@organic355: how do you find the mounts on your VHoldr? Mine seem really crap – very loose and wobbly. I think I’ll end up making my own.

-j

I agree. The bar mount is pretty crap. Designed for non OS bars you’re limited to where you can put it. I jammed some rubber in the screw hole to reduce the vibration. That helped, as does mounting the cam under the bar rather than over it.

The helmet mount seems OK on my Xen, due to the vent locations. It does need to be cranked down hard though.

I do get really variable results though – If you push the cam all the way in to the bar mount as you’re supposed to you get more vibration.

Some other experiences. Mine had the common “blurry centre” fault. I bought it from Tredz but they couldn’t check one in the UK and send it out to me until Contour had seen the camera, so I arranged to deal direct with Contour to speed things up.

It took 3 weeks to turn it round – I shipped it next day to the US. They dispatched one pretty quickly but didn’t fill in some forms correctly so it sat in a customs warehouse, and I got hit with a VAT bill and a process from hell to claim it back – I couldn’t be bothered! Up to that point they’d been pretty impressive customer service wise. I wouldn’t have minded if I hadn’t bought the camera specifically to take skiing with the kids which I couldn’t because of the screw up. Better UK support / RMA would make it a lot better. This may have improved in the last 10 months though.

I’ve also got the waterproof housing. I’ll be trying it on the board next month, but I noticed the plastic in front of the lens looks a bit discououred like it wasn’t moulded properly!

So a good to great cam, with very sensitive set up unless you’re using a sticky mount / goggle mount and some pretty poor accesories.

They only take them out if there’s a real need, due to the risk of infection,in particular because you’re exposing a series of holes in to the bone. I’d ask why your orthapedic consultant thinks it’s necesary to remove them now.

In what way do they feel “strange”? I’m often conscious of mine but I’d think long and hard about having them taken out.

What type of ‘copter is that in the pic below? My son and I were boarding a couple of months ago at Mawgan Porth at about 7 PM. There were maybe 10 people in the water and a really low and dense fog. I heard a really low drone and then saw and what I think was one of these come round the North cliff face. It flew really slowly over the top of us, no more than 20m. Very eerie, little downdraft and amazingly quiet considering the size of the thing.

“clearly inappropriate, ….. and have no place on this thread.”

Goodbye, spammer.

Edit..that was efficient spam removal!

I'm a convert. I've been using the 60 GB Corsair SSD for a few months now. Read and write are both at around 275Mbps. 60GB is fine for a W7 boot drive. W7 boot time is massively improved (yes very subjective I know) over a traditional drive.

Exactly. I think I'm still in shock, and keep going through the what ifs. The tour was local to us today so lots of roadies around. I'm just so pleased no one else got hurt.

Cougar – Member

I don't really want to go in to it on here.

Not quite sure where you're coming from here; if it's something that might help someone else avoid the same fate, isn't it worth sharing?

Cougar, it's more a case of I'd rather let the manufacturer take a look at it all first. I'm not one for public outcries, and it may have been something I did or didn't do (though I'm struggling with that notion); in which case I think it would be a bit unfair.

Trimix, I doub't the car or home insurance would cover it? Funnily enough I'm probably going to go down the van route as well.

Get used to it. They'll be better than we ever will be. (speaking on behalf of average dad's everywhere :) )

This should true ? The front's buckled but looks like it's at least fixable. Funniest thing is the tyre is still inflated!

It looks like the bars then took a big hit. The have rotated 180 degrees, and been punched up through the stem by about 50 cm. The grip should be at the end, and the brake lever closest has ripped clean off at the clamp.

Full on 180 degree flip.

The brakes took a fair hit.

I like the tag. I can rely on STW for comedy :)

Oh boy, it gets better.

Today is clearly Karma payback day. I thought I'd go for a ride to try and stop thinking about it, and then what I'd seen before I went on the ride came flooding back to me. Bike number 2 had its top tube cable mount hanging off. The "glue" looks like it's given up the ghost, but what I don't get is that the wheels were straight ahead – so it was under no real pressure. So that's two bikes out of action in a day – neither of which involved an riding accdent! Time for me to go sit in a corner and not move for fear of anything else happening.

It's the Foes – but there's not a scratch on it or on the forks thank God. It's still going to be expensive though :( Pics are uploading now so I'll link them in a bit. The wheels and controls though are a bit worse for wear. When you see what looks like an end-on whack that the carbon bars took any worries about carbon not being strong go out the window.

Re the questions about the rack, sorry but I don't really want to go in to it on here. It's just really hard to work out how it could have happened, but at least one part has failed. Whether it's the cause though I have no idea.

Dear confused, none of the above. Get a homeplug / powerline adaptor to give you a cabled connection from the xbox to a plug that goes in your electric socket. It then uses your electric wiring to send your data, and put the other plug near your router and cable from that to your Router(assuming it has LAN (RJ45)ports). If you don't have any ports just buy a cheap hub.

Spent last week sponging at Porthtowan, Portreath, Watergate and Perranporth. Thursday at Perranporth was mad. 5 ft @10ish secs with an offshore wind and a mad cross shore rip. At one point about 30 people got sucked out in to the break and beyond. A busy day for the RNLI there.

I'm about as landlocked as you can get and this was my second week boarding this summer. I'm addicted but it can only ever be an occasional thing unless I move. I suppose it's a bit bad when you steal the wife's phone to check the surf report on MSW as soon as you wake up then keep refreshing 'till the eyeball reports get posted up. I think I'll get one more weekend in before the end of Sep and get some fins as well.

Maybe a STW surf and sponge meet is in order!

edit… Just as I hit "post" The Drums "lets go surfing" starts on the TV. I'll take that as a direct instruction to go again :)

Ah the sanctimony of singletrack. Looks like it will have a transformational impact on the guy's life, and that of his friends and family. Apart from the smarm of Brown, what's there to complain about?

No tails, they were all in on it bar the guy landing the "plane"

On complex matters of theology I would refer you to the learned scholar

Bit of a PSA, but M&M direct have some Oakley riding gear on again at less than half price. I just got some shorts which are suprisingly good, a riding top and a lightweight fleece. All for about 60 quid and the quality / fit is very good. They'll do for winter.

I have the KMC SL on two bikes with their split link. They're lightweight and work great. I've had problems with shim chains in the past, though SRAM have always been fine spo maybe you just had a defective one if it expired so soon.

I will always buy KMC…until one breaks :)

They bounce well though :) . Take him to a shop and try them on – they all feel different and are cut different. We got ours from Urban Air and tried on about 4 differnt kids elbow and knee pads and gloves.

Definately go along to Pirates as they'll help you size a bike if you do take the plunge. At 5 he'll probably be on a "micro mini" or a "mini". The downside is kids race bikes don't come cheap – 250 and up for a new one. Second hand they get snapped up quickly as well.

If you want to do some surfing you could have a look on BMXtalk[/url] which is a bit more race orientated and gear comes up for sale fairly regularly.
Shops to have a look at to get an idea: Groove Racing, Tibbs, Alan's BMX, urban air. For a 5 yr old, the lighter the better. Redlines usually win here but they don't come cheap.

Have fun!

Just had what I think was the most relaxing holiday I have ever had there. In a tent, not much to do except sit in the water on a bodyboard. Sold a pup of a board by "betty's surf shack" though, and massively unimpressed. Anyone need a 45", it's too big for me?

The local council organise rock pooling sessions. They're great because they know where to find all the interesting stuff on the beach, and some very nice folks running it. The tourist info has the details. We went to one at constantine bay but they run it on a few different ones.

"Cornish fresh" in mawgan porth – probably the best equipped village shop I've ever been in.

Holywell Beach was great for the kids. They spent as much time in the river as they did in the sea. Same at Mawgan Porth

Crell, I love that Funk, needs some Switchblades or some other rigid fork though, imo. What year is it?

It's one of the first ones sometime around 90 / 91.

I've tried a few forks and switchbaldes / Bontrager comps don't suit it.
They came with a spinner style fork before FUNK made their "big fork"…and that's what I've been looking for for over 2 years. Just the one set for sale in that time which was ebayed when I was out of the country. A cannondale pepperoni doesn't look bad on a FUNK though.

The Manitou's going on are the real deal, none of that Answer junk :) I'll get the FUNK rigid fork, one day!

Currently boxed up but will be built up again shortly on some Bradbury Manitous.

Just got this 14 inch cube acid last week. It's got one of the shorter TT's and seat tubes I could find. Flipped the stem, adjusted the reach on the levers, saddle forward and took an inch off each side of the bars. May go for a 20 mm shorter stem and flat bars, but he's not complaining :) . Proper first ride tomorrow.

One happy customer

Is there any difference in the models and the ease of rotating the shifter or the grip diameter? Thinking about a 9 speed GS rather than the Shimano shifter on my son's new bike. The narrower the grip, and easier to shift.

Do they all have the same throw / ammount of twist to move up and down the gears?

Not craggy, but Chrome hill and that area near Longnor looks totally different to anything else in the peaks. Wierdly Alpine. I love it around there.

If your worried about your weight and it's money no object, it's burly off the peg or custom. Why not talk to someone like Eriksen or Potts to design something built for just for you. They can sort the tubing taking in to account your weight and riding style and the bonus is you end up with a beautifully engineered and built work of art? I like the Sov but if you have money you have to burn…

Off the peg, theres that new Foes as well.

If you want fine dining then Fischer's is the best, though fairly formal

The Dining Room in Ashbourne is very good, though small.

Bramhalls in Ashbourne has gone down-hill but still pretty good food.

The Saracen at Shirley is very good.

The Devonshire Arms at Beeley has some great food and a nice setting. Not too formal in the new bit, or you can eat in the Bar area.

The Druid at Birchover is pretty good food wise.

Stones in Matlock seems to be getting a really good reputation (though I've not been yet), but you're just going there for the food as it's under HSBC by the river.

East lodge at Rowsley has a nice setting and good food – though it's always full of weddings.

The Bear was very good, but I haven't been for ages.

The Black Swan at Idridgehay was pretty good though I think it may have changed hands.

I'd not have even thought about the Dog and Partridge – though I've not been.

I have never been a fan of Callow hall.

A few of the above have 1 or 2 Michelin stars. HTH

Which agency did you get the waiting job through? Sounds great. Any other jobs available?
(not jealous honestly :) )

I am in the "want to learn a bit more about photography" camp, and went through the "which DSLR?" threads and reviews. In the end I went for a Lumix GF1 – the micro 4/3 camera with the zoom rather than "pancake" lens. As said above, it's encouraged me to switch off the Auto mode and start experimenting with the settings to good effect.

Hanchrch woods / trentham gardens if you want to do some local riding. There's (or at least there was) a footbridge you can use to link them over the M6.

very retro, cracking looking bike.

Yep, most of them do that.

Fit as ever is the most important thing. Giro do a nice lightweight FF kids helmet, but my (then 7 yr old) son ended up with a KBC motocross helmet as the Giro was too loose. There was also an Airoh one we looked at that was also pretty light but not as good a fit.

MX helmets tend to have a lot more internal padding though so get warmer – but as his was for BMX it wasn't so much of an issue.

Im not a fan of chinbars and the like, or "cheap" / non approved FF helmets. I know someone who hit the chinguard on her FF helmet and it shattered in to her face – not nice.

Excellent stuff, but there's an "l" in there somewhere :)

pLush hill cycles[/url]

Everyone thought Brno. He's mad. I remember wincing when watching Lorenzo use his already smashed and "healing" ankles as landing gear. I hope he doesn't come off.

If it's still available on iPlayer, "Think the unthinkable" was a brilliant take on the world of management consultancy – though the buzzwords are probably a little out of date and warrant kicking around to see which have currency, legs and traction.

The joy of Di2, is that the front mech automatically feathers to keep the chain line perfect. It's effing impressive!

Sorry, what do you mean? The chain line is still offset so wear on the casette and rings is increased. The fact that the f mech can move to prevent rub on the f mech is nice, but it isn't actually solving the bigger problem or creating a perfect chainline, or am I missing something?

To put it in context, I relied on my phone 3g connection to do some work whilst grounded in Sweden with the volcanic ash – next month I got the £400 bill! Get a local sim or find somewhere with a free wifi.

FWIW, my wife thinks STW is the (marginally) bike related equivalent of Mumsnet. She's not wrong.

They're all on the edge! I bet Sanchez is gutted after that. Schleck has the legs it looks like over contador…roll on Tuesday!

Bang goes wiggo in spectacular style

Id have said evans, but he just needs to sit there today. I'll say Basso @2 km to go – but Contador will pip him.

Ouch – the pain on roche's face! The winner is going to come from the mini peleton then.

…Sean Kelly is indeed lurking! :lol: