The worry is consumption, we just have to make sure our consumption is cleaner. We need to do this through massive government investment in new technologies, much like government heavily invested in new technologies that enabled the industrial revolution.

You don’t think there will be food shortages?

It’s scary to think that it took around 100,000 years for our population to reach 3.5bn, yet that figure had doubled in around 45 years. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty when it peaks, but it will probably save many a problem.

That barchart makes no sense, I think it needs some axis.
Is that year (AD) on the x axis and population (million) on the y?

You know, when I got home from school when I was 11 or 12….on 9/11…..the first thing to spring to mind was that Green Peace had gone a bit too far.

Well I’m no treehugger, but you have got to admire their desire to actually do something about it rather then just accept it as the way it is, even if many of them are as mad as a meat axe.

I’m actually rather pleased that for once someone get’s my rather robotic sense of morality instead of calling me a “Hitler”. (No hard feelings about that by the way)

😯 I didn’t call you Hitler if you are referring to me. But I do agree with your solution if not your view on humanity.

Why should we apologise for who we are?

I didn’t say that, it annoys me when people think our technological development and dominance over other species is a good thing and something to be proud of. Well, maybe it is, but we should not be proud of the way we have achieved this since the industrial revolution.

Why should we apologise for who we are?

I didn’t say that, it annoys me when people think our technological development and dominance over other species is a good thing and something to be proud of. Well, maybe it is, but we should not be proud of the way we have achieved this since the industrial revolution.

That’s what we should be focusing on but we should focusing on technological and consumption issues.

I’m worried by Malthusians and feel their arguments could be used for all sorts of ill thought out policies by dictatorial regimes.

Instead of going backwards and making an attempt to control our population through eugenics or whatever, we should be driving living standards up to reduce the birthrate whilst focusing on technological solutions to our pollution problem.

Science, as always, is the way forward.

I 100% agree.

I prefer the term ‘evolutionary success story’ to plague.

Yeah well you would wouldn’t you. You’re human……..sort of.
That doesn’t change any facts though does it.

@ernie_lynch nah mate, the actual atoms aren’t damaged are they? The electons are still intact so technically it’s all good. We’re just relocating them so its all good. Jk, jk. 😀

I agree, but in the long term we’re not exactly keeping the environment stable though are we?

What then, is so immoral about out performing our competitors?

The fact that we are slowly, and very successfully ruining our environment, for our co-inhabitants and future generations, instead of using our “morality” to cut down on consumption and create a sustainable equilibrium.

It’s not okay to just destroy everything and claim it was supposed to happen because it’s nature and we’re the dominant species. That sounds a little like Hitler believing it was okay to commit mass murder because he thought Aryans were the dominant race and the needed lebensraum.

No we don’t, we may digest them, or contaminate them with other bits of nature that were maybe not previously, but we don’t destroy anything. It’s all a big cycle isn’t it?

I don’t see how you can be so narrow minded that you think that we aren’t destroying parts of nature.

Oh right, of course, we’re not destroying enormous parts of the Amazon rainforest, because we use the wood in our homes so it doesn’t count…..

Yes, in terms of millions of years it may be a cycle, but that doesn’t mean it is okay to treat our environment the way we do. It’s also unfair to treat the home of future generations with such disrespect. We are buying our quality of life with our children’s.

Humans are part of nature… But we go around destroying other parts of nature. It’s not that he’s excluding humans from nature, it’s that humans are excluding nature from ourselves.

Exactly 😀

Haha, that’s what the whole thread taught me.
Basically you can get the shock custom tuned to match the leverage ratio of the bike, type of riding and rider weight. However, that’s quite vague and if I wanted the shock to be perfect, I would need to ride it to find out what needed changing, because everyone want’s their bike to feel different.
I’m also not a serious racer, so I may not even need to bother if it feels okay.
Plus I am very short of money at the moment anyway – so all round a good decision I think!

So many narcissistic egomaniacs in the Telegraph comments. He’s is quite clearly not suggesting we start culling ourselves, he is merely making a point, which in my opinion (although I don’t think it’s a matter of opinion) is correct.

Thanks! I’ve got it, just waiting for the last 4 components and I’ve run out of money – so frustrating!

Nothing. For the moment. I’m going to build the bike first, and then ride for a few weeks, ride some downhill, maybe an enduro race, put it through its paces, and then I’ll decide whether it needs a tune, and what it needs doing.

You should be able to get most of the stuff pretty cheap if you look around and aren’t too fussy about branding – Park tools are a rip off in my humble opinion.

I’ve got this one – it has a crank extractor too for Shimano Hollowtech cranks, which is usefull:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=10179

I’ve been fiddling around without a workstand for years, but I bit the bullet as I don’t want to build my bike without one – I haven’t used it yet, but it’ll save you loads on the price of a freestanding one if you’ve got somewhere to screw it in:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=10228

Oh! Also:

Chainwhip
Tyre levers
Single handed grease gun, with some decent grease.
Chain lube
GT85
And a bleed kit unless your happy getting your LBS to do it.

Um I haven’t got a bike specific toolkit, but I’ve been collecting the odd tool when I need it and I think the main ones are:

Allen key set and some torgue wrenches.
Set of spanners and sockets.
Cable Cutters.
BB tool.
Cassette lock ring tool.
Rubber mallet.
Vice.
Spoke nipple tool.

Obviously you could get by with some of those things, but that’s what would be on my list! Hope this helps…

In all seriousness though, if you are being sensible, I’d buy a decent hardtail like a Cotic or Ragley or something or a cheap full suspension like a Boardman. Or even get a nicer bike second hand. That way you can learn loads, the bike will easily be able to take anything you want to ride given that you are just beginning, and you can sell it / upgrade it when you want something better.

With regards to XT, that’s rubbish, shimano SLX will be fine. They are both equally reliable IMO, but XT looks nicer and weighs less.

If you genuinely want a £2K bike and can afford it then do some research and get a 120 – 140mm full suss, and get out and have fun! I wouldn’t get an Orange Five or you’ll be quite rightly stereotyped and you” probably get judgmental looks you’ll get from other riders.

Your a beginner. Your budget is around £2K and yet you haven’t done much mountain biking before. You test drove and Audi. Sounds to me like you need an Orange Five, you’d fit right in with most of the others 😉

Hmmm, I’m thinking bedroom.

Seriously though – I’ve seen people greasing stem bolts – is this a bad idea as it will cause the bolts to come undone – or should it be done?

Pedal threads?

Headset bolt?

Steerer?

Thanks.

When I get out on my road bike, I’m always on my own, but I get bored of road riding, so this isn’t very often.
When I had my FR bike, I would ride downhill exclusively, so I would always ride with friends, I don’t think I would have nearly as much fun riding DH on my own – it helps to follow people and spur each other on.
I’m building an AM bike, and while I will continue to ride DH, my trail and XC rides will mostly be solo.

I rode for a few months on my 100mm XC hardtail and a pisspot. I decided to get a fullface after wrapping myself around a tree after losing my footing midair on the Corkscrew table. Mind you, the fullface bit is yet to be needed.

Most of the stuff is okay, other then GBU / endo so you should be alright if you are going at a steady pace and have a suitable bike.

You can also buy a fullface from the shop……

I can’t see any benefit ❓

Oh how I wish MTB components were standardized, much money has been wasted buying parts that don’t fit. I keep learning the hard way 🙁

Yeah, I guess there is no harm in speaking to Loco, and finding out how far off a medium tune would be.

@Messiah – I know there will be a difference, but I may as well see if the shock is any good as it is and make do with it for a while and then get it down. My riding will no doubt have improved by then, as I plan to start doing Enduro.
Or if the shock is feeling crap, I can get it tuned without service, a few weeks after my bike is built.

Yeah, I’ll put the money towards buying the last few parts of the build.

£35 7 hour shift washing up 🙁

I think whether a custom tune is worth it or not, there isn’t much point even thinking about it until I know what I want – I think it probably is worth it when I know what needs doing though.
While I’m not a bad rider by any means, I do wonder whether the money might be better spent on some coaching – anyone been down that route?
I tend to think that regular practice and working to fix poor technique when you recognize you have it is a more economical method.

@Coatsey – how does your five handle downhill at FoD – have you ridden the drops on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, or any of the DH runs for that matter.
I’m curious to see how far I can take my five when it comes to DH….

I’ve gotta say, Trimix makes a lot of sense – I think that in terms of riding £35 would be much better spent going towards a coach day, or finishing my build off (that would be useful 😉 )

Yeah, I’ll see how I get on with the standard tune – if anything feels wrong, I’ll probably get back on here to ask for advice.

Ah Geetee, didn’t see your post. That’s really useful – I think you’re right – I’d have to ride it for a bit to know what I wanted – besides the standard custom tune for rider weight and bike etc.
I might try and get it custom tuned without a service after a few days out riding.
Thanks for the help!

Yeah, that sounds like a wise plan.
I’ll ring up Loco tomorrow, to see if the standard tune would be wildly off for the bike.
In an ideal world, I’d rather get it tuned now, as I can do a basic service myself, and it would be much cheaper then getting it tuned with a service in a few months.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

With you on that one!
Also a fan of Withnail and I, Pulp Fiction, Shawshank

Not the nicest looking bike, but you should take a look at a Last Herb – awesome bike from what I’ve heard. Extremely versatile, a little heavy, but amazing when it comes to DH, according to Dirt.
Other suggestioons :

Alpine 160
Labyrinth Agile
Nicolai ion 16
Giant Reign

The Forest of Dean is great, but it’s normally over an hour away, depending on traffic, as is Cwm Carn, and If I’ve got, say half a day for riding, I ideally don’t want to spend 2 hours travelling.
For an all-day trip they’re perfect though!

Those routes on Swindon MTB will be really useful though – thanks!!

I think they’ve stopped sending them out now – I haven’t had any in my last 3 orders. It might be that all the ones that were sent out have expired now too,
Bad luck 🙁 Still, Jan sale, can’t complain!