To all you 29er's out there!

Oh ta, when you go,

pictures please of pristine Scandanavian bush.

This seems to be a fairly good buy at under $400.00. Its a Marin, Urban 29r that I picked up last week.

Since then Ive stripped off all the stickers, rear brake, flipped and lowered the stem (have yet to cut the steerer and shorten bars) Turning out to be a hell of a beat around town/trails bike for the money. If one can be had in the UK it would be worth giving it an eyeball. Fork is even disc capable.

presume its fixed then?
o.k I guess would handle better with some grippy tyres for trails.

Oh, sorry. Came with a 15t fixed cog and a 15t freewheel pared with 33t up front. I checked the Marin website and the gearing seems to be spec'd differently there, but with the 29x1.6 rubber the gear inches seem to be a in the manageable low to mid 60s

dont be sorry, just ride it.
Theres a lot to be said for fixed off-roading, Havent done it meself (yet) but would definately give it go, high level bike handling needed, skidding through corners and all.

bookmarking thread for when I have lots of spare money.

dont be sorry, just ride it.
Theres a lot to be said for fixed off-roading, Havent done it meself (yet) but would definately give it go, high level bike handling needed, skidding through corners and all causes massive amounts of excess erosion and should be avoided where possible.

fixed

^I've often wondered about this Tommy, and if there's any advice around in regards to places we shouldn't be going off road?

Fork is even disc capable.

I think you should oblige!

lots of egs of internal hubs major downfall

At the moment I'm stuck with twist shifter only for the I-9, here's a picture of the bar end workaround:-

holdsworth's geniuses are working on a method so that my sram i9 shifter can be bar ended on my midge- will keep updated...

^I've often wondered about this Tommy, and if there's any advice around in regards to places we shouldn't be going off road?

[URL="http://www.onrock.co.uk/MountainBikingEtiquette.html"][/URL]

General outdoor common sense applies, if its been raining for weeks stick to fire roads, purpose built trails etc and leave the single track for better days.

Local authorities should be liasing with local clubs etc regarding certain areas. Bikers are only allowed on certain trails in wales at certain times of the day, from what little I have seen and read it appears to work.

Access in general is better in some areas than others. Right to roam etc.
Probably best to speak to a local club.

Can't seem to find much info on google.

^I've often wondered about this Tommy, and if there's any advice around in regards to places we shouldn't be going off road?

I think it depends where you are as to the effect. If you're at maintained trails then skidding does not matter but otherwise I personally think it's worth taking into consideration when riding, epically as erosion is frequently used against MTBers but infact cycling can do less erosion than walking but it can also do more. Weather is an important issue to think off too. EDIT: What aNdy said

This is only my opinion but I think it's worth remembering that a bike can be quite intimidating to walker when flying along so care around walkers and slowing right down is worth it. I presume you know the legalities of where you can ride off road (basically byways and bridleways plus some other designated area like some parts of private forestry commission land like on the south downs but no legal right of way on footpaths). Even though many footpaths are not different to bridleways and are only footpaths due to historical peculiarities and quite often some counties have many more bridleways (Kent vs Surrey is a good example here) than others footpaths are still dodge. This is where local knowledge comes in and choice of timing to ride and being very polite should you meet people can come in but footpaths are still best avoided IMO, but some short sections are regularly used with no problems, like I said local knowledge and hence frequently locals only at certain times (usually not on w/e). Like I said this is how I tend to go about riding off road and my opinion.

Thanks Andy and Tommy. I grew up in Aus and it's there that I've done most of my off road riding. I've always been a little concerned about erosion due to Australia's rather crap and fragile soil structure, but wasn't sure how it translates to the UK.
Also as you mentioned Tommy, there seems to be a number of historical anomalies when it comes to bridleways/footpaths that I need to get my head around. I guess chasing up some local clubs as you mentioned should be the best course of action... failing that, a spot of good old English manners and politeness on the trails couldn't hurt either.

amazing ^^ most Aussies I rode with there loved just going out and hacking around in the bush, its the bush mate, you do what you want.
maybe not in the N.P's, but in your back yard yeah,

http://www.iprow.co.uk/
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/index.htm

Happy reading Rascal.

I think you should oblige!

Perhaps I should indeed.

Went for my first ride on the beast lastnight, I named it Dave. 18 miles of mostly urban riding. The bike handled pretty well, the thicker rubber helped with the potholes and curbs. The trails are still wet from the 18 inches of snow that has melted away in the past few weeks so I didn't get any trail time in.... The weather is still in the mid 40s with a stiff north wind but I expect to spend a lot of time on it when the weather gets better. Money well spent in my humble opinion.

amazing ^^ most Aussies I rode with there loved just going out and hacking around in the bush...

I never drove a V8 either, that's why I've been exiled to the motherland.

Happy reading Rascal.

Thanks heaps for the info... but now I cant fain ignorance;-)

Your an ausie, shouldn't be a problem, I'm manx and its always worked for me.

holdsworth's geniuses are working on a method so that my sram i9 shifter can be bar ended on my midge- will keep updated...

I'm looking same way now, the first set of Midges are now on my geared bike with Dura Ace bar end shifters and I really like this setup. I could just get the Hubbub adaptor from SJS but £40 seems pretty steep. We are only talking about a bit of 22.2mm tubing being joined to some 23.8mm tubing via plug and expansion bolt. I have the necessary tubing so just have to devise a way of joining the two, excluding a homespun welding effort. I don't think it would need to be super strong as I won't be gripping/riding on it, just mounting the shifter. I was going to have a nose around B&Q and see if there's a plumbing style connection I could bodge.

What I'll probably do is spend about £25 sodding around with half arsed ideas and then decide it's all an epic fail. At that point I'll bite the bullet and spend a further £40 on the hubbub adaptor.

My favourate, but they dont do one for the 11 speed hub yet. Classic bar-end shifter desgned to work with internal hub gears.
http://jtekengineering.com/jtek_bar-end_shifter.htm

Not sure what your gear set-up is. But have you looked at the JTek site?
I have the DA bar-end shifter/ midge bar set-up MacB mentioned. I really like it. It has a very positive feel, and I can shift easily even in lobster style gloves.

holdsworth's geniuses are working on a method so that my sram i9 shifter can be bar ended on my midge- will keep updated...

This is only my opinion but I think it's worth remembering that a bike can be quite intimidating to walker when flying along so care around walkers and slowing right down is worth it. I presume you know the legalities of where you can ride off road (basically byways and bridleways plus some other designated area like some parts of private forestry commission land like on the south downs but no legal right of way on footpaths).
I remember struggling with this when I lived in Oxfordshire. The local land owners could'nt stop the ramblers, but could stop the cyclists. So they did, without any good reasoning.

In Norway cycling is as legal on footpaths as it is on the road. Which theoretically means you can ride where ever you want. Bikers for main part, steer clear of popular walking routes though. Its pertty clear which areas are more for pre-dinner strolls, and which are more open to cyclists. There are loads of well maintained trails (partialy graveled) further into the mountians, where you can ride. A few hardcore MTB'rs I know use the antena maintainance roads, which basically point straight up to the highest local peak, and are rarely used.

I remember struggling with this when I lived in Oxfordshire. The local land owners could'nt stop the ramblers, but could stop the cyclists. So they did, without any good reasoning.

In Norway cycling is as legal on footpaths as it is on the road. Which theoretically means you can ride where ever you want. Bikers for main part, steer clear of popular walking routes though. Its pertty clear which areas are more for pre-dinner strolls, and which are more open to cyclists. There are loads of well maintained trails (partialy graveled) further into the mountians, where you can ride. A few hardcore MTB'rs I know use the antena maintainance roads, which basically point straight up to the highest local peak, and are rarely used.

Personally I think there is a case for some footpaths to bar cyclists, the S.W coastal path in Cornwall as it's very busy with walkers and narrow (would make excellent riding) but if you could cycle on all footpaths people would ride the s.w path and it would be horrid. However most footpaths would be fien to allow riding on, also the thing that anoys me is when you see a bridleways on a map that suddenly changes into a footpath where clearly it carried on but due to historical events it's ended up as a footpath. The evidence required to get a change of status makes it a life times work so is prohibitive.

Personally I think there is a case for some footpaths to bar cyclists, the S.W coastal path in Cornwall as it's very busy with walkers and narrow (would make excellent riding) but if you could cycle on all footpaths people would and it would be horrid. However most footpaths are fine, also the thing that anoys me is when you see a bridleways on a map that suddenly changes into a footpath where clearly it carried on but due to historical events it's ended up as a footpath. The evidence required to get a change of status makes it a life times work so is prohibitive.

Like I say its pretty clear cut here.

Its mainly down to the geography. Citys and towns are built around hills/moutains. The higher wooded areas of these almost become parks if you like. Doesnt take a genius to realise these are'nt good trail riding routes.

Then again when you live in a country twice the size of the UK but with the population of say Manchester + Liverpool. Its not too hard to find some space ;)

(city center hidden by central mountain)
http://www.westcoastpeaks.com/pics09A/skolma050409_31aalesund.jpg

What the consensus out there on middleburn cranks? I'm really temped by a (second hand) pair of these. Are they worth the money? I'm not so keen on hollowtech as researching into them the baring don't seem to have very good longevity, I'd rather have longevity.

What the consensus out there on middleburn cranks? I'm really temped by a (second hand) pair of these. Are they worth the money? I'm not so keen on hollowtech as researching into them the baring don't seem to have very good longevity, I'd rather have longevity.

Nearly bought some myself, then opted to go external BB (hope ceramic). I get the impression the external vs internal BB debate is much like the whole shimano/campag one. Undecided.

My 2p.
I like the bigger axle, and bearings on external BB set-ups. Plus I dont see how external bearings can be less resiliant for off-road use. Are'nt they sealed in much the same manner?
The way the axle is integrated onto the drive crank arm, with the non-drive side clamped on with a pinch bolt. Just seems like a better way of connecting things to me too.

I'm not just on about off road durability but durability in general.

I know what you mean to me they should be sealed to the same level but it seems you only get a few thousand miles out of the bearing, with an expensive replacement vs 10s of thousands on a sq taper.

Also agree that the it all seems like a better way to connect everything. I'm just looking for some evidence of good longevity on anything other than people who have upgraded to phil bearings.