Maybe i’ve just been really lucky, but I think Wiggle are great.
Very rare I have to go elsewhere to find better prices, delivery is always prompt and any (very rare) problems always dealt with quickly and easily.

Bit of a half arsed plan, as it seems a long way off at the moment (currently 36), but basically boils down to 3 key ingredients.
A) Don’t waste cash on frivolous stuff I don’t need
B) Use surplus from A) to pay off mortgage by mid 40’s
C) Once B) nearly complete figure out where to make investments

@Kryton, XC races on YouTube if you can find one you haven’t seen, by the time you add some pre-amble and podium presentation it usually come to 2hrs.

Terrible time of year to be starting chipping away at the mental reserves though – only so many indoor z2 rides a man can take in a season.

@whitestone – it really does!

Maybe people got bored of 100 pages of nothing but:
Ad
Stealth ad
Roost
Ad
Stealth ad
Roost

Not tried that particular model, but was part of a couple of group orders of loads of different Endura kit last year, and with the exception of 2 items that were mislabeled, it was all true to the size guide.

This, for me

Interested in responses to this too.
My 2 year deal expires at the end of the month – was considering fixing for 5yrs next time to be safe

Not everyone does though. When does a commute transmutes into a ride?

When whoever uploads it thinks its of sufficient interest and different enough from normal to not check the commute box.
If Mr 7.63mi decides to try a new route and ends up taking 12.4mi and getting lost I definitely want to see that. But not the next day when he returns to same old same old.

And they want to pay next to nothing for it.

Don’t think that’s true at all. What I do expect, is for the cost of an 800/810, both the hardware and firmware should be pretty much bulletproof, which sadly they are not.
Well documented issues like the infamous corroded USB port really shouldn’t happen, and how they thought the same design for the 810 was acceptable I have no idea.

But there’s still no real alternative, so we keep feeding their profits for mediocre (they have a lot of positives to balance the negatives) devices.

It’s not our fault our training is indoors, it doesn’t suddenly make it less valid, or make it less important just because it’s not outdoors. Why can’t you non-Zwifters just accept, it’s what some people do

Got nothing against Zwifters, I log plenty of turbo sessions myself – but I don’t actually expect anyone other than me to be interested in them.
Fundamentally, 25 laps of the volcano is just less interesting to most (i’m sure there are some exceptions) than seeing you went out and did your local loop in a gale on Tuesday night.

Commutes on the other hand, should probably be filtered by default – no-one wants to see athlete X doing the same 7.63mi twice a day every day…

For a 10min commute, anything that looks vaguely insulated and cheap will do nicely.
I had some for £7 out of Tesco a couple of years ago.

If you’re not likely to be riding in crappy weather, i’d go with the better specced rim brake bike. A well set up pair of quality rim brakes provide more braking force than you can actually use anyway (for a light rider on narrow tyres at least – may be different for a heavier rider on wider tyres).

I too was subjected to the awful new feed today – a feature that no-one wanted, and harder to implement than some of the many small filtering options that have been requested.
Stopped my premium about 18 months ago, and if anything they are going further away from getting me to restart than drawing me back.

A team time trial, a cobble day, and a day with a short stretch of gravel roads – maybe too many variables not directly under Froome’s control – could be the year he decides to add the Giro to his Palmares and does the Giro/Vuelta double?

Easy – a light carbon XC race bike with clearance for 2.6″ tyres and a 66-67°HA, as to me, this is what a ‘trail’ bike should be, fast and efficient going up, and a little bit more confidence inspiring going down.
I’m pretty sure we will see one of these made over the next couple of years.
Scott have come very close already with the new Spark (not RC).

Land Cruiser and CX Comp in 24″
https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour-reader/land-cruiser.html
https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/offroad-reader/cx-comp.html

Schwalbe have a very handy tool on their site:
https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/reifensuche.html

Once upon a time I defaulted to CRC, pretty much any mainstream part was there in stock

The key word being mainstream, which your antiquated miniature wheels are not :D

Haha, yeah, getting beads to break is a nightmare on the trailblazers – was a 2 man job for me and dad doing my cooker last week (admittedly i have wimpy hands).

Running mine at 14psi first go, felt fast, but not as compliant as i’d like – will try with a bit less next time.
But, i’m only 60kg, so guessing start at 18ish psi for you

We might stand a better chance if you tell us what tyres and what size!

That photo up there of Aberdeen very similar to Dundee (not a great surprise).
Was a bit odd going out for lunch in what may as well have been night time.

Not that revolutionary, i think anyone with more than a passing interest in self coaching and targetting typical xc/cx/crit races is already measuring 5s, 1min and 5min powers and comparing themselves to the chart of shame.

Also, anyone else wondering where they found a 160kg test subject from?!

That’s my fear Andy – if I can’t figure out what caused it, I can’t prevent it happening again.

In my case, I slid a good 10m down the road, and noticed after the fact that none of my clothing was damaged (indicates surface must have been very slippy) and had faint black/brown residue on gloves. Made me strongly suspect something on the road, but went back next day but couldn’t see anything though.
Might be worth looking over your kit to see if you have any similar signs?

I’m not a Michelin tyre tester, but i’d be amazed if it made a significant difference.
Most likely oil/diesel on the road.
Bit of a bummer when the bike just goes away from you for no obvious reason – had similar last winter myself, took months to get confidence back :(

No wind yet, but its perfect weather for vampires here in Dundee

I honestly think, the concept of ‘winter tyre’ didn’t exist in the UK until those two winters, then we all kind of assumed it would happen every year, but it almost never does. If I lived somewhere where it snowed every winter, I’d buy a 4×4, and possibly some winter tyres for it.

tbh, I also think full on winter tyres are overkill 99% of the time. I was just pointing out that maybe our ‘normal’ tyres these days don’t quite perform as well in wintry conditions as they may have in the past.

I remember in 2010 I had to rely on my Dad for a lift to work, cos whilst his little Peugeot 206 just carried on, neither of us could even get my Leon out of the drive :D

It’s cold enough and snows often enough here that now they exist i’ll be trying a set of these all season / cross climate things for my next set.

My personally preference is to drive to the conditions rather than rely on winter tyres (that will cause an argument) the blurb for winter tyres makes it sound as if Summer Tyres (or ‘tyres’ as they’ve been called for the last 100 years or so) will kill you the moment they’re out of their optimum working temp of 40c ambient,

I think perhaps ‘Summer’ tyres have changed over the years to try and coax out better performance in normal conditions, at the expense of snow performance. Where once upon a time a midsize family hatchback would have come with 175/65’s, its now just quite likely to have 225/45’s = cuts into the snow less, and with stiffer less conforming sidewalls. Combined with the increased torque of the ever popular turbo diesel engine, it can make for very difficult driving at even the slightest sniff of the white stuff.

It is a problem, basically countless kids lose all interest in maths because they don’t know what it’s for, then by the time they start to see what it’s for they’ve already dropped or done badly in maths.

Maths at school is a bit of a weird one, and I can’t help thinking far too much emphasis is placed on it. A lot of the stuff taught in later years is of extremely limited use in real life. I used mine for a physics degree, and then entered the real world and found I didn’t need it and have since forgotten it all.

How many people actually solve quadratic equations, and do differentiation/integration in real life?

On an arkose i’d probably go with the Top Contact II in 37c

Hmm. I was looking at their website and it does seem to be saying that all of this year’s tyres will be tubeless ready (or ‘easy’ as they are now calling it)

https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour-reader/marathon-supreme.htmlErm, no, it quite clearly shows there are TL-Easy and V-Guard options. There’s actually very few tubeless ones

Everyone says the bit from Applecross to Torridon is harder than you think its going to be. They aren’t lying!

Good point tj, it can still be surprisingly chilly in the evenings quite late into the year. Wasn’t so bad for it this year, but returned from several after work rides in 2016 half frozen as temp plummeted late evening.

Definitely May – best chance of warm sunny days if the last few years are anything to go by.

We do about four loads of washing per week, for two adults, two teenage girls and two dogs. (Although our dogs just go naked so don’t particularly contribute to the wash load.)

How big is your washer?!! I manage 3-4 loads a week with just 1 of me!

P=IV
P=(your current draw)x 240
Convert to kWh – (P/1000) x Hrs drier is running
Cost = kWh x your electricity unit cost

Edit: Or do you know all that already, and you are trying to figure out from the vague numbers that manufacturers post how to do same calculation for your theoretical new drier?

Not a great deal here other than a great pub and a few camping/caravan sites, but it’s a good base for exploring the East Neuk. Oh, and there’s a small pyramid up the road commemorating the murder of some archbishop or other.

I’ll give you a clue. It’s neither Ceres nor Guardbridge.

Fairly strong suggestion he’s in Fife, not the other side of the country

Trying to workout where the flying ix lives without googling.
…
I was trying to figure out where flying ox is is too

I’d hope i’d have a better chance than most spending 1000’s of hours cycling roads and trails in East Fife, but even i don’t remember any pyramids

After spending the night firmly attached to the loo they are now sleeping face down in a pool of sweat.

not overly bothered about rolling resistance

Another Mary?

:lol:
Pretty sure sacrificing puppies in pagan rituals belongs in the unwanted thoughts thread