs typically with TA, I’ve been there and it was excellent, hotel not chalet but food is still OK

I can only go on the dates stated. I’ve already written to Trail Addiction and they indicated that they didn’t have any free spaces.

Mine works fine, slightly suspect that a company like Cube would spec a derailleur hanger that could never work, never notice during product testing but release to general public anyway…

Maybe go for a second opinion?

I love my soul for how it rides but have to agree with previous posters by saying paint is gash. Chipped to buggery round bb and all burred off on interior of chain stays.

Sorry to say I’m an idiot who’s still buy it as it is a lorra laffs.