Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Marston Vale Bang

Whilst starting a second loop around Marston Vale at the weekend, Chipmunk's rear tyre exploded with one hell of a bang. As it was UST I expected to turn around and see Dozer half covered in green slime :p Fortunately (for him) only the outer casing broke with the gloop retained.

Funnily enough, we'd only mentioned replacement boots for Chippy's ML a few nights before (the ACX's were looking a bit tyred!) and had pretty much settled on some Conti's - which'd impressed her on her Leith Hill demo.

As these are light weight I'm not sure if we'll try these tubeless just yet. They sure look fast with their chequered sidewalls ;)
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Thursday, October 18, 2007

PSA: Formula Oro K24 Recall

Courtesy of the Formula website, highlighted on MTBR.

Formula Oro Disc brake system may be the subject of a safety recall. If your bike has a Formula Oro disc brake system installed, STOP RIDING YOUR BIKE until you determine whether your brakes are part of this recall.

The set screw which secures the pin which attaches the brake lever to the master cylinder may come loose. If these set screws come loose, your brake levers may separate from the brake, rendering the brakes inoperable, and you could lose control of your bike and fall.

Check the serial number of your brakes at the brake lever. Brakes with a serial number lower than 295237 are included. If you have an affected brake set, bring it to the bicycle dealer where you purchased the brakes for inspection and repair. For questions about this recall, checkout Formula's blog.

Recall poster.

Repair instructions.

Update: Two of the posse are affected :( but at least they're aware of the issue.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Ee By Gum or Dalby Forestnorth

Ee By Gum
or
Dalby Forest/North Yorkshire Moors - 25-27/04/08


Anyone fancy a weekend cycling in North Yorkshire? Lots of news about the recently opened trails at Dalby Forest (Uphilla has even tried some out).

I did a blue route about 5 years ago with the family, the hills aren’t as big as Wales and the tracks might not be as rocky, but I still think there will be lots there to test us all and have some fun at the same time. Probably spend a full day at Dalby and then ½ day on a local XC route. We have details of a few other XC routes in the area and we could always return to Dalby to repeat the sections we liked. I suggest the main riding Sat and Sun, but the keen ones amongst you can have a ride Fri and Mon.

Dalby Forest Trails
Dalby Trail Info

More Dalby Trail info

XC Route
Local XC route

Cabins, nearby at Keldy Forest
Cabin Info
3 nights Fri - Sun
6-8 std, 3 beds £259
4-6 superior, 2 beds £259

Let me know if you are interested, but to avoid the nightmare that poor old Farqui has had organising the last few trips I think I’ll let people get together themselves in small groups and book their own accommodation? It will depend on what response I get and how quickly.
Update 16/11/07 - 2 * 6-8 std, 3 beds booked for 25-27/04/08 - spreadsheet linky
Uphilla & Dozer

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Google Empire

Over the years Google (our friendly hosts) have been steadily expanding it's free offerings and it's portfolio is looking impressive;
These are crackin' functions aren't just easy to use, they're darn useful. Where would we be without our beloved blog and you've probably already checked out their spreadsheet option that we've used for costing our trips.

iGoogle - is the Google search page that started off their empire building. These days you needn't settle for the basic search box, you can include all manner of fantastic "widgets". Here's an extract of mine page that helps me stay bang up to date. On a single page and without having to trawl off to loads-a-websites, I get to see almost everything I want on a single screen;

left; Bikemagic and MTBR activity
middle; RSS/feed reader, STW news
right; emails, Knobblies activity, my calendar

All these widgets are easy peasy to setup and drag around until you're happy with the layout. Now how cool is that ? If your parental taxi driving duties are so demanding then this single offering is THE must have.

RSS/Feeds - are explained nicely on the WWW but all you need to know is what a particular website uses as it's "feed" address. Knobblies has several; one for posts, one for comments, both, etc. Enter this special feed address (not the standard web page address) into your reader which will create you a subscription. To receive all the latest activity from your chums at Knobblies, enter our feed address;

http://knobblies.blogspot.com/atom.xml.

Picasa - Google's focus isn't just restricted to web applications as Picasa, GoogleEarth, etc also have local software available for free download. Anyone who has lots of pic's stuffed into their PC would be well advised to give Picasa a try. It even allows direct blog'g from that "must see" pic you've just snapped ;)

Calendar - This has recently caught my eye with the ability to easily check another person's schedule, all from a central web store. Chippy and I are now using it to good affect and I wondered if any of the posse might be willing to sign up and give it a try ?
At the top of the sidebar you'll see a relatively new link - allowing you to view the Knobblies diary.

Checkout an extract of mine (right) showing numerous different calendars, each being very easy to show/hide.
wit
Once you've created your own diary and shared it hus, we'll then have a terrific tool for planning future trips. For those that have to work shifts, have demanding parental duties or loads-a-holiday's we'll be able to let others know when they're available. Don't worry you can restrict access to specific peeps so "her indoors" won't necessarily know what you're up to :p

Give it a try and see what ya think.

*UPDATE* here's a current snap shot of the actual Knobblies calendar
Maps - has been growing in functionality and it not only allows you to see maps and satellite imagery it also has direction/route planning. Even allowing you to click/drag the route around if you're not happy with the default. Gone are the days of typing in "go via" or "bypass" options - brilliant.

Google, you're doing a great job - keep it up !

Afan, Whites Level Extended

New Trail For Afan
Singletrackworld.com

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Goodbye Mars Bars...

...and free radicals - hello rich, tasty cocoa !

You Should Cocoa!
BikeRadar.com

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Afan Ride Tally

For the accountants out there, here's a spreadsheet listing the mileage/height gains from last wkend.