Watched the test most of this afternoon and am heading to the SCG tomorrow morning!

Sarnies are made, my other half has even made pork pies. Looking forward to seeing my first ashes test, even if it’s likely to be humiliating as a Pom.

I first heard SoSS on radmac in the afternoon, with a full intro to its origin. It was followed and preceded by songs which were modern, awesome in their own right, but forgettable. All in it was the best 30mins of radio that has ever been broadcast in my opinion. Made you feel good for today, but also deeply aware of what has also happened in recent times.

Laura is also a decent song!

IME stress causes them.

Bonjela is my friend. Two days of that and they’re done.

I’d say wheels and tyres. You’d have to be doing some long hard but smooth descents to make 4 pots worth it over more tyre volume.

Not just cricketers, it’s all types of Aussies. It’s as prevalent as “eh” in Canadish.

You’re meant to use explosives to remove them, apparently.

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It’s a series, looks like it’s a book per series.

I think I’ll be signing up to prime again!

Built a DH 3.5×3.5 a few of years ago.

We went for thinner walls which, although would’ve been better thicker, were fine in practice. Found their paint and shingles expensive but reasonable quality and longevity.

It housed bike with an insured value of over £10k value in Sheffield. Amazingly, in our 4 years there I had no need to claim! It’s going strong I believe

Thread resurrection!

I was just watching the skies in Aus and noticed this. Singapore air A380 bimbling it’s way from storage in Alice Springs to Sydney for recommissioning I presume.

A unique flight caused by unique circumstances

Several weeks of poor results, and finally a loss this week.

I’m well off track but slowly losing. Better than nowt!

I just changed to a TTX22 from a DPX2 given a low price on the upgrade.

The main difference I’ve noticed so far is a much smoother “re-entry” when landing a jump. It’s not night and day for an everyday ride (but neither is the weight gain noticeable).

I’d be interested in your change to a TTX air. Seems like the best of both worlds.

Interesting. The rims alone, at £100 a go, seem like relatively bad value (given Hope’s previous poor form on rims). But the full wheel prices seem very good on Pro4 hubs

Are the rims a loss-leader for Hope to sell more hubs? Canny strategy if so.

Decent looking bike for that price, and I like the little touch around filing down the welds, I thought it was carbon at first glance.

Not sure they are actually “filed down”, more like filled over.

I have a 2016 CX Team with the same treatment. I took it for paint stripping and powder coating a couple of years ago, and it returned with standard blobby welds and clearly skinnier tube junctions.

No problem for me, just something to be aware of.

ETA: it’s not broken yet either, so I guess the filler is non-structural!

My only gripe with my V1 was the stupid boost qr drop outs. Rubbing brakes were a constant issue.

Now they’re bolt through it should be a decent bike.

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I do like how the Aussies don’t tend to muck about with cheese.

It’s tasty. That’s all you need to know.

No help to the OP, but my £200 Berghaus coat zip failed after 1 year. Apparently their “lifetime warranty” didn’t extend to wear and tear items such as zips.

I’ve had significantly better life and value from much cheaper clothes including those from primark (for shame).

I will not buy Berghaus again, and advise other not to too.

Ugh! Nearly a kilo up this week, despite doing all the right things.

Hopefully just noise, and a return to normal next week

maybe do a special offer every time Nigel Farage gets hit by a van

I look forward to that special.

And I don’t intend to buy owt.

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No. It’s quite obvious from the picture that you couldnt fit 4 people and bikes in there.
You cant cook for 4 inside.
Ypu cant sleep 4 inside, and certainly not get them warm and toasty in the morning by blasting the heater for 10 minutes.

See, I don’t think you can with a van either. Bikes go on the outside and you’ll probably need a pop top for the extra sleeping space. Which is like a decent roof tent. And your guests will need to hang around outside when you cook too.

https://www.t6forum.com/threads/4-berth-4-bikes-–-possible.22197/

The only concession I’ll give you is the heater 😄

I’ve only just updated the sheet. Slightly behind target but heading downwards.

Nights are getting lighter where I am so hopefully can get more active over the coming months

that thing fulfils almost none of my criteria.

Think it does. Honestly, these things will go away further, for longer, than most vans, in absolute comfort. There is a massive mod industry in Australia which is akin to the van conversion industry in Europe. These are fitted out with most mod cons (inc pull out kitchens and bbqs).

The trump card is of course the camper sprinter 4×4 – all the best bits of both types of vehicle.

Show me a similarly sized 4×4 that you can cook a meal in, keep beer cold and meat fresh for days, carry 4 mtbs and two kids , sleep 4 people at minus 9, happily cruise at 90mph, pay car rates on the peage etc etc

LC200. And it’ll go anywhere, seemingly forever.

Timely question Aphex. I had my renewal notice come through yesterday, and should check my cover before letting it renew. Thanks for the reminder!

I suspect we overestimate the difficulty in transitioning to alternative fuels.

Policy definitely has a part to play, but the attractive economics of making and selling EVs is proving to be driving the market at amazing speed. As mentioned above, retooling for ICE manufacturing basically stopped three years ago and EV production is ramping at an amazing rate.

In terms of the charging infrastructure and the grid capacity, as the market builds volume there will be no shortage of willing vendors, in turn driving competition and efficiency.

It baffles me that people think that the installation of widespread charging infrastructure is an impossibility, yet in the 40s and 50s infrastructure to drill, refine, ship, store and pump a highly flammable liquid around the world was entirely achievable. All it takes is the promise of profit!

I’m in – will update sheet when on my PC.

Summer chub club 2021 was my first and really good for me. The pressure of getting weighed each week was enough to see me drop from 82kg to 77-point-something kg. I didn’t have – let alone implement – any kind of strategy or diet.

I’m looking to get to 73kg this time. I’m heading into summer here (Aus) so should be able to focus on riding more than I have recently. Beer in the sun will temper that somewhat though!

I sleep like I’m in a coffin – on my back, hands clasped on my chest. Being fairly skinny I take up 50cm of bed width at best.

She is a bit of a wriggler until asleep, but appears to be half cat as she’s usually asleep within minutes of getting in.

Overall we’ve done ok with a standard double, and now a queen size is more than enough. Kings feel ludicrously big.

I think we’re really lucky and wouldn’t consider anyone wanting separate rooms as unusual. Sleep is important and being how you are when you’re both awake shouldn’t be compromised by how you each sleep.

Are Silt Scribe? Same hub internals, same price point, same spares backup.

Edit: Ah ha!

© 2021, SILT MTB. A Scribe Sp

Currently living in Aus (NSW).

Travel restrictions are a ball ache. Winter is worse than I’d expected (cold and dark). Lots of parochialism. Houses in Sydney are insanely expensive.

Lifestyle is good though. As is the food, wine, public transport and nature. The smell of jasmin in spring, sound of kookaburras and rivers and creeks are all ace.

Are Hope hubs REALLY all that though?

I’m with you on Pro4s – had them, but wouldn’t choose them again. In fact I’ve not, and gone for superstar V6 most recently as they’re similarly priced and just something different.

RS4s on the other hand are a different matter. The small changes they’ve made to the ratchet and seal make a huge difference and result in a hub I’d take over a DT 240 any day.

Have some scribes (40d+) and some LB 56mm jobs. The scribes are a nicer quality wheel but they are very, very loud.

If you can get some hope RS4s built onto nice rims then I’d go for that. The hubs are lovely and make a very pleasant tick, as opposed to the mega CLACK that my scribe hubs make. They should last for ever too.

A rough estimate using an inflation calculator suggests z1s would cost £435 now by those measures (edit – assuming £279 z1 bam for reference).

Given the improved performance and scale of 2021 fork, I don’t think we’re doing so badly given a new one is ~£600 (+37% above inflation over 22 years).

I do like those pre-internet adverts though! All the info you need, nowt you don’t.

Ah not mine then. A great bike though, and I wouldn’t be too quick to ditch the coil.

PB had an article on the overall weight differences each component could have on a bike in the past day or two. A coil was <2% overall bike weight gain IIRC. Your tyres and wheels will have a far greater impact on weight and feel.

Makes me wonder if it’s my old one – size medium I think, powder coated black and white, with a fox vanilla, push tuned and titanium coil. Was an ace bike and did the alps and Whistler with me.

Anyway, an extra 1mm stroke makes no odds. As for the HV can, that can be swapped if you don’t like the print rate for a standard one for very little money. Try it with HV on though, you might like it.

Final weigh in!

Got stuck at 77.5ish for a few weeks now. We’re in lockdown here, and it’s winter, so motivation to get moving has been low.

Thanks to all for setting this up and sticking with it along the way. Overall about 4kg off which I’m happy with. Hopefully back to racing weight at 75kg by the time spring comes and lockdown ends!

I’m struggling to get access to the sheet at the mo, so haven’t updated for a couple of weeks.

Was 77.4 last week so holding steady at -4kg. I’ve had a good week so far so not dreading this fridays weigh in for once!

Am optimistic about hitting my 76kg target by week 10 (-5.5kg overall). Just a couple more weeks to go!

I’ve also just looked at the figures, congrats to all who are keeping on track but especially Eyepic, Muggomatic, P7eaven and WheelieDirty. Some big numbers in the first four weeks!!

After two weeks of plateau I’ve seen 2.5kg drop today, without any real changes to my routine. I’d be very happy to weight in at the same weight next Friday. I’m currently trending at -0.79kg a week against a target of 0.55kg.

I echo Austy’s point above – don’t lose faith if not much seems to be happening week-to-week. It’s all about the downward trend over the whole period.

We stayed on one campsite whilst riding the trans Cambrian way, and stopped in this field. The farmer was clearing the hay bales when we passed, so I asked if we could stop. He said no problem, and later gave me his number in case I was ever passing again.

We helped loading bales onto the trailer at sunset, and was gone early the next day.

I’ll remember the night in a field far more fondly than the night I paid for a campsite.