On a similar theme… If you have a bottle of Torq and a bottle of water double check which is which before you try to wash the grit out of your eye

Probably go one size larger than you would for Spec then, that’s how it was for me anyway, the differences might be different at different sizes.

Actually, if it’s any help, I’ve got some 45Nrth Ragnarok shoes. They’re 44, I’m 44 in Shimano and Northwave too, and 43 in Specialized. If say the sizing is pretty accurate. I’m not particularly narrow or wide of foot though, just normal. I’m also a 9 for Salamon walking and running shoes, and 10 1/2 for Dynafit, but Dynafit are notoriously weird.

Bike Monger do 45Nrth. Ripon isn’t too far.

That tomato and egg one Chewkw posted sounded good so I made it for lunch. I used veg stock instead of chicken.

Tips for anyone else doing it: use less water than it says. Add a little bit of spice, maybe some chilli oil or something. It’s definitely not 4-5 portions, it’s 2 and that’s if you have toast with it.

It tasted nice though, will do it again with above modifications

At first Schumacher stood his ground, pointing the finger at Villeneuve. “I braked on the maximum. He braked even later. With this braking point I wouldn’t make the corner and he wouldn’t make the corner. So he used me a little bit as braking. I probably wouldn’t have done anything different.”

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No. We gave you the benefit of the doubt three years ago…

Most people have two grans.  Not in Norfolk obviously, but elsewhere it’s pretty common.

Benneton’s  ‘Option 13’.

“It’s there but we never use it”

Whatever-is-in-the-fridge soup, different every time. I don’t think I’ve ever followed recipe for it. Oh, no, I did for gaspatcho once, and that was really nice, but not very autumnal.

Useful contribution I’m sure…

Anyway, just bung some veg in a pot and see what happens. Always use onions and stock, everything else just guess. Add potatoes for thicker soup, don’t add potatoes for runnier soup

Much lighter than you, 10st4Lbs, and probably have a proportional lack of power.

I’ve got 28 holes in my (alloy) road rims and they’re fine, every other bike bar the TT bike is 32 and I can’t feel any difference.

On the TT bike I had a four-spoke front and disc rear, but changed when I moved to somewhere hiller. I’ve got a 20 spoke Zipp 808 rear, which is fine (although the bearing seals aren’t great) I did have a Cosmic Carbone 16 spoke front which is the only wheel I’ve ever been able to flex, to the point where it would rub on the brake if I cornered hard. Swapped for a 16 spoke Zipp 404 which is fine. Anyway, I think my point is, spoke count matters less than build quality

Am I alone in that I don’t want to see lots of overtaking? If there was a pass somewhere every ten seconds it wouldn’t be that exciting when one does happen. I want to see several laps with one driver right up behind another trying again and again, until finally he gets it done, oh no wait, he’s come back at him, side by side for the next three corners and then finally it sticks.

I want the possibility of an overtake, especially for the lead, and a few of them, but not all the time.

What I don’t want to see is race-long tyre-management, if they aren’t pushing there’s less chance of an error, which is an opportunity for someone to get by

Still, at least the Russians know where all of theirs are.

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/1997-09/press-releases/russian-officials-deny-claims-missing-nuclear-weapons

With regards to long term storage and maintenance of nuclear weapons, it is very unlikely that storing them long term without keeping them maintained will mean that they are still viable. However, no knows this for certain. It is possible, albeit unlikely, that they may cause problems if left long enough. The only way to find out for sure would be to, say, leave one in the middle of field and see what happens.

Luckily no one would ever just leave them laying about unattended for decades….

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/us-military-missing-six-nuclear-weapons-180032

There’s a lot of flip/flop levers out there. More of an issue for road bikes I expect.

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I rode with a kiwi in Aus and he had his brakes British style. No idea if that’s typical for NZ though

The first season ever with no driver changes compared to last year, and this is already the fourth in-season one!

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It’s a shame, I always cheered for Riccardo, and Checo too, but for some reason these current cars just don’t seem to suit them.

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Some are saying this could be a test to see if Lawson is suitable to replace Perez in ’25.

That would be 11 races into his career. Gasly and Albon clearly needed longer before going to play with the big boys. Good luck to Antonelli! Although the only other obvious choice for RB is Hadjar and he’s done even less time in an F1 car…

18months ago.

Must suck to be going from 0-190

Even my van accelerates faster than that! It’s topped out way before 190 mind

Speaking as someone who moved from the fens to the Tweed Valley,.. WTAF?

Although I’ll give them the thing about the weather!

Any of those ring a bell?

No, I think they’re mostly drums and bagpipes

Beaten to it

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Any help? That was the music line up on the day. 

Specialized Tarmac SL2 carbon road bike, nearly new 11sp 105 groupset, mid range wheels.  £305.

Sadly that was selling, not buying.

House and van both went up by about a tenner for me this year. I thought I was bucking the trend but maybe not

I would definitely avoid Paisley Freight/Bike Delivery.

Parcel Force seem ok

I’m with Northwind. I do have Reynauds and I use Glacier gloves. I’ve got others which are better for riding in in every respect other than warmth but as soon as I have to contend with wet as well as cold my hands just stop bending, the Glacier Gloves are the only ones which keep me warm when it’s cold and raining.

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Same problem with my feet. Northwave Celcius have been good, I’ve got two pairs. I’ve just bought a pair of 45Nrth Ragnarok Tall boots for the Puffer, although not tried them yet. That’s seven pairs of winter boots now, the Shimano ones aren’t as good. The key thing me at stuff like the Puffer is regular changes to dry ones. Obviously not possible on long point to point rides but when there’s an option to pit every lap new boots every three or four hours is a godsend.

Yes, but races are won on endegy, if you don’t have that, startegy won’t help much

“You don’t need to lead much of the race, as long as you lead the right bit” – Emerson Fittipaldi

Anyone else singing ‘Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D Plan Eeee’ quietly to themselves now?

I’ve ridden the carbon version of the Spearfish and it’s brilliant (and have a Ti El Mariachi and carbon Beargrease myself)
However, I wouldn’t describe it as an XC race bike, if he’s into marathons, or 12/24hr racing I’d definitely consider one but probably not for shorter stuff.
Not tried a Procalibre but I know a couple of people who have them and they rate them very highly, and friend’s experience of Trek’s warranty has been very good. Nothing useful to contribute about the Chisel.
I’ve had a brief go on a Highball and that was really good.

What frame is it and do you know what year? What cranks were in it? Might help us work out what it is

Up and off are both prepositions

1 pair XC

1 pair trainer-style

7 pairs winter boots, enough for a dry pair every three and a bit hours at the Puffer.

I do a Nazi salute every time I go into my porch, but only in the winter.

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Had to explain this to someone today, the light in there is on a motion sensor, which detects me if I come in the front door and turns the light on, but doesn’t immediately get me if I leave the house from the hall, I therefore open my door and put my right arm up in front of it as I leave the building. Not required in daylight, but I often still do it from habit.

An OTB on that is going to be quite a challenge

Not really, in fact I reckon he could do a year’s worth of OTBs all at once

As a seller I’m always happy to knock the fees amount off for cash. They get a bargain and I get no timewasters with buyers remorse trying to get a refund.

Check it thoroughly and then make him an offer if you like it

Yep. Got a second hand Beargrease last year. Really good fun.

Apart from snow and beaches it is never the fastest way of getting around but it is a good laugh, and can making riding with slower people much more entertaining. Surprisingly nippy on occasions, and climbs better than I expected, but no Strava times have been beaten on it. Keeping an eye out for second hand carbon rims now, that would take a pound off the weight! (Any 75-80mm 27.5″ Nexties or LightBikes going spare anyone?)

There’s a buy and sell group on the Facebook, usually some decent ones around the £3-400 mark if you fancied having a go for cheap. Like tractors though, buy one with good tyres!

I really want a close up of how his brakes work!

Recommend what you have…

Thomson stems have been faultless for me, wouldn’t go anywhere else, same with seatposts. For bars, the race bike gets Mt Zoom, the lightest bar I’d actually trust, Thomson on the trail bikes and Renthal on the big bikes. Actually, have two carbon Thomsons and two Renthals one carbon and one alloy, all bought secondhand. I find them all comfy and all have proved very reliable

So if you’re looking at Thomson and Renthal already I don’t think you can go far wrong with those.

Electrical.things have to go in hand luggage.

Blades have to go in hold luggage.

Good luck!

No idea if a nutri bullet comes apart but my Bosche one does, so I could split it.

The Cube has lots of cracks in the frame which I assume is the lacquer, can i strip that off to get to the stickers? Do I need to re lacquer for anything other than cosmetic reasons?

Yep, lacquer is pretty much just cosmetic, maybe an element of UV protection but certainly not structural. Head over the weightweenies site for info on how to sand that off and return to bare carbon. They’re doing it to knock another 20g off a frame rather than for cosmetic reasons but the process is the same

Has anyone tried that Raveman thing George mentioned? I need a front light for my TT bike (club rules, even daylight) and fitting any sort of bracket to a aero TT bar is tricky. That Raveman one under the Garmin would be perfect. Are they any good?

How much do you want to spend on the Arkose? Lighter wheels would be the biggest difference, offset a little by selling the old ones. Look second hand.

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Free way to make the cube a little less garish is to remove the wheel stickers. I wish frame makers wouldn’t put the decals underneath the lacquer. Three of mine have no decals and they definitely look a lot better than the others. I’ve destickered all my forks and wheels, apart from the wheels on the TT bike because of the same stupid lacquer thing.