I’ve got an S2000 and it’s a very focussed sports car, the steering isn’t quite on a Lotus level, lacking a bit of fine feel and it tramlines a fair bit. Other than that it’s a hoot though needs to be treated with respect having no traction control etc to get you out of trouble.

Internally it’s _very_ basic for a modern car but that’s what we were looking for. All controls for heating stereo, lights etc are a finger tip reach from the steering wheel – there is nothing for the passenger to play with and in the left hand seat you definitely feel like a second class citizen with fewer heating vents etc.

In 2004 there was a change to some of the suspension settings to make the handling a bit less snappy, so these are the cars to go for, I think the 2008 update was mainly cosmetic.

VTEC is fantastic and addictive and the engine is not as gutless at low revs as people would have you believe. Not necessarily a major consideration but pottering around it’s also pretty economical as only a 2.0 engine. That engine! Proper engineering, so turbine smooth at 7k… Ours has almost 60k on the clock and still feels brand new.

In my mind the styling is neat and japanese, it isn’t dated except for the Knight Rider dash, still looks much better than one of those horrible beemers.

As you say, very different cars, go and drive them and see what suits.

Not really a jumper but wanted a thrashy chuck around bike, same height as you and went for a L Chameleon.

It just about works for XC with a Thompson post at max extension and is fine for 2-3 hours of bombing around the woods, but wouldn’t want to ride it much further. Also wouldn’t want anything shorter even as a jump bike as it feels low/short/as though I’m going to land on my head already.

Other advantages are that you can run it singlespeed for reduced chain slappage and (if an EBB) can make a pretty major alteration to the BB height depending on what you’re up to.

Thinking I might need to get something made, would love to have the cash to go to Lynskey or Robin Mather (now that he’s doing Ti) but may be best to wait for a road disk standard to be set (cynically betting it’s not going to follow the same pattern as MTB).

Ignoring the disks which may be a few years away still, other things to consider are the Pearson carbon audax and there was also a Dedacciai frame with similar clearance I found at some point. The Fisher Cronus looked good last year but don’t think any made it to the UK and have obviously now disappeared. Anything out there I’ve missed?

Oh thank god for the OP. I thought I was the only person in the world who wanted a commuter bike with proper fast bike geometry, 25mm tyres plus full guards and (please god) disk brakes coming in at sub 20lb. Not interested in ‘cross’ or ‘sportive’ geometry.

My commute is 13 miles on hilly and muddy back lanes, it eats transmission, rims and brake blocks.

I’m currently on a Kaffenback which is the wrong shape, too heavy and has terrible mini-V brakes. Could be lured by a Kinesis Grand Fondo or Cragg Vale but for the 23mm tyres with guards limitation.

Hoping that Shimano having launched a deep drop brake and/or road disks coming I might not have to wait too long. Brant, Dom – anyone listening?

Blimey, thought that everyone might have a giggle but wasn’t expecting this to start a huge debate.

The road wasn’t that steep and there were places to turn around just behind her, so no need for me to be a gallant hero type (whatever the reward). We have a lot of useless posh in the Bath/Bristol area. When I got home my girlfriend was stunned that anyone could know so little about driving, but she did grow up in mid-wales where they have proper snow.

Further along my journey were a set of tracks down a steep hill, into the bank and showing that a neat 180 spin followed. Both incidents were on small back lanes which are a short cut between major (gritted) roads, neither have any houses on them, so there was no need for anyone to be driving there. Great riding though.

The lack of common sense has genuinely come as a surprise, despite the stereotypes…

There are a few bikes from the UK this year too, look out for Simon Pavey, Craig Bounds and Jenny Morgan all from the welshside and entered as privateers. All are also asking for small donations to help pay service/travel/entry costs as it’s hideously expensive to enter, you should be able to find their sites pretty easily.

For all the (internet) dakar coverage you can stomach have a look at http://www.advrider.com under racing. There are several threads on personal and bike preparation, updates from the road etc. Jenny in particular has done a thorough job describing what is involved.

Love the Dakar, doubt I’ll ever be brave enough to enter but will be closely following the progress and may go and see it in person if it returns to Africa (rumoured for 2012/2013).

Brrrrmmmmmmm.

Can’t wait for future versions of the electric KTM’s. Powered access to the countryside without the noise that everyone seems to hate so much = happiness for all (most?).

Get a copy of TBM (trail bike magazine) and maybe look at enduronews.com. As an alternative to KTM etc TBM had a couple of low(er) powered (and cheap) spanish bikes from Rieju and AJP in the last couple of months, they sound ideal for trail riding although build quality may leave something to be desired.

I think it depends on whether you are ever going to take it racing, I’m still learning to ride my 250F and can’t imagine needing more power or suspension any time soon, even when racing on a closed course.

Love my S2000 but the earlier ones were a bit ‘twitchy’, post 2004 had suspension mods to improve handling (so only mildly scary).

Can’t beat VTEC for giggles though…

…and don’t forget you combine your love offroading with an engine.

I rode offroad as a youngster and had an urge to get back on a bike, did my direct access so that I could progress to doing some long distance enduro/rally type events which inevitably have some road sections between the dirt. It’s also pretty hard to really hurt yourself on one if you ride vaguely sensibly, although agree with the posts above regarding attitude being the most important thing.

Got a KTM 250 in the spring and have been loving some trail riding near home and in Wales, and then did my first hare and hounds a couple of weeks ago, which was a brutal lesson in falling off but so much fun.

Can I stand up to say – I am an offroad motorcycle rider and not a hooligan (it seems we have an even worse reputation than mountain bikers).

Bikes. Are. Fantastic.

My other half is also a doctor, works pretty hard at times but when her team is working well together it can be a normal job. She's getting on for a consultant now and the work doesn't get easier, just different. She did choose to be a med-reg though, her brother and wife have both picked specialties that are much more 9-5.

The 48hr week is supposed to apply, but ends up making a mess of the rota and so the majority do extra hours to ensure patients are looked after.

It's a stressful job, I'm not sure the drinking/divorce etc rates are that much worse than comparable jobs. Also a LOT of doctors are married to other doctors and clashing shifts etc don't make for a happy home life. I'm happy to be the flexible half of the relationship and to adjust my week to suit.

Remember that more weekends working for her equals more guilt free biking for you!

I've a selection of them picked up over the years. I find on my daily commute with clothes, file, tools etc (generally not shoes) that the medium is spot on. If you carry the shoes every day I'd go for a large, but when it's relatively empty I found mine keeps sliding around my back instead of staying put – hence I picked up a medium in the US last year.

Great bags, had my oldest 10 years+ and still barely worn in.

I just bought an enduro bike from ET James in Rhayader, mid-wales. They usually have a pretty good selection of second hand MX and Enduro bikes of varying age/price and will look out for something for you if you ask. Probably won't sell you a bog of nails though, so may push the price up a bit but at least you won't be buying a dog.

Their website is http://www.etjames-sons.co.uk but doesn't seem to working entirely brilliantly at the moment. Alan is the second-hand bikes guy.

Be warned that there is a bit of a shortage of second hand bikes at the moment as many owners are hanging onto them for another season (financial pressures I guess), if you spot one grab it quick.

I try to put some slightly faster rolling tyres on my Pike/5thCoiled Heckler. It's the only bike with gears I've got and I'd rather deal with the extra weight than ride the tiny, chuckabout, SS hardtail. I'm planning on taking it to a few Merida (CRC?) Marathons this year…

As said above a bigger bike is fine, you will find yourself held up by XC whippets on slick-shod superstiff race bikes on the downhills, only for them to whoosh right back past as soon as you hit the uphill – all part of the game.

High Roller front, Ignitor-worn-almost-slick rear. Seem to work for most things most of the time, rear traction is for wimps…

On sizing I'm 6'3" and ride a 2008 large, as said above makes it a great throw-around bike for up to 4hr rides. It is a bit short compared to my full-sus but don't notice because of the way I ride it. It would be too short for sitting and spinning up a big (15min+) climb, but I run it 1×9 or 1×1 and get out of the saddle when it gets steep/rough.

Gets me around the local trails, general hoonery and love it at trail centres where it is a grown up BMX. My other bike is beginning to wonder if I've forgotten about them.

Crumpled the front of mine hitting a log at speed, again entirely my own fault. Cheap warranty replacement did me fine until I decided a geometry change was required and bought a chameleon. Frame still in the garage and might get rebuilt for some summer racing.

I think that's a trend for 2010 right there – it's all about black front wheels and silver rear wheels!

I'm clearly a little ahead of the trend as have been running this combination since November… Chameleon is looking a dogs dinner at the moment (even fork upper and lower don't match) but is the bike I _always_ take out. Odds and sods bikes rule.

Struggle to get excited about F1 and even MotoGP recently, but can't wait for this years Moto2.

A load of truly world class riders on one of three or four chassis designs, single engine supplier, few electronics. Please let there be plenty of coverage on the red button or I'm going to be forced to get sky.

Yes, turned a corner towards the top of the first (long) climb and got blown across the track and had to stick a foot down quick – was very reminiscent of my time riding in Wellington NZ where I did get blown over at least once.

The Gap is a classic ride, very scenic and not too hard as the climbs are at a steady gradient (albeit long). Surface is generally hard so okay in all weathers (especially if you take the route in the mag and don't go up to the quarry/over to the end of Pontiscill (sp?) reservoir). Navigation is fine except for the short stretch over the top of the first climb where you have to pick the right track without much of a landmark to go from. Final descent is a lot of fun, fast and rocky although they're part way through building some new waterbars towards the bottom so needed to go a bit more careful than usual.

It took me a little over three hours yesterday, but that was solo (able to go at my own pace) and I didn't really stop other than to chew on a muesli bar. It was okay in the conditions yesterday but I have done the route several times before and knew exactly where I was going (and where to retreat if the weather had changed).

A.

No, I think that Phiiiiil is right, I hadn't really thought about it until I was cruising around the Gap route yesterday and realised they were back to front. The Black Mountains route is a lot, lot harder (no way I would have headed around there solo in yesterdays wind and rain), could be very misleading if not clarified and would hate for someone to be stuck out on the hill in the dark.

Plus on the Gap route I think that the map was a little misleading, when you drop down to Pentwyn Reservoir I *think* that you head across the forest on the forest road rather than the railway line shown on the map (it's full of train track).

Anyway, a good ride out and only got a bit wet although did nearly get blown off a couple of times. Rediscovered my Joy of Filth after a slack few weeks…

Shakes head some more at all the dull, dull, dull cars.

Honda S2000 because; we can have one practical and one impractical car, 9000rpm is addictive, it starts every single time (not an elise), can accomodate a weekend camping trip, and it's a lot of proper fast rear drive car for not a lot of cash.

Old golf estate (2.0 petrol) for transporting bikes, building materials and more luggage, also pretty quick even loaded. Oh for an R32 estate…

I might as well add my bit. Disks on road bikes would be great, I do d lot of muddy back lane commuting and go through pads and rims pretty fast, would love a fast bike with the ability to run disks.

Too powerful is nonsense, if the lever feel is good and sensibly modulated there is no such thing as too powerful, only idiots who pull the lever too hard. MotoGP brakes are far too powerful, as witnessed a couple of years ago when one of the Ducati boys flipped himself onto his head when the brake lever caught another bike, but the ability to brake with a light pressure applied by a single finger is less fatiguing. Anyone want to go back to having to yank the lever with three fingers on an MTB? Modulation and feel is the key.

If the UCI get their head out of their arse disks will be coming to roadbikes purely on aerodynamic grounds. Can't wait.

I'm a probable, subject to heavy rain (as we're currently experiencing in Bath just in time for me to ride home Mendipwards) and domestic duties.

Should be suitably slippery in a couple of weeks…

I borrowed a 70-300VR for a recent trip to Africa and found that I really needed the zoom range for half decent shots of birds etc. Would have loved something even longer, but think that the lens is a good compromise of cost and range.

Left the VR off most of the time (it was usually pretty sunny) and when I did come to use it wasn't that impressed to be honest – getting shake at the speeds they claim should be achievable. Was just handholding though, might be better on a beanbag.

Shots were cr*p anyway as it was really too dark, not sure that VR is all it's cracked up to be, might get you a stop or two but not a slower speed and at that point it probably is too dark to be taking pictures. Guess it also uses a fair bit of battery getting the gyroscopes (?) spinning up?

Also struggling to justify the cost hike to a bright 300mm so may well get one myself.

Seriously Stoner, get yourself a structural engineer, for the £200 you'd have to pay you'll more than save that in time, hassle and building-the-wrong-thing-and-having-to-take-it-down-again.

We had a look at it here as an additional service, the only training courses I found are run by (surprise, surprise) the BRE. For us it seemed expensive as you need to site the exam for each building type (c.£1200 for the first and £800 for each following qualification), you would need to do it for a good portion of each week to get the return.

I also have doubts about how long BREEAM is going to be around in it's current form – it's a pretty basic tool that misses some really big items (like embodied carbon!), it's all about building use. The American/International LEED system is much better but I'm not sure whether it's going to be adopted here – there is supposed to be an updated BREEAM in the works.

Not sure how useful that is, this area of the market is definitely going to grow but I think the current standards are going to become obsolete pretty quickly.

Again thanks PC Frank for coming on here and hopefully this forum will, in it's own small way, contribute to reducing the problem.

I completely agree with Driller and clubber and have also had valuable bikes stolen in a targeted attack on my garage a few years ago. My additional concern is of the reports of attacks or attempted attacks (maybe only a couple over the last few years) in and around Leigh Woods, Still Woods etc.

Whilst I suspect that these are taken more seriously by the police, many of us believe these to be linked to the organised, targeted thefts from properties. It has certainly made me think twice about night riding alone in the area.

Good luck, here's looking forward to some positive news.

I’ll be there on an overweight coil sprung heckler, introducing a friend from NZ to the delights of riding in Wales too. Will be doing to full course whatever distance it ends up, at the sign-in at Builth the course had grown by around 10km compared to that advertised – you may still get your 100!

I’d second spending some time thinking about this before diving straight into applications. Maybe plan to do it next year, spend some time visiting uni/cities, get into some offices or onto sites and have some convincing things to say at interview – if you send in a scattergun UCAS application they are less likely to take you seriously.

If The Times still publishes their university rating this might be a good start, see where the top rated engineering departments are, have a look at their research rating (good research = good opportunities and teachers).

It looks as though there are a few people here willing to help and offer advice, keep the questions coming.

A

I did a very broad based civil engineering degree (Bristol) and have spent my career (so far) working on building structures. Although the job (as any) can have its low points I love being involved in the process of creating a new building.

I work more at the architectural end of the business and find that although the work is not always challenging from an engineering standpoint, finding a solution that satisfies the whole project team, from designers to builders to clients, is often the biggest challenge. Very rewarding when you get it right. Definitely an opportunity to go for green solutions too, with the right client.

In my previous job I worked on the big projects (stadia etc) but found that you are only ever see one part of the project, in my current job work on much smaller things and have complete control over every aspect, something I find much more rewarding. Although automotive/aerospace engineering sounds sexy, most of the people I’ve met working in those industries are super specialised (met someone recently that designed the toilets in long haul aircraft – what a job!).

The downsides are it’s not really a 9-5 job (at least here) and the pay is low compared to IT/finance type people, but I make enough for a mortgage, toys, travel and a reasonably nice lifestyle. No Porsche sat in the driveway though!

Overall I agree with the poster above who said that you should find a really broad based course if you can, you shouldn’t limit your possibilities too soon. Engineering degrees are also quite highly rated in other industries, many in my course went in completely different directions, just make sure it’s a well respected uni. Maybe try and get some work experience (yes I know you’re 32) and see how you feel after a couple of weeks in an office or on site.

Good luck with the decision.

Sorry Ed2001, poorly phrased sentence done in a hurry.

The CAAD9 would be a nice day bike[,] in addition to [my other bike] a proper winterproof commuter.

Although, saying that, I’ve seen a very smart winterisation of one using some cut down SKS guards with a few P-clips and zip ties, probably a tighter and less rattly setup than the SKS guards on my current winter bike.

I’ve been thinking about something similar and have a hankering for a Cannondale CAAD9. Alu frame but apparently a dream ride and recent test I saw of the Six (not SystemSix) said to save the cash and get a CAAD9 instead as it was lighter and had a better ride.

This would be a nice day bike in addition to a proper winterproof commuter.

I’m going to stick it in the diary and then see closer to the date, it’s a go-er for now. As I live very nearby it would be good to broaden my Mendip knowledge!

Excellent!

Change my singlespeed to 1×9 each summer when the trails get dry enough that I need more speed on the flat. Use a 36 up front with 11-32 cassette. Bash ring, jump stop, shadow rear mech and the shortest chain I can get away – chain doesn’t drop unless I do something really silly.

Planned to try this as an experiment and then add some sort of chain device later but haven’t needed to.

Myra Moller – NZ cyclist, here racing for the Cook Islands at the last Commonwealth Games.

I worked with her for a bit, nice girl with little sense of direction (we were messangers so quite important). Also has a very pretty non-sporting sister.

Had a great run out on Sunday and was pleased with my 4.5hrs until I read the posts above, how the hell do you guys get round in under 4? Had a good start and passed people pretty consistently for the first two thirds, the last section was slow though, my legs were on the verge of cramping on each of the hills and I was just plodding with a group.

Great course and weather.

Does anyone know the grouping of start numbers for the 25, 50 and 70k routes (I forgot to look closely at the sign-on sheets). Would like to know roughly where I was in the grand scheme of things and from the results they publish think this would be the only way.

Right, 100k next time out.

Caher, persevere with the clipless pedals, it is really worth it in the long run. EVERYONE has some comedy crashes to start with, simple rule of thumb seems to be 4 weeks to broadly get the hang of them, even then you will occasionally fail to unclip in emergencies for a few more weeks. After that the action will become automatic and you will never go back to clips/flats.

Go and find a patch of soft grass and practice clipping in and out until you feel comfortable.

Oh, and don’t ask roadies about clipless, I’m still stunned that lots of them still can’t get the hang of spds (saying that maybe road pedals are more difficult – I’ve never tried).

Is everyone going to laugh at my overweight coil sprung Heckler – that Superlight makes it look positively obese.

I’ll be the one coming home just after dark…