Yep, my legs pretty strong in the uphill direction from biking/skiing – absolute sh1t going down again!

Maybe if I started pedalling backwards…………..

I'd be more concerned about the effect of the decrease in gravitational force at altitude due to spherical divergence, but then of course this could be counteracted by localised gravitational increases due to the density of the underlying strata…………

Aye, you're a hardy loon……

Molgrips

Maybe my initial wording regarding Mr Obama was a little bit childish, flippant and not fully informed, but I can't help but feel that this is how he has reacted to the situation. I agree he has to pander to the expectations of the electorate to a certain extent, but he should also be applying maturity and rationality to the situation.

Like I said, I think he is generally a good thing for the US/world, but only if he stands up for the non-Bushist principles that got him elected in the first place.

He has a difficult job to do, is stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I feel he has, in the rest of the worlds "perception" of the US, reverted to type a little.

So apologies if I didn't explain myself very well in the first instance, but i am not being anti-US or pro-Brit, just a bit disappointed with Mr Obama.

Molgrips

I agree with you, if BP are to blaim, then they should have to pay, but until the accident is fully investigated blaim should not be dumped soley at the feet of BP, as several other companies involved – most notably Transocean who operated the rig, and Haliburton whose equipment failed in the first instance as I understand things.

But I am certainly not being nationalistic, my point is that Obama in pointing the finger firmly at BP and by his tactical "slips of the tongue" inferring that they are British, is IMHO making a cynical attempt to divorce the US from the debacle – this is what I have a problem with!

Coyote

Can't get your link to work, but I'm guessing it refers to the chap on Facebook who got intercepted after hinting that he was going to "kick some serious ass"!

That's why I'm waiting for the sirens 😀

Molgrips

Energy consumption, in particular oil, is something that the US has had no bones about defending in recent years – their gas guzzling reputation is not without solid foundation.

IMHO the US's insatiable need for oil implicates them as much as BP, or any of the other (US/multinational) companies involved. OK it wasn't planned that such an incident should happen, but surely it was predictable that one day it was bound to.

I would therefore suggest that there is more than we know to Mr Obama's apparent irrational attack on BP (he is surely too intelligent to be so irrational), and I would go so far as to say that by diverting all the flak onto BP and attempting to implicate the "British" part of it is an attempt to dilute the blaim that can be attributed to the US – even if it is only in the moral sense.

I used to think Obama was ok, just what the US/world needed, and maybe he is. But regardless, now I think he's a tosser who is acting like a t1t in his attempts to politically cover the arse of America!

Of course where he still needs to convince the electorate of his suitablity, is in Hicksville USA, which is why I am guessing that he is acting like he is. He knows fine what BP stands for – w@nker!

Unless of course he's looking at investing heavily in BP when the share price is at rock bottom!

I now sit here and wait for the FBI to intercept this and inform Special Branch who will come and "Kick my" British "ass"……

I'm pretty impressed with what gadgetry you can get for fifty quid these days – but the Toshiba ones do look a bit cool though!

Swordfish – big one swimming along beside the boat for ages – very cool

used a 2.1 62a (60a?) on the rear for 10 under the Ben this year – which was very wet and rooty. It wouldn't have been my choice if I'd predicted the conditions, but to be honest it was pretty good – with a bit of selective power application technique!

Not so good out of the saddle in loose/dry – needs a smmoth application of power.

But what I would say is that there is probably a bit of placebo effect involved too – if you think a tyre is going to be sh1t then you (the royal "you" btw) will make it sh1t…..so if you already have doubts about performance the tyre may well get the blame for "lack of confidence in tyre induced pilot error" and prove to be sh1t!

EDIT:

IMHO

Chain Reaction – 3 x Sram PC951 £13.49 each

And if you can find any of the CRC 10% discount codes that were flying about on STW – then even cheaper.

Ok, thanks for the replies folks, I guess the answer to my question is "yes, there may be a noticible drop in performance for several days", and now I understand that there is a difference between the lost fluid replacement – fairly rapid, and the RBC replacement – much slower through a different process, I can see that donating blood within a few weeks of an event is probably best avoided (from a performance, not health perspective)

I can also say that I came to no harm through exercising on the same day as giving blood – I only did it once, and stopped when I realised I had significantly reduced energy levels – and I was not alone at any point! However I am now qualified to recommend not attempting such a foolish activity.

I would also like to point out that lots of people told me not to get a rigid ss 29er but, similar to the exercise thing, no one could tell me why……so I did it anyway and found it to be quite a good thing………

No children or animals were harmed during any of these experiments!

Cheers,
bigdonx

If you don't have a proper tick removal tool, the tweezers that you get on a Swiss Army Knife are pretty good for removing ticks (while they are still small and haven't consumed too much of your blood). These type of tweezers angle in at the end, so you can remove without squashing.

But I would say get the proper tool when you can – in fact get several and keep one in each of your riding/walking/camping/etc kit.

On another note if someone said falling off a roof is a bad idea coz it hurts – do you think why – I'll try and see if its true?

No, because they have told me why – coz it hurts! No one could tell me what happened if I exercised after giving blood.

Even the blood donning helper people said "oohh,I wouldn't do that", "why not? what happens?", "Don't know, I just wouldn't".

So I thought I'd find out for myself – I had a feeling I wouldn't die, otherwise blood donning would have been "no win, no fee'd" out of existance – so I thought it was safe enough to give it ago.

But anyway todays question is about the effects on performance a few days afer the good deed……. don't do the same day exercise thing…….. now that I've found out what happens if you do 😀

coffeking – when I say "racing" I mean that in the loosest possible terms! I mean the odd dabble with "endurance" events……not a racer, not near the podium, but don't want to be more last than I am already 😀

Chill for a couple of days to let you blood pressure return to normal levels

Well this is my question – how long is a "couple of days" in most peoples experience?

Most of us know it is not advised to do any strenuous exercise after giving blood – but you have to know why – like toby1's hot plate analogy.

My real concern is that if I am doing a race/event/etc, does giving blood, 1 week, 2 weeks, ? weeks beforehand, have an effect on performance?

I should qualify the above by saying that £39 is the compensation I recieved after the clown of a postie decided to leave my brand new RS Revs in the wheelie bin the day before it got emptied!!
But on the brighter side, it only took them about 6 weeks to pay up my £39. I was sooooo pleased with the efficient service!

If you've only sent it recorded you'll only get £39 or there abouts (100 times the cost of a first class stamp or something random like that), if used Special Delivery you should get the lot. I think.

Isn't a viola a small fiddle……..??

I think the teeth spacing is optimised for it to work best in one direction only

Aye, on reading that back it does sound a bit div-tastic! What I was trying to say was that the tooth spacing relative to the bolt pattern is different if you reverse it – hence the recommendation that the chainrings must be fitted with the writing pointing out (or in, or what ever) with the wee tag things lined up………….

Reversing may make your granny/middle shift a bit less slick. I think the teeth spacing is optimised for it to work best in one direction only. But shouldn't be a major problem – just might be a bit clunky………might be fine.

A guy I ride with is 6'4" ish, 16st. He's on his second 5. Loved the first one, but loves the second one even more.

High Voltage (the album) proper raw rock n'roll! The man was rock n'roll personified and his lyrics pure genius…….. Although I still love the band – their lyrical content is pretty keich these days! Come to think of it apart from the odd gem, their songs are pretty keich altogether these days!

Anyone else ridden one of these machines???

Last Friday as I was heading down the last long hill before home after a pleasantly brisk cycle through the woods when a car timidly overtook me. Two minutes later I caught up with the car as it was stopped in the middle of the (singletrack) road with hazard lights on. Approaching with caution I was to find that the lady driver had got out of the car and was moving a dead badger to the side of the road! She must have identified my lack of bunnyhopability in the passing. This actually happened btw!

I too could hop and wheelie in my yoof, but on a break from biking from 16 to 36, the beer seems to have taken its toll!

ahwiles – that was the answer I was looking for 😀 Could be an interesting bike to ride then.

Can you rememember much about the build? I have a pair of Manitou Shermans 152mm which I reckon will do for the front end – don't suppose I need to get too retro with the rest of it…….

Bought a pair of boots from them last year – very good price and pretty quick delivery – all in all a very positive experience………

IMHO Boutique brands = exclusivity = desirability, does not equal (don't know how to do the sign for that!) better, and to compare the relative merits of them against mainstream brands is a battle between head and heart.
eg if you had to choose between buying a Honda and a Ducatti – you know what you should buy, but you also know what you would buy given the chance…..

If value for money (and/or limited budget) is the main driver then go for a big brand, if he has money to burn and is heart set on a boutique brand, then go for that.

If he thinks a boutique brand will make him ride better (cos that's what all the marketing hype says) the only way he is going to find out that this is a fallacy is to buy one of each!

5'9" here and I have a 19.5" Inbred 29er. It's in SS/Rigid format so never up anything too steep, or down anything too gnarly, but I love it for fireroad & "gentle" singletrack duties.
70mm stem, zero layback seatpost and it's fine, I'm guessing the next size down (18"?) may suit me better, but doubt it would make that much difference for the type of riding I use it for.
The point being though is that I'm not that tall and I ride a large framed 29er no problem at all – so Welsh people shouldn't feel excluded 🙂

I bought a Gore Alp-X Thermo for exactly the reason you mention – the days/nights when a full on jacket is a bit too much. I am a bit disappointed with it from that respect as it's not much use as an outer layer if there is any (cold)wind. I have ended up using it with a Gilet to keep the wind of my torso, but then you lose the benifit of all the side and back pockets.
I'm thinking it will be really good when the windchill isn't quite as wintery.

Anymore, from anymore???????

Cheers for the tips guys – never heard of an Arduino before, but have now been educated. I'll see what I can come up with.

Cheers Joe, a home brew effort could be the go. I just wondered if anyone else was aware of something that can just be plugged in.

Better get the Maplin Catalog out!!

Never had any probs with the WHS. But in these times of "no one wants to use the Royal Mail", things may have changed.

I have never cleaned a chain before use…..BUT….recently read somewhere that the ticky-tacky stuff is just some sort of storage protection and should be cleaned off and the chain properly lubed.

Makes sense really since the ticky-tacky stuff (by definition of it's name) is ticky-tacky and bad stuff will stick to it……

Think I'll be cleaning mine from now on.

glenp – Member
I would strongly advise not to loft the front wheel by pulling the bars up. Make the front light by transferring weight to the rear of the bike and using your feet to lever.

You are still effectively pulling on the bars when pushing with your feet – otherwise the front would not lift. IE there is a centre of rotation somewhere between feet, bars & arse. So altering the position of the bars will have an affect on this C of R – I think……..?? Making it more or less natural/easy?

Headtorch mount was included with mine which I bought about 6 weeks ago. Haven't tried mind you.

Mine fits under my 90mm stem (cable pointing forwards), for my 70mm stem its a bit tight so I sling it under the top tube just behind the headtube – again cable pointing forwards.

I have had no problems even with coming off and bars pointing backwards.