You’ve made the right choice, in my opinion.

How did they fit it in that guitar case, though? That’s remarkable…

When the Philippines had an earthquake a few years ago, we had to do some research on the ‘Moro Islamic Liberation Front’.

For weeks we had a MILFWATCH Alert State projected in the office…

Terrible old picture, but it hasn’t changed since then:

It’s on Blunt 35 rims, which is right on the limit with a 2.25 Smorg in the back. Hope hubs (which are lovely) and some XT brakes i had from a previous build.

The gearing is all perfectly standard stuff; conventional chainring, and 32:18 (or possibly 32:20, i can’t remember).

No idea what it weighs.

As above, at your alloted time you’ll be taken i to a cinema for a short intro video, followed by the Grand Hall. You’ll be ushered out of the hall after 10 minutes or so, but from that point onwards your time is your own.

OP – i hope you get the help you’re after.

I’ve been feeling very low myself recently (although for very different resons) and its good to know that there are people around willing to offer support.

You’ll not go far wrong with a Wave, although the black oxide coating has(or certainly had) a reputation for coming off and coating your hands / clothes.

I’ve got a Crunch which I’ve had for about 15 years, and it’s brilliant; I think they’ve recently reintroduced it, so I’d certainly recommend you have a look into that.

I’ve got a 19.5″, which fits me fine (6ft ish). In terms of mud clearance, it’s right on the limit with a 2.25″ Smorg on a 35mm Velocity rim.

As for weight, I’ve no idea. It doesn’t feel like much, but then it doesn’t have gears or suspension.

Ed Stafford’s ‘Walking the Amazon’ is set in the jungle, although there is a mountain at the start! A great adventure read.

I recon we get 9 Chinooks and paint them red. The Chinooks flying displays are brilliant. And they’re easy to deploy overseas.

More seriously, it’ll be Hawk T2s. Commonality of supply chain, maintenance contracts, operating standards, crew currencies, et cetera. Innit.

First experiment today with the new slow cooker; lamb, onions, carrots, stock…

Smells good so far!

Mmmm, rock videos…

[Recommend what you have]

The Hope trials hub is lovely, robust, and easy to get spares for. As long as you can stand the noise.

It is also available in red.

[/Recommend what you have]

Prosecute restaurants who sell ‘slaw’.

The Octavia is much, much bigger than the Leon.

When we downsized from our Octavia, we looked at getting a Leon; after having a good look at a few different models, we decided to buy an Ibiza. It was only a little bit smaller than the Leon, but much cheaper.

I’d have another Octavia no trouble.

I’d take the BMW, if for no other reason than the manual gearbox. Anyway, the Audi competitor to the 5 Series is the A6; the A4 would feel like a downgrade, Shirley?

Also, i like BMWs more than Audis.

Thanks all, there are some good ideas there.

I’ve just google’d for a wood reclamation yard, and there is one a few miles away; I’ll certainly go and have a look there.

I’d love to have the skills to build a bench with ‘proper’ joints et cetera, but I suspect that’ll be beyond me just now. I’ll probably just settle with screwing it together for now. I’m planning some other furniture down the line which will be assembled without fixings anyway.

33×19. Prime numbers, innit.

Just under 51 gear inches on the 29er.

You certainly can do them at home; all you’ll need is a bar and some plates. If you’re looking at doing some squats too (which you definitely should) then you’ll need a squat rack.

We need to hit them hard and fast with a major – and i mean major – leaflet campaign.

I’m resurrecting this thread in order to second this statement:

Jethro Tull ‘Thick as a Brick’, the whole album is one track!

What an incredible album!

Prog is such a great genre for the album; Metropolis by Dream Theater [sic], Blackwater Park by Opeth, or The Theory of Everything by Ayreon. They’re designed to be listened to from start to finish, not just in 3 minute bursts.

22nd of Smegtember. Too far out yet to set the Sky+, so I’ll have to remember!

I’d say that now is the perfect time to look after your Middleburn kit, not to throw it out.

That said, the XT stuff wil work with just the middle ring installed (i’ve run my SLX that way for a few years) although it’s not the perfect soloution.

Fish!

I remember watching the latest series, but didn’t think too much of it. I’ll watch it again at some point.

We couldn’t possibly do that. Who would clean up the mess?

I don’t know who you are, but your presence here is an act of war; ergo we surrender!

Why can’t we listen to the classics; Mozart, Mendelssohn, or Motorhead?

Todays fish is Trout a la Creme. Enjoy your meal.

Do you want a watch with ‘military’ in the name, or one which military types actually wear?

So what is it?

Not the best celebrity endorsement, unfortunately…

Jokes aside, I’d definitely have one. Such great utilitarian charm.

Empty weight: 24,578 lb (11,148 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (22,680 kg)

There’s much more too it than that. The ’empty weight’ won’t include fuel, crew, ancillary equiptment, et cetera. Plus working at altitude will reduce the capacity, as will the temperature, as will the wind…

one Chinook could lift another

African or European?

Loving the fax machine idea.

I tend to favour getting someone’s hat/gloves/jacket soaking wet and putting it in the freezer.

Wainwrights?

http://www.wainwrightroutes.co.uk/southernfells.htm

Obviously you’ll need to lengthen / shorten the chain. Otherwise, unless it’s all knackered, i probably wouldn’t bother replacing anything other than the chainring.

It’ll soon let you know if it’s upset.

We spec’d ours with the leather simply on the basis that the cloth seats have garish vRS inlays in green. The leather was a nice subtle black stiching.

That was a mk2 mind; don’t know what the current ones are like.

The competitions have been running all along, even though it’s not been televised. In the last few years its been dominated by big flippers (which are also much more powerful than they used to be). Look out for Beast and Explosion.

I was disappointed to see Razer go out so quickly; even thoigh i didn’t really like it first time round, he didn’t really got a fair crack at the whip. I’d also like to have seen Carbide smash it up, as it never faced Hypnodisc in the old series.

Not really my thing, but I’m pleased to see it rescued!

Did you head to the tip specifically for a rummage among the bikes?

See here.

Unlike with bikes, you can save yourself a lot of monies by buying the parts and building it yourself. You also have the opportunity to spend hours pouring over different parts and tinkering (which for me is half the fun).

I’ll steer clear of recommending any parts, as I’ve been out of the loop for a few years. There will be plenty of build guides on places like ‘Tech Radar’ for different budgets.

Lastly, £1000 will buy you one hell of a PC. Mine cost more like £600, and is still powerful enough to run any of the latest games. I’d reserve some of your budget for a good quality screen and peripherals, as someone else mentioned above.