Do you have your seat dropped as far as it will go? I had the exact same on mine, kept thinking my pivots were dry and it was the frame creaking. I eventually noticed that the back of my saddle was frayed, turned out that at full compression the wheel was actually catching the saddle. Moved it up and haven’t had a problem since. The only issue is I hit some quite big drops whilst this was happening and I think the impact might have ruined the bearing in the wheel!

Mtbel doesn’t pull the bike up, he pushes the earth down…

Going for an audacious side step at training (after the whistle had gone, but you decide to go for the gap anyway) and hearing and feeling a large pop in the knee as the remnants of your cruciate ligament blows up.

Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t they releasing an XL one soon? With the current waiting list on the larges (into August now I think) it’d probably be worth waiting for that and getting in there first with them.

Could the Puitau signing be sign of things to come for NZ? This guy isn’t a player at the end of his career, or without any chance of playing for the ABs. This is a regular name in the match day 23 and someone who is only 23 years old. On one of the forums I follow for rugby this has got some of the kiwi posters panicking about an exodus after the World Cup.

The Ulster fans seem to be more annoyed that the significant salary that Puitau is reportedly earning wasn’t spent on a back-rower.

That Tyrese Johnson-Fisher is ridiculous! He apparently runs a sub 11 second 100m. At 15! And he appears to have the brawn to go with it. I hope he’s not just an early developer!

Good to see a Scottish team getting some luck after the ball has rebounded off the post!

The discounts on OEM are significant, do it irks the manufacturers when their stuff gets sold off on this market

Are they though? My mate was in Merlin buying some forks a while ago and asked the guy serving upfront why/how they were able to sell them so much cheaper than anywhere else. They responded that they basically speak to the manufacturer direct, ask them what the cheapest price they can do product X for is, and then bulk buy them in an OEM state. Whether Merlin pull the wool over the manufacturers eyes a bit claiming that they’re for their own brand bikes I don’t know. He also said that most of the customers aren’t too concerned that it is obviously OEM stuff because of the discounts offered to full RRP. Its still the same product at the end of the day.

Interesting though.

Handbags aren’t really the biggest issue in our house (although a quick tot up has just revealed that even they are worth >£6k collectively?!) but bloody shoes!! The rack under the stairs is full of them, and theres a cupboard upstairs that is exclusively for shoes. She bollocks me for wasting my money on bike kit and she has 13 pairs(?!?!) of Jimmy Choo’s. Some of them are exactly the same but with slightly different heights etc! And then theres the other ones that get worn once, forgotten about and then new ones get bought as a result.

I need to stage an intervention.

Just lead to an interesting afternoon now, both Ireland and England are going to have to go balls out to catch them at point difference! Ireland will actually have to chase tries!

Aaaahhhhh sh*t!!! 😆

I’ve found England really frustrating this 6 Nations. Until the autumn internationals and this year’s 6Ns we had a really good set piece and pack but were lacking in adventure and expansiveness (is that even a word?!) elsewhere. All we had to do to become a really good, competitive side going into this World Cup was become a bit more clinical and comfortable going wide. But we seem to have swung too much that way. Our set piece used to guarantee us good ball but we never did much with it. Now, the set piece isn’t as reliable but we’re slowly looking like we have the backs to do something with it!

Just realised I’m waffling, but as much as its been great to see England trying to go wide, I just wish they hadn’t done it at the expense of the tight play.

Edit – DEFENCE, thats been poo as well! We used to be pretty difficult to score against so we were always going to be there or thereabouts in games. Now we seem to leak really weak tries. The SH teams would have put 5 or 6 past us with how we played against Italy and Scotland!

Surely the EWS at Finale Ligure has to be on the shortlist. I’ve been trying to convince my gf it would be a nice trip away ever since!

For those interested in new parts washers, my mates told me that JTF wholesalers are currently doing a couple for dirt cheap. One is a free standing one (obvs a bit bigger) and another smaller benchtop one. The benchtop one is £25, the same unit in Machine Mart is apparently £75.

This was the Preston store by the way. Not sure how JTF works exactly but I assume they’re national.

Theres a team that sound like that Tredworth in our league. Really rough group of lads from Salford and also have a nasty group of fans as well. One of our wingers was running down the touchline once and just got clothes lined by a supporter! Horrible to play against, but the annoying thing was they were actually pretty decent at rugby when they weren’t trying to gouge your eyes out. They regularly used to yo-yo between our league and the league above. Apparently they used to come a bit unstuck against the real hard nuts from Workington/Barrow/Whitehaven way.

I’m all for the what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch but when some Manc gobs**te spends 80 minutes stamping, biting and gouging his way through a game its hard to laugh about it over a pint! God I hate them!!

Was 19th out of 22 in the seniors when I finished! Really enjoyed the day though. Went round with my bro and even with crashes on separate stages we only finished 7 secs apart which was pretty impressive. Half a second difference on stage 2! I struggled with the off piste stuff though. I’ll admit to just picking my bike up and legging it through some of the really boggy stuff (encouraged by the Marshall I might add).

Just need payday on Friday now so I can try and get on the other one at the end of the year!

Slightly related anecdote. I was on the tube one day, gang of 18-20 year old girls got on, stood very close to me. As the tube moved off one girls bum banged up against the hand rail I was holding onto and my hand.
She started laughing and said to her mates “My bum just touched that blokes hand, is he fit?”
One of her mates looked at me with a deadpan face, “No”.

Hah I had similar last year, was walking up some stairs and this girl was walking down with her mates whilst singing and looking at her phone, she quickly glanced up (obviously not long enough to get a proper look) and went “oh my god why didn’t you tell me there was a fitty?!” To which I was quite smug until her mate immediately replied with “there wasn’t” 😆

Ive not heard the tornado for a while, don’t get too many of them taking off from work now. The typhoon used to make me smile though, you’d be walking through site and when one took off the noise was incredible. You’d just see people mouthing “FUUU********IIING HELL”

Wasn’t it originally going to be called the Eurofighter 2000? But then as it still wasn’t fully operational by 2000 they renamed it the Typhoon? I prefer the name Typhoon anyway. You realise It’s an apt name when you’re stuck behind a flimsy barrier about 10m from the edge of the runway as ones taking off! Thought my car was going to disintegrate!!

They’re also pretty susceptible to heel rub. I have them in my downhill bike and have worn them down to the metal already! They’ve just turned 2 months old…

It depends what time for me. If my class is later on I’ll have tea as soon as possible so that it has time to settle beforehand. If its earlier I’ll just have some fruit or something before and then a proper meal after.

Having said that I had a full 3 course italian an hour before my spinning class last night. Didn’t puke though, although about 3 mins from the end I could taste it again.

The seals went on my 1.6 TDCI a couple of years ago. Took it to the local garage who charged me £30 to replace all 4. So I assume its not the biggest of jobs. Not sure about the 1.8 but he did say sometimes they can be tricky to get to, but on mine he said it was literally pop the engine cover off and they were right in front of him. Took him about 45 mins.

I too have just returned. It was every bit as bad as the books. They even managed to include the godawful, unfunny, one liners. And I didn’t find the lead actress attractive enough to grab my interest during the saucy stuff. Although the missus seemed to enjoy Mr Grey. Although having said that we’re now sat at opposite ends of the sofa doing our own thing so she didn’t enjoy him that much 😥

Not me personally but a fella I know went to court the other day to watch one of his (now former) best mates get sentenced for a similar crime. Apparently he had been filming his 12 year old step daughter in the bath!

The lad I know was sickened that he’d got so close to someone so evil but he said he’d never have thought it.

I was back training for rugby after 6 weeks and playing after 8. Ruptured my ACL now though 😥

MSP that video’s ridiculous! That took place right outside my work, just recognised the roadsigns! Can’t see why the truck had to get so close at all, it’s a really wide open stretch of road with hundreds of cyclists on it every day due to BAE being over the road. It’s stuff like that which makes me go down the backs when I make the occasional commute by bike.

I think if it’d been me and they’d been stopped at those lights round the corner I’d be knocking more than their mirror off! That would definitely be a red mist moment.

Not used any of the above or the one I’m about to suggest, but Neil Donaghue (sp?) at llandegla would be another one localish to you?

Can anyone shed any light on his coaching ability? He’s clearly a very good rider…

In a slightly different vein the Father in Law was once featured in an article on the Top Ten Worst Parkers in Manchester in the MEN once. It was obviously a picture that someone had submitted of his car parked on the Metrolink tramlines in the city centre. Queue lots of comments from people saying they hoped his car was run into and smashed etc. What the person had failed to take into account was the barriers that had been put up (you could even see them in the distance) as the line was closed for repairs, hence why he was parked there whilst working on it.

Our next door neighbour also gets a bit funny about parking. He’s generally a pretty nice chap but my god he’s nosy. I once mentioned that I was looking at bigger cars to replace my Fiesta and he started panicking asking where I would park it, and did I really need a car any bigger. His face when I then bought a van AND kept my Fiesta was priceless. Its worth mentioning at this point that our drive is long enough for 4 cars at a push so its not as though it would be parked in front of his house or anything.

He also once reported a car to the police as abandoned when someone had the cheek to park it outside his house for 18hrs!

The fault in our stars

As the gf had recommended it I thought it would be your generic happy ending chick flick. Not in the slightest. Whether it was because we’re a similar age to the characters I don’t know but it really got me.

Warrior as well. Every time. Not even sure why?!

XL carbon Devinci Wilson on freeborn for £1999. Sell the gear on it and pimp it up to spec of choice. Bargain!

Got one in December. Love it. 😀

It is my first downhill bike though. My only previous experience was a Transition TR500 in Pila for the day. Considering the Canyon was about £1500 less than the Transition I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference in riding them.

Ridiculously confidence-inspiring. I’ve hit stuff without even thinking about it, whereas on my trail bike I’d be umming and ahhing about it before probably bottling it.

Definitely needs steep trails to get the most out of it though, the springs on mine are probably too soft for me anyway but it is hard work to pedal about!

The spec is pretty decent (full Zee running gear) and from what I’ve read the frame is very good if you get round to upgrading it. It also looks the Dogs with the chrome red and the black boxxers. But thats a matter of opinion!

Also look at the YT Tues for a similar bike with similar price/spec. Or even the Radon Swoop 210.

That’s pretty much what people said about Andy Farrell when he was vying for the England 12 shirt and he turned out……rubbish.

Farrell was 31 when he started in union and had recently suffered a raft of injuries and a fairly major car crash which injured his back I believe. Burgess is in his prime, regarded as one of the best league players in the world and with time to learn. Completely different state of affairs.

Like I said, whether he’s a success or not is yet to be seen. I personally believe he’s left it too late for the WC. But, if he’s prepared to stick around after that he has the potential to be a player in the mould of Roberts. If he’d come a year earlier I don’t think we’d be in this situation of panic now Tuilagi’s injured.

I think Burgess is there simply so Lancaster can have a look at him first hand and get to see how he works. He has masses of potential but still looks very much like someone learning the game. I imagine Lancaster will love him though, according to those in the Bath camp he’s honest, incredibly hardworking and has a real willingness to learn. Ex-colleagues in league say he’s just a great person to have in camp and to be around as well, which is consistant with Lancaster’s philosophy and mantra.

There was a great documentary that Fox Sports did on him, its on youtube, called Slammin’ Sam. Obviously it’s biased towards him but it gives a pretty good indicator as to the kind of person he is. That, coupled with his freakish athletic ability means he could be a real handful once he gets to grips with the game fully.

At the moment though I think its definitely hype. There are better English qualified centres at almost every club in the AP. But he looks to be catching up fast!

Although currently isn’t there only 12T and JJ that are fully fit centres in the EPS after the weekend? So we may be seeing him sooner than we thought!

Jeez. Saints have been comprehensively beaten in all areas of the field.
can’t see him starting.

He’s one of our best defensive (and attacking) centres!
Mylers’ been awful.

He’s not though has he? I’m sure I read somewhere that his tackle completion rate in the AP was something like 76%. Even Eastmond with his ‘poor’ defense was in the 80’s. I think it’s just a different kind of tackle though. Eastmonds a drag em down tackler (similar to Ford) as opposed to a smash em back. Maybe Lancaster feels it’s a risk having two people in the middle three that give away gain line metres in the tackle.

[/url] Beacon Fell 29/12/14[/url] by luke.richmond1991[/url]

I’m the prettier one on the right.

Good to see Dracs still rocking the Trevor Phillips look…. Wait a min have you been asking for relationship advice recently?? 😛

As an ex apprentice at BAE (still here now), I can say there was a few ‘more mature’ apprentices in my year and the other years I came in contact with. Funnily enough, there was a piece on the intranet the other day about a recently out of his time chap talking about his time as an apprentice. He joined in his early 30’s I think, but has now really progressed and is doing really well for himself. He started off as a bus driver who had always been interested in engineering, and his route took him past the Warton site every day. One thing led to another and he got on the scheme. He mentioned that the financial constraints were tough for a while but the pay progresses every 6 months or so. And the pay is quite competitive once you’re out of your time.

A great apprenticeship scheme to get on if you can. I don’t know what I’d be doing now if I hadn’t.

I’m in for round 1! First go at this kind of thing for me. If I enjoy it I might see if I can get onto some of the later ones as well.

Looking forward to it!

My dad decided to name his female jackapoo ‘Walmsley’ 🙂 . Nobody to this day can understand why or where that name came from.

He’s really protective over it though and nearly punched an old fella in Ulverston who laughed in his face and told him it was the stupidest name he’d ever heard when he asked what the name was and my dad told him.

I live just outside Preston, in Broughton, just to the north. Quite like it, although wouldn’t want to live any further in than I do. Its not the prettiest city in the world but they are revamping all the centre at the moment so hopefully that will improve things a little.

In terms of riding, if you’re into road you’re spoilt for choice, you’ve got the Trough of Bowland and the Ribble Valley to the east and the Fylde to the west (not to mention the South Lakes if you’re willing to put serious miles in). But in terms of mtb there doesn’t seem to be too much in the immediate locality. Most of the bowland fells are pretty peaty and seem to be pretty boggy at the best of times! Like Flashpaul says above, a few miles south of Preston and you have Rivington and Winter Hill within riding distance which is pretty decent.

Like you’ve alluded to in the OP though, theres plenty of seriously good riding within an hour or so in the car!

I was in exactly the same boat, the gf had no interest in mtb whatsoever. But then she decided she wanted to get fitter/healthier and suggested we go mountain biking together. Her dad had an old Norco 6.3 bike lying about so i put new brakes on that (no chance of me getting Avids working after 2yrs of non use), got it all up and running and took her to Gisburn on a really nice fresh, clear day. We just did a loop of the blue and she loved it. Even got her confidence up enough to try ‘Swoopy’ at the end, which she did unfortunately end up walking most of. We’ve since been a few more times and had a great time.

She’s not ‘hooked’ as such but she does enjoy it and can at least understand why I love doing it. So cuts me a bit more slack than in the past.