Just get a worse paid job then all you can afford is the brake pads :cry:

I’ve been learning to ride flats as well and it’s a love/hate thing currently. I put them on to try and get me out of bad habits and teach me some new skills (manualling, jumping etc). I do enjoy the bigger platform, which I find great for weighting the bike when cornering. I don’t like my feet getting kicked around a lot, especially while pedaling so if anyone can suggest how to remedy that I’d appreciate it. Five Ten Freerider shoes and Nukeproof pedals.

Cheap can openers

Ashton Court and Leigh Woods have all weather trails, which are ok for a spin. Once the weather clears up there are loads of little ‘off-piste’, steeper fun bits to explore as well but they’re either unrideable or just grim in the winter. I tend to ride either Monday or Wednesday nights at the moment. Rides get posted on the Cheesy Riders facebook page.

I stopped ordering from Wiggle because I got so fed up with DX.

jambalaya – Member

@egb as a businessman and well know figure after 10+ years on the US version of the Apprentice the public identify him as a figure with the experience to focus on business issues and not politics. Innthe way the SNP and Corbyn try and place themselves as the anti-establishment candidate Trump does just the same thing.

I get that but not all Republicans are stupid. You’d think at some point someone would get bored with the bluster and destroy him with some detail.

Beyond the waterboarding and wall building, Trump doesn’t actually have any policies for make ‘merica great again, it’s all rhetoric and rabble rousing. It seems odd that no one has actually asked him how he plans to fulfill his wish.

http://zealousbikeco.com/?portfolio=division-frameset

I run a 120mm fork on this. 68deg head angle isn’t super slack but for a 29er it’s not bad.

Draw a cock on his bonnet with dot brake fluid

I get on really well with the stock Giant Tyres on my TCR. I’ve had a handful of punctures but given the number of miles they’ve done it’s nothing I’ve found concerning.

fadda – Member
Physics is different over here – no vowels, you see

Physcs?

vickypea – Member

I also had to work with a clown most of last year who was arrogant way beyond his abilities. .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Another vote for the AA. Itemised bikes over £1000 and good policy wording (can’t remember the specifics but it was favourable if the worst should happen). I had to speak to them on the phone to get a quote but it was so cheap that I had to ask if I’d heard it correctly and asked the guy to clarify the full details again.

I’m just happy 10sp stuff is getting cheaper.

AA here, again wrapped up with home and contents. Cheap and going by the T&Cs, good coverage.

Only 6km but is was fuppin’ ridiculous. Speeding up the hills with a tail wind one second, the next grinding along at a snail’s pace.

I ordered the wrong size hub end caps (135 rather than 142) then spent ages trying to figure out why the rear wheel slid from side to side. :roll:

Re. headsets and press fit BBs, I usually whack them in with a bit of wood and a lump hammer. Hasn’t failed me yet.

When I crashed in Squamish last year and wound up in hospital, every single doctor and nurse I spoke to was a mountain biker except one whose boyfriend was. It helps with your ego when you can swap tales of serious MTB war wounds.

My new NHS physio rides as well.

Bristol bike jumble (1st Saturday of the month, 12pm, outside Mud Dock) is a good place to pick up cheap kit.

is Cosies still going

Yep, it was rammed when I was there a few weeks back.

Everywhere is close enough to commute to by bike and you’d be mad not to as driving is a fool’s errand in the city. There’s loads going on culture wise, trails in your doorstep in Leigh Woods and Ashton Court though it’s best to ride with a local to find the good stuff (plenty of locals here). The Mendips are a 30min drive for mtb or a decent road ride away. Quantocks and south Wales a bit further. House prices and rent are stupid and getting worse. There are good and bad bits to most postcodes, including the swanky BS8 (the bad being you’ll be surrounded by rich students with a complete lack of self and spatial awareness). I’d avoid Hatcliffe, Knowle West, Southmead, Henbury, Withywood, Brentry. If money were no object I’d live in Long Ashton or Leigh Woods.

Another vote for Bowie
Bob Dylan
Elbow / Guy Garvey
Sleaford Mods (I’d rather be deaf than listen to them)

You can get Freeriders that are pretty waterproof if you search around. Mine came from bike-discount.de and are both pretty warm and don’t let much water in.

What’s the best thing about Sainbury’s?
It keeps the riff raff out of Waitrose.

That’s about as middle class as I get.

Flaperon – Member
Nationwide allow unlimited overpayments on their mortgage if you have a current account with them

Not sure this is the case unless they’ve changed it in the last few years. My mortgage is with Nationwide, as well as mine and my partner’s current accounts etc and we are only allowed to pay up to £500 extra on top of the regular payment. We are allowed to take a payment ‘holiday’, i.e use the extra payments in lieu of making that month’s payment.

Thank goodness for a strong middle order.

That kid is going to have a nightmare when it’s old enough to have to phone call centres.

Something from Storck. Such nice looking bikes.

Or

ninfan – Member
So a single adult male would receive the same leve of ‘citizen income’ as a single mum with three kids, despite their vastly different ability to work, outgoings and responsibilities? That hardly engenders a fair society does it?

Have you bothered reading the rest of the thread, notably the bit about children being citizens and being given an income as well?

I ride a 54cm Trek 1.9 and I’m only 5ft 7″ with 30″ leg. They are quite short on the ETT or at least they were back in 2009. My 46cm Giant is only 2mm shorter!

Agreed on avoiding Palermo, it’s not much cop. Taormina is ok. We stayed up the hill in Castelmola, which was loads cheaper than Taromina itself, had the advantage of an amazing view and a fun, ridiculously steep walk 500m vertically up and down. Etna was ok but the cost of the tour was way too high for what you get.

I’ll have a play with the forks tonight with the bike upside down. I’ve bled the Reverb before so that shouldn’t be a problem (assuming I can find the bleed kit). Cheers for the advice.

Welcome to Bristol. Generally a great city but the centre on a weekend night is pretty grim.

That Cardiff pic is pretty representative from the times I’ve been out there.

Like and repeatedly buy:
Specialized shoes and helmets as they fit me really well.
Charge Spoon saddles as my arse gets on with them.

Stuff I don’t like: Altura and Endura clothing. IME Poorly designed and falls apart.

Who, of bike riding age, is called Barbara? This alone is suspicious enough for me.

I met a lady on Tinder recently who is late 30s, single, no kids, fit, has just bought a nice Trek carbon road bike and so far seems sane. What is she hiding?

As above. The Mendips are great in the summer and autumn, particularly Rowberrow and the trails around Beacon’s Batch. The guys I know who’ve ridden up there recently have posted horror show levels of filth though so I’d avoid at the moment.

I commute rain or shine, wind, snow etc every day by bike. After a big injury I had to get the bus. This was the biggest inspiration for wanting to ride a bike again regardless of the weather. Public transport on a rainy day in Bristol is a truly miserable experience.

Chaos Cycles in Bristol. Nothing too posh and they don’t even sell whole bikes but for essentials it’s great. Friendly staff, very knowledgeable and keenly priced as it’s basically an indoor market stall.