My off road riding started on a 10 speed Coventry Eagle road bike. Replaced in 1986 with a Rockhopper.All the bits from that went onto a Roberts White Spider frame a couple of years later. That was eventually replaced with a Marin East Peak in 1998. Now I have a thorn Catalyst but I've just bought some new cables and I'm going to get the East Peak going again.

Does it matter unless your racing?

Luckily for me at 5'5" I'll never have to face this dilemma .

Neighbours car?

If you ride a steel framed bike it will become magnetised and always pull to the right.

If you don't have a sub station near you get an ordinary light bulb and put it in the microwave. Sparks a bit and then lights up. If you want to try this with a fluorescent tube your going to need to find a very big microwave.

I have bought a spear, and some matches.

You could have made the spear and what's wrong with rubbing 2 sticks together. I don't think your showing the required dedication here.

If I don't buy this will I die? If yes buy if no don't. Do that for a while and you should save a bit.

I have a disk brake at the front and a V brake at the back so I'm constantly reminded as to which is best.

posting this from an internet kiosk in Vienna which i've just set up, flying home Sunday to fly to Athens on Monday to set up another exhibit. Mixture of Easy Jet Austrian Airlines and Olympic. All flights origanall y booked on BA. June UK to Rome to UK to US US to Rhodes. Would usually be BA but guessing I'll be booked on other airlines now.

My understanding from Rohloff was that they did support the belt drive but only on units they had supplied to manufactures and that you could buy the complete bike or frame and drive kit but not the individual components. In fact the carbon drive website has a link to a press release on the Rolhoff site IIRC. It does seem that there needs to be some clarity on this and I can understand your concern Rip if you find yourself in a position where you can't swap back to a chain drive.

Thanks shand that's useful information and rules out my idea of easily going back to a chain if it proves to be unreliable in very muddy conditions. So as my Rohloff is v brake only I could be looking at some serious money to upgrade it to both disk and belt drive compatible.

I reckon what you need is advice from someone whose laid a driveway, this guy [/url] might be able to help.

Just added that Shand site to my favourites.

Rip it will be good to hear how you get on with the belt drive. I think there are a few on here who have been waiting for someone to go what the hell I'll give it a go. I know I have. And even if you don't get on with the belt drive in the mud you can always run a conventional chain for the winter. It should be a pretty simple job to swap.

Try here

If it lasts twice as long as a chain with a Rohloff then I should be able to get 6 years from one belt! One other advantage for hub gear users is that the belt system weighs a lot less than a conventional chain, chainring and sprocket reducing the overall weight penalty of using a hub gear. At the moment Rohloff are saying you can't buy an after-market system and that it has to come as part of a complete bike but I think there are ways round that if your not worried by warranty issues. I'd love to try it but I do ride all winter in very muddy conditions so I'd have to be pretty sure it was going to handle that. Another issue is the lack of frames that are currently avaliable. Van Nicholas do a belt version of the Zion frame which I'd rather like and I think it's a shame that when ibis designed the tranny to be a multi-use bike they didn't think far enough ahead to allow it to work with a belt drive.

Seat area of mine is starting to de laminate as well after a winter of off road commuting. I'd like to see them redesigned with a reinforced seat area and I'd happily sacrifice a bit of breath ability in one panel to get something tougher.

I've worn one for the 24 years I've been riding a mountain bike. I have yet to hit my head while riding. There are plenty of times when riding when I do not need it, at which point I look for a convenient place to put it. So far the best place I've found is on my head.

I've started to notice a lot more people riding on the South Downs without helmets. They are just people out for a stroll on a bike, they are not in any more need of a helmet than someone out for a walk or a run.

If you feel you need one then wear one and if you don't then don't.

For those not sure if they are having sex with a squid or an octopus the squid has 10 limbs the octopus 8.

Of course if your shagging dead marine life you may struggle with counting.

Yes, I'm not scared off what I can't see.

Is the intelligent wardrobe such a silly idea? I'll have to ask my valet.

Disk at the front and v at the back for me at the moment. Upgrading to a disk at the front last year was as big a revelation as getting forks that actually work. I would upgrade to disks all round but that would mean a new frame or having the frame modified and the Rohloff would have to go back to Germany to be altered so it would end up costing rather a lot. I've got ceramic rims which still show little wear after a lot of use but as I commute off road all year round they are rarely clean which I'm sure would make a big difference. I use ceramic specific pads which seem to last well but I think I'll try something a bit softer when they need changing.

A far more important question is why on earth would you want to put milk in tea in the first place.

Leviticus 19:19… nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

Which is why my wardrobe contains only clothing entirely made of rubber.

You'd better check spacemonkey's shed!

Switzerland, and most of the western world in fact, does perfectly well without a nuclear deterant.

Switzerland don't need any deterrent as when it comes to a fight their job is to hold the coats of the participants. This keeps them safe and allows them to empty the wallets they find in the coats.

Hordes of jackbooted Nazi storm-troopers sweeping across Europe.

Try here

You said she slowed her pace in Brighton because of ITB issues. I'd be cautious, I've just done my first run in 6 months after similar problems when I overdid the cross country running last year. I limited to 15 minutes this evening but I could still feel it tightening up.

What's soap?

We went to watch at Ovingdean where the runners past 3 times so it was a good spot. She did the right thing in slowing her pace, there were a lot of people at the 8 mile mark who looked like they'd overcooked it and in the heat I think they were going to suffer later.

No idea how my grandad managed with film

Talent? :-)

Malicious or nuisance calls, whether from people you know or from complete strangers, are a criminal offence.

I wonder how many other master criminals plan their operations on public forums?

kennyp is right but for the very best taste these should have come straight from the garden. And you may think me mad but I won't put cheese anywhere near a pizza.

we WANT a MORE RELIABLE system theat allows year round round geared use through the mud.

That would be the Alfine 11 speed wouldn't it?

Has anyone tried converting their old Cateye halogen lamps to LED. Is it as simple as plugging in led light units and wiring the batteries in series? I'd be interested in trying it with mine if it's straightforward and will give a bit more light.

Some of the Osprey packs are available in different back lengths. The Manta[/url] looks good but expensive.

Well so much for the thread the other day that concluded that there was no such thing as a bike that wouldn't get nicked.

Mine gets ridden every day to work and back off road all year round. I wipe and lube the chain as required and that's about it. I didn't spend a shed load of cash on a nice bike so I could clean it.

yes

I know you say Cornwall but the beaches around Tenby are really nice it's cheaper and less crowded and [list]YOU CAN STILL SEE CORNWALL[/list]. We went last year and to be honest I don't see us going to Cornwall again in a hurry. We will be heading there again this summer.

Mezzo might be worth looking at. It folds small enough for the train but the main frame is in one piece so it doesn't ride like a bike with a hinge in the middle. I've ridden one a couple of times and was impressed. A friend who is no lightweight also tried it and found it handled far better than his Dahon.