Be Excellent To Each Other

Something like this then
https://www.stif.co.uk/mtb/product/ks-e ... Ar7N8P8HAQ

I really can't ride off​ road with SPDs. I ride with a group and the guys in SPDs fall off at least 100% more.
Got out on the Roady for a couple hours last night which did wonders for my mental state

Took my planet x out on a 43 mile ride yesterday. Loved it.

Cant walk properly today and the 1 hr recovery ride hurt.

I think i need a new saddle, if my distances are getting longer.

First 'proper' ride today. On mile one I arrived here. Despite reading regularly about cars being pulled from the ford after being stuck, I rode through it anyway. And got stuck. Miles 1-16 were completed with wet feet. Aching quite a bit now, as it was a proper slog in places, due to my lack of match fitness.

Get yourself some sealskinz socks.

I've been out riding recently. Put new boots on the bike that have made it much easier to ride in an urban environment. Obviously the scenery isn't anywhere near as pretty, but the roads are so awful I suspect the ride wasn't anymore comfortable than yours, even though I'm riding and Orange Pro

I was looking forward to a nice ride today, but have come down with a cold, so gave it a miss.
Off to watch the Redditch Tour event on Tuesday I think.
http://www.tourseries.co.uk/venues/redditch/

Or use the bridge

I'd really like an Orange Pro, but Finance Controller might have other views on the matter. They are very popular around here. I met the Hope Technology guy, Woody, the other week. He was riding their new prototype enduro bike ("Probably around £7-8k, fully built"), and he was a really nice guy.

Yesterday's route is quite nice (Bingley and Harden Moor) , it gets all the climbing done at the start, and then it's mainly singletrack on the off road bits, linked by quiet roads. It follows the old pack horse trails that linked the mills. It'll keep you interested, and is a good route post work. Looking at strava, all the downhill off road bits were considerably quicker, which is the bike, not me.

That looks excellent. Have I seen it on tv? I like criterium races, might take Hale to Otley races tbis year.

It's shown on ITV 4, normally a few days later. It's a nice format for new spectators to watch as there's enough variety in the fitness of the field so there's always someone coming past after a few laps. The redditch circuit is easy enough to ride in person and the steep hill is enough of a challenge on tired legs.

A few years ago there was a short race for teams from local businesses to have a go at in the afternoon, but we found out too late to enter.

Some one stole my PK Ripper that my wife bought for me in parts



I had it locked in the hallway but the guy in the flat above us came home really drunk and had a fist fight with his "mate". I was just listening to it but the woman in the top flat phoned the police, who came after the guy upstairs had gone and then left the door open so my '13 Ripper disappeared.

I phoned the insurance company who initially said they were not going to pay out because it was not locked "down" sorta thing and I burst into tears. They phoned me back a couple of hours later and said they would pay, yay !

So I decided to get another PK Ripper. As it happens it worked out well, because at the exact moment my bike was stolen the only Ripper available in the UK was the dog's balls version. A recreation of Mike Buff's 1980s bike.



Sealed Skyways, Redline Flights etc.



I changed a few things. Carbon post, Primo pedals and ODI Mushroom 2 ltd ed. Thing is, I never even rode it. It's still in the hallway awaiting final tweaks. What I wanted was a Quadangle like the one that was stolen from me in Brixton in '98. I got clonked over the head and it was gone. It looked a bit like this one.



But was all red. I loved that bike as my grandfather bought me the F&F just before he passed away

So I decided to build another one in his honour. Started out by locating a frame and fork set from a 2007 (as it's Cro Mo so would hold my 18st ass)



Arrived all the way from its spiritual home (CA) about a week later.



And then over the space of three months I gradually bought all of the parts. Thanks to my wonderful wife and mother a chunk of it came as birthday presents and a bit of paint and powder and an awful lot of work later and, tadaaaa.

John Coffey! Hope you're well, apart from some cunt stealing your bike.

Thanks Mark you too matey you still flying? I really need to repair my Cougar.. Still sitting on shredded tyres haha.

Here's something not very interesting: Half mile downhill on single-track which gets moderately technical. In the steep bit, there's many step downs of a foot or more and it is all rocky.

130mm rear wheel travel and bigger wheels is worth a minute to me, compared to the 26 inch wheeled hardtail hoodoo.

Ah another strava user

Decided to ride about four miles. I would normally ride twice that but it was just too hot. Got off the road and headed to the beach path.



Couple of miles later and I found this lovely little oasis.





Hazelnut coffee. Was really good as it goes.



Quite a view.





Every time I ride this bike I fall in love with it a bit more. It's light, geared perfectly and probably the stiffest BMX I've ever ridden. It's incredibly responsive.





Decided to ride back pretty much standing the whole way. Regret it now. Hot coffee + hot sun + jogging bottoms and 2 miles does not = good haha.

Best intro to an instructional video ever





Sacred Royal Deer

I have officially grown up. 2016 SE Racing Quadangle 24.

That's the same weight as my full suspension mtb!

Nearly twice the weight of my road bike

It's 13.65kg "stock". However mine isn't stock. I bought the frame, forks and brakes from the U.S.A and have used lighter parts all over than the stock SE parts. As an example those Araya copy wheels are half as wide as the ones that come on the bike and the tyres are half the size. So yeah, have shaved some weight off but it is a heavy frame. It's a replica of the 1979 Quadangle. The bike that basically invented BMX.

And there's a lot less to go wrong too.

I really don't like cycling, I mean I don't mind riding bikes but any distance and it just doesn't really agree with me. I don't know why, I love running but cycling just annoys me. But I'm thinking that once our daughter is in primary school I might start commuting by bike, it's a nice route along the sea front where I only need to take to the road for two or three miles at the start/end. But due to the lack of any showers at work and also and my aforementioned dislike of pedalling a long way I was thinking of one of them there e-bike conversion kits. Does anyone have any experience with them?

If a bike is serviced properly, there is less to go wrong....

Yup and there is far more to service on a bike with gears. I never could get my head around tuning gears. And when they are not right it's horrible. Clicking, skipping, jumping chain etc.

Going back to the weight thing. I don't like light bikes. I've got an Alu bike here, and I don't like how firstly it feels like you are riding on air but I don't like how most of the shock from going over bumps etc all seems to go into your wrist. I don't like suspension bikes, so yeah, prefer a good 4130 for riding. Tis not like I'm flying through the air or anything daft like I used to.

Wait, that's not even sort-of true.

Unless you remove stuff from your bike as part of the service

Yes, they're awkward and fiddly. Buy a Bosch motored forme or Peugeot or something for £1200 on the cycle to work scheme.

Less likely to go wrong then

You really don't want to try a carbon frame then

Never ridden a carbon frame. But yeah, alu bikes just feel weird. It's not just the shock to your wrists and hands either, your arse seems to take a pounding too. I rode a alu BMX a couple of years back and really didn't like it at all.

I could have bought an alu cruiser (So Cal Flyer) but yeah, decided on 4130. Got the sussy post to give my arse a break

walked straight into that one, didn't I?

I don't mind fiddly so much if it works in the end. But I've just done a bit of reading up on forums and it seems that there's some pretty reliable options out there. Really fancy the idea the more I think about it, if only to see how much it upsets all the bike nerds at work. Something to think about anyway.

MarkG, I was looking into bike to work options lately after my folding bike folded terminally.

If you're feeling spendy, you'll look the coolest dude in town on this:

A Bike

Or if you're spending less, I don't see a single thing wrong with this:

Zoooooom

Instead of buying a bike, you could move to Manchester and just hire a mobike whenever you need one, although they are having some teething problems. (The geeezer who posted this doesn't know how to spell Ancoats.)

Carbon fibre should be more flexible than aluminium, it is effectively a plastic. The carbon fibre xc mountain bike I used to own was a lot more comfortable than any aluminium hardtail I ever rode.

I always found a heavier bike easier to control when airborne; lightweight bikes a lot more twitchy.

Funny you say that. When I rode street during the 1990s I had a Standard STA. I'm serious man, this bike was like a motorbike. It weighed nearly 50 lbs.



That was it there. That was my gap bike (dropping off walls, transitioning etc) and it was like an ox. It had to carry me, and I was about 14 stone back then.

LOL have a look at the dropouts.



Tank

Ordered this motorbike just now:



Not as pretty as the other one I was looking at but I don't really need a mountain bike with suspension forks etc. This is a lot more suited to what I want it for, has a bigger battery and a stronger motor, should be capable of 40-50 miles even if I can't be fucked with really pedalling. Arrives Tuesday, can't wait!

And a luggage rack!

Yeah, that's one of the things that I figured I would probably have ended up getting for the other one anyway. I'll have a laptop sometimes, perhaps different shoes, hefty bike lock etc.

How much does it weigh?

24KG so you wouldn't really want to be carrying it up a flight of stairs every day anywhere.

Or peddling it if the battery goes flat.

It arrived earlier so I just got it all set up and had a quick spin. Love it, smooth on those big chunky tyres and even on the low assist setting it's pretty effortless and on the higher settings you're doing basically nothing. Not as bad to pedal with no power as I'd thought it might be either. Off to work on it in the morning, can't wait.

Does it make a milk float noise?

Did you get to work?

Yeah loved it! Pretty much stayed at 20mph or so on the flat parts, which is a decent enough clip on a bike and for most of the time the motor wasn't really doing anything. Although it's a heavy bike once it's up to speed you can switch to pedal power and it's not hard at all to keep it going with just your legs.

Mostly used the motor for pulling away from lights, keeping the same speed up the few shallow hills I encounter or cycling into headwinds. I think riding it like this I'll probably be charging it only once a week or so. So I arrived at work feeling like I'd had a bit of exercise but hadn't broken a sweat which was exactly what I was after really. I'll easily be able to cycle home and get there feeling just nicely warmed up for a run.

Super!

Does it drive the sprocket, or straight to the back wheel?

Cool! Does it have regenerative what ever so you can get electricity back when you go down hills?

This one's a hub motor driving the rear wheel directly. Which is the simplest type of setup but also has some advantages in terms of longevity of the other components since it's not putting all the torque through the chain and gears. The disadvantage is that it's not ideal for very hilly places since the motor can't benefit from the gearing to stay in it's ideal rpm range.

Nice one. Look forward to you adding more LiPos / LEDs