I cannot chose just one. Here’s my selection:

And one that still cracks me up, her ‘reply’ to Robert Palmer!

This video got me into Muse:

A rough guess for frame only will be £2800. Depends if they’re going to charge more than £2600 for the new Switch Infinity bikes

Jeez, I was told to wait until August for a new 29er FS from Yeti and here it is. Do I get rid of my SB95 for one though? If so I’m going to have to get shot of my Pikes and Hoops because this new ASR would demand light stuff. I may just wait until the new 29er Infinity Switch comes out and get a cut-price SB95c when they start selling them off!

I have weakened and have POF, Match and Fitness Singles Profiles but am sticking to my guns on ‘dream woman’ criteria. Thing is, there are a lot that fit my criteria but are either in Edinburgh or Glasgow. NE Scotland is a loooong way from there.

I have fallen in love with a pair of 29er tyres… I put them on, rode for a bit, took them off and I missed them!
They go up with a track pump on Stan’s Flow EX. They don’t hold mud especially at the pressures I use.
I can go over wet rocks, roots and through mud, loam, sand and loose over hardpack.
Front: Maxxis Minion DHF 29 x 2.5 Maxx Grip EXO TR DH casing at 15 psi
Rear: Maxxis Minion DHF 29 x 2.3 Maxx Grip EXO TR at 20 psi
The 3C tread blocks are weird! They feel as if they’re made by Haribo!
A fantastic fun general riding or training tyre, if I was racing I’d probably put something lighter on but for everything that the North East of Scotland has got, it does the job. (I must point out that we don’t really have clay up here…)

Looking at the weather… mud tyres, wetsuits and snorkels. But you’re using rule 5 so what do I know (I hate mud, that’s what I know!)

I used to drive BMW 7 series’ (E32 and E39). The boot is large enough to take a bike with wheels off. The rear seat is big enough for all sorts of lying down…

I flood the bearings with 3-in-1 oil. Or other heavy-ish oil. I run the CTD in D for everything except fire road climbs where I will stand up for short sections to ease the pain!

Thank F*** for the fold!

Thanks for the support guys! I’m going to leave the dating scene for a while, I shall continue with my personal improvement projects.

The difference between L and XL is only really in the top tube length, an extra 20mm, which is exactly what I want. I actually lowered the stem stack height which improved handling at speed with the seat down a bit.

I already received a new triangle due to my pedalling power cracking the BB area! That was before the fork upgrade though.

Oh well, that lasted 11 days… The same people seem to go around and around on the POF carousel. Got to try something else, too many damaged people with ‘issues’ to handle.

Any ideas? My cupboard is bare!

I’m 6’3″ and chose the Large but wish I’d gone for XL. I now run a 50mm Renthal stem (previously 65mm Havoc)and Low rise Renthal bars which seem to be quite comfy. I’d like to shorten the stem even more but will need to move up a size in bike (considering carbon for 2015).

I don’t really notice blowing through rear travel. The Switch Link may help with coping with large square hits. I went for 150mm Pikes because I never seem to get full advertised travel out of any fork!

I think the travel will be fine. 29ers feel longer travel due to the rollover capability. Get some decent tyres. I use the new squishy Minion – very confidence inspiring!

I have an SB95. Got Pikes and Hope/FlowEx. Brilliant.

What front mech (if any) are you fitting? I can give you the details of mine. It’s a bit difficult finding the right one.

A couple of tips for a new SB95:

Disassemble the Switch link and make sure the bearing is fully seated into the bike. With the stop-bolt removed, the whole Switch link should rotate easily by hand. If it’s a bit stiff, the bearing is not fully seated. I carefully reseated mine with a mallet and punch tapping on the outer race.
With the Switch link plates removed, prise off the bearing dust cover and flood the bearing races with a high quality lube. Every month or so, reflood the bearing. Then reassemble and rotate several times by hand. This will prolong bearing life.

Weren’t you the one who wouldn’t go 1×10 with a 42T because it was too steep round your way? Or was it the other one?

Might have been me. I sold my OneUp cos I spun out too much with the chainring required to get up 2500ft per 13 miles like most rides around here!

Last year I did the 5:2 diet AND 3 hard mtb rides per week. Lost 25lbs and that’s with building muscle mass as well. Got about 8 to 10 lb more to lose and then we’ll see what things look like. Still got a bit of a tum and moobs.

6ft 3, currently weigh 190lbs aged 49. At 25 I was 12 stone (168lbs) and probably had single digit bodyfat.

I always wait before setting off. Who needs lightweight carbon parts? I’m sure my ‘unloading’ is the equivalent of £1000 of weight weenie components…

Apparently the Magic Mary is a good front replacement. I was going to go for a DH carcass version for my 29er but Schwalbe took 8 months to release it so I went for a Minion instead.

For my fat-burning rides I make a 6 serving Moka pot (Lavazza)and drink the lot with a tablespoon of molasses sugar. I usually have to visit the loo to lose a bit of ‘weight’ before I can ride as coffee has that effect on me…
The caffeine takes about 30 minutes to get going but I can certainly feel it once I’m on the first hill and warmed up. Listening to a bit of Rammstein as I’m getting ready usually helps as well.

I was told the theory behind the caffeine was that it mobilises fat into the bloodstream and the body will use fat if it’s there in the blood as energy before any other source. It even leaves the muscle glycogen alone. Caffeine also acts as an anaesthetic for the pain of exercise so there’s 2 performance enhancing reasons!

Sifting through Banardos this weekend I came across a Lost Prophets T with the slogan “The Betrayed” on it. I suggested it might be prudent to bin it

And Barnardo’s as well. Sheesh!

My candidate for BEST band T shirt is my Anthrax Judge Dredd one. Cool as…

Sounds like seals going on the turbo on intake side. The oil will be sucked past the turbo shaft seal into the intake and be burned as if fuel. So that’s why it’s pulling better than ever, the engine is getting more fuel. IMHO of course!

Soap then? I use either Dove or E45 soap. Neither are perfect.

I use Hydro 5 with the stupid lube strip removed. It’s the only one that you can totally get rid of the strip and the plastic that holds it.
I find the shaving soap/oil is very important. Any recommendations?

so 6 date sin 8 days over two sites and you are one of the good guys and not a philanderer

I’ve no idea why, but all of a sudden, all my email contacts wanted to meet up and weirdly, there were no clashes. They all lined up one each day just about… strange, but I’m not complaining!

Did you seduce her with your enormous wheelying skills?

No, but I did a stupid thing. Thinking she would be slower than me, I decided to put the DH tyres on and run them at about 15 psi. She’s very fit and was riding a mid-range Giant hard tail with fast-ish tyres on. I was a bit achy in the legs when I got up this morning! Trying keep up with her on the hills and talk was a bit difficult. I was chatting away and suddenly realised I needed to breathe!

BOOM! Had a first date yesterday – mountain biking! If you wait long enough…
Second date to take place within 24 hours. I declare a result! Fingers crossed I don’t f*ck it up now. Wish me luck STW, I’m going in!

It’s going to be a lot easier than the circular switch link to keep an eye on. You’ll see the dust/dirt wipe limits visible on the stanchions so you know it hasn’t seized. The current system has no visual clues when the link stops rotating, just a creaky sound and gradually worse rear suspension performance.

Eek! Exchange rates mean nothing to importers obviously!

BIG smiles at Yeti HQ! Everything came together in the same week. Perfect synergy between marketing, design and race team. Even Rosara Joseph got a 5th on the new SB6. There was a lot of luck involved but also a lot of faith. I reckon they’ll shift the infinity link bikes easily now… regardless of the cynics and haters. Not forgetting the armchair suspension designers.

i’m out, was ill this week…

Hey, surroundedbyhills, you’re the example we’re all trying to follow. I’m sure my date on Sunday will be riding a BSO but hey, it’s biking…

POF is good if you’re a nice guy and keen to meet up. Too many philandering keyboard warriors so the good guys stand out, it just takes a while for the ladies to filter down to you through the twits and liars!

So, In 8 days I will have had 6 dates. 4 off POF, 2 off Match (I complained about the poor Match app and they gave me 3 days free and I managed to get those 2 in the 3 days!).If Strava gave KOMs for dating…
Still, I have to convert one of them into a girlfriend which is now the tricky part as I have to pretend to like talking about things other than bikes!
I too wish to get off the crazy internet dating train. For GOOD!

UPDATE:
I have just arranged a mountain biking date for Sunday… We’re meeting for the first time with our bikes and setting off! Cool eh?

Well, a few stories there to keep my spirits up, thanks chaps. I’ve had 2 ‘coffees’ so far this week. Almost managed to land a very attractive, fit mountain biking lady but there were a couple of deal breakers on each side – gutted! A road cycling lady yesterday but cycling was the only thing we had in common. I’ve got one more this afternoon and another one tomorrow. I’m seriously processing them! For some reason, all my email contacts suddenly want to meet up! I’ve still got a couple to get booked in for next week.

I’m not some sort of man-tart, I’m just seeing if there’s a spark and to make subsequent text-based communication more meaningful. I used this ‘industrial processing technique’ to fantastic effect 4 years ago. I met the woman of my dreams but let her go… Idiot!

Nothing much here yet. A lot of coffees, a few 2nd dates, no 3rd dates yet. Trying to keep hopes up.

I think the problem is that you get to know them BEFORE you meet them. If there’s no spark when you finally meet, it’s such a disappointment!

Considering speed dating, anyone tried it? How does it work? Hints, tips?

FAP (is that DPF?), obviously plus EGR and some mysterious engine electrics fault that was never fully cured.
The switch unit behind the steering wheel – caused headlights and indicators to operate randomly.
The auto wipers operated whenever they liked. They usually liked hot dry sunny days!

Heeed…So I married an axe Murderer…Great Film…

YES!

This is now a catchphrase in most of my extended family’s houses whenever anyone stands in front of the tv!

PLUS: the bit when Alan Arkin bawls out Anthony LaPaglia

Hi singlespeedstu, any chance you can post all the links to your resources for converting 150 to 160? I’m considering it myself.

cheers

Just did some research. I need Android 4.3 to use BLE. I have 4.2.2 I will probably have to go and force an upgrade to 4.3 somehow. The auto upgrade button says it’s up to date.

My S4 mini has the extended battery so no problem with battery life. Plus, I actually carry a spare extended battery if I’m away for a weekend.
Anybody got a PanoBike HRM, S4 Mini and successfully using it with Strava?

I didn’t know one of these was out yet:

Topeak PanoBike HRM

Anyone used one? I have a S4 Mini. I have heard of problems with the early HRMs and the software being brain damaged on the phones.

I’m surprised no-one’s mentioned seeing Jared Graves, Richie Rude, Hannah Barnes and Rosara Joseph at Cannock Chase on the weekend of 14/15 June this year. When I was at the Yeti Tribe meeting they were all there (I’m not claiming to have ‘seen’ them as I was attending an event which they were advertised as being present!). They spent most of the weekend charging about the trails at high speed all dressed in team turquoise.
Surely someone non-Yeti saw them that weekend? Or did someone see them and thought they were a bunch of wannabees!

I was in JE James Rotherham about three years ago, saw a guy sitting about chatting while dressed all in Sky team colours. A poser I though, then someone mentioned it was Russell Downing…

How many are doing it mostly off road?