Lucky there aren’t many mothers on this forum (are there?) as it could become handbags at dawn. Still, looks like it might run and run…

Luddite alert! – With all due respect to the other posters, I’d recommend doing a bit of research into how computers effect the attention span, and capacity to use the imagination, on little people. Then draw your own conclusions.

Re the OP’s question about wheels, upgrading your wheels is the single most effective thing that you can do with your bike in terms of improving performance. In terms of your questions “What’s the difference”, again you have to think “What do you want?” For instance if you’re going to be doing some touring you want strong wheels with a high spoke count and weight is less of an issue. If you’re going to be racing, stiffness and weight are your key criteria. If you’re going to be time-trialling then aerodynamicness (is that a word??) becomes key. But without overcomplicating things, more expensive wheels tend to be lighter, stronger (less likely to buckle etc) and stiffer (less flex so more power translated into moving you forwards). You’re also looking at better axles with more longevity, less resistance, easier maintenance etc. As alluded to before, at £2.5k lots of manufacturers spec fairly entry-level wheels. Just remember though, no point in expensive wheels if you have sh*t tyres. So your two first upgrades are wheels and tyres (and maybe saddle)

Haven’t read through all four pages of this thread, so apologies if I’m repeating anything that’s already been said. First thing is what will you be using it for. There’s a difference between a stiff as hell out and out race bike and something a bit more forgiving for spending hours in the saddle. You need to define usage before you look at product. That aside the Focus Izalco Pro 3 won 2012 overall bike of the year in both Cycling Plus and Cycling Active magazines, beating the likes of Specialied / Trek / Giant etc. I think they’re about £2,200. They also do a more sportive specific model that won best Sportive bike on test in Cycling Plus a couple of months back. Like Canyon Focus are a German brand and the level of kit (incl the wheels which is where you often see manufacturers cutting corners) is absolutely superb. If I had £2,500 to spare I’d need a damn good reason not to go after one of these…

What a game! Kudos to Murray for putting it all on the line. That said, he’s never going to win a Slam if he a) serves as badly as that, his 1st serve was execrable for most of the match and b) fails to take his chances when they occur. Incredibly Federer made more unforced errors, but when he had the chances he was clinical (and brilliant). Feel that Murray missed his chance a bit because if he could have held on and won the 2nd set tie-break he probably would have gone on to win it. Didn’t he twice get broken from 40 – love on his own serve? Still work to do then, but as he said, he’s getting closer and he did lose to the greatest player the game has ever seen.

Thanks for all the advice guys. After much shennanigans getting from B to D (bridge closed, diversion, wrong turn etc) did Verderers yesterday with a few sections of the red thrown in for good measure. Have to say I really enjoyed it. Verderers was a bit neither here nor there for long stretches, but the final bit of it – three descents divided up by very short stretches of fire road – was superb. All in all pleasantly surprised and yes my newbie mates were grinning from ear to ear! Didn’t get a chance to try the downhills but will certainly be back to have a crack at them :D

EDIT – despite the chronic weather we’ve been having, the trails were in surprisingly good condition. A bit of mud and very little standing water. All in all a credit t the guys that designed/built them

Thanks guys, FoD it is, though after the rain in the last 24 hours, I suspect it’s going to be a bit sticky 8O

Thanks guys, maybe we’ll drive cross the bridge and make last minute decision whether to go left or right. Been youtubing FoD. It looks ok, but the red seems a bit vanilla in truth (I know that video flattens the jumps an the drops etc, but still). To the extent that I’m thinking if its FoD I’ll take the hardtail. Then again the downhills look good, but I’ve heard about Cwmcarn and the fact that its just one huge downhill once you’ve done the climb. Decisions decisions :roll:

Cwmcarn – one massive climb followed by on massive descent – sounds like manna from heaven :D hear what you’re saying though about the fact it might be inappropriate for those less used to the rigours of serious mountain biking. FoD it probably is then. Will it be ok underfoot (so to speak) given the slightly inclement weather we’ve recently been experiencing?

Mate, I’ve been on the cusp of listing this for some time as I’m moving away from road bikes and want to free up cash for a Turner FS frame I’ve been trying to buy (long story). I’ve got a 60cm Dawes Sportif Elite. Its a Reynolds 853 frame, with full 105 groupset (broadly the equivalent of SLX), its got Shimano R520 wheels (good entry level performance wheels) and the ubiquitous gatorskin tyres. Finishing kit is all Dawes. It’s only 6 months old and has been used for commuting a few miles each way and not much else (its basically in as close to mint as you’ll get, a bit of foot rub on the cranks and not much else). It was orginally listed at £1,800, I picked it up for £800 (fair price would probably be £1200). I was going to ask £500, but would be willing to let it go for £400 if you were interested? Let me know.

Edit – should mention it’s a compact, so front crank is 50-34, rear is up to 25. Its a 10speed as well, so really smooth changing

Saw the thread yesterday, but didn’t comment due to most of my thoughts being covered elewhere. I’ve done a fair amount of road biking in my time and commute every day by bike. The Viking has a better spec (Sora as opposed to 2300 groupset) than the Decathlon bike, so I’d probably go for it. Neither of the bikes you’re looking at is going to kill you. They’ll both work fine. However, when you buy a cheap roadbike, you’re making a number of compromises (like mountain biking really). The most major one is going to be the wheels. If you want to get the best out of your bike you’re going to want to replace them asap. Also you need to think about the tyres (road tires are a trade-off between weight, longevity, rolling resistance and puncture resistance). Continental Gatorskin are a very good medium priced tyre that do everything really well. I would also consider the gearing. The Viking comes with 53-39 at the front and a max 25 tooth rear cassette. that’s a fairly aggressive racing set up. If you’ve got lots of hills you may want to get something a little more compliant (though some on this forum will invoke rule 5). Just my two penn’orth

The way things are going Tony’s going to need to add canoeing to his portfolio of training options…

If the buyer turned up in person naked, except for a pair of y-fronts on his head and with two pencils shoved up his nose, and paid you in 9 pound notes, it couldn’t be any dodgier. Proceed at your peril…

Have lived with dogs most of my life. Most of the above is true. Would avoid a heavily in-bred dog (like a bulldog) like the plague as the most in-bred breeds often have major health problems. Seeing as you have kids I’d also avoid buying an adult dof that you know nothing about – if its been mistreated it could turn on you/the kids with no warning. Either go to a breeder and get a lab or a bedlington and be prepared to cough up, or go to a good dog’s home where they will interview you, check you (and your house) out and match you with a dog that is right for you. If they’re really good they’ll insist you walk it daily for a couple of weeks before they let you take it home. A dog can be the one of the best things that ever happened to you, but its a big responsibility and commitment and you need to do your research properly. FWIW I wouldn’t touch that bulldog with a bargepole….

Turner 5.Spot? Merlin have got the 2011 iteration at £1,350 (Usually retail at £2,100). Appreciate that this is slightly above your threshold, but these frames are superb and the bearings hold up way better than most other FS frames. I’ve got the 2010 an the 2011 is an improvement in many ways. Certainly worth checking out.

Had a few experiences with gypsies/travellers/romanies. Some good, some bad. Certainly they have their share of fly-tippers and thieves, but then again, so do most council estates I’ve had the misfortune to live on over the years. So, are they any worse than your local scrote population? Probably not, they’re just more visible, that’s all.

Grew up in Malvern. Overall a great place. In my day there was a bit of a hillbilly influence with the lads from Hereford, Ledbury etc coming over on a Saturday night for a pint and a fight. No idea if it is still the same (this was the 80s), but probably no different to any other rural market town in truth. The hills are truly awesome, hundreds of miles of paths/tracks/bridleways to get to know and overall its a beautiful part of the world and one that I would happily move back to.

Surly Cross-check? Had one for a couple of years. Bit heavy, but great geometry, incredibly comfortable, fast and downright fun to ride. In fact was as fast on the road commute I had as my Cannondale CAAD8. It got nicked and I’m seriously tempted to get another.

Its most likely that they were disagreeing over the extent to which Germany should be bailing out the Greeks. In 2008 when our bank bailout was being debated the trails ran rivers of blood. I personally witnessed a gang of QE supporting downhillers running riot at Innerleithen…

I’m currently separated from my wife. Have been for 6 months. We have a 6 yr old and a 4 yr old. It had to happen as things got steadily worse. Fortunately it has been amicable and I see her and the kids 3-4 times per week. What I would say is the impact of a small child is immense (sleep, changed priorities, a myriad of child related decisions that you don’t necessarily agree on etc). It is worth fighting for and certainly things get easier as the kid(s) get older. Try relate, also try and get time together as a couple, and not just meals. How many nights have you spent together without your son since he was born? Weekends away? Remember what it was that got you together in the first place and try to rekindle some of that. That said, if the time really does come, sometimes its better for all concerned to call it quits. But it is absolutely a last resort

Now that the latest DailyMailical advice is that too much tea will give you prostrate cancer, I’m sat here eyeing my tea askance with a finger up me bum. Just another lazy Friday afternoon then…

IMO if you’re doing the 3 Peaks with a support van, it should really be Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. In 24 hours. Though admittedly its getting a bit old now. As an aside, guy I know is climbing those three, canoe-ing Loch Ness, Windermere and the lake at Bala and doing all the journeying in between by bike. All in 72 hours. That requires a support vehicle, and rightly so!

If you want to burn fat you need to do more low intensity training. Buy a heartrate monitor, work out what your max heart rate is (eg when you’ve been doing the bootcamp stuff) and then exercise in a way that keeps your rate at between 60 and 70% of your max. If you go above that your body switches to burning carbs (sugar), which is why bootcamp will get you fit but won’t necessarily get rid of the fat. You need to exercise for 30mins at 60-70% for it to start to kick in, then another hour or so. This is why road cycling is so good, unless you’re Stravaing it (is it a verb now?), you’ll be doing a steady pace and your HR will be in the zone.

I would suggest Mercian are well worth a look. They build superlative frames (and have been doing so for 70-odd years), they have a huge amount of choice and you can get a beautifully built and finished 631 frame for (just) within your £600 price bracket. Ad to that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a negative comment about them
here’s the link for their audax frame which is the perfect mix of speed and comfort – http://www.merciancycles.co.uk/frames/25/audax-special

I used to rate Metcheck for its overall weather conditions reports. Found it to be very accurate up to 14 days in advance for whether it’d be wet or dry, sunny or overcast, windy or not etc, though I felt that it always said it’d be colder than it actually turned out to be. But have also noticed in the last few months that it seems to be all over the place. No idea why, but you’re not on your own in noticing that something is awry!

Some great advice here. A couple of added extras. Research the company and their marketplace. Who are their competitors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the competition? What are the issues in the marketplace at the moment? What are the challenges? What are the opportunities? If you can start asking them questions about what is going on in their marketplace an demonstrate at least a basic understanding of the issues and their competition, it will stand you in great stead. In addition, remember that the key to your past experience is not your responsibilities, but your achievements. So you ran a 10 man project team? Big deal. What I want to hear is that you brought the project in early and under budget. Think about what you have achieved in the pat, not just what you did. And finally, ask them questions about themselves, make them sell the company to you. For instance, why did you join the company and can you tell me why you feel it would be good place for me to work? And finally finally, I always ask how they think I’ve done.

As an added extra, if you had agreed a contract to do a specified amount of work and it became apparent in the course of the work being undertaken that more work was required, it is the responsibility of the tradesman to highlight the additional work and gain agreement from you that a) it needs to be done and b) the additional cost BEFORE he starts doing it. To do it (or not) and then demand money after the event is not only unethical it is (to my knowledge) illegal. Certainly there is no way a court would find in his favour. To put it into context of this forum, when your lbs services your bike, they agree an initial cost and then they call you if they find the need for more work/additional parts. They are trying to extort money from you. Call the police

Exactly, I’d be counting my lucky stars in your boat *cracks open beer, switches on gaming device, opens newspaper, belches, scratches arse, roots out latest copy of viz and checks footie schedules*

Had problems similar to this with a plumber. All the advice above is good. Write a formal letter to tradesman, outlining issues with the work and giving a fixed timescale for him to repair/re-do. If not will engage another to do the work and sue him in the small claims court for the cost + your time and trouble. Write letter and text to girlfriend stating clearly that your contract was with the tradesman and that any issues he has with outstanding monies need to be communicated to you by a solicitor. Furthermore, you have taken legal advice and consider her approach of constant texting / messages to be harrassment and that if she doesn’t cease immediately you will report her to the police. Make sure that you start any letter with the words “Without Prejudice”. Sounds to me like they’re trying it on with you and at the first hint of anything official back from you they’ll back off and try to find some other poor sod. If you do receive one more communication direct from her then do report it to the police and make sure you have recorded/logged every communication. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Beautiful canine friends. My English Bull terrier cross lived on the half-landing where he surveyed his Empire, only venturing downstairs to shred the mail and go out for his twice daily constitutional. Anyone who came within a 200 metre radius was informed in no uncertain terms that they had better have legitimate business in the house/on the street/in the neighbourhood. He was soft as sh*te in reality, but god he sounded good and could demolish mail in countless innovative ways. Anyway, he’s now with the great bone in the sky and within 2 weeks of his passing the word had obviously got around the local scally community as my ’91 stumpjumper and crossceck were swiftly lifted from the garage. Moral of the story is that they’re the best companions you’ll ever have and they stop your stuff from getting lifted!

Decided I needed a “hobby” to take my mind off things. Resurrected my latent interest in mountain bikes. Discovered this forum. Spent shed loads of money on bikes and stuff. Indeed, got a beautiful new Turner that cost a fortune, but looks beautiful, rides like a dream, never answers me back, is always happy for me to go out and leave her at home, is never too tired for another ride….. Sorry, what was the question again?

Maybe its just me, but surely the words orange and covert are mutually exclusive of each other :wink:

Depends entirely on what you want to achieve. If self-defence is your primary aim, you could do a lot worse than judo. If you want a martial art that is extremely capable in real fight scenarios, then Wing Chung (or Wing Tsung and variations – Bruce Lee’s original martial art) is very fast and extremely effective. If you want something with grace and elegance then the “old” Shaolin forms of Kung-Fu like the Crane and Dragon forms can be quite beautiful to watch and execute. If you want to learn how to harness your body’s natural energy flows and be more attune to the rhythms of life then T’ai Chi and Pak Mai would be more appropriate. If you want to kick things really hard and smash bricks then look at Shotokan Karate. Assassinate people in the dead of night and then disappearing without a trace is your thing? Then you may wish to consider Ninjitsu (if indeed it actually exists). The list is endless. Any art studied seriously over time will engender huge benefits in terms of physical and mental well-being, self-confidence, success with the opposite sex (or same if that’s your bag) etc etc. James Bond is a pussy by the way.

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Absolutely

4. If they become a feature and a talking point it just creates more reasons for people to make the visit. Would be nice for taking the kids up there.

5. Not sure. Cafe would be nice but is there enough traffic for it to be viable? Then again, with all of the above in place, perhaps that would be the catalyst for extra traffic, meaning more punters…

Can’t praise Merlin highly enough. Sent out new forks and groupset within 24 hrs. Advised me at length about various frames and though I eventually bought frame elsewhere, they built it up for me, along with a new set of wheels, and turned it round within 5 days. Unlike some of their competitors, they’re always available on the phone and they’re approachable, knowledgeable and amiable. Dan in particular went out of his way to help, but all of the team that I dealt with were great. It was a real pleasure buying from them and I’ll be using them again and again for sure.

Given that it’s a Focus (I’m assuming its a roadbike for the purposes of this comment) I can see why you may have a problem. The Izalco won bike of the year in both Cycling Plus and Cycling Weekly and other Focus models recently came best of test for both sportive bikes and Cross bikes in Cycling Plus. No idea if they’re as good as that would seem to indicate (they do seem to spend a lot of money advertising in the cycling press) but this would indicate to me that there is a veritable herd of cycleestas with large wads of cash fighting each other for a Focus bike. If I was you I’d hold out for one with a dura-ace di2 groupset and kryptonite wheels…

Recently developed knee pain halfway round a 70 mile sportive in the Peaks. Physio diagnosed a tight tendon, probably as a result of swapping out my saddle and the subsequent change in riding position combined with effort I was putting in. I am going to get professionally fitted onto my bike(s) as it can make an enormous difference to how your knees react

Been reading his blog and what comes across is a man with incredible warmth, enthusiasm and passion. A real inspiration. My thoughts are with his friends and family. RIP.

His riding is great admittedly, but his high speed helmet grabbing antics really do abscond with the flapjack

Funnily enough I did the tour of the peaks sportive yesterday and about half way through got similar problem, pain on outside of left knee though seemed level with centre of kneecap. The ride was 68miles and most of it seemed to be going up. Pain started on a climb and got progessively worse through the rest of the ride, until I was pretty much riding with one leg. Saw sports masseuse afterwards (kindly provided by organisers) and she asked if I had done anything different. Notwithstanding the fact that I wasn’t fit enough, I had swapped out my saddle a few days before and she reckoned that the change in position was a major factor. She diagnosed a very tight tendon and recommended rest and stretching. I would agree with all of the above, but given that prevention is the best cure, I would suggest that if you’re going to do Long distances get yourself professionally fitted on the bike. Given the amount of money most of us spend on bikes/kit it may well be the best £100 you ever spent.