Yep, of course it’s been cold, but the roads and forest have been fine and I never use spiked tyres, just Nobby Nics. I know Stockholm has been bad as I have family and friends living there, you have my sympathy!

GTB has more snow than Skåne, but is better than Stockholm, really you need to be south of Hallandsåsen (Halland) to have the short season in Sweden.

That said, there are no proper hills in Southern Sweden, max is 224m, but if you ride up and down 224 lots it all add up 😉 Our trails over Hallandsåsen are so that a good loop is about 40km and 1000m elevation.

Depends how cold/long the winter is.

This winter season has been a long one, snow stopped play at Xmas and was rideable again end of Feb, so it was a ~2 month downtime.

back in 2007/2008 is was a short winter, so we had less than a month that was non rideable.

For me the downtime is just the excuse to get the skis out 😀

Or move to Skåne, less snow down here 😉

I disagree, it’s a very good cycling country, on and off road. Riding the road reminds me of riding in the 80s in the UK, low volume road traffic and miles and miles of quite, well looked after tarmac country roads 8)

No worries, like I said before, there’s a very active MTB scene in and around GTB so you can’t go wrong 8)

There’s plenty of good riding and nice MTB people in GTB, I live in Skåne and it’s pretty flat apart from 2 ridges.

1.5 hours south of GTB is Vallåsen, Skåne’s largest ski hill which opens from the summer although this year it won’t open till August due to lift works: Vallåsen

Only a small hill but good fun to ride with hand cut natural lines (most by my hands 😉 ).

Slightly further away is Vånga hill, runs a button lift and built by a good group of locals. Again its small but perfectly formed.

There’s great riding all over the place, can’t go wrong 8)

I think it’s a BB71. Found stock now, just want to check other options before buying the Shimano one.

Then I guess the next question is will my FSA megaexo crankset fit the hollowtech II BB?

I have a similar question but with the new Giant Anthem X 29er BB, seems hard to find any Shimano stock, yet alone any other options 😕

My new frame arrives next week, need to get this sorted ASAP!

Any ideas or info?

Actually I’m based in Sweden, so a bit hard to pop into Jessops unfortunately.

Budget is confirmed at 4,000SEK = ~£390

So should be able to get a cracking camera for that.

My short list so far:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
Olympus Tough TG-610
Sony Cybershot DSC-WX5
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT10

Anything else I should add to the list?

Although the photos are taken in a workshop environment it doesn’t need to be bullet proof, normally I’m taking notes/photos whilst mechanics are turning spanners etc.

Close up is normally <12″, trying to show cracks in castings, worn bushes, corrosion damage etc.

I do use a lamp instead of a flash but normally I only have 1 hand to take a photo. So ideal if the camera can cope with the bad lighting.

Actually, budget, sub £200 would be better.

A few shots from my local ride yesterday, Ängelholm, Sweden 8)

They’re back in stock in Denmark/Sweden, buying a set now through my mate at Rotation MTB[/url].

4½ years into life in Southern Sweden, can’t see us ever moving back TBH.

The summer:

The winter:

Warranty will be registered with my dad, so any issue and it’ll cost me the postage back to sort. Yes, already checked its not a recall frame.

Cost was $1445 and I’m having a pair of Fox F29 forks, both for $2099, + $90 shipping to me in Sweden, + obviously I’ll have import tax once it arrives etc.

Looking forward to the new build now 😀

Twas a while ago that, now all sorted.

A Giant shop in the states, with all Giant stuff it’s shop pick up only but as my dad lives in the same town he will sign for it and then the shop can ship it to me direct. So only works if you have someone who can sign for it before shipping.

Sorted, got an Anthem 29er frame heading to me 8)

Done, sorted 8)

Spoke to Dave, very helpful guy, called Giant UK and the frame only shipments are coming over till the autumn. Plus he didn’t want to strip a full build, so it looks like this option is no go for me.

Thanks for the heads-up rootes, I’ll give him a bell in the morning. But how likely is it that a shop would split a full bike just to sell a frame? I would have thought unlikely?

I have now found a size large Spearfish, the last one till June, got to make my mind up fast, decisions decisions 😕

I would seriously consider buying one if the frame only sales were an option. I have cash and ready to buy but I can’t seem to find a large one anywhere to buy 🙁

Hence why I’m considering buying a Salsa Spearfish, great value and the reviews seem good as well.

Maybe worth considering?

Classic Swedish CX/winter bike stylee 😀

Count yourself lucky, here in Sweden there was a recent case where a car driver drove into a cyclist and the cyclist got convicted because he was riding on the road when there was a cycle lane available 😕

Zero common sense here in the Swedish courts/law sometimes, like you wouldn’t believe 👿

English link[/url]

One from me: The Hangover.

Had it sat around for a few months and watched it coming back from Germany the other week, had me in stitches, really good film.

Also loved Kickass, watched that little girl sequence several times, brilliant, had me in tears, she’s a great little actress:

lol 😕

2. Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonian empire. His exploits, which are recounted in the books of Daniel and Jeremiah, were praised by Saddam Hussein, to whom he was a hero. Mr Skinner believes in this case there is also the phonetic difficulty that puts people off. “It sounds very harsh with all those zeds. It’s not very easy to pronounce, either.”

4. Saint Philemon was the recipient of an epistle from Saint Paul in the New Testament. But whereas the name Solomon, from the wise king, is often heard, Philemon rarely is.

6. The oldest person named in the Bible, Methuselah, is said to have lived until he was 969. “If we know one thing about him, it’s that he was ancient – we use the phrase ‘as old as Methulselah’ and so on. When you have a baby boy, you aren’t going to picture him as a Methuselah. It also sounds quite Dickensian to modern ears, as do a lot of Old Testament names which were popular in the Victorian period like Ebenezer and Ezekiel.”

10. Radbod, or Radboud, was Bishop of Utrecht around 900 AD. “This is another Anglo Saxon-sounding name that you might expect to catch on,” says Mr Skinner. “Maybe it just sounded too familiar. When you have a diversity of names, people sometimes pick sounds and concept they’ve never picked before. These days, this process has become a celebrity phenomenon.”

BBC mag link

8)

It is a massive place, I spent a week there a year ago, loved it, wish I could have stayed longer. If you want to go riding with a good NZ guide then get in touch with MTB Japan[/url], Benny is a top bloke and the riding is amazing, so so natural, none of this man made stuff. His place is 1 hour north of Tokyo on the bullet.

The gang

Natural trails

Hmmm, rice balls

There’s also a bike park / DH place that I didn’t manage to get to this time but apparently is good, just over an hour west from Tokyo.

Lots more riding too, just search around Google and there’s lots of hits.

As for in the city, I did the vague walking thing around the palace etc, did about 6 hours of walking and got to see a few nice back street type things. Also bumped into the Hello Kitty type concert or equally bonkers, lots of young girls dressed up like god knows what, mad as a bag of cats.

Can’t wait to go back…

That said, not sure it’s really worthy film material, but then again, when has that ever stopped Hollywood 😆

I read his book and whilst it wasn’t exactly thrilling I found it interesting enough to finish. I wouldn’t like to try it myself, the part about cutting through the nerve still gives me the shivers, and that’s after breaking your bones 😥

Just searched there for Hora and it popped up, so to say 😆

And goodness they need to wash their mouths out, never have I heard such filth, it’s all f’in this, f’in that 😆

YABOS

Nope, but it looks so shiny and grabs headlines with super duper claimed figures 🙄

As for pink slips, my moneys on the new Zonda R 😉

Pie in the sky for a 300mph road car, typical yanks 🙄

Someone forgot to speak to the tyre manufacturers when drawing up this render and spec list, or else they would have realised that the isn’t a road legal tyre on earth that is rated that high! But I’m sure they will just fit solid tyres and run it across the salt flats and claim its road legal 🙄

Congratulations, our little bundle of joy is 4 months old next week, goodness do they grow fast, make the most of when they’re so small as it soon changes. Seems like every day now something new happens, he rolled onto his side for the 1st time last weekend and has been laughing and baby talking for weeks now, totally love it, very proud father here 8)

Are these actually available in the UK yet? I mean, to ride off on rather than pre-order?

Good experiences for me 8)

I just don’t think babies can generate the heat that adults can. My bro in law has a 2 year old and a newborn and lives in Sweden – they don’t take them out far when it’s really cold.

We live in Sweden and like others have said, it’s just about the right layering etc, we tend to draw the line at -10 and below mind. 😮

As mine is now 13 weeks old I would say a 3 hour hike in a Baby Björn would be too much with a 12w old. Unless you’ve already been out walking with the baby and its neck is strongish for their age. Can she hold he head still when being held upright, or hold her head up when on her tummy, etc? You could build up their strength over time etc. but 3 hours 1st time out is too much IMO.

I know when I walk with my little-un in the BB his head can flop about a bit so I normally tuck in his blankey to keep it cosy.

As for back ache, as long as your back is ok and you can MTFU it should be fine 😉

I can recommend ZAGG if you’d consider a thin but good protective covering, very happy with it on my Wildfire 8)