My dream bike is the current Fireblade in Repsol colours (sadly dropped for '10), but I don't have £10k spare and my ZX6R isn't a year old yet and is a bl00dy good road tool; only (!?!) 108bhp means it can actually be thrashed properly (albeit only on early morning, quiet, non-policed roads….)

Hacksaw and a steady hand.

I knackered my bench vice a while back and have been using a couple of large clamps since which have allowed all cutting / drilling jobs I've needed to do, albeit not as easily as with a vice.

Enjoy my job, happily married, two lovely daughters, cellar full of expensive bicycles, stupidly fast 600cc sports bike in the garage, life ain't bad at all. So probably 8-9 most of the time, but frequent bouts of probably 2, very occasionally 1, due to sh!t I'm sort of conscious of and really should sort out.

<yawns>

CRC have 70mm Nuke proof stems in stock (or at least did a few days ago…)

That's an 18" by the look of it.

I had two weeks over Christmas. Allowed back on on New Years Day 🙂

Yikes!

Very sad news, RIP.

That police memorial site is thought-provoking and moving too.

I've had my ss since I built it up in '98. Dunno why, it's cr@p. No gears or nothing.

neil's-on-wheels – Member
456

Suspension is for wimps…

Loving that link N-on-W !

KINGTUT – Member

Hwe will be interested to hear that he's Welsh now.

Chinese Welsh, obviously

Unfortunately the LVIS Audax is touch and go for me, dependent on the new arrival.

Patter of tiny feet or rumble of not so tiny tyres….?????

err… no: designed for 4, 5, or 6" inch forks, as per the name, as thepodge has already said.

Flite, followed by SI SLR, followed by Charge Spoon for me.

Yep – loved Six Feet Under.

Done the same many a time – still here!

Loved Action Men – had 6 of them and every bit of kit going – jeep, tank, boat, helicpter etc.

Toy soldiers.

Hornby OO railway all laid out on a piece of 8'x6' marine ply with stations, village, roads etc. F*cking brilliant.

Aqua on the waterfront just along from my office should fit the bill, though I noticed today they appear to be having some refitting work done so best to check they'll be open. About 15 mins walk from the station, 5 mins in a taxi.

The Glass Boat just along the water is also great, though not sure about the sitting around for a few hours after the meal, they tend to be quite keen on getting rid of you once you've finished your meal.

If quality / choice of food is not so important, the Banco Lounge up on the Wells Rd (15 mins walk from station the other way) has free wi-fi and you can sit in there all day, no worries. It's a bar rather than restaraunt, hence food not up to standards of the other two I mentioned, but it's perfectly acceptable and it's a nice relaxed atmosphere.

If you want any more ideas pm me.

Purely aesthetically, any early 90's steel rigid Kona, best looking bikes ever.

No. 817 here. I'll be riding my Salsa Chili con Crosso cx bike wearing Las Vegas Institute of Sport kit. Hopefully the 100k but as I'm the least fit I've been in about 10 years the 50k is an option if I havn't got my arse into gear fitness-wise. Done it twice before (not the hard-baked year) and agree a cx bike is ideal for 95% of the course.

Beer for women who bought into the lad thing.

I read Kings of the Mountains when it first came out and it is indeed a fascinating read.

Salsa Chili Con Crosso here – light and fast, love it to bits.

kimbers – Member
yes gilo and the banks have now tightened up their mortgage a cred card lending, but not it seems applied the same level of prudence to themselves

and part of the problem with mortgages are the insane prices the bonus fed elite happy to pay for property, skewing the market meaning that people need to borrow huge multiples of their salaries to be in with a chance of buying their own house

The "bonus fed elite" almost exclusively work in the City and hence live in London / home counties. In those areas I agree with you. The bonuses also pay for and therefore push up property prices in some holiday hotspots, eg a lot of Cornwall (esp. St Ives and a lot of the North coast.)

Outside of those areas I don't think there is a huge impact from the bonus culture (again not defending it, just accepting of the conditions that lead to it's existance).

44. Manager in the recoveries dept of a bank.

Ed2001 – Member
aka_Gilko "these people are extremely good at what they do" ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha , brilliant! At RBS there is plenty of evidence to suggest the contrary.

Fair comment. I assume you've never bought shiny bike parts on your credit card, taken out a large mortgage to buy a better / bigger house in a nicer area, etc etc? Undoubtedly the banks f*cked up, but look at the bigger picture, the banks pandered to the needs (wants) of their customers, who wanted (want) the good life NOW. There is a lot that is debateable about current Western society's attitude to credit, and the banks have to shoulder some of that, but to say the current economic mess is solely down to the banks is bollix of the highest order.

FoxyChick – Member
aka_Gilo…what a bloody fantastic way of seeing life!

Do you mind if I copy you?

Please: be my guest! No copyright 😉

"geetee1972 – Member
No I lost my job because of the worst recession since the 1920s, brought about by a massive over inflation of asset values primarily in the housing market, which the vast majority of us took part in.

It's a sh*t situation, but one group of people did not cause it, we all did. Yes we need to introduce regulation to address the worst excesses of period, but castigating one group of people is reactionary and ill informed. "

Absolutely

I find the salaries / bonuses of investment bankers fairly obscene, certainly compared to nurses / doctors / teachers / etc etc etc… but the reality of our free market economy is these people are extremely good at what they do (making profit for their employers & shareholders) and if the market dictates that's what they need to be paid then that is how it will be.

Alternatives? Well Stalin and Lenin had some great ideas, but in practice…..?

And as for the "should have let the banks fail" attitudes – really? So tell me how things would function if a couple of the main clearing banks had gone under?

Again, my leanings have always been (very) slightly left of centre, and I find the renumeration of top bankers grossly exessive, but I don't see any current alternative.

Slightly wine fuelled: It doesn't matter what / who you are, what matters is that you are happy with what / who you are. I like me, I like me a lot (most of the time) but I don't expect other people to like me. If they do than that's a bonus, and reflects on my good taste 😉

Someone who bumbles through life and tries not to give too much of a sh!t about anything.

Morning bump for the day shift 😀

Ah – Brick Lane – hadn't thought of that!!! Yeah, may have to sample a curry down there… 🙂

Yep, VFR, or Fazer Thou, Bandit 1200, SV1000….. Beemer not a bad bet, will go on for ever.

Not me……

Too early, far too early.

As part of my job I have to sanction letters that go out to customers.

My red pen is my best friend.

I am considered anal.

I love my red pen.

🙂

Invite accepted 😀

clubber – Member
Absolute best I've ridden is probably Trail 8 in Killington Vermont – twisty, rooty singletrack that traverses the mountain so it takes 40ish minutes

In the UK, I still feel the love for the singletrack I started riding on – Upper Quarry in Ashton Court, Bristol – on a good day, there's just no better feeling than flying along it.

Yeah Upper Quarry, or Badger as I know it as, is sweet. Smiths Coombe in the 'tocks is great, and I enjoy the Chimney, though it's not really singletrack. Cats Bells in the Lakes is nice as I recall, though I last rode it in 1994!

Yeah all good here mate, fitness is shite at the mo as I bought a shiny new Kawasaki ZX6R back in the Spring and I've spent most of the Summer on that playing over in Wales. Now the roads are cold and greasy it's going into mothballs and I need to get some cycling fitness back. Did a session on the track in Newport on Sunday which was cool, but God was I slow!!

How's things with you? Get back to Bris much?