pete_scorpa3

The Clarke Skeletal brakes in my picture above fitted straight on, no modifications necessary. All I did was shorten the front brake pipe so that it didn't stick up too much. 160mm as standard, the 185's went straight on. Pete

I bought a front and a rear. Incidentally, they come with a spare set of pads but after 17 months of use, I am still on the originals.

Pics of the Skeletal front brake.

I fitted some Clark Skeletal brakes, the rear fitted straight on with no modification, the front just needed the pipe shortening a little. Managed to do this and get it back together without loosing the fluid, so it didn't need bleeding. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clarks-Skeletal-Front-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-w-185mm-rotor-SX185FW-/190642039718?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item2c6326aba6 The whole job took less than 30 minutes and the difference is amazing. My daughter simply didn't have enough strength to apply the brakes and the Skeletals are adjustable for both reach and span. The twin piston hydraulic set up with 185mm wavy discs is superb compared with the single piston cable version fitted as standard. That said, you get what you pay for, they are not cheap. I'm sure there are less expensive mountin bike brakes that will do the job ok. I hope this helps. Pete

It's good to see Ross Danby and the JTG on the top spot.

Possibly a good suggestion. However, wouldn't another British championship simply dilute the status of the championship winners? And what if some riders decided to stick 'easier' with the 'non stop' championship, would the organisers be happy to put on events for less than ten riders?

I had a look through my old videos to see if I could find one that demonstrates what Woody is saying. I did find this one of Becky Cook in the Colmore from 2009 (the fact that it is Becky has no particular bearing on the subject, it could have been any of a number of riders.) This was the last time the Clubmans championship was run under TSR22a Stop allowed. Therefore, a rider could stop without penalty, but any backwards movement is a failure. How would you score this ride? No critisism of the rider, or the observer intended, so I won't go into the score given, but just a demonstration of how even stop allowed rules can be difficult to judge. Pete

Good advice. Plus riding with his peers is very motivating for a 7 year old! ESTC do a good seperate conducted route. They have an event this Sunday. Here's a shot taken a couple of years back.

I use an air powered one that is invaluable a few times each year, but I am lucky enough to have a compressor. A compressor is a handy thing to have, as well as running air tools, it makes changing tubless tyres possible. Pete

Fans were a bit weak on those, make sure it turns on and off correctly when warm. I had a few new Technos ( 95, 97 and 98) and never really had a problem with any of them. (And that was in the days when I rode 40+ trials a year!) My new 2004 Rev3 on the other hand :wall:

If you have the old ones out, you can measure them and get the bearings according to the dimensions. I have used this company inthe past, on common sizes, you can even choose the quality (price) of the bearing! Mega fast delivery too. http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/ball_bearings.php?gclid=CPCl5Yuiv68CFZARfAodFB3Cvw

Thanks very much, that was the info I was looking for. I hadn't really thought the generator idea through, running one for eight hours just to recharge the batteries seems a bit excessive now I think of it. Probably going to be easier to go home, recharge and return the next morning. Thanks again for the info. Pete

That's intersting to hear, I've never owned a T5 although my better half has a Golf and that's been brilliant. People I know who have T5's swear by them. I simply wasn't prepared to pay the same money for a T5 that would have had 70,000 more miles on the clock.

Yes, I would say the LWB version would be long enough. I also tried a LWB before I bought mine, but they are quite a bit longer which makes it tricky to park. As I use the SWB as my car for 6 days a week, it's good to know that I can get it in a normal car parking space. I went to a Renault main dealer and tried their demos in both lengths. They even had a very low mileage SWB in stock but once they added the vat, it took it out of my price range. I was lucky enough to find one with under 6000 miles that didn't have vat (smallcompany went bust) so it was ideal.

I've got a 2010 Trafic Sport SWB van, I looked at the crew cab version but there isn't enough rooom in the back for a bike. I've fitted side windows and three seats and have the best of both worlds. In the week, I have a six seater family vehicle (three kids under 7) then at weekends I can take out one rear seat and get the trials bike in, or all three seats and get three (maybe more) bikes in. I've been really impressed so far, I chose the Trafic as it has slightly higher spec than the Sportive (alloys, fogs etc) plus it came up at the right money. Just got back from two steady runs to the Forest of Dean and back (adventure camp for the eldest) and averaged 39.3 mpg. On day to day running it gives more like 36 mpg. One thing you need to check is the insurance, as I've modified mine with the windows and seats, some companies would not insure it. All vehicles have issues and I'm sure the Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar are no exception, there are horror stories of injectors and gearbox faults are common on higher mileage examples that have worked for a living. It's fair to say that it's not VW T5 build quality, but they cost a lot less. I hope this helps. Pete

I don't know what to look out for. What makes them bad?

He's looking to spend 850 Euros, not 85,000!

Now there's an idea I hadn't considered. Thanks for that Andy, any idea where the Scooby Clubs got theirs printed?

I've been following this topic throughout as I have both a 24v and a 36v Osets and battery life is a subject that is important to both my riders. We have a two day event coming up and one set of batteries simply will not do, but there is no mains electricity available at the venue to recharge them. Can anyone tell me what size petrol generator it would need to recharge the standard 12v batteries (one 24v, one 36v) ? Would it be worth doing, or would it be easier to drive back home and charge then overnight, then return the next day? we used to use a 1.5 kva generator for running the road race tyre warmers, but would I need one that big to run the chargers? Pete

Yes, if you could get one for less than 850 Euro's, you could afford to throw it away after 2.5 months and be no worse off!

Not transport, but the bit between transport and riding. I'm looking to buy a pop-up gazebo to use at events. I know I would not have time/be bothered to put a normal Gazebo up, but a pop-up one may be worth the effort. I will use it mainly for signing on at our club trials, so it won't be used overnight or anything. But having never seen one in real life, I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has one. Homebase sell a pop-up Gazebo for £84 with sides but will this be too cheap and cheerfull? Do they really go up in less than a minute? Cheers Pete

If those figures are finishing times, you can see that many of the riders who lost 20 marks on time were more than 20 minutes late finishing. I have no idea why these riders were not excluded, there may well be a very good reason. But if the time limit was scrapped, why were many riders given a 20 mark penalty?

As above, 10 Euros a day for 2.5 months is going to be something like 850 Euros, I would have thought it was far cheaper to buy a bike, use it and sell it at the end. A decent 2007 trials bike could be found for around £1600 in the UK, even if you wore out a set of tyres in the 2.5 months it would still be worth £1400. If you looked after it, you would probably get your money back! To me, 10 Euros a day sounds fine if you only want it for a week or so!

In the results, the last column appears to have a time against each rider. It looks like their actual finishing time? If that's the case, you can clearly see who was more than 20 minutes late.

I use a small measuring jug and put 80mls into a 5 litre can, give it a shake and pour it in the bike. However, the girl in this video mixes her's a different way. :popcorn: