I would have hoped that if the whole Lance thing taught federations anything, it’s the damage to their credibility caused by a token ban.

Amazed the French federation haven’t been more open.

Zangolin – you can get round the licence thing at SuperEnduro by getting an Italian doctors cert that you are fit to race, I.e. physically ok.

Consumer marketing is now very much discount driven – attitudes have changed and getting a discount is a major influencer in a buying decision at retail stage.

Think DFS etc – the bike industry was just slow to catch on to an emerging trend.

11-36 will definitely work with a short mech. I run the Zee wide ratio one and it has the capacity to do so, as does the new 10 speed Saint.

As the old adage goes “buyers are liars”……

Sadly customers in many sectors are conditioned to think they have a right to be rude, dishonest and stupid, then kick off at you when something goes wrong.

My fave is when they say “I’ll report you to the ombudsman” – I always make a point of asking which one, given I work in an unregulated industry, but apparently the one for utilities is a thoroughly nice chap…..

I run 1×10 with an 11-36 cassette and 36t chainring – was fine even on the 50 minute climbs in Finale. It’s just about learning to pull a bigger gear and building up leg strength, which in turn benefits all aspects of riding.

Well done – excellent result. I’m the first one to say a business shouldn’t carry passengers, but at the same time, part of management responsibility is taking ownership of issues. Clearly they have failed on several counts…..

As has been said, you’re now a marked man, not only from your manager, but also the admin team who you have exposed for failing in their function.

Spend your time getting out to interviews. Don’t waste energy trying to screw them by going sick etc, that’s not constructive use of your time.

You got a good result here – keep us posted how it all goes mate.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Mike at Inksplodge – top guy, phenomenal designer and great price on print too.

http://www.inksplodge.co.uk/

I,m sure the people who’ve been ripped off may disagree….

Can you define what you mean by “ripped off”?

I define ripped off as “paying for something and not getting it, or it not being as described”. Ripped off is not “agreeing to pay for something at a price you have agreed with the seller, when it may or may not be cheaper if you spend hours trawling the internet”.

There’s lots of reasons behind a buying decision, price alone is a tiny part of it, so it’s wrong to oversimplify the sales process and focus solely on price. How about convenience, the fact someone you know through here has it in his hand and can get to you quickly, wanting to buy through a channel they trust from someone they “know” (either in real life or on here), etc etc etc.

And yes, if someone on here had something I wanted, that they could get to me quicker than I could get it from Germany, I absolutely would buy it off them.

:-)

Something that the “pro-spoilers” (for want of a better title) have conveniently overlooked is the frequency of non-availability of items at the online stores.

We’ve all seen the CRC pages where only bizarre sizes are available at the headline price, and plenty of people have posted on here about German sites letting them get all the way to the shopping cart with their “bargain”, only to find it is out of stock.

The classifieds are private listings, posted by someone who actually has that item with them and so users can be confident it exists, at the price it is posted up for.

Sounds like a meniscus tear. Get to the doctor – a scan will show it up.

As I said by way of example on the thread in the classifieds, you are free to advise Tesco that their beans are more expensive than ASDA’s but not by sticking a big poster on their front door for everyone to see.

Agreed.

Lynching a seller for no reason other than to try and obstruct their sale is wrong. If you are trying to negotiate a better price on your own behalf, that is a different matter altogether and is simple negotiation.

In summary, to quote my nan, “mind your own business”. If you’re not interested in the purchase, stay out of the thread.

Blimey, hasn’t the criteria grown – updated and definitive checklist below!

Have an Audi? No – but keep being tempted
Drink tea/coffee? Coffee
Work in an office? Yes
Work in IT? No
Wear a suit? Sometimes
Shave and own a fancy razor? Got a Remington beard/stubble trimmer thing
Own hand made brogues? No
Ridden a single speed? Yeah – got bored.
Ridden a 29er? Got one as winter training bike
Ridden a 650b? No
Own a hardtail? See 29er winter training bike above
Like trail centres? Yes quite a bit
Have a log burner? No – and no desire to either
Commuted by bike? No – walk to work is quicker than unlock/lockup/change
Use the word “content” in thread titles? No
Or append “trackworld” to random words in thread titles? No
Know what tyres I want on my bike? Yes. Minion DHF F&R except Crossmark on rear in dry fast conditions. Run tubeless.
£300 knife to chop carrots? No
Send monetary “gifts” to people I don’t know? No. That’s a mug’s game. Buyer beware.
Know how to use Google? No exactly rocket science is it?
Rolex/Omega/Breitling etc – Not yet, but would get Breitling if pushed.
Sling or pushchair – Neither
Got a dog? No
Multiple bikes? Yes
Titanium bike? No
Carbon bike? No
Have an on-one? No
Have an orange 5? No

And my addition:

Start your sentences with “so” like lots of IT-y people do? NO NO NO NO!!!

I scored 11/28 so am a mere 39.28% STW.

I run the same pressures as when I ran tubes (35 rear, 28 front), but there’s definitely more grip. Never been interested in that low pressure thing, don’t like the “squirming on the rim” feel.

Hmmmmm not sure what the “targets” are – is this a revenue based thing or a project timeline type scenario?

I quite regularly have to have little sit downs with guys that work for me who might not quite be hitting sales targets. The first thing I ALWAYS look to do is put together a performance management plan. It’s not about being soft, cuddly and “there there”. That simply delays the inevitable – the way to do it is to identify a set of actions that are required, match those to resource to allow them to happen, and a defined timeline for them to happen in. Turning this round the other way for you gives the following:

– Targets have not been met. You have raised this concern several times on record.
– Action to either address resource issue or put together a secondary plan or review targets has not been taken by your bosses.
– The situation CAN be resolved with commitment from both parties.

Here’s what to ask for:

– Establish performance management plan with reviewed targets and a timeline to achieve them. Both parties to agree to these
– Agree resource plan (whether staff or budget) to allow this to happen.
– If resource cannot be made available, review target again.

And repeat these 3 steps in a loop until a mutually agreeable solution is found.

Obviously this is all hypothetical as I don’t know the nature of the business or the targets in question, but my experience working in a multinational tells me that any decent sized organisation will have a process in place where they go to a performance management plan ahead of firing, so as to minimise the risk of constructive dismissal cases.

Good luck.

Don’t drive an Audi
Hate Orange 5s
No wood burner
Can’t stand the Guardian and it’s politics
Doesn’t work in IT
Hate the idea of that “solitary” riding thing
Get bored with big long “natural” rides
Know what tyres I like
Not stupid enough to pay for stuff with Paypal gift

Also take a look at Elbry Sandland from Trailhead – based in Somerset so a bit nearer to you:

http://www.trailheadcoaching.co.uk/

If that’s the case, it seems odd that different airlines have come to vastly different conclusions regarding it.
Some are 5kg, some 10kg

Each airline can set their own rules re: cabin baggage weight. And at the end of the day, Ryanair have said 10kg and put it out there publicly. If someone chooses to not read the terms and conditions, they don’t really have any right to complain do they? It’s not like it is a surprise. If you know the limit is 10kg, why would someone knowingly exceed it and then moan they are being charged?

flew with someone and we had a bag each. Mine was slightly over hers was miles under. They did make me take some stuff out of one bag and put it in the other.
Pointless

It’s not about the overall wight of the plane, it’s about what is deemed to be a manageable weight for the average person to be able to move at above head height. Reason for that is in the case of onboard emergency such as a behind panel fire or leak of something from a bag, so that crew could manage to move it and deal with the problem.

I worked for an airline for a couple of years after uni and excessive hand baggage weight was responsible for a surprising amount of work related injuries.

As far as I’m concerned, Paul Kimmage is merely using cycling as a means to an end and sell articles to papers, probably with a view to working towards another book fairly soon.

This would explain the ongoing innuendo and little snippets of allegation he leaks on a regular basis. If he genuinely was in possession of damning evidence or something he could substantiate, he should be putting it together in a single dossier and present it at a press conference, given the fact that the UCI could be considered as a not entirely trusted entity.

I simply don’t trust the guy – this is all about presenting “facts” (as he sees them) on a regular basis to keep himself busy and the money coming in. It’s nothing to do with a moral crusade or anything honourable.

Been running a different set (Switch Evo on Alex Rims Supra 30, built by SS) for almost a year, seeing lots of Enduro race action in the UK and Europe. 2 bearing changes (standard, I expect to do this a couple of times a year and they cost pence from a bearing supplier) and one new spoke.

Absolutely spot on.

I’ve flown with them for years and had no problems. But then I take responsibility for my own actions and make sure I have read the T&Cs properly and make sure I have weighed my baggage before leaving home.

Fact is, the carrier has a right to enforce the rules in place, which are there to speed the boarding process up and so ensure planes depart on time and delay charges are not picked up, thus ensuring the airline remains profitable, which is the fundamental reason for any business to exist.

Those that don’t like Ryanair’s terms of business can choose to take their business elsewhere and have higher ticket prices in return for more flexibility.

Yes absolutely.

As has been said, quantifying net profit to the economy is going to be hard to do, but we do know that the Olympics definitely helped in 2 quarters of the 2012 financial year.

Factor in giving the nation a bit of a cheer up, reinstating a bit of national pride and showcasing the nation to a potential new tourist market and you have a whole extra set of potential benefits.

The next logical step to capitalise on the Games is to work harder to push coverage in schools of the athletes – they are far better role models to aspire to than the reality TV wasters that populate the media right now. If we encourage girls in particular to look to people who have worked hard over a long time to achieve, rather than someone who has achieved a 15 minutes of overnight fame, that can only benefit long term as well.

Just spoke to my sister about this to try and get a balanced view (and yeah, teenage years done, she is pleased mum kept an eye on what she ate in those formative years and stopped a problem developing :-))

She’s a physio who gets a lot of GP referrals as well as private clients.

Estimate is that something like 50% of her work is “poor lifestyle” related GP referrals (hip & knee work for obese people is a particularly high proportion), 25% occupational health/work related injury, with the remaining 25% being sports injury/rehab etc. And around 50% of the sports injury related clients are self funded.

What I would draw from this is that we have a clear breakdown of proportionality of cost, from just one very small stream of healthcare provision, and it’s obvious that poor lifestyle and obesity related illness is costing the NHS and in turn the taxpayer a disproportionate amount of money. So yes, something should definitely be done to take a “prevention” line rather than “cure” – and if people won’t do it for themselves, someone should do it for them. Whether that’s benefits in restricted food vouchers or something else, there must be a solution to take away the opportunity to make a poor choice, as they clearly show they can’t make the right choices themselves, yet expect the country to pick up the tab.

I remember as a teenager my 2 years younger sister put on a bit of weight – we are from a very sporty and active family and I remember my mum sending her to extra athletics and dance sessions, plus cutting pocket money so she couldn’t buy sweets etc at school.

IMO that’s responsible parenting. Sadly we now have a victim culture where it’s always someone else’s fault rather than a lack of personal responsibility.

Replace payments with direct rent payments and food vouchers that can’t be used for fags, booze or ready meals/junk food and you’d sort this. Harsh, but if they won’t take responsibility for themselves, someone else should.

CRC have lost the profit on the sale of the product – and they work to pretty tight net margins.

But as has been said, they’ve massively exceeded their obligations so have acted more than fairly. It’s just a shame people nowadays expect Harrods service at Lidl prices…….

I’ve just finished reading it last night – really enjoyed it.

But then I’m not one for gossip etc, for me it was just an interesting and pretty inspiring read about a fella who has worked bl**dy hard to get where he is, and that’s what I would rather see than some retrospective bean spilling.

Quite often a large online retailer will be offered end of line stock from a manufacturer at reduced price, on a “drop ship” basis to keep costs down.

Usually what happens is there is some kind of coding done that integrates between the manufacturer/distributor’s stock management system in the warehouse to the retailer’s website in real time.

Sometimes it will go wrong. That’s all. Just one of those things.

+1 for Salesforce

It’s the industry standard, sensibly priced, stable, easy to integrate into other things and allows remote access/document management.

Exactly what Northwind says.

Fact is that the top guys are fitter, stronger and more skilled, plus ride more and train in a more focused way.

As has been said, it’s a case of finding the bike that works for you – the next bit, sorting the rider, is the harder part……..

What would Vouilloz use?

To be honest, the guys in that top 0.5% like Vouilloz etc could smoke everyone else on any old bike.

I’d go so far as to say that if you’ve got a good 140 to 160 bike, rather than blowing cash on a new one, spend some money with someone like Tony Doyle or Ed Oxley for skills work, and then a trainer for strength and fitness development. Ability, strength and fitness play a bigger part than just hardware……..

Damn double posts……..

Hmmm tough call on what is “best” – it’s so subjective. Ride style, weight, body proportions, fitness, strength all have a bearing on it, and certainly out at SuperEnduro the range of bikes was huge.

One recurring theme I did see though was 20mm more fork travel than rear, and a big front/semi slick rear tyre combo, like a Minion/Crossmark pairing. How that would work in our slippy, muddy weather is another matter though…..

Already some good quality retarded comments on their FB page! Best was “great to see you supporting the UK in a recession, scabs”. At first I thought it was an in joke from one of their mates……. Profile pic looks like someone in the “put a donk on it” video, so I’m now unsure!

Rapha (good quality) the mock history,
the soooo seriousness of it on one hand
combined with the pretty girls in high
heels on fixies on the other.

They sell expensive roadie costumes. More roadies are men than women. Majority of roadies I have met in real life are a bit “serious”.

So a “serious” style to appeal to target market, coupled with pretty girls in not many clothes (come on guys, you might try and be all serious, but who can resist this?) and a high-end visual appeal to their branding (in keeping with product price point) – absolutely perfectly executed branding exercise!

Am I missing something here? Can’t for the life of me work out why some corners of the STW userbase have an issue with Rapha (or anyone else) marketing their business, after all, they’re in business to sell stuff.

This was a really good little campaign by Rapha – they encouraged people to ride more, and grew their audience and in turn potential customer base. That’s a win win situation from where I’m standing……

I think it’s a great idea – had it not been for a huge amount of travel up and down the country to see family, I definitely would have given it a go.

The OP overlooks that there are endless motivations to ride bikes – for some it’s “clearing their head”/solitude (tbh I don’t understand that), some it’s speed/thrills, some it’s competing against yourself/a target/others (I fall in this category).

F500 is just a bit of goal based fun to encourage people to put the miles in and push themselves a bit at a time when it’s easy to slack, whilst also gaining some more interaction between brand and target market. Nothing wrong there.

A good salesperson with a track record of success will be granted some time if/when things turn tough. We’ve all been through hard times where deals are dropping

And this is where the smart salesperson always has a massively overfilled pipeline. End result is 2 different outcomes – either a massive workload for production etc as it all comes in, or a percentage falls out, but because of the excess built into the pipeline, salesperson still hits.

That’s the method I have always used – even when massively ahead of target, I still maintain the workrate to ensure plenty is in the bag.

With regard to the relentless pressure, the way I see it and deal with it, is this….

A. I have achieved my sales by doing X,Y and Z.
B. My achievements are hampered by ups and downs, good months/bad months.

If I continue to do A, understand that B is normal, then I will continue to achieve my sales.

That thought process helps me avoid getting stressed about results.

Love this – you perfectly described how I think. Someone said to me the other day that I am more logical than Spock (I took it as a compliment – sales guy’s self belief innit!). Everything is a step in a process, a number in a pot, part of the machine. If 60% convert, 40% won’t, by definition you then set your mindset to expect that 40% to fall out, so it’s not a disappointment.

A question for the sales bods: is a salesman only as good as his next sale?

And

If a salesman does well in year a he will be asked to better in year b?

Good question re: “as good as his last sale” – couldn’t really say for sure.

And if a salesman does well, will he be expected to do better? I’d say so – after all, a business is always aiming to grow sales and revenues, so by definition, at least some of that responsibility falls to the sales team to make it happen. A business not seeking growth is one doomed to fail.

Been in sales for 15 or so years now, now a sales manager with a team of 23.

Some very simple questions to ask yourself (and answer honestly!) to decide if this is the right move for you:

– Can you handle the financial immediacy of the role (i.e. a deal falls out of bed, it hits next month’s commission. Can you afford/cope with it emotionally)?
– How are you at engaging people involved in the process, i.e. service departments etc who are intrinsic to your sales process? Would you be able to motivate them to “do their part” to help complete the close
– Are you good at emotional detachment and viewing success/failure logically, as a series of statistical occurrences rather than anything more?
– Do you have 100% belief in your product at work?
– Do you see a good client lifecycle, where you can continue to upsell and develop accounts in your sector?
– Do you possess a huge amount of drive & determination and get things done?

If you can answer yes to all the above, then it might just be a good move for you!

It can be a tough game, but at the same time, rewards are great if you do it right, and the “reward” feeling of nailing a target and seeing a financial reward for it in the next month is really quite special. Even after all my time, I still love that feeling of knowing that my wages are set by my work, unlike friends in other sectors who have to wait for promotions etc to get more money.