Thanks unklehomered – excuse my ineptness!

As I suspected, ITV4 missed the Wiggins crash. He was basically leading into the 2nd to last corner after the Cav crash and then just seemed to lose grip at the front.

Luckily the guy next to me got in on video – I love what Wiggins says…

Ahhhh, Colonel Wilma Deering. She caused me feelings I didn’t entirely understand at the time…

Was stood at the 2nd to last corner where Wiggins went down (very bizarre, no idea why he seemed to plough straight on).

Have to say, didn’t see any cameras around apart from a motorbike so not sure how great it would’ve looked on TV.

Will be watching the highlights though.

Thanks for posting! Was hoping you’d share your thoughts.

Sounds like you gave it a pretty thorough test!

I must admit I was expecting the brakes to be a bit rubbish so that was something I thought I’d want to upgrade. And i did wonder whether I’d want to change the forks for something bouncy… if I was to buy one that is…

damn… damn… damn…

wishiwascalledsteve – the ‘dale looks nice in the flesh. Let me know how it rides…

Orange P7
Vanilla R, XT, hope proII on XM317, Hope X2 brakes, Orange finishing kit. 28lbs – but, in STW cliche, “rides lighter”.

Or, a pair of wetsuit socks.

Your feet are going to get wet whatever, you may as well keep them warm. (Based on my experience of winter shoes and ‘waterproof’ sealskinz.)

Well, you lot are show offs.

I have my trusty P7… and nothing else. Though I might buy a rigid fork and some wheels to singlespeed it over winter. Does that count as 2 bikes?

Oh, and I have my stolen/recovered Pipedream frame in the loft. She never felt the same after being ragged by some scallys.

I generally seem to avoid most stuff. Which is good because when I do get a cold I’m a whimpering wreck of a man.

That Curtis is lovely, but I’m still leaning towards the Singulars. They just look ‘right’.

I like the idea of being able to run gears too. I think I love my P7 too much to change to a 29er though… but maybe if Orange did a P7 29er…

As CFH says, they come up a bit narrow, but length wise are fine. I don’t have the thinnest feet, but I find my 3 year old Mavic Razors very comfy. Would happily have another pair.

shortcut – that Singular looks lovely!

Had it a few times. Always left side, lower back and tops of legs. Has left me in bed unable to move for pain once or twice. Generally caused by incorrectly lifting things, not sitting correctly at the desk, or not stretching after running/biking.

Codeine is the only thing that deals with the pain for me. Get to a chemist and they should give you a combined codeine/ibuprofen tablet that will help.

As others have said though, get it checked!

What I really need you to do is tell me how rubbish it is and how much you regret spending the money!

I left a sealskinz sock in the carpark in 2010, please tell me you found it as my right foot is getting cold on rides!

A late 80s Dawes Ascent (the basic one). I broke a crank on Sheeps Tor, Dartmoor, and had to phone my mum to come and get me. Think it’s still in my dad’s garage somewhere… [wanders off to phone dad…]

Phew, thankfully that Surly isn’t in my size. However, that Cannondale SL3 is… damn, damn, damn… must resist…

Just stop it! All of you, now!

I don’t have any more room for bikes and my bank balance is very unhealthy so please stop posting up these ridiculous frankenbikes that I definitely, definitely don’t want.

Had mine for 3 years, and they’re holding up well. Very happy with them and would easily buy again. Not great during the depths of winter/rain, but with some sealskinz they’re ok.

Just started it and a couple of chapters in. Enjoying it so far, but haven’t got to any of the “interesting” stuff yet.

I’m a big fan of Hope customer service.

Sent my 2 year old Tech X2 lever back after what looked like a crack appeared on the lever body next to the hose join. 2 days later a new brake arrived. Hope every time for me (well, wallet permitting).

Thanks oldgit, but I’m a 56/57. Sounds like a nice frame though!

Yep, seen a few go for silly money on Ebay, so will wait for a bargain. Cheers for the retrobike tip though.

Cheers all

oldgit – I want something cheap, easy to repair and not very nick-able for a touring build. Currently my cx doubles as tourer and I’m nervous parking it anywhere as it looks a bit too bling, so I fancy an old steel frame.

I have some old 80s Suntour shifters that should work a treat. Just need to find a nice old frame from ebay…

I’m in.

Bottle of expensive French red awaits Bradley’s win…

Thanks Andy – will investigate…

Sorry I’m late. Can’t be bothered to read back through, so can someone summarise this thread in a sentence.

Did a month in Thailand before my 5 month cycle around NZ.

Nice country. Some bits nicer than others. Bangkok is bizarre/in your face/hectic and wasn’t really for me. Chaing Mai is beautiful and the people incredibly friendly and the food fantastic.

I’d really recommend Koh Tao. Avoid the main town (I forget what it’s called) – it’s basically full of young, drunk europeans being “extreme-rad-core-to-the-max”. Would recommend Shark Bay – it’s very quiet and peaceful, the beach is beautiful and the snorkeling is unbelievable.

Oh yeah, and it’s called Shark Bay for a reason…

Lovely bike. I’ve got a 2009 and absolutely love it. It does absolutely everything.

The only thing I would say is that it’s heavy so not really an XC bike. You don’t notice the weight on the flat and on the downhills, but as soon as you hit a hill then it feels a bit dead to me (that might be more to do with my fitness than the bike though!).

I’m running a Rival short mech with a 105 28t cassette. No problems at all.

I started playing about 3 years ago. Like you, I had absolutely no musical experience and was utterly useless at any other instruments I’d picked up over the years. I’d heard the uke was the easiest instrument to learn and I think that’s probably true.

I started with the Hal Leonard books (1 & 2) and would really recommend them. They come with CDs so you can hear how you should be sounding! It’s surprising how quickly you can start putting tunes together and that’s good motivation to keep going. Start with basic strumming techniques and don’t get bogged down by all the awesome players on Youtube and their different styles.

Be patient – you will sound bad for a few weeks!

As others have said, by some new stings too. Aquila are generally considered the best and should make it sound a bit better.

Obviously the best thing about a uke is how small it is – you can just put it in your camelback and entertain your mates at rest stops!

Enjoy!

Well, I didn’t see ‘stick man’ or ‘springer lady’, but I did have a nice ride around Ashton Court and then Leigh Woods today. Really enjoyed Leigh Woods too. I can understand that it’s not to everyone’s taste, but I think it’s really well built, a nice mix of features and flows really well.

Annoyingly managed to rip the valve out of my inner tube though and even my best bodged repair didn’t last all the way home. Still, nice weather for a walk…

Ouch

KINGTUT – I did look at a the trail and think it probably wouldn’t be the most fun surface to scrape my face along. A few of those rock gardens would be bad, bad places for a tumble too.

Looking forward to Leigh Woods now…

I’m over in NZ cycle touring at the moment. As far as I can tell, the secrets to driving over here are to pass as close as you can and as fast as you can to any cyclist.

By the way, the turn right rule changes soon, the Kiwi’s finally working out how ridiculous it is.

1) Do a 24h race (I’ve never done one… or any race for that matter).
2) Swap the P7 for a 100mm travel steel hard tail (R8 maybe?).
3) Save some money (no.2 might ruin that… also not having a job might ruin that).
4) Learn to read music.
5) Try to keep the fitness I have from cycling round NZ (2 months to go, back in UK in March).
6) Oh yeah, get a job when I come back (please look after the economy until then!).

Happy new year by the way (it’s 2012 already over here!).

Best thing to do is to ensure the police have plenty of photos and details, and keep on at them. Considering what it must have cost you to build those, I’d also contact the local press and see if you can get some coverage there too.

My nicked bike was being ridden by a mountain biker who must have known it was stolen, so I think a few bikers are prepared to turn a blind eye. Thankfully mine was spotted by some good souls on here and an observant police officer.

Good luck!

As with oxnop, I’m 5′ 11″ and ride a 17″ 2009. It’s perfect and feels nicely chuckable (whatever that means). I’d also agree that you should maybe try a 15″.

I had a 19″ Evo6 too, and the smaller P7 is a million times nicer to ride as I think it’s better to get over the front of the bike with the slack angles.

Haven’t found a shoe that doesn’t get wet, so I just wear a pair of neoprene socks which are at least warm. They do smell though. Bad. I mean, really bad. Really, really bad.