Based on my observations of others falling off when learning to use SPDs…

I think most riders on flats wait for their bike to stop, see which way it starts to fall and then decide which foot to put down. This doesn’t work with SPDs, certainly until to get used to them.

Instead, decide which way you want to go before coming to a complete stop, unclip the foot that side and make a concious effort to go that way (mostly to your dominant side, unless there’s a ditch / bottomless crevasse that side).

one was doing 44 in a 40
No it wasn’t!

you only get a fixed penalty in a 40 for 46 or over.

Depends on the local constabulary. Most use a 10 per cent plus 2 guideline, but this is not always the case.

You can be prosecuted for 1 mph over the limit and some forces operate a zero tolerance policy.

Don’t forget that most speedos over read, so if you get clocked at 44, your speedo is probably showing at least 46, there’s plenty of room for error…

A couple of my friends are cycling around Chile for 6 months.

Check out their blog for an idea of what to expect, and maybe a few ideas…

Alex & Ping’s Blog[/url]

I’ve used Lancashire Sports Repairs a few time over the years for repair and maintenance of my outdoor gear, including a re-sole of my Scarpa boots.

They are very good and recommended by a number of manufacturers.

Boss has one which I’ve driven a few times. I don’t find it particularly comfortable and the rear view mirror blocks an inordinate amount of the windscreen from my seating position…

I have had the Lobo Loco on my HT for a year or more – starting to look a bit worn, but still plenty to go.

They hook up really well, even when it gets a bit slippery and muddy!

Try moving the shifter on the bar – down/away from the brake lever.

Geax Lobo Loco on special at Wiggle at the moment – only £10.50 for the 2.3 folding!

Have a look at Geax, they have a reasonable range at reasonable prices.

They’re not the lightest, but they work well, wear well and are tough!

They come up on the large size and have quite high sidewalls for the width, so a 2.25 Sturdy Freeride, for example, is a pretty big tyre.

Enable the feature as per Nicknoxx, then return to the main map view. Long press on an area of the map until the pop up with the address on appears, press the pop up then select “download map area” at the bottom of the list.

Job done…

Best mate gets it from time to time. One of the triggers (he believes) is the chlorine in tap water – he’s had few episodes since switching to bottled.

No problem!

On the more run of the mill touristy side, try to get to Sounion at Sunset, have a look around Vravrona / Temple of Artemis & museum (cycle distance from Porto Rafti), and maybe a day trip to Delphi if you have transport.

Alaric.

Porto Rafti is not far from Athens, Athens having three major mountain ranges to the North, North East and East.

To the North is Parnitha which is great for a “Proper” mountain ride, road or off road. Good singletrack there, though, is hard to come by – it’s very steep, so a lot of the trails that start off well soon become a bit of a hike. However, at the foot there is the old royal palace at Varibopi, This is a lovely, wooded area with loads of great singletrack, pick a trail ride it, come back for more!

Pendelli to the NE has a lot of great trails, few singletrack, but the rocky nature of the trail makes even the widest track “interesting”.

For tight, steep, technical trails Ymittos takes some beating, there are some awesome trails there.

I can also put you in touch with some of the locals (all who speak excellent English) if you want to try and hook up with a guide for some of the better trails. Let me know if you want me to give a few of them your email address.

It’s also well worth taking a bike and just going out exploring. The Greeks don’t really worry about rights of way in the way we do. If you’re not wanted somewhere it will be obvious – so feel free to check out any interesting looking trails off-road, just don’t climb gates and fences!

Anavasi[/url] will get you the Greek equivalent of OS maps, and they’re pretty good.

Hopefully that’s given you a few pointers, let me know if you need to know any more…

Alaric.

I’m not that cultured, so Josh Kirby is my limit!

The whole assembly is held together by the o-ring in the end caps. If the o-ring becomes damaged or worn it becomes lose, as you’ve found.

It’s not really a problem, because, as you realised, the whole thing is held together in the frame by the qr. If you want to fix it you just need new o-rings/end caps.

Alaric.

The rule of thumb is that for most efficient pedalling your knee should be not quite locked with the pedal at it’s lowest point.

The only reason to compromise this is for improved control and confidence, particularly important for newcomers to off road riding, and on steep, technical downhills.

Backcountry Navigator gives you a full function, limited period free trail, and uses open source and free OS maps. It works very well on my Galaxy S.

It can use both online and offline maps, so if you’re likely to be out of data coverage you just download the maps for the area beforehand.

The biggest flaw in your plan, though, will be battery life – it’s dire on smartphones anyway, and far worse if you’re using the GPS all the time (Think 1-2 hours from full charge).

Alaric.

check Cotic’s steel forks

Learn something new every day…

Definitely not backwards (check the caliper position), just ugly…

Everden Cycles in Paddock Wood have are always pretty good…

Had to settle for a MK2 Escort Poular (i.e not even a radio) 1.1 in Signal Orange.

At least you could find it in a car park…

It’s very unusual to cross or strip a thread when undoing something – more when doing things up, and either misaligning the two parts or overtightening.

I had one of these:

Great bike, until I went into a car wing at over 30mph. Driver didn’t think he needed to look at oncoming traffic before turning across into a side road…

Forks bent up under the down tube, twisted frame…

The car didn’t do too well either – Dented wing, dented bonnet, broken windscreen and broken number plate!

And don’t lose sleep if it’s not perfectly level.

It’s nice to get it perfect, but isn’t critical, so long as the stem clamp is over the lowest point and the highest doesn’t touch the stem cap.

Keep the hardtail intact, always good to have a spare bike!

Writing normally faces outwards, there’s usually some sort of tab between two of the bolt holes that should line up with the crank arm.

Marin Attack Trail – started off as a 2001 single pivot:

4 have cracked around the bottom bracket / main pivot, 3 caught as cracks , only one actually snapped on the trail.

2 cracked on the seat tube stub, at the weld below the seat clamp

1 on the swing arm between the caliper mounts.

All replaced, no quibble, under warranty. Only one took more than a week, and one took less than 24 hours.

Marin/ATB sales warranty department may be better than the R & D dept…

Pipedream Sirius snapped the chainstay.

I’ve had 3 bikes, wheels out, and cycling gear in an Aygo with the seats down!

One thing to check is that the rotor still clears the boot at full compression – I had to replace the boot on my lefty as the old one had cracked, and the new one was a different shape at the bottom.

On the workstand everything looked fine, but I kept getting grease on my rotors when riding – I realised that under compression the boot touched the hot rotor and got cut, eventually leaking lube onto the rotor!

I know it’s not on your list, but as a measure, I can get a bike bag (actually 2) into the boot of my Land Cruiser Colorado, flat on top of whatever else is in the boot.

You need to move the spacer to the non-drive side. Only possible issue then is crank clearance against the chain stay on the drive side.

Alaric.

An eagle feeding on a tortoise (actually in the middle of the road, not at the side, but I’m sure it qualifies 😉 ).

Hamsters can be very unpredictable, Mum had one that was lovely, he could be allowed to run in the garden with no problems catching or handling him. When he died the replacement was a vicious little sod!

Gerbils seem to be better mannered, my sister and I had several, all as pairs, her last ones were very tame as she handled them from an early age. They’re much livelier and active than Hamsters, and less nocturnal. The only thing is you’ve got to be fairly quick to handle them, or they’ll be over you shoulder, onto the floor and under the sofa before you can blink!

We also had Guinea Pigs, experience much as above. They’re more of an outdoor pet, though.

I’m going tomorrow, hoping it will be frozen! If not it will be another mud fest, like the last time I went!

Time and a half here after basic 9 hour day, Mon-Fri.

We don’t normally work weekends or Bank Holidays, so these are by individual agreement, usually double time and day in lieu.

Spain or South America – there still made there new, I think!

Otherwise check some of the 4×4 (Difflock.com is a good place to start) forums and eBay.

A lot of fridge/freezers only have one thermostat, in the fridge compartment. The freezer relies on the fridge plant doing some work to keep the fridge cold for it to freeze. Fine indoors, and when you’re going in the fridge regularly, but in the winter in the garage the fridge stays cold enough without ever triggering the ‘stat and fridge plant.

That’s fine for the fridge but not for the freezer…

A stand alone freezer or better quality fridge/freezer with independent thermostats will be fine.

They don’t “tune” the spring, they (or you) can replace the current spring with one with a different spring rate that’s more appropriate to your weight and riding style.

The damping, however, can be tuned (different weight oil, alterations to internal components) to give you better control over the way the shock responds.

It’s also not a very good solution for everyday use, unless you clean the car virtually every day – otherwise the inside of the cover will pick up dirt from the car and then scratch it.

I’ve got a cover for my Land Cruiser, but only used it when I left the car in Greece for three months while I was back in the UK (the purpose for which it was bought). Then I was able to clean the car thoroughly before putting the cover on.

Do you know where the car leaks? Would it be easier in the long run to investigate that first?

Fred, they’re permanent 4wd in the respect that the system is always active and requires no input from the driver.

However, in normal conditions only the front wheels drive. Only when there is sufficient slip between the front and rear does the silicon fluid in the viscous coupling heat up and harden transferring drive to the rear.

This was the case on the first 2 generations, I’ve even been on a Land Rover experience and seen it demonstrated. You can work with the system by picking the revs up to 2000rpm or so when the front is slipping to help the coupling lock up. I think the newer Freelander uses a different system (probably more reliant on traction control type systems).

Alaric.