I’ve an under armour long sleeve base layer which is designed for hot weather which seems to work well. Skin tight and white it does look like Euro Gay Disco wear though. SPF of 30 as well. I only wear base layers when the weathers hot and in the winter just add another if required and a windproof or waterproof.

I can only think of one potential customer

No weight limit then?

Remember this guy was overweight and had problems with drink and drugs

What was his user name? Who’s he left his 5 to?

I bought the 2010 HT pro when they were selling them off with the view to it being a donor bike but I can’t really see the point in changing anything on it now I’ve had it a few months. The exception being the saddle which is I think everyone will agree just about the worst ever put on a bike. I run mine 1 x 9 and love it as a fast cross country bike.

I’ve decided to put the money I would have spent on a new frame and upgrades towards getting a road bike, probably another Boardman, as I think I’d get far more out of 2 very different bikes for different things than I would out of just making what I’ve got a little bit better.

It might not seem the most attractive place on earth but if you want to be closer to Brighton and the A23 and you want what is laughingly called value for money round here then look at Newhaven. I lived there for 10 years before moving a few miles west but that was only after our second child turned out to be 2 and we needed a bigger house and to be nearer help as I’m away a lot. You’ve got the river and the sea for the kayak as well and your a short ride from the SDW and there are miles of bridleways.

I have them but as they are my first hydraulic disk brakes I have nothing to compare them to. I find no problem in stopping but on light braking they do feel like they pulse on and off, like abs. The rotors don’t appear to be warped so I don’t know if they need bleeding or if it’s just a characteristic/fault of them.

I’m currently riding a 1×9 with 32 front and 11-32 riding on the South Downs. I can get up everything with that and I think it has improved my leg strength in the short time I’ve been running it. If and when I change to 10 speed I think I’ll go 34 and 11-36 as I reckon a little more at the top would be as useful as a little more at the bottom.

Some may not think they are of any use but I used Nuun tablets in my water when I did 84 miles of it 2 weeks ago. 40 miles more than I’d done before and I felt they made a real difference. I used a wingnut with 1.5 litres in it and enough food to last a week! I also had 2 bottles on the bike as well so completely over the top. I ate less than half the food I took and I don’t think my water ever dropped below a litre so I’ll carry a bit less next time. The wingnut is great though and even full doesn’t seem like too much of a burden, far better than a standard pack IME. If you can get hold of a wingnut the Source 2 litre widepack fits very well and is very easy to fill wwithout having to remove it from the pack.

I use whatever it is Thorn/SJS fit to their bikes and they are still working fine after 5 years. Have a look on the Thorn forums you should find plenty of advice there.

It seems a bit harsh on Houns, I’m sure from what he did he can only be about 12 and non too bright with it. It would seem unfair to ban the hard of thinking for their inherent limitations. 🙂

I can keep proper bicycle gears running smoothly in winter conditions

I split my sides at the thought of you cleaning your gears while I sit inside with a lovely cup of Earl Grey. 🙂

Would it kill people to provide some information above and beyond a partially hidden link to another website?

Well if trying to catch a ball can kill you then well maybe yes.

why does everyone think that the way they have their bike set-up is the same as everyone else

They don’t, they think they have them set up better than everyone else.

To prove the point I laugh at your singlespeeds and alfines and use the Rohloff when it’s a bit grim out. 🙂

I don’t have a problem with it at all. In fact it’s got me thinking about getting another road or maybe a cx bike. 25 years ago I used to ride a lot on the road and gradually started to take shortcuts off road until I found I was hardly going on the roads at all and that’s when I bought the mountain bike. Now I quite like the idea of a cx bike for mixed riding. I think I’d also do more longer rides in the winter if I had something that did a better job on the roads. I ride off road all year round but I find an hour or so in filthy wet and muddy conditions enough.

imagine what could be achieved if all that spending was put towards sorting problems like these.

Just imagine if the cost of developing these artificial organs were spent on getting clean water to people who don’t have it. I reckon you’d be looking at a minimum of saving 100 lives for every life these organs save and maybe as high as a 1000.

So the challenge for Friday is to identify a town with more than one jail. And it must be a town not a city.

I’ve half a mind to get a cx bike and I think the disc mounts on the Cotic would push me towards that.

Selfish – I would like bigger boobs

I’d hardly call that selfish!

I run one on my winter off road commuter. UN54 weighs a bit but is dead cheap and lasts 2 to 3 years used daily in wet and muddy conditions.

If a plane…

All roads however lead to Rome and so they were obviously riding in the mistaken belief that they had already arrived.

I did it today otherwise I would have spent the night at work.

I have no problem with commuting off road all winter and getting wet and muddy twice a day but I get really fed up in the summer,when I like to extend my commute, with even a drop of rain. I shall take the It’s wet and muddy bike to work tomorrow which will hopefully bring the sun back out.

Thanks guys, I’ve a pair that I took the spacers out of to use them at 120 and found that the foam rings were not sitting in properly. It was the first time they’d been apart so I assume they were like it from new. It doesn’t seem to be detrimental to performance but if i can change them without removing the wipers then so much the better.

As an aside can you replace the foam rings without removing and refitting the wipers?

Van Halen are you doing Winchester to Eastbourne?
I only ask because on Saturday I joined it 4 miles from home and rode the 80 miles to Winchester and my impression was that if you can do it on a day without a south westerly to battle into then it’s an easier ride. I kept on riding down pretty steep bits expecting to find myself going up something as bad very soon but that never really seemed to happen. It just seemed to be longer but less steep going up, I have to say at the bottom of the hill dropping to the A24 I thought please god I hope it’s not going to be the same going out and fortunately it wasn’t. Also after Buster Hill the whole thing seems a lot easier run in than in the opposite direction where you’d still be looking at the climbs out of Southease, Alfriston and Jevington. Getting to the statue of Alfred just seems a much more fitting end than a wooden board as well.
I’d set off with the plan of getting to Petersfield and then seeing how I felt, as it turned out conditions were absolutely perfect and I still felt good so pushed on to Winchester. I will now go for the whole 100 miles at some point and I’ll wait for a day with little wind or a south or south easterly. It’ll also mean I can start from home as it’s only a 30 minute drive early in the morning.
As for the route finding I carried the Harveys map but found the signs pretty good and only went a little wrong on Buster hill where I just aimed for the top and ended up about a 100M too far north.

People need to correlate this with which way they hang the toilet roll otherwise it’s meaningless.

I know if I do a long ride in the heat I get very thirsty and this doesn’t seem to go away no matter how much water I drink. Only electrolyte drinks work. Is this so unreasonable? Speaking as one who doesn’t eat much processed food..

That was my experience from the weekend, but as well as using hydration tablets I also made a point of eating continually as well, never going for more than an hour without something. That is not something I have done in the past so this too may have explained why I was able to ride nearly twice as far as previously without that thirst at the end that won’t go away. I think for the next long ride I will continue with the eating and carry the Nuun tablets as a back up.

And judging by the straps on my wingnut there was plenty of something washing out of me.

I did 84 miles of the SDW on Saturday, 40 miles more than I’ve ridden before, 10 hours cycling, a train journey back to Brighton then another 7 mile ride home followed by a quick shower and straight out the door to go out for the evening. I put being able to do that down to malt loaf, oat cakes and Nuun tablets which I was using for the first time and I was really impressed with them. Felt pretty good all day and good the next day, whereas normally I’d be thirsty but water never really seemed to quench my thirst. I shall be using them from now on for anything longer than a couple of hours.

84 miles from home to Winchester on the SDW on Saturday, 40 miles more than I’ve done in a day before.
9 hours 59 minutes. No punctures, no mechanicals one very slight navigational hiccup when I found myself about 100 meters too far north at the top of Buster Hill and only about 400m of pushing which pleased me as I only had a 32×32 lowest gear.
The weather was perfect with cloud cover most of the time keeping the temperature down and a gentle breeze and very little standing water left.
I did have a bit of a stiff neck nodding to all the other riders coming the other way, there was obviously some event going on as they all seemed to have numbers but everything else held up well and the caffeine nuun drink at 70 miles really sorted me out for the last stretch.
I have to say if your not going into a headwind then it seems the better direction to ride the SDW in. I kept riding down really steep bits thinking thank god I’m not riding up them while most of what I was going up may have been longer but seemed less steep. Also after Buster Hill the worst of the climbing is done. I know the climbs out of Alfriston and Jevington well at wouldn’t really want to face them at the end of a very long ride. Also it seem a lot better to finish at the statue of Alfred The Great than a wooden board.

It’s interesting to read the comments on the sizing, I wouldn’t say I was broad shouldered and I was within the sizing guidelines for a small based on chest size. The medium is a much better fit but certainly isn’t flapping around. It’s a much slimmer fit than my medium Gill Pro Speed.

I guess not surprisingly you really need to try them on whoever their made by.

Thanks al and nedrapier, unfortunately the other thing which I completely overlooked was that I also need to fit a Rohloff shifter on the bars as well.

Tea tree oil.

I’m liking the idea of trying this on my rigid bike, I did after all start off road riding on a dropped bar bike. I’ve got a v rake at the back and a BB7 up front but will that work with drop levers or am I looking at having to get the road version of the BB7?

If you do go with the velo be aware that the small is just that. I’m only 5’5′ and had to go for a medium, the small was too tight across the shoulders. I use it as my summer carry everywhere jacket and so far so good.

Got mine for £42.50 from cyclestore.co.uk

Well going shorter isn’t going to cause you any problems so I wouldn’t worry about it. As far as I’m aware the only thing that can lead to knee problems is cranks that are too long.

If you prefer to spin rather than grind you may prefer 170 cranks. I’ve a bike with 165’s and one with 170’s and can’t really tell a difference but then one is a hub geared rigid and the other a conventionally geared hardtail so they are very different anyway.
Previously I had a bike with 175’s which were fine off road but I did find they my knees didn’t like them for road sections where your not moving around on the bike so much.

Carpet needs hoovering.

TJ with power, for God’s sake have none of you read Animal Farm. 🙂

Because he can do what we can’t, just imagine TJ with all that power and what a warped and distorted view of the world that would give. Well it’s already that warped and distorted but in an entirely other direction.

I had one of those 5 speed Arena’s in 1976. IIRC it was the first bike to have those suicidal brake extensions. At least I remember the guy in the bike shop telling me that, though he didn’t mention the suicidal bit. It was my first bike with drops and gears.