The reason the recommend plugging in to the master socket is they can't vouch for the quality of your domestic phone wiring. That can cause signal loss – reducing the speed the router can sync up to the exchange.

If you want to test it, plug it in to the Master temporarily, and connect to the router admin console with a laptop and check the speed.

Then do the same with the router connected at the end of your internal cabling.

If she approaches stand in the doorway revving a chainsaw! Keep her out at all costs. It will feel dirty and "wrong" if she gets in there and starts polishing!

1 minute 17 in … not a great example but you get the idea.

Cynic – Yep – Picture the captain bolt upright saluting…though not too many salutes going on as they fly through the air :)

…straight arms / legs / back – "frozen as you fly"

why didnt you tell us!

That's a bit of a metaphysical question isn't it ? :)

My current faves are my Acros .74 / .75

Beautifully engineered.

That guy is pretty well known for buying a lot of retro gear. He's sold on a lot of nice kit.

Another Kilo bites the dust…can I eat now? :)

Just noticed how cheap Contours are now, I still want a Helmet Hero HD but that's pretty tempting…

I've literally just ordered a 1080p Contour HD for 279 from Tredz. They're doing the 720 HD for 199.

Caterhamnut – I assume it didn't come via UPS / DHL a you'd have had "disbursement" and all sorts of other ridiculous charges added on top. Did you get it from B&H?

Nice. I went skiing armed with a petzl the other night. It seemed like a good idea before I went down the hill. Brought a new dimension to flat light :)

…far cheaper deal:

http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=E0032

I wish they'd say when the sell by date is though. Clif Bars don't have a huge shelf life.

Sorry to hear that mate, but unfortunately for me it won't slow you down.

Just think of all the diabetic bikers you know ;) Ah you said competant insulin using MTB'ers, so he probably can't help you then.

It is totally manageable and because you have a healthy diet and don't like the demon drink (since when was that!?) you shouldn't have any issues once it stabilises.

Sounds like you need a boarding weekend to get over it!

Muffin Man – I was there about 7.30. I sat there for 20 minutes as the cars ahead just span out, and those coming down were all over the place. Thee were no gritters around this morning it seemed. Before that I'd stopped to help pull a VW Polo out of a ditch which doesn't fill you with confidence.

Steep Turnpike was bad enough late on friday night – there was no way I was chancing Slack Hill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oti7Uv8Xk9o

I like the editing at 1:04 – It is! Great shot.

The age it takes to render is down to your PC spec I'm afraid.

We went in October and had a great time. Such a beautiful part of the country with incredible beaches – Druridge bay in particular. Warkworth, Alnmouth, Alnwick were all nice places to stay. The best part is accomodation up there seems relatively cheap.

There's a really nice kid friendly italian restaurant in Amble (Zecca) as well, and another "restaurant" (more of a cafe with great food) in Warkworth. Everyone raves about Amble's chip shop – our local is better!

Sorry for another hijack, but I'm after a 12 / 13 / 14 inch frame to build up for my son. 80 to 100mm Hard tail preferred. I've spotted the 14" on one inbreds, but keen to see what else is out there in bargain land.

Cheers!

I think they were originally trying for one of the 250 open air tracks in Alvaston Park – so things have clearly moved on.

I can't wait, though another bike isn't going to go down very well :)

Mmmm.
Just had a go with the sony vegas.

Quality looks rubbish.

I've been using Vegas (the cheaper one – Movie Studio?) for years, no issues whatsoever with quality though I've not used a HD source. Are you picking the right encoding?

Wow – can't quite read the signs, where was it?

Melmerby…ish I'd guess

…best buy a 2010 thor if you want the new AS+ damper. It won't be cheap as an upgrade! The new oil is the same wt – just "better" at lower temps.

xc3 are great value and lighter, but I went for xc6 just to have some flexibility with the choice / future availability of rotors.

I retreived 8 coins & a plastic spatula from inside our video recorder. Unfortunately I missed coin number 9, which shorted the board when I switched it back on!

Consider it lost.

Yep, some lovely parts to the town. Very Bohemian with a big local arts community. A town on the up with a lot of civic pride – you can tell by the festive decorations :)

You've got lots of riding on your doorstep or within a 10 mile ride, though it's not the Dark Peak!

I don't remember having any major problems fitting them to the aero bars. I have 2 x facing fwd and 2 x facing back (alternated).

Have a brew, start again :)

Woppit, do you mean one of the "new" FUNKs or the originals?

Bontrager OR (pre "race" / "racelite" – circa 89 /90) :
Bonding, riveting, bisected stays, proper gusseting, chainsuck plate, horizontal dropouts and bombproof steel frame. Engineering genius.

Same of the Bontrager comp fork;…so much attention to detail. The privateer wasn't a patch (sorry Ton).

Others:

Bushido – for showing what might be possible
Mantis XCR – Composite possibilities
Cunningham / Bradbury (not Answer!) Manitou – Alloy possibilities (shame the latter liked to crack)
RC100 – holistic / integrated design approach
Merlin Mountain – Ti simplicity
Mtn Goat Deluxe – cycling art
Mtn Cycles San Andreas – With Suspenders & pro-stops – yum
Yeti C-26 – Tomac never looked better
Foes XC-T – suspension for people who don't like suspension ;)

I could make a very long list :)

What's the score with the Dirty Jo frames? Are they any good? Does anyone have a 14" frame (xc) or pics I could see? This could be a good cheap 1st 26" wheel frame for my son.

Count me in. My email's in my profile 1.5 stone to loose!

Because the BMX the OP is looking at is a race BMX – not your usual pig iron lump :)

Race BMX's are designed for a purpose. A street BMX would be a different ball game, but that's not what he's looking at.

Depends what type of terrain your kids ride (BMX vs MTB). If it was a toss up between a good kids MTB (Islabike) and a micro / mini / junior race BMX like that Kuwa; I'd go MTB every time.

A 5 yr old can get away with a 20" wheeled MTB – have a look at the Isla Beinn small (cheaper than the Kuwa), but go off the size chart.
The BMX's are great little machines and ultra lightweight (~13.5 to 18 lbs off the shelf) whereas my Daughter's Isla 20" is about 20 lbs. An MTB will stand up better to the "abuse" only a small child can dispense. My son's redline flite junior is for the track. The MTB with its gears is just better suited to where we live and lets your kid spend more time riding than pushing.

BIG M – there's loads of us on here with cruisers recapturing our youth ;)

I was at Islabikes last week picking up a small Beinn 20 for my 5 yr old daughter and the Creig 26 was very nice. As a package it's hard to fault. At 13, unless your kid is super small they should be fine on a small (12"-14") 26" MTB.

My 8 yr old has outgrown his Spec Hotrock 20. I've been thinking about building up a bike around one of these with my spares as an alternative to the Creig.

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/23366/Kinesis_MaxLight_KM210L_WomensJunior_Frame_2010

They come in 35 and 38 cm frame sizes with short HTs – ideal for kids. Granted I'll need to source some shorter cranks but I already have some reach adjustable brakes and a super short stem. I did look at the one one but for a kid I'd much prefer a lighter frame.

I had one (from costco)- it went back. Utter crap on a bike.

Definately talk to a physio as suggested. I did use the Wii Fit – the yoga balancing was really good – but NOT to begin with. I tried it and it was far too painful until I'd got some control and strength back…but balancing is just as good.

I imagine a wobble board would be even more painful to begin with, but I suppose it's dependant on the amount of damage you've done. The Physio gave me some good "lunge" type excercises where you rotate (obviously a small amount initially. That helped get some movement back quite quickly.

I began to feel like a bear in a zoo as I was constantly doing those heel lifts. The other thing to bear in mind is don't overdo it. I had a couple of very painful days where I'd gone overboard with the excercises and my ankle just swelled back up like a melon.

Overall though I found the bike a really good form of excercise, particularly low load / high cadence., but you do need more orbit type excercises as well as the pedal stroke is pretty limited in its range.

When you do go outside you'll be suprised how painful stopping and putting your foot down can be early on. In this weather I wouldn't risk it until you have some strength back.

Climbing the stairs / lots of lifts (feet flat, lift your heels) got me up and running quickly. As for the trainer, the Satori blue is good and comes with a bag and a trainer DVD which is pretty good. Fairly quiet as well.

Just bought a Macbook Pro 13 – £810 at Dixons. Always had Windows or linux but the Mac is just so much more intuitive. Picked up a Windows laptop and can't help using the "gestures" on the trackpad – it makes the Windows devices feel like antiques.

…shame the hard drive died after four days though!!! It's on its way back, but I'll be buying another.

Lenovos are well built if you need a windows OS.

Don't but a netbook if you're reading / typing lots of documents – the screens are just too small. Great for web and email though.

FS ti bikes… why?

…because you can! :) I'd take that over the (lighter) SL-C any day.

All day rideability for an ageing back (FS) and welds and craftsmanship that just make me drool (Ti). "Money no-object" isn't just about ultimate performance.

Kent Eriksen with the AS-R rear.

Off to wipe away some mud.

I think the one we bought was from Aldi – strong, light and cheap. (KB was clearly wrong). It was abused and stood up really well considering the hucking duties it was resigned to when the kids grew out of it (it's still in 1 piece after 5 years!) :)

Gdt the Lidl Mini Stollen – yum, and packable on a festive ride.