thanks alfabus.

Anyone got opinions on the Hope Hoops?

Compartment syndrome of the thigh due to internal bleeding hurts a fair bit…

Apparently even morphine won’t do much for it, and the several doses of tramadol that I had certainly didn’t help.

You think you’ve got it bad, try having an irish wolfhound and a rainbow lorikeet in the house. Far more relaxing to learn to live with it.

oops!

wildheart – nice photo and I like the more balanced effect of two flashes used.

TINAS – your description of the flash makes it sound like my Dad’s old Vivitar with an autothyristor. If you put the switch on orange, match your camera settings to the orange marked settings on the back the flash will auto-regulate its power. I actually found it to be very effective, and even to work with the flash off camera as long as its about as far from the subject as you are with the cam.

watch you don’t fry your camera electronics! apparently some old flashes can deliver quite a voltage back to the cam.

I normally feel pretty naff if I do exercise first thing in the morning, with or without food, so you’re not alone.

I haven’t found a solution other than avoidance, which is a pain as riding buddies tend to want to start very early thanks to kids.

Love Tubs – Member

Odds favour the moon falling down, than me doing something wrong….

you are Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory (and I claim my 5 pounds).

Stevo! Need to reserve a watch of that dvd in January!

You know what, I agree with Simon. Obviously he’s enjoying making a snappy discussion out of it, but his basic point is true.

Just about all the talk of ‘creativity’ on this thread is about what gear and settings you need to recreate other people’s ‘creativity’.

An old camera might be fun, but IMO digital gives you much more chance to experiment since you can try all the angles and options without running out of film and you can review the effect immediately.

Great selection of photos Simon, and several that conform to compositional guidlines (shock horror!). Nary a gnat’s chuff of noise either and anyone that’s looking at noise in those pics is missing the point.

Digital advocate here. I like the old stuff as collectables, but see no reason to use out-dated tech when better is available.

/happy marin rider/

how have Marins 'not moved on' exactly?

from hardtails in the 80s/90s to one of the most successful early sus designs, the FRS.

That had the Quad VPP system added, the TARA (travel adjust) added.

More recently there is hydroforming, the Quake freeride bikes (stock bikes with Hammerschmidt).

All spec has changed with the years as anything else.

So no, clearly not moved on at all….

I like it! (even though yellow/orange isn't my favourite)

I had a b17 FRS, which sadly cracked under the swingarm. I always loved the ride though, even compared to other big designs. The frame design doesn't have the swoopy cool of the more modern options, but I still think it's one of the neatest solutions to all the lines of a full sus.

I'll be riding the Marin Rock Springs that replaced the b17 in the alps in a few weeks, and enjoying it. The bike proved its worth (and toughness) there last year too.

We're spending 2 weeks with The White Room in St Foy. Had a cracking week there last summer. As well as the great singletrack round St Foy itself, I thought it was good to be so well placed between Tignes, Les Arcs and La Rosiere. I gather that Stevo knows a lot of epic rides in the area if you like your climbing too. I rather like the van uplift…

If you keep it inside in a cardboard box its mum can't feed it and encourage it to fly….

I'd put it back outside, off the ground if possible, and just keep an eye (and waterpistol) out for cats.

The White Room in Sainte Foy also do back country weeks and I have nothing but praise for them.

lay the stones out on the garden as they are meant to be and use string/tape to mark your patio shape, then lay from the middle out

i see the manager's point I'm afraid (conversation with the mech) –

as he says, doing extra work at home now could set a precedent. Word gets around that they can do that… it starts happening a few times a week… the mechanic quits because he's lost his free time…

Frustrating for you as a one off I agree, but in a way it's sensible management against the culture of 'expected overtime'.

'Tweewielers zijn verboden in het skatepark;' = no bikes at all

from:

http://area51skatepark.nl/site/algemeen-huisregels/

Annoying, because I'm trying to find somewhere to bmx in the area – i live near eindhoven

we'll be in the White Room this summer too.

I totally see your point aracer, and I think the others may be writing it off too quickly.

The digital photo frames are nice for at home, but if you can I would go for something a bit bigger.

A lot of people are already carrying around digital photo albums in convenient sizes…. i-phones, and other mobiles with decent screens. I use my phone as an album too.

My mum (early 60's) got a 'media player' from Aldi which is about the size of a mobile, and has a decent screen. I put a bunch of photos on it for her, and she likes to show them at work. She is pretty tech savvy though.

I would suggest such a media player (check out things from Creative) as a portable, and a bigger frame for home.

regardless of any controversy, I'll add a recommendation for the White Room. 4th and 5th trips there coming up this year.

probably equally easy (or even easier) to download a free resizing tool.

I use Faststone photo resizer which seems to do the job just fine.

I'll also vouch for Stevomcd and the White Room. We're going back this summer. Their bunk bed deals might get into your budget. If I was going alone or with only guys I would definitely go for their bunks option.

I was looking at these over xmas.

Compared to many of the others the Flips were quite chunky, and in these days of 16gb sd cards I'm not sure there's a point to the flip out USB.

I liked the look of a Kodak one the most. Seemed to need to pay between 100 and 150 quid for a nice body and HD.

In the end however I got a cheapy cheap one for under 20 quid in Currys, a Disgo. Quality is OK if you ask me considering how cheap it was. Came with a 2gig card and tv cables too.

I mainly wanted something small that I wouldnt need to worry about taking snowboarding.

it can be improved a lot actually.

I got a 2nd hand one too, on which the blue dial was very stiff. inside 1 or 2 of the holes in the side of the ring are little grub screws. you can undo these and take off the blue alloy ring. you'll find that there's all manner of dirt under there. clean that up and it will move slowly but smoothly by hand.

so it wasn't the builder's fault that you had damp around that window…

not much positive overall then! shame.

CFH – a frenchman in your head? Surely someone of your claimed social standing knows that Leffe is Belgian?

if you wanted proof you should have only regreased one side. you can have no real idea what that particular hub would have looked like without your treatment.

had similar issues with our house.

getting moss up by hand is hard work. If you can get your hands on a scarifying machine it will help no end.

Re-sow with a shadow grass variety.

An autumn fertiliser (with anitimoss action) should set you up for spring. Some have stuff to alter the pH of the ground which will also favour grass over weeds.

I find that dandilions are best taken out individually by hand. make sure you use a tool to get as much of the root as possible.

Clover seems to be best killed by chemical means.

If removing big patches of moss leaves the place really bald, you can always selectively patch with bits of turf. In the next years it should even out ok.

The only remaining problem I have is our giant dog killing patches with his wee.

I suspect the 'bulge' is actually butting on the seat tube that you just never noticed before – i.e. totally normal.

If the seat post is stuck then that's a separate problem. Could be real corrosion, or it could be that you bent it a little then put it down too vigorously and jammed it. Try clamping/wedging the saddle in something and twisting the whole frame to slowly twist it out.

Peterpoddy – no chance RE the Belgian bun

I've never seen one here in Belgium, and my Belgian wife has never seen one in her life!

putting them in upside down puts the rim on your dirty shelf…

olly – congratulations on your ill health and impending heart attack from the muscle atrophy!

sprocketjockey – you'll almost certainly be just fine without facing. There's a good argument that facing makes little difference anyway.

I ride a Marin…

Seemed fast enough downhill in the alps.

the proper tubeless valves in my UST wheels are prestas with removable cores

how is it a design flaw? surely they are functionally fine then, just show a mark where the tube has been forged together?

my first lot of sealant went in before even the first inflation. had to release the bead for the top up.

I'd go for the optimistic and determined approach of putting the sealant in and 'knowing' that you'll make it work.