Im surprised that it hasnt made the news section on STW yet…. I guess the establishment are still Anti-Macaskill

Nah – everything’s judged according to its individual merits :-)

And I’m the only one in the editorial office today, so I’ve got *quite* a lot to do… *sniff*

You can get the Specialized Rockhopper 2014 for £750 at the moment. However, I found that the fork was a bit noodly (28mm stanchions). Very good frame though. OP was after 29ers, and the Ragley and Zaskar are both 650b and over budget – OP’s budget is £750. FWIW, in a review of bikes of different characters the Ragley ‘won’ it for me. But there really aren’t many crap bikes these days.

2015 stuff tends to have better spec for the money but you can get a lot of 2014 stuff cheaper now as they clear the warehouses to make way for new stock.

By way of casting the OP into sharp relief:

http://www.thebusinesswomanmedia.com/amal-alamuddin-marries-actor/

Heh :-)
I certainly find it easier, and I recall (I took a psychology degree many years ago) being told that it was generally easier because you’re mirroring what your dominant hand is doing. I’ve tried to find stuff about it online quickly to no avail, but this[/url] is pretty interesting anyway – to me at least.

Sorry for the off-topic thread hijack, everyone. I’ll go away again now :-)

Although, molgrips, it’s interesting to note that it’s easier to write backwards* with your non-dominant hand than it is to write forwards with it :-)

*please note I didn’t say easy!

Sorry – the handedness issue in this context, I should have said. But I thought that was obvious given the preceding paragraph :-)

I’m left handed and a guitarist. I can’t play right handed; I tried when I was learning, and it didn’t work in any way, shape or form. It felt (still feels) completely un-natural. Before I learned to play, as a kid I’d play air-guitar with tennis rackets, left handed. It’s not a learned thing, it’s not a taught thing. If it was convention, everyone would simply play them one way, but lateral dominance is a fickle mistress. Curiously, our Chipps is also a lefty, but plays right handed. Which gives him much greater access to nicer guitars at better prices, damn his eyes.

This is interesting: It should be noted that many left-handers claim that traditional stringed instruments do not discriminate against left-handers at all, because the left hand (which performs the fingering, chords, etc) actually has the more difficult job, requiring most the dexterity. A 2011 German study of pianists yielded the rather surprising result that, in both right-handed and left-handed players, it was the right hand (which generally plays the melody) that showed a higher degree of motor control. Interestingly, the French Horn is one of the ferw instruments designed to be played with the left-hand, although this does not appear to disadvantage right-handed players.

From here

For what it’s worth I don’t believe it’s a specifically left or specifically right handed issue anyway – I think the fundamental problem in playing something left or right handed is integration. There is a LEADING hand and a FOLLOWING hand. In terms of guitarring, my left hand (the picking one) leads, and the fretting one follows, regardless of the motor control required. The handedness issue comes with integrating the movement from each side.

XL Tallboy LT fits OK with deflated tyres…

Chaos theory and intrauterine development? I assume it’s like neural development – as long as stuff gets to where it needs to go, the developing body doesn’t give a stuff how it gets there.
Handedness – you can get increases and modifications of established circulatory systems, but I suspect the organisation of the circulatory system doesn’t depend on which hand you write with..

Nothing in the body is symmetrical from anything other than a gross viewpoint, really. Many organs aren’t. The brain might look symmetrical, but functionally it’s not (a lot of the time – certain deep structures have some symmetry). And if you look at photos of people’s faces which have been “symmetricalised” they look really odd.. http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2011/03/20/symmetrical-faces/

Molgrips – you don’t increase nerve activation to your muscles with exercise – you can increase the efficiency with which muscle groups can fire for a given signal, though :-)

I used to use one for racing and so forth. Excellent piece of kit, if that’s what you need. Quiet and reliable.

I have trouble getting over the hilarious lyrics:

“A few minutes with me inside my van
Would be so beautiful if we can”

..was I think the couplet that killed them stone dead for me.

Tastypixels -I’ve found that EBBs work best (ie don’t slip) in a couple of configurations. Looking from the drive side, arrange your gearing or chain length (by fitting a half link if necessary) so that your bb is either between 12 and 3 o’clock or between 6 and nine o’clock in the eccentric. If you stand on the pedals your weight then serves to tighten the chain; if you do the same with the EBB anywhere else, it loosens it.

I suspect you may have yours set up in a loosening configuration :-)

… I’ve got one of these – the 36T is in the “standard” middle ring position isn’t it? I don’t believe they’re chainline adjusted, although I’m happy to be proved wrong.

So you need to look at the shape of the stays on your frame. It’s possible that a 40T middle (or a 26T inner, for that matter) will bind on the chainstay.

Cushe. Aces.

It’s a drug that is cycled as it becomes tolerated very quickly, so my money is on there having been residual traces left in his body after a pre-tour course.

So why did it not show up on any of the previous stage tests?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetany_(medical_sign)

Cheers Woody – I may take you up on that. I was riding from Halifax train station; I think I've run into your group once before at the top of Copley Woods. Next time you're over that way I may tag along if I can :-)

Woody2000 – I think I bumped into you lot last night at the top of Copley Woods (I was on a Singular SS)..

Where did you head after Norland? Over Scammonden way? A soggy ride last night, wasn't it? :-)

Yeah, we had trouble with iplayer TV watching too. I reckon it's that.

Is it in fact the perfect size for mountain bikes?

No, but it is the perfect size for 29ers. It's *useless* for 26" wheeled bikes though.

To put the cat amongst the pigeons I'd say there's as much difference in ride feel between different frames of the same material as there is between different materials – it depends where the butting is, how it's been welded, or the weave laid down or whatever.

So you can get supple alu frames that will ride beautifully, and gaspipe ti ones that won't.

This from an owner of a 1992 Ti road bike (Merlin); I've also has alu and steel ones in the past..

Hopefully they'll commission a few more episodes.

I believe that this has already happened:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/10/sherlock-second-series-bbc

So they get stronger and fitter quicker if the wish too. I do believe the get fitter stronger agruement or point can therefore be disgarded becuase it simply is not true.

If you're looking at things from a purely physiological perspective, maybe. But in my experience the psychological component is just as important. You (at least I) get fitter on a SS because I have to ride up in that gear. If I have other gears available I'll use them..

A common misconception, Jimi Hendrix was in fact right handed !

Although there's evidence he was forced into it:

"Although few people are totally left-handed or totally right-handed, many children are pushed into using their right hand when they would normally use their left, either at home by their parents or at school by their teachers. Jimi Hendrix's younger brother Leon recalled: "When Jimi would play left-handed my dad would holler at him and tell him only devils and what-not would [play like that]. So when my dad would arrive home Jimi would turn the guitar over – that was how he learnt to play… Jimi would turn the guitar over and keep playing, then when dad left the room he'd turn it back over this way… [2]."

"Although Jimi played guitar left-handed, he would do a number of other things right-handed, possibly because he was forced to either by his father or by his teachers. Jimi would write lyrics or sign autographs with his right hand and would also hold a desert spoon with his right hand [as can be seen in the Moebius print "Food For Thought", based on Jean Noel Coghe's print entitled "Food"]. When greeting someone with a handshake he would use his right hand (Robert Fripp claimed that Jimi once told him at a party in London, "Shake my left hand man, it's closest to my heart") and when speaking on the phone he would hold the receiver in his right hand. However, Jimi would use his left hand for pitching the ball when playing baseball, for combing his hair and for holding a cigarette. "

from here: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/450396

Some people can learn right handed; others can't. Handedness comes in degrees. It's not binary. Have any of you right-handed types tried to play a left handed one? It ain't easy!

I took a couple of one on one lessons from a rightie when I first started out (20 years ago!!!) – and even now, you just stand opposite whomever you're playing with and pretend you're looking in a mirror. It's actually pretty easy, once you've got your head around it.

But I'd recommend going for some one to one lessons to start off with – don't bother woth group stuff, as the teacher will only get confused when it comes to you. You learn to look at tab in the same way, too.

good luck!

You can hire a van and fill it with people for less than a return train ticket of any distance…

Although it's loads (LOADS) cheaper if you can book a while in advance..

I'd love to join you for a ride sometime, guys – can't ride tomorrow, unfortunately. I'm in Holywell Green.

I'm hopefully going to be visiting the great man (Ivo, that is, not Colonel Kilgore) for a beer or two in SC in October :-)

Peasnotwar – who are you? Porn trail used to rock.. it's just not the same any more *sniff* – not since any of these Johnny-come-latelys appeared and stole our trails *sniff*

;-)

Oh, and FWIW I think "Ivo 2" might've been a mis-hearing of something along the lines of "that's one of Ivo's too", but Ivo 2 is as good as any!

I run 180f 160r – works for me. But I'm a big chap.

..and at least you wouldn't get a sore arse :-)

So far on my Maverick I've ridden DUCs (the steering was too floppy by half), SC32s (OK, but not all that on this frame), Rebas (fantastic but too little travel) and U-turn Revelations (just right).

Avoid the Mav forks on it, in my opinion. The DUCs never felt right at all – seriously avoid them. I'd go for something with 130mm ish of travel – any more than that and you'll have to ride off the front of it the whole time – which is fun, but not ideal for climbs.

Suntour used to make OEM and cheap Marzocchis. They were awful. Not to say that these ones are, though.

It's worth bearing in mind, Dylan, that the rigid fork is *very* tall on the Swift – you'll not raise the bars much (if at all) running a 80mm fork, at least. And a 100mm one with sag will probably also be at a similar height.

BTW, if you do decide to lower some manitous to 100mm, be advised that I did the same thing to a pair of Rebas (took them down to 70-odd mm). It worked fine, except that I found they then had a very rising rate, and so were prone to superfast rebound on bigger hits.. so experiment with some thicker damping oil.

One might consider that personality and heritage are graven irradicably on every cell of the body

Most people disagree – with regard to personality at any rate. And blood cells have no nuclei, so neither heritage nor personality are graven there, irradicably or otherwise. Very Victorian terminology, btw, well done! Although surely "graven irradicably" is tautology?

Yes, I'm feeling pedantic. :-)

I run a 21" Swift. 25 and something TT, 90mm stem, 710mm wide flat bars, teeny bit of layback on the seatpost, fits me lovely. reckon it'd fit you perfect, Dylan – the only question is whether you'll like it :-)

For what it's worth I had a 29er inbred XL before that and it felt like a tractor compared to the swift.

I've already ridden several 29er mind…

Yeah, but you think they're all crap, as far as I can make out :-)

Ton, you've got mail :-D

Dylan

I'll be at the Bristol 12 next weekend, and I'll have my Singular with me. It rides very like a 26" bike to me; you're more than welcome to take a lap on it.. it's got wide (flat) bars, though :-D

To my mind you're better off riding some that you think *might* be appropriate before splashing out..

Barney

Lab gear (Australian outfit) make custom shorts; drop Gareth an email for your specific requirements.. not cheap though, but high quality.

http://www.lab-gear.com/

Anything with IF on went to loosers that ride IF's

Charming.