I’ve been bitted twice by Collie’s – I’m not sure why people think they make good “pets”, they have far too much energy IMHO.  First time I was nipped and the lady tells me without any sense of irony that her Collie doesn’t like bicycles and horses and goes for them all the time….. whilst she’s letting it run loose on National Cycle Route 6 – the bit between from Philips Park M60 to Radcliffe which also contains a bridleway for the full length of it (about 2/3 miles).  Second time I was nearly ripped apart by a pet Collie on the fire road at Cheesden Valley. I was pedaling along merrily when suddenly I got bitten on the ankle – it was a mess, I managed to put bike between me and the savage until the owners eventually decided to quicken up.  They wouldn’t approach the dog either, it genuinely looked like it was a psycho. I got the multi-tool out, unfolded the screwdriver, put the tool in my palm with the screwdriver sticking out – as if like a knuckleduster and rather angrily told the lovely couple that I will pluck the dogs eyes out if it lurches for me again.  If it locks onto me – it will be me or it that survives – but it’s eyes will definitely not.  If I survive then I will start on them next and do the same.  I’m sorry to say that I nearly lost it.  My mate carries pepper spray that pops out of his bars.  I’m sure it’s illegal but he says it’s an occupational hazard as a cycle commuter via fire roads and country tracks.

YMMV but I only really dislike Collies.  Labrador’s, Retrievers and Spaniels I’ve never had a single problem with.

War is stupid.

That said, most of the comments on here are based on the presumption that the Russians (or whoever) haven’t made it onto UK soil.  If their tanks were a mile away from your home, bombs were being dropped all around you, and your friends and family were dying in front of your eyes then yes I’d fight.  And why not, you can’t worry about what’s on Netflix or the cost of charging your e-bike during the day.

Mostly, you can’t trust your enemy to play by the rules…..  This is being played out in front of our eyes right now in Ukraine and Palestine (by both sides of those conflicts).

Standing with a White flag or clapping invaders and welcoming them to take over because we despise the Tories won’t wash I’m afraid.  I don’t think the threat of emailing the Guardian if they shoot civilians will cut it.

Looks like a good option to me.

“32mm is as short as you can get for the 35mm clamps.” mmmmm.  The OnOff Stoic FG 30mm BB35 Stem is 30mm length for 35mm bars.

Pre-covid I watched a lot of live stuff at the Comedy Store, Frog & Bucket and the arena tour comedians. I haven’t done much over the last 12 months but I will give two quick reviews:

I got a free ticket to watch Alan Partridge at Manchester Arena. It was dreadful – I genuinely started nodding off.

Clinton Baptiste vs Ramone. Clinton is the “Pyskick” on Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights. It was very very good. His podcast is worth a listen.

Gary Delaney is a great shout. I missed out on the local theatre, gutted.

These limited-edition models will be available in Nukeproof stores very soon (if not already!).

Good luck with that…

Great feature Hannah – I really enjoy these articles.

Looks like a 2019/20 Foxy Carbon with a slightly fettled rear end.

One has gone up at Owd Betts on Edenfield road presumably to deter MX/Scrambler bikes which were prevalent on Scout Moor earlier this year. Last time I was up doing the Cragg quarry loop, there was a chap on one, revving the engine, spinning the back wheel in the middle of a berm chewing it up for no reason I could see. I just cannot fathom the mindset of some people.

I’m happy to see them, except on blind bends without warning signs…

April 2020 – people on the left had Cummings down as a liar and the new price of darkness. People on the right defended him and supported his position at the time.

May 2021 – people on the left are taking every word said yesterday as the truth and should be trusted. People on the right say he’s a liar, bitter and twisted.

Only when the full enquiry happens and his statements are compared with others will we know the “truth”.

49 y/o male. First Moderna jab just over 48 hours ago, done at the Etihad Manchester. No side effects whatsoever. The needle didn’t even hurt (they kind of distract you), a very mild pain if I pushed into my arm at the jab site for the first 24 hours. That’s it, for now….

A mate had his jab last week, his full name appears when doing a bluetooth search.

I’m a director of a company that employs 30 people in Manchester City Centre. It’s a premium office space so higher business rates, IIRC £60k per annum. I answered a questionnaire a few months back specifically about WFH, the impact of downsizing offices or a business going permanently to all staff WFH. The questions centered around the impact and loss of business rates to local council and government funding.

The line of questing led me to believe that they’re already thinking about the loss of business rates and how the money will be replaced. From the line of questioning, I came to the conclusion that there will be 3 directions this will go in. 1. A tax on the employee. 2 a tax on their home working environment. 3 the employer would be taxed per employee working from home.

The last thing we need is option 2, the leeches will start to mandate all sorts of taxes, fire regulations, health and safety, home working insurance cover etc. £2k will turn into £5k per annum a whole new industry will come in.

As I’m writing this, a at the top of a large building I can see pretty much all the office blocks. There are 40+ story buildings with only one or two floors with lights on, usually in the corners where the bosses sit. There’s been no change in this since March last year, regardless of full lockdown or the eased versions. I come in regularly to check the place over and it genuinely takes my breath away as to how much it’s changed in 12 months.

It gets worse, can you see Old Trafford full of 76k people again in the next two years. Ditto Cheltenham, Aintree, music festivals, concerts, nightclubs, busy Friday/Saturday night City Centre pubs where you stand around 3 deep at the bar. Not a chance. Permanent shop closing and less business rates – probably piling it onto office worker tax. Even less footfall / reasons to go into cities. The previous advantage of working in a city was it was on your door step at lunchtime or after work to shop, dine or go to events. None of this is happening so why go in at all. Provincial City Centre’s will revert back to ghost towns post 6pm like they were in the 70s and 80s. The tower block cladding nightmare will put people off moving to the city this is likely to take 10 years to solve + there’s nothing to do….

These decisions need political will power which is none existent from any party. Who is going to say it’s over and it’s back to normal. Not one because if there’s a single death, the media will be all over them as callous bar-stewards playing to the baying twitterati.

I don’t post much but this is a very important place to me. I’ve ordered a Beanie and Fork Cork just now. You can count of my subscription to continue. There’s something you can’t put a price on and I personally think this community is one of them.

Was it a Border Collie? They genuinely frighten me…. As pets (not working dogs) the owners never seem to be able to exert any kind of control around passing people. I’ve been bitten twice by that breed, first doing a school cross country run down a canal and then as an adult on an MTB.
My mates think they’re a good judge of character 😉

I use them when on every ride – I think they’re great. I listen to podcasts rather than music when on road sections but on the trails they’re ace for music and you can still hear ambient sounds around you.

The quality of the sound coming through is suprisingly good.

They don’t move at all and don’t press against you in any noticeable or uncomfortable way.

Feed the birds on top of their cars, I understand our flying friends can reshape body work very quickly.

It’s a bit further away but it’s on the motorway network at the top of the M66. Ride-On in Rawtenstall is the best bike shop I’ve used and will continue to do so. Anthony the main mechanic is fab and Craig the owner is brilliant. I can’t endorse them enough.

My trekz titanium bone conducting headphones. When riding from the door to trails it takes the boredom out of the lame bits whilst being able to hear road noise etc if one those routes. I couldn’t be a happier with them.

I have an 830 and think it’s great.

What Rubber_Buccaneer says about navigation, first time I used it on a trail I kept glancing at the screen and went over the bars…. Incident detection kicked brilliantly and contacted the necessary people that I’d had a moment……

Claimed battery life is 20 hours on GPS, I tend to do about 3 hour rides so I have no reason to think it wouldn’t do it. After my first 3 rides it was still at 56%. I have it on the brightest screen setting.

Has wifi built in so syncs automatically when connected.

I highly recommend it. btw it’s rock solid when used with a stem “top cap” mount.

I have a Foxy Carbon and a Bird Zero AM with pretty much the exact same spec – bars, grips, pedals, gears, brakes, wheels and tyres. I use the Foxy for longer days out and the Bird for quick blasts and commutes to work via the local trails. When heading out to new trails or not so familiar ones, I will always take the Foxy.

My two points are:

When starting out on a bike I haven’t used for a few rides, I always think, “wow this is ace, why didn’t I go out on this bike last time”.

This might be a bit inflammatory, but when out on the Bird and surrounded by others on quality FS bikes, I always feel somewhat inferior like the others are looking down on me.

Interesting topic.

I don’t know why but I get that pit of my stomach feeling when reading/discussing e-bikes taking over. I’m not getting any younger so I should be happy that they’re an option. I can afford a decent one so it can’t be that.

I do like the challenge of going up hills using my own steam. On the descents I’m not that interested in speed I just love popping off every little lip, the jumps and bunny hopping obstacles. Throw it some interesting corners and I’m in heaven.

I’m 47 and 5ft 6 so my dream bike would be a short(ish), low and slack with 26″ / 27.5 wheels so I can throw it around. I have trouble throwing non e-bikes about these days so a 29er LLS e-bike weighing twice the weight of the above just fills me with dread, I know it would be fast but I fear that I would just be handing on…..

I’ll have to suck it up and try one I suppose.

If you do purchase one enjoy but please refrain from using mountain bike trails.

Fringe is fabulous. Walter Bishop is my favourite character ever.
V (2009). Morena Baccarin – enough said.
Battlestar Galactica (2005) is great.
The Event (2010), it was canned after 1 series but I actually liked it.

Hartshead Pike / Tower, Ashton-Under-Lyne.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartshead_Pike#Tower

Not for a long time… IIRC there was no sound just a woman playing the piano in sync with the images.

I’ve seen a chap projectile vomit at a party when trying to consume a pint of cider and milk.

When delivering the Manchester Evening News to a working mens club in the late 80s, I walked up to the bar to hand the paper over and there was an old gentleman putting a raw egg into a pint of mild…..

in the virtual world there’s Pißwasser on Grand Theft Auto.

I’ve drunk some of the Delboy drinks on Only Fools and Horses, Malibu and Cherryade, Tia Maria and Lucozade.

Never been in a fight but I’ve caused loads.

Do you have a patio?

I’ve been dealing with outsourced partners for years (some nearshore).

Some quick pointers on some others I’ve experienced (we use hundreds across a number of partners)
They all want Time and Materials so if your requirements are poor, planning is not locked down and your business doesn’t control scope creep you will suffer.
Initially you they will provide you with their best developers which speak great English, they then start back filling with average developers.
Don’t get sucked into them as an extension of your teams, they’re suppliers who are trying to maximise revenue from you.
They’re not cheaper than taking on grads with a year or two experience.

Knog Oi classic bell is what you want. It doesn’t go off unless you flick it and doesn’t look like a bell either.

I know a lady who often says she’s been “trimming her bush at the front of the house.”

Unless you need a longer post, I wouldn’t buy anything else. They’re reliable, priced sensibly and just work.

Cheers OP.

I also mated a PNW Loam lever to my Brand-X and it feels and works great. Pricey but we’ll worth the extra IMHO.

I agree with bullandbladder.

Nissan Qashqai, Juke and I’ll add the Kia Sportage. I genuinely fear for my life when I see any of these when I’m scuttling about on the bike. They’re usually being driven by distrated parents who are driving to school or kids party like their hair is on fire, using facebook at the same time.

We went a week last Friday. I walked straight onto Smiler using the single rider queue, the sign said 40 mins for all others. That ride is incredible btw…. I queued for 45 mins for Thirteen and 20 mins for Nemesis.

The kids stuff looked like you could walk straight on with minimum wait, although Congo rapids was very busy for some reason.

Overall I thought it was quiet, I’ve certainly seen it much busier in the past. The Monorail from/to the car park is frustrating, we walked back at 5.30pm as the queue was huge. On that topic, I think I spent as long buying a car parking ticket at the exit as I did waiting to get on Nemesis….

I have a medium non-boost version that I built up myself. Great bike. I’m small (5ft 7) so I put a 30mm stem on to help with reach. For a “long” bike it corners and changes direction really well and is very stable jumping. On smooth / flowing reds and jumps it’s awesome. I’d highly recommend one.

Have you put your backpack on a diet?

Mine hasn’t missed a beat in 2 years. Some droppers might feel a bit nicer but the price difference is crazy. They should be the de facto standard.

Buy!

Only thing I noticed was slightly more clearance for the mudguard.