I'm sure someone will come along and answer this more fully but if you run a fat tyre on a narrow rim, the tyre will be narrower so you have less grip.

If you look at the Mavic site, for every rim they give you a recommended tyre width, which is useful

'Bike Danger Trail' don't you just love the BBC!

I've some XT 160's similar vintage on my Roadrat and they don't come near the 182mm HopeM4's I have on my mountain bikes…

London – a bit love/hate sometimes but really, nothing else quite compares
Chester – beautiful city
Betws/Ogwen Valley – always happy to be there
St David's. Newgale Beach – just beautiful even when the weather's cr*p
South Coast – Poole, Purbeck – beautiful esp in summer
South Downs – as above
Surrey Hills – as above
UK is a beautiful country. And as Op says, we should celebrate it

whoo-hoo. Excited. An early Xmas present :-)

The fact that people into looking after themselves are called 'fitness freaks' is all you need to know.

Cotic Roadrat here. Fast, handles like an MTB, 23c tyres for efficiency. Singlespeed cos London's flat and less maintenance

might do, depending on the weather. Will be bringing the Roadrat tho, rather than MTB

Some signage might be a good idea to prevent premature use?

2nd this. I know the Hurtwood policy is no signage put surely something temporary is ok? Loads of people riding round there will not be on this forum…

2nd on thanks for organising. Am currently breaking the washing machine from filling it with Swinley grit and have already ordered new brake pads for the set that wore out :-)

I have a degree in rocket science as it happens

Cool. Where do you work, and on what?

I was lying ;-)

If it's my technique that's wrong, fair enuff. I won't be buying new pedals then…

I have a degree in rocket science as it happens

Not a Specialized, Orange 5. But I do have the rear shock set towards soft for a slacker head angle. Not to extremes, just with 33% sag rather than 25%

grievoustim and Ourmaninthenorth have it.

I had two interviews with Howies a couple of years ago. Personally I found David a bit unfriendly and communications with them a bit chaotic. To be fair I think he was just very passionate and very single-minded about his vision. The deal with Timberland probably limited his ability to do this…

Some may remember the many posts I made last summer about a housemate (and old friend) who was behaving in a way which I felt totally betrayed the friendship. After much reading and thought I came to the conclusion he was suffering from depression. I offered my help, suggested to his brother (who lived in the same house) that this guy could be suffering from mental illness and could probably do some help. It got very very unpleasant and I eventually moved out and have had no contact since.

I also mulled over this for many months afterwards (could I have done things differently, did my behaviour help break the friendship, was I being too understanding etc etc) but at the end of the day realised that if he was so ill not be able to recognise the damage he was doing to himself and to those who cared about him, then I had to walk away (as you have done). I also realised I had to simply leave it behind and stop analysing it – it didn't help me move on from the painful experience..

Tragic. My heart goes out to the victim's family and friends. An awful way to lose someone you love.

FWIW does anyone here with legal knowledge know if there's anything we can do as a community to ask for a re-trial or does it have to come from the victim's family?

Sadly the OP is absolutely correct. Cycling has a bad name in London because there's more people riding bikes badly and being utterly complacenent about the rule of law, basic consideration, and their own safety, than people riding well, safely and with consideration. I'm usually the only one sitting waiting at the red light – all the others who arrived with, or after me have just carried right on. It makes me pretty angry actually, it's doing a huge amount of damage to cycling as a sport but the f*ckers doing it simply don't understand that. And it then allows drivers to justify to themselves driving without consideration for cyclists. And that kills people.

My GP said to me once that she was seeing people effectively killing themselves because of their lifestyle (lack of exercise, poor diet).

What the article and the people asking for the law appeared to have missed is that being overweight is a health problem that for the good of the individuals involved, needs to be resolved. It's not the same (as mentioned above) as discriminating against people by race or sexuality. Being of African descent or gay is not unhealthy and causes no harm to individuals).

Presumably, the penalty for thumping someone for being fat is already covered under existing laws (assault, GBH etc), no?

I've combined/confused my argument a bit… just for clarification: I like to ride with people who ride well irrespective of the kit AND I like to ride with people who are genuinely passionate about the sport – and the people who spend time introducing others/managing websites etc count as passionate to me, irrespective of ability and kit.

I like riding with people who're genuninely passionate about mountain biking and who can ride the kit they have well, whatever the kit. I rode with a couple of mates recently who have 6 inch AM full sussers, they're professional guides and they rode awesomely. Respect. A couple of weeks later I rode with a guy riding an ancient hardtail with one brake – he was ahead of most of the rest of us on our 5 inch full sussers. Respect again.

Surely it's about genuine passion for the sport, irrespective of the kit?

Try and get a couple of sessions with a personal trainer. Endurance is built mainly by doing long sessions of exercise which an hour in the gym won't let you do. But you can do exercises to build the strength in your legs which will allow you to ride for longer when you do go out. In time your endurance will then improve…

e.g squats, calf raises. Also worth doing core strength exercises which will help balance and moving around the bike

Anodising a stem makes it 34.6% faster than painted

The state of that fall line is a sad indictment of the negative impact a high frequency of mountain bikes can have on the land if left unmanaged. So irrespective of what kind of trail different people want to ride, it needs fixing if we want to be accepted as responsible trail users. Thanks to Hurtwood's positive and inclusive approach, we're about to get a better, longer trail and the damage we've done will be allowed to recover.

That sounds right. On the flat bit. I'd highly recommend a map and compass. Or GPS. We went up end September and the weather was gopping and you never know what visibility's going to be like in Wales do you!

Obviously depends on fitness of the slowest in the group. You be carrying the bikes a fair bit up the mountain so best not to wear racing shoes cos it'll slow you right up. I would allow at least 3 hours to walk/ride up Llanberis path. If you're very fit then 2 hours. Descent – depends on ability of course but between 20 mins to an hour for Llanberis path. More like 45 mins-90 mins for Ranger. Not forgetting that the nav down Ranger is trickier and if it's getting dark you might miss the right turn at the bottom. Ace ride tho

As a few people above have experienced, 125mm seems to be around the sweet spot for all-round handling for me too

Excellent news. Great to see the 'working together/taking responsibility' methodology working so well. Can't wait to ride the new trail

Erm. George Michael? If you don't mind, I'm not jey!

Bon Jovi, actually.

Cycleactive[/url]
I can highly recommend Rich and Chris at Cycleactive. Very friendly, very focussed on YOU having a good time. A couple of days and my riding improved more than it had done for years. And after 2 crashes resulting in broken bones, gave me my confidence back…

'Keep the Faith' – spread the word. It'll be the first time I've got to name a trail :-)

That off camber one I've christened 'Keep The Faith' cos if you just hold on tight and stay off the brakes it's cleanable. Since I found it I've not done Telegraph Poles, it's way more fun. Haven't done it in winter yet tho, it would be a slightly different proposition!

I've just put in an order for an incredibly bling road bike that'll cost me very little cos a work colleague's a friend of the importer :-)

And I rode my Soul last weekend. The last 2 times I rode it I broke bones so it was nice to prove I can stay on it :-)

FWIW I have Air Pikes on my Five and it rocks. Dead solid up front, stiff as, and the 2x air chambers mean you can tune how you like.

I told my mates not to post that vid, I was riding really crap that day.

This thread.
And my contribution to it :-)

Some of the trails get trashed from riding in wet conditions which isn't helping the case for mountain biking in the area – so best to try and avoid the softer ones if you can

They're on my mental list of people to look to for work. They've been very happy with the work I've done directly with them. I'm not sure where I stand with regards to the non-compete clause in my contract if I've been made redundant tho

I did it in January and although the view along the side of the reservoir was stunning, proper out there, the ice made it as much of a walk as a ride. The drop down to Capel was certainly up there in the technical stakes IMHO.

I think it's fair to find it a difficult route, certainly with with the rockiness and the distance you are from home, it's going to be a challenge for a lot of riders

Anyone else think this is their attempt at revenge following the James Martin backlash?

not sure I even understood half the questions!