Jesus!

Lemming wrote:

I saw an excellent piece of signage at a particular trail-head in Hamsterley forest (Durham, ye olde place of eye-sight tests by driving ... ) that besides the usual "this is a red/black/whatever grade" trail stuff, it also had contact information for the nearest hospital. That bit of information alone would make most people pause and reflect on their abilities, their bike, the weather, etc.

Yea, I do love the take the p1ss signs, it's great to see some safety folks have a great sense of humour, and it works really well, my uncles in the game, great sense of humour, works very well, gets him jobs to!

Lemming wrote:

But then again, given the bike in question was a BSO with wide tyres, perhaps something less subtle is required to aid the minds of less introspective or observant folks. Perhaps an initial trail feature (for example a drop-in with no chicken line) that that comes with a warning sign that if you cannot ride what is in front of you at the very start of the trail, then this trail is likely beyond your abilities and thus not for you.

That's a great idea, many do seriously misjudge how difficult this game is, when setting off, it still happens myself, from time to time. we started making entry points extremely difficult a couple of years ago, mainly as we were having a lot of bother with none mountain bikers, trails getting wrecked, we also wanted to challenge ourselves. a new entrance is lethal, I'm terrified of it, it's seriously dangerous, but it is putting most off, including myself, which isn't a bad thing, you can easily get ahead of yourself in this game.

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Yea, I do love the take the p1ss signs, it's great to see some safety folks have a great sense of humour, and it works really well, my uncles in the game, great sense of humour, works very well, gets him jobs to!

I don't think was intended as a p1ss-take; the sign was just dry-as-fvck (and thus funny in its own droll sort of way) and, besides being genuinely informative, if you have never seen such information plastered beside the start of a trail before, it does make you stop and have a ponder as to what features might be found on a particular trail that necessitates providing medical contact numbers up front.

CramCycle wrote:

My favourite this year has been sending a club wide email telling people not to touch other riders equipment in public

Hey now, this is the modern world, we re not too far from crossbreeding with the animal kingdom, each to their own i say

Thargor wrote: »

When people say 29 is faster than 26 on the road/flat, what kind of speed difference are we talking about roughly? Assume decently fit cyclist.

Quite a bit and how long is a piece of string. You won't see many 26r at the XC championships and nothing to do with sponsors/marketing pushing sales. Personally I don't like 29r but I've ridden them and they steam roll everything but tight corners.

First reply on Twitter is the owner:

https://twitter.com/gpeuc/status/1313842724362223630

Thargor wrote: »

I need 2 small end plugs...

These work?

[url] https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ie/en/lifeline-alloy-screw-in-bar-end-plugs/rp-prod155567?gs=1&sku=sku568320&istCompanyId=0f15660a-f13e-4c09-a701-b55d8c3f2e59&istFeedId=21ccdaa5-24f7-4b32-9ec6-ac7081b9b50b&istItemId=iwxrmpppx&istBid=t&pgrid=55940684381&ptaid=aud-967909798765:pla-416048435430&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PLA+All+Products&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|s03kIM3cd_dm|pcrid|294740729969|pkw||pmt||prd|568320IE&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt4X8BRCPARIsABmcnOqvETVe_xnIvWkrTBDdjBv3syH8rjQVTggQqFwsCobMnpgcCTyZH2oaAjG_EALw_wcB[/url]

Thargor wrote: »

Thanks but Its the same problem though, internal diameter of 18mm means it will still have the mushroom effect if I get them, plus I want plain black not with a horrible screw hole in the middle, I give up tbh, Ill ask in my LBS.

Description says internal of 18mm or greater. Judging by your pics it's 18.7, so thought they would work.

Can help with the colour or bolts though.

They are not much good at all. The rear one in particular. Any rough rock gardens etc will knock it down to the wheel. These are a lot better imo https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ie/en/rapidracerproducts-enduroguard-standard-front-mudguard/rp-prod171884

xxyyzz wrote: »

A mudhugger is usually the gold standard front mudguard for the depths of an Irish winter. For the rest of the year then something like what Wailin suggested is more than adequate.

Mudhuggers can also be cut down and modified to handle rear triangles too; as inspired by Sam Hills race bike setup. It got covered in a youtube video; either Ben Cathro or GMBN if I recall.

Ben Cathro also did a comparison video with the various mudguard options ranging from none to the type linked above to a mudhugger (or other equivalents such as the new offering by Pete Tompkin - he of Crud catcher fame). The big take away for me at least from the video is just how much of a difference bigger mudguards make in terms of stopping crap getting flicked up into your face & eyes.

Anyone know what the story is with buying stuff online from the uk over Christmas and it not getting dispatched until after January 1st. Hoping to buy a shock from tftuned over the next few days, and they will be closed until the 4th of January. Will i be exempt from the new Brexit import duties etc due to ordering it before January.

CramCycle wrote: »

As far as can tell you will get stung for customs so it will add a fair whack on if it comes in after the 1st January regardless of when its ordered, even if ordered before. You'd be better off waiting for a deal to be struck or ordering elsewhere unless you can collect up north.

What a mess :rolleyes: getting some vouchers for tftuned for Christmas, won't be worth a damn.

What's the story with buying from chain reaction? Are they still based in the north or is everything routed through wiggle in the uk?

iwillhtfu wrote: »

They closed down their NI warehouse last year and kept the store so I'd imagine everything is now routed through England.

That situation may reverse itself depending on how Jan/Feb goes with regards to Brexit and N.I. finding itself able to avail of better EU market access than the rest of the UK.

But until/unless it does I would expect slower re-stocks and higher prices.

iwillhtfu wrote: »

They closed down their NI warehouse last year and kept the store so I'd imagine everything is now routed through England.

It's a pity, the 2 day delivery turnaround was always great with chain reaction when it was coming from the north. I've been using alltricks a lot lately, it's considerably cheaper than chain reaction but delivery is pretty slow. There's a shop in Waterford called Altitude which has a pretty good online store also. I only came across them recently.

Peter T wrote: »

Has anyone gone rigid fork on a modern(ish) bike ? I've been day dreaming for some time about getting a gravel bike but part of me is thinking I could buy a rigid fork and all the other paraphernalia and cobble a 650b gravel machine out of my 2017 sentier.

I've had two rigid mountain bikes in the past. One was an On-One Inbred on which I changed out the fork myself, the other was a Cannondale Singlespeed - zero suspension and only one gear - that was hard work but rewarding in some senses.

I have to say for MTB I enjoyed the Cannondale lots, it rewarded smooth riding and with a big tyre, carbon bar, foam grips and a reasonably flexible fork it was actually not too bad in the rough stuff - I should have kept it and added some gears. The inbred was fun as well but not as much.

It looks to me though that you're thinking of converting in the hope of avoiding buying a gravel bike? I wouldn't see the point in that to be honest, just buy a new bike.

I've spent the last couple of my months mulling over whether to buy a carbon hardtail or not. Ideally I wanted a Canyon but the wait time just seems to be getting longer and longer. And then most of the shops around Ireland are out of stock. Anyway, today I pulled a trigger on a Trek Procaliber 9.6. I should get it in the next few days

rizzodun wrote: »

What sort of riding do you do and where?

I'm primarily a roadie. Derroura in Galway is less than half an hour away so that will be my main trail. I'm lucky in that there is a short trail in a woods right beside my house so that'll be handy for quick spins after work before the evenings get longer

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Hi All,

Couldn't find a better place to put this without starting a thread, but I'm looking at starting out with MTB (commuted by roadbike until lockdown) I live within 5k of Ticknock Trails so figured I may as well give it a go.

However, would a chicken-sh1t newbie be a nightmare up there? Conscious that in the youtube videos I've watched of the trails there doesn't seem to be overtaking spots so I'd be holding people up by cautiously figuring it out.

You'll be grand there's always someone faster and if someone's creeping up on you pull up off the trail and let them on. Unlikely to happen though as there's usually an ebb and flow to guys on trail.

Get stuck in and enjoy

Cheers guys, now to get my 15 year old MTB sorted! I'm gonna see what lasts longer, my interest, or that bike. If I like it, like most do I'll buy something c.€1k as I can use Bike to work.