The Grey is a bit of a thriller, beautifully shot with some ‘jump out of your seat’ moments. I’d not take my mum but yours may be made of stronger stuff?!

Neeson is very good in it but the plot is a little frustrating and had me muttering ‘why would they do that’ on a number of occasions!

Sherlock is probably a better bet, great fun with a bit of Stephen Fry in the buff for good measure! I wasn’t keen on the look of Warhorse so can’t comment.

I understand it’s standard practice in the US to vaccinate and, as mentioned above, the vaccine’s available here privately too.

No guaranteed resistance but possibly worth considering if you’re worried. My wife had it at 25…not good, my son’s just had it at 20 months….no bother!

I suspect my wife was just making a meal of it 😉

but the power station is set to be decomissioned

Didcot A (coal) is about to be decommissioned. Didcot B (gas) will remain. Admittedly unless there’s a Didcot C, then the cooling towers may well be coming down.

…..and there’ll always be TSY in lycra……

Changing pivot bearings using random assortments of sockets, threaded bar, nuts and a hammer……….until I bought the proper tool.

Now it’s a joy. 😀

Hope you’re ok Ben, thank goodness it wasn’t worse.

I had a similar experience when, due to a screwed shifter, I changed from high to low gear in one movement and ended up going over the bars in front of my local pub, much to the amusement of the smokers gathered outside at halftime.

Heal fast mate.

Not sure precisely which tool you’re after but try Bromley Bikes

I bought a cone adjusting tool from them recently.

The cassette lock ring on my CK rear is the same as any other (SRAM/ Shimano etc) though?

Trimix, if they don’t work I’ve texted you one…

My two penneth:

I took a 120mm travel bike last year and, although it was fine I’m planning on taking a bigger bike this year. I also have an XTC 29er and I wouldn’t consider taking that personally, the angles are too XC to be comfortable on those long descents.

I’ve got a 2011 XTC 29er in large that I bought shortly before Christmas but am having a hard time justifying, especially now I’m building up a DH bike for the summer.

I might be persuaded to part with it if you want to email me for details. I could sort out some pictures tomorrow. I’ve converted it to 1×10 and put some old LX brakes on (as I had spare pads for them anyway) but can easily convert it back to it was when I bought it, in fact I’d want the brakes back anyway. I’ve ridden it several times but it’s in almost new condition.

For me it’s a great fit (6’2″) but I always find myself reaching for my full suss and I just don’t think it’ll get enough use to warrant the space it takes up. Anyway email me (in profile) if you’re interested?

As I recall you didn’t get that close to the water when you jump so even at full extension there’d still be a drop. 25m sounds feasible. Good job the river looks to be fairly high at the time or the rapids could’ve finished her off.

I did that jump in 1997!

When I did it I was the first with two friends going after. I was being pulled back to the walkway beneath the bridge as my mate, a ‘stocky’ fellow jumped and they played a trick on my friend who was to jump last.

As ‘Stocky’ bounced back up towards the bridge on his jump the guys underneath slammed a metal grid down with an almighty crash (out of sight of those on top of the bridge). The people in the know on top shouted “he’s hit the bridge, he’s hit the bridge”.

Oh how we laughed later! My friend jumping last incredibly took little persuasion to jump in spite of this, apparently he was ok when he saw there was no blood!

I saw that too. On the Woodstock Road.

From Benson head down to the Mongewell roundabout just south of Wallingford and then east on ‘Grim’s Ditch’. Looks like a straight line on the map but is in fact a singletrack delight. Another great one is the bridleway down the back of Huntercombe. Get the OS map and you’ll see there’s a myriad of bridleways that can be put together into some really good 20 or 30 mile loops. I work in Wallingford and have a great 15 mile loop I have done in an extended lunch break in summer. Happy to pass on some gpx’s if you fancy them?

But are the strong riders necessarily going to be strong runners?

Yes for the top athletes, but it could still leave a lot of fast bike riders with a load of fast runners but slow riders to get past?

Since this is a bike race I’d have thought a long uphill ride would be better to string out the fast from the slow. Perhaps starting right down by the exit from the first singletrack* and possibly even taking a long way round the field with a couple of hills?

*Is this where the 4hr pm race started from?

Rightplacerighttime took some good pics of the Howies Enduro at Coed-y-Brenin so hopefully they’ll also be of a high standard from Oktobefest. Much better than the usual boring fireroad style dross you often see. They looked to be in some good spots around the course.

I agree the new course makes overtaking very difficult. The berms and corners make passing nigh on impossible for long sections. The ‘perched’ nature of the new trail means taking a wide line was much slower and risky as the sides were lined with rocks, loose mud and leaves. I was buzzed, and buzzed tyres, a few times, especially in early laps as the person at the front of a train would brake over enthusiastically for a corner leading to a motorway style compression behind. I guess ‘that’s racing’ and I still thoroughly enjoyed the whole day.

That said I hope the few injuries I saw around the course were not serious. I saw you battered and bruised by the beer tent towards the end KINGTUT so I hope you’d been prescribed a good dose of liquid pain relief!?

I bought some Dakine shorts from Trail Junkies in Goring, south Oxon (although they were based in Moulsford at the time) last year.

Haldon red and black was less than 6 miles round so not worth a trip in itself. I’m sure there’s plenty more riding to be had beyond the trail centre, but keep on going to Dartmoor or the Quantocks and get an OS map.

I’m a type 1 and I have been very fortunate with my control over the (more than 20) years. I started self-regulating long before DAFNE and have remained on injections as I can’t see the benefit of changing to a pump at the moment. I’ve managed to do multiday bikepacking events, 12 hour races (as part of a team admittedly) and run the London Marathon twice so it works for me. I’m not a super athlete by any means but sadly I don’t think I can blame my diabetes solely for that!

Please feel free to ignore my account as it may not be applicable when using a pump. However, I use Levemir (equivalent to your basal insulin) each night, the dose of which I adjust depending on my exercise during the day(s). My ‘typical’ dose might be 15 units following a slothful Saturday, but if I were to go for a ride I would change that to perhaps 13.5 units to prevent night time hypos. I would also reduce the pre-meal injections of fast acting insulin (Actrapid) following exercise. I find consecutive days of exercise will have a increased affect (i.e. further reduction in basal and pre-meal insulin) but the effects only last for about 24 hours after my last spell of exercise.

During rides I don’t find I have to eat a huge amount to keep my blood glucose stable. A little snack every so often but rarely any more than my riding buddies to be honest. If an all-dayer then lunch will require only a small pre-meal insulin injection.

I hope you manage to get things back on track soon. I’ve had little spells where things have gone awry which I’ve put down to perhaps a change in insulin, a duff batch or maybe a virus. Occasionally I’ve had to do regular tests to get to the bottom of it but have managed to in the end.

I think it was:

maguratechsupport@racemechanic.co.uk

I was asking the prices and availability but included my address……best not to be to presumptive!

Good luck.

I sent an email to their UK service centre asking for the prices of replacement reservoir screws ,having rounded one off, and levers, having bent one. I was a bit peeved at not getting a reply only to be shocked to receive two screws and a replacement lever in the post the next morning with a compliments slip.

I may have been lucky but give that a go. In my experience their “dealers” have less knowledge of the product line than I do, although I may just have been unfortunate.

Maybe they are, but they aren’t nearly as good as Magura OE. 1/3 of the price maybe, but they only last 1/2 as long and braking power is not even close to OE.

In my experience, using the reliable unscientific singletrack brake pad comparison technique of riding them in multiple conditions over varied geology and many months, I certainly haven’t noticed the difference 😀

And you know you shouldn’t be using sintered pads in Maguras, yes?

I certainly do and that’s why I use the semi-metallic/organic pads. Mind you Magura also specifically say not to use any pads or rotors other than their own, understandable if they’re to honour their warranty. However since my brakes were second hand I decided to ignored this in favour of much cheaper alternatives and haven’t experienced any problems as yet.

Not sure what you mean about their ethics, but I suspect that superstar pads are assembled in the same places that many other brands pads are? Past customer service is another matter. Regardless, I use them in my martas without any squeal issues and at 3 pairs for the price of one magura pair I think you’ll struggle to find many others offering better value.

Trail Monkey & Crispy Bacon, I’d be grateful for a few gps routes if you have them handy. I was planning on heading down to Dartmoor for a few days next week and some route suggestions would come in very handy. My email is in my profile. Ta muchly.

Ah, shame, but understandable as it was pretty cheap compared to the other company (Highland Transport Services) I got a quote from.

We were actually needing transport for ourselves (rather than just luggage) back to our car at Fort Bill, and the other options I was considering were catching a bus back and driving to Inverness to get the family, or hiring a car for all of us one-way from Inverness. Our situation was also trickier because we had my young son as well as two bikes and his trailer. Hope you manage to find a solution……

I rode it last year and used these guys[/url] to get back to Fort William. I’d highly recommend them and the price was very reasonable compared to any other alternative I managed to find.

As for the GGW, it offers stunning scenery all the way. We were towing a 9 month old child so we weren’t looking for too difficult terrain but I think the end nearer Inverness does offer a bit of a challenge (we’d taken the road to the south of L. Ness at this point).

Another fan of Seabrooks Ready Salted here but those Jacket Potato and Butter are disgusting. They’re so sweet and have a horrible after taste.

Whatever happened to Hedgehog crisps?

I used Skiidy Gonzales to get to Les Gets, great service.

Cheers for posting those.

That trail up Mount Keen looks like a a barrel of fun, in that weather, on the fourth day, on a heavily laden rigid bike frame!

I’ve added that to my ‘to do one day’ list.

Before you buy a microchip cat flap get your vet to check where the chip is, as they can migrate from where they’re ‘inserted’. Our cat’s has moved from its neck to its shoulders meaning it may have to shoulder barge the flap to gain entry.

We have just started having a similar problem and our cat is understandably starting to go off his (possibly piss soaked!) food. They’re quite sensitive creatures these cats! We’re going to try the microchip flap option to see if it is sensitive enough to pick up his chip. I guess you might be able to get a second chip chip inserted if the first has moved too far?

D0NK – Member

I’ll change em when they get rough/develop play, if the originals last for four years….?

In which case I suspect the tool will do the job perfectly? Trailrat’s example was probably way beyond the rough/develop play point I’d imagine?

Like ziggy said:

ziggy – Member
Trouble is we only get bearing swaps in when the are knackered/rusted into the frame.

D0NK – Member

said frame beyod repair as tey were solid and not moving with the puller / official bearing removal kit

So you pay a mint for official tool and still end up drifting them out, glad I’ve never bought an official tool. Bit of an eye opener this thread.

But if you have the tool you’ll not leave them 4 years before changing them!

Ouch! I thought the Giant bearing tool was a bit steep at £90 but that makes it seem a bargain.

I’ve changed my bearings on my Trance before using sockets, a hammer and some threaded bar, and even the first time it didn’t take more than 2 hours once the frame was stripped down.

I now have the Advanced SL so decided to buy the tool rather than risking the carbon frame with a DIY effort. The price of the tool and bearings will still be cheaper than your LBS, even if I only change them the once!

Bah. No as suspected my £46 deduction was for the football at Wembley and not the BMX finals that I’d have preferred.

I’m happy to get anything given the odds but having applied for 5 cycling events and then throwing in the football as an afterthought I can’t help being a bit disappointed. Happy to arrange a swap if anyone has excess tickets! If not I’ll be down for the road race, time trial and the marathon.

I did this from west to east last year.

I’m not sure what kind of trailer you are considering but ours was of the child carrying variety? The GGW was fine for this, although we didn’t do the easterly half as I’d heard that some of the sections along the north of Loch Ness were steep and rough, and I feared for the comfort of my boy (not to mention my legs). We chose the minor road to the south (after Fort Augustus) which was relatively traffic free and easy going.

One short stretch was very rooty but that aside a great surface and amazing scenery away from the crowds and traffic.

I notice that the Minoura stand isn’t suitable for 15mm or 20mm axles? Does anyone know if there there any similar stands that will cater for all axle types, or is there a workaround?

Red thunder – Any of 3, 8 or 157 cheers.

Keep performing like that and maybe Sam’ll give you your next frame for free?!

I saw you rOcKeTdOg, but looks like your camera didn’t see me. Good pics of a great event though, cheers.

pjt201 – Member

pedalhead – Member
I’ll be there riding SS solo on Saturday. Still I think the only person with questionable enough taste to have a Lefty on my Pegasus

I thought a lefty was de rigueur for a pegasus, or is it all about niner carbon forks now?

Ha ha ha, and what have you just purchased pedalhead? Looks like you’re not so niche after all? 😆

The fastest time on the Saturday last summer was a 20:31 by one of the Dreaming Tyres Oxford MTB 3 male pair. That was a dry year and the course has changed a lot (longer I believe) this year.