Right then..

CyB = good range of trails and terrain. Yes it gets a slating, especially since it’s “tarmac’d” a lot of the descents but it’s still entertaining, esp if you like Llandegla etc. Dragon’s back & MBR routes are both good mid distance routes. The Beast is a long distance combination of the above 2. The Tarw is good in places but is showing it’s age a bit with a lot of fire road stuff. There’s a shorter route for more novice riders too if you’re a mixed group.

Machynlleth (Climach-x) = good short blast with nice singletrack and great views. Not much technical stuff…. except the last descent which is long, gnarly and will have you going back up to do it again (there’s an un-signed short cut back up to the top)

Nant-yr-Arian = one of my favourite places to ride – if the weather’s good, you get a real sense of being out in the middle of nowhere, especially if you do the longer distance tracks (The old MBR killer loop that heads off the continental trails is the best for a real variety of terrain from man made singletrack to rocky forest descents)

Penmachno & Llandegla – you’ve done them so know what to expect 🙂

Marin – a good mix, great views and some good descents. Again, this trail is showing it’s age a bit though with little technical riding.

All the above is IMHO of course 😉

clarkpm4242 – I’ve done a similar ride to the Lake Vyrnwy one many times – the descent down to the Hotel is great fun. You just need to look out for the sheep 🙂 . The view over to Cadir Idris from the top is worth the effort too.

There are regular DH events at Caersws and Moelfre (near oswestry) but both are on private farmland.

If you get a group together and speak nicely to the land-owner at Moelfre, he will often run private uplifts at the weekend for not much cash. I haven’t got contact details though I’m afraid.

Suprisingly little riding out-of-the-door but loads of great stuff within an hour or so’s drive.

CyB, Machynlleth (CLimach-x) & Llandegla are the closest trail centres but Nant yr Arian & Betwys y coed (penmachno/marin) are only an extra 15 minutes drive. Yes, they’re all likely to be busy but, for most, once you’re out on the trails you don’t really notice.

If you want natural stuff, there’s some great riding to be had round the Long Mynd and the Berwyns or Eastridge has some way-marked trails that can be extended over the Stiperstones and is only 30 mins away.

The variety of easily accessible riding has kept me here for 10 years now 🙂

Cool – couple of good pics there – I’ll point the guys I was riding with here.

Shame you didn’t catch me – I’m sure I was probably going too quick for you…! 😉

2nd a Giro Xen. Bought one last weekend – much more comfy than my old Animas (and more trendy I’m sure 😉 ).

Fits really well (even my huge bonce!) and didn’t hurt when I went over the bars and landed on my head/shoulder on the Dyfi last weekend!

fbk,

Just to confirm is it numbers 334 and 337 or 334/5/6 and 7?

334/5/6 and 7 please 🙂

India. Cheapest place to buy high quality cut & polished diamond in the world (apparently).

I saved significantly more than the associated 2 week holiday cost when I bought one out there (according to the valuation when I got back home again).

Any of 334-337 would be good if you got one.

Cheers

Unless you use it via Wifi!

On the other hand, those Merrell & shimano ones are perfect examples of why I don’t normally like that sort of thing – GRIM!!!

I don’t normally like that sort of thing but…. they look quite good really.

I’m sure they’ll look worse in the flesh!!

I guess things are a little different in human medicine.

Agreed, you don’t want to disturb the normal cellular migration/WBC activity but when you’ve got a wound full of poo, saliva (bacteria) and pus, salt water does a nice job of cleaning, debriding (gently) and drawing out any purulent exudate. The benifits over normal water are possibly marginal but it “seems” to work better imho. And adding a little salt makes water no less “neutral” or abrasive.

Modern dressings are always going to work better, providing your patient doesn’t chew/scratch them off and can afford the expense (god bless the NHS)

This doesn’t help the OP though I suppose 🙂

Might seem to but it doesn’t.

Care to elaborate?

The theory behind using it seems sound and even if it “seems” to help, that keeps my patients happy and involves zero expense, which is the important thing.

It always amazes me how many people still think animal’s saliva has healing properties. Why do you think so many dogs have a “lamp shade” round their necks after surgery etc – trust me, the last thing you want is a dog licking any wound you may have (for the previously mentioned legal reasons as well as medical in some caes 🙂 ).

Oh, and salt does seem to help if there’s any infection/discharge.

Anyone got 2p for me?

Uh oh – just downloaded it……. I may be some time!

I even managed to complete that strange mission where you have to shoot up all those dodgy aliens. Or did I just dream that bit up on the game.

Oh yeah – was that the one where you got interrupted half way through hyperspace and immediately attacked. Oooh, it’s all coming back…..where’s that link…

Oh god – Elite on the BBC B+128k….. how many hours did I spend on that?

And I love that Frak video. How can something that was so good way back when, look soooo rubbish now !!!

Geek heaven 🙂

I’ve had my E-120 for a few months now – warranty replacement for an E-5.

I’m totally happy with it so far. I descends fantastically well, feels rigid and light with very little power lost from the pedals. The rear end is amazing – several times I’ve got up stupidly steep rocky climbs I’d though I’d have a go at for a laugh.

The only problems I’ve had have been with the components swapped from the old E-5 – the Maverick forks and Mono Minis are/were a bit out of their league on this!

Don’t test ride one if you don’t want to buy one – that’s the mistake I keep making 🙂

That’s great news – always worrying when the air ambulance turns up.

I certainly wouldn’t worry about holding anyone up – I think quite a few people were very close to injury on that ride, me included – thank god for helmets, knee pads and good fortune!

And it wasn’t a race anyway 😉

You gotta love the Dyfi!

That muddy descent was great fun – snow boarding on a MTB :). To be honest, that’s a great thing about the Dyfi – every descent brings something different and challenging.

And yes the walkers/totterers on the descents were a bit of a pain (that’s why I went over the bars on the really steep rocky descent) but all part of the fun of the Dyfi. There’s a real buzz from getting past the slower riders safely. And before anyone criticises, I was waiting for openings, shouting clear “on your left/right” and got acknowledgements from nearly all the riders as I over took (all very friendly too). it does seem a shame to spend all that effort climbing up the hills to walk back down again 🙂

I did have to laugh at the top of the last singletrack descent when a lad came screaming past us, skidded round into the singletrack grinning and set off in front of us. I couldn’t resist – following behind him with a couple of mates. We caught him by the first corner heckling him with “come on pedal”, only for him to wash out. Apparently he got mud in his eye so couldn’t take the corner full speed. I think he saw the funny side of it though and admitted he couldn’t catch us again 🙂

All good.

I remember – Syphon filter. Crap name, good game 🙂

I just had ridgeracer which was a laugh (great for inducing RSI!). Quite an old game though – I’m sure there are probably better ones around now.

Not sure about FPS I’m afraid – there are some good 3rd person ones…. can’t remember the name of the one I played a lot!

As above – you can use game “backups” stored on a Sony Memory Stick but subsequent firmware updates have made it more and more difficult to use them.

iirc (just sold mine) anything with firmware higher than 3.0 is nigh on impossible to hack. 2.71SE is the one to have but you need some knowledge of computers/gadgets to get things set up properly (lots on the web though – google psp 2.71se). Oh, and latest games need the latest firmware, making sticking with 2.71 more difficult 🙂

Good fun and very addictive little console. Especially Loco Roco – great game

Dr_UpGrade – beat me to it 🙂

I’d be suprised if it was only 1500m though – was that just the off road section or the whole thing?

cxi – my GPS (barometric altimeter) reckoned around 1900m. It normally under-estimates so I reckon it was probably a little bit more.

Either way it was loads 🙂

I bought one last week and wiggle seemed to be the cheapest – they seem to have them still at last years prices, then 10% off (£89).

Having said that, I got mine on eBay as they didn’t have the colour I wanted 😉

They were also the reason I upgraded the Mono Minis on my full sus – they showed pretty effectively how poor the MMs were 🙂

is it an xc or all mountain setup stopping alot of weight

Don’t worry, none taken 😉

I’ve got them on a Commencal Supernormal so XC HT but it gets a bit of thrashing and I’ve never felt under braked. They’re perhaps not as well finished as some more expensive brakes – a bit of play in the levers etc, but they feel pretty solid.

They do lack the “Bite point” adjustment of the more expensive levers if that’s important to you.

I’ve got K18s on my HT. Plenty of power for single finger braking and good modulation (185 front, 160 rear). Only problem I’ve had is serious brake judder on the front – might just be my set up though.

I haven’t used juicys much (just a quick blast on a friends bike) but reviews would suggest a bit more power and definitely more modulation.

No complaints with either here – they compare favourably with the Oro 18s on my HT and wipe the floor with my old Mono Minis! No squealing or judder yet either.

Very impressed with my new Elixir CRs. The extra power takes a bit of getting used to though 🙂

Mmmm.. agreed, Aspells and Katys are both great. Perfect for the nice hot summer we’re all going to have… 😉

Rich – ygm. Hope you haven’t left yet 🙂

Ah, no email in your profile. Mine is so if you want the map, drop me an email.

I can’t find the 1:25,000 maps at the mo but I can send you a 1:50,000 with the 2 tracks on.

Rich – I’ll try and send you a map with the climach-x and Dyfi routes on when I get back this evening

Neil

The climach-x route goes up that way (fire road and avoidable singletrack climb) and I think you can get to the top of the climb from there via a fire road short cut. Have a look on a 1:25,000 map or I can probably send you the Memory Map image of round there if it helps.

I honestly think my E-5 failure was a rarity – the bike shop certainly seemed surprised when I took it in.

The crack ran from the weld on top of the downtube, round and under the upper shock mount. That certainly explained the constant creaking I’d been having for the last few rides! I think it must’ve been a Friday afternoon frame welding job 😉

http://www.ksgphotography.co.uk/gallery.html.

Loads of photos on here now. Some really good ones too 🙂

Hi ???

In the end I’ve been using an older Thule rack that grips the frame in a similar fashion to the Mont Blanc rack mentioned (a U shaped clamp grabbing either side of the downtube from underneath). I do use an extra strap round the clamp and downtube though to hold the thing in place.

I think the “don’t use any form of carrier” line is a bit excessive. I was always stressed about the carbon fibre thing until my old E-5 failed on the aluminium main frame!

Enjoy the new bike – E-120s are fantastic 🙂