I guess i like the look of the methodical approach to the technical elements and the general pacing of XC. Where as DH and Enduro are about going as fast as you dare and staying on the bike XC has a more thoughtful, considered approach to it??

I think RC cars, planes, helicopters etc are all great fun and I’ve certainly had RC Buggies all my life but I just don’t get the whole RC Rock Crawling thing. It just seems really odd.

Living no where neat any decent riding without having to drive there.

This, very much this. Trying to work on fixing it but not easy.

I’m just sort of putting my feelers out really. I had a blast at a couple of CX races before christmas. I enjoyed them but it still had a sort of ‘roadie’ vibe to it and although I enjoy riding my CX bike I really am a mountain biker at heart but just fancied something a little bit different to DH and Enduro events I’ve done for the past 10 years. A different challenge but something that’s still very much a mountain bike event.

Njee20 – Oxfordshire

And besides…. Isn’t it the 29er thats supposedly dead now?

As already said, if your going in with a desire for danger then I’d have a re-assessment. Motorbikes are dangerous full stop and really you should be going into it with a mind set of enjoying what they offer with a strong sense of self preservation.

The joy of motorbikes is the sense of freedom they bring and the joy of carefully applied nuanced control of something that responds so greatly from direct and minuscule inputs. Don’t go chasing danger, you won’t need to on a motorbike.

I think the Stanton is winning to be honest. It’s pretty much exactly what i’m looking for. The 909 looks surprisingly good too but that Stanton ticks all the boxes.

I’ve just been waiting for someone to ride both a 26″ and a 29″ at Cannock to confirm that the 26″ wheel is indeed dead.

You all heard it folks. It’s dead, it’s over, finished.

Centre – Laggan. Always fun.
Trail – too many to consider really but i always love riding Minton Batch, Long Mynd.

they were all ‘doing it’ back in the day ferv, he was pretty much made a scape goat, sad stuff really… doc well worth a watch, eye opener.

Yes, but I don’t understand your reasoning that it makes our most recent champions ‘wet blankets’. Are you suggesting that the sport is now lacking without the cheating, lying, manipulating, bullying, controlling and vindictive behaviour of Armstrongs like?

I can accept that Armstrong has been made an enormous scapegoat for the sports past ills but Armstrong was the enormous star with the enormous global following and the enormous bank balance as a result. His fall from grace is entirely of his own making and is only as spectacular as it is due to the fact he had such a high place to fall from. I have no sympathy.

The none cheating, none bullying wet blankets of today?

Blimey, so many choices. On the 29er option, is it worth investing in one, given that the industry has all but admitted it’s putting them to bed? Or is the situation a little different on the HT front?

Candodavid – Oxfordshire.

This is perfect training for tomorrows pre-season international at Hawkstone Park.

I’ve always thought of a play bike as a short travel slopestyle type bike. Something that is ‘playful’ in it’s handling. Something that is a jack of all trades, master of none but is able to take the hard knocks. I’ve always considered the DMR Bolt a very good play bike. Short travel, burley with fairly slack angles that, with the right build, can be very lively and just good fun.

I tend to put him, Stanhope and Carlin together because they all changed, in a matter of moments, how I thought about living life. And how I looked at the world and people.

Indeed. I’ve always been a bit obsessive over stand up comedy, even as kid. When I discovered Hicks I realised just how important stand up comedy can be. Certainly Hicks and Stanhope reflected how I felt about life and gave me new concepts to consider.

Likewise I’m not a fan of supplements, particularly when you look at the amount of certain vitamins you are getting – in some cases over 150% of your daily intake. Far better to just eat a mixed and healthy diet and get all your vitamins etc that way.

I really wish he was still around today. I can’t even begin to imagine what he’d make of things in 2014.

Swapping tyres at 6am? Blimey, I switch them less often than the seasons. I tend to almost forget my helmet if it’s the morning.

Cannock’s an hour and 45 mins from me and it was the first time on my bike in a month. Got a rare day off so wanted to make the most of it. Current tyres resembled slicks so last minute dash to throw on a new set. I was still half asleep so didn’t notice what I was throwing on.

Looks nice that. What’s the build spec going to be?

Sounds promising then with a dry day forecast for tomorrow.

Likewise. Got a rare day off tomorrow and fancied a blast around the Chase myself. Haven’tbeen there in 8 months but if it’s a complete mud-fest I’ll give it a miss.

What’s this frying off and cooking off bollocks? What is the OFF for?

Yep, i’m with you on that. If anything is going to be cooked in a sauce then it can just cook in the sauce. No need for any of this frying off nonsense.

Ladder, pruning saw, rope. Reduce from the top incrementally and rope the biggest sections for a controlled drop. But really if your going to reduce by that much you may as well take them down completely.

It’s not an investment for me…… I’m out.

Coffee. I tried it for the first time with coffee a few weeks ago. Really works well.

Kayaking on usually fairly uninteresting rivers has been far more entertaining, particular with the strong winds added into the mix.

My Sam Hills fell apart after 9 months, which was unlike my previous experiences with 5 tens. My impact highs are still going strong after 2 years.

One of John Barry’s finest pieces in my opinion.

It needs a celebrity endorsed ‘i believe in Climate Change’ ad campaign. Clooney, Chris Martin, Paltrow et al all holding hands emotionally declaring ‘we believe in Climate Change’. If that doesn’t get even the most hardened cynic on side, nothing will.

That SR500 is absolutely stunning. Want. No…. Need.

Life’s too short to get caught up in self imposed rules about what we can and can’t do at certain points in our lives. If you fancy doing it, do it. I’d never ridden a BMX until last year (30) and now have a proper race BMX and dabble in a bit of racing and am down my local track every other weekend having a blast trying to clear the doubles, triples etc. I initially thought i’d look like a fool turning up at 30 years old with a load of kids and teenagers practicing but no one could care less. I realised it was just my problem and overt self awareness. No one else is remotely interested or bothered.

I’d rather invest in a decent grinder to get the best out of the machine so don’t mind spending out on something good quality. I just don’t know what’s good and what’s bad so i’ve been basing my judgements (no doubt wrongly) on their price point alone.

The approach to this remake is very different. Where as the original is a very dark satire whereby a man faces an incredibly painful and disturbing conflict with his existence as a machine and all the losses that come with it the remake brushes over it completely, well it tackles it a little bit but more in a ‘Woah, what happened to my super fit Hollywood bod?! Whoah, i’m like totally bullet proof now dude, this is frickin’ cool!’ sort of way.

It’s a completely different animal, which is fine, I wouldn’t want a pointless carbon copy. It’s just a pity that on its own, it’s a really bad film.

It’s just marketing innit.

I suppose fans are at least getting to see him perform live at fairly low key venues for a few quid.

Cheers folks. Yes, just going out on the road bike I can see that more or less everything is a swampy mess at the moment. But it’s nice to know there are some decent rides locally.

Great list Pondo but an SX150 is what you need, not the 125. 😉

I cancelled my subscription by phone on Thursday night. I explained that it was just the streaming service i was disappointed with and intended to give netflix a go. Guy on the phone said they would give me 4 months service for free so i could try Netflix and compare the two without financial penalty. So I signed up to Netflix and got a 2 month free trial with them as well.

Happy days.

think it was in “freakonomics”? why would an estate agent bother to try to get a higher price? – their fee is either fixed or more often a percentage so a quick guaranteed sale is better than messing around for an extra £50 in fees – my guess would be may have some other interest but maybe other party is in a complex chain? If you aren’t I’d just point out that you aren’t and withdraw the higher offer

Thats the other thing. Agent advised that on each occasion we made an offer the other interested party made an offer of the same or at least similar amount and are miraculously in almost exactly the same position as us – house sold, decent deposit, good to go. Could all be completely true of course but we’d unfortunately disclosed more information to this particular agent on a previous occasion when we saw another property we liked advertised with them so he knows more or less how much we have to spend, exactly what we are looking for etc. He’s a young chap who is clearly very keen to climb the corporate ladder as well and i think he’s got his sights on an ‘over the asking price’ sort of deal. He hasn’t endeared himself to me.

As you say Ton, so much anger for absolutely nothing. People generally seem so quick to completely lose control at the most insignificant things. I’m glad that people like you ton, can maintain composure and decorum to remind these idiots just how pathetic they actually are.

Well, I think ill go with the seahawks then, just because they’ve never won it.