Servicing a hub, cleaning the cone to watch one of the ball bearings disappear down the plug hole.

Wheel truing, once you start, you can’t stop. Ever.

Ah yes, the Safari suit. Don’t forget to have a comb poking out of the top pocket (or ideally, in your sock). And use it mid way through the interview.

Not sure if a dropper post counts as a ‘little bit of kit’, but what did we do before them? Wider bars were a revelation. But I do like my overshoes, £12 Planet-X overshoes keep my toes toasty.

Aside from the measure twice cut once rule, the only time I really messed up was damn nearly stripping the thread on the bottom bracket. Oh, and grease. Grease everything.

Just again – 69.8. It’s an otb ‘moment’ looking for a place to happen.

Another for the Chunky. I ran it on the front for Alps trip last year. On a 35 mm rim, should be pretty big.

Are you sure it says Cliff Edge? It could be Club, or Clint, or …

@roverpig, will do, just trying to decide between the fox 34’s or the pikes. Any guidance?

I really like the look of that Mondraker, slack and long..

That looks well sorted.

I was going to nominate Tim’s recent spacewalk, a 4 hour jaunt outside, went round the earth 3 times.

@ roverpig, just ordered my Smuggler (to replace my green bandit two9 :( )

Safety orange all the way!

I just had a brush with Wheelies, though my banks insurance. While they were easy enough to deal with, when it came to the valuation, they took 10% ‘commission’ to settle cash, because I didn’t want to replace the bike through them directly.

Hindsight: A custom / home built bike needs to be valued separately because the ‘stock’ build kits will not reflect the value of your build. I had a cap on my payout through the bank – my own fault.

I received a 1/3 payout of the bikes value because I didn’t insure fully. In the future, I will be working through a dedicated bike insurance company.

I rode down a perfectly ride-able bridleway last week, went back this weekend after a 100 cross country runners, rendering it all but impassable. Of course the walkers and horse riders had found an alternate path round the side. This issue is not limited to bikers.

QEP will be pretty grim, also the met office is showing rain plus wind tomorrow, Swinley will be far better.

I thought I would share advice from local police. It seems that there are a group of ‘spotters’ under the guise of delivery / couriers, who then target specific high end bikes, then they just do a smash and grab. My bike was taken from my workshop. They just kicked the door in. Took nothing else of any value – including another older bike, go pro, some expensive bike lights that were charging on the work bench. All this happened while I was out of the house for 2 hours (I work from home).

Just a heads up for you all. From now on, we will have any deliveries dropped at our local post office.

ooh, Jekkyl, you might win that round..

I’ve been riding with the same group for many years. We all do solo rides in-between, but we push each other when riding in a group. I don’t feel I always put the same workrate in riding solo.

I bought some overshoes from Planet X for £12. Toasty dry feet without buying new boots.

We had our black lab done a few months ago. This is of course entirely your decision. But I will add that its all keyhole surgery, our dog was in the vets for less than a day, and back up to full length walks within 48 hours.

As for the why – we have other dogs, young kids, rabbits, horses. It was the right thing to do for our circumstances.

Ok, officially one full seven day week of not smoking.

I’m a (was?) a secret smoker, I had my routines, but hated smoking in front of people, even people that smoked too. Never smoked in front of my wife or kids (my wife stopped 15 years ago). My wife has no idea as to the extent of my habit. I could manage the family holidays, but given half a chance… Of course my bike was a great excuse to smoke. Head out for a ride, find a nice spot on the side of a hill, have a couple. Have a few before meeting mates out for a ride. I have at least 4 hiding places for cigs around the shed and car. I travel a fair amount for work, so that’s an easy one right? I recon about 10 – 15 a day habit, more if traveling.

Frustrating thing is, because I hid my habit pretty well, I can’t easily share the success to date.

I thought today would be tougher than it was. But I’m wary. Anyway – I read somewhere that quitting is a journey, not an event. I’m off to sign up for a bunch of enduros for this year!

On day 6 smoke free. Tomorrow will be testing as kids and wife go back to school / work. One day at a time right?

Long-haul on Avios are less than ideal. I booked for my family to Cape Town and back, and was still £2.7k out of pocket. BUT – I can get to Geneva and back with my bike for £35! Miles work well for short euro hops.

Pointless.

Clutch mechs are fantastic, and worth the investment. The only issue you should watch out for is the cage length. Too short, and you will struggle getting the right tension and range, especially with a triple. You should aim for a medium cage. Worth checking – as the freeride mechs are typically short, given that freeride bikes usually have a single small ring upfront.

Our GP’s stay outdoors, but you must make sure they have dry bedding, and a decent cage. No single pringles – in fact, I think its illegal in some countries to have only one!

I’m not a hamster fan, they bite, and only active at night. If (when) they escape – well, I have cut up the floorboards on more than one occasion. +1 for rats – great pets, but need attention, so a level of commitment from kids is required.

Bottom line – any pets you get for the kids will become your responsibility. The novelty wears off.

Yep.

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Well, I found this on the weekend (Stans Crest):
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So expecting this today:

That little plastic retaining ring is actually necessary.

I put at least 3 items of recycling in the rubbish bin last night.

“Puny god”
– The Hulk

“Do you want that shaken or stirred?”
“Do I look like I give a damn?”
– James Bond

Mm, the Stans crest are holding up very well for a lightweight option (+1 @Jeffus) I have replaced a few spokes, but still strong after over 1500 miles of abuse. On-one are doing the Shimano XT rims at 30% off at the moment. I have been running a set of these on my SS for many miles, but the hub and centerlock rotors might not suit.

New to this thread. Read the first page, and went straight to the last page. Result! The keyboard is indeed mightier than whatever is holding that sign up.

My XC90 was towing the ‘van up towards New Forest, glanced at the mpg display. 1. One MPG. Singular. Ok, its was a hill, and it was the v6 3l.

Mrs dday has a Grand Espace. Ok, all issues expressed on this forum notwithstanding, it’s been designed by someone who actually had kids. Furthermore, if you remove the seats, there enough room to hold a 5-a-side tournament in there.

“If you cant buy it with cash, you can’t afford it”

This is mine, bought for myself after getting a work promotion a few years back.

Get your son an octopus. Buy lottery ticket. Profit.

Heads up, we had the same issue last year, staying in Morzine, and starting in Les Lindarets. Its actually a long way (like 50 mins one way). We had a big group, so getting us all there was an issue. But if there are just a few of you, make an early start so you can collect packs in time. We thought of riding through, but the lifts connecting to Lindarets didn’t open in time. Best bet is to drive through, or buy another lift pass and make your way over. Check when you need to collect your packs though, I think its before 9am? Either way, its a pita.

We eventually managed to convince PDS staff to change our starting point to Morzine, but it wasn’t easy.

Mmm, I read somewhere that Kaffenback is something that happens when she doesn’t spit, if you get my drift.

I understand the white-van man needs to make calls, given the amount of time they spend on the road. Should employers step up and equip these vehicles with hands free? Should this be applied to all commercial vehicles, at employers expense?

Can’t stand seeing 4 blokes jammed upfront in a van, with the drivers steering with his elbows using phone. If you need to make a call, get you mate to do it ffs.