2nd ride of the year over the ridgeway, much better than the 1st. The “ruin” is an old farm building in Rockley.

[/url]Bike pics 004[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

also persistent rumours of a bit of cheeky dh at hampstead heath?????

Downhill riding by day, uphill gardening by night 8O

speaking as a sole trader myself it’s really hard at the moment. I get half a dozen or so phone calls a month from young lads wanting me to take them on as apprentices but I’m struggling to keep myself busy right now, nevermind anyone else. My advice is to get as qualified as you can now. This recession won’t last forever, good, skilled tradesmen will always be needed and when things pick up again so will the work. It might mean you have to do a crappy job you hate for a year or 2 but you’ll have a head start when things get going again.

Forgive my ignorance but why would you put the headset in the freezer?

The average seems to be about 2hrs up and 1/2hr down. I seem to remember reading somewhere the record for the down was about 8mins!

I know a lad who won’t ride anything else.

With regard to the lefty fork,I don’t think I could ever fully trust one, it just looks like it shouldn’t work!

Sorry m8 but I agree with most of the others, person riding downhill has more control (or should have) over the bike than the person climbing.

That is justice. I tell my lad “try not to let anyone hit you or if they do make sure you hit them back”

I told my little girl exactly the same thing, my mrs went mad. The thing is I know it’ll get her in trouble one day but I Also told her as long as she didn’t start it I’ll back her all the way.

Viaduct at Cotswold water park
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15th March 2011[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr
Not sure about the dates but it looks victorian
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15032011_002[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

I’d be looking at something like this.
http://www.nimltdengineering.com/Bike-Lockers-and-Cages/standard-individual-walk-in-security-locker-single-bike-shelter.html

I reckon the education system in this country needs a proper shake up. We don’t educate kids anymore, just teach them how to pass exams. A lot of teachers (I accept it’s not all of them) are far too happy just to go through the motions and pick up the pay cheque every month. Kids who can’t be pigeonholed get left behind. We need more inspirational teachers, people who actually can and want to make a difference. I reckon this program goes some way to highlighting that

I’ve got one of the red dog bleed kits and it works a treat.

(and yes, they do now come with proper hose clamps)

WHSmiths.

[/url]
05032011[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

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05032011_001[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

let’s face it, we’d all like “one more bike!”. Your current bike will be fine but if it’s a temporary thing I’d look for something secondhand and cheap for commuting.

star wars is as relevant now as it was 30 years ago, or anything Ben10

I’m in the same boat. Once in a blue moon I’ll buy 10 fags and smoke them over 2 days, riding that week will be a killer and I’m out of breath on the gentlest slopes. Thing is there’s a lad in our club who’s first up every climb and smokes roll ups. When the rest of us get to the top he’s either got one on or is rolling one.

would it be wrong to get his name tattoed?

Yes, very, very, very wrong unless you’re a)female or b) his dad!

Family duties for me today unfortunately. Did manage a quick one yesterday though and may manage to get a bike cleaning session in later.

In theory you should install independant hot and cold feeds to the mixer valve as anyone drawing water from the same feed will affect the shower pressure and the thermostats ability to work properly. In practice you should be able to tee off the existing hot and cold feeds in your bathroom as it’s unlikely anyone will be running the taps in there while you’re in the shower.

The header tank in the loft should’ve been disconnected when you had the combi boiler installed, if it wasn’t then the cold water in your bathroom MAY be fed from it. Simple way to check this is to turn your water off at your main stop cock, if you still get water when you open the cold tap then this is the case (it shouldn’t be like that though). It may be the case that the tank is to big too get through the loft hatch so was disconnected but left in situ.

It does puzzle me why some cyclists just point blank refuse to use cycle paths.

There’s a long road where I live that goes from one side of town to the other with a cycle lane on one side that runs the entire length of the road. I was stopped for a drink one day when a guy on a road bike pedalled over to me shouting “did you see that?” I hadn’t and asked him what had happened and he told me he’d narrowly avoided a collision with a car and suggested the car was at fault. I asked him why he didn’t use the cycle lane provided, he said “all those pelican crossings are a pain in the arse”. I then pointed out that it was no more bother than stopping for red lights on the road, in fact considerably less as on that stretch the lights change more or less as soon as you press the button. His reply? “oh, I don’t bother stopping for red lights”

I’m MIAS level 2 qualified. To be honest there’s not much to the course, It’s more about dynamic risk assesing and making sure you know the limits of your group and how to get them to ride more than any riding technique. anyone with a decent off road riding ability and a good measure of common sense would pass.

there’s no horizontal pipe from the top of the cylinder, the shower is from the top output of the flange and the taps are supplied by the side output of the flange which is tee’d off to the vent

replace the warwick flange (we call it a Surrey flange round here) with a standard single outlet flange to the pipe supplying water to the hot taps

1) open window
2) throw laptop out of aforementioned window
3) get some sleep while you can

Get rid of the Warwick flange and take your hot water feed by teeing from the underside of the horizontal pipe coming from the top of your HW cylinder. This should reduce the chances of pulling in air.

I couldn’t get out of bed for a week, no real pain but VERY uncomfortable anytime I stood up for more than 5 mins. Was about 6 weeks before I could even look at a bike.

Same amount as when not in pro pedal it just doesn’t react the same giving you a firm ride for climbing or fast smoothish singletrack, I often forget to flick mine off for the more knarly stuff

ahhh I see, I thought it just stiffened up the shock and didn’t allow it to travel as far.

so you use all the travel when not on Pro Pedal?

depends what/where I’m riding but pretty much yeah.

I’ve never heard anyone suggest setting up a shock any otherway than by the sag measurement, by all means run less sag say 20-25% rather than 30% but don’t just add air willy-nilly. Also guides for setting up shock are just that guides, they aren’t gospel, measure your sag and make adjustments based on that.

I’ve set the sag pretty much as Fox tell you to and it’s more or less spot on, I just didn’t think it should travel that much in pro pedal

Right, here’s what I tried to post earlier

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22022011[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

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22022011_001[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

And for a Brucie Bonus I found this on the ride home

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22022011_003[/url] by Daves mate[/url], on Flickr

Aaaarrrggggh! *pulls hair out*
a lesson in adding photo’s to forum posts anyone?

Right then. I’ve been lurking on the edge of these weekly posts for a while now (nearly posted a pic of my bike with a water bottle on the seat for the underwater one but thought that was a bit cheeky for my first go). Anyway, an old fella I used to work with about 10 years ago told me about this place so A slight detour on 1 of my regular routes and there it was.

It’s in a farmers field just outside Swindon and apparently it’s quite rare because it’s built so far above ground.

Can you use other pots/pans on that Caldera stove or just the one that comes with it?

Have to say i made a pop can stove using the instructions on the wrt blog and it works fine. I used a nail to make the holes and although I put them in the top I put them quite far down, stuck a camp kettle directly on top and it brewed up a treat.

did your soil stack go up through the roof inside the house? if so have a look in your loft as he may have cut it off and put an air admittance valve on there. you wouldn’t be able to see it behind the loo.

just out of interest, how many shaves do people get on average from one DE blade?

doesn’t sound right but depends what he’s done in it’s place

“Be patient, I’ll let you know what to do with your cans later”

Woo hoo! Just finished and it looks the nuts! Now where did I put that meths? :?

This is all good advice guys, please keep it coming. I’m sitting here with 2 cans cut in half patiently waiting for what to do next! :roll:

Marko – I’m currently thinking along your lines re not cluttering the bike up to much. I’m thinking a small pack on the bars and a half decent sized seat post bag with a pack on my back. Those Gourdon 20 backpacks on alpkit look good and vfm, are they worth having?

A luxury? Sawn off toothbrush and tooth paste.In fact this is your starting point. Weighing out the tooth paste will get your head into the correct ‘weight weenie’ frame of mind.(Not that I’m obsessional, oh no).
Hth
Marko

Really? Does it get that obsessive? I’ve done a bit more research and a lot of this gear isn’t that expensive really, I was thinking I’d need to tak out a 2nd mortgage to kit myself up.

What do you lot use to attach dry bags to the bars?
Do those hom made drinks can stoves really work?

Sorry, no bar. but there is a pub down the road!

Gilfach Wen Bunkhouse[/url]. Best bunkhouse I ever stayed at at 10 mins from the drop off bus.

Bled my juicy’s for the first time last week and have to say I found it a lot easier than it sounded when reading the instructions. I find it a lot less faffing to do it with the wheels on, as long as youre careful and wrap some paper towel around the caliper there’s no problem.