Hmmm, so why bother with voting on the shortlist at all….. surely the item with the most nominations for a given category is the winner in that category?

I really like the show coverage, it appeals to my love of shiney new things, although I do wonder whether this year there isn't actually that much new and exciting to see, which is hardly the journalists fault.

I too feel the magazine (to which I subscribe) has lost some of it's appeal, although I'm struggling to work out exactly why. At the moment I think I just prefer DIRT's enthusiasm and raw energy to Singletrack's more grown up and considered approach.

This website on the other hand seems to be going from strength to strength. The new forum design and functionality seem to work exceptionally well and I find myself coming back here again and again.

<sigh> I'can't be bothered with this any more, feel free feel a glow of smug self satisfaction because you've won the argument… I'm off, see ya.

I can count my al fresco poos on the fingers of one hand

Now there's a quote for the spine of the next issue if ever I saw one!

I can count my al fresco poos on the fingers of one hand

Eeeeww… that sounds soooo wrong!

So, it's not a matter of principle then, just scale?

Nor me, but I don't bike in council tips, or send my kids to play there

Really? You should…. a fun day out for all the family! and cheap too. LOL

Carry your dog eggs home with you if you can't be arsed finding a stick, you lazy inconsiderate!

Ah, resorting to personal abuse now…..

So a the crux of your argument is that flicking with a stick is okay but biodegradable bags aren't?

Have you ever tried flicking dog poo around with a stick? I'd hardly describe it as a good way to clean up…. it mostly seems to result in spreading the poo around in the undergrowth adjacent to the path, hardly ideal!

Out of interest what does everyone do when they get caught short on ride in the woods? Do you coil one of into a bag and take it home with you?

frig-tard

I wonder what sort of response we'd get if this thread was cross-posted to some dog owners forums? Lots of ranting about inconsiderate cyclists who tear around the woods, damaging the paths, digging holes and scaring dogs and their owners out for a quiet walk with their reckless riding…..

Neither one, and it's your responsibility, as a dog owner, to find the solution.

I wonder whether, ecologically speaking, it's better decomposing slowly in biodegradable bags, well off the beaten track, in woods, or dumped in non-biodegradable bags in dustbins and thence on to fester in a council tip? I honestly don't know the answer.

we've got better things to do than moaning about the sh1t you feel it's socially acceptable to dump next to paths

I feel that do I? You obviously know me well, funny I don't recognise your name……

IME
the dog's IQ is higher than the owners

IME you are an intolerant arse, making sweeping generalisations from the safety of your keyboard.

On occasion I have done better and on one occasion I gave the animal the kicking of its life as well as punching the owner.

🙄

Yeah it can be a right bugger trying to find sticks in the woods.

Sorry, hadn't realised this thread only concerned woods…. besides it's actually not that straight forward when the footpaths are lined with waist deep brambles. I've got better things to do with my time than traipse up and down the path hunting for sticks with two dogs in tow. What would you prefer, dog poo liberally spread around all of the undergrowth lining the path where it's been flicked using sticks or shoes? or bagged and lobbed well out of the way where it can be left to decompose harmlessly?

Don't know why I ever bother reading threads about dogs on this forum, of all the topics that get discussed this one seems to attract the most boreish and intolerant responses.

I don't see what's wrong with using bio-degradable bags to lob the poo into the undergrowth, certainly better than getting poo all over your shoes trying to kick it off the path in the absence of suitable sticks…

So what do people do about the changing weather? All these reflective waterproofs look great for cold wet evenings, but far too warm for mild dry evenings….

Are the standard 2.5 dc connectors (lumicycle type) robust enough? would it be worth looking through the RS catalogue for something a bit more waterproof and with a bit of a positive lock so they don't come apart? Any suggestions?

Can't be bothered to wade through three pages of this…… but if people think it's okay to point out to prospective buyers that something is too expensive to avoid them getting ripped off, then shouldn't they also point out to prospective sellers when they have priced something too cheaply, to avoid them getting ripped off.

To do otherwise would seem grossly hypocritical.

Maybe just a small cut-out or even some very small perforations on the sides to allow some light to spill out….

Handpresso[/url]

Lovely expresso……

Got it on my macbook at work, made a noticeable improvement in speed to a lot of things.

It's funny, a lot of this comes down to personal preference, I'm completely bored by the "foreign holiday" articles, they can get very formulaic. However this is probably because I'm not looking for a holiday destination….

I'm starting to think that the main riding activities of STW's target market just aren't that exciting. So the magazine is doomed to either document what most of us do most of the time, which is hard to make interesting or exciting, or go off at odd, slightly forced tangents into areas that others do better, such as DH covered by DIRT.

The long term test bikes are a waste of time, the articles on them rarely do more than give a short, relatively superficial review followed by a list of kit swaps designed to meet the reviewers own unique preferences. These bikes all seem to be basically fine, none of them age badly, they all do roughly what they are designed to do, none of them break or undergo any kind of significant change over time – so why bother?

Lots of people seem to think he recorded the show backwards….. although it makes my head hurt trying to work out how that would help!

Mine hasn't turned up yet but the last few issues have been disappointing. I've subscribed to DIRT recently and the sheer enthusiasm and unpretentiousness of most of the articles makes me want to get out and ride, whereas singletrack makes me feel middle aged, dull and slightly geeky – which to be fair I am, but I'd rather not have it pointed out 😕

Odd that on-one couldn't supply a ti456, the standard sized 18" frames seem to have been in stock in one form or another for months and months. Mind you, judging from Steve Worlands comments it might well have have won if it was close to the Whyte but a fraction of the price?

all 3 scored 9/10.

So obviously none of them were as good as the ti456, which scored 10/10. Simple.

can you give me a link cos I can't find anything.

I assume he means in the manufacturers forum….. been lots of moaning about the chainguide on the tracer as well.

Intense forum

Would have been nice to find out more about how the blind guy got on….

Having played around with google translation, the daily entries from the Norwegians sound a heck of a lot less (melo)dramatic than Team Qinetic documentary.

Anyone speak norwegian and care to translate? http://www.missinglink.no/content/view/57/55/%5B/url%5D

Would love to know how the Missing Link team managed to beat them by such a margin… <wanders off to google>.

I don't mind the RSS feeds per se, however rather annoyingly my "favourites" feed seems to be the only one that kills "Manifesto" on my iPhone and doesn't seem to update properly in the mobile safari rss reader. Ho and indeed hum.

That dog is clearly bored….. it needs a friend (or two) 😆

Although I'd happily sell on here for less than eBay because of both the expense and hassle of using ebay.

eeewww, too much information 😯

Chumba XCL? Tough little 5" frame…

I think from comparing the tests, you can see how the frames compare, and where each of them is "positioned" in terms of ride.

Fair enough, I'm never sure though about how to compare reviews from different reviewers in different publications, much easier to compare two reviews by the same people. Different reviewers can have very different preferences/agendas.

Do you presume I'm getting worse at things?

IMHO it's not about whether the ti456 is "better" or "worse" than the Ragley, it's about how it differs. Surely anyone in the market for a hardcore ti hardtail is likely to have the ti456 on their short list by virtue of it's extremely competitive price and glowing reviews, the question then is how does the Ragley differ in comparison, how would I choose between the two. I agree it's an obvious comparison to do and frustrating that it wasn't in the review.

Doesn't change the fact that the commissaire came across as a complete arse, from what I remember the conversation with the C4 presenter was along the lines of:

"I have decided, Cavendish is disqualified"
"Can they appeal?"
"Yes"
"What will happen then?"
"They appeal to me and I won't change my mind"
"So they can't appeal?"
"No"

I'm 6' 1" with short legs (33" inseam) and I ride an 18" on-one 29er which is perfect. I was debating between the 18" and the 20" ti 456, I even emailed Brant and his response was words to the effect of "if you are going to ride it the way it was designed for go for the 18" " So that's what I've done. Haven't ridden it yet, gonna start building it up this afternoon, but I think it makes sense to go for a smaller, more chuckable frame on this kind of bike.

Their delivery is definitely on form, I've had to wait a week or so previously but my frame was posted out next day.