Sorry to be pedantic (I’m a Maths teacher and can’t help myself).

£900 inflated at 3.5% over 20 years gives you £1791 don’t care what any calculator on the net says.

900 x 1.035^20 (Take into account compound interest)

wouldn’t feel guilty mate, I’d feel quite smug. Sounds like he got what he deserved. I’d personally have pulled his wing mirrors off afterwards too if he’d run me over.

No thanks mate, I wouldn’t call that a small dent to be honest!

I know what you are saying about choosing a frame because of a headset but the other motivation for that is I tend to trickle down parts from my 5″ bike to a hardtail (haven’t had a hardtail in a few years which is how I’ve ended up with nearly a bikes worth of kit. I’ve got a tapered 32 float FIT on my spitfire and eventually that might become a 2014 kashima fork and then if my hardtail has a 1.125 headset then I can’t fit it.

I don’t want to have to fork out for a headset if I can help it but will do if something really takes my fancy, but was basically trying to see if there was anything that fits the bill that I’ve missed.

I like a fairly decent length top tube too on a 17.5″ to 18″ frame if that helps anyone help me?

I’ve ridden it in a wedding dress, you’ll be fine!

P.S it was my stag do not my usual weekend attire!

Does he sell BB tools? If so he’s got a good reason to refuse.

I ordered a set this morning when the mail shot came through about them.
I had a set of Juicy Carbons years ago (same brakes but with carbon lever blades and titanium bolts iirc) and they were the best brakes I have ever had.

I reckon I can sell my Formula’s I’m replacing for near on a ton too.

Absolute bargain at £99 for a set!

Cheers for that, think I might actually have one of them lurking in a spares box somewhere.

Thanks but I’m not sure that is the answer as you can unbolt the part that makes it I.S. mount on the Juicy’s where as those mini’s bolt to the adaptor because the I.S. is integrated to the caliper.

Can anyone else with Avid Juicy’s help?

Paul

What to do…

Give them names and tell everyone you’ve got a couple of pet moles.

Please don’t kill them though, they’ve got as much right to live on that piece of land as you do. Land registry or not.

Live for the journey, not the destination.

Is that my old frame?

I haven’t read anywhere and don’t know if anyone has considered this (even the bike companies) but there is a considerable balance advantage to having larger wheels.

I could do with a diagram to explain this but can’t really be bothered to draw one right now so the googled image is the best I can manage below.

The height of a BB is somewhere around the 13-14″ mark off the floor on most mountain bike (and you can’t really go lower this due to pedal strikes) which is approximately the same height as the hub axles on a 26″ wheel.

When a wheel is spinning fast it has a gyroscopic affect and fights being tilted off its axis. If you are stood on a platform at the same height as this (BB height) then there is little to no mechanical self correction in balance.

However if you are stood on a platform beneath this axis then there is a mechanical assistance to remain upright.

If you look at an extreme version of this if you get a bent piece of wire and put weights on the end so that the centre of gravity is beneath the balance point it self corrects. See below.

However if you put it the other way up it is very unstable.

So with a bigger wheel you can have a BB that is 13″ off the floor but by raising the centre of the gyroscope (middle of the wheel) just slightly you can in theory make the bike far more stable when it breaks loose…. so should be easier to drift without the bike coming out from under you.

If you can’t get your head around that then think of this. If you glued a broom on a ball and then stand on it and try and balance holding on to the handle it is difficult and you can fall off. Yet if you stand on a childs swing and hold the chains you automatically return to upright even when pushed off kilter.

Having a BB below this gyroscopic centre is obviously not as dramatic as that example but it should have a measurable effect. Its also in my opinion why 26″ bikes with a 14.5″ high bb feel really unstable compared to ones with around 13″.

It’s also why if you have all your weight through an outside pedal that is lowered and the wheels break loose you tend to stay upright but if your pedals are flat the wheels sometimes have more of a tendency wash out from under you.

So basically if your feet are beneath the centre of that gyroscope it is more like standing on a swing under the bar but if you are above it than you are more like standing on top of something and balancing.

And for the record I ride 26″ wheels and have no desire whatsoever to spend money changing my bikes to a new standard but I do perceive there to be an advantage in the above which would come in to effect more at high speeds when the gyroscopic effect of the wheels is more pronounced.

I hope that makes sense as I’m sat here having just crawled out of bed with the mother of all hangovers and can’t be arsed to argue a point on this. I do have a degree in mechanical engineering if that adds any credibility to what I have just written though.

Paul

Go for walks… lovely scenery to take in when you aren’t concentrating on not going over the bars.

Tarn Hows is worth a wander round if you want a suggestion.

Looking at the slx cassettes on crc there are 2 types HG62 and HG81

Quite a difference in price, which one to go for and why?

Also although you say they are compatible, would I be better running a shimano chain with a shimano blck given the option?

It does, thank you.

Can anyone else confirm?

Surely this is a purely subjective question. Totally depends on how strong and fit you are and how long and steep the climb is.

Personally only running 2 chainrings with a 9 speed block I would run 22 and 32, with a 11-32 cassette at the back. But as I say that would be my personal choice. I’d imagine some people would never use a gear as light as 22-32 and some people would want a bigger large ribg at the front due to the places they ride being more open and faster than my local joints.

Maybe you like your Giant more so ride it faster (subconcious thing).

After that, the size would get my vote.

Having said that the best DH race times I’ve ever had were on a Giant Glory.

(rather than numbers looking at other local riders that used to be ranked similar and how we compared on the day, I did significantly better against them on Maestro)

Pretty sure you can use it to blend horse and beef, just be prepared for a media outcry if you do.

Sounds like it is putting pressure on your prostate. Have you tried raising or lowering your handlebars to change the angle you are leaning at slightly?

I was about to say this causes a massive security risk for people if they aren’t careful.

This is all too sensible… so I’m going to bring down the tone…

Yes buy one… but only if you have an immense desire to look like a prize tit!

A “don’t need a poo pill”.

(Currently can’t leave my classroom for another 1 hr 45 mins and am about touching cloth)

Would also be useful for when you get to the middle of nowhere and are about to start a ride and feel the call of nature.

This is where I first got into dogging, unfortunatly the mountain bikers somewhat ruin it.

I was waiting for some action once and thought I was being flashed over…. turned out it was someone on a nightride with knackered rebound on their forks!

P.S.

It’s a great place to ride, part of the Monkey is off limits at the minute but diversions are in place. The monkey splits off of the dog and is a lot better. 1hr40 is a fairly quick lap. 3 Hours is a heffa pace.

Paul

That actually made me laugh… shows how boring my day is today!

It’s not breaking any laws. It’s a role that requires being in an environment where teenage girls are getting changed… it’s safeguarding the pupils.

There is clear reason as to why the ad effectively discriminates against male applicants and when replacing a male PE teacher there is the same discrimination in reverse.

Certain police prison and customs jobs that involve searching people involve the same gender specifications when advertising.

Sport involves physical skill, a game can be played via telling someone else what to do.

E.G Chess is a game, a grand master could tell me which pieces to move and make me win… it wouldn’t be me winning it would be the person controlling me.

However, take darts for example… this is a sport, you can tell me to throw treble 20… but without the physical skill to do it I will still lose.

Physical skill = sport
Can be played through a rote dictation = game

I’d argue Fishing and Shooting are sports, just not ones that requre endurance. They still require a physical ability to do something better than the next person. If I say shoot the bulls eye, only a skilled marksman would be able to do it.

Fishing is slightly debateable.

“Oi Chilled76 – weren’t you supposed to be riding with me in Pines yesterday?

“

Yes I was matey, but I sold my Turner frame that I’ve had advertised for a while so had to drive down to near Stanstead to sell it instead.

I’ll be out with the club soon though mate, be interesting to see if any of the old faces I remember are still riding? Don’t think we’ve crossed paths before have we?

I’m glad to see I’m not the only person who has asked themselves this question on occasion.

Be grateful for what you have got and remember there are those much less fortunate than yourself.

I’ve taught out in South Africa before, close to the slums of Soweto where pverty and crime is rife… this makes me get annoyed with myself when I start being unhappy with how my life is going.

I often find myself thinking that there should be “more to life than this” when pulling myself out of bed on a Monday morning to go and deal with a bunch of ungrateful teenagers who can’t see the world outside of their blackberry’s and XBox’s (they are currently sat doing a test at the minute). I somehow think I am special and should have ended up rich and living in the alps riding my bike every day… but that’s not realistic is it, but for some reason I am dissapointed that my life isn’t like this.

I often have to remind myself that I have a stable job with a fairly decent income, I’m really really happy with the house I own, my wife’s amazing and I get to ride 13 weeks a year during school holidays. Ive got money for beer and steak and kashima coated bits and can pay what some foreign workers equivalent weeks wages for a shiny tube that says “Thomson” on it… so why should I ever be down? Why am I pissed off that I’ve lost a crown race so can’t fit my new forks yet? Why get annoyed that I’ve sat in traffic for 40 minutes this morning?

Truth is, in this country most of us don’t know what it’s like to have a shit life, even if you lose your job and fall on hard times the state helps to keep things ticking over. But for some reason most of us expect to have ended up being Alan Sugar and feel like something went wrong because we are not.

For most of us the only true pain we ever have to deal with is the death or long term suffering of a loved one.

So why are so many people not happy? I think it is the way our society makes us want more, it complicates life and most of us are always seeking material gain.

My life is great… but I don’t think I appreciate it enough…I think I need to have some kids next to feel like it has really gone well.

Paul

Change your job if you can?

Even if you do all of the above, getting up at 5am everyday when it is pitch black is pretty unnatural, we are predisposed to want to wake as the dawn breaks. Keep getting up before this everyday with the first 2 hours of your day in darkness and you will probably spend your life tired. Want to wake up at 63 and think “I spent the last 2 decades knackered”?

Paul

Sorted, spokes and nipples ordered from Rose bikes too.

Thanks for the help guys.

Paul

OK I’m trying to use the spoke calculators but they are a bit confusing.

I need to build a Stans flow on to a 135mm rear pro11. Can anyone help with what sizes I should use?

Your time is much appreciated.

Paul

Can count me in on the ones that fall in school holidays too. I’m a Teacher and all of my riding mates get 5 weeks holiday a year, often end up going out on my own in the hols. Paul

I find a bigger bike (longer wheelbase) better on flat out decents where you need stability. But when it gets slower and more technical (thinking off camber with slippy roots etc) I prefer a smaller frame so I can balance it and throw it around a bit better.

I hate climbing on any bike ;-)

Paul