I commuted by bike into Leeds for 15 years.

I choose to obey laws because I know how few obeyed them or respected them when I was cycling to work.

Have you ever thought that folk like me who choose to stop and not go through on amber, choose to not close down gaps close to the kerb, leave 5 seconds before setting off to make sure cyclist are clear, are the ones who keep you safe?

I commute through a city centre most days and frankly I jump red lights to make sure I’m clear of a junction before the traffic starts to move.

If people can honestly not imagine a situation where this is safe and even sensible then frankly the skills you lack in anticipation make me nervous and I’d suggest you shouldn’t be on road.

Personally, I wouldn’t have thought commuting through a city centre on a bike was that situation.

you will make a decision and that decision might involve breaking the law for the greater good.

Examples of when jumping a red light is for the greater good please.

The discussion is about jumping red lights.

Would you break the 30mph limit to allow a Fire Engine/Police car/Ambulance to reach its destination with less of a delay?

Different discussion; red lights are there because there is deemed to be a significant risk at that junction.

Speed limits are designed to allow you to react to potential situations based on the surroundings.

We will butt heads on this all night so I’m out of it; as a someone who drives up to a thousand miles a week at times there is a reasons why I choose to obey traffic laws and that is because people like those posting in this thread are on the roads.

Good night.

If the law is to stop when the light is red and a choice is made to ignore that law then it is about right or wrong.

Do you choose to obey a law designed to protect others or do you choose to ignore it based on your own risk assessment.

You will never in a million miles hit a pedestrian that isn’t there.

Unfortunately some peoples assessment of what is safe is significantly different to others, hence it is better we all obey than make the assumption we know best.

I know there are plenty of situations where a red light could be crossed, I’ve also nearly been killed by a random pallet falling from a lorry; sometimes planets align and s**t happens.

Plenty of people will say “I’ve driven that route a thousand times and a children never ran out in front of me”, but one day they might.

And one day a salesman gunning his BMW to a late appointment might speed through a crossroads with a green light thinking its empty and you may make your risk assessment of this empty crossroad and get blindsided.

Your choice.

RLJing safely is safe

COMPLETE BOLLOCKS!

Either its right or it’s wrong; Red means stop, it doesn’t matter if the road is clear or if there is no traffic, it means stop.

As soon as you create grey areas where its permissible, people start creating excuses as to why accident happened.

As a 30000+ mile a year driver and a life long cyclist I never do it.

Call me puritanical but if cyclists want the slightest bit of respect on the roads, obeying the law and respecting everybody on the street is the first thing you start doing :evil:

It was the system that caused the crash, not labour, nor would it have been the conservatives if they were in power

And there lies the problem; the governments we vote for don’t run the country, just fail to regulate those who do

+1 for everything Zulu-Eleven said.

Virgin Gyms- I think we pay a tenner a month per child, can use the creche every day should you wish for a maximum 4 hours all included in the price, max age for kids is 16 years old.

You have to book in advance an if it´s full then it´s full )this tends to be Holidays and weekends) but for the money I can´t complain.

There is a David Lloyd closer to us but has already been mentioned, their clubs are expensive, souless, **** crap.

Justin Fletcher as Mr Tumble

Beautiful bike; have the Pegorettis gone to fund this or is your home like a showroom for superbikes?

http://www.liamobrien.co.uk/

or you could see if there is a CrossFit gym nearby, they will get you fit pretty quickly if your happy to work hard.

Turbo trainer and body weight exercises and a 16kg kettlebell

Get some Sufferfest videos, they make the time fly by and they work.

Someways I fit exercises in are as follows

*I’ve got a door frame chin up bar and whenever I walk past it I do 10 pull ups

*running a bath for the kids, get down and do some crunches

*kettle boiling, 30 push ups

* adverts on TV, do a plank

* 5 spare minutes, kettlebell swings.

Forget the notion that exercise has to be 3 sets of 12 or 5 sets of 5, 100 push ups throughout the day is still 100 push ups.

When time is short go hard and fast.

Good luck.

G-Shock MTG

Yeah the next size up is like a gate, I think it had a 610mm TT so was out out the question.

Ride wise I find it perfect; I can’t say the shorter stem has made it twitchy in anyway and whereas when I had less spacers because it looked better I was also getting numbness in my hands which has now gone completely.

As for the custom frame, its always on my mind, would be nice and I’ve nearly done it a few times, but firstly the money isn’t there and also the Spesh does the job, has decent kit on it and I can’t see a custom frame improving things that dramatically enough to warrant it.

roadie_in_denial, more than happy to.

I had a bike fitting session a few years back at Race Scene in Barnsley so my saddle and stem height/length are based around the measurements they gave me.

I’m 6′ 2″ and my frame is a 58cm 2006 Specialized Tarmac.

The issue for me was they came out with my ‘perfect’ frame having a top tube of 565mm and a 120mm stem whereas the Spesh has a super long TT of 583mm so I cut back to a 100mm stem (sacrilige if you follow ‘The Rules’).

They also recommended a steerer tube length of 200mm upto the base of stem (assumming no spacers) but the tarmac is only 160mm so I had to add 40mm of spacers’ again purists would say slam the stem but its made the bike incredibly comfortable.

As for saddle height the precise number escapes me but they used a protractor to measure the angle at my knee when at full extension and moved up and down until it was at 30 degrees (?).

Hope thats of use

Ben

I’ve got one and ride it alot

I served Arnold Schwarzenegger and his family ice cream in Covent Garden back in the early 90’s.

AND when he couldn’t carry them all he actually said “I’ll be back” then laughed his head off.

Still one of the coolest days of my life.

Not complete bollocks Graham S; oiled ours every few months and it still picked up stains that needed working on.

There are easier surfaces to have in a kitchen.

I’ve got to be honest as someone who is more of a roadie than MTBer, this place is far more fun.

BikeRadar can be interesting and if you spend time there there is probably lots of big hitters but I can’t say if it’s as tolerant as this place is; in my experience roadie forums revolve around ‘whose going to win the tour’ and doping.

Also roadies tend to be up their own arses, evidenced by the fact the that the same guys who wave at me on my road bike don’t wave when I’m on fat tires.

I like it here.

Wood needs caring for and stone doesn’t.

If you’ve ever left a bottle of red wine on a worktop then wood may not be the best choice unless you like sanding.

I was suprised when I saw the flooding, I always heard that Hebden had plenty of dykes or have I misunderstood?

Porter_jamie- focus titanium x estate, 1.6 tdci Eco motion, 6 speed manual.

They tell me technical have been involved but have found anything as yet.

It’s a company car so no HP/financial burden to me but that’s not the point, surely they run an electrical test before it leaves the factory?

I run one and works a dream for me riding XC.

A lot of the reviews I read had complaints about dropping the chain on really big terrain but for me its been perfect inc the Peaks and trail centres.

Positioning of the bolts mean set up takes a little patience but once done I’ve got no rub at either end of the cassette though I did need to move BB spacers to get a good chainline

I also think it’s one of the nicest looking out there.

Mine is a seat tube mounted 28.6 and will be up for sale in a few weeks as changing frames and will have a bigger seatpost but will likely use a Pauls again.

Set of knobs! I’m going to sue ancient Rome for bringing a network of roads to England next time I fall off

I’ve got a FSA V-drive single speed chainset (180mm) you can have for a tenner plus postage; it’s well used, worn the colour off the arms and comes with a pair of SPDs stuck to them (not seized just couldn’t get the leverage to remove) but work perfectly 1×9 for me with the drive side BB spacer removed

Double post

I used Headingley Chiropractors at the top of Otley Road, very professional and did the job

There was an item about lynch mobs in South Africa on the news today

I cannot speak highly enough of Ambrosio Excellence rims; 32 hole, look like new after 3 years, true as the day they were built+a funky gold counter weight for the valve stem

Woodrups in Leeds; often spend the time it would take to do the job teaching me how to do it myself; Steve, his son and all the staff = Top blokes

I suffer this exact issue, caused 14 years ago picking something up off the floor.

afield23 had mentioned a lot of the more invasive solutions but for me a chiropractor was my saviour during the acute period which lasted 18 months, just the slightest sudden/unexpected movement would set me back.

In the long term I’ve come to accept that I’ve got an unstable lower back but ultimately rest and gentle mobilisation in the short term then core exercises and learning and understanding how to engage my multifidus muscles are what have helped me.

I’m now at a point where were I to shoulder my bike up Penyghent in the 3 Peaks or try to do massive deadlifts then , yes, I would have a problem but day to day, long rides, running etc its all good.

Good luck, chin up and personally epidurals etc are short term relief and have associated risks, ultimately your body needs to recover and adapt (core exercises).

Aside from standing outside her house at 3am in the rain staring at her bedroom window, I

1. Took the sage advice that if its not working then its not working and there ARE plenty more fish in the sea. If you’ve had a break up before then you know you WILL get over it.

2. Got my skills together, learnt to talk to women, remembered what they liked to hear, played the game, got laid….lots

3. Rode my bike lots and got very fit N.B this is very important as when you do finally settle down and have kids etc you will ride your bike less and get unfit.

4. Met my wife, got married and had kids, looked back on all my breakups and realised what I learnt were things that made this relationship work.

Every path you choose will lead to your destiny so chin up mate, learn and always keep moving forwards.

get in touch with Paul Errington at http://shoestring-racing.blogspot.co.uk/.

He’s just ridden the Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race on a vaya so will probably give some good feedback on how it rides.

Cynic-al does have a point about the 08 model which mine is; the 08 had a 74 degree headtube angle and the handling does leave alot to be desired compared to current designs, hence I’ve ordered a Highball.

That said the new unit has slackended off to a 71 degree on the 20 inch frame (70 degrees on the 19 inch) so probably handles likea different bike.

Where are you? I’m in Leeds and have a 20 inch Unit you can have a ride on; if you bring your bike from me to use I’ve got some very local singletrack you can take it down

Drop this guy a line

http://www.lacemine29.com/2010faq.html

I’ve had a fantastic day! Wife, kids, party at the village hall = beer festival, hog roast, pantomime and bouncy castle.

Met neighbours I’ve never seen, everybody was happy, shame on Wednesday it will all be forgotten and we’ll be back to the grindstone

Agreed

1. Set the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Now simply take a spear of asparagus, wrap a slice of Prosciutto ham around it and lay each one on a baking tray, brushing them lightly with butter to ensure they do not stick.

2. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the asparagus is nicely roasted and the ham is crispy.

Nom Nom Nom