I’m ok with it – saves me or anyone else taking a tumble. Can’t see the holes if you’re riding tight in a group.
I like the ‘looking out for each other’ culture – it can be hard to find these days.

genius

Do you have indecision issues?

I think some people just hate stuff in general.. and a few more actively enjoy hating stuff.. and if the nearest thing happens to be a cyclist, then that’s what they will hate

Exactly. I doubt those that ‘hate’ us are, in every other part of their lives, happy and well-adjusted…

I suspect one reason cyclists are ‘hated’ a lot at the moment is that over the last 20 years, overt hatred of Jews, Blacks, Women, Homesexuals, Disabled etc has become less socially acceptable… so the anger gets re-directed at another minority outgroup.

You should pay either the company or a charity of your choice 10 Euros for every mistake you make.

This. We’re loss averse, we respond much better to incentives when we stand to lose something, than when we stand to gain…

I put headphones with relaxing music on when I need to focus at work. If I need to be really accurate I do the work once, put it aside and double check it later on…

That’s not why cyclists are hated.
Cyclists are hated because we’re a minority group who dare to step outside the norms of society (namely make an effort to look after our health, can cope with danger and don’t drive everywhere). Any group who steps outside the norms is seen as a threat.

Anyone who hates cyclists for leaving litter is just trying to rationalise their fear of the out-group…

I would agree, however, that anyone who litters is an arse…
Why someone would litter an unused inner tube in its box amazes me. Maybe it wasn’t so much littered as fell out of their bag unknowingly?

btw, banana skins take 2 years to biodegrade, take them home

I’d try and get a physio assessment of your weak points and get a program for fixing them – you can’t train and get fitter and stronger if you’re injured.
I’m racing a lot at the moment – 5 and 10k and only running twice a week – but 2-3 core and flexibility sessions a week. My coach swears by self-massage using a foam roller too

just to clarify what christhetall said the offroad comission voted against the motion as did all mtb club representatives.

That’s shocking! So it’s road that’s had all the doping issues, not MTB. I’d love to hear their reason for voting ‘for’

Who are the 74 who voted for? Have they read nothing in the cycling press recently?
Interesting to see how he responds…

If that’s how you feel, go and see your doctor or ring Samaritans, sharpish! Please.

Prices do NOT always go up. But you need to be of a certain age in the UK to remember the early 90’s when we last had a serious price crash (not excusing 2008 but it doesn;t seem to have been that bad).
The Economist reckons prices are still c 30% overvalued against rents and wages and if interest rates weren’t being held silly low then we would have seen more of a correction in recent years.

Personally whilst I like capitalism and free markets more than the alternatives, I’m not sure a market is really the best way to ensure people have somewhere to live securely, given current circumstances… if few people can afford a house then the market’s not working

Schoolboy error, you’ve just built a 26er.
It’ll be on the scrapheap by xmas 😉
Lovely-looking, otherwise

Eat well the night before and get a full night’s sleep and a good breakfast – porridge, eggs, wholemeal toast etc
Feed and water yourself very carefully throughout the ride
Expect to want to eat the contents of the larder when you get back
Be prepared to be very determined
Enjoy the achievement and be very pleased with yourself – it’s underrated IMO

No need to. The road equivalent of 650B is discs… the industry is now telling us we ‘need’ disc brakes (which just happens to mean whole new bikes) 😉

ransos – Member

Finish Line: citrus and asparagus notes on the nose, a hint of spice on the palate, coupled with an intense minerality.

You are Jilly Goolden and I claim my £5!

Another advocate here for not taking the ‘second-class’citizen’ approach.
If there’s no room to pass and no room to pull in then car will have to stay.
Equally if I can see there’s something coming the other way, I’ll take primary and wave the car back – as Shibboleth says, you have better visibility than the driver…
If there’s a blind bend and therefore me letting the car overtake and potentially leading them into a head-on collision, then I’ll keep primary – who’s to say a lawyer wouldn’t try and argue I was a contributory factor if I let a car past when the road ahead wasn’t clear?
Equally, if the car patiently waits until it’s clear then they’ll definitely get a thank you wave, or once I can see it’s clear ahead for an overtake then I’ll ease in and wave them through…

It’s a matter of commonsense and mutual safety IMO, not a dogmatic ‘must-let-car-through’ or ‘must-take-primary’ approach

I suspect the story that’s being put out about manufacturers no longer supporting 26 inch may just be to scare people into buying the new size because they think their current bike will be obsolete and they won’t be able to get spares.
It’s a way to create demand where there is none. 650B isn’t different enough from what almost the whole of the installed base of bikes is, hence there’s no demand. If 26 stays supported, there’s no reason to buy 650B. 29 maybe, but not this meaningless midsize.
So the industry puts out the message that it’ll no longer be supporting 26 so that those who don’t want 29 have to buy 650B.
Honestly, this isn’t genuine innovation in the way most of MTB product development has been since the mid-80s, it’s manipulation of the highest order and I really hope it fails…

He’ll be fine. Today’s kids have gone soft 😉
First time I went, 1995 we had to hunker down at the front whilst a battle raged with bottles of piss, and some even filled with sand (a half-brick essentially) and my mate got hit by half a watermelon. We then managed to survive 90 mins in the moshpit to Metallica.
Second time I went, last year, it appears that all that had gone out of fashion – lots of standing around watching and moshing appears to have been replaced by running around in a circle, in the same direction!
I fear for our youth, I really do 🙂

I’ve done some big days on MTB and road but only ever bonked on road… which tells you something about which one uses most energy…

I suspect this is all coming about because the market has slowed right up: all the markets that have provided growth so far (US and Europe) are no longer growing as we’re all reining in on disposable income spend; and because a lot of the new growth in cycling is road rather than MTB…
So forecast profits are likely taking a massive hit… hence this rather desperate industry response…

2 things I think the industry might have overlooked compared to previous changes in standards:
1. We no longer have the cash to spend on not-entirely-necessary-bike-stuff that we’ve had for the last 15+ years… so less willing to replace existing kit that is entirely fit for purpose
2. Social media makes it easier for us to share our views, and recognising that a lot of other riders are as unhappy as I am, makes me less willing to replace my kit

Remember, as CharlieTheBikemonger posted ^^ if there’s no demand then there’s no business… so if we don’t want 650B, just don’t buy it and the industry cannot kill off 26″ if there’s no demand for their dictated replacement…

I’ve been mountain biking for nearly 20 years and I don’t recall any of the significant innovations ever being resisted like these new wheel sizes are, and I think that says the customers are smelling a rat…

Steel to ally to carbon – ok
Suspension – all good
Riser bars – ok
Disc brakes – yep
Dropper posts – aye
More gears – yep

With all of these, they felt like a significant positive development which would make riding more enjoyable and so we’ve been happy to spend the cash.
But this wheel size stuff just stinks of industry-driven change for the sake of it… if 26 inch is so bad, how come it’s lasted nearly a quarter of a century without debate? 29ers – ok, it’s a new/additional choice, fair enough – But ditching an embedded wheel size and refusing to support it, leaving 99% of riders up the creek with a bike they’re perfectly happy with but can’t get spares for… that’s not good business, it’s trickery… if articles like the OP are correct I’ve got to fork out for a new frame, forks, tyres, wheels and gearing (whole new bike essentially), with the old parts likely unsaleable… and that stinks.
If 26 is continued to be fully supported, I don’t care if 650b is introduced but if 26 gets ditched on the whim of the manufacturers… that’s another matter

You can’t make the stuff in the world that you don’t like go away. Since when has banning anything resuled in better outcomes? The problem just gets hidden and the vulnerable get no support when they need it…
Best thing you can do IMO is give your kids advice and support and how to handle it.
As I’ve got older (40 this year) I’ve noticed that those of my friends who just accept the world and deal with the bad stuff, are ok. Those that just ‘wish it was better’ are unhappy and negative…
Best thing, surely is to equip your kids with the strength and judgement to handle this stuff for themselves – it’ll serve them better in the long run

Please keep on top of it and make sure the Police take action.
It’s one thing to dislike another form of transport and quite another to deliberately try and harm someone because you don’t like their form of transport.
We desperately need people who drive like this taken off our roads.
Thanks for taking it as far as you have…

Oh and it sounds like the Police have a better definition of it than your thread title – ‘punishment pass’ is, IMO, totally inappropriate for action like this…

Like my Dad says, it’s not MI5 or MI6 we should worry about, it’s MI7

Bilderberg are doing a pretty poor show of being secretive! If you want to do naughty stuff, you don’t meet in a posh hotel in Watford and let the story out in the media do you…

I’m on the side of those who say anyone who says I should exercise less should focus on their own issues… it’s usually the unfit ones who say this I’ve noticed…

I think the whole thing stinks. I’m usually well up for innovation but I really don’t see the evidence for this being customer-led – just innovation for the sake of it in a mature market where there’s no more obvious growth so the manufacturers are looking to get us to spend more, having got pretty much everything else sorted…
If 26 wasn’t suited to MTB, how come we’ve been quite happily using it for 25+ years and no-one’s been offering anything different?
Disc brakes, yes
Suspension, yes
Uppy down post, yes – these are things we always said would be useful but I never remember any kind of debate amongst riders about getting bigger wheels, except maybe the comment that MTBs feel less efficient than 700c…
If I can’t get spares for my Soul in a few years because ‘the industry’ has decided not to support 26 any longer I’ll be pretty upset…

Well we are bust, as he and the other Ed should know, they were there at the time.
And having no money left means there’s no money to give out, as I’m sure they’re only too aware…

both riders were ok but couldn’t understand they were at fault !!

They probably drive in the same way as they ride…

Sadly, I agree with those who suggest ‘stay out’ – partly why I posted. If you’re uncaring enough about risk to others to use your phone in the first place then you’re unlikely to be mature enough to take it on the chin when caught by a cyclist.
IMO it’s so widespread that there will never be enough police to deal with it properly and that making it the handset manufacturers’ legal responsibility to make phones unusable by the driver would be a better option to explore. The tech for this is already being developed: from the Economist Technology Quarterly:

Dr Patel is currently developing software that uses a smartphone’s existing microphone and speakers and enables the device to detect its position in a car. Just like SoundWave, it would produce inaudible tones that reflect off the car’s interior. It might then be possible to begin and end calls using gestures—or could, Dr Patel suggests, form the basis of an opt-in service that locks the phone from the driver, keeping him from texting or making calls while driving.

So there is hope 🙂

I completely fail to see the fascination with Box Hill

I did it for the first time last summer – a couple of weeks after the Olympics finished, when the road art was still there and before the speed bumps went back in.

That felt really good – a connection with our Olympic success. But as a climb in and of itself, it’s not that special IMO – steady away.

The climbs we do around Eastern end of N Downs with Dulwich Paragon (Star Hill, Chalk Pit, Hogtrough etc) are far more interesting and challenging IMO

It’s a beautiful place to ride, and great quality surface too.
I believe the Police are clamping down on everyone exceeding the 20mph limit, including cyclists…

All I can say is I hope you can sort it.
I mean, what’s the point in your employer offering you bike storage if it’s not secure? 😯
No-one’s going to ride their bikes in if stuff gets nicked (Esp if as expensive as disc brakes) – so the whole exercise of offering facilities ends up a waste of the company’s money…

Agreed, wait till you are at least half way around

How do you avoid spilling it?

🙂

Sorry but tandem isn’t worth a thing. You’re a passenger, making no decision, no judgement. The risk is all the hands of the other guy.

That said, if I make it to 102 I’d rather do a tandem base than sit wetting myself in a nursing home 🙂

Last time I came off, the nurse advised Vaseline over the cut. Keeps infection at bay and keeps it moist. Seemed to work pretty well for me, although needed washing off and replacing regularly or you get sticky gunk

That NHS page is golden. I have it on an RSS feed.
They assess all major health-related news stories and compare the headlines with the science.
About 9 times out of 10 they point out the headline and conclusion the journalists have come to are inappropriate or plain wrong. Broadsheets as well as tabloids. Unsurprisingly, Daily Mail is a repeat offender…

In what part of the market do you think the demand is?

I would get a proper assessment from a personal trainer or medic tbh.
I said goodbye to my 30s a couple of weeks ago and I’m pushing myself harder now than I’ve ever done – max HR is 205 and when I do running track speed sessions I’m up to 195…
I suspect the best way to keep yourself at low risk is to keep exercising the heart – it’s a muscle after all. My intention is to be one of those old giffers who over-competitive 20-somethings discount, until I disappear off without them 🙂

+1 for speaking to Oakley.
I had some 5 year old fives which I snapped the arm on. They couldn’t repair or replace it but gave me 50% off some new Minutes – which was cheaper than buying anyone else’s. Don’t forget quality of Oakley lenses is v good.
IMO buy Oakley once and you’ll never need to pay full price again