Teetosugars.

I'm changing to see if my feet are any warmer with flats. I'd asked on here the other day and the general thoughts were that my feet would get more use with flats and hopefully stay warmer, It's yet to freeze and already I've had severe discomfort from cold feet, even after trying many different shoes/sock combinations.

If that's not the case, I'll stick the SPDs back on, as at least then, if I can't feel what my feet are doing, I'll know that they're attached to my pedals!

(thanks for the speedy responses, keep 'em coming, good to know it's not just me on here at 11pm!)

Probably got about half a dozen local rides which I do regularly.

Gisburn Forest
Longridge Fell
Darwen Tower
Pendle Hill
Lee Quarry
all within 10 – 25 mins away or some can be done from home. OK then, 5 routes.

I'm moving house soon and will have access to the great outdoors at the end of the garden!

I sell Skodas so am probably biased, the Scout is a great car, not a proper off roader but very capable and practical. Typical (modern) Skoda reliability and value for money. I had 3 on the trot last year and really rate them. Can't say I did more than 6k miles in any individual one, but there's plenty of the standard 4x4s around with loads of miles on and I'm not aware of any known common issues. Let me know if you want me to find you a suitable one. Some cracking offers on the new ones at the moment too.

a bit like this, but longer????

I keep thinking about this for my 5, but the swing arm is quite low on the 5, so the mud guard would have to be very long.
If you just cut a mudguard off, in a straight line, drill a couple of holes in the edges and zip tie it on.

I'd say not! 150quid could be better spent. I have 08 talas with normal QR on my Orange 5 SE and 09 Float QR15 on my Marin Rocky Ridge. If I fasten the qr up really tight, I don't notice any difference.

If there's absolutely nothing else you need then consider it, but if I had that money spare, new fork lowers would be a long way down the list.

Cheers guys (and gals). Speedy responses there.

If I wear my Shimano trainer style shoes with Sealskinz, my feet do stay warmer as I can wiggle my toes a bit, but with the recent wet weather, the shoes end up weighing about a stone each with the added water! My light weight summer shoes just let all the cold air in and are a bit tight with Sealskinz and the supposedly water proof shoes are just useless.

I'll try pulling up on the pedals and see how that goes, if not I might buy some cheap flatties, any recommendation?

I went to Llandegla, last Thursday, you're right, Gisburn is no worse than the exposed bits of trail/mud fest at Llandegla.

I've been today.

It's all rideable if you've got a fair bit of skill. Some of the contractor built bits are pretty cut up, mainly due to morons riding around the trail obstacles and ruining the edges of the trail in places. But like I say, you can ride it all but you'll just end up muddier than most trail centres.

The bermed section is actually a lot grippier than it looks, but again there's a lot of braking bumps from numpties, which have now started to get pretty annoying!

Off topic: (I guess I sound like I'm whinging here, but if a trail has a black rating and the weather is crap, don't ride down it if you're not confident, you won't enjoy it and you'll not do the trails any favours.)

yeah all right. 120mm head tube then. Steerer length will obviously depend on head set, stem and spacers! 😳

120mm

all the other measurements are here[/url] too, strangely! 🙄

I'll sell you 5 shiney pound coins for a tenner. (you pay the P&P though!)

Tempted?

There was a thing flashed up on the BBC last night saying, some areas will go live at midday and some others later in the day.

sellf adhesive velcro

Trouble with a question like yours, is you need someone with experience of both. Otherwise you'll get people like me, who've never tried the maxle saying 'don't bother, just do your QR up tight'
or other folk with maxles saying 'my bike is so stiff, defo get the maxle'

I've made a few of these, used pond liner rubber in the past, this ones a car innertube though. It's just velcro'd to the back of the brace and under the crown. Previous versions have been a bit longer and were pinned under the lower crown race but they weren't removable.

anyone whose past there GCSE,s should no better

More, I hear you say….

Rachel Riley. Image not from today, but you'll get the drift….

RubberQueens are cheaper here. I got a pair of 2.2s earlier this year and have been really impressed with them.

Been maried a year but been together 13. About 10 years ago when we got the first house we started with a joint account and kept separate ones too. Then we got an off set mortgage which was the best thing we ever did. Everything went into the 'one account' including our individual savings and the mortgage just dropped so quickly. Everything still goes into one pot, but is spread across a few savings accounts. We're married so it's all ours, even though I earn double what she does. Can't see the point in separate accounts. If we ever split up, which I don't envisage, I'd get screwed anyway!

The wife is great at managing our money and still lets me have £5ks worth of bikes in the garage!

Hope hubs here, so no choice but to go for a dearer cassette with alloy carrier….(SRAM PG990 lasts at least twice as long as an XT in my opinion)

A 300 quid DSLR should be pretty decent nowadays, but don't under estimate how much top quality lenses cost. If you're not planning on having a few lenses and flash guns etc, you need to think if you really need a DSLR. There's some excellent compacts available for much less than £300.

my best mate's dad threw himself in front of a train. He was clinically depressed, which opened my eyes to depression. I used to think people just needed to 'get over it and get on with life'

My next door neighbour hung himself in the garage, whilst I was on the other side of the wall in our back yard. I think I was the last to speak to him, which is kind of sad really. I think he did it because his partner was a total nightmare that he couldn't live with.

oops!

Get him a buff. More uses than a simple cap.

The only thing on my 5 which is Orange's own is the frame, the grips were, but they've gone now. Everything else is form other manufacturers. Just get the S or Pro with a performance pack or the SE model and you'll just have an Orange frame too.

I've got an 08 5 SE, mine doesn't really bob, in fact I rarely turn the pro pedal on, but I do knock the TALAS down to 120mm for climbing. I'd suggest you need to mess with the settings a bit more!

Well, I went to Llandegla, I took the hardtail for a change.
It's not as good as I remeber and the trail is totally wrecked in a lot places. Maybe the howling wind spoilt it a little, but the first proper singletrack (after the jumps and tabletop), where all the trees have now been felled just didn't flow like it used too?!

I spent an hour or so in the skills park practicing jumps. I'm not entirely sure what the pump track is all about, it seems to be made out of very loose gravel and will soon be flattened off I would think.

I think they'd be better off sorting out what they've already got rather than spendong a fortune on new trails.

One good point, when the bike wash has finished with water, it blows fairly low pressure air, which I used to dry my chain and mech off!

What about the oil being washed off the chain and killing all the little Nemos? 😀

I like Stainburn, but I'd never go on my own in case I break myself!
Hadn't thought about Grizedale, it always seems so far away, but it's not really.

Yeah, Hebden B's about an hour away. I'm not too sure on many routes round there though. I could always spend all day dropping down from Pecket Well and back up again!

I spent well over that and didn't get a carbon frame, have I been had?

How was todays dig Jon? Have you finished it yet?

Canal Paths?

We went for 'Stuck on you' by Lionel Richtea.

But if we were getting married now, Take That's Greatest Day could be in with a shout

As for machine washable, don't bother, you'll still need to get it pressed afterwards.

Not true. I've several machine washable M&S suits. Hang them up damp and they dry straight.

see here
m&s washable suits

Machine washable M&S suit should be easy doable for that price.
No point spending £10 every few weeks at the dry cleaners if you don't need to!

Yes it is exposed!