I've often wondered about Lee Quarry for a trip, got the XC bike with me this time so its likely to be Dalby Forest and the Dales, I'll do Lee Quarry when I have the full susser with me.

Still only ridden the Day One a couple of miles up the road It feels good, might need a smaller cog for the back but I'll reserve judgement on that until I've dome some longer rides.

No, not yet. Been meaning too - the mate I meet up with is a fireman in Burnley, so it's right near his neck of the woods. Seen it on the tele, does look cool.

Where are you off to fisgard? MTB or road?

Vid from my ride a couple of years ago to wet the appetite - Link

Heard about this last night,if I lived anywhere close to it I'd love to do it,sounds like a great way to spend a night

http://velonotte.blogspot.com/p/welcome ... notte.html

I did that in Paris a long while ago

Hairy but great buzz.

Muse, I'll be back in office from Monday. If you'd rather an Evans course (to be honest, they'll be much better than me to help you) that's okay. Alternatively, get Dave to DM me your email address on twitter and we'll arrange a time. I'm also working over the road to him so a lunchtime would probably be best.

MTB at Chatel, will do a few DH's at Innerleithen and Fort Bill before we go, probably not similar but will get the confidence up i hope

looks unforgiving to the non-committed on the video's i have seen of it, fecking magnetic to do though

whats your FS setup?

Do the fantasticable there - zip wire thing across the valley and back. I mtb'd there about 9 years ago just as I was getting back into cycling, so didn't do anything gnarly but it was still fun.

Help please!!!

Front dérailleur won't change up or down,tried changing the tension on the cable but this just makes it jump over the middle cog,wtf am I doing wrong?

Might be a problem with the shifter, although usually it's the cable stretching out a bit (especially if the bike is reasonably new) - bike shop should be able to put it right in 5 minutes if you can't get it to work

As an aside, first sportive of the year tomorrow - 83 miles around the new forest, wish me luck

Enjoy the cattle grids, Joost

Cheers old chap, didn't fancy it yourself? The wiggle-sponsored events are very well run

Couldn't get in in time - looking at the Jurassic Beast and the one out of Bournemouth next month (I think). I've also been roped into a 100k ride round Dartmoor next month for the Southern Spinal Injuries Trust - could be a painful experience!

Spray some lubricant over it - I just use WD40 - put it in the lowest gear and pull it back and forward to loosen it.

Good work, though those are a bit too hilly for my liking

Cheers lads,new cable and some tinkering with the hi-low limits sorted it,ready for my first downhill tomorrow on the same hill I had a near death experience on a road bike about 20 years ago

Devinci Dixon with Fox 36 Floats, its basically built to take some hammer but still be usable over longer distances. Those rockier trails can be a bit intimidating, I have some Raceface pads. They won't help in a big crash but have saved me from a lot of cuts and bruises.

Chatel is superb, there is a real mix of trails out there. If you do Inners and particularly Fort Bill you will find plenty of trails in the Alps that are far easier than the stuff you've already done. The only ones that are really tight are the World Cup DH trails which have "must-do" jumps on them, or extended steep sections with very little margin for error at the bottom.

thats a very nice bike mate, the floats were a custom option for enduro spec?

aren't too many suppliers in the uk either, i think

mandatory air focus's the mind

Yeah I had ridden QR15 Fox 32 forks a lot and wanted the stiffer chassis of the 36s. The rear axles is 142mm bolt-through as well so the bike tracks well for the travel. Freeborn are the UK Distributor, they were great to deal with.

What's a "wire" tyre?

See here, what's the difference between the two sets of Gatorskins on left?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Sear ... 4Qodq1begQ

It appears I need the wire ones as the others come in MTB sizes.

Here's one for the mechanics ... side wall of the rear tire is starting to rip. Bought the tire in January. Previous one did that after a short period. Now they're cheap tires, so it could just be wear and tear, but I also bought cheap tires for my old mountain bike and only ever had to change them when all the tread wore away.

Could over-inflating be the issue? Maybe the brakes rubbing? ... anything else I should pay attention to? (yes, yes ... don't buy cheap tires - but it's my winter bike that I'm about to put away or sell)

There is wire in the bead of the tire where it meets the rim. I think its generally used on slightly cheaper tyres because the pricier ones are often advertised with "Kevlar" bead and all sorts of fancy shit like that. The wire ones won't fold up due to the nature of the wire.

I doubt it will make any odds which one you go for.

Just happens sometimes, if you catch it wrong on a kerb or rock it will tear a wee bit and once there is a weakness it will start to bulge wth pressure/weight. You can put a "boot" in there, a bit of thick duck tape or some people use a cut-off of tetra-pak. That will hopefully be enough to even out the pressure and stop the bulging effect.

Cheers!

Nice one Joost. I wouldn't have the balls to do that any more, but I've a pal who you would love to descend with.

Niegs,

Just sounds like a combination of bad luck/cheap tyres to me. As A-S says, use a 'boot' - saw a vid once of a cool courier in NYC using a dollar bill, claiming something about the weave of the note making it the ideal material. Personally I think he was just doing it to be cool, much like this thing of locking one's bike halfway up a lamp-post.

Comically bad ride in this morning. Firstly, thanks to all my hubris about rarely getting punctures, I got one in my rear tyre, so had to change that in the pissing rain. Then, coming into Deptford, my fecking saddle suddenly came loose and fell off - the nut holding it in place had sheared in two (I had the saddle as far back as it could go so I think that created a lever effect that put a lot of pressure on the nut when I was sat on it).

So then I had to cycle from Deptford to work with no saddle. Luckily I didn't forget at any point and impale myself on the seatpost, and my legs held up reasonably well to the extra work, but my calves are now protesting and I'm expecting a few complaints from my bad knee as the day wears on.

At one point after losing my saddle I thought I'd picked up a puncture in my front and was on the verge of chucking my bike in the nearest stretch of Thames, but on closer examination it was just the distribution of my weight causing it to bulge out more than usual.

I think I'm going to get the train home...

Fucking hell! Must have required serious effort to remember you were saddleless.

Since you're here, I'm trying to get my head around the logistics of cycling in. Haven't done it yet as am getting used to the bike in evenings etc. and don't have all the kit I need. Could do with a tip or two from you or anyone else.

Will leave shoes, toiletries etc. in office and preposition towels and clothes when I come on the train, defo won't be cycling 5 days a week. Lock will be left at office.

Am going to get a waterproof backpack thing with mesh back for when I need to bring notebook (thankfully a Macbook Air) and anything else.

What do I need for the actual ride? It's a long time since I took off a back wheel
I got them to replace the QR with 'security nuts', will a multi-tool remove them? Aside from that, a spare tube and a pump what else do I need if anything?

Do you guys wear helmets when commuting?

To be honest with you at the start I am planning on just wearing a long sleeved tshirt, shorts and runners. Will I regret that? I defo won't be cold, I'm unfit enough that the opposite will be the problem and generally don't feel the cold anyway.

What do you do with your smelly shit for the day? Do you wear fresh clothes home or just throw on your minging shit from that morning? I really didn't think about any of this stuff!

Appo,

I have a locker and shower facilities at work, so my gear is predicated on this basis.

I leave trousers, towel and toiletries in the locker (shoes stay under desk).
I have a standard backpack with a Hump hi-vis cover.
I carry underwear and a fresh shirt in every day.
I cycle in wearing old trainers, padded shorts, wicking t-shirt, long sleeve top (if a little cold), hi-vis gilet and a helmet.
During the day, I carry my towel up to my desk to dry and leave the cycling clothes in the locker...yes, it's a bit minging when I put it back on in the evening.

I carry a spare inner, a small pump, a waterproof jacket and a simple multi tool kit...tyre levers, inner and pump are pretty much all you'll need if you get a puncture.

To be honest, you'll get it all wrong the first week and refine your shit for the 2nd week.

In terms of what I carry - a multi-tool, tyre levers, a spare inner tube (this is my first port of call if I get a puncture, I bring the punctured inner tube home to repair at my leisure), a puncture repair kit (in case of a second puncture), and a pump. After the amount of shite on my hands today I think I'm going to either add surgical glove type things, or a packet of baby wipes (have got plenty of the latter at home!).

I don't know what your security nuts would require, I'm afraid, but you'd do well to find out and have the necessary tool on you!

I do wear a helmet, but mainly to keep the wife off my back. It's actually nice to have when it's raining, the peak thingy goes some way to keeping the rain off my glasses.

One other thing I'd advise would be some decent gloves - fingerless jobbies are good for summer, just to keep your hands comfy on the bars. When it's cold you defo want good gloves to keep your hands warm - shouldn't be too much of an issue for the next few months though, hopefully.

You'll be fine in that get up. Bear in mind that I'm a bit of a slob, but I wear the same gear all week. I just hang it up in the shower room at work, it's not used that much so there's space to do so. If my shoes get wet I put them on a radiator in the basement to dry. So if you possibly can, try to hang your stuff up while you're work - I would be aiming to wear the same stuff home again if you can, to minimise the amount of gear you're carrying. If you're less of a slob than me, just wear a fresh tee-shirt every day - cotton gets very stinky after a while if you're of the sweaty persuasion. I've mentioned before that merino wool doesn't get smelly, but it's quite an expensive material.

Oh yeah, and some kind of waterproof jacket would probably be advisable.

Good tips on what gear to carry, but for perspective this is how I do changing.

I change at work, and don't sweat much on the 5km ride (always dressing to be a bit cold as I leave the house, as I'll warm up while riding but try not to sweat. In summer I'll wear just a poly rugby jersey, shorts and underwear. Right now, it's still just above zero, so full under clothes and a layer on top of that, shorts and socks).

I bring a new set of work clothes every day in my back pack, but inside of a 10L water proof bag that kayakers wear. Inside I keep a spare pair of underwear and socks in case of unsuspecting rain, and whatever trousers / shirt I'm going to wear. We don't have lockers at work, so the riding gear gets stuffed back in the back pack and zipped up to be stored in my cubicle.

Never really smells, afaik, though it could be damp and smelly for the ride home. Not a big deal there. For my shoes, however, I have dryer sheets that sit inside them and they seem to do the trick as my shoes look disgusting, but smell like a gentle summer breeze.

The moonlit ride around London link reminded me of this:

Charity that means a bit to me does a whole load of events/challenges. You can narrow it down to cycling only, they've got a few interesting things coming up - Edinburgh to Dublin, 100km night ride around London, London to Amsterdam to Brussels, London to Brighton night ride. In September they've got a group going to India. Take a look if interested

Thanks a million lads.

Is a very light merino tshirt comfy? As I said I am likely to be too warm rather than too cold unless it's winter or rainy and very windy (in which case I probably won't cycle).

My main issue is that I am in a small office (I have one employee) in a building with lots of other offices. The shower room doesn't seem to be used by anyone else so that's probably the best spot to hang gear alright, office wouldn't really work.

Defo important to look at those wheel nuts and see what I need to whip one off.

EDIT: @ Niegs - I'll be doing about 15K each way so I think trying not to sweat would require spending too long on the bike and the main reason I am cycling is for exercise anyway so I will hopefully be going in at a decent(ish) pace once I get up to speed. I suspect I will end up racing everyone like Wommers; I can't even stand to be overtaken as a pedestrian, immature fucker that I am! This will pose a serious risk of cardiac arrest at the start. Thank fook I am off the smokes!

Re the Merino top, I don't find it particularly hot if that's what you're worried about. For now, I'd just wear what you have and see how you get on. There are a few different approaches you can take if you decide what you have isn't working for you - for example a light synthetic top will dry quickly too, and of course lycra shorts (so when you see cyclists in full racing get-up, bear in mind that although it looks a bit silly, it is fairly practical from the point of view of drying and storing at work!)

I'm the same way. Spandex wearers are my favourite target. Last few have been terribly slow though as I crept up on them in seconds with my single speed, but then got stuck behind as it wasn't safe to pass. He had the mirror attached to his helmet and I could see him constantly looking back at me until he turned off.

Yeah, for the sweatiness, you're lucky you have the shower rooms. I technically could, but have to get the membership to the gym in the basement of another building to get access and I'm only a contract worker (three weeks left) so I'll probably not be there when it actually starts to get warm.


... oh, and helmets aren't law here for adults so I (stupidly) don't wear one. I wear a cap not unlike a US Army HBT cap, which turned out to be a godsend in the rain the other day as I didn't have one drop in my face. I'm looking for a helmet, but don't want one of those big jobs that makes me look like Rick Moranis from Space Balls. I'm thinking maybe something smaller like a kayak helmet or one of those low-profile ones the Harley riders wear.

apposite, it is simply astounding how very calculated and precise you are/want to be in simply getting on a bicycle and riding the damn thing!

I do what most of the others do except I leave my shirts in the office too and get them washed and ironed at the local dry cleaners.

A windstopper soft shell is great for when it is cold but dry (or at least not chucking it down). I bought a Vaude Sodo in the autumn and it was great over the winter with just a technical t-shirt underneath. Only occasionally I needed an extra layer, either a merino top or a cheap not-very-breathable waterproof over the top.

Some sort of windstopper skull cap or headband for under the helmet is also useful in filthy weather.

If that is the case, stay away from http://www.strava.com - you have been warned!