Two wheels, no motor

[niblue]

I too have many (too many according to SWMBO) bikes staring at me as I go into the garage (4 in all)

I've got four as well. I hadn't been riding much so far this year but getting out a couple of times while we were on holiday (Western Isles and far north west of Scotland by motorhome) got me back into it. I even managed to get myself out of bed early this morning and do a ride in the Pentlands before work.

[Steve H]

We are staying here for a week HERE Then moving onto Skye for the second week. Its a family holiday so any rides will have to fit around what they want to do, so it will probabaly be a case of finding what I can within riding distance of the cottage. Oddly enough I get more riding in if its raining as theres not much else thay can do.
The Epic looks good, definately 'trumps' my StumpJumper! . How do you find the BRAIN ?

[niblue]

We are staying here for a week HERE Then moving onto Skye for the second week. Its a family holiday so any rides will have to fit around what they want to do, so it will probabaly be a case of finding what I can within riding distance of the cottage. Oddly enough I get more riding in if its raining as theres not much else thay can do.

There are some trails in the Tarbert area including what's supposed to be a decent/reasonably tough one called the "Fire Trail" near Lochgilphead. The Crinan canal is a good family cycle route (again further north near Lochgilphead). Some of the other forestry commision areas will also have rides - not done any of them myself though.

The Epic looks good, definately 'trumps' my StumperJumper! . How do you find the BRAIN ?

Mine is one of the first Epic's, much upgraded over the years, with one of the non-adjustable Brain's - however I've always found it works well for me. I put it together specifically to do routes like the 7-stanes where there is a lot of climbing but you still want to have fun on the downhills. I've found it to be excellent for that as it climbs as well as a hardtail (it's quite light at 24lbs) but with full-suss available on the downhills it's also good fun.

[niblue]

These are my other two bikes:

On-One Inbred. This spends some of it's time set-up as a road commuter with slicks and some of it's time as a mountain bike. At the moment it's more or less like this photo, but with a set of Pace carbon rigid forks fitted. It was supposed to have been put together with a low-budget spec but ended up getting hope wheels and brakes because I happened to have them lying around.


Specialized Tricross Sport. Didn't actually need it but when our company signed up for the bike-to-work scheme I couldn't help myself as it was such a good deal (our company chips in £200 on top of paying the bike off before tax is deducted etc.). I already had a cheap road bike (Giant OCR3T) but sold it to placate SWMBO.

[Steve H]

There are some trails in the Tarbert area including what's supposed to be a decent/reasonably tough one called the "Fire Trail" near Lochgilphead. The Crinan canal is a good family cycle route (again further north near Lochgilphead). Some of the other forestry commision areas will also have rides - not done any of them myself though.

Cheers that looks good. The Canal ride looks quite good for the family, have you ridden the "Fire Trail"

Mine is one of the first Epic's, much upgraded over the years, with one of the non-adjustable Brain's - however I've always found it works well for me.

Ive found the pro-pedal to be quite good, but I have a tendancy to forget to turn it off when I reach the top, and have nearly lost it a few times when reaching down after starting a descent. I find the lock-out on the forks makes the biggest difference to climbing, especially when up out of the saddle.

[niblue]

Cheers that looks good. The Canal ride looks quite good for the family, have you ridden the "Fire Trail"

I haven't. The only time I've been in the area with the push-bikes was with the family. We were staying in Lochgilphead so did the cycle down to the end of the Crinan canal and back. There is a good cafe in Crinan (as well as an excellent restaurant in the Crinan Hotel) and the ride is pretty much completely flat (barring a couple of rises at loch gates) so it's an excellent family ride.

Ive found the pro-pedal to be quite good, but I have a tendancy to forget to turn it off when I reach the top, and have nearly lost it a few times when reaching down after starting a descent. I find the lock-out on the forks makes the biggest difference to climbing, especially when up out of the saddle.

The forks on my Cotic and Epic both have lock-out but I find that I don't now use them that much, although I used to quite a bit. I'm more of a "sit-down and spin" type of rider though, with only the very occasional bit of out of the saddle stuff. When I first got the Epic the forks it had at the time had a lock-out without a blow-off valve and there was many a time, especially at Glentress, that I'd forget to turn the lock-out off after climbs.

I've just this week got back into the habit of going for an early morning ride in the Pentlands before work and I'm enjoying it so far. Yesterday the weather wasn't too nice but this morning it was glorious up there. I always like being up there early in the morning when no-one else is about.

[Steve H]

I've just this week got back into the habit of going for an early morning ride in the Pentlands before work and I'm enjoying it so far. Yesterday the weather wasn't too nice but this morning it was glorious up there. I always like being up there early in the morning when no-one else is about.

I do my best to get out twice a week. I'm on the edge of the Brecon Beacons so theres quite a few mountains on my doorstep to play on. Weekday evenings are pretty quiet apart from the occasional dog owner walking their suicidal dogs. Had a huge labrador/cross knock me off once, I ended up using the bike as a shield to keep it off me, the dog thought it was great fun !, I didnt.

[niblue]

I do my best to get out twice a week. I'm on the edge of the Brecon Beacons so theres quite a few mountains on my doorstep to play on. Weekday evenings are pretty quiet apart from the occasional dog owner walking their suicidal dogs.

Some bits of the Pentlands can get busy at the weekends if it's sunny, however most of the time it's very quiet and even at the weekends there are plenty of places that few people ever visit, as they mostly stay close to the car-parks. I was up at 6:30am this morning and there was one dog-walker in one of the car-parks but that was the only person I saw.

Had a huge labrador/cross knock me off once, I ended up using the bike as a shield to keep it off me, the dog thought it was great fun !, I didnt.

Worst I've had was being pursued by a swan once when cycling along the Union Canal. I think it was protecting it's young or something, but it was a big bastard and quite aggressive. I did the same as you and used the bike as a shield while I went past it.

[themoudie]

Gentlemen!

A shameless plug for the Forestry Commission, if you are fond of off-road pedal power!

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6MQD2A

If you require 'local info' I shall try my contacts!

Keep the skinny rubber bits facing earthwards even if they aren't in contact!

My regards, Bill.

[Steve H]

Cheers Bill, the "Places to go" search threw out a few useful ideas.

[guest27]

We are in the Afan Valley, so if any of you are looking to ride the World class trails we have here, we have a spare room etc...

Google Afan Vally and bike trails for a list etc...

Must get my bike and knee back working.

R

[guest18]

As an aside to all this non engined bikey stuff, anyone know anything about electric bikes? I'm thinking of the retrofit type motor in the front wheel battery(ies) on the rack sort of effort.

Anyone got one? Know what's good/bad/lousy?
Probably not relevant just now, just idle curiosity... (unless if/when we move West we are near the union canal... at which point I could be very interested in a high power type  )

[guest27]

As an aside to all this non engined bikey stuff, anyone know anything about electric bikes? I'm thinking of the retrofit type motor in the front wheel battery(ies) on the rack sort of effort.

Nowt to do with lekky bikes, when on ols in ornwall the local square was invaded by 30 odd Breton Velo Solex's - have some pics and video somewhere - ow do I put it on ou-tube?

R

[guest7]

My cycling took a massive blow to the nads recently when I suffered my worst asthma attack for over a decade. For the last few weeks I've been getting breathless even at rest so my riding has been restricted to gentle flat work.

The new little bike is a blinder and fairly flies along. It's a bit disconcerting riding something that feels exactly like all my other bikes, but when you look down you can't really see any wheels 

Cheers
GC

[guest564]

I've got a leccy bike, its a Synergie Avanti. A long way from a hardcore off road but it OK, it is quite heavy. I tweaked up the contoller so it does 20mph now. Consider it as electric assist rather than full electric or the range will be very limited. If you're go to convert a pedal cycle then you need to ensure that the forks and frame are strong enough to take the torque.