Bedtime for me, please post any pics you get, martinxyz!

Useful links:
AurorawatchUK[/url]
Says we are on amber alert!

SpaceweatherCom[/url]
US based site.

I spent a whole year trying to see the aurora, saw about 6 displays. It was well worth it. To see these weird lights in the sky just blows your mind!

This is the current theoretical aurora ‘footprint’:

The colours are artificial. As the display occurs at great altitudes, distant watchers will see displays as far away as 50 to 80 miles, but obviously very faintly.

Go for it martinxyz!

I lived in Turriff (Aberdeenshire) 11 years ago at the last solar maximum. It takes quite a clear night, no moon and no light pollution to be able to see moderate aurorae. North of Turriff there’s almost no street lighting all the way to the North Pole! So seeing the displays was probably a bit easier.

Anybody further North. I’m in Sheffield myself so got that covered… If it wasn’t for the light pollution and patchy cloud we might’ve been able to see it as far South as Sheffield. In 1991 I saw a very bright display from Bridlington.

tried the Recon, sat a bit too high, not as good a fit as flux. Urge have got a new recon/flux – ish lid coming out.

Check the shock body and see if it heats up. A mate of mine had a reboundless Monarch on his Mega and the shock was warm after a very short trip. It should run totally cold. Get it sent back via your dealer to Fishers. 4 days and it’ll be back with a full fail sheet and list of corrective action.

Who the hell is allowing frames on cyclescheme??!!

HAINEY, has your mate reported the bike thefts to the police? Get him to ring:
Elaine Elliott
Station Enquiry Officer
Contact Management Department
Derbyshire Constabulary
Wyatts Way, Ripley
Tel: 0345 1233333 (Internal 790 1752)
It may all be in hand but just in case.
You posted in another thread a while ago but I didn’t see a reply.

All up weight now just over 32lb. And to think, I got my 575 down to just over 26lb at one point! I had a mad month, went all weight-weenie and then changed my mind and went sensible!

Plus troy lee grips and juicy carbons, plain to see. That’s it!

Hi! 😀 I had a nosey at your blog and had a remembering. It seems that there are only about 100 mountain bikers in the UK and they’re all on STW.
It was the Royal Wedding Day, I haven’t been back on Cutgate since!

BadlyWiredDog, were you on Cutgate heading North on 29th/30th April? Well, that weekend… Maybe the Friday. Me and Mrs Deveron53 chatted to a rider on a Ragley Ti at the bridge at Langsett…

Back end is laterally stiff. I believe it’s because of the steep seat angle and the rest of the geometry that I’m able to get down some quite gnarly slopes without dropping my seat more than 2cm. I’m able to get my weight back quite effectively. The downhill saddle helps as it is quite long.
Basically, it’s better than my 2007 575 at going up and going down and that’s despite a 3lb weight gain (heavier forks, frame and wheels). Other factors could be the 160mm Lyrik coil, it’s an awesome fork!

Well, personally I now feel very confident on a lot more trails. My 2007 575 with 140mm Revs was good but I still felt a bit out of my depth on some rocky downhills. Also, the Mega climbs way better. Less nose lift and I now run a 50mm stem versus 90mm on the Yeti. Mega is 3lbs heavier… Same tyres, wheels are now Flows instead of Crests.
Geometry feels a bit odd at first (my other bike is a hybrid) but after a few pedal revolutions you get into it. Back end is really stiff. Monarch shock has a 3-position switch but I use it fully open for all except tarmac/hard smooth trails, much less bob than RP23 when climbing. When on steep/rocky stuff I only drop the saddle about 2cm from optimum pedalling height. I have a Titec Berserker saddle which allows an easy rearward weight shift.
I love it!

When you get fed up with them, they’re far easier to dispose of than children. Sell, give away, er… ‘bump off’.

Have you tried pulling the axle ends off? If it’s the hub I’m thinking of it uses 6001 2RS bearings which have 12mm bores – our survey said: uuuhh UUUUURH!

If the hole in your bearings is greater than 20mm, something may be possible. If not, no chance! (or if there is – pointless!) What hub have you got?

Quite good, video is stable, any chance of a pic of the setup? The trail looks quite smooth, any footage of rougher trails? The trail I was on is quite bumpy. I was trying to test the stability so I deliberately hit as many rocks as I could! I had to discard the footage of me coming down the back of Jacob’s ladder into Hayfield as the angle was too low and all you can see is my bars and top tube.

Here’s the first relevant bit of video (loads of footage of handlebars and gloves – deleted!) shot at the weekend.
My own thoughts/criticisms:
1. a bit shaky – still using elastic straps and camera inside box is not secure enough.
2. needs to be a bit wider-angle, 0.45 converter on the way.
3. slight ‘halo’ caused by reflection of camera in the back of the front window – final version will be blacked out.
4. sound is crap. finished version will have ported stereo sound!

here it is:

Case no.2 has arrived and is being made into the second working prototype. I plan on making a chest mount with a bigger mounting plate for more stability and am toying with the idea of a single-axis ‘steadicam’ style mount that will allow a certain amount of controlled movement. The gopro 1080 has a 127degree angle of view compared to a typical digital compact 24/25mm equivalent angle of view of 84degrees. This makes aiming the home-made action camera more crucial. The gopro uses the huge wide angle to compensate for aiming imprecision! A small amount of self-aiming will help the home made camera capture a decent view.

I liked the vid, almost made my ears pop!
The thing with gopros is the plastic housing picks up and amplifies all sorts of minor knocking. Your chest mount is very shaky though, did you have it loose?

Any idea where it’s taking off from? I think home base is Bruntingthorpe but it has been known to park at Robin Hood/Finningley.

The case is a bit big for the camera, there’s a lot of space inside although the lens at full extension needs the depth to just clear the back of the filter. About 5mm to spare.
Took me about 30 mins with a glue gun and a drill. The thu-case buttons took some time, they are car number plate screws with little return springs.

I use Brunox Deo lube for the same effect and it’s recommended by Rockshox (hopefully won’t cause failure or invalidate warranty if failure)
JE James has it for about 4.5 quid.

Shimano M424. Basically a M520 with a nylon cage. Allows for rapid clip in and out as the cage helps you to ‘flatten’ the pedal to get the engagement angle right. If you’re not 100% clipped in it still allows you to pedal. Non-cage pedals may ‘skate’ and roll over if clipping in in a hurry. I’ve had many an over-extended knee from doing that previously with the tiny metal spds.
At less than 30 quid they’re cheap. The nylon cage is very strong and helps protect the pedal from ground-strikes.
I use mine for all types of riding (pair on my hybrid, pair on my Mega) and back the adjuster off all the way out and three clicks in.

I reiterate: There are 2 train managers who are total assholes. Every other train manager is a saint.

End of story.

project, it’s weird how one word offends you but another doesn’t.

moaning about somebody doing their job

er, doing their job totally by the book and being a right jobsworth about it. If ALL the train managers rigidly stuck to the 2 bikes per train rule and the ‘buy a ticket before you get on’ rule then all very well, we know what to expect. But EVERY Northern train manager except 2 of them allows multiple bikes and tickets on demand.
The trains can take 4 bikes without any problem. I can’t see why the limit is 2. They used to ban bikes totally on the Hull to Scarborough line and years afterwards I found out why. The reason was TOTALLY ludicrous and unjustified.
I get fitter as a result of my self-admitted over the top blow-up. It’s true, no-one knows the full story. There may be a good reason why I’m a bit angry this week. I could do with a ban from stw, It would make me find something else to do when I’m bored.

That climb they do at the end, you know to get those flowers and the teddy and kiss from the rent-a-slag. They do 3, I do 14 at a time.

It’s an isolated incident for me. Every other train manager lets limitless bikes on! That particular train manager and another one who, in addition to sticking rigidly to the 2 bikes rule also attempts to short-change any passenger daring to buy a ticket with a tenner (caught him doing it more than once). They are known for it. Jobsworths, Blakeys without the moustaches. Power mad.
Yes, I have been known to get a little worked up, that’s why I try and cycle away from the roads and the 2 ton steel weapons that people use to attempt to murder me while cycling.
The tortuous meant ‘twisty’, possibly need a thesaurus as well!

Are you presently suffering from any mental health issues?

I do wonder sometimes…

Thanks for the Samaritans service guys, I do feel a bit of a Knob to be honest. I think the cycling to work will be mandatory since I may be banned from Northern Rail and that particular train manager has refused me access on a previous occasion so will most definitely refuse me in the future!

“Flat pedals are better for downhill mtbing”
“Carbon is the ultimate frame material”

I need to offset the happy jolly pro-dog propaganda pics from earlier in the thread.

To quote TJ:

So what do you use your dog for?

So yes, I do agree that dogs are useful in the modern world! There are a lot of hungry people in South-East Asia.

I use Sram cassettes, mechs and shifters. I use Shimano cranks and rings. I have done for about 8 years. My last 9 speed set lasted 4 years, I now have an X7 10 speed setup. Yes, you can re-use the powerlinks. The chains are based on the old Sachs design, solid German engineering. I have known many snapped Shimano chains but only one ever snapped Sram chain. It was broken by a friend of mine when he fell in a 4x race (huge, unusual stresses!). It did not snap at the powerlink! Fishers replaced the chain with the top 990 model without quibble.

If alcohol, tobacco, sugar and dogs were newly discovered today, they would all be banned. We had a need for a dog waaaaay back in the mists of time. We have very little need for the dog now. Working dogs excepted (Police, blind assistance etc). I’m sitting here listening to my neighbour’s four dogs barking their f*cking heads off every time a sparrow farts! A terraced house with a tiny yard and four well-fed dogs. When the wind is blowing in the right wrong direction the smell is disgusting.

So while the dog owners/experts are about, what’s the best way to deal with jumpy yappy dogs ?

I could say but I may risk a ban…

Yes, people buy these biting, yapping, shedding, digging, chasing, stinking, shitting things, take them to the countryside to distribute aforementioned shit and are quite astounded to find that some other people do not share their love of the 4-legged biting shit-spreader and object to being approached by a fur-covered barking knife drawer that may behave in a wholly unpredictable manner.
I slow down for horses and children but speed up for dogs. I DO NOT stop! (In case anyone wonders, yes, I HAVE been bitten by a dog!).
I’m here to balance out the dog-lovers (dog ‘lovers’… eugh!, makes me shudder!).

I’m a bodger, it’ll fit!

You can’t polish a turd… But you can roll it in glitter!