Different stuff.

However, Mylar tape should be pretty good as a frame protector. Can’t comment on getting it off again…

Heli-tape is thicker, and will last longer before it is rubbed through.

On the basis that I’d only be wearing full finger gloves if it was chilly, 661 Storms.

Excellent, warm, pretty waterproof, not too thick.

Devil’s Chessboard? Easy (when shown ‘the’ line! – Cheers Devs). First couple of sections at the top of the Black got into my head though – the rest seemed OK.

As for pads etc? Not really needed if you’re just trundling down. The bloke who did Air’s rock + air (landed half way down then unclipped one foot) did use his pads on the landing. Quality stack.

This thread is useless without pics…….etc.

Lies!

Shhh!!!

Scotland looks better every time I see a thread like this. Makes up for the rain [:)]

Just for the record – Scotland is terrible. I should know, I’ve lived here for 40 odd years. Please understand that you really wouldn’t like it. The rain is real, cold and generally horizontal. There is no Sun. The only warmth is from midgie bites. It’s a pretty boring place with nothing to do really. Not recommended for mountain biking. We can’t make beer, and you wouldn’t like Whisky (or Haggis). We have funny laws that you just wouldn’t understand. Come to think of it, you wouldn’t understand what anyone is saying either. Please, for your own sakes, just stay down in that there Englandshire.

ta :-)

forget chain maintenance. It’s overrated. Ride the **** thing. When the chain starts creaking and groaning, it’s time to shake off some of the congealed mud. Apply some WD40 or GT85 depending on how cheap you are. Ride some more. if it gets really bad, pedal harder. MTFU.

I drive a 2.5 TDi allroad, and I can be a complete c**t sometimes, and really considerate at other times. Was the same when I drive a 2CV though.

Seems to have something to do with how many B*W’s I’ve had to endure that day…

E71. Another shockingly good Nokia.

Get pished.

Another one for Interparcel – but it was about £70 to send a complete nomad (front wheel / bars removed) with a decent level of insurance from Sheffield to Scotland. It was CityLink who actually did the delivery though.

Get qualified in IT, and get offshore ‘on the rigs’. You’ll end up earning a good chunk more than £35k – but it isn’t the right working environment for everyone. And it has its inherent risks (well publicised recently)

Suits me fine though. 2 weeks working, 3 weeks off, repeat.

ji – The Windcheetah recumbent bike uses just such a drive arrangement (with a chain) – Single large chainstay, block on one side, wheel on the other. So it could be done – but as a one-off non-standard design these are expensive.

Still no real benefit over a chain inside the rear end as has been used for a good few years now….

Strip the frame down enough (forks off, wheels off, etc). Put the BB tool in the vice. Put the frame on the BB tool, and turn it that way, using the frame as a lever. That’ll see it out OK.

Remember to post pictures of your new Davy Crockett hat when it’s finished!

£100 FFS ??

You need to find another LBS that can be trusted. As TJ says, knock the SFN down the steerer, and fit a new one.

On some steerer tubes, the bottom end inside diameter is smaller than the top, so you can’t bash the old SFN right out. Not a huge problem in itself, depends how you fit the next SFN.

You can carefully tap these in – making sure they stay central. I use a length of M6 threaded rod with a nut and big washer on the bottom end to draw them in slowly – this keeps them central and level as they go in. Surely a decent LBS will for a new SFN for around a tenner?

http://www.yousendit.com

If you use it free, it’s kind of insecure, but there is a pay-for-it service which is supposedly more secure.

Off to Val d’Isere for my second ski trip of the spring on Saturday. Woo Hoo.

Make an internal cage out of Unistrut Channel, and weld the joints. Then you can coach bolt the roof / sides to this. Should make any wooden shed a fair bit more robust.

Or buy a big hungry dog.

Nice looking bike. Wall could do with re-pointing in places.

Bruk – Can’t comment on the difference between the espace killy and Whistler, as I’ve never been over there.

But, I have been to Val d’Isere for the last 7 years, either at Easter or the last week of the season (end of April). Never been let down by the snow. Tignes is higher, and has arguably better skiing. I prefer to stay in Val and ski over to Tignes. The highest points in Val and Tignes are both glaciers, and have good snow all season. Late in the season, you will get slushy conditions low down – That’s not a bad thing, just different (poor man’s powder, etc).

As for the cost, it really depends on the $ – £ and £ – Euro rates. It may be cheaper next year to go back to Whistler. Who knows? The flight is obviously a lot shorter, and if you fly into Chambery you can ski on the day you arrive, so you get 6 1/2 days in the week if you want them.

If you book ahead, lift pass is around £200, and ski hire around £100 for the week. (I expect a tray would be similar if you need one)

It’s a great area to ski (ok, and to board!). You can cover 50 miles (or more) in a day if you feel like it.

I had to try out the precision “1/2 price” fin de serie sale. £130 for the cheapest sallys in there – which were the cheapest I could find anywhere. That’ll teach me for having a fat arse and ripping my cheapo ones!!

I’ve not gone to the darkside yet, so I wouldn’t be needing boarding boots – but they do look rather fetching!

Ahh, I see. It means “Mouth of a river” over (up) here. I’m not one of them either!!

Stupot – If you are still looking for insurance, remind me on Tuesday and I’ll look up which company I am with on the Hilux (when I’m home)

Aye, free wine with the evening meal probably saved me a fortune!

That was the ‘family’ trip. Next week it’s ‘the boys’, so the £7 a pint will start to hurt. And I’m going with the Devil again – always a ‘challenge’ !!

stretching a point

that’s the only thing he’ll be stretching tonight then….

I know he is. Sometimes need to remind him of that fact.

p.s. No.

Glad to hear you had a good week. I was there the week before you, and it was excellent. So good in fact that I’m going back next week.

Bloody expensive this year though….

Commercial vehicle for non-commercial use = lots of phone calls to get insured.

Happily, it can mean a reasonably low premium though. (No idea why) I just managed to insure a Hilux 2.5TD Pickup for £450 fully comp for my son (17, Just passed his test), with me on the same policy. Other quotes were coming in around the £3500 mark.

I asked him about the box, and these magic headset reducers (increaser’s). It’s a Fox box (and he’s right!). He has confirmed that it’s a 1.5″ steerer, and isn’t saying anything more about reducers.

He’s probably getting very excited about all this interest…..

Gyroscopic precession effect actually increases again as the wheel reaches very low speeds. Can’t remember exactly why – lots of vector maths / physics involved – but it just does. That’s why navigation gyros can ‘topple’ as they are slowing down.

Gyroscopic Precession

Working. Stuck 170 miles out in the North Sea.

Still, looking forward to the following weekend – off to the Alps again…

The old 10 Franc coin was like the £2 one – dead easy to pop the middle out, and then shove it back in again. Not tried these newfangled £2 ones though.

Tesco bite valves rock. Once you’ve had yer slurp, and pushed the valve closed, there is just enough pressure in the end to squirt yer mates – in the eye is poss. All for £10 with a free rucsack.

Local woods – Oakwood, 2 miles. Fochabers – Moray Monster Trails etc, 10 miles.

I’ve got a zen extreme frame, and that’s exactly what they do. The only slightly unusual thing is the placement of the cable stops – on the bottom of the head tube rather than the top of the down tube. Not a bad idea though, as it stops all cable rub in this area. Never really had an issue with the shifting, although the cables do seem exposed run that way.

Bonzo – I used to spend short trips out there as groundcrew with a certain flying club, and was permanantly pished whilst there. But I still noticed the fact that there was a small hill there (nearly 1500′ of it!)

Mr Nutt – If you feel like punching one of those monkeys then my advice would be don’t go to Gib. They’ll punch you back. They are quicker and stronger than you. Believe me – they just are.

Mrs A did something similar, involuntary ice skating down our front steps. She had and was a pain in the arse for about 6 weeks. And she wouldn’t go and get it seen to either.

When I was a kid, I had an old version of Richard’s Bicycle Book, which has an excellent section on how to kill a dog. Suggestions include:

Jamming your pump down its throat
“Any small dog can simply be hoisted up by his legs and his brains dashed out”
Offer a pump or a stick for it to bite, and when it locks on: “Follow up with with breaking the dogs ribs or crushing its head with a rock.”
“If worst comes to worst, ram your entire arm down his throat. He will choke and die. Better your arm than your throat.”

Apparently later editions of the book had this advice edited out….

Juan – No Idea where Lordswood is, that pic is Oakwood, Elgin. The pond one is the same wood.

Next to the bike:

On the other bike:

Off the bike: (I’m the one with the hair, on the right)