Two men walked into a bar. The second really should have seen it coming.

Ha ha. I once changed to a smaller rotor just before a race and rode the whole thing wondering why I couldn’t stop (pads were meeting above the rotor).

Did quite well though… maybe I should do it again.

Probably a silly question… have you definitely got the adaptor the right way up?

Before you do anything drastic, unscrew the u-turn adjuster (ie. take it off), try your best not to loose more than one of the tiny bearings and give it a clean and a lube.

They can seize quite easily, meaning that when you come along and give at a twirl, nothing happens. So you give it a twist, same result, you turn it hard and the top cap unscrews.

Should take 5 minutes and might fix the problem. If it doesn’t, you’ve only lost the time if takes to have a dump.

Having said that, if it does work, you should probably be thinking about servicing them anyway!

Try on-one and their 456 stem – particularly if that 500 sale is still on, as they had them for a tenner.

The army thing is worryingly good. My girlfriend’s been going to it for a while now. I used to take the piss, but then she started kicking my ass up hills on the bike…

You can go for free trial sessions I believe. Google ‘British Military Fitness’.

I had a similar ‘woah woah woah’ moment when I opened up my seal kit,
which I followed with a ‘well I guess they know what they’re on about’ shrug and a ‘bash them in with a hammer’ follow up.

This about six rides ago and all seems fine thus far. With my track record, that’s a good sign.

(Black seal first, then foam ring, then the worryingly named ‘dust’ seal). I used a 30mm socket to seat the black oil seal.

Edit – I should add that I wasn’t quite that blase (or trusting, for that matter). I had a quick hunt around the web for reassurance first…

Fabric boots with a gore tex lining don’t tend to last quite as long. The uppers aren’t quite as durable, but generally more than good enough. The problem is that when the lining goes, which it will, the boot will leak. A leather boot, even one with a gore tex inner, doesn’t have this problem as you can always treat the leather. The liner wears out because grit will work its way into it (washing the inside of the boots out periodically can help).

As a general rule, a fabric boot can be slightly lighter, will take less time to break in and will be slightly hotter on your feet than a non-goretex leather boot.

I’ve not worked fitting boots for a couple of years, so I’m out of touch, but if old Scarpas and Asolos fit, you probably have narrow, rather than slightly narrow feet. Meindl will almost certainly NOT fit you, and newer Scarpas probably won’t(they dramatically changed the fit of their boots a few years back). Brasher probably too wide and usually fall apart.

Asolo should fit and are always very well made (we only ever saw them come back in when sweaty-footed punters reckoned they were leaking. Were they bollocks). Zamberlan are similar, but quite high in volume despite being narrow. Salomon will probably be ok (not quite so well made (well, they weren’t a couple of years back) as a general rule). Raichle might be worth a punt too.

However, as I can’t see your feet I could well be talking bollocks.

What happens if your FIL is talking to her 10 mins after your conversation with him and spills the beans?

My dad did that with my sister… basically what happens is that it’s hilarious for everybody other than him!

They don’t come with an oil seal… but all the replacement kits do…

That page, however, just solved my problem! (For some reason I hadn’t thought of using a socket…) Cheers!

Haven’t you heard? Trail centres now come with free inner tubes. To claim yours, simply pick it up and carry it home with you.

Bronze was enough for the mega last year. That doesn’t really help you though…

The guys at The Clinic on Abbeydale have sorted many, many people I know out a treat.

I thought it was lacking something.

If you’re heading for the Fodca trail, I’m pretty sure it’s shut for logging at the mo. Can’t remember where I read that though.

Balls. I can’t be arsed going via Gloucester, so I guess that’s that. Cheers!

I’ve recently done a lot of looking at estates…

Old shape Passats are huge (better than the Focus), as are Mondeos. The new one’s aren’t so good. I didn’t want a car that big though.

My new shape Focus is plenty big enough for a ‘smaller estate’. Bikes in with wheels on easy. It’s 11 at night and it’s snowing though, so I ain’t measuring it.

I very nearly got a Megane Estate. They have by far and away the biggest boot of the Focus/Megane/Gold size estates.

Octavias – nice cars, but small boots with a sill on the lip and a massive step when the seats are folded down. No thanks.

The Old Man and the Sea.

Short, sweet and the best book I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot – I did English lit at uni).

Cotswolds in Kingston or Reading will be good.

Snow and Rock in Chertsey will also be good (although I’ve no idea what/how much they’ll have in at the moment as they’ll have all their winter stock in).

Just make it clear that you want a proper fit.

Yeah, I would do cheers but my forks really need doing soon and I’ve got the day off today…

Camping in Allemond works great. You get the bus up in the morning, and chill in your tent if there’s a wait/queue to get one back up and finish the day with a full run down the hill.

Best of all for the mega is the fact that you finish the race by your tent – no queuing in sweaty/muddy gear for you!

Last year there was a bike wash in the carpark opposite and the shop and boulangerie have everything you need.

I’m camping there again this year.

Thanks for that.

Damage? Are there many riders around there then? So far, I’ve seen one tyre track and two roadies. If I asked again in the ‘summer’ would you have some more suggestions?

Edit – Yeah, been up onto Cleeve Hill (sticking to bridleways). Nice views but not the most interesting of riding (although it may be unfair to compare the Cotswolds to, say, the Brecons)

Anywhere at all. I have a car and I’m not afraid to use it. Surprise me.