WTB Pathways? I’ve got some 38’s on my Karate Monkey at the mo and they are pretty versatile tyres.

The only downside is they are heavier than the moon. Seriously, the anti puncture strip under the tread is massive. Pretty tough mind…

I’m afraid that if I were to go round to have a quiet word it would get pretty heated very quickly, he is a total loon and usually drunk or high so things could escalate fairly rapidly. I’m in not in the best place emotionally since losing my mum to cancer a few months ago and I’m on a bit of a hair trigger when it comes to stressful situations.

One of the local officers has just called and wants to arrange a meeting with me to determine the best course of action. My neighbour is well known to them.

If your logon name isn’t ironic can you not loom over him with your best “don’t mess with me” face and tell him to wind his neck in?

I could happily batter the scrote into the ground, but I have a job, and a fairly nice life. I have a suspicion that if I did take things into my own hands I’d come off second best. An assualt charge isn’t good for future job prospects.

Besides the idiot in question has a 12 month conditional discharge for assuault so I thought I’d let the law deal with things.

Bugger, wrong forum, sorry.

What do all those baldy blokes on Singletrack who dumped there On-Ones and got Ragleys do. They now have to get rid of the Ragley and get a Titus, maybe time to buy myself a cheap 2nd hand BluePig

A rather telling quote from Bikeradar.com…

I’m rather fond of Canons but they can be rather overpriced new. Why don’t you check out the MPB Photographic website. I bought a 400D from them; it was very nearly in as new condition and a damn site cheaper than buying a new Canon with a similar spec. If you buy second hand £500 will get you a half decent body and a couple of lenses.

Bought one from the local Lidl first thing this morning. On putting it together it seems pretty solid. The plastic parts probably need to be treated with a bit of care if they are to last but the general quality is no worse than a ten year old Minoura stand I have in the garage which has become increasingly battered and rusty over the last couple of years.

For thirty quid it’s worth a look.

Don’t read it any more. Used to like it but I don’t think the quality of writing or the originality is there these days. There used to be the odd good article but not enough of them to keep me interested.

Rob, 50lbs and a 20 stone rider.
no wonder it feels sluggish eh?…….

Loads of fun when the road points downhill though I imagine!

I’ll never forget many years ago when a bloke dropped dead of a heart attack on the platform at Farringdon tube station. People were practically stepping over him and the attending station staff to get on the train because everyone knew that as soon as he was declared dead the trains would all be delayed!

Soon after I decided to stop working in London. Heartless bloody place.

I think the important question that nobody has asked yet is how the hell do some of these people manage to walk with all that stuff bouncing around in their pockets?

I always find the best option when faced with a tricky situation is to run away. Give me a decent pair of shoes or trainers over half a tonne of gadgets everytime.

Very sorry for your loss. My mum died at the end of last year, bloody awful thing to have to come to terms with.

Given that you don’t know just how you will cope at the service let alone your children it may be best to only have them present at the wake as others have suggested. The wake for my mum was a really pleasant affair and hopefully you will experience the same. It is a better way to introduce the facts about what has happened to your daughters as it will be a less pressured environment for them.

Probably the best thing you can do is to make sure they visit the grave regularly and help pick out flowers etc. That way they can feel involved with everything that is going on.

Had a Cross Check for a couple of years now. I built it up myself and it has to be the bike I ride the most. It really is as versatile as the blurb would have you believe. I looked at the Road Rat and Kaffenback but the extra clarance for wider tyres did it for me.

Its no where near as heavy as some people would have you believe and the handling is brilliant. When I first built it up I ran it with road bike wheels and tyres and proved itself to be fast and stable through the corners. I’m now running touring wheels and tyres as I like bouncing across the rough stuff on it from time to time. I’ve had 38mm tyres and mudguards on there with no clearance problems and it could take fatter rubber.

Whilst it isn’t a flashy looking frame the build quality is spot on and the price makes it pretty good value for money IMO.

The Peregrine is a lovely bike, I have a Swift so I know how good the frames from Singular are, but it is pricier that the Cross Check and can’t be run with rim brakes. For some people thats a good thing, for some its bad.

You could always try a Karate Monkey if you wanted to be a bit left field. I’ve got one of those as well and its even more versatile than any of the other options discussed here. You can run whatever drive train and brake combinations you want with a KM.

My first bike was a Raleigh Strika in silver. It was great despite the fact I fell off it a lot. When I got a little older I moved onto a ten speed Raleigh Ace in Red. I seem to remember not being able to get the hang of the gears at first.

When I was a teenager I had a metallic turd brown five speed Maverick with cow horn bars. It weighed about 3 tonnes and wasn’t actually all that nice to ride

When I went to university I took my mums old Raleigh Shopper as she didn’t want it any more. It was the ultimate student bike. It had bombproof hub gears, space for a case of beer on the rear rack and enough room for two men at work signs in the front basket :D

Canon, purely because I had an old Canon 35mm slr with a couple of lenses and wanted to use them on whatever dslr I bought to replace it. Got hold of a 400d second hand as I find the new prices stupidly high.

Was Big Dave’s uncle called Big John?

I call him ‘Sir’ at family gatherings and try to avoid looking him in the eye!

My aunts second husband used to be in the met and got to be quite senior in the flying squad back in the day. His advice to me once was if you ever get burgled make sure any weapon you use against an intruder is an every day item (i.e. not a knife but something good and heavy and easy to swing about; I favour a heavy torch) and to ensure that none of the wounds inflicted on the intruder are on their back. Oh, and he also advised killing any intruders as then you can claim it was self defence and they won’t be in a position to argue with you in court 8O

To his credit he stood by his advice when burgled a few years ago and had to be restrained by a former colleague as he attempted to beat the guy to death. Funnily enough no charges were ever brought against him…lot of tricky stairs in the police station apparently.

I’ve got a four year old Thinkpad that I bought off my last employer. Its on its second battery and has seen thousands of hours of use and has performed faultlessly. Not the most exciting laptop to look at but damn solid.

Whereas I found the dialogue very noir-ish

I think it was originally billed as being a modern take on the noir genre. The final outcome was very noir-ish as was the way the whole thing was filmed.

I loved it, if the BBC don’t let Hugo Blick put together another project with similar production values and dense plotting it would be a crime.

If someone stops you on a footpath and says ‘This isn’t a bridleway you know’

You can just reply with “thats OK, I’m not on a horse”

I don’t have the option of going on strike, all I can do is get on with things and look for a better job in the meantime.

Yes you do.

er, no I don’t. Mainly because I’m not a union member and because I’m realistic about the financial situation that my employer is in. Unless it is over something truly serious like safety related issues I have no sympathy for those who choose to strike. In fact if I tried to strike my employer would sack me without hesitation. I have worked for a council in the past and I refused to strike even then. If I’m paid to do a job but there is something I’m not happy with I’ll do all I can to change it but if if that isn’t possible I’ll find another job with better conditions.

Maybe its time public sector workers realised they are in a much better position in terms of job security and financial benefits than the vast majority of private sector workers.

1. Their pay has been frozen for 2 years.
2. They have been asked to up their pension contributions (not their fault but the bankers, so why should they pay for it) her words

I work in the private sector and have had to change my pension arrangements in the last twelve months because of the economic pressures being faced by my employer. My pay has also been frozen for the past two years despite facing longer hours and greater uncertainty. I don’t have the option of going on strike, all I can do is get on with things and look for a better job in the meantime.

I’ve got no time for teachers or any other public sector workers who moan about how hard they have things. They should just shut up and get on with their chosen profession like the rest of us.

Think I’ll stick to the Shadow Line. Far superior, just a shame it is coming to an end this week as it has been superb throughout.

I’ve got an ultrapod II and a gorillapod. I always find the gorillapod is more of a faff to set up as unlike the ultrpod it’s legs always need to be straightened out. The ultrapod just seems quicker and easier to use. Much more stable with a heavy DSLR on top as well.

Charlie the Bikemonger used to do a campag specific singlespeed spacer kit. I ordered one in error, was a nice quality product.

Figure out what sort of bike you want to end up with and then sort out the appropriate frame. If you can get a second hand one all the better. I tend to buy parts as I come across good deals and it isn’t always necessary to buy second hand to get a good price, you just need to shop around. All depends on how quickly you want to get the bike built up.

On-one have some cracking deals on at the moment so it might be worth taking a look there for stuff like wheels and tyres as a starting point.

Never had any problems with them. Orders usually come through promptly and with no hassle. Ordered some cheap 29er wheels from them the other week. Placed the order on a Friday afternoon and they turned up first thing the following Monday.

to build.

+1

But be warned, it gets addictive. I started out with a single speed MTB as a winter project and I’ve ended up building three bikes over the last year and a half. Once you’ve built one you start thinking about how good it would be to build a CX bike, or maybe another 29er but with a different setup…

My mechanical knowledge/skill is pretty low but once you start building bikes you get to see just how beautifully simple they are.

TooTall – Member

My neighbour is a mentally unstable alcoholic heroine addict

I find that booze and Wonder Woman comics don’t mix well for me either.

Oops my bad, although he does have some very odd views about women as well as a drug problem.

It occurred to me about an hour ago that he may have had an accident.

My neighbour is a mentally unstable alcoholic heroine addict. I wake up eveeryday hoping something untoward has happened to him!

With regard to the OP’s situation, if the complaining party can’t provide times and dates of when you were making an unreasonable amount of noise I can’t see what they can do about it.

Did it only have one working gear and a funny shaped steering wheel?

Do gears and full suspension make you more of a man, or less of one?

Or rather does anybody care? Its all riding bikes at the end of the day.

The guys at Bike It in Barnstaple are a decent bunch and should be quite helpful.

If you ride out to Braunton you can always check out Crow Point. Freewheeling down the boardwalk from the top of the dunes at high speed is fun, especially when you have to start bunny hopping over the missing planks. If you try Crow Point just be prepared to spend weeks getting sand out of every bearing on your bike :cry:

I live in North Devon and tend to do mostly road riding with the odd bit of cheeky trail and right of way thrown in. I’ve never tried biking it but I suspect the coastal path isn’t a great choice; too many walkers at this time of year and lots of sections would be a bit crap on a bike anyway.

No, because then you’ve given up and taken the easy option

Yeah too right. Why don’t you take the seatpost and saddle off your bike as well? Only losers with gears sit down to pedal :roll:

Big Dave wasn’t having a go at you personally but just the ss/geared debate in general that crops up here on here every now and then.

I didn’t think you were. These debates always make me chuckle. Surprised Godwins Law hasn’t come into effect yet…

I have realised though, on here, the less gears you have the more rad you are

I think its seen on STW as more of an excuse to buy more bikes…

I certainly never felt rad on my ss. Red faced, sweaty and close to death at the top of each steep climb was more like it.

All this ss v’s gears up a hill is a load off bollocks

I was actually comparing 1X9 to 3X9. Nowt against single speeding, its a good workout. I did however get fed up with trying to figure out if the creaking I could hear on long climbs was coming from the EBB or an old knee injury. Since swapping to a geared set up I can confirm its my knee! :D

Big Dave – Member

Now I can use the full partial gearbox and I’m a much happier camper.

Pedant mode on: Fixed that for you. Pedant mode off.

Compared to SS a 1X9 set up feels pretty comprehensive to me. I have a 3X9 set up on my Karate Monkey and it doesn’t get me up the hills any faster, slower most of the time in fact.

My Swift went 1X9 early last year. I loved it as a singlespeed, and I’d recommend everyone tries riding single speed at some point because it is fun, but I just felt that I wasn’t getting the best out of the bike with only one gear. The Swift is a great bike and now feels far more versatile. Running it as a single speed felt like trying to drive my car everywhere in third gear, no matter what ratios I stuck on it it never felt right. Now I can use the full gearbox and I’m a much happier camper.

Sounds like Germaine Greer is trying to lay an elaborate trap…