I don’t think the driver was being reasonable to begin with after he got out the car, you don’t get out the car and get right in someones face after that kind of incident. You keep some distance, I’d have felt threatened by him coming so close and may have done something about that.

LOLing @ Hora

My kill count so far:
1 human being
3 badgers
Countless pheasants, pigeons and other small birds
Several ducks
2 tawny owls

Is it true then, that if you kill three people they retire you and give you a massive payout?

The worst bike I’ve owned was a Specialized 08 Sx Trail….no matter what I did the shock setup always felt weird.

However I do like the look of the carbon enduro. But I’d need to ride one as I still have not ridden a carbon bike I liked.

The worst is when you land straight on your head and you ALMOST get knocked out and go woozy. Getting sparked out’s okay…. you don’t feel the acute pain just the throbbing headache after. Getting bannged up by the ground/a tree so that your head feel’s like someones hit a bell over your head Tom and Jerry style is the worst…. after broken limbs lol….

Definately, I really want to try to move to Canada – my ideal setup would be a house in the suburbs then one a couple of hours outside Vancouver in the wilderness that I can retreat to. That would be bliss.

The worst Americans I have ever met were rich upper class New York democrats with that accent that sounds like they’re attempting to be British. I always put on my poshest public school accent that I can muster and try to out snob them.

t’s actually rather useful to watch the US States call either republican or democrat, any state that has an inbred majority that votes republican is added to my “places to never visit list”….so thats south carolina, kentucky, indiana, west virginia so far.

That’s a shame, as many of those states are stunning and the people are friendly – it’s just they’re a bit deluded. Weirdly I’m rather fond of Texans.

Mmm. Steel front triangle on the Rocket means relatively straightforward modification ya know, get the nose chopped off and welded back on where you want it (or a 1.5 tube)

It’d take a lot of balls to potentially ruin a perfectly decent front triangle though. I don’t think my heart would be able to handle something as lovely as the rocket getting chopped up!

A Rocket with 160mm fork has a 65.7 head angle. If you can put up with a 1 1/8″ steerer then you could probably get a 1.5 degree angleset, and get it down to 64.2. Might even manage 2 degrees off it. It wouldn’t lengthen the top tube, if that’s what you want, but it would lengthen the wheelbase considerably, and drop the BB slightly. Could be enough without the custom frame?

As for why so slack, Fabien Barel has been riding 64 head angles on his enduro bikes for a few years: http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Fabien-Barels-Mondraker-Foxy-R,2874/Slideshow,0/sspomer,2

He also helped design the Mondraker Forward Geometry, which is why I recommended the XR. I havent had the chance to try one, but I can certainly see where its coming from, and the design is such a big departure from everything else that I would think its definitely worth a test ride if you can find one.

Yeah I was looking at that frame, they’re selling the forward geometry Dune XR frame only – but I can’t see the 10mm stem anywhere. Does it come with it? I’d like to be able to buy that stem separately. I was thinking of incorporating forward geometry into the little idea I have going – I’m thinking some weird bastard child of the Dune XR and the Cotic with a really slack head angle. All the rock garden stability of a downhill bike, with quicker steering. Mmmmmm Nomnomnom. Need to spend a lot of time playing with/thinking about the ideas I’ve got going.

It’s times like this I wish I’d done engineering instead of Biomed so I could toy with some of my ideas a bit more in the real world.

OK so you want a 64 head angle – why? your heading into DH bike territory there. With a rakey front end it’ll be great until the trail levels off for a flat corner.

The same reason Fabien Barrel does….because I want a lighter TR250, with 160mm of travel and a full length seat tube. On steep fast stuff the bike would be hilarious and it’d be perfect for Alpine enduro riding.

On the topic of carbon downhill bikes at the worlds…I think they’d be faster on Alu bikes 😛 (I’m kidding). You are right… the two sports are entirely different, I guess I need to try out some more carbon bikes in that case.

I’m considering a Nicoli for that reason, but a custom Cotic would be epic. I will have to do my homework with the use of an angleset when picking an off the shelf bike as I don’t want the BB to go below 13.3 inches or the wheelbase to become 1200mm+. Messing round with other lengths can help keep everything in check so that’s why I was looking at going custom.

EDIT: Thanks for the links guys

Barghhhhhhhhhhhhh I thought I’d have to ditch the 1.5 steerer… anyway you still can’t run angleset’s with 44mm headtubes unless you go 1-1/8 and I do like the Cotic.

So are there any carbon frames that don’t alter the characteristics of the trail vibrations entirely? They’ve all felt alien to me.

I now want my own jig, a welder and some steel tubing

I guess the kind of customisation I’m after is what pro level riders get. 😥 What I really need is for Cotic to be able to weld me a custom front triangle. I’ll give them a ring tomorrow. I’d happily pay a lot of money for exactly what I want but not thousands on something that isn’t custom. If not, I’ll buy the Rocket, take the rear triangle off and have someone like prodrive weld me up a custom front triangle.

Time to swat up on my geometry I think…

It’s also carbon and not slack enough….

*sigh*

Except it has nowhere near the Geo I’m after. My old man’s Alu Nomad is a step back in the direction I want to go. It’s tall and steep, carbon also deadens trail feedback – note Ducati’s hilarious bad love affair with the carbon framed GP bike.

I’m going up to Canock on Sunday to doss about on the DH track, I’m in Oxford half of the week. Don’t have my bike with me, so I’ll be heading back to Leic on Friday to get it… but it’d be nice to find some more riding buddies.

Thinking about it, I had just buzzed my head and had a white ipod earphone in one ear so I could listen to music and hear stops/what was going on around me etc.

I guess the outfit just added up then. Knew the RAF used a lot of TNF, didn’t know coppers did.

Is that not needlessly inflammatory bwaarp?

You’ve done a biomedical degree and some statistics, not exactly the experienced professional are we?

How many physios have you worked with?

An incredulous medic friend at the Olympics plus the amount of athletes using Kinesio taping told me all I needed to know.

Google “Kinesio Tape Physiotherpay.”

This ones the funniest

http://www.londonbridgephysiotherapy.co.uk/london-bridge-physiotherapy-kinesio-taping/

Kinesio Taping is a technique based on the body’s own natural healing process. This Kinesio Taping exhibits its efficacy through the activation of neurological and circulatory systems. This method basically stems from the science of Kinesiology

ROFLMAO, why aren’t these people being struck off?

Oh yes….. I know why….it’s because the CSP are encouraging quackery.

http://www.csp.org.uk/events/kt1-kt2-certified-kinesio-taping-course-kt1-kt2-3-4-nov-2012-cork-ire

So much for the Physiotherapy profession pushing for evidence based practice, it seems they have reverted to type again.

Physios appear to be casting their net far and wide with respect to the scope of their job and following a discussion with my supervisor today

That’s could be because all the Physio’s I’ve met have been jumped up quacks that flog treatments with no evidence to back their use up…

Talking about chavs and public transport, I got mistaken for a plain clothes police officer on a train the other day by a big group of chavs. I would have been flattered about my apparent manliness if I wasn’t so worried about getting killed to death.

Was wearing a grey North Face jacket, jeans, trainers and had a black bag on me? Wtf lol

Invest in a proper brake system that you can service, like Hope.

Dog or jimmy saville then you are going down…,.,and I’m a dog lover

And I don’t care if you’re Muhammad “I’m hard” Bruce Lee, I’m a person that thinks you’re another reactionary that’s never heard of a muzzle.

Mate I’m sure you know, never take food off a dog. Ever. Even if it’s a pug….even if the dog absolutely know’s who’s the boss and even if they are soft as hell….at best it will irritate them and at worse cause them to hang off your face/bollocks if they are unstable.

Precisely Druidh, here’s my very scientific statistical analysis….

http://www.cgsystems.co.uk/ncfs/

vs

http://dangerousdogsact.com/43/dangerous-dogs-act-information/uk-dog-attack-statistics/

Fireworks aren’t THAT far off are they?

I don’t even think the new targeted therapies are going to be all that effective….but hey

I think some of us have had vastly different lifestyles to city kids judging by this thread…growing up in the country/farmland with upbringings that discouraged risk aversion means we’re willing to be more pragmatic when it comes to this sort of thing. Although I guess a few of the old school lot would have just unlocked the gun cabinet and gone for a stroll…

Ok a bit strong to say put it down straight away, but he’s putting a dog he’s only had for a year before his own son. That can’t be healthy can it.

I agree with you here.

Test away but the doubt would always be there

Unfortunately, life is always unpredictable and the fact that a dog hasn’t bitten someone is no guarantee it’s safer than the one he’s currently got.

I completely agree however that it’s not really the right environment for an ex-race greyhound but I do think the OP has plenty of room for mediation and other avenues that can be sought so the dog can be rehomed. I believe that is the responsibility of the owner and when these things can be done, putting the dog down is a needless waste of life, the vets time and the drugs to do it. I do not at all think this dog is dangerous along the lines of a batfuck insane lab/collie cross a friend had that bit the bollocks of a postie, somehow ate a knives, ate sofas and chased everything that moved. THAT dog needed to be put down straight away – this does not.

So dog was scared, its usually nice, probably just a one off. You keep dog, take dog and son for a walk, random car backfires, dog bites sons face, again. Or maybe its a bottle cork, or a Christmas cracker or whatever. It’s happened once – it’s potential to happen again is too bigger risk.
So for me it’s goodbye to the dog.

Or you could test your theory by trying to give it some therapy and exposing it to loud noises and see how it reacts?

I still think rehoming is the best option though as I think other owners could deal with the dog more effectively.

Perhaps your right, it wasn’t tactful! But there’s always a muzzle or a locked room, that’s so utterly and blatantly obvious that you can’t morally justify putting the dog down until you’ve tried to rehome it.

If the child isn’t exposed to a dog, he will become scared of them. Whether the OP chooses to deal with that by getting another dog or having his child spend time around a friends puppy is up to him, but it would be better if he dealt with that fear and exposure is the best way. He’s not going to grow up resenting his father for it, children are not quite that fragile.

Didnt Realize Until Got Sick About Real Emotions Shall Heal In Time ?

Hahah, just noticed that one!

If all else fails, get a superbike. It’s like crack, just more dangerous.

For the injection.

Considering the lack of intelligence and tact your showing I’m surprised you can string a sentence together. Why the rush to put the dog down, surely he can keep the dog and the child apart and find the time to have it sent to the vet?

Bear in mind I as a child was once nipped and I was the one that got a hiding for teasing the dog! Never held that against my old man!

And by all means introduce a new dog into the family but only if your son wants you to do so it would have to be his decision.h

Or he could tell him to MTFU like my old man did on just about every occasion I was scared?

If your the reanimated corpse of Marquis de Sade

Hah!

Also, this guys posts are very similar to forum member of another forum I used to frequent that has nothing to do with mtbing. Anyway, he had schizophrenia and would post like this when off his meds…formal thought disorder etc…. so perhaps go easy on the ribbing lol. He became a loved institution in his own right with other forum members, who got a smile from most of his rather daft posts. We were a bit harsh to him at first but it soon became apparent from people who had met him that he’d had problems so we stopped and kind of joined in/took the piss lightly with some affection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder

You might find you enjoy it if you force yourself to go out (if your just being lazy).

Also has this attitude seeped over to other aspects of life? If so then I would say it’s Anhedonia and that many people get it as passing phases throughout their lives, if it lasts a few months and starts to impact your life then I would suggest counselling. If you are feeling a bit ‘cant be arsed with anything’ then as other’s have said, give yourself a break and just enjoy not worrying about anything.

In some respects this is the toughest time of the year, summer (cough) has gone, the autumn colours are fading and it’s just wet and boggy. The clocks have gone back. The cold weather which firms the ground and those great frosty or snow tinged rides are a way off yet.

+1, quite literally SAD. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of evolutionary mechanism going on telling you to slow down for winter.

I agree with the posts above. Do your best to get it rehomed (only put it down as a last nuclear resort). Get a puppy that is a breed that is known to be soft and affable – from a good breeder. Take it to training classes. Learn some dog psychology. You’ll be happy, the dog will be great and your child will lose it’s fear of dogs. Find a good Poodle, Labrador or Golden Retriever. Or perhaps a non-threatening small dog (although I’ve always thought they were nippier)

Don’t have the dog put down. Just explain the situation to a charity and ask for their advice, hours of fireworks and how you dealt with the dog is a reasonable mitigating circumstance to give the dog another chance of life.

your dog is normally not at all aggressive and it took a large and prolonged amount of fireworks for this to happen, I wouldn’t be writing it off so quickly.

+1, I’ll consider taking the dog off you. I’d suggest anyone else who’s good with dogs on here should also consider this if they can. The fireworks did this, all dogs will bite if stressed enough. Like humans, all dogs have a breaking point. This episode does not mean it will bite in the future – you did the wrong thing by fussing it too much, as had already been mentioned this pisses dogs off even more. If you’d left it locked in a room it would have forgotten the whole incidence within a few days and would have been back to normal.

One of our Spaniels nipped me once when it was young. It was punished severely enough that it would do anything to avoid confrontational situations – for the next 14 years it was fine with guns, fireworks, cyclists, visitors and children. The dog was very very soft, it just needed the fear of god putting into it when the incident took place.

Lastly, there is always a pissing muzzle before you decide to put a dog down. Strewth you guys can be a bunch of fannies sometimes.

tip: the hearing dog school near here has a firework soundtrack cd which is played during ‘play-time’ so the dogs associate those types of noises with good things rather than negatives.

That’s a brilliant one. I’ll associate fireworks with lots of extra food when I get a new dog.

Does mean I had my fastest ever lap of llandegla with a devil may care attitude, goodness knows how fast I’ll be if the tests come back positive!*

Mate that’s awful. I know there’s nothing that I can say that will make you feel better and less anxious but many Lymphoma’s have very good cure/survival rates these days.

I hope things work out for you.

Cancer scares the shit out of me.. Why o why with all the money thrown at research can we not get one over on this horrible disease!!

Depending on who you talk to it’s either because of natural selection (we haven’t found drugs that kill the resistant strains that get selected for by chemotherapeutics) or it’s due to chromosomal instability/aneuploidy. If the latter is responsible for the resistance to therapy seen in some aggressive or relapse cancers then the chance of finding some magic bullet cure is very dim. Maybe some kind of surgical microscopic nanobot might consign cancer to the dustbin of history in 2060 if that’s the case.

Having a few Finish mate I suggest you make some Finnish friends….go out drinking with them. *spoiler alert* It will probably involve a hilarious night including homemade vodka, insults about Swedish people, drunk pikey rally car driving and the possibility of falling into a lake and freezing to death in the Finnish wilderness.

Enjoy!

“Just take whatever you want, but please don’t hurt us!”
~ Russia on Finland.

Worth bearing in mind.

Lol, so in order for my Race X2’s to feel as powerful as my xtr’s, I need to pull the lever harder?

So in the real world, surely that means my XTR’s are more powerful because I don’t need to pull them as hard?!

Dyno ‘power’ and real riding ‘power’ for me, must differ, for my girl like fingers anyway!

Naturally pad compound and conditions play a major part in comparisons.

I love the both though, don’t get me wrong.

You have no idea about phsyics do you? From what I gather… basically with a light pull of the brakes the shimanos will apply more power than the hopes, then later on with a hard pull (say between 100-150nm, or the kind of force you use for an emergency stop) the Hope’s will produce more power. So the Hope brakes have a more progressive power curve whilst the Shimanos produce power very quickly then the rate of increase in power trails off beyond a certain point.

The Hope way of doing it is better for control, it gives you better fine control over braking forces. But ultimately if you REALLY need to stop, the Hopes still have more power at emergency braking lever forces ….as at this point they produce more power for the same lever force (albeit by a tiny bit).

In reality this means that when you do a car park test with the brakes, the Shimano’s will feel like they brake a little more suddenly as the initial bite/power is a little quicker. Personally, I don’t like this.

At the end of the day the X2’s are also almost as light as an R1 setup whilst being more powerful and cheaper than either an XTR or R1 setup. Win – win.

Nice riding. What’s the trail? That’s my favourite kind of ride, old school! 😀 None of this smooth, flowing bermy crap! Off camber wet roots, mud, rocks etc oh yeah!

Lay off the storm-trooper gear unless your racing though.

The V4’s only lighter than the Tech M4, the race M4 lever is considerably lighter than the tech lever. Although I guess you could use the extra power to run much smaller 160mm rotors.

TBH the Race X2 evos are bloody powerful.

They are lovely things for sure though, with uncut hoses, ex rotors they were 206/212g so good weight. I so much prefer the minimal Race levers compared with the agricultural Tech levers.

How are they agricultural? The tech levers have better feel (in terms of bite) than the race levers and the bite point adjustment is just about the only one on the market that actually works! Unlike shimano levers there’s also no play in them!

Roverpig, to answer you. The Race levers feel like they have a lot more consistency in bite point compared to other, as in you don’t have to change it mid-ride when the oil heats up etc. I also feel that the race X2’s levers have a softer feel/better modulation than my Tech V2’s especially on the rear, they are like having ABS.

Lastly, yes I think the M4’s worth carrying around different pads as is modulates even better. Which is great when using the front brake in a wet rock garden!

Had a set for few weeks. No where near the power of my XTR Trail’s but fine for general lightweight trail duties.

Dyno tests disagree with this, the X2 evo’s re more powerful but the power comes on later (you need to apply more force to the lever, so they feel softer and modulate better)