TJ, I think you are wrong this time. Both times I’ve hit my head hard in an off, the helmet has shattered, only staying together with the internal harness. Both times I got up, checked myself over and rode on. Hitting the ground that hard with my head, with no ill effect, means the helmet did a pretty good job IMHO.

always mismatched tyres – it’s the only way to get the performance I want from each end.

I agree with Paceman – I found the 405 had almost too much zip when I test rode it. Although the “too much” bit I put down to comically narrow tyres it had on it for test riding in the Peak. With the right kit, I reckon it would be a great all round trail bike.

Commented on a contractor’s curtain wall drawing crossing out the correct level of the head of the curtain wall and putting in an incorrect one (that obviously I believed was right at the time), that I never found the origin of. Only about £16K to rectify once it was on site!

Was it an old one last night then? Sure I’ve seen that before.

dehydration – I get it too.

My Girlfriend bikes too, so it’s not such an issue. We don’t always take the bikes, though, as I find it easier to be settled and enjoy other activities if i know I can’t be biking!

I ride mine with 85-130mm recons on it. For most local woods riding (except the really steep stuff) and my local off-road commute, i keep it on 100-115mm. It seems to handle most stuff really well. However, in the peak, I run it at 130mm for almost all my descending and most other stuff in between. I rarely wind the forks down to 85mm) I don’t think it would be at its best with 130mm all the time, but it would certainly get up most stuff still, and be a hoot on the way down.

Know who I am. Allow me to indulge in my favourite past time of talking about random bike kit for hours on end. Fix my bike for much cheapness (or for free). Let me use their hose after a gritty ride. Great guys – well worth the extra effort to use them rather than my slightly more local LBS.

18 Bikes, Hope

My current favorites are Endura Singletracks too.

I tested one at Cannock the other week. I know it’s not the best place to test a bike like that – I would love to have tried it on my local Peaks trails, but here goes anyway:

I think it’s the most fun, most stable and most confidence inspiring bike I’ve ever ridden. Climbing was ok, not amazing, but not bad. Contouring and descending, I just couldn’t get it to go fast enough, or find big enough things to drop it off (in my own head they were big – probably not). I loved it.

Stevo – I know exactly what you mean about guiding. we did a trip a couple of years ago to Morzine, self guided, and I’m sure we didn’t get the best out of the area (we still had a great time, mind). Unfortunately, we’re trying to balance costs. having said that, I’ve just looked at your site and the prices look amazingly reasonable! We’re just looking for ideas to see what we may be able to do, and may find that the guided route is the one to take.

Thanks folks.

I left my previous company on the 2nd jan for a new job. They went into administration on the 5th. I can’t see all my ex colleagues getting jobs too easily.

Matt, We have a beech worktop which we installed last year. It gets used very heavily, and is just starting to look used. We treated it with Rustins plastic coating, which gives a hard (not 100% scratch resistant) coating that’s very stain and heat resistant. It can also be thinned and used as a much more durable oil type finish. I’m really pleased with it all and would choose it again, but it does require more care than a laminate worktop. Also, we got the worktops for about £130 for a 3m long 40mm thick piece, so it’s not hugely expensive. Give me a call, or pop round if you want a chat.

As I say, I’d have to check. The small has no more stand over than the medium, it is a just an inch shorter in the top tube

From the last time I swung a leg over one, a medium would probably be best, but I’d have to check.

Unfortunately I can’t find any of those left. So it’s either the 2009 2 or 3, or I top up to get the new 1.

I’m considering a prophet for the bike to work scheme in the office. How do the cheaper 2009 ones stack up? Am I correct in assuming that, because they all have a pike up front, that the biggest difference between the 1, 2 and 3 is weight rather than out right performance?