Discounted Giant Anthem from Pauls Cycles?

No chance of a warranty repair? I had one done and it was no hassle.
If not, I used a place in Dundee to repair a 2nd hand Xbox I had. Think it was these guys – http://www.skprepair.co.uk/xbox-360-repair.php?gclid=CJPyxvqFiLECFVQqfAodNkoLMw

Buy new. Hardware problems are common.
Don’t sign up to Xbox Live using your CC, buy the subscription cards out of Asda or wherever. A bit dearer, but it means your son won’t be able to accidentally buy crap on your credit card, and your card details won’t be in the Xbox Live database, which is surely due to be hacked any time now.

I’m in the same boat. This horrendous weather is killing my enjoyment of mountain biking. I don’t mind riding in sludge every now and again, but every ride gets a bit wearing.

There seems to be no shortage of ridden once Boardman bikes on Ebay, so I’m looking in that direction.

Craig, you looked at those YT Industries bikes?
I was set on a Trance for my 40th, but after looking at those, not so sure now.

I feel like I haven’t been out on the bike in ages, and it’ll be a week before I can get out on it, at least. Summers finally here an all!
Working all week, judo coaching to do at nights, coaching course to go to on Saturday AND Sunday and a fitness test for my Polis application next Tuesday.
I might get out for a celebratory/consolation bike ride on Tuesday afternoon, I suppose. If I have any legs left…

Zedsdead’s track is Clydebank, isn’t it? I thought it looked familiar!
Anyway, Zedsdead should have a word with his sons, they look awfully far off the ground in those pics. It looks dangerous and probably should be banned! :p

Not sure if money has appeared in a budget, or some long term maintenance was due, but the pylons in Clydebank that run up into the Kilpatricks are having work done on them too.
A new, and very visible track has been laid up to the pylon just up from Carleith, and I’m guessing they will need to lay track to all the other ones further into the hills.
Going to make a big mess, I reckon.

I live right next to the A82 and have travelled the bit from Glasgow to Balloch many times. You would not, under any circumstances, catch me on a bike on there.
Is the Glasgow to Balloch cycle path an option? Decent cycle path the whole way to Balloch, is there a decent road option from Balloch to continue your route?

I’d love one! Thinking of getting one for my son at Christmas (he’ll be 10)
20 or 24 for an old man then?

Clean off the excess. Quickly. Otherwise it’s wire brush to clean the cassette time!

Too true! It’s messy stuff if you don’t clean your drivetrain regularly.

must be dusty in here or something…

Are we posting our favourite Pride HL videos now then?
Here’s mine

http://youtu.be/zWKjhoHvxD8

As I grow older, I find mysel more and more being convinced that the correct way to deal with any such awkward confrontation is to shrug your shoulders and say, “so?”
Feel free to try this with irate hikers too. Let me know how it goes.

The Kilpatricks? Bound to be a cracking view from the top of the Humphrey road tomorrow. Nothing too tricky up there either.

bwaarp – Member

Spray it on the disc rotors. Helps clean ’em.
This is, virtually word for word, something a mate said to me in all seriousness recently.

I know a guy thats couchsurfed twice in Gothenburg.
http://www.couchsurfing.org if you feel brave.

City centre bars are pricy, but show me a city centre bar anywhere in the world that isn’t.

Interesting thread this!

I go through phases of thinking this is a good idea, usually when I’m fed up with the politics at work.
Then, I test the water by putting the work out and doing homers for mates, mates family, neighbours etc, then I realise what a nightmare it would be to do it for a living.

Never say never though. I follow this blog all about running a small tech support/PC repair business, and it’s full of some great ideas.

Home

How does the NS Surge fit into this puzzle?
I’m planning on a new frame this summer and veer, almost daily, between the Surge and the BFe.

I’m using Superstar ones now. Seem fine. I’m getting a decent lifespan out of them too, which was the whole point.

The Kilpatricks have been fine lately. A bit soggy, of course, but they are much more wide open moorland, so avoided the horrendous tree falling problems. Even where there is forestry has been cleared already.

I’ve gone Flats, SPDS, Flats, SPD and back to Flats again.

Flats to SPDs, because thats what proper mountain bikers used, going by the photos in all the magazines.
Back to flats cos thats what all the ultra gnar guys in the magazines seemed to be on at that particular time.
Back to SPDs very briefly cos I had a rose tinted view of how good I found them.
Finally back to flats after OTBing right onto the top of my head, nearly breaking my arm in an “ohsh**Icantunclip!” moment and finally wrecking a new X9 rear mech in another slow speed, comedy topple over. These 3 all happened in a single ride, by the way…

So, for me, flats. Simple. No special shoes to buy, no cleats to set up and replace and no sudden panics when you realise you can’t get your feet off the bloody things when you need to.

We buy Dells at our work, and laptop batteries are viewed, by them, as consumables. So not replaceable under warranty, unless DOA. I bet other manufacturers do the same.

So, dead battery then. Got a spare you can try?

It doesnt happen very often – i drive at speedlimit so if your in the outside lane and im behind you at the nsl then wtf are you doing ?

EXACTLY!
Looks like I’ve got a drive through the Edinburgh on Monday, for the first time in a while. I’ve forgotten how bad it can get.

Thing is, with increased exposure of this incident comes the increased likelihood that someone, somewhere thinks that this is a great idea.

Will we see a sudden spate of these types of incidents? Hope not…

You are sure your chain is long enough when the suspension compresses?

+1 for this. Have you checked?

Learn Judo.
I get ipponed by my bike regularly.

You should phone your work IT department and ask them to sort this for you. Talk to them exactly the way you have here.
They’ll find it hilarious.

Get a leather Thai bag. As used in thousands of gyms across Thailand.

They are long enough that the bottom actually rests on the floor, which cuts down on the hassle of the thing swinging around too much when you kick it.
Stuff it with plenty of rags and off you go!

I got a pair of 60a Swamphings off here. Got one on the front and have been too lazy to take the Advantage off the back up till now.
I can see they’d be hard work front and rear.

althepal
Wouldn’t recommend nobby nics.. Nearly went arse over tit a few times on a muddy descent from the Kilpatricks yesterday.. Proper squeaky bum moments..

I think I might have been following your tracks. Came down to Milton via the Crags walk past the quarry yesterday, around 3ish.
Interesting wee 10 minutes slipping down the “path” between the 2 barbed wire fences. Proper thick, claggy mud.
The Swampthing did fine, the Advantage less so.

Wife at work, me and the little un chilled out and watched some films and played some games.
I’ve not had a drink yet, and may not bother, as I’ve got a ride planned for tomorrow.

Happy new year when it comes. Hope 2012 is good to us all.

Like mrchrispy said, they are no CRC or Wiggle, but they are fine. Bought some bits from them online, and a bike in one of their branches.

Go to the gym and do proper weights? Go for a walk, a run or go out on your bike?

I’ve never seen the point of Hojo Undo, other than as an extension of traditional practice.

Chanel No 5, of course…

Nice. Shame you didn’t catch any of the OTBs into the stream at the bottom of the steep hill though!
I hung around for an hour and watched the vets/ladies race. That was enough for me, it was freezing!
I live next door to Auchentoshan and ride my bike in there a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in as bad condition.

I’ve tried lots. From cheapo £5 self mould ones, to a bit more expensive Shock Doctor jobs.
I got one from my Dentist years back, when I started Muay Thai and have not looked back.
Incredibly comfortable, which is the big thing. Self mould ones are as uncomfortable as hell, so, naturally, you won’t use them. The one from the Dentist is so comfortable, you’ll forget you are using it.
I’ve been punched, kicked and kneed in the face wearing mine, and still have all me own teeth!

They aren’t that expensive, so go for it.

I run an Advantage 70a/60a combo most of the time, except when it gets really horrible. Then the Swampthings come out.

The 2.25 60a is a cracking tire. Very big, does great in all but the worst of the mess.
I run a 2.1 70a on the back, which is fine for about 90% of the time. I found it pings off wet rocks and roots a little alarmingly, but this has been mitigated a bit by lowering the pressure. It’s not a mud tire though, so again, once it gets proper messy, you’ll struggle a bit.
Hard wearing too. I’ve had it a year and its still in great condition.

An interesting blog post on the subject.
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-truth-about-violence/
Whats interesting to me is the beliefs that many people have, as you can see from this thread, that some martial arts training will sort it all out for you, when in fact, this is only 1 part of a much bigger puzzle.

Actually, you are thinking about this all wrong. You got away. You sucessfully defended yourself.
Very well done!

You do have an altogether unrealistic view of what self defence is.
For example, if you think you will have trouble running away from trouble once it’s snowy or icy, what makes you think you’ll be able to keep to your feet in a fight in the same circumstances?

Keep your ego and pride in check and you’ll be fine. There may have been no verbal warning that those 15 guys were going to go for you, but I bet it didn’t come out of the blue.

Any martial art that pushes you hard and has you spar or fight with hard contact is going to increase your chances, but they are all sports, practiced in controlled environments, usually 1v1.

Want to know the best way to increase your chances 100%?
Don’t put yourself in the position where you are going to get into fights.

Theres always someone harder and meaner than you out there.