I like that – it let STW overloads say what they thought about it but didn’t prevent you actually going there. Not sure why it was got rid of.

It may have been down to the trust rating of DM. DM for a while (maybe still does) have a terrible google reputation* for being untrue, meaning linking directly to their content would also mean you get your rankings tarnished by the same brush. I imaging STW bounced you through a proxy of sorts to avoid directly linking to it.

* As in google deemed it a non-trustworthy information source.

Is there anything to stop the Hump from rotating on the top tube (a la the Tailfin sticky rubber mounts?)

Just some wide washers under the bolts. To be fair they work fine, and it’s not annoyed me really, but as my only gripe I will be asking 76projects for a custom base for a slide mount to make the whole thing solid and easily removable….

Watch out for mount holes that are not standard spacing! I’ve seen that on some gravel bikes for whatever insane reason they choose to do it. Camelchops will custom set the hole spacing and distance to stem for you for a really nice fit.

I got camelchops to make me one. It’s very good for the money. You can customise the colours to match your scheme.

I have a couple of hundred meters of frontage onto the road and I clean it once or twice a year. The amount of rubbish I collect is depressing really, however I think it’s partly down to the rubbish trucks. You may not notice when it’s on the road, but when ours is collected (recycling particularly) our drive, which is also long, is often strewn with rubbish after . I wonder how much the rubbish trucks dispense onto the verges.

Municipal ones (particularly in cities/big towns) are often open more of the year. Check out the ACSI Camping card which offers discounts for out of season camping as well as a good list of sites in France that are open longer.

The coast roads between Sables d’orlonnes and up maybe 20km north of St Jean de Monts (the Vendee region) 1 in every 2 meters of roadside is a campsite, and the rest is open forest you could (probably) just pitch in for the night. I doubt you’d struggle to just find a place to stop for the night if you struggle to book ahead.

@leffeboy

I wonder if it’s just a certain part of the market that is in trouble

It’s the UK more than anywhere else. Our EU business is strong and growing while the UK struggles. To be fair I’m in France at the moment and I see why. There’s so much more progressive an attitude to cycling whereas in the UK it’s gone backwards 20 years in the last 5.

So we’re saying ebikes ruin everything?

They’re certainly going to continue to impact mountain biking. eBikes are a major factor in the racing problem, and I suspect (from what I have seen) also leading to falling numbers of riders at trail centres etc. across the country. As they become more prevalent its likely we’ll see continued falls in rider numbers, trail development and events, which of course will in turn cause a fall in rider numbers, trail development, and events. Its hard of course to determine how much the weather is effecting it, its certainly played a major part too this year.

Its not a rosy future for mountain bikes (e or otherwise). That said, other types of riding like gravel are thriving off the back of the fall in MTB.

 PMBA do rounds up here but are UK wide

Did rounds up in scotland. PMBA also shut up shop last week.

Where have you been?!

You. Are. A. Disgrace!

;)

Gravel riding in France ;)

I don’t know if its bin dun but this really made my day: https://metro.co.uk/video/southport-rioter-gets-hit-head-brick-takes-low-blow-3243115/?ito=vjs-link

At a site I used to run we could get a stable 10-12mb with a Mikrotik outdoor 4g router on a 10′ pole where people standing at the base of the pole could barely get a signal. It’s not a silver bullet for all scenarios but an outdoor router on a tall pole (or good position on outside of a house could be the difference between sometimes mediocre and a rock solid service. Check cellmapper to see where your towers are and what’s likely to give the best outcome. You’ll need to factor in elevation.as that’s what your trying to overcome with the pole.

I’m on holiday at the moment riding rival xplr and I think a little lower gearing but more importantly better cadence jumps at the low end would be nice, so 13 speed for the win.

In other news though the new Zipp bar is lovely. Will be installing one (and some integrated blips) when I get back.

The insulation degrades over time. So if you start with polystyrene like most brit caravans of that age by now it’s not got much insulation, of you start with something much better like a Hymers phenolic, by now you’re at UK caravan levels. I use my old hymer in all seasons; it’s bulletproof, comfy and warm. Not the lightest mind.

If buy a hymer (or Eriba).

I worked the whole weekend but as far as I can remember its the first one Ive done (and there’s been quite a few) that hasn’t rained (im not counting the spits of rain on Sat) at least one of the days. Thats a win for me. Staying open until 9 pm Sat with free beers was a particular highlight although there was many a sore head on Sunday!

Ae is easier / more straightforward than the naughty for sure. I mean either could be harder depending on the choices of the organisers, but normally it is tougher at the naughty.

Keir Stoma’s government say they’ll build 1,500,000 new homes over the next 5 years.

That’s 822 a day.

They’ve been in a few weeks now, how’s that panning out for them?

They’re currently art 575 a day, my (probably bad) maths says they need to increase building by just over 10% a year from year two to hit the target. Doesn’t seem an impossible task.

What if the busiest stretch already has an effective, fast and frequent service, whereas the less busy stretch is less busy because it’s a slow, disjointed nightmare. Which would you upgrade first then?

Mister Crump would seem a more appropriate band name.

I’ll sell you a barely used XTR xc pair cheap if you like. That way I can go hope on my last hold out shoes for the gravel bike.

If you like spd then Hope. Like SpDs but better in every way.

Juvenille Green Woodpecker? Did it have a red cap still? Like a brown version of a green woodpecker only usually seen on the ground not on a tree

If you want it cheap then you need to buy in bulk really. We buy Shiny Hardware IPA for our workshop. £15 for 5 litres.

For suspension internals we use this: https://maximausa.com/products/suspension-clean

+1 for pharmacy but get the 99% stuff, I think 70% or better is considered ok for pharmaceutical use but won’t shift stubborn oil on your brakes etc.

Because you know, 1 apprentice job only. And obviously they couldn’t just drop her off somewhere on the way, for those obvious reasons I can’t think of right now.

I had this issue (different reasons, same issue). After much go around we ended up paying 1 full, 1 discount.

I only ever have one bike of each type (mountain/gravel) at any time. Whatever I have does everything from xc to DH until the next one comes along.

Correct. Yes it’s odd you cant get the MS version given how gravel has taken off. I had the same issue building wheels for Jr.

Like I say though, good time to buy!

Madison don’t bring in microspline versions but if you want I can make you a hub to your spec for a decent price. Msg me if you want a price. The base hub is on special at Madison right now so I expect it will be very competitive even with the mods.

Green front, red back.

When Labour do something good, I’ll applaud them. They’ve beaten the tories, which is fantastic, but so far haven’t done anything else other than issue a load of press releases.

Something else theyve done is not had one of their own come out and start a leadership bid, or get accused of sexual assault, or any other kind of nonsense. Tories definitely couldn’t make it to 5 days without something.

Just one to check…. Do you take your rear wheel off to transport the bike? Ive had numerous customers with trashed freehubs/slipping ratchets over the years and the common factor has always been removing wheels regularly for transport. Its possible on DT hubs due to the fact the freehub is very loose and unsecured on the axle to have the freehub slip a bit outwards (or indeed the cassette fall off completely), but when you come to fit the hub there’s a step inside the end cap which means that you can tighten the axle up and it won’t remove the last couple of mm of play. That leaves your freehub free to move around a bit even though your axle is ‘tight’ – causing the issues you have.

If this sounds like you then make sure before you fit the wheel each time you ensure the end cap is fully seated. You cant rely on the axle tightening to do it for you.

150 hubs are the equivalent of a 141mm spacing on your 148 hub, so I’d expect an 4.5mm difference which is of course not easy to overcome. That said I’m not sure on the disc spacing for the 150 hub standard, it may be closer.

Our non NHS dentists receptionist phones round everyone the day before to remind them of their appointments for the next day. Guess that’s one proactive way of dealing with it & maybe the way businesses are dealing with a rise in no shows.

Mine just charges you upfront when you make the booking! Must be a right bunch of slackers round here to decide thats the policy they need.

In Canada* they’ve introduced an empty homes tax, which is 3% of the property value, per annum.  To avoid paying it, you have to have long term renters (short term is banned).

If you then invest this into new social housing, that seems like a winner to me.

Yes, it will cripple the market temporarily, but it would almost stop 2nd homes, buy to let and many others.

What effect would it have on 2nd homes, BTL etc.? They already have CGT on them. If anything it would cause more people to hold onto more property as they don’t want to pay CGT on something they might have given up otherwise.

It would however cause an overnight jump in the price of houses. Not sure how good that would be TBH. Those that can afford a second house / BTL etc. would still be able to afford something, just maybe not so plush. It would however mean pricing out the bottom end of the market as they’d not be able to afford the now 20% more expensive starter home.

and if it’s possible for the local flooding to not be a worldwide internet meme (that photo of the Tesla chargers in a flooded car park is here and happens at least monthly over winter).

There’s a reason that they’re kept as car parks and not buildings in the Loddon valley…

We’ve never had a PR vote – the referendum was on AV IIRC. To be honest I think people would vote differently in a PR system and you’d see a lot more other party votes, not just for Reform but for greens, libs etc. Turnout might be higher and it could even positively effect the %ages for the big parties too. Whatever I doubt it would be the same %ages outcome.

Its important too to remember on this occasion the vote for tory and lose option meant a vote for reform was a throw away choice, it meant nothing either way so why not? If PR had been in place then voting tory would have counted too and I bet far less people would have flipped.

At the moment as I see it the country is split into people that want quiet, competent government, and people that want ideological government. I would guess that a group of remaining tory voters could be swayed to Labour if Kier delivers a stable government, no dramas. Likewise if things start to improve for the reform voters I am sure they’re pretty capable of forgetting their ideology in return for improved working conditions, a growing economy and better public services.

We have a selection. Weve used them in our workshop for a decade. We also own a hacksaw and a huge supply of Shimano bleed blocks from which to make them ;)

Looks are subjective. Here’s an AM  for comparison.

Yes, really pisses me off that Farage is all over the TV this morning yet the Greens historic victory is… nowhere.

Farage did just almost single-handedly change the political course of the UK, while the Green success has barely moved the dial.

Looking at the numbers from 24 compared to 23 and 19 solo numbers are up in 24, but teams down. Similar to 23 but way down on 19. I reckon thats the ebike effect as team members drop out so people move to pairs or solo.