Scarlets Munster tomorrow on S4C so available outside Wales. Any way Scarlets can win?

In response to the OP’s questions “what should I do?”

Remove that FRM stem for a start. The stem is another worry I wouldn’t want hanging over me. FRM don’t have a good history for reliability and the 85kg rider weight limit would be a concern for me too in such a crucial component (regardless of being 75kg myself).

I would like to see what you ride if you consider sram XX, a BOR666 chainset, XX brakes, FRM stem and carbon bars junk??

That’s good richpips, I also reported all of these items. I had not seen scammers selling through well established shops before so it is a good eye opener.

The thing that always gets me though is how the scammer get so much right (like using the trusted Tesco Outlet as a cover which must have taken a fair bit of doing to hack the account) but then make so little effort elsewhere. A bit better grammar, a background in the traditional Tesco colours and an email like tesco-outlet@gmail.com would have been hard to spot…

The idea that a LBS is not to be trusted (by and large) is a well established one.

Only on STW. If it really was true, there would be no LBSs.

I am yet to find a LBS workshop I trust 100%. Some will agree, some will disagree. The whole LBS love/ hate is polarizing and I genuinely feel sorry for the few good shops who have their reputations knocked by the abundance of shonky shops. As smeel_it says if you are lucky to have a really good LBS then support it as much as you can. Until then, make an effort to know your bike :D

The idea that a LBS is not to be trusted (by and large) is a well established one. I think we all assume this. Some are shonky and all are human prone to mistakes. The main pain free way around LBS servicing problems is to make a little effort to understand your own bike. Maybe it shouldn’t be like this but it is. I don’t expect anyone in any trade, business or profession to be completely error free.

There will be plenty of times you encounter a problem on the trail or in the middle of nowhere and without a bit of basic bike knowledge you’re screwed. Why you would completely avoid any bike know how is beyond me.

The idea that you should as a matter of course check your whole bike out immediately after the work is done (and IMO the valid comparison with car servicing) says about as much as you need to know. Very telling and informative suggestions from the trade….

No, common sense suggestions from someone with OCDwhovaluestheirteeth (TM). See the previous post:

While not everyone may not be able to remedy a problem they notice they should at least be able to notice it in the first place and a quick check should be done before every ride.

Spend more in LBS than on car servicing which is ridiculous

Always going to be the case! Bikes ain’t cheap nowadays but if you really love cycling then it becomes easy to justify the pennies. My tyres cost more than car tyres, so what? Most decent full sus frames cost more than an entire reasonable second hand car, so what? Love isn’t logical :D

If you are the sort who takes a bike to a shop for repair you may not be able to check that the work is up to scratch

While this looks sensible on the face of it, it should not be beyond anyone to give their bike a quick once over. Tyres pressure, brakes smooth, gears ok, all bolts ok, anything feel loose or like there’s play, covers most things. While not everyone may not be able to remedy a problem they notice they should at least be able to notice it in the first place and a quick check should be done before every ride. It is common sense when you put so must trust in a machine taking you in to the middle of nowhere at daft speeds :D

If you took your car to a garage to have the brakes/whatever serviced, would you then jack the car up yourself, remove the wheels and check the work has been done properly?

As crashtestmonkey says the comparison of a quick run through everything on a bike can be done in a matter of minutes with basic tools and basic knowledge to that of a car is not valid. That being said if I owned a car I would want to know it inside out too. Maybe it is because “I am an Engineer” :wink:

I only read the first page so forgive me any mistakes…

You say you bought an FRM stem? Well that should be the first hint you were going to die :D

Regardless of experience or reputation of a bike workshop why do people not check the work out before they leave the shop (or do it just around the corner)? How do you let something go wrong in a race after the work? Maybe it is just my OCD which means I would check every bolt torque and every new component was working the way I think it should.

This is all of course an aside to customer service, shoddy work, whatever.

I think Tesco might like to know their account has been hacked (assuming the Tesco account is actually genuine)…

Look up the figures for the nhs outgoings for patients suing. While they should of course be accountable medicine is unfortunately not an exact science for many conditions. Unfortunately too the nhs are quick to settle even without negligence as often the threat of bad press for a hospital is enough to force the pennies in to the patients grubby little paws ;-)

I would take slowmarts posts view except in exceptional circumstances.

For those asking how much gps get paid, take a look at how much nurses, midwives, radiographers etc get paid and think how much of your claim might contribute to a much needed extra pair of hands ;-)

An English core is always important for the Lions as England (sadly) are the only home nation that really have the world beating mentality. Put it this way, of all the home nations you would have to favour England as the ones to beat the AB’s regardless of squad on the day. Just based on belief and the expectancy within themselves to win just because they are England :)

Add the that the exciting talent from the other home nations and you have a solid squad with a lot of potential.

Another question for the Lions discussion:
Who are the game changers for each nation? Not the good players, but the guys with the real power to pull out a moment of brilliance and change a game.

England: Farrel? Wilkinson! Morgan, Brown, Burns, Care, Varndell? Wade?
Ireland: BOD, Boss?
Wales: 1/2p, Phillips, J. Davies, Hook, Tipuric, Walker?
Scotland: Hogg, Maitland? Denton, Laindlaw? Visser?

See wreckers post tom ;-)

Really sad news about Stoddart, I hadn’t realised he’d retired. I would expect a fracture like his to still give pain year on so (and it is amazing he made it through a few games) so the pain isn’t a big surprise but retirement is a shock. I would imagine it was more a case of where he is in his career that forced the retirement.

Awesome mid week pack Wrecker

I’m not sure Lawes is cut out for the mid week side. Need some nastier and thicker chaps.

I wouldn’t waste Mikey P mid week either. It’s a shame we can’t call upon any of the tiny, cowardly eye gouging Frech scrum halves to keep the mid week clubs in check.

Delon is perfect at fullback :)

Given free reign I would probably send Gav out by himself :)

Samson Lee Wrecker? No idea of his background but he has been getting under the skin skin of his opponents rather a lot this season :)

Grewcock is perfect for the mid week Lions side!

In fairness bigblackshed there are a lot of rugby players who aren’t too bright! An ex-Wales and Cardiff prop (amateur days) once told me of a team mate who would make a habit of punching himself in the face in rucks hard enough to draw blood and try and get opponents sent off!

Which reminds me… where is Mungo nowadays :)

I had a random thought- The midweek games are generally speaking the Lions trouncing a club side while the club side take lumps out of the Lions trying to reduce the number of players available for the tests.

So in response to that how about a specific mid week side to counter the skullduggery :)

Healey, Hartley, Julian White
What second and backrows like a scrap? Can Jamie Cudmore claim Welsh residency after his stint there in the early 2000’s :) I think a welcome return for Powell is in order!
Martin Roberts at scrum half would wind anyone up
ROG at 10 just to see him try and catch a high ball after a few bumps on the head. Being a doormat would tire the opposition too.
Back 3- Stoddard, Ashton and Liam Williams. The 2 Welsh are always being niggly and Ashton can get the proof he needs that he isn’t a tough guy :)
Centres- Manu for sure as he could use Ashton as a punch bag in training to get ready for match day :) Probabaly Manu by himself is enough.

It is a genius plan, I hope Gatland is reading :)

On a side note away from lions speculation…

It really pees me off that a player can be clearly knocked unconscious yet allowed to continue. The consequences of a second knock could be massive

Can’t beat Shimano SP41/ XTR!

Rotor triple then use the ring in the middle position? At the very top of budget but light, stiff, secure and good looking. Most importantly they are not Shimano for those fancying a change from the best cranks on the market :D

I always buy from Ribble. Cheapest in the UK as far as I am aware.

I am not a fan of waiting ages for parts coming from the other side of the world but it could be worth looking in to the ebay option if not in a hurry

I would imagine if you are ok holding the grips then gripshift would be fine. Shifting is faster and crisper than with triggers and it is highly unlikely you would ever have to service them or fix anything. Simple, reliable and snappy would be my opinion but others may disagree :D

Following on from AlexSimon…

When riding with your bros in your sick new edit don’t forget the obligatory rider passes- one takes the high line, one the low… and now we have a new leader to showcase their gnar! :D

Great vid Gilles :)

Seems like you manage to pack in some nice trails throughout the year

I am looking forward to properly exploring Wiltshire following my recent move :)

———————

As a side note: AWH- I’ve tried to send an email but the address in your profile bounces back. Do you have an address I might email you to?

Many thanks DanW

turned out to be a back entrance to Madonna

The guys who insisted on being present in their blacked out 4×4’s were too much of a distraction to proceed any further…

Do you have a link to the RoW officer interview butcher?

With regards to pavements it appears there is a £30 on the spot fine which must be delivered by an officer in uniform. This does not apply to under 16’s from what I can gather online.

Orangetoaster:

How would you find out if cycle rights exist under a footpath definition?

On a more positive note, I once made the mistake of riding down a nice rocky bit of double track in Dorset which turned out to be a back entrance to Madonna’s mansion. I only realised this when greeted by 3 blacked out landrovers who suggested I turn around and go back :)

Wow Dalesrider that is an awful story!

In cases like that especially when the charge is “Damage to shrubbery of value unknown” did you consider a non-legal route such as publication of the daftness? There must have been a good few cycling organisations/ papers who could offer support. I guess at the end of the day you probably didn’t want to make any more of it especially given the position of your friend as a teacher.

Truely absurd!

I would expect my Formula to get over the initial temper tantrums after a year though!

PleaderWilliams- Does the designation “foot passenger” therefore count you truely as a pedestrian or by the presence of the “passenger” part imply you still have something to do with the vehicle (bike) which is not permitted on the footpath?

On the one hand there would be no way to negotiate a pavement in an urban area but on the other hand pushing a bike leaves much the same footprint as riding a bike on a countryside footpath assuming of course that you would not normally be skidding all over the place when riding.

I believe that just by having the bike around you you are still technically a passenger. But, as it doesn’t seem there are any instances of cycling on footpaths going through the courts there is even less likely chance or carrying a bike on a footpath ever making waves in the legal world

The other thing that prompted this thread was on my way home there were at least 4 yellow Police notices at the start of footpaths (6 miles away from where I bumped in to the couple- not the same area) which said something along the lines of “Successful prosecution in this area. Anti-social behavior will not be tolerated”. Perhaps there have been kids drinking/ riding quads/ whatever in the area? Kind of then though ooh er I wonder if the village mob will restrain me for using any more footpaths (I stuck to the road anyway)

The process MarkLG describes didn’t fix the problem in my case. Give it a go and see if it improves things

My preferred option for riding cheeky trails (not riding through a field to stay off a dual carriageway which is somewhat more justifiable) is also to be so polite it winds them up even more. Being cheery does funny things to an irate person :)

I don’t know for sure but assumed they were the landowners when they started referring to the field as “my field” and they came out of the neighbouring house. If I could plainly see they were just walkers I would have been tempted to carry on and be overly polite.

Thanks Greybeard. As far as I can tell with a quick search pushing a bike makes you a “passenger of a vehicle” or something equally daft and is compared to riding a push scooter rather than being a pedestrian. I think technically you can’t even push a bike on a footpath.

Of course, with all of this common sense on both sides would hopefully prevail but I got curious today as to what could (or has???) happened if the landowner got out of the bed on the wrong side…

Formula have a very small clearance between pad and rotor- fact.

I could never get both pistons to come out and retract equally despite them being serviced/ looked at under warranty. I was told it’s just one of those things and I need to take more time setting them up.

Silverfish also said that it takes 4 or 5 rides for the pads to settle in the right place which is incredibly frustrating when even small differences in skewer tension mean the pads will never really settle in one position and you will always have rubbing.

It got to the stage where I was realigning the calipers before every ride to reduce the rubbing as much as possible. I had the lbs look at them at great cost after the warranty route didn’t change anything and still no luck.

I have seen others mention this problem too and it is thought that the comparatively small piston size makes it hard for them to settle in the caliper properly square. When combined with the small pad clearance it is a potential nightmare. Other Formula users did say that they found The Ones to be less prone to this issue than R1’s for example.

I hope you have more luck than me! :)

I’ll make sure to look for landmines if I ever have the need to use the nice couple’s field again :)

A quick glance here[/url] and here[/url] suggest that cycling on footpaths is only illegal if there are local council by-laws as deadkenny says.

If the landowner wanted to be stupid about it then it seems they may pursue a civil case for trespass although I am unsure how a tyre mark fits in with this???

Also seems fixed penalty notices only apply why the footpath is next to a road, i.e. a pavement not a countryside footpath.

Does this seem about right?

Anyone have any experience with outcomes of cycling on footpaths which are not just the usual ramblers shouting about the environment or similar?

Stans Alpine or Podium
American Classic or A2Z
Revs or CX-Ray
Alu nips

Mix and match as your weight/ riding style and pockets allow :D

I have second hand AC hubs/ Podium rims / Revs at 1230g all in, and Hope Pro II/ Alpine/ CX-Ray at 1470g. The Alpine rims and CX-Ray combo feels a little stiffer as you might expect but the Hope hubs have got through bearings like nobody’s business

Essentially in lay man’s terms, high cadence stresses your CV system (heart/ lungs/ etc) more while low cadence stresses the muscles more. Finding the optimal and most efficient use of you CV system along with your musculo-skeletal system is hard to do on an individual basis but 85-95rpm always feels best for me.

I use a cadence meter but only look at it occasionally when I am starting to get tired as motivation to stop grinding along. Not really useful but it doesn’t hurt to have it either.