+1 on Next Day Tyres – great advice on email and the tyres arrived the next day – very good on price and very quick delivery – result!

Fingers crossed for all of you – go home, support your family and lay off the booze! Good luck!

Always done a great job for me – never a problem and always very quick despatch. Top!

Samuri,

This is one of the eternal dilemmas in life. My bottom line view is simple: I can get up in the morning and take a piss without help. That's a very good start to the day. Not living in Haiti aside, you have a son, a partner I presume and some love in your life. You're a lucky guy and some contemplation is healthy – happiness is much more important than success so just be good at being you – that's more than enough. Fate has a macabre sense of humour – the skills we have are rarely the ones we really want. Stay Smiley, be you, enjoy the skills you have and just be happy!

Spooning is the best thing ever – best way to end my day and start it. And other stuff is just a bonus really :-)

I'll vote for STW!! But never for Nick Griffin. It really sticks in my throat but I'd rather see Gordon Brown back in office – at least this time he'd have been democratically elected – unlike this term where he walked into Tony's shoes.

With the recession easing or not, the real worry is that we have Brown, Cameron or Clegg as the next PM. Brown claimed to have ended 'boom & bust' – well, boom at any rate. The other two inspire little confidence – not good for us all I suspect come the election and the economic aftermath.

b r – thanks for the link on Dunblane – had forgotten about that and it kicked off at the time, before it was swept under the carpet.

1 bike is just not enough and is madness as noted above! With mechanicals etc. more than 1 bike is essential. 1 x light hardtail, 1 x short travel light full sus, 1 good road bike and 1 ancient road bike on the turbo works well for me!

It has to be said that this is the best way to point the finger at an extra judicial killing, be it by American or the UK's secret service. This was not some rubbish suicide. I doubt if Tony or his one eyed mate Gordon will ever come clean on this. It's a national disgrace.

Have used Blackspire Pro XTR granny and middle ring to replace the Shimano ones and they were fine – just the outer ring that I'm not sure about!

Would never buy a second hand helmet – not worth the risk and I am worth the cost of a new one!

Actually, a LOT LOT drier than the kielder 100! Hope we get better conditions this year!

I just get too hot – spoons at bedtime then I have to roll over as I start to boil. Pity – prefer spoons to be fair! Back to cuddles on waking then up for the day. Great article in yesterday's guardian on this very subject!! http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/23/politics-of-sharing-a-bed

Eventually ordered an attack extreme – from cyclestore so thanks to freddyg for that – and it's awesome. Looking forward to a rainy weekend and trying it out!

Kevonakona – great link there and I'm really surprised at the number of teries here – good to see.

That's a real shame – he will be missed and he's a great loss to Rugby. An objective commentator – he spent a lot of his own time teaching kids to play rugby in Hawick too – pity I was so crap at it!

My sympathies on that one – when I tried to inflate nobby nics on my first tubeless rims they didn't work and the air was very, very, very blue and I was very, very, very red. To be fair taking the valve core out helps to bead the tyre on the rim – when you fit the core then re-inflate it's LOADS easier. It's also better in a warm environment, and stans sealant is the business. You could get a cheap compressor just in case :-)

and the daily mash has an even more amusing slant on the story :-)

Scotland Wakes Up Covered In Piss Again

46 bottles isn't too much really – roughly 4 wee nips a night, and three bottles of wine a week would just cover my cooking ration, never mind having a glass with dinner! It's also limited statistics – I do think that buckfast, chips, fags, the SNP and deep fried mars bars are more of a problem as mentioned above :-)

Road bikes, (celeb chefs and the other badly driving retards aside), have a longer life than MTB's and my old road bike is on the turbo now. Everything generally lasts longer than on an MTB too, so cheap miles in general. 1 chain = 2,000 miles if looked after! I'd also only get £150 or less for the winter bike so will be damned if I'm selling it!

Their service is great bit as househusband says ring up and book it in or you may well lose it forever. Turnaround is fairly quick and costs a lot less than buying new again. That's why I really like Endura kit – and of course made in Scotland, which is a bonus!

freddyg – great link – thanks very much indeed for that!!!!
bassspine – no worries mate – really appreciated the link, I didn't mention size either . . . .

Thanks for the recommendations all!

Just seen this on merlin cycles – http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/cycle-clothing/cycling-outer-jackets/altura-attack-extreme-jacket.html £95 for an attack extreme! That puts it in a great price bracket – for that money, even in orange (no XL in black sadly) – bargain!!!

Cheers 4ags4 – should have mentioned mainly for MTB but also for road too!

bassspine – pace have sold out – am an XL sadly – any ideas where I can get it other than from Pace?? THX!

The original series we excellent – hope the remake lives up to it. I wonder if they'll do the nightmare man again – that was scary!

To be fair I do agree – the turbo is soul destroying and generally awful – I do like the videos as they pass the time and it is a LOT better than nothing – snow on my local trails is too deep to ride and roads are a death trap so the turbo it is! (and the advice on running is true – my left knee is xxxxed so the turbo wins again!

+1 on the sufferfest vids – just excellent. I really like fight club – makes the time pass – and loads more interesting than the CTS videos!

and now at an even better price. YAY!

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Mobi_Portable_Pressure_Washer/5360041705/

right then – have tried the elbow strap out and it's made a huge difference – loads of nurofen gel helped too and it's off to a local accupuncturist to try that next. Thanks for the advice all!

Always worth it to look after your bike – you can always take it off again if you don't like it – and your frame will look loads better for it! I didn't do it on my ball burnished Kona and regret it now . . .

Shooterman – haven't had as extreme a situation but was ready to inflict some very serious and permanent damage on my boss 18 months ago, who clearly deserved it, but I took a step back which was lucky for both I suppose! I cut out alcohol and caffeine (drinking over 25 espresso's a day is not a good idea – had done it for years and worked out I wasn't always as stressed as I thought I was!).

Try some reflexology or some acupuncture for relaxation – I started doing Iyengar yoga too and it really helps. I also liked the rather attractive and awfully supple ladies in skimpy clothing.

Good luck with it – you're not alone – but I'd suggest that medication and a GP won't sort the problems sadly.

I have a mobi and it's great – works off the car 12v and the mains power supply, so very useful indeed!! Try and use a garden sprayer at mayhem or SITS and you'll see why the Mobi is better

It'll take more than that to make Westminster look above board sadly! Good viewing though – and she is very good for her age! Feel sorry for him though.

tend to find my road chain and cassette last LOADS longer than my MTB ones – much cheaper to run and easier to clean :-)

Tankslapper – excellent link – thanks for that!

ourmaninthenorth – great recommendation there. I thought thesufferfest.com was a joke but have just placed an order and am downloading as we speak. Great stuff!

Thanks again all – am looking at a local acupunture chap today and have ordered by Nexcare strap and Thera Band. Cheers! :-)

My old Avensis estate, which is hugely boring and uninteresting but practical for the bikes has been great – even when sliding up the hills in second gear for a laugh. Which is much more than can be said for the road gritting in Tunbridge Wells – useless local council.