Agree with Stanley, change the cranks but keep to the 175 gearing is what I would do.

I will not be using ‘gift’again. I’m still waiting for and item I paid Ferrit32 for off here two weeks ago, he’s gone AWOL too.

I’d say a 170 is right for you anyway. I changed from 175 to 170 when I started getting knee probs many years ago (175 wasn’t the cause btw). I was getting the pain more at the top of the stroke and the shorter crank did help (not cure) this. I still run 170’s on all my bikes except a recently acquired retro bike, I hardly use the latter so no real issues there but I can notice the difference.

No idea my leg length, not long at 5’8″!

Oh and I’m more of a spinner than grinder anyway. 🙂

Oak has a deep furrowed bark. The wood has a thick outer band of lighter coloured timber called sapwood. The centre called heartwood is much darker. This contrast when looking at the face (rings) of a sawn piece of oak is the most telling.

It takes years to instantly recognise timber so don’t be harsh on yourself.

Ash has almost no sapwood visible, on all but the most huge old trees which it is sometimes seen on the timber from it. The bark is thin, and the flesh of the timber is very light in colour compared to oak. Ash does burn well and gives out the most heat as it is very dense. The aroma of Ash can be bitter, especially if it isn’t well seasoned.

A mix of woods produces the best results and aroma, oak is very aromatic but needs to be very dry and well split to burn well.

Beech burns nicely and is faster burning with a purple-ish flame but doesn’t produce the heat of the above two, again needs lots of seasoning.

I could go on and on but I’ve already probably reached the readers boredom threshold! 😉

Happy learning 🙂

Thanks for the info alpinestar but the payment was made almost two weeks ago now.

Yep it’s ferrit32 on here and just plain ferrit on Retrobike. Another guy over on RB is waiting for a frame too, again no coms no goods.

Yep that’s the fella, still no commication from him. If anyone knows him personally can you give him a nudge in this direction please.

Bloody frustrating, and he posted the exact for sale thread cut and paste from Retrobike, where they do have feedback. I should have checked as the clues are there, but as people say it is just so rare for this to happen. I didn’t think of it when I saw the 90mm silver Hope stem that I’d been looking for – just went for it before anyone else could, and made the paypal payment straight after he emailed me his Paypal details.

I’ve got his real name and his town so I guess it wouldn’t be rocket science to get his addresss and issue a ccj if it comes to it. Hopefully he will do the right thing if he ever turns a computer on again. It isn’t anyone mentioned on this thread up to now.

I might give him one more email now.

I was unwise to use Gift, at the seller request. You just don’t buy thinking the goods may not get sent do you – I do now of course.

There were a couple of other buyers on the same thread, I’ve just contacted one through here to see if their item turned up.

It just might be worth putting a similar post on Retrobike, someone may have seen it since.

The design, rear triangle particularly looks very similar to an Overbury…..

Not quite a ‘bike’ yet but……started out like this and I repainted it at work to this..

Cheers

Mirando a las Morenas! Que bonita 🙂

That’s a cool pic, your lady looks so genuinely happy with her present.
🙂

KH750?

I would just strip everthing off the Boardman and see what transfers over to the Soul. You’ll most likely need a seat tube as most skinny steel frames are smaller diameter – prob a 27.2 but worth checking.

Oldfart – I think it’s one of those visceral things, that if you feel real good about it, it will make your ride exprience better. If you find your head ruling your heart it probably isn’t for you. 🙂

I’d have one at a drop of a hat, Soulcraft do put in some nice unique touches to their frames. Personally I wanted fillet brazing this time around, and the local connection meant a lot to me. I bought this Enigma Ego Excellence fillet brazed special(ex stw-demo) and did the paint at work myself. It’s a pleasure to own in a tactile way at the moment, as I’ve only three components – frame, forks and skewers – none of them brand new!

Right, no more pics of my newley acquired frame – I think I could be over doing it! 😉

18bikes produce some nice tig frames too 🙂

I haven’t ridden the area for months, and other than my ride from the door stuff it’s local to me. I just get very disheartened when I see all the increased trail traffic and erosion which is hardly surprising, as the frequent magazine articles, local businesses and the likes of officials such as IW from the CTC endorse the area. Although I’ve never put in a new trail there myself, I’m hardly surprised that riders are expanding out of the more contrived areas.

It probably still rides like it used to as a night ride – must get back into meeting the old crowd there again!

Out of all of the posts so far, Mr Scargil’s original view is making most sense to me.

Happy riding whatever your flavour!

Not sure I know what you’re refering to there Chief – think I’ve only come off it twice and that was in the wet, once on the actual Big Dog (on a climb) and the other a week before training for it. Go-on remind me then? 🙂

Cheers Bob, look forward to seeing your new steel too!

Cheif or Alex, the Enigma has a 71 degree head angle, classic xc singletrack for 100mm fork or suspension corrected rigid maybe!. In fact I think my old Kona is probably my fastest bike for the local singletrack and that has zero fork travel. I wouldn’t get too caught up in the head angle geo’, most frames made now are using tried and tested head/seat angles. For me seat tube (obviously) and top tube lenth are the most important.

Yep I have the 5spot for the bigger stuff – doesn’t get used much!

Marmoset, fantastic offer thankyou, but my back copy arrived this morning from STW shop. Cheers anyway! Pete

How about a regular Soul, they seem pretty tough from what I’ve seen?

Welding is easy but it takes many years to get good at it. For what you want, it’s got to be structurally safe at speed, I would recommend getting a pro to do the actual welding.

Seriously, if you really want to know buzz an email to Rory as above, he will have an answer!

I don’t do any of the other races (not a racer) so it won’t affect me or I’d emailed myself. 🙂

Email them, or Rory at USE Exposure, I’ll be surprised if a date hasn’t been set by now.

How about a beefy steel frame – surely!

🙂

All the best with the ankle repair Chief!

Just to add a little colour to the thread. It started out in satin black….

the red inside the tubes is ‘red oxide anti-corrosion paint’ btw

two pack primer

two pack top

Apparently it’s issue 59 – just heard from STW towers so I’ll try and order that from them. Thanks for the offer Mr C – guru – of course you can have a go – no crashing mind! 😉

One last bump for the daytime viewers

An evening bump 🙂

A bit light and narrow for that tyre size ideally. If you’re buying new go up to a 19mm for a 2.35.

I’ve got through a few 17mm Mavic rims in the past. Currently on 819 – works well and not too heavy. I used a 321 in the past, but I did notice the weight and it wasn’t any stronger than my 819.

As always it depends on rider and ride style.

You’ve only just noticed op!

Agree, for the same reasons there aren’t many women carpenters s’pose.

The parents and their lifestyle, and not in a way that provides them with an abundance of junk food. How about the parents aren’t at home when he gets back from school, so the kid just eats what he can without cooking because he’s too young to prep and cook – cheese, bread etc what ever is there. The parents get home a couple of hours later and maybe go to the pub straight away, then return say after 9pm to start cooking their food. Make some for the kid at the same time, although he’s already eaten cheese and bread and anything he can when getting home from school alone – because he was hungry. Perhaps they live in a flat with no garden to play footie or generally burn calories doing kids stuff, perhaps he has no siblings to play with – burn calories and competition for food etc. That’s how it was for me anyhow. Basically it is the parents in one way or another.

Some one I knew had one, get two bikes in on top of each other (sheet inbetween) without taking wheels off plus all the riding gear, luggage no probs. I thought it was a good vehicle for a mtb’r.

tcas146, the xc is free but the words of the CTC at ‘the meeting’ were less than conclusive. The ‘xc is free but should Tilgate get popular…..’

We need to keep an eye on things so to speak, but I agree with your optimism at the moment. 🙂

With heihei on this. I haven’t ridden the area for months, certainly not on a Sunday and I live 15 mins away albeit by car . Last time I was shocked to see the erosion in general, and visited a few of the tucked away techy trails, even those had been straight lined where people couldn’t ride them, so decided to plough an easy line through the undergrowth, rather than keep to the natural.

I’ll probably get flamed for saying that(as last) but that is how it is. 🙁

If you’re a real beginner there is a group called Seahaven or Cycle Seahaven who have regular varied ability rides (graded). They are Seaford based but ride from Lewes, and into Stanmer frequently, a few women inc my gf ride with them. Also, as mentioned Brighton Explorers are a solid bunch, although they have a joining fee before you can ride, which I think is a bit odd, not cheap at about 45 quid. If you have limited transport and really just want to stay in the Brighton and Hove area, those are the two I’d suggest.

All the groups mentioned are good though, just not as beginner or location focused as the above. I ride with them all. 🙂

I think you’ll find the bears on the Picos almost mythical, but don’t let that put you off, it is a fantastic place to visit. I would say there isn’t a great deal of singletrack compared to the Alps or southern Spain, but you will enjoy it, especially if you are looking for more than the riding experience. One of the most unspoilt places I’ve visited. I went on a guided bike trip, the riding was a little tame, but that could be down to the guide and other people on the trip. I’d go back without hesitation.

I very much doubt it at the moment!

Ahh – Horsham here too! 🙂

A Friday morning bump

Just had a look at Moots – nice but 300 US!

Any more recommendations?

this morning after last night’s burn!