ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Shall we say Sunday 19th September then?shauncollier said:
anyone on here do the mary townley loop yesterday
- Thread starter Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
- Start date
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RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
I will be running 32:16. Yep, shock horror!! Redbike single speeds!
Just ordered a chain tensioner off ebay for a whole £2.99. I will be cutting my chainring bolts down later tonight.
My gears have failed. The quick release mount for a trailer I used last weekend has put so much stress on my dropouts it's has managed to twist the mech hanger out of alignment, the final nail in the coffin for my gears!.
My gears wern't exactly healthy before. The springs failing in my rear mech, my cables are that full of muck they wont move and my granny ring is so badly worn it's now un-useable due to chain suck.
All this means I've either got to spend a fortune (not an option) putting things right or go single speed path. - I can't believe i've given in. Can I just point out that I still don't really want to go single speed. I woud still MUCH prefer to have gears but i just don't have the cash needed to repair them at the moment.
Just ordered a chain tensioner off ebay for a whole £2.99. I will be cutting my chainring bolts down later tonight.
My gears have failed. The quick release mount for a trailer I used last weekend has put so much stress on my dropouts it's has managed to twist the mech hanger out of alignment, the final nail in the coffin for my gears!.
My gears wern't exactly healthy before. The springs failing in my rear mech, my cables are that full of muck they wont move and my granny ring is so badly worn it's now un-useable due to chain suck.
All this means I've either got to spend a fortune (not an option) putting things right or go single speed path. - I can't believe i've given in. Can I just point out that I still don't really want to go single speed. I woud still MUCH prefer to have gears but i just don't have the cash needed to repair them at the moment.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I feel your pain! My Rock Lobster was out of action for over a year while I agonised over spending the required large sum of cash on it. Eventually I remembered that I had £200 stashed in premium bonds so I cashed them in to pay for the parts.RedBike said:
Now I've realised that I need to fit new tyres... I have a spare front one but I'm going to have to get a new rear soon because there is virtually no tread left on the old one - no grip whatsoever in the slippery stuff.
I'm amazed that someone hasn't come up with a lighweight extended mudguard for bike transmissions. A bit like those chainguards they used to have on old sit-up-and-beg bikes. If the chainrings, sprockets, chain and mechs were covered to keep the crud off them, they'd probably last 10 times as long. I know that parts on road bikes only ridden in the dry last a heck of a long time.
RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
trio25 said:
Not that she walked up any last time!
OP
OP
Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
oh good some company on the walking up hill bit. 19th sounds good. hopefully it will be a nice crisp autumn day. what time are you thinking?
red,
we all knew you'd crumple
. but cost
is the main reason i'm ss. like trio says, just don't get embarrassed walking. i don't think i could manage 32:16 round mtl 
one things for sure, i don't think i will giving up full sus anytime soon. i'm not that hardcore
red,
we all knew you'd crumple
. but cost is the main reason i'm ss. like trio says, just don't get embarrassed walking. i don't think i could manage 32:16 round mtl one things for sure, i don't think i will giving up full sus anytime soon. i'm not that hardcore
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I've only tried full sus once and I didn't really like it. I met a stranger up on the tops and he was riding a very expensive-looking full suspension Whyte bike. We got chatting and he offered me a go on it which I thought was pretty generous considering that we were at the top of a long technical descent and his bike was worth about 4 times what mine was! I rode away from him and had to wait for him at the foot of the descent so it wouldn't have been difficult for me to scarper with his bike.shauncollier said:one things for sure, i don't think i will giving up full sus anytime soon. i'm not that hardcore
I didn't like the various clunky noises and rattles from the suspension. I also felt a bit disconnected from the surface I was riding over. I prefer the simplicity of a hardtail (though I do have a USE Shokpost to take the sting out of the back-end). Mind you - I end up walking down a lot of the really technical stuff...
Hmm, cost- and weight-wise that would be good but I remember the battering I used to get on my zero sus Orange. I was very happy to start riding my Rock Lobster with its heavy, but plush Marzocchi suspension forks.trio25 said:
RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
I have had two full sus bike and I greatly prefered them over the hardtail.
The first was a stumpjumper 120. I had to sell it when i realised just how much it was going to cost to service. They wanted something daft like a £100 for the 'brain' (part of the rear shock), £80 for the rear shock, £50 for the forks and £50 for the bearings. That was before you started fitting new cables, chainrings etc. I brought GT avalanche for less than the service would of cost me and quickly flogged the stumpy.
After the GT I went back to a full sus in the form of a Marin (wolf ridge). Lovely bike. The only trouble is it weighed a ton, literally! Part of me wishes I had kept it. But it was really hard work on the uphills. I even ended up fitting a 34 tooth cassette to help me out on the climbs.
Then there was the Lobster. It's nowhere near as capable on anything technical as the Marin but as i'm useless on anything technical anyway we get along just fine.
The first was a stumpjumper 120. I had to sell it when i realised just how much it was going to cost to service. They wanted something daft like a £100 for the 'brain' (part of the rear shock), £80 for the rear shock, £50 for the forks and £50 for the bearings. That was before you started fitting new cables, chainrings etc. I brought GT avalanche for less than the service would of cost me and quickly flogged the stumpy.
After the GT I went back to a full sus in the form of a Marin (wolf ridge). Lovely bike. The only trouble is it weighed a ton, literally! Part of me wishes I had kept it. But it was really hard work on the uphills. I even ended up fitting a 34 tooth cassette to help me out on the climbs.
Then there was the Lobster. It's nowhere near as capable on anything technical as the Marin but as i'm useless on anything technical anyway we get along just fine.
OP
OP
Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
6 inch at front, 5 on the rear. still only weighs about 23 to 24 lbs now. no way am i going rigid front or back. like to fly down technical bits too much.
I happened upon this thread by chance and was wondering something.
How hard is the MTL?
reason I ask is my son (14) has got into cycling in a big way. mainly road cycling with a local club (regular 40-60 mile club runs)but we both fancy a bit of off roading when we go on holiday during oct half-term.
We won't be too far from Hebden Bridge so could we make it?
What spec bike would you need? I have a specilized hardrock and my son has a giant boulder. Would these get us round?
any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
How hard is the MTL?
reason I ask is my son (14) has got into cycling in a big way. mainly road cycling with a local club (regular 40-60 mile club runs)but we both fancy a bit of off roading when we go on holiday during oct half-term.
We won't be too far from Hebden Bridge so could we make it?
What spec bike would you need? I have a specilized hardrock and my son has a giant boulder. Would these get us round?
any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I haven't ridden it all in one go, but I have ridden most of it at one time or another and have done a 45 mile offroad event taking in much of it and some other local bridleways. It is pretty tough - about as tough as 100 hilly Lancs/Yorks road miles on the legs, but with upper-body battering as well!striker said:
The thing is, the MTL criss-crosses several local valleys so there are multiple bailout points should you need them. If the offroad stuff becomes too much, you can always ride to the finish on the road.
Don't forget - there are only 10 hours of daylight at the end of October. I'd suggest starting at dawn if you are going to attempt the MTL at that time of year and you are not sure that you can even complete it, let alone ride quickly.
We had snow and ice here at the end of October last year, so you will have to take weather conditions into account. There are a few places on the route where you wouldn't want to be falling off at dusk in bad weather! Mobile phone reception might well be poor in places.
What you might prefer to do is to split the MTL into two halves and do it over two days, staying at a B&B near Waterfoot which is about half-way round from Hebden Bridge.
RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
It's a hard two day ride.
Unless you're some sort of climbing god you have to push up a lot of the climbs and depending upon the conditions / your ability you can expect to have to push down a few of the descents too.
I found this report very helpfull.
http://www.lancashiregroup.southlakesgroup.org.uk/2009photogallery/photos-1st-april.htm
Unless you're some sort of climbing god you have to push up a lot of the climbs and depending upon the conditions / your ability you can expect to have to push down a few of the descents too.
I found this report very helpfull.
http://www.lancashiregroup.southlakesgroup.org.uk/2009photogallery/photos-1st-april.htm
