The scariest thing is the fact one in three drivers in CA are uninsured, so if you rent a car take out the non-insurance cover, otherwise you could be faced with a hefty health insurance bill as holiday insurance small print will show a not so worrying $$ limit that would get eaten up in weeks in a CA hospital.

In terms of driving in CA its easy, although even though they have slow / fast lanes like us nobody really uses them. Plus being stuck in LA rushour traffic on a 12 lane freeway like the 101 or 405 is even more soul destroying than the 3 lane M25. I lived there for 2 years, the funniest thing is when it rains…..people turn into retards in cars as some people have never driven in the rain…..but to be honest the roads do turn into ice rinks as the oil rises to the top of the tarmac…and chuck can’t control the wheelspin on his 550bhp Tundra !! avoid !!

The Driving test is about the same…..the bike test is rediculous….pay $25′ get 20 out of 25 on a theory test and you can throw your leg over ANY bike. I went from never riding a motorbike to a SV650 in about 24 hours !!

All chains will have the exact same distance between links (give or take a manufacturing tolerance( unless you go half link…..or get out the Dremel !!!

Take it thats a NO then !!

LMNH is far to pretentious a location…..Orbree is on crack and Gary F is dealing it !!

Polluza was good though.

I noticed they scoottered past the stretch on Box Hill where someone has sprayed the HUGE c0ck on the road !! Can’t wait to see that on the TV coverage next saturday !!

Boarding in the sea can be problmatic. A ski boat isn’t a sports boat, so the flat hull and waves don’t go well together. Plus a lot of the early Mastercrafts use the water for coolant…..having sea water going through the engine is OK, but make sure you flush it through thoroughly.

Yes, had a Mastercraft Pro Star for 3 years, 5.7ltr V8. I bought it with a friend, which turned out to be the best move I made. I’ll be honest….I wouldn’t do it again.

I used to store it at a farm en-route to the lake (a lake called Stewartby). Bought a Land Rover defender to tow it, which was great, as the slip into the lake was pretty steep and you simply couldn’t launch it with anything but a 4×4.

A full tank was around £100, and this was back in 2005. So probably £130 now. That would last maybe 6 hours. It was great to have, don’t get me wrong, there were times when me and a bud had the entire lake to ourselves some summer evenings, awesome. The lake was also a skiing lake, and the old farts who ran the club always insisted that you couldn’t run any weight in the boat, but when we were on our own we would load all the fat sacks, water drums etc and get a decent wake out to your waist !! Great laugh, hitting the double was like being booted into space !

The running costs aren’t cheap, insurance, winterising, servicing, club membership, maintenance, boat license etc etc. Glad that I had another guy to split it all with. One thing we also did was charge a set amount for buddies, like £20 a day. A lot of the time people using the boat don’t realise the costs, so be up front with them and that normally works.

If you have somewhere to keep it, thats half the battle, as it started to be a pain getting it from the farm and taking it back….by that time all your riding buddies have dissapeared home !!

I sold it and simply used another friends boat, he bought a brand new X7 so it was an easy decision. But if I didn’t have access to another boat would’ve thought hard about selling it. All gone now anyhow, just ride the cable. Rock up with you board….ride…..go home !!

Awesome Farthing wipe out !!!

http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=1673502726001&w=466&h=263

I had one in California, loved it. It was also my first bike. California is pretty laxed in regards to getting a bike license. I had NEVER ridden a motorbike at all, went to the DVLA, took a $25 test, got 22 out of 25 and passed. Once you pass you can throw your leg over ANY bike, any size cc. The only restriction is that you can’t ride at night or on highways until you pass the practical.

I sold the SV to a vertically challenged young lady, prob around 5’4. She had a special seat made, or rather shaved down, and she could touch the ground OK. I liked the SV as there were loads of little mods you could put on yourself. I stuck on a new rear carbon can, rear fender eliminator and took the rear seat off. Loved that bike !! [Oh and the can is a Delkevic Slip-on with a Yoshi name plate ! ;o) ]

Yeti 575…..borrowed off of a friend !!

I’m 182, with a longish reach. I went for a Large Nano. STUPID light. A smidge over 15lbs with the pedals on, all for 1600 squid !!! (Bought frame and built ip myself)

Thanks all, went for the Touche in the end. Got the frameset from Cycle Surgery for £250 and a set of Token C30AKs. Just need some cranks now.

Found a Genesis Flyer fo £450. Reynolds 520, looks smart in blue.

Yes agree with the frame, I think the best quality frame out of these is the Sputnik, as its Reynolds 520.

I used a Jamis Sputnik for a 17 mile each way commute, if you get the gearing right its great.

Def swaying towards the Kona, love the paint scheme !!

Ouch…..Ebay selling fees !!!

Cool, thanks.

I noticed on the Loakes site they actually state which ones are made in India and the UK. I’ll check out the Cheaneys.

The guy sitting opposite me has 2 pairs of C&Js he rotates, he has had them for 11 years with 2 re-soles each….not back for circa £40 a year !

This is about the biggest I’ve done….maybe 10 – 12ft from top to landing….although must say riding a bike with 8″ of travel meant there was a lot less to worry about….but still scared the crap out of me and took about 10 mins to get the minerals to try it.

[*]I have a 4S….amazing phone, kind of the only thing you need to carry with you (apart from Money), love the GPS, sat nav, biking apps, web, mail etc. But just got a work Blackberry. Selling if for £380 if you’re interested once I get the unlock code through. Only 6 months old !

hey Carl…..thinking about it!

Thanks for the tips, I went for a quick spin this afternoon and switched the stem, felt much better. Totally agree with the tape….it just felt slippy!!

I think the bars will have internal routings, like these:

Check out out the SRAM video, they route it the same as I have, but agree doesn’t look that clean.

The same on a Madone 6.9:

Another pro bike:

nice, light build, esp. for the money. But, that tape / cable work is really, really shoddy. do it again, and route the cables properly, use electricians tape to hold them in place.

Thats the only way you can route the SRAM Red levers, the gear cable comes directly out of the top, I can move it a little but it will still always show on the outside edge of the bars.

Yes, I need to try it out before I start chopping the steerer down again.

Ref budget, I bought most of it in the Planet X Chill Out sale…..some real bargains !!

Took these last Friday…..I could virtually touch Pendletons frame !! ;o)

Laura Trott and SCH were awesome !!

I’ve been using 26″ 1.125 Ultra Gator Skins for 7 months and puncture free!

I worked in Socal for 2 years, been back in the UK for 5 months.

2 simple things, CA is one of the most expensive states to live in. For a single guy with no mortgage you will be at the top of the tax banding, so expect around 35 – 40% for total taxes. The cost of living is very expensive, I dont think there is a huge difference between North and South espesh in PA.

Renting is pretty high, we were paying $3000 a month for a 3 / 4 bed 2200sq ft house in a gated community with a pool. Expect circa $130+ for internet and phone, $150 plus for utils, etc. car insurance is REDICULOUS. We bought a new GMC Acadia, Range Rover size, it cost us $3000 a year to insure, they stiff you as you basically have to choose the level of risk…..on a brand new car you’re pretty risk adverse!!!

Ensure you get decent healthcare, but most of all dentistry….Now that is a license to print money, to give you an idea of what the Americans think of our dental hygene, think Austin Powers…..we spent circa $4000 basically getting fillings replaced, kids dental work…..bonkers

All that aside, I think Socal at least is one of the best places on the planet if you’re into the outdoors. Skiing, hiking is unreal. Biking is overwhelmingl!!! If you ride AM or DH, then you’re in one of the best places you can find!!!

Its a tough decision to make, i dont regret doing it, but I did go over with my company so a lot of the moving costs etc were covered…..if I had to do it on my own i’d really think hard….but then I have a wife and 2 small critters!!

Do you want North or South Cali? Lived in Thousand Oaks (Socal) for 2 years, PM me, I have LOTS of trails for you and groups to hook up with.

Got an email back from Andy Palmer at Salsa regarding the Lip-Lock

“It’s 15mm from the bottom of the lip, to the bottom of the clamp so it looks like this will work great for you. “

Looks like the Lip Lock will work fine.

Got the superstar clamp last night and its too short. Its actually around 15mm deep, however with the collart at the top it still leaves a gap of around 2mm at the bottom. Although I did get a little creative and stuck a 2.5mm BB cup spacer under the clamp. Looks OK.

Thinking of getting the Camapgnolo clamp, as that looks a lot deeper, plus it doesn’t have a collar.

Recevied a reply from Focus. The seatclamp is a made by “PRIME” and its a “CL – AD”…..however can’t find it anywhere !

Didn’t receive mt Superstar one yesterday so still eager to see how it fits.

I emailed Focus to see if they could tell me what make etc it is.

I also found this one thats looks pretty deep, offset for carbon posts also. £4 from CRC…..but not in stock until May !!

I ordered a Superstar one last night as the picture of it looked deeper than most, worth a punt for £6. Should get it today and I’ll let you know.

This is the Cayo clamp….as you can see its a little deeper:

I don’t really post on these sort of things, but Ian: good luck,. TJ: you have issues, seek help.

I’ve had a carbon Genius and a Yeti 575 and snapped both….but they were both replaced without any quibble at all….so I’ll continue to buy carbon . Simple as.

If you Board, the first week WILL be painful. Buy some inmpact shorts if you can, that will help. Plus don’t let the first few days put you off.

Learning in a group really helps.

48-47 Holy crap !!!!

http://www.universalcycles.com is good. I think if you use VIP15 or VIP30 you get 15% / 30% off if you spend enough.

http://www.pricepoint.com is good. Also http://www.blueskycycling.com/ is good.

Jenson OK, but not as cheap as it used to be. Also try http://www.wheelworld.com (not sure where relative lives), but good.

Obviously ensure the wedge is loose……then insert two allens keys in the holes on the side and some kind of bar between the two to allow you to lever the BB round inside the shell(screwdriver works well). If you can when rotating the EBB and tightening the chain try and get the wedge betweenthe 6 and 12 p’clock position….so if it does slip (and from my experience it will) it will at least tighten the chain in the process.

I’ve had lots of EBBs………effin hate them, but sometimes you just have to endure the pain!!

^^ simply somewhere to rest your nuts !