My old FRO went on to become a C26 which I thought was a pretty fitting end for it and my old FTW stem and a set NOS accutrax went on to an ultimate.

FROs and ultimates are (IMO) some of the nicwst bikes out there due to their simple, clean lines and under stated (ish) paint jobs.

Lovely looking bike that Montessa. I have hub envy. One of the nice things about being in Andorra last week was seeing high street shops selling trials bikes and posters advertising them.

Currently sporting a mild but noticeable goggle tan. I will stand in the corner with the other douchebags.

The worst delivery company I’ve had the misfortune to deal with.

Their systems are terrible and they left a piece of furniture on our drive 1) when no one was in 2] on a day I told them they couldn’t deliver (on 4 seperate calls) 3) in the rain.

Complained to made.com who I sincerely hope stop using them.

I’ve had poor results with the bar mount. I sdont think their qc is great. I use a piece of rubber as a shim to tty to reduce the vibration.

Thanks, she’s 7 now and I can’t keep up with her or her older brother in the trees and they both have an unhealthy habit of finding the jumps now.

Earl, we couldn’t prise my daughter off the carpet during the week. She loved it. As I said, check the resort as a lot don’t need passes for kids @5 so you could get away with it. She spent lots of time sledging and just generally messing about in the snow. Best advice I can give is just to go with what she wants to do. Although the lessons are 2 hrs, we (esp my wife) spent a lot of time just getting her confidence up on the skis using the carpet.

I personally wouldn’t bother with the pass till you see how she’s getting on and whether she likes it – just buy in resort. At 3 I had to take my daughter to the top of the hill and bring her down a long blue on my poles – her idea! My thighs haven’t felt pain like that since :-). In that resort though kids were free.

Best news of the day is we’ve just got a last minute deal so off to Arinsal tomorrow! :D

<proud dad> To give you an idea, this was her age 4, just in to her second week skiing </proud dad>

Pink camo was all the rage then apparently :) I suppose i should add that she can turn as well!

My daughter started at 3 and my son 5. At three it’s more play anyway. As long as they’re having fun it’s great. 3 is generally too young for ski school so a private lesson won’t go wrong.

Very. Better than you’ll ever be in 24 hours :)

Kids that age normally don’t need a pass – but it’s resort specific. Check the resort itself.

Damian Rice – Cold Water

A beautiful song that just makes me well up.

I typically ski 50 days a year

The stuff of dreams!

Nice post! I read it, then my 7 year old read it with me. At the end she looked ar me and asked “Dad, does that mean like don’t judge a book by the cover?”

:idea: kids eh! Brought a tear to my eye.

What combination did you use Jamin? They didn’t pay out on quidco for my Garmin 800.

Sign up to garmin connect, upload the gpx then export it back as a course from connect.

You’ll need Land Rover special tool #1 though

Once described to me as the “Mechanics’ Friend”.

Useage: “Time for the Mechanics’ Friend” … just before he laid in to a stuck CV joint.

This is a great article, and has helped me out a couple of times.

http://ridewithgps.com/edge_800

Shifter, it’s a global kid conspiracy. I’ve had exactly the same!

Take the bulb out ’till you get a fix / take it to a garage

Ah – you’ve worked that one out :)

:lol:

Had my ski’s serviced at Jon’s Ski Tuning in Nottingham. What a difference. Last year they were on the “factory” wax, and the bases were white at the end. This year they were brilliant, accelerating and gliding on piste.

The one thing I did learn though was:

Moving the bindings 4 stops forward makes the ski easier to turn, but it will also launch you out of the front in the soft stuff.
I learned this a lot, generally several times daily.

Next trip if it’s still powdery I’ll move them 4 stops back from the starting point. (which is what was actually recommended!)

Looks like we’ll postpone the trip in a week’s time and go at the beginning of April instead now.

Personally I am hanging on for the Ti Alpine ……

^This

Redding is good but he’s had a tendency to destroy his rear tyre, though maybe the Kalex will improve things for him. Great to see him doing well in testing but I’d be more interested in how he did over a long set of runs.

I met Redding and to be frank I thought he had a chip on his shoulder. Smith, Taylor Mac or any of the rest (with the exception of Danny Webb who was pretty similar to Redding) all seemed like approachable kids who’d cottoned on to the PR circus. Redding was more like Kevin the teenager. Maybe I got him on a bad day, but I don’t think so.

I thought Smith had a pretty decent first season in Moto2, certainly better than his final on the 125s. He seemed to get the racing edge back and re-discover how to overtake.

-17 at the top of la rosiere today and a biting wind to make it worse. -29 with windchill allegedly tomorrow. Some brilliant skiing and its only starting to crust today after 5 days.

Just watching that vid, I wonder how much is genuine full on redesign after they finished the Valencia tests in October last year vs tweakery.

If it’s as much as they seemed to suggest that’s quite a leap of faith. Briggs looked a bit nervey :)

Can’t wait for the season to start (along with WSB)…unlike my wife :)

Honda will dominate,Yamaha will push,Ducati will be pushing the front bringing up the rear and Rossi will retire at the end of this season…Cal is on borrowed time,without some good results he will go mid season.Its all getting to be a bit of a procession

FTFY

Agree about Crutchlow, he needs to deliver. It’ll be a tough year for him. Will be interesting to see how the CRT bikes shape up now.

Sic will be there….

Ooooh what you doing to the MaxxD?

I’ve got Selle Italia “SLR kit carbonio flows” on 2 mtbs (the 125g jobs, with the stupid name). I find them the most comfy saddle for my butt. No problems at all and I’m 13stone. YMMV

Can we close this thread as I’m too tempted to buy one of the Boardman CX bikes :)

Graham S – cracking picture. Conditions look excellent.

I’ve got used to wearing a helmet for skiing. We tend to ski in Finland and Sweden so it’s a great way to keep your head warm as well :) Hitting a tree was also a good reminder on why they might be useful.

T-minus 2 days :)

Although steel is real, that ti alpine is an opportunity too good to miss. Surely that will make it in to production?

What are ST towers doing with their test frame?

Off for a look. Never seen them when I’ve been in Sweden or Finland so this could be a bonus.

Very nice. Like the green, and as above that looks a lot better in the metal than on their site.

Anyone been to La Rosierre / La Thuile? Anything a must do / must avoid?

Afrothunder, I wasn’t doing it unfortunately, just dropping some ski’s off. There were two guys there on it though who seemed happy enough. I might do it next year though. Seems like a good deal and as you say it gets rave reviews. I just pickedthem up again today and Jon pointed out some changes he suggested to my bindings (he shifted them forwards quite a bit ) so I’m looking forward to trying them out. Really nice bloke, obviously knows his stuff and very helpful.

Debaser. My son had a Moah jacket and I was pretty impressed with it. As long as it’s waterproof, breathable, can be vented (pit zips or similar) and will fit a base and a mid layer underneath it’ll be fine.
Make sure you can move in it, lift pass pockets are handy, and make sure you can zip it all the way up and it doesn’t throttle you.

I always ski in a shell and layer up accordingly. Bear in mind you don’t need a skiing jacket, most outdoor gear will be fine if you already have it. Enjoy the trip!

For a kid that age I wouldn’t bother with a triple. The front / rear thing means there’s just too much going on. 1 x n would be the best setup IME.Ideally something like a 28 on the front, though if its just 28 at the rear I’d maybe go even lower.

There are a few cheap 150 chainsets out there, though my son struggled with the hills where we live until he got a low enough gear. He still tends to spin out in the little ring but does use the middle as well now.

Light, easy rolling tyres would be a good upgrade.

My son also gets on a lot better with trigger shifters than he did with gripshift.

Err Atherton (or whoever it was) “beat” David Knight; multi enduro world champion. He has proper bike skills. They should do a rematch at Erzburg

Tell him he has made a mockery of dress down friday, and ruined it for everyone.

:lol:

What skis is everyone on then?

Blackeye Tis, and some older carvers

Afrothunder – Were you at Jon’s last weekend on the ski tuning course?

Buy an old MTB front thumb lever – try retrobike or ebay. They’re non-indexed. The problem is prices are still quite steep.

You may have to bodge the clamp if you’re on them new-fangled fatter bars

Here’s a cheap one on ebay

Excellent. Very impressed that you’ve got permission to run it under Haddon from the landowner – and that you’re not pedestrianising the bridleway through Manners Wood which was my initial fear!

However, care to explain a little more about this :

“The track down to Rowsley is rather steeper and
needs some repairs where erosion has gouged
out deep ruts. It joins Church Lane and the main
route through the Haddon Tunnels.”

Is this the Bridleway in to the village itself?

Also

On map 5 – you seem to be proposing the existing bridelways become “horse routes” ?

What’s the intention here?

Whilst I’m all for opening up cycling where I live, I don’t want to see it at the expense of the few decent bridleways we have.

Brilliant

Lack of multiplier effect on sick/ rad / gnarly was disappointing though. On their own they’re so lame :)

For the brit one…

“brown sludge” = brown pow
“Did my wheels get off the ground?” = How flat was my table?
“this is better than Cannock!”