Excellent, internet forums at their best :-)

Thanks again for the advice, I think I actually have an idea of what I’m doing now and it definitely looks like I’ll be going after the Rebas of one sort or another.

Thanks for the advice people, I actually feel a lot more comfortable about all of this now.

Two more quick noob questions than I think I am almost done- if I get forks with 1 1/8″ steerer than these will fit right?

Lastly nobody has mentioned brake mounts so I am assuming as long as they say ‘Disc Brake’ (or don’t specify otherwise) than the fittings where the calipers go are all standard and I will be able to just put my standard Shimano calipers on there?

Thanks for the posts guys.

Funnily enough a guy I met out on the trail the other week recommended Rebas so seems like that will be my starting point being as that’s three now.

So I will find out the min/max travel for my frame. Am I also right in thinking that I will have to make sure the steerer tube measurement is the right one and also the type of axle (probably 9mm QR)?

Cheers for the second hand offer Spudly, think I’m going to go with new though as I have the cash saved now.

There’s lots of things I love about Winter but it seems a bit unfair that we haven’t really had a summer :(

Slightly off topic but the other week I almost got knocked off my bike by a car with a ‘Think Bike!’ sticker in the back window ffs

4.99 in my lbs for spesh innertubes. Could be an honest mistake though? Still, I wouldn’t be going back there either.

Some good stuff in here, going to give this a try myself I think.

Not sure if there are any really big hills near enough to me though, will have to have a scout around. Doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I want to try 25 miles from home :?

Is it just me, or are some of these a bit “cartoon tie”?

Indeed, any roadie with self respect would not be seen in any of the above.

You realise that to anyone who isn’t a cyclist we all look ridiculous anyway? If you think you look cool in your cycling gear because it hasn’t got a daft picture on then you’re just re-arranging deckchairs on the titanic tbf.

I like the Foska Kwi-E Mart one:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/foska/team-kwik-e-mart-short-sleeve-jersey-ec022934

Come on guys (and gals) I don’t think we’re wired that differently, it’s just riding a bike not base jumping

what you see as a sad indictment of our times, I see the opportunity for a Rave! Shame the ‘kids’ dont see it that way
shame innit..

I think the same every time I pass a remote disused moorland quarry..

bloody kids these days

I think you’ll find it still goes on a fair bit these days :wink:

That is utterly ludicrous that the Police would take a report of a hit and run and then pass the phone number of the accused to the victim. What the **** is going on there :?

Could try adjusting brake leaver angle? As in whether they’re 90degrees level with your bars or pointing at more of an angle towards the floor etc?

Out round Mellor/Marple/Hayfield today. Really enjoyed it, was expecting it to piss down and it didn’t, thought it would be a mud-fest and it wasn’t, thought I’d be a bit bored but was really good to be out.

Didn’t even seem that busy which is surprising given the weather, thought I’d be stuck behind loads of horse-riders and dog walkers etc.

i was going to say brakes squeaking but heart attack and neuclear war kind of trump that I guess…

I love the fact that you would find a nuclear war ‘annoying’ :-)

An elderly man and woman were having a full-on argument about this outside the tea room at Roman Lakes this afternoon :-)

I bought another carton of orange juice just so I could spectate for longer.

Just seen your next post now OP- I’d say the Radisson Edwardian is a good choice. It’s in a central location though I’d avoid going to all the bars nearby (Bar38 etc) and head to the Northern Quarter.

If you want live music then just google ‘northern quarter’ and check the bars and venues there. Roadhouse, Mint Lounge, Band on the Wall, Night and Day and also Deaf Institute probably worth checking out.

As above, if you want to see the sights and shop round town etc than you are much better off staying somewhere in town.

There’s nothing really wrong with Salford Quays but it’s a 15min journey on the Metrolink when you needen’t really bother.

No idea what your budget is but off the top of my head, Radisson Edwardan on Peter Street is very nice but probably towards the more expensive end, Jury’s Inn on Bridgewater Street is OK and probably average price but in a nice location. At the budget end there is a Travelodge on Great Ancoats Street and a Premier Inn on Portland Street. If you really intend on splashing out then there is the lowry and also the Great John Street hotel (I think it’s called) next to Granada.

I had an off by myself on Middle Moor yesterday. Now I know the true meaning of the phrase ‘Pick a line and stick with it’.

Felt fine yesterday but my neck and shoulders kill today.

Boxes of red wine are often a good idea. Crates of lager are heavy and cumbersome to carry (it could be a long walk form the car-park to your pitch) and then go warm for the whole of the weekend.

With boxes of wine they’re easy to carry (especially if you just take the bladder thing out of the box), it doesn’t matter that they are warm and wine gets you more pi**ed anyway.

Plus you can’t take alcohol into the arena at V but fill a sun-cream bottle up with spirits and then just buy some coke/lemonade or whatever in the arena, sorted.

Don’t pitch yout tent at the bottom of a hill, next to a walkway or near the toilets but you probably knew that anyway.

Also food is ridiculously expensive at V (over a fiver for a bageutte with some bacon shoved in last time I went and that was ages ago) so might be worth taking some of your own.

Seems reasonable in my opinion, given the context. If he wanted to protest I’m sure there are other outlets he could have chosen but disrupting a serious parliamentary committee is moronic, especially given they were there to try and get to the bottom of the very injustice the protestor claims he is so against.

Personally I think the guy probably has no feelings about Murdoch or the wrongdoings that his organisation is responsible for and more likely wanted to get on TV and launch some half-assed comedy career, so I don’t have any sympathy. It could have backfired spectacularly and garnered Murdoch a lot of public sympathy and I guess we’ll never know for sure whether or to what extent it already has.

Plus, assaulting an 80(?) year old man is way over the line, even if he is a dick.

Hora – we rode ‘The Banks’ on it the other night (your favourite switchback descent, the one with all the drops) at the Roman lakes, amazingly Jules managed to get us around that sharp bermed switch back.

Sorry to butt-in, can anyone point me in the direction of this Roman Lakes descent?(‘The Banks’)

I ride round there all the time but have no idea what these names mean or what any of the trails are nicknamed etc. I wouldn’t want to think I was missing out. I can’t recall a switch-back descent though so maybe I am….

Link doesn’t work for me.

If it’s from the Guardian Bike Blog though it’s probably a good thing as I really, really hate it. And I quite like the rest of the paper.

Cheers guys all of those suggestions are spot-on. Will fire off some emails tomorrow morning and check availability etc.

I found that the outline hurts but the colouring in doesn’t. So when I see guys with massive etched tattoos it mskes me go 8O

Henry’s campsite in The Lizard sounds like a good bet. I was there a month or so ago. There were loads of kids there and they have animals too like hens, pigs etc.

http://www.henryscampsite.co.uk/

Tis a fair drive from pretty much anywhere though tbf.

My advice would be don’t get Endura. Mine lasted about 12 months and I don’t even ride that much :?

Yikes 8O

I still don’t understand what the car driver was thinking. Even just crashing straight into that tree would surely have been a better option.

*sympathy post*

I went camping in the lizard a few weeks ago at a place called Henry’s Campsite which was ace, fully reccomended by me.

Unfortunately I didn’t take my bike though so can’t help :(

Edit to say there is some cracking scenery but didn’t see much in the way of hills I don’t think.

I run 10k usually 2 or 3 times a week. I hope it is beneficial to cycling as I find running much less of a faff and so only bother with my bike at the weekends usually but bank my hopes on the running work I have done inbetween.

My 10k time now though almost never changes so I think I definitely need to start running shorter, faster circuits and mixing it up a bit to try and rectify this. I have definitely plateau’d and my body has obviously just got used to running one particular distance at one particular pace.

I have a pair of Endura waterproof shorts (no idea what sort) which within 12months have now lost both pockets cause the stitching came undone and have a massive rip at the back (not done by me falling off etc)…I assumed it was because I actually wear them every time I ride rather than just when it’s wet, but still, 12 months seems poor :?

I live in Didsbury and would reccomend it, depending on exactly what you want and your circumstances. Also work at the University too and public transport there is pretty much 24/7.

Slightly less ‘city’ places but nice would be Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor I guess. Also as others have said Chorlton is nice, especially around the Beech Road area and Chorlton Green.

I generally ride out to Reddish Vale in the week after work and if I have more time get the train to New Mills (for Hayfield riding and further into the Peaks) or Marple as well. About 25min onthe train from Picaddilly. It’s pretty easy to ride back, only about an hour via the canals and other tracks.

I would say if you wanted to live in a big city but also like mtbing Manchester is a good choice.

Will be watching this on iplayer for sure.

Excellent article on GSH here:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/09/100809fa_fact_wilkinson

No, wait, tell him you’re your sister, otherwise he’ll ask your brother, which is you again

:D

Surely you could replace the word ‘mtbing’ with ‘sport’ in the OP’s question and the male/female split would be pretty much the same?

Is the m/f split in mtbing not just a small part of a much larger picture?

I’ve no idea why but depsite being 2011 I think social conditioning plays a massive role. I’m not sure it’s any more complex than that.

Football is massive but this is the first time I can ever recall seeing coverage of the women’s world cup (been in the papers for the last few days). If football is only just leaning this way than I think it will be sometime before mtbing does.

+1 for the tour buses, they are actually pretty good.

Definitely don’t sit on the top deck in the middle of the afternoon enjoying the cool breeze, without any sun-cream on though. For the full duration. Definitely don’t do that.

My Dad insists that he has seen a documentary about cows where they siad that they have a definite social ‘hierachy’ in the herd with a leader and everything.

I was planning on getting out round Hayfield today but after watching my mates band last night til late I have had a shocking hangover today and couldn’t contemplate getting out.

So I have had self-loathing lumped on top of the physical pain.

Props to those oging out after a night on the lash, I just can’t bring myself to do it. I would definitely have vomited. Many times I think :-)

I often get the train from Manchester to New Mills near Hayfield with my bike and always make sure I pick up an all-day breakfast butty or sausage/bacon baguette at the station.

I figure it’s fine and it certainly doens’t seem to do me any harm. I have a mate who comes out with me sometimes who insists that he cannot eat when out riding or he’ll be sick.

I honestly think I could easily eat a 3 course Sunday roast half way round and carry on. Different for running though, I can’t run even if I’ve eaten just a little bit beforehand in the previous couple of hours.

Edit- @TJ^^^

Yeah I agree that if they are running away and for example you strike them (with whatever) as they are exiting your window than is more complex..I think I see your original point now.

Still, I guess by that point you still might be working under the assumption (severley frighetend) that they are going to a van and/or their mates to return with their own weapon.

Also, for people not used to these kind of situations it seems a lot to ask for them to instinctively know how much force is neccesary or reasonable. I could expect a Policeman or a Soldier to be a good judge of this.

For someone who has never been in a fight before in their lives, it is surely impossible to get this right first time when you are terrified and presumably not thinking straight if at all. If you under-judge it, you will most likely get pasted, over-judge it and you risk being on a charge yourself (regardless of how many times this does or doesn’t actually happen).

It’s an impossible issue to get any ‘correct’ answer on, but I see your point. I think I would always sway towards the householder though, after all it is the intruder who is responsible for the situation exisitng at all. It seems unfair to pain-stakingly unpick and analyse every action of an armed robbery victim in court given the the extreme cicumstances and lightening quick decisions that have to be made, though I concede it is neccesary.