Apart from Armstrong's tour ending today (assuming he doesn't have a recovery on the last climb; which he's done before), I'm suprised how many of the super-domestiques and climbers are suffering. The heat and the pace are pretty nasty today, plus an unusually hard week 1 I imagine

Another crash for Armstrong…It's not his tour!

Sorry for the slight hijack, but does anyone know which track pumps throw out the most air in a single stroke? Looking for something to make tubeless tyre seating a bit easier, and without resorting to a gas canister.

Fantastic vid! You can just tell his mind works along the lines of see it, jump it.

Got one of these Vango Omega 350s and it's really easy to put up and an all round excellent tent. You can get 2 adults and 2 kids in there no problem. Lots of space in the front as well for bikes.

It's about £110 though.

As was pointed out to me Menchov stayed up so it can't have been that tricky ;0)

Exactly! There is no better test. :D

Roll on today's stage! It should be a belter. Someone better have filled in the cracks in that Pavee though.

'm not sure that what I'd want is what sells…

I think you're right. What you describe is what I have been looking for on the C2W scheme. Hardtail frame, fork, wheels in that order, after that I don't really care, though an XT rear mech seems the addition of choice on everything out there. The Cube Team Ltd and the Boardman are hard to beat spec wise, but I'd compromise the spec to get a better fork and wheels in both cases, or rather better wheels as the Reba is fine…though I'd prefer to see a SID team on both.

"…so a sizeable portion of the peloton (about 60 according to Brailsford) take a spill and you guys whinge like girls that they express their disquiet in just about the only effective way they can?"

As Backstedt said, it rains on the tour, it rains in other cycle events. Pro cycling isn't and never has been a fair weather sport. Today wasn't a protest, it was about Saxobank ensuring their riders still had a chance at GC. Cancellara was a sole if loud and respected voice who managed to convince the peloton to hold back.

If riders think it's too dangerous, let them individually slow down. Let the folks who are prepared to take the risks reap the rewards.

I thought it was pretty shambolic, and Cancellara's team self interest gave the impression of a bit of a "brotherhood" moment. I agree with Backsted and Roche on eurosport – it's racing, they should have raced. Let's hope they don't get scared by the Pavee tomorrow!

Cheers Colin, YGM.

Albanach, the helpdesk told me that no-one else could take the voucher. I then asked them about Leisure Lakes and there were a few "err's". It seems to be a bit of a grey area, but there's no list as it were – you just have to ask your LBS. The terms don't seem particularly favourable which is why so few seem to participate in the halfords scheme.

The Halfords "special number" is just the one that's on the voucher for the helpline. As for brands, last year they didn't like Focus, Genesis and Merlin to name but a few, but best just to ring them and see what they say. They do a broader range "officialy" than the one on the site that includes Salsa, Kona and a few others IIRC (All the stores have a catalogue with the bigger range in it), and then there's "special order" as well which is what the helpdesk can sort out – e.g. brands not on the website or in the in-store catalogue that they can (choose to ) sell.

Well done. That looks like a painful route for a great cause :) If you want to encourage uptake for 2011 though, maybe you should drop "brutal" from the title. I'll stick that in the 2011 list though and give that a try next weekend (when hopefully it's not blowing a gale)!

Apart from Leisure Lakes who are linked to the halfords scheme, if there are any other "small retailers" in the E Mids that take the voucher that can do a 14" Cube Acid in White / Red drop me an email (in profile),with about £300 of accessories to add as well to use up the voucher. I'd rather give the business to a LBS (none of mine take the voucher).

Definately try flooks, but I'm sure they sold off their earlier spares on Ebay a year or so ago.

Are they the same as these?

If so and you can't fix yours you can have them for £80 + shipping. You'll need to transfer the brake posts though.

I'll do a write up later tonight. Sorry for the delay, and Trout already has my apologies for my tardiness :)

Watched it earlier on Eurosport but I'm sure they'll have the pics for the highlights shows tonight. Didn't see Cav cross the finish, though they were speculating whether he'd punctured…or more likely just gone in too hot then used the peloton as an air brake. He looked pretty sheepish when the camera bike caught up with him riding away from the crash.

Moto 2 was amazing today. Was it Debon in to T1 I can't remember – the needs his head checking if he ever thought he was going to stop the bike.

No idea what that shennanigans about Ianone dropping back one position after his pass under yellow. He should have been given a ride through from the outset. Seemed like race direction were making up a new set of rules on the fly. No wonder he just carried on riding.

Smith didn't have to fight too hard, though he seems to have woken up to using his elbows and closing the door. Marquez in 125 and Ianone in moto2 are the stand-out riders at the moment though. It's just a shame the likes of Tomizawa got taken out in the first incident. the finish line crash with Noyes was one of the worst I've seen in a long time. It looked like the bike came down on the other guy. The fact he was "OK and under observation" is a minor miracle. Reminiscent of Simonceli's induced crash in 250s a season or two ago…but worse.

I think i heard them on eurosport a couple of weeks ago say a moto2 bike was about 100k for a season. Compare that to a 125 (250k?) or a Moto GP you can see why Moto2 is full and MotoGP is dwindling from the mid 20's of a few seasons ago. They need to control the cost otherwise the series will become a nonsense.

Another beyond compare user. It's great for what you want to do.

Select the folders you want to copy to the NAS, set the destination on the NAS, click one button (Probably "copy to the right") and you're there. It's a great piece of SW.

Whatever happened to the quarry with the drop-ins & jumps? Has that been filled in? I remember it from the early 90s but wouldnt know where to look for it now.

Shandy, nothing on their site? Have you got a link?

Wrong thread doh, though I do have an unused 97x mech I should put in the classifieds. Brakes aside, I prefer the look of all the older 970 kit; especially the chainset. A bit like 960 that left me cold.

We're taking the kids to Ynot[/url]. It's local and has a decent line up. Chilling out high up in the Peaks on a balmy summer night. Perfect!

Used it with none of the above problems. You can't use it abroad though when you're traveling which is a pain.

Great timing as that erythema migrans "rash" looks remarkably like what's developing on my leg. I'm off to see the doc!

The trails looked pretty good at Are but not sure it's worth a special trip as it's a bit of an epic journey from the South. There is quite a lot of info on skistar.com if you're after the trail maps. Nice place to be though, and seemed v bike friendly.

According to wrench science, 2.5 for the carbon, 3.11 for the scandium.

I've been doing my research :)

Green isn't a current colour though which is a damn shame.

Mapyx Quo (free). They also have the cheapest map tiles.

Looks like I'm invisible to every camera as well. 1220 if anyone has one / spots one please

A bit more nostalgia for you.

Take them to bits & follow the instructions again. See how that turns out. No noticeable friction issues with mine after a year and some pretty nasty mud.

Have you given yourself a job for life trawling through your pics or do you have some clever auto tagging software? To add to your burden if you get any of 1217 to 1220 I'd appreciate them!

addy is in my profile. Thanks

Have a look at Groovy cycleworks for some more Fat (and Grove) heritage.

Our hall looks like we've been robbed. Reminiscent of an everest base camp.

Bang on JonEdwards. Three pairs of Humvees, all sized differently on the liner, which then falls apart (the one I could use). I measured one "medium" at a 26" waist. The outers have been OK though. QC seems non-existant in recent years.

In the words of my kids (not the wife!); "too many"! Actually, the wife says that as well. I just say it's cheaper than a sports car…err better not push that too hard I suppose.

Samurai, did you steal my toys?
I loved that helicopter and Evel K.

The other thing I loved was one of these. '84 Pistol Pete. My dad gave it away when I was at uni :cry: Now as rare as the proverbial.

The other one is the Cube Ltd, though the boardman edges it.

Sorry for the hijack, but when I emptied the air chambers refilled oil came out of the valve. I assume it was oil anyway. Is this normal? I've never had that on a fork before but it's my first pair of Rockshox so not really sure?

Can you put me down for one? I guess we're on list 3 by now!

There you go Chris I just confirmed what I told you about knowing nothing about the electronics :)

I broke my ankle, no can do :D