There are a couple of decent looking bike shops in Lucca, they will probably have some advice…although you may need to speak a little Italian. I found opening times to be a little sporadic plus Italy 'closes' for August if you are still there.

I have rode north of Lucca around the Camporgiano area. There were a few nice trails but access was often confusing/cheeky. The roads are great though, steep with switch backs galore.

The 405 does have navigation…not that I’ve ever used it. For the bike I would want something more bike specific.

It’s good for running but the Ipod style bezel is a pain when you start to sweat, however you can switch it off but it kind of defeats the object of having the feature. You can get away with wearing it as an everyday watch which can’t really be said for the 305.

Any chance your crank arm is getting a bit baggy around the taper? I had a crank arm on a square taper that kept loosening itself. This happened a few times and I ending up abandoning the crank arm for another. It made creaking noises just like you describe which I assumed was slight movements under load which in turn loosened the bolt ont he BB…..however it could easily be something else.

I seem to remember the cro mega was very “flexible” at the bottom bracket. But they looked great at the time.

new parent here too…..I haven’t had the time to ride for weeks. I’m just running now for exercise and will get back on the bike later this year. But can’t say I’m that bothered. Life has changed.

my 07 top fuel has a 36.9 hope seat collar.

my small VT had at least a 100mm stem on it.

I’ve had shocks that were difficult to inflate and found that putting a dab of grease on the valve and the thread made a difference. Not sure if it was the pump or the shock.

Hmm, mine did that for a while and have heard others say the same.

I cleaned the rotors with meths, cleaned around the pistons with a bit of brake fluid on a tooth brush, dried and recentered it. They were fine after that but never really got to the bottom of what it was.

avid brakes?

a mate of mine has spent hundreds on his Mondeo. The turbo went and he had to pay a lot for that to be replaced. When he moaned to the garage they laughed and said wait till the clutch goes then you can moan….

I only get 80mm on my F100s unless they are setup sagtastic.

I’ve been riding up (but mostly down) those for years. Never had a problem.

Lower down near Edenfield they are definitely “lanes” but near the top (the 2nd photo above from SFB) it feels like a path and the stiles confirm this.

It’s good that Oldham gets something decent for once. East Manchester has been left to rot for a long time.

Although I am not convinced that Metrolink is so great having had to endure catching it to work everyday a few years back. It can often be a premium price for a distinctly budget service.

A classifieds points system is needed….where you don’t get the points as a seller if you don’t donate a certain percentage of the sale. But a pain to administer 😥

I think the main consideration is that many small towns in lancashire had industry in the past that is no longer there. So you can get situations where there are lots of people and few jobs. Even though places can look pretty, things can go down hill pretty fast and socially be worse than the bigger cities as a place to live. Some places have ended up with a bad reputation for drugs and crime which doesn’t help the towns recover.

I don’t want to be negative but would choose very carefully.

I rented from here in Puerto Pollenca

http://www.procyclehire.com/pch/bikes.htm

The Massi MTBs were OK. The forks were rubbish but everything else was fine. They will be able to advise at the shop on a few routes. I think the owners were English.

Land access is a bit hit and miss at that end of Mallorca. Big chunks of Land are owned privately and tracks on the map can come to end with big padlocked gates. There are maps available in Pollenca old town at the tourist information that have walking routes which had a lot of MTBers on them when I was there. If I went again I would probably rent a road bike as some of the road climbs were spectacular with miles of switch backs.

I think it’s around -4 and very low CYL. I know I couldn’t get them with -6 and high CYL, so got Optilabs instead.

MBR reviewed the 5 and the Lapi. The 5 won the test, but I got the impression the new 5 is less versatile having moved more away from XC….still it was an MBR review so if Specialised had sent a bike that would have won anyway.

TVs in cars are all very “pimp my ride” in my opinion.

The day I spend so much time in my car that I need a TV…..Is the day I need to have a strong word with myself about the state of my life 🙁

optilabs.com. Do a search on here for more info.

hide them in the panic room 😉

“ID cards will deliver real benefits to everyone, including increased protection against criminals, illegal immigrants and terrorists,” the home secretary said.” erm…. really ?

The Torys must rub their hands with glee when this type of thing gets announced.

“Anyway £150 for some plastic (nice when new) frames isnt good value. Sorry”

Erm.. last time I looked prescription glasses were quite expensive 🙁 ….IMO these are good value.

I have the Rapides with a -6 prescription and a high astigmatism. They are fine after 2 years, no more scratched than I would expect. I would definitely buy from them again. I may go for some orange lense rapides for the duller days we get in the summer months 😉

I would say it would be a good buy. I think it’s the old style frame without the ABP. It’s the same design as the higher end bikes were in 07.

maybe go for the rubber version, which incidentally you can get a replica of on ebay for £20.

My other half bought one at the time and it cost between £500 and £550. Still got it in the cellar actually.

about 5lb

I used to have an 03 MX comp which was nice and smooth, but quite untunable (especially rebound) compared to a dual air reba. The REBA was better on the small stuff and IMO is a better performer but maybe not as hardy.

Not sure about the difference between the Race and the SL. The RS website used to have a good comparison though.

Worth it? Yes IMO

That looks very far across. It looks at an angle. Show us a picture of the wheel position at the seat stay

does it almost touch the seatstay aswell on the same side? If it doesn’t then your rear triangle could be a bit bent and no amount of fiddling with cone spanner will cure it.

Most people can’t tell the difference in feel between RS and Fox. I took my F100s off to be serviced after they started p155ing oil up the legs after 10 months. I put some REBAs on instead off another bike and never got around to putting the F100s back. I just couldn’t see the big difference in performance. The F100s do feel a bit plusher, but not £200 plusher than RS. Fox have more kudos in the car park at the trail centre though…. I really should get around to flogging them.

Luck and correct fitting are the key. I had longer life out of an SS one than the shimano it replaced. But to be honest i don’t expect much from any of them.

You could get a fancy bearing press and just buy any with the knowledge that you could just change the bearing when they go pop.

I think there was a thread with some you tube links yesterday

It would be nice to know how much urban myth surrounds water intake. When not on the bike I personally never consciously drink water unless it is an ingredient in something else or I am very thirsty.

too much fluid maybe?

Yoshimi, I used to ride a lot down there in the late 80s – early 90s with mates from school, went to St Peters/ later Monicas.

There used to be another drop in prestwich clough behind the graveyard where you could drop down the steep bank, cross the wooden bridge at the bottom and get up the other steep bank on the other side near one of the exits to StAnns road….now that was fast…and one of my mates hit the bridge once. Ouch.

We used to do “kingy” before the days of disc brakes and suspension… it’s fine, get yerself down it.