Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Fat Bikes For Sale UK

Thought I would put together a few Fat Bikes that are currently for sale on Ebay.

As you can see it's a mixed bunch with some good entry level prices on some half decent bikes.

Fat Bike Salsa Mukluk 2 - £675.00

A good spec on this bike with lots of upgrades

Click on the link here ----->> https://ebay.to/2sSRx6B To see more.



Coyote Fat Man Fat Bike - £275.00

In good used condition - bargain price!

Click on the link here ----->> https://ebay.to/2Tm9PZu To see more.


On One Fat Bike - £450.00

1 x 11 Set Up - Medium Frame - SRAM - Carbon Forks

Clink on the link here ----->> https://ebay.to/2sR0hKu To see more.


Voodoo Wazoo Fat Bike - £270.00

1 Year old and very little use.

Click on the link here ----->> https://ebay.to/2WuKY7N To see more.



So if you are thinking about getting a Fat Bike but not wanting to spend mega bucks, these are the bikes for you.

The best one out of the bunch is the Salsa Mukluk and is the most expensive here, but to be honest, if you are just wanting smiles and a blast around your local trails, any of these are up to the job.

Ride safe....



Monday, January 28, 2019

Calibre Dune Cracked Frame Warranty Update And Knackered Wrist!

A couple of days after I had taken the bike into GoOutdoors I received a call from them.

The mechanic had taken a look at the frame they had in stock and it was damaged so was not happy with using it, which is fair enough.

So they are now in the process of a full blown warranty claim, which I thought was happening anyway!?

I have not heard any thing from them yet so will give it to the middle of the week to see what the score is.

Not that I can ride a bike at the moment as I have done my wrist in!

This last week I took a short term contract via an agency to do some yard work at a propane/butane gas cylinder refilling plant.

Those big bottles are nearly 98kg when full and by the time you have shifted a hundred plus of those around plus a similar amount of cylinders at half that weight it takes it out of you.



Unfortunately I have managed to give myself acute tendinitis and if that wasn't bad enough carpel tunnel syndrome (trapped nerve) both to my right wrist.

I ended up  seeing an out of hours Doctor on Sunday as I was in that much pain.

I am now on meds and splinted up!


The work was really tough, but the rest of my body coped extremely well, the reason I took it on was I thought it would help with my upper body strength.

I personally think it was the fact that I had to do so much work with very little help from anyone else over a 12hr shift. I did not take into account that I am no longer 18 years old!

I'm not sure if it was lifting the bottles or the continuous spinning/rolling of the bottles, either way it buggered up my wrist.

I reckon at least a week of doing nothing but resting my wrist.

So for those who can - ride safe...

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Cracked Frame On Calibre Dune Fat Bike

On my last ride I could hear a creak as I peddled. I put it down to either the bottom bracket or the pedals creaking.

As there was only a noise as I was peddling, I thought that it had to be either of those two items.

However, it got me thinking. I had read on-line that there have been a few problems with the frames of Calibre Dune Fat Bikes cracking.

I wondered if the noise that I could hear was actually the frame flexing?

I went back out to the bike, tipped it over to look underneath and low and behold there was a crack on the bottom rear stay!

Further investigation on line found that the very same day someone else had suffered a similar fate.

The crack is not on the weld, but a few millimetres away from it. This happens because the weld was overheated which makes the aluminium weak away from the weld.


Obviously a problem in manufacturing somewhere along the line.

Anyway, I contacted GoOutdoors who suggested that I bring the bike back into them for inspection, it would not be looked at till Monday due to staff shortages but bring it it.

I also fired off a message to Calibre via FaceBook to see what response I got from them.

This was late Friday evening.

Later on that evening I received a reply from Calibre asking for a photo which I sent them back. By this time it was gone 2245hrs, but within seconds I received a reply back from them saying thanks and that to take the bike in to GoOutdoors as arranged and it would be dealt with.

Well, considering the time of night, I thought that to be excellent customer service - so well done Calibre!

The picture below is the bike naked, I also took the seat post out as I did not want my Brooks saddle to be damaged whilst in the workshop.


It feels so light in stock mode!

I took the bike back to Southampton GoOutdoors on Sunday (today).

I walked in and found the guy that originally sold me the bike working away building bikes, told him the story, he looked at it and agreed there was a crack and said that they had a frame out the back and would swap components off of mine and onto the new frame!

There are only two snags, well one really. Firstly due to staff shortages and time the bike will not be ready till the 30th January at the latest. 10 days - which to be honest is not too long and they did say that it may be done quicker.

The other snag which may actually work out to be a benefit (not sure yet) is that the frame they have is a "Large" and my current frame is a "Medium"

Now, I am hoping that this will help me as it does mean that the head stock will be higher on the "Large" frame which will be a benefit.

I realise that the frame is longer by approx 2cm, but that adjustment can be made from my saddle to bring me further forwards.

So with a bit of juggling and testing out I am hoping that this will work in my favour.

Time will tell I guess?

Anyway, as I am about to start a 3 week contract working 12 hour days, cycling would of been at a minimum so there is no great loss in training.

I just hope it does not snow as we rarely get snow in these parts and to miss out as there is a slim chance of a sprinkling would be just my luck to not be able to ride in it!

Ride safe....

Friday, January 18, 2019

Day 39 Week 6 Trail Blazing Lungs At 90% Capacity

I left it a couple of days before I ventured out on the bike again.

My chest was still tight, and I just was not feeling right. But today I felt a little better and as it was dry decided to head out across the forest.

I had plenty of day light hours so decided on a longer route, just to get a few more km's in.

As it turned out, it was a good ride, the sun was shining, but the wind blowing in from the North was cold. The pictures are deceiving, it's looking like a summers day!




You really felt the chill when you stopped, which I did often.

The ride exhausted me, as I said I stopped often and fuelled up to keep myself going, but my legs were shot by the time I got home.

I managed to complete 35km which I was pleased with, but I am still not right, it will take a while longer to get back to where I was before the New Year!

I reckon my lungs are still only working at 90% capacity.

Not sure if I will get out on the bike over the weekend, and the next 3 weeks are looking a little hectic as I will be starting a 3 week contract working 12 hour days.

The money is good, but it leaves little time to do anything else.

However on a positive note it is a physical job, so I'm going to use it as 3 weeks of muscle building - and hopefully my lungs will be back to near normal by the end of the contract.

Till then, ride safe.....

Day 36 Week 6 - Lung Test 75%

As soon as I returned from Holland I went down with a chest infection.

I spent 4 nights down stairs not sleeping as each time I lay down my lungs would try to exit my body through coughing!

An all together unpleasant experience.

So this was the first time I have been out on the bike since Holland.

My chest was still tight, and I was still prone to coughing fits, but I had to get out and do a couple of km's just to see how good or bad I was!

I took it easy, did not push myself, and avoided hills to try and give myself an easy ride.

I did not go far and felt on my return that I was still along way off from being 100%

But a ride is a ride and was pleased I'd made the effort to go out even if it did nearly kill me!

Ride safe.


Day 23 Week 4 New Years Day Lunch Ride To Camperduin

Happy New Year.

Last night we saw the New Year in twice, once as we were watching BBC tv and then again an hour later in line with the Dutch!

The Dutch certainly know how to put on a show, massive amounts of fireworks were lit, nearly every house had them, the noise and colours in the sky was just unreal!

The streets were littered with the firework debris!








The next day just myself and Kiera went for a walk around the village, 5 mins for the centre there is a small wild life enclosure with lots of animals in it. It only takes 15 minutes to walk around it. I wonder what they all thought of the fireworks!

Bergen really is a lovely village to live in.









Walking around the village you do see some interesting houses - I liked the look of this one!


We were having lunch at Camperduin, as always we cycled - lots of hills on the way out and a headwind which did not help, but we got there dry!



Not sure how as once we were in the restaurant sat high up on the dyke, we could watch the rain clouds blow in from the North. There were a couple of really heavy down pours - No one was looking forward to the ride home as a soaking looked inevitable!

A great lunch, and then we made our way home, helped by a fierce tail wind. It did rain, but thankfully not enough to soak us.

Well, that's about it for our Dutch trip.

The next day we loaded up, said our good byes and headed home.

No problems on the roads, but we had to que for at least 40 mins to get onto the train.

Back in good old Blighty we stopped at a service station, had a quick bite to eat, came out to the car and found that someone had emptied all their rubbish straight onto the floor - it really pissed me off as there was a bin less that 20 feet away!



What possible reason could they have for thinking that this is acceptable?

The difference between Holland and England is huge, this would just not happen over there.

Welcome home!

Ride safe. 

Day 22 Week 4 - War Graves - Alkmaar - Egmond Aan Zee - Bergen Aan Zee - Burning Off Lunch!

Another day on the bikes - I love Holland!

We have not used the car since we have been here - everything is go geared up for cycling.

Today the sun was shining and it is New Year's Eve!

I wanted to head off out on my bike as the girls were all off shopping.

My first port of call was the War Graves - There is over 200 graves, which are beautifully maintained.

I was told that this year on Christmas Eve a candle lit vigil was held where the local villagers placed a candle on each headstone. Very touching indeed and a credit to the locals for doing so.



I walked up and down every line and said out loud each and every name, they will not be forgotten!

I must admit I shed a tear, I was the only one there so could get away with it.

From here I retraced the route we did the day before and headed towards Alkmaar. Instead of going into the town I scooted around the edges and made my way out towards Egmond Aan Zee.

As of yet I haven't had chance to take a proper look at either Egmond or Egmond Aan Zee - maybe next summer.

Up to the coast and then back through the Dunes towards Bergan Aan Zee where I was meeting everyone else for lunch.

As you can see below, plenty of folk out walking along the beach at Egmond Aan Zee.





Made it to Bergen Aan Zee bang on time and had a fabulous lunch.

Now it was time to burn it off by cycling the short distance back to the hotel.

A good ride of 40.5km in windy but dry conditions.

Ride safe...