the legality is grey, and I think untested. What isn’t grey is that using it derestricted on the road is illegal, unless it’s licensed, insured and you wear a helmet. The fact that it can be derestricted is not – almost all off the shelf e-bikes can be derestricted, and they are all legal. So if you have a dongle, but it’s turned off, it should be legal. Like having a car that can do 170mph, but only doing 70mph.

Then on the private land you can go quicker if you wish.

I don’t want a motorbike – I want an ebike – not sure why it’s so hard to understand for some. Motorbikes are different to ebikes are different to MTBs are different to road bikes – all have a place, surely?

thanks for the range of comments :-)

yes, private land and derestricted. And also using it on standard roads in its usual guise. Am intrigued by the level of hostility from some – I do have ‘normal’ mountain bikes, but have an 18 mile commute each way to the train station, which is too far (for me) to do every day, there and back, unless I get some assistance. Half the trip is private land, if I goths cycle only way, and half on the road.

And when on private land for fun, then going quicker up the hills gives me more time to come down…..

Thanks. Can’t see it being an insurance issue, as carriers for 5 bikes exist. It would be lighter bikes ion the outer, and agree nose weight shouldn’t be an issue….. Might play and see!

no

no

18.3 if atmospheric pressure <1018mb, otherwise 19.2

what you are paying for with Oakleys is the warranty – they are pretty good about fixing frames and lenses and so on, and so they can last you for ages.

(Having said that, the Maui Jim’s I had – not for cycling – were scratched by my kids playing with them – sent them back with a note to get some replacement lenses put in – should have been abut £100 – they came back along with 3 refresher bars for the kids, a brief note saying that they’d not want the kids to get into trouble, that my note had amused them, and a completely new pair of sunnies. Great service.)

Aidan – thanks for this – can see from your blog that you’ve ridden chunks of it too. How does it ride- interesting, challenging singletrack with great views and descents? or bit of a grind it out route? Followed some of it over Dartmoor so far using Google Earth, which looks interesting, but I’ve not ridden that area enough to know whether this is a great way to go. Guess this is all helping me refine my requirements – am not looking for the quickest way, nor the hardest way, but the way that is, without too many meanders, the one that takes in the best bits of riding along the way – so detours to the best tracks are worthwhile. but large meanders and loops just to fit them in are probably out….. Would hope to do it in three days, and reckon I’d try b&b on the route and take very little gear. Might bivvy out, but that’s a whole load more kit (compared to a long day ride at least).

robbieclay – thanks for the link. I’d join you if I wanted a group trip, but am wanting 2 long days really. Maybe 3. Osince its your business, ill not ask you to post up the gpx file :-) Will start on the OS maps – am often down near start point so may start from there and head N. will post a route on here if/when I sort one, and get specific suggestions for bits to improve – have only ridden on Dartmoor once recently,around haytor, and once on exmoor many years ago, so some specialist advice will be welcomed.

Am looking for a decent route that has good quality riding, interesting paths/moorland routes, and traffic free as much as possible. Thanks for the input so far – seems like some interest and maybe a couple of ideas. OS maps here I come. Will probably look to do iron 2 days, mostly on account of my fitness…..

It’s not, they don’t participate. I have checked…..

any update?

the rules: n+1 girlfriends?

From your list, I’d get the Cube gtc – good vfm.
Can get it for half your budget.

or not on the list, look at Canyon’s offerings?

done. Can’t go wrong. Unless I actually use them, when I clearly would have gone wrong…..

scorpions are more likely to be a problem. Take a digital camera and get decent pics of anything that bites you, or take it with you to the A&E…..

Oh, and a good rule of thumb is that if it has large claws and a small tail, it’s less venomous than the small claws, large tail variety. Just make sure your mates know CPR and can support you – few people actually die, though it’s damn painful…..

Vanish Oxy-action blah-de-blah whitening stuff. Sometimes works.

also look for places that do cycle safaris – not serious mtb by any means, but it gives a whole new meaning to ‘meals on wheels’ when there’s two rangers with you with loaded rifles front and rear to cover you. One tip – don’t ride into elephant dung expecting it to squelch and move – it’s like hitting a large kerb…..

Balance

What are you on? this is the internet. Worse, this is STW.

WE DON’T WANT BALANCE, WE WANT TO SHOUT. PREFERRABLLY, IN THE **TITLE**, WITH SMELLING ERROS AND BAD GRAMMMAR, INNIT

:D

see the mucknuts website for their latest XL fitted at the back
here

Canyon Yellowstone excellent value for sure – without c2w – but as I’m lucky enough to have a 42% advantage, it puts it up against some stiff competition. One of my desires is a remote lockout for the fork, given the sort of riding I’m likely to do on it, and that pushes the Canyon price up a bit too…..

will take another look at the On-One.
Would go for Canyon but will be buying on c2w so they’re less competitive then. Mind you, will recheck the specs…..
any others?

thanks crftom.

Put another way – is the extra for, say, the Cube GTC Pro 29 worth it over, say, the Cube Acid 29er?

bump for Sunday post-ride folks – any thoughts?

Don’t want to drop so low that it’ll be a pain to ride, but debating with myself whether £13-1500 is too much for a second bike (esp as young kids curtails riding time). But then again, they’re growing up and weekends may have more free time in at some stage – and buying a cheap one and then a more expensive one is more expensive than just buying one :-)

Is there directors and officers liability insurance cover in place

This is useful for any company of any size, and I’d ensure it has it or get it in place asap once you’re a director.

Statutory responsibilities are reasonably clearly nowadays – see tips above – but it’s a good step up and takes you to another level when looking to move to talking to other firms, if that happens in the future. Essentially, you have to be brave to be honest in the boardroom about what’s going well and badly in your areas, and to question openly the reports and strategies of others – all whilst getting on well with people. As was said, makes a job a vocation.

There’s a chance to put your values and principles into the business, too – so work out what they are, what you’d like to see changed, how you can make the place better for the employees, customers, etc – and you’ll then do fine.

Just think, if you could invent some kind of mechanism whereby you could power the thing with your legs, you wouldn’t have to carry them uphill!

that’s a good idea, you could probably put a gearbox on it so you could get efficient power conversion across a wide range of terrain and gradients etc.
how about something to sit on whilst you’re pedalling or rolling downhill, so that you’re comfier too? we might be onto something here…..

c&b seen – ~£40, seem better quality than direct from Chian ones on e-bay, UK warranty, decent batteries, good beam pattern, excellent build quality. Agonised for ages too, then realised I was agonising and not buying/riding, so went for these cos they’re at a great price/performance/reliability point. No complaints.

Everyone will tell you they love their own choice, and they will – but I wanted low price, good performance, but reliable and decent backup in case of problems – and this hit it best for me.

Does all this work if you’ve previously washed a jacket in standard detergent plus fabric conditioner?!!

We used to be on a Joomla-based site but there were security issues with the platform and it was hacked. I don’t know if this has been addressed in the meantime but it put me off using it again.

Wordpress is also often hacked, mostly through user error (which is easy to make).

Professional sites take professional people to design -some pros are great, some are awful, some know about SEO, some know about design, some about usability, some about maintainability – some about none of these. If you’re going to get a pro, ask around, look at what they’ve done, get client references, see if they meet your needs. I make one part of my living doing bits of this (mostly advising big companies) and there are many small outfits who are excellent. But you can often do just as good a job yourself if you have some time, some advice, and ongoing motivation…..

Sngletrackworld is built on WordPress, I believe.

As a simple site for your wife’s business, I’d start it’s weebly then. But note that building the site is rarely the hard part; the tough bit is getting people to know about it. Regularly adding content helps, so adding a monthl blog of news and updates will help it in search engine rankings. Keep it simple, clean and crisp, too.

weebly is fast, simple, easy, and has a free version. WordPress is simple but can be powerful, but its history as a blogging platform shows through. Try weebly first if it’s a website, wordpress if it’s a blog.

update: c&b seen bought – excellent bright light, good beam pattern and battery pack. Also bought torch, which is also great. Ideal mix of value for money, performance, and UK warranty.

roads too bad to road cycle on, either around work or around home – so no roading it too much for me. But agree that an awful bike is just that -and as I’ll do it every day, want it to be fun not a pita….. mind you, an awful heavy bike would get me proportionally fitter, I guess…..

bike will live in the office during the day, so is safe, too.

got the bike I really want, so am in the luxurious position of getting another. Aware 4 miles isn’t much :-) Wouldn’t have to change wheels/tyres for the weekend as would most often be going out on the FS if I went at all (children permitting, usually :-)) Don’t need luggage (well, maybe a laptop in a rucksack). SS is an option, but don’t want to have to grow a beard…..

will look into the KHS – that’s a new one on me. No bargains left in the sales then that anyone’s aware of?

With regards to C2W, dont you now have to pay back a percentage of the bikes cost upon transfer of ownership?

yes – but if you ‘lease’ it for more than a year then that % reduces right down, and our scheme will ‘keep’ ownership of it for ages, making the % fee minor.

schemes charge the lbs 10% or so, so I’ll need to factor that in (i.e. sale price may go up £100)…..

will look at the Evans one. Still Cube is the favourite…..

Says on the on one web site they take all cycle to work vouchers apart from halfords. Might be worth dropping them an email.

ah, then they’ve changed their policy. Will have a look. Recommended, then, I take it?

c2w gives me the £1k for £590 plus 12 months interest free credit, so for me I think it’s worthwhile. I can then add funds – but would rather not add too much – couple of hundred ok if vital.