My wife currently going bonkers, the eldest was off school with a bug all last week and now its half term so he is already bored and its raining and rubbish outside. On the plus side his colouring is getting really good!

For me I think Alcohol would be the obvious choice. Or maybe TV – to get me off my bum in the evenings but the olympics is on and the 6 nations so can't do that!

For snot clearing while riding I use right index finger to close left nostril and snot out over my right shoulder with head turned to the right, reverse for other side. No snot / arm interface issues.

Is that not what TVR's become after a year or so, £200 wrecks? 😉

He is no worse or better than Brown, equally cynical and hypocritical as politicians tend to be.

Sorry – OT but Racing_Ralp I have sent you my address for the stem again, if you don't get it please mail me your phone number and I'll give you a call.

Cheers!

Like it, I've got an 18" one in the Barry White black, I'm going to call it Evil Inbred 😈

Cheers Peter, like your set up I agree 140mm forks are spot on, that's the type of build I'm going for. Nice!

The frame needs to be redesigned to meet the new CEN testing requirements I think, hence the latest batch once sold will be it. I'm sure whatever they come up with to replace will be good. Doesn't mean the current one isn't good or strong.

Thanks, I was looking for a bit on info on how it happened rather a than a show of hands! How did it happen Peter?

Just riding along oldgit?

Were you running big forks cp or is that just lots of hard use?

DOH! So obvious yes undo the spoke, why didn't I think of that? Oh yes that's right I'm a bit dim…

I just finished reading Chris Bonnington's account of his team getting to the summit of Annapurna via the South face, and I'd agree that it sounds grindingly hard, dangerous and unpleasant. There's no way I'd do it but then I will pay to bury myself riding a bike in mud for fun, which to others might sounds like their idea of hell.

I suppose if you have the goal the pain is worth it, but the risk of death is a whole other level with high altitude climbing. I cannot understand the mentality of people who leave a wife / husband and children at home to take their chances…

Also found a switch to flats helped and I've never used SPD's since.

What knee problems are you experiencing? I went through a period of getting knee pain beneath my knee caps which I think was general inflamation, I spent a fair bit of time off the bike doing nothing but front crawl swimming to get everything stable without aggravating. I also used some orthtic inserts for cycling which are now pretty ruined but I still use them anyway as I'm used to them. Helped me but might not work for you.

I would agree with comments above that kite control is the the key, flying the kite is 90% of the sport I would say. The kites are very powerful and you need to know how to handle them confidently to have fun.

Lots of people do it and love it so why not give it a go?

Try this. Go for a great ride on your Kona, remind yourself of all the things you like about it and perhaps think of a nice new shiny bit you could get to make it even nicer. Give it a good clean and fettle and leave it clean and improved in your shed / garage. Convince yourself that you shouldn't sell it because its great.

Then buy a new frame anyway and wonder how you will get all the new bits to build it up and where you will keep it since you couldn't possible bear to part with the old one.

Works a treat for me!

I think it depends if you want to use a bike for a lot of different things or not. If you have different bikes for different jobs then no I don't think its worth it. I have found it very useful recently for my all-rounder type bike, winding down my Pikes for XC, wind down and firm up for dirt jumping or mucking about in a skate park, or full softer travel for a bit of DH run sessioning.

Surely life is too short to go to all that effort above ^^^^ for the sake of a childrens playhouse? I'd just dig out to the depth of the slabs plus a bit and level it out, compact the soil, level with sand and lay the slabs over the top butted up really tight. Once done the and playhouse on top what is going to go wrong?

This has worked fine for me in the past and for small sheds and the like its perfectly adequate IMHO.

Far more than I can afford at the moment unfortunately

I just did 1:45 while sitting on the loo, I reckon I could have got to 2mins if my life depended on it but it was starting to feel unpleasant and I needed a poo.

I've got some Sunline V1 bars which I am might pleased with, v light, look good, comfy, 711mm width is spot on, not carbon. I think they will be noticeably nicer than the V2's.

I had an ace ride at Swinley on Saturday morning, yes it was a very muddy affair but still fun. Don't understand why all trails have to be smoothed and bermed….

For removing the removal tool is very handy, only about £10 for one. Otherwise if you are lucky you can drift it with wooden dowel as you say.

I have always used the fork steerer and top cap with stem loose and extra spacers to sqeeze my headsets in, a bit of grease it works a treat. Why the need for a tool? Steerer has added advantage of holding the cups in alignment as they go in.

Not done this before but planningto drive down this year. Was hoping to do the Saturday and play on the Sunday, any advice on timings, etc? Thinking of staying in Morzine as base…

Wildlife murdering little *&@%$£?

My Mrs bought me my Inbred frame as an engagement present (well she did get a ring!) so its called Ballard, which is her maiden name.

Other bikes just called what they are called, although I might try to come up with something better…

Not a line, but the set up at the start of the racist episode with the little bit of black tape on the window for the Hitler gag later on, just genious!

This is really interesting! (I think I may be an anorak too..)

In particular the interaction between compression and gate as described by TF, I had not appreciated how they worked together at all. At teh moment I think I'm doing to opposite to what Mr Flooks does, must try to other way and see what its like!

X-firm?! Ha ha, that's a good guide then! I have not bottomed mine out yet but riding on mud and ice its a bit tricky to get any speed up! I land all my jumps perfectly onto the transition with such smoothness that my suspension hadrly moves anyway … 😉

What spring comes as standard then? Mine feel fine for me with what I presume is a medium spring and no compression damping, and I weight about 12 stone. They could maybe be a bit softer but I quite like a firm set up.

Don't get me wrong el_creedo I'm not knocking the question. I'd love a lighter option but given the cost of tyres I can't keep trying different ones to find out what I like. I tend to buy things that look OK, have been recommended and are in the sale! And once I've found something that works I'm too lazy / cheap to try something else…

I used to use Comp 16's for DH years ago and found them very heavy and a right pain to get on and off. I'm sure they've improved since.

🙂

Thing is they work, aren't very expensive and last pretty well. I agree they don't roll that fast but hy ho you can't have everything. What's not to like?

Bloody nightmare, especially after the snow melted. My kids wnet out to play after the snow melted in our close and within 10 mins the little'un had ridden his trike through one turd and then I know not how or where 10mins later the older one comes back stinking of dog poo as well! How I cursed all dog owners… Local woods are just as bad, get dog poo strike more times than not. Same when I took the children up to Ashridge, sh*te everywhere. HOW I HATE IT WITH A PASSION!!!!! And breathe…

For xc try a singly ply 60a 2.35 High Roller on the front, and a 2.1 (or if you have the frame clearance 2.25) Crossmark on the back. Good all round combo I find, apart from sticky mud.

Why do the Swinley trails need to be made "more sustainable"? I would be so bored if everyhwere I ride was all this smoothed out gritty rubbish that adorns trail centres, Afan was very underwhelming. Whats wrong with riding in mud as long as its not too sticky? Really agree with the 6" bike thing, they are just not needed most of the time unless you are in the Alps.

How rude – checking your computer while at the dinning table.

After a shakey start this bike is starting to grow on me… Mini DH bike on the downhills, corners fantastically at speed, excellent techy climber, and now I'm getting it set up better it evens feel quite efficient on the along bits. I'm liking it more and more….