Actually be able to ride a bike again

Move to Canada

BW in Bristol is most excellent.

My Superstar Tesla Evo hub does the same. It doesn’t seem to be a problem but it’s a bit irritating if you have to take the wheel off on the side if the trail as the end caps pop off pretty easily to.

Happens a lot to me to.

I like the shambolic stylings of Keavney. Lala irks me though. She has good taste in tunes but then she feels the need to spend ten minutes telling what some random person on twitter thinks of everything. I don’t f**king care what Joe Bloggs in Mansfield thinks of the Staves, I already know they’re really boring.

Rad Mac are the kings of 6 Music daytime.

Danny Carey; the man is a genius.

Abe Cunningham from Deftones is a very underrated drummer to.

Good call on Gene Hoglan, the human metronome

OU Harvard referencing guide is what you need. http://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2620

Do your referencing as you write, it makes things a lot easier. When I started doing ou stuff I’d been out of education for over a decade having dropped out of college. I wrote some pretty crappy essays until I got the hang of how it all works. Speak to your tutor if you have any problems and go to the tutorials as they usually go deeper into essay writing skills and the topics you’re writing about. I found them really useful. Keep plugging, it does get easier.

http://www.hartley-farm.co.uk/

This place is great if you’re in the Bath/Bristol area. Great cake, bacon sarnies and coffee.

My first time out on Mountain Kings was my last ride; the back wheel washed out and I put a handlebar into my kneecap shattering it into lots of little pieces. I haven’t been able to ride since then (May). Safe to say my impression of them is rather negative on that basis.

Leave the tyres next to a warm radiator for a while. Makes a world of difference sometimes.

Merlin Titanium.

I’m on a small but long 29er hardtail and I’m only 5ft 7″.

Moseley
Paola Pezzo

Flew with them to Vancouver earlier this year, they were pretty good for the price. Decent selection of movies and entertainment, which was nice.

I have a Vaude Splash 20+5 and it’s great. Loads of adjust-ability, comfortable, practical pockets, well designed. I haven’t run in it but I’ve hiked a fair bit with it without problems.

I can’t speak for MTB but I took my road bike out there a few years back and it’s great for lengthy tarmac ride. Not sure that helps though.

Yep ^ great tyre

My local Aldi didn’t have any yesterday, which was a shame.

These don’t appear to have the saddle mount, which is a shame as that was pretty useful for a dropper post

Having never worn them in 25years of mtb, I didn’t think I needed them. Then I put a handlebar into my patella in an otherwise innocuous crash, totally shattering it. 4 1/2 months off work, still can’t ride a bike and there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to again. I wish I’d had some decent knee pads.

I go to ArcTanGent

Me to, cracking festival. On that front, it makes me sad that so few people understand the genius of Mike Vennart and his assorted projects and bands over the last ten years. I was very impressed by Marriages this year to and can imagine them finding a bigger audience.

Another vote for Zealous Division. Great fun to ride.

Gore 3/4 are the best fitting and most comfortable I own. I’m not sure I’d fork out for them at full price though.

I’ve always fancied a top specced Stanton Switchback Ti. FS wise, probably a Yeti or Ibis. Road bike, custom Italian carbon frame with di2 and wheels that cost more than my house.

25min cross city slog, one of the few downsides to where I live.

The strangest thing for me at the moment is trying to explain that mountain biking is actually relatively safe. I’ve been riding for about 25 years (the vast majority of my life) and only had one major accident. People keep telling me that I’ll think twice about riding mountain bikes due to what’s happened but I respond that I know three people that broke their ankles tripping on steps and kerbs but none of them quit crossing the road. I’m a bit scared of riding again but when I think about it logically it’s treated me remarkably kindly injury wise, especially compared to playing rugby as a kid.

I think I’ll be back but with a few scars which I’ll massage out over time.

Bio oil, massaged into the scar makes seems to work wonders. I thought it would be hype and BS but a good few inches of my surgery scar have nearly disappeared. Also, if the scar is on top of bone, massaging the scar is a good idea according to the physio; stops it sticking apparently.

I took an innocuous seeming tumble in May but somehow put the handlebar through my knee cap, shattering it. I’ve been off work since and having physio and hydrotherapy on a weekly basis to regain the flex and muscles in my leg. I don’t know when I can get on a bike again. It’s a slow process, which is making the mental side of riding seem worse by the day. If I’m being honest, I’m pretty terrified at the prospect of mountain biking again but really want to get back to it to ease my fears. All being well after the first few minutes I’ll have a feel for the bike l again and be able to ride like I used to. Failing that, I’ll take up triathlon.

“I use my middle fingers to brake purely because I have short index fingers”

Umm… What?

Everyone’s index fingers are shorter than the middle ones.

You can change the throw of the levers, you know.
I know they’re shorter but my index fingers are weirdly short and the lever isn’t comfortable to use with them. I’d have to run the brakes way outward on the bars and it messes up the feel and position of the shifter. Much easier just to use the middle fingers instead.

You’ll be fine. http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/

Anyone using one finger but not the index finger?

I use my middle fingers to brake purely because I have short index fingers.

I think it’s Holland (let’s face it, it’s usually Holland) have found that actually taking away the kerbs and not marking the boundary between the pedestrian bit and the road bit has a similar, positive effect on safety, and encourages thoughtful considerate sharing of space.

Yep, Hans Monderman is your, ahem, man. His work was covered in one of my uni modules. Interesting stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Monderman

I’m surprised you struggled to get a test ride. I got a week long loan of a TCR from my LBS before I bought one (2013, Advanced 2). I can’t fault the TCR. It’s a better bike than I’ll ever be a rider. I find it very comfortable having had it specced and fitted to my needs and riding style. It’s absurdly responsive with all the power going to where it needs, nothing lost in flex. It makes my aluminium Trek 1.9 feel like wet spaghetti in comparison. It also handles like it’s on rails, happy to turn in and be leaned around corners at speed without flinching. I can’t compare it to a Propel (though they do look lush) or a Defy but I’m certainly very happy with my choice.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bbb-kids-sport-sunglasses-1/

I’ve got a skinny face and have been using these. Great for the price and with the added bonus of not having some sort of Mickey Mouse design on them.

Just the one mtb, a burly, fun 29er hardtail. Zealous Division with 120mm forks. It handles everything my skillset can, which extends to most stuff but big jumps and drops. It isn’t too much fun when it gets very rocky though.

Most of the off piste trails won’t be on any maps. Most of the good stuff is in the gorges not far past the far point of the Yer Tiz trail. Hard to explain but many local riders can show you. I’d offer but I’m off the bike post knee surgery.

I did not know the Arnos Vale track was finished!

Yep, been finished for quite a while now, at least since about March.

Big bmx track in Arnos Vale Park to, behind the htv studios. Worth checking out.

A change of tone and content in the media rather than just blithe acceptance and repetition of lies and half truths.

Setting up the mtb singlespeed, put the spacers on the free hub, lock nut on and tightened only to realise I hadn’t put the cog on.