Family MTB ride through to Auckland Castle Tea Rooms

The forecast was dry & sunny so we decided to have a very long over due family mtb ride out. On the way out to Bishop Auckland along the old railway line it was overcast, spitting rain and a massive headwind - just great. By the time we got to Willington the clouds had gone and the sun was trying to come through. The next stretch of line is more sheltered from the wind until to hit the viaduct at Bishop. It was wild going over the water but we soon dropped down and around to the Castle to park the bikes up for some refreshments. Order placed but no hot chocolate left and the scone was a little over cooked, cream was runny! not like them but the lass did say nothing was going right for them today!
We were looking forward to the tailwind on the way back which was a real benefit and the sun was out. The lines are still very wet and muddy puddles in places. Loads of horse riders out today, quite a few cyclists and only a couple of dog walkers/runners.
Arran took his Mukluk with 26x4" on the front & 26x3" on the rear. Angus was on the Krampgrease 29x3" on the way out and swapped with me on the way back for the Beast of the East 27.5x3". Jane was on the only normal mtb hardtail-  scott contessa.
Below are a few pics from ride, enjoy and more soon. Happy New Year Wishes to all the readers.

Tweaking the Beast of the East

Had a spare hour or two this morning so decided to alter the seat post height, slide the saddle back, tweaked the rear mech cable tension and adjusted the tyre pressure's.
I then stripped down the chainset / bb for greasing and found some water in the bottom of the bb shell. I forgot to block the hole off at the rear of the seat tube where the dropper seatpost cable was supposed to come out. There was no bung so I taped over it for the time being until I can find/make a rubber bung to go in.
I then greased the bb bearings and reassembled the chainset. The spindle is the new drilled out even lighter version, see photo below. That's it ready for another ride for some more bedding in.
Then I gave the man cave a tidy up and cleared my workbench so I can see the top again!

Fresh Goods Sunday - Lightweight Reservetank Water Bottles - 500ml

I was after some more new water bottles for my road bikes and was also looking to update my bottle cage on my Cannondale Nano Black Ltd Edt at the same time. So after buying the Lightweight road bars I noticed they also did a rather nice / expensive bottle cage.
When we were over in the Lakes we called in past Push Cycles, Ambleside and they had the cage and bottles on display. Bottles were a tenner each! now that is expensive for a plastic bottle but Sigma Sport also have them for a fiver and at the time of looking an extra 10% off with free postage. I know everyone has to make a profit but to mark them up to over 100+% more is just too steep in my eyes.
Also with Sigma you get one free bottle with the cage (more on that in Part 2 next Sunday). Back to the bottles they are made by Tacx with the lightweight logo. They have a nice feel / shape to them with a wide mouth as well. They come in black or white and also a 600ml version for £6. I have tried them in a few different cages and the bottle holds well. The only downside with all non clear bottles its hard to judge just how much juice you have left.

Here is the manufacturers blurb on them -
Produced in conjunction with the bottle wizards at Tacx in Holland, the Lightweight Reservetank Bottle 500ml is the perfect easy-to-use bottle for quick and easy drinking and refilling.
The simple screw top design means the bottle can be cleaned and refiled in an instant and the large mouth piece design allows you to drink quickly and cleanly during exercise.
Available in either a black or white colour scheme, the elegant design looks great in any bottle cage or jersey pocket.

Cannondale Beast of the 'N' East - Part 3 - first ride

Well the forecast was right, it has finally stopped raining and sun has come out - long time no see. Me and my two boyos hit the local, very wet/muddy trails this am for a spin out. I took the Beast of the East (well for most of the ride), Angus on the Krampgrease & Arran on his Scott Scale.
It was a bedding in ride and due to the trail conditions it was testing its traction/grip to the maximum. After the first few miles I had decided the saddle needs to go up a touch and slide back on the rails. Rear mech cable needs a quarter turn, tyre pressure was too high, 18psi rear & 15psi front. I am going to drop them down to 12psi front & 15psi rear and see how I get on. The Lefty defo works and I came back with no sore arms/wrists and the more upright position helped my bad back as well. It was just too wet / muddy to be chucking it about on the singletrack through the woods, plenty time for that. It was more comfy to ride than both the Beargrease & Krampgrease. Cannot say I noticed the difference in rolling diameter between the 27.5+ & 29+ wheels but we were only on a short steady local ride with no big ups or downs to speak of.
Below are some pics from the ride, enjoy and more soon -