Can you share cocks?

Must not make obvious comment…..

But yes – in both instances 😉

One of my pro-guitarist mates swears by Epiphone SGs. He reckons they are as good as the Gibson ones, if not better, for a lot less money.

The Les Pauls are supposed to be pretty good too! I suspect they are better than my Gibson… but try not to dwell on it 😉

But everything is dependent on budget, how if feels in your hands and how it sounds. If the feel or sound are rubbish you won’t want to play.

Beavers.

Not tried them on the T129, but used to run them on a previous bike and they were fantastic in the grim. Bit narrow for me though on rocky terrain (I am a big lad!)

Have the plus size Minions made it to the UK yet?

Pick up my 27.5+ bike next week… just thinking about some winter friendly rubber (before I get some 29″ wheels made!)

According to the experts at Bikeradar,
27.5+. I hadn’t even realised it was a thing, so I guess it’ll be gone before I ever try one.

Damnit – mine is due to arrive next week!

Fortunately it can take 29″ wheels too so I can just move back to them… unless Bikeradar have ruled they are for the chop too!

My submission – mahoosive frames that you will “grow into”. My Raleigh Memphis was a 24″ monster! It was like a gate with wheels!

Tado – it’s fantastic… and it works with my crappy old oil fired boiler too!

I think this time is getting closer for us too – my old, old Collie is really starting to show his age. Back end is going, he can’t get up the stairs (yet still charges down to the basement door when the postman comes)… weeing on something other than himself is proving tricky.

He is happy enough and in no pain so I am trying not to think about it too much just yet, just hoping he makes it through the winter.

I disagree with lots of things said about mirrorless – and not just because I use one. Image quality is very good – I would say pretty much equal to an APSC DSLR in every day use. The body is smaller (certainly in the system I use), and most functions you use all the time are on dials/buttons – which are all fully customisable. It isn’t too small and cramped in use either, and believe me… my hands are almost certainly bigger than yours 😉

I use an Olympus OM-D EM5 most days with a nice selection of prime lenses (also much smaller than DSLR). Alamy and Getty are more than happy with the quality of the output and pictures from this system have been double page spreads in Outdoor Photography.

My other system is a full frame Nikon D800E so I do know what the other end of the spectrum looks and feels like!!!!

I would say go with whichever system suits you best. The best camera is, afterall, the one that you have with you – and personally I don’t think there is a bad camera or system out there these days.

Layby next to Castlerigg?

This was my assumption, but as soon as you start searching the interwebs you find folk complaining that they aren’t made from Unobtanium Alloy and are 0.0025mm narrower than ExoticTradings latest marvelwheels.

It does get confusing this internets thing!!!

Mine were on Zooms at about 2 – 2.5. My eldest boy transitioned to a proper bike really easily, the younger one isn’t quite there yet. Hoping it won’t be long though – Grizedale Forest pretty much runs to my house and I want to get them in there 😉

I haven’t been on the bike in over a year (this is to change very soon though – new steed ordered today!) – so I will have to make do with these:

23rd October 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

(From my wedding day a week last Saturday)

30th October 2016 by Rob Sutherland[/url], on Flickr

Killin

Been off since the start of September 2015… I was due to restart a few weeks ago but bronchitis stopped me in my tracks!

I think I will be back in a few days. It is going to hurt. Lots.

Grinder – I would go with the Rancillio Rocky myself. I used one for years (still down in the garage for when I abandon the bean to cup… although the Sage Oracle is filling me with lust now!)

I also have one of them – had it in my boys room in the old house as that was pretty cold at night. It was fantastic! Sits behind the sofa at the moment incase the woodburner isn’t quite getting enough warmth into the room!

Probably be putting my large T129S up for sale soon. I haven’t decided if I am going to split it or not as yet, but if you are interested in such a thing let me know.

Otherwise Trek Fuel EX, Transition Smuggler and Nukeproof Mega 290 are on my list – along with a couple of plus numbers (Fuel EX Plus, Hightower and Pony Rustler but that one is a more complicated option!)

Smashed up leg last year means I have only just been cleared to ride.

Then come down with Bronchitis.

Fitness is very much not happening at the moment!

I fell off the stage once… snapped the headstock off one of my guitars!

Unfortunately it was the rather expensive one!

Oooh – just been looking at the Sage machines Bear, my new lusted for coffee machine is the Oracle as a result!

Perhaps when the Jura finally dies! It has been for one lot of repairs in the 8 years I have had it, about 5 years ago, so I am not sure how much longer it is going to keep going for now!!!

As for shit coffee. What everyone else said (from memory – the Jura is fully auto and produces passable coffee)

Just having a similar thought for my Vito… the Contis it came with are looking a bit thin! Just wondering if I *have* to fit van tyres…

I miss this every year… and only live a few miles from the place!

Hopefully next year it will all fall into place, sounds fantastic (though I doubt I would be riding!!!)

I suspect you will struggle to photograph birds with anything in that price range… but I would probably go with something from Lumix or Canon if pushed.

lots of little teeny pixels mean noise on the image (which looks like grain/spots). Less pixels mean larger pixels which means less noise – so a smoother picture.

Larger sensors allow bigger pixels and hence lower noise for the same resolution (MP).

In a very simplified way.

http://www.thetailorsworkshop-kendal.co.uk/home

Yeah – I had my Trooper adjusted at an alterations place in Kendal. They did a brilliant job, you couldn’t tell it had been messed with!

Actually… I quite liked Tullie House last time I went. It’s going back quite a few years though! My boys are getting towards the age they may enjoy it though. The Castle, likewise… seem to recall the Cathedral was pretty interesting too.

This may not be the case for everyone mind… I was an archaeologist at one stage 😉

Moo Bar!

lol – except rear suspension 😉 I have a hardtail that I am keeping!

Got the Nukeproof Electrons and they are good… very good. I do prefer the DMR Vaults on the other bike though.

I was going to add that – it is a part of my thought process too. I want to future proof as much as I can, money is tight and I can’t chop and change all that often! I also like the idea of a 27.5″/29″ compatible bike so I can have 2 different characteristics for the price of one (and a spare set of wheels!).

Options that allow this are pretty thin on the ground, so I am looking at straight 29ers too (much more reluctant to consider a straight 27.5″+ machine – I know I like 29ers, less sure about the semi-fat)

Does it still have a ferry to Ireland? That was the best bit….

Speak to legal folk – I bet they don’t have recordings, and if they were recording the conversations I believe they would have to have informed her first (by law) so perhaps are in breach there.

Don’t get pipe with holes in it – coil or otherwise. Get standard brown waste pipe and slot it with an anglegrinder (with a decent width blade, couple of mm or so shoudl be fine). This won’t silt up 😉

Not sure I would entirely bother with the geotextile myself, just pop it in a gravel filled trench (you could even do away with the pipe and just have the trench I suppose….). Bung the whole lot in the stream at the end.

Of course, if you were feeling even more extravagant you could run your drain into a storeage tank, pop a pump in it and use the water for other purposes around the place 😉 Rainwater harvesting!

(My drains are usually getting rid of “stuff” into the ground rather than getting rid of clean water, but the principle is basically the same!)

Surely it depends what the contract said? I know that when I had laser surgery it was very much spelled out to me that there was a chance of complications, so proceeding was at my own risk (barring any negligence or malpractice on their part).

Dry eyes were highlighted as I already had pretty dry eyes – to the extent that the surgeon refused to use the newfangled Corneal Flap proceedure and just went straight at the eyeball Russian Style (which hurt like hell, but did reduce the chances of complications due to dry eyes).

I would check over the paperwork carefully, perhaps speak to a decent legal practice for them to look over it – and possibly seek the opinion of another surgeon as to whether the correct proceedure was followed and take it from there.

Just over a year ago I did mine… just started exercising on it again a couple of weeks ago. X-Rays are due early in October to check that it is all sorted now and then I can get back on with life again. It was a bit different in that I had bits of bone shard wedged into the ankle join which needed removed.

Been off the bike all that time, and grouchy. Just about getting my balance back now though, although really rough ground still gives me trouble, and carrying loads over rough ground is really iffy!

lol – I don’t plan on selling anything that soon… unless you fancy a Whyte T129S….

Back from attempts at exhausting the kids for the benefit of sleep tonight!

Arguements for both sides are equally compelling… I don’t think I am much further forward in this one!

I am looking at the Fuel EX Plus – either the 8 or the 9.8. The 9.8 looks sexy as… but I tried the 8 in 29er guise the other day and it wasn’t a minger by any means. The spec is a little more workmanlike – which is fine by me as I am a bit more workmanlike 😉

I judy keep seeing the pics side by side and thinking the carbon 9.8 looks so, so nice!

However… I could go for the 8, a set of spare wheels (29″ Hope Hoops) and still be quids in. This could be the most sensible and versitile option (and that comment about rear mech snapping through sear stays is playing on my mind)

Looking at a Trek so yep, big brand!!!

I have had my boutique bike, sticking to bigger companies (and smaller bills) now as there are too many other things needing me to spend money on these days!

Either way I am looking at 0% finance deals, so it depends if it is over 2 years or 3 years… the difference per month is noticeable, but given the longer time not so much of an issue.

It may come down to availability!

I am trying to get down to around 110 – 115 kg… it isn’t massively far away, but that is about as low as I can go. This, and the extra £1.8k, is weighing on my mind!!!