The Frost Show sketch (the one above with Cleese and the Ronnies) has it about right :-)

When I was a kid I was confused cos my Dad went to work every day. Therefore as far as I could see, we were working class!

Get thee to a sports physio who understands biking. Not worth aggravating. Don't think MTFU is the best approach tbh, unless you want a chronic injury.

The physio should help diagnose and cure + you could also ask them for core strength and flexibility exercises for ongoing conditioning. You'll be amazed how much more efficient your effort can be

Geetee, email address in profile if you're organising anything… I know the area pretty well but always up for going out with new riding pardners, plus I think there's more stuff on Leith Hill and Redlands than I've found…

Cheers for organising Nick.
Cheers to everyone else for coming and making up an ace ride
Gnarlcore to the max :-)

Breasts are there for two reasons:
1. To attract a mate
2. To feed the result
:-)

Someone at Google has too much time on their hands.

clearly, so have we :-)

Mine did the same after a trip away. It was the springs. All 4 had snapped. New springs cost nowt and as above – easy to replace. I told Hope in case they there was a problem with quality or something but they seemed to think it was rare. Younggeoff's bodge sounds like a good idea.

ok. I see. In previous weeks some of the more established guys had started sprints and I didn't see it start so figured it was just a random thing whenever someone chose to. I'll behave from now on :-)
I might start riding with the faster group tho

Reflective gear everywhere – ankles, wrists as well as top. Light yourself up like an Xmas tree.
Sadly, accept that for some time yet, cycle commuting will remain a high risk activity, with many of the risks coming from other people's behaviour rather than just inherent in the activity (like mountain biking, skydiving, mountaineering etc) and minimise the risk as much as you can with your own behaviour and ability.
Cr*p I know but all you can control is your own behaviour

Didn't really understand quite what all the fuss was about. I was 11 at the time.
But listening to it on the vinyl copy of Now That's What I Call Music II I did get an inkling that 'when you want to suck to it' meant something I wasn't old enough to understand ;-)

What the OP describes is my route when I go over Leith Hill way. I've not found anything better, yet. I was whooping when I popped out of the bottom of Regurgitator last weekend. The guy walking his dog along the lane gave me a look which suggested I was acting a bit weird. Little did he know :-)

JonEdwards – Member
Do you know WHY you crashed. If so, learn from it and you won't make the same mistake again, so you can ride flat out again.

If you don't know why, then sit down think about it, and work out where it went wrong.

I agree with this. I bust my collarbone failing off a dropoff I didn't know was coming up – because I'd never learnt how to do them, I had no way of dealing with it. Just as it mended I went out again, felt really stiff, nervous and out of sorts, wheels washed out in a flat corner and broke the opposite shoulder. Head was a shed and even thought of quitting for road riding or 'low risk XC'.
Got some coaching from Cycleactive – a) on jumps and drops and b) on getting my confidence back. Now riding 2 footers happily and riding smoother and more confidently than ever.
Some days I still feel a bit iffy before I start out – I just have a quiet chat with myself not to put myself under pressure and take it easy. Then not long after when I'm busy dealing with ragging down some singletrack, I find I've forgotten about being nervous :-)

Those who come out against our leaders being toffs: In 2004 Churchill was voted Greatest Ever Briton.
Um he was born in Blenheim Palace. If you've ever seen it, it's quite a big house. In fact, it's a palace. His father was a Lord. He was landed gentry.
Did a damn good job in trying times by all accounts

Some good tips there – the wind direction being pertinent – I'm thinking about London-Poole and train back – and winds tend to come from the West. No doubt I'll get the carriage to myself :-)

I work in marketing (I know, kill me now!)
The truth is that sometimes what we say is true. Rarely is it a total lie but a lot of the time people are just so desperate to try and make themselves sound better than the competition they'll either stretch the truth a little/or leave out the less palatable bits rather than be honest and just say, our thing is good and it works but it's not really better than the competition, just a different way of going about it.
So chances are both companies are right, or at least have some element of truth in their claims. But frankly as they're both known to be reputable companies, I reckon you're ok with either, whichever you prefer.
Same with suspension design a lot of the time. If it's well established and lots of other people like it, and so do you, it's ok
My 2 penn'oth

Can strongly recommend http://www.cycleactive.co.uk/courses/skills/lakes.html

I was a wheels-on-the-ground type of guy for years but after coming a cropper on an unseen drop I decided to get taught – for my own safety as much as anything else! I spent a couple of days with Rich doing drops and all kinds of general handling techniques and feel sooo much more confident and flowy than I used to (been riding for 15 years!)
Very supportive and patient, can highly recommend

that's possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen!

I've been shown to bunnyhop and with practice I'm sure I'll get better. Essential, prob not but damn useful when you charge round a corner and find a log across the trail with barely enough time to stop.
For the time being I find a little manual + unweighting of the back end accompanied by a little shove on the handlebars is good for getting over small logs in a controlled manner. Helps keep the flow, that's for sure

I run Rampage 2.35s without a problem and they're pretty broad. Used to run Cinder 2.25s and they were fine too

My Roadrat's ace. Lovely bike to ride. Fast. Sweet handling

5'11'' here on a medium with 70mm stem and 140mm revs. Reach and controllability are all good. very chuckable with the 70mm stem – used to have 90mm which was more of a stretch. Have a Thomson layback post

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Abus_CombiFlex_202_90cm_Cable_Bike_Lock/5300006185/

I just bought one of these for road bike cafe stops. Not super strong but will certainly help – similar to above

Skills course is my recommendation. Videos, reading etc give you the theory but what you need is the experience and muscle memory of the technique.
I've done a couple of days with Rich at Cycleactive and went from scared of ever getting my wheels off the ground to 2 foot drops to flat. It's amazing how easy it really is – mainly just a head thing tbh and once you've got comfortable with it you'll wonder why such a fuss is made of drops. Can highly recommend Cycleactive for being patient, encouraging and supportive!

It's a Greatest Hits. All of it so far

I, too, have a Five and a Soul. The Five came with Hope Mono M4's and 180mm discs.
I figured I wanted both bikes to have the same stopping power so I didn't have to think about it when riding, so put the same on the Cotic.
Also like Hope for their serviceability/easy part replacement.
If you're trying to keep costs down, why not just buy from Classifieds? Cos Hope last for years and spares are available you're not any really worse off buying used except they might not be so shiny

Everyone should bring a stick so they can put it in the spokes of the person they fall out with :-)

Does this mean I'm not a man? I only have 4 bikes :-(

Ask Orange?

lowey – Member
Just get a good shock with a firm pro pedal setting and bobs your uncle.

No no no, the point is bob is no longer your friend, associate OR family member!

I try and ride both my FS and HT regularly. FS allows you to blat down stuff, yes, but HT makes you actually ride down the same stuff, which may well be harder but keeps yr skills up IMO

I post myself so I can get it recorded in case of any dispute with the buyer. If I sent it via work I guess I wouldn't get that proof of postage

have 18 inch five and medium Soul. Soul feels slightly longer but it's built that way. Feels comfortable going from one to the other

I'm surprised at the level of emotion here. People clearly feel very passionate on all sides.
Whilst I prefer to use 'common sense' as my own general guide in life and therefore can see the point of those arguing they use their discretion (2am in the morning no-one else around for e.g.), the fact is that red lights are not a situation at which we are being asked to use our discretion, we are being asked, for the safety of ourselves and all other road users, to stop.
And whatever the ins and outs of what we do each time we see a red light and whatever decision we make, when non-cyclists see someone on a bike go through a red light, whatever the circumstances and whether or not it causes/contributes to an accident, it risks negative PR against cyclists. This comes at a time when the government, the NHS, councils, mental health charities, CTC et al are all trying very very hard to increase the appeal of cycling for the good of all.

Cheers All,
It did occur to me that I was just chasing air thru…
I do have a clear hose, yes, you can see the bubbles and eventually you see unbroken liquid coming thru, which from what you're saying means it's bled. Plenty left on the pads. I did wind out the levers to get decent leverage on but it was at the limit of the reach. Will get back on it next weekend. I know what I was doing wrong now.

Hard to see from the photo. Forgive me if this is patronising but you do have the adaptor the right way up don't you?
Cy will reply to any question you have if you email him direct: cy@cotic.co.uk

I'm a Friend Of Hurtwood too so support the idea of splitting into smaller groups. Also happy to lead something around any of Holmbury/Leith/Pitch. 3-4 hours.
Why don't we agree a central meeting point? Early-ish but give the Down From London's time to get there (10.30am?) and see what numbers are and split accordingly – depending on who wants to do what on the day.

3 hour hack round Surrey Hills. Apart from one silly moment putting my weight in the wrong place causing tyres and trail to become suddenly averse to each others' company, mojo was well and truely present. Biking's ace :-)

Surrey Hills don't seem so great anymore :-(

Looks like mine :-) Lovely.
Just ride it lots. I'm disappointed I have to ride my full suss tmrw cos the Soul's forks are away for repair, it's so involving you'll love it once you get in tune with it

my head ain't too large. Specialized works for me. Propero c£70 i think, not got a large profile

37 in 10 days.
Have birthday off work to go riding. No way I'm spending my birthday at my desk
Off to the Lakes 2 weeks later for 5 days riding
Plenty of people coming to my birthday party
maybe a sh*tty economic outlook will bring house prices to a more sensible level?