Good luck – but how do you know they are not having any effect on your mood? The only acid test is to stop taking them I guess – but go slowly.

I was on a variety of ADs for a couple of years ending up on Venlafaxine which is supposed to be the worst of all meds to stop. I had no problems stopping but tapered off them very slowly over perhaps about 6 weeks. From what I have read from Authority figures like Prof. David Healy is that some people will have severe problems coming of SSRIs and others will not – no way to tell.

I felt much better off them for about a year but then “crashed” again and have only just returned to work after 2 months sick leave. So back on the pills again. Only this time I have also started on a mood-stabiliser (Lamotrogine) to boot which I had resisted before – oh the joys of being BP.

It was the Endura Singletrack that I spotted last night on Wiggle.

How do they size up – do they come up small or are they quite generous in their fitting?

Published SO height figures can be a bit misleading – I just sold a 17in Kona Kula with a SO height of 773mm. I am 5’7″ with relatively short legs (i.e. 29~30in) and there was a good 3-4in clearance when I stood over the frame! I had tried the 18in with a published SO of 785mm and there was still some clearance.

Could also be a Typo plenty of those on manufacturers websites.

Given your wanted Ad on the classifieds then a s/h kona kula frame would not be a bad choice if you could find one.

The Supreme (scandium tubed) is the full on race orientated one with the steeper HT whilst the other models are a bit more trail oriented with a slacker HT but still very light. A Supreme may be a bit over budget but the Primo and Deluxe frames would be nearer your price mark

I had Maxlight XC briefly and really loved it, then replaced it with the Kona which I also really liked – bit of stiffer ride than the Maxlight despite being the same Easton Ultralite tubing. My 17in Kona Kula frame was sub 1.5kg

Otherwise s/h a Giant XTC frame – cheap as chips?

There was a small error in my post above it should have read nominal and not ordinal – but does not seem to have confused anyone.

Flaperon’s post seems like a sensible approach to me.

I am pretty syre you will find the only relevant measure is the mode.

Site 1, Site 2 etc are ordinal measures so they can not be used to form an arithmetic mean. Similarly the order 1 , 2 , 3 etc is irrelevant as the sites could have been asigned numbers in any old fashion.

The answer is pretty evident from the question IMHO ” … where this group of people work most …” directs you to the mode.

Simply add up the numbers for Site 1, Site 2 etc respectively the one with the biggest value (assuming no shared results) is the one (ie. Site) that is used most.

Sounds like common sense has gone out of window with people getting hung up on descriptive statistics defintions.

Trust me I’m a Doctor 😆

I ran into Max Clifford in a coffee shop in Weybridge this morning.

I was sat outside relaxing and some guy in a Bentley parks up in front of the cafe Reg V8 MCA. Crap at parking, as no cars in front or behind and he has to get his wife/partner to get to ensure he doesn’t kerb his alloys.

Then he steps out, I had to do a double take at first, as he seemed so much smaller both in height and stature than when I have seen him on TV.

I thought for moment he recognised me( :lol:) as he seemed to be staring right at me – but then I realised he was just wondering why I was staring at him no doubt looking a bit puzzled.

I would be aiming to pay circa £1000 perhaps £1100 tops if it is in really top condition and it is also what you want.

I sold a similarly specced TIME bike a little over a year ago for £950 with pretty much an all new Ultegra Groupset, new Askium wheels and new finishing kit.

Bikeradar.com seem to have a fairly active classifieds section. A fair few STW users also advertise on there. You could of course always try on here!

xcstu – got the bike stand from my local LBS. They are made by PRO. Several local shops near me have them SigmaSport, Pearsons

ttf – not tried the Race Kings yet. Got them cheapish from Wiggle a few months back. They seal very easily on the Olympic rims. My only experience of tubless is with RR’s so only time will tell.

Dibbs – yes some of the FSA BB30 Carbon cranks like yours would be more appropriate – but I could not justify the further £500-600 outlay at the moment. Perhaps next spring – hopefully there will be a more choice by then?

Pauly – yes it is a small. Whyte don’t publish the seat tube measurements with their geometries. It measures 16in but the box it came in was marked 15″. Given the bow in the TT I have needed to use a 410mm post to ensure the min insert line is below the intersection of TT and ST. I am 5’8″ ish but with shortish legs 29/30in there is sufficient standover for me but anyone with a smaller inseam would stuggle in my opinion.

I took some forks into my LBS last week and they asked me to mark them with a felt tip pen where I wanted them cut.

TBH I was a bit put out by their request but not half as much as they were when I marked them as requested and also wrote 220mm next to the mark.

Nothing like taking it easy on the first ride then! I remember your thread about Asthma – sounds like your lungs are OK now.

I have also been off the bike for 3 months now following virus after virus followed by chest infections, asthma flare ups only to be followed by 2 months off work with Depression.

Keep making excuses now for why I am unable to ride, but they are all in the head, not sure I will be doing 80K on my first outing though.

Quite a lot of choice out there at the moment – Sabbath, Planet X and Enigma. Here is my 2006 Omega

compositepro – Member
Just out of interest has anyone had their thyroid checked?

might sound odd but !!!

I have an underactive thyroid but have been taking Thyroxine (sp?) for several years. I have my TSH levels checked regularly and the Drs always re-test whenever the Depression/Anxiety re-appears. Sadly the levels are always fine otherwise that would no doubt be a quick fix.

SFB,

I feel the ambiguity (“which came first the chicken or the egg”) may lie in what is a physcial sympton versus a psychological one; and also what may be a root cause for one individual may be only a sympton for another.

For example, I can easily see that low self-esteem, self loathing and lack of self-confidence may be a contributory factor to one person’s depression; but for others it is merely a sympton of the disease/illness. Certainly my periods of severe depression have left me scarred and my confidence is perhaps not what it once was.

Interestingly, the earlier generation anti-depressant drugs (1950’s – 70’s) worked almost exclusively on the Noradrenaline system rather than the Serotonin system and eased the symptons of depression by raising an individual’s energy levels.

Today, there are some leading experts who would argue that the modern day SSRIs are not really anti-depressant drugs in the conventional sense and they are predominantly Anxiolytic in nature. However, following the fallout from the Valium generation of the 1970s-80s where it was found that the minor tranquillizers produced high levels of physical dependence with major withdrawl symptons, then it was impossible to market these drugs as an alternative to the likes of Valium etc.

Nevertheless the SSRIs are clearly proven to help with mild to moderate cases of Depression. Together with the fact that there is a consensus of opinion that the Serotonin system governs appetite and sleep (physical symptons)rather than psychological ones only seems to demonstrate how complex an illness Depression really is.

But from my experience a GP does always seem to look for one or more of the vital physical symptons of depression (especially changes in sleep patterns and appetite) along with the low mood to help with their diagnoses of Depression.

And if they cant find them … well I suspect they will still reach a conclusion of Depression and prescribe an SSRI knowing it has a reasonable chance of leading to some improvement.

NZCol,

In a strict medical sense there is no such condition as a Nervous Breakdown and it is rather a lay term given to either a severe case of Anxiety or Depression.

In practice Anxiety and Depression seem to be inextricably linked, the Anxious individual will often show symptons of Depression whilst the Depressed individual may often display symptons of Anxiety. Since the front line treatment for both is the same these days a SSRI Anti-depressant then I am not really sure GPs spend too much time trying to distinguish between the two. The individual who 20 years ago was diagnosed with Anxiety and prescribed Valium (Diazapam) is now more likely to be diagnosed as Depressed and prescribed Prozac or Seroxat etc

It is interesting that today Depression is more often characterized by the persistant psychological symptons (low mood etc) whereas at it root Depression, I am led to believe, is principally physical in nature (low energy, loss of interest, appetite changes, sleep changes, poor concentration etc). This in itself may be down to the presence of the SSRI drugs what work principally on the psychological symptons and are better suited to milder cases of Depression.

I recognise from painful personal experience the symptons muddypuddle lists and these would be common in people who are severely depressed. Yes the breadth and severity of the symptons may vary from one indiviudal to another but there would be considerable overlap and commonality.

I have become severely depressed twice in my life (ie to the point where you can barely look after yourself (e.g. too much effort to undertake basic human needs e.g. to shower and feed oneself, suicidal ideation etc). And on neither occassion did I see it (the tipping point) coming although with the benefit of hindsight if I look back hard enough the symptons were there. And both times I effectively “fell of a cliff” overnight.

ALAIHW,

Your definitely not alone with this. I am also currently off work with chronic stress/depression/anxiety/burnout etc. I am also not having too good an experience this time round with the Docs etc being passed from one GP registrar to another whilst my own GP has been away I assume long term sick himself! My advantage maybe that I have been though all this before and am no stranger to severe disabling depression.

Not wishing to pry and I am no doctor but it does sound as if you have been on the same medication for some time perhaps 8-10 weeks with at least one prior dosage adjustment without any significant improvement. I would have expected the GP to have tried a different anti-depressant by now?

There is no doubt that AD drugs work but first line/choice ADs probably only work in about 60-70% of cases whereas the success rate is closer to 80% when a alternative drug is tried. Drug choice is very much a case of trial and error and what drug works well for one person can be a living hell for another. GPs are also governed by NICE guidelines so that they need to initiate treatment with a generic SSRI AD such as prozac (fluoxetine) or an equivalent.

First time round it took trials with 3 different meds before we found one that worked for me.

I would also expect you to be having regular appointments with your GP perhaps every 10 to 14 days until you are “stable”. I am led to believe that after an intial trial period of 3-4 weeks (the commonly held view is that ADs cause nothing but side effects for the first two weeks), then any dosage adjustment would be evident with a futher trial of a couple of weeks. But from you post above it almost sounds like you have had no contact with the GP for last 6 weeks?

Things will get better but unfortunately it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Your natural confidence will come back gradually and on its own as the depression itself lifts.

Best of luck
Gary

njee20 – Member
FFWD do some really nice factory wheels that may just squeak into budget.

My understanding is that the FFWD wheels are handbuilt – but now not all by the same on guy as he couldn’t keep up with demand.

If you wanted to know more about them and can’t find a local lbs then try sigmasport.co.uk.

Tim as Simon says I don’t think you have too much to worry about.

If I am to be critical it sounds just a tad slow to me and raising the tempo may in itself make your voice sound more powerful – but I know **** all to be honest.

Siemens? Pretty sure you get a 5 year guarantee on their machines and they are cheaper than Miele. Entry model RRP a little over £400?

I recently bought their washer dryer (only 2 year guarantee) – too early to tell re longevity but very impressed with low level of noise and the 15 min programme that is perfect for lightly soiled bike gear.

I like the way the CRC site says “Request Stock Alert” for the BH bike!

Yes they must be selling like hot cakes at that price!

I suffered with them briefly for a month or two a few years ago but only when I was suffering from pretty severe depression. I was initially prescribed prozac for the depression but that made me even more anxious and agitated and led to even more frequent and acute panic attacks – to the point a became acutely agoraphobic. A change of meds seemed to do the trick.

Currently off work again with stress/depression – 5 weeks so far but thankfully no full on panic attacks this time – the anxiety that accompanies my depression is more of just a chronically stressed out feeling.

Those two months with panic attacks were without doubt the most miserable time of my life – especially the nocturnal attacks when I would wake up abruptly in the middle of night with a racing heart, sweating and hyperventilating.

I think these are the only MTBs I have built from scratch. Only the Kona remains and that probably needs to be sold to make place for my new Whyte HT when it arrives next month.

njee20 – Member
You should manage that without too much trouble!

The green one does look pretty awesome! I’d be looking to go sub 20!

njee20 – Sub 20 lbs would be great but seems unrealistic at least in the short term as I do not wish to lay out many more £100s once buying the frame.

Any inexpensive tips to reduce weight gratefully accepted – although I have been buying most of the stuff along the way since I ordered the frame back in Dec.

The expensive items I have are some new 2009 SID Teams, my exising Stans ZTR Olympics on Hope Pro IIs and some new XTR stuff.

I am planning on using an XT chainset in the interim. As I can’t afford or not willing to spend £600 on the FSA carbon BB30 jobbie like Dibbs (who converted it to a single speed FFS :lol:)

I have some new Thomson finishing kit which happens to be the right size so was planning on using that – but obviously not the lightest stuff.

Any ideas anyone?

I have been told my small 19 carbon frame arrives 5th May 🙂

Just been to cycleworks and seen the green team edition which they had in medium and it weighed in at 22 lbs. Hoping to get mine closer/sub 21 with mainly XTR and Stans wheels.

Pity I haven’t ridden for over 6 weeks due to illness 🙁

I also live in flat but have a garage but I still use the bedroom for my fettling

Have you taken a look at this months cycling plus magazine. They reviewed 37 road bikes from all sorts of manufacturers.

The Giant TCR advanced 3 came out tops. They said the Giant TCR was so comfortable that there was no need for the Defy although it was a very good bike.

I would also be in agreement with njee20 about the benefits of spending a fair amount on a road bike. You may not need to spend as much as £3k but those stock Ultegra equipped bikes at just over £2k like the 5.2 or equivalent Spesh etc are the minimium level I would be aiming at and then I would be looking to upgrade the wheels ASAP

Why not take a look at enigmabikes.com. They have two steel models the elite and the ethos. One a race bike and one more oriented to touring with a slightly heavier Columbus Life rather than Spirt tubes.

They will certainly tweak it as much as you want. A friend got one with frame couplings.

Otherwise I think the bikes on the Rourke gallery look great but many I suspect are the 953 models.

Personally I would not step down to a compact if the problem is riding in the big ring. I would consider a compact if you ride in hilly areas and are struggling with the hills on the small ring.

Plus, you will not simply be able to change the rings as the BCD is different between standard and compact chainsets 130mm versus 110mm.

I have used a compact 50/34 for the last few years and I think it was the biggest mistake I ever made – My legs now feel far weaker and always spinning away in 34/13. Unless you really need the small 34 ring then I would be more tempted by a 50/36 compact

No phone – mobile

Feltham is on the fast train from Waterloo. So as aP says Twickenham, Richmond are good places. Putney may be worth considering as closer to town and nicer IMO. I lived there for 7 years when I first moved to London.

If you don’t mind the anti-commute then so long as you can get to Vauxhall or Waterloo easily the commute should not be too bad from some more cental places if you really want to live in town.

Each to their own and all that and it is all about balance – my limit would be no more than an hour door to door – but reliability is also important so fewer changes the better.

I have to admit from my safe middle class sofa I was pretty appalled at the behaviour of some of the patients and the “foolishness” for want of a better word for some of our young people.

However, it has just dawned on me that on two occassions over 20 years ago I twice had to use the services of the local A&E hospitals to stitch me back together after stupid accidents following too much alcohol (one perhaps entirely avoidable one perhaps not).

What I do remember is being well treated by respectful professionals – although I was neither a violent or abusive patient I was simply very grateful that there were caring people to take care of me despite my own stupidity.

Not entirely sure of the point of this post – other than some form of sobering cathartic exercise – but excessive alcohol abuse is not limited to a specific section of society nor is it a recent problem

If it is one bike for life then I would support what MTT says above other than I am a Shimano user/fan. I would also recommend classic shaped tubing for long term classic appeal.

Having said that I do seem to prefer the ride of a carbon frame but they lack the timeless quality of Ti. Perhaps it is down to the slightly different geometries but I ride my carbon bike far more than my Ti one.

Speed limit is only 20 mph so very easily broken

My first ultegra groupset was still fine after approx 12k miles riding all year round. Can’t say I looked after it too good either.

I once spent $2500 on an Armani suit for a friend’s wedding and was mistaken as a Railway Porter by a child at Croydon station. I was less than chuffed.

I am ashamed to say it was Hawkwind at the Liverpool Empire probably about 1979.

I have always put it down to the fact that he was never elected by the British public and as a result he has always been on the back foot so to speak.

Very sad news and a tragic case although I do now feel it will enable her family and close friends to properly start the long grieving proceses hopefully with some respectful privacy.