I got one a month or so ago. It's a great bike and a definite upgrade from my ETSX. Seems to climb better. On paper it's definitely heavier but I'm more comfortable with the extra burliness that brings. I ride mainly in the Lakes and have found I'm riding more technical sections than I was before.

HTH.

ps. Mine's the burnt orange colour. Got it cheaply from Pace as it has a paint chip (has a few more now). I like it in the colours rather than the white though.

Depends on the mount you use. From the Hope website they do both sizes of rotor. I'm using 180s with mine but I suspect a 183 would fit (from what I can see, an extra 1.5mm will fit into the setup I've got.

Depends on the mount you use. From the Hope website they do both sizes of rotor. I'm using 180s with mine but I suspect a 183 would fit (from what I can see, an extra 1.5mm will fit into the setup I've got.

Here's our new one. Butter wouldn't melt. Keeping me off the bike at the moment but I really don't mind.

I can't remember whether they've got velcro waist adjusters or not, the Summit shorts do and I don't get on with them. You can also get Endura Superlites for the same price so it's probably worth trying them on. The fabric is fine and they are waterproof. You might want to look at the 3/4s though as riding into spray with shorts leads to water up shorts anyway!

I switched from the Vision 4 to the Maxx D because of the battery. I much prefer having it all in one.

Following a conversation with Adrian and Pace I decided to go for the DT Swiss XM180. It was a £75 upgrade and felt worth it but I couldn't justify the other £100 for the EX200. The main difference is platform on the 200 vs lockout on the 180. I rarely used the pedal platform on my ETSX and the Pace is stiffer climbing anyway.

According to Adrian, the Monarch gives better big mump performance at the expense of small bump plushness. The Monarch is a special tune for Pace too.

All three shocks have broadly the same spring rates but obvisouly the damping varies between the Monarch and DT shocks.

Drac – Member

including buying me out of the remainder of my current policy,

Well that's where I would of said "Why, I can cancel it at any time with no obligation?"

Some policies do have cancellation charges, but not that many. As you say, it's a pretty safe bet.

Currys were selling off their 40Ds pretty cheap last week. Might be worth a look.

Good camera but not sure that I'd pick it for the frame rate, especially for MTB pics. I'm not sure you'd notice the difference in frame rate between that and 3 or 4. I never use continuous when taking shots of biking, I can't get the feeling of motion or speed. For other sports though it can be useful.

Rockdodger's point is also a good one though. You should also look at better investing in better glass rather than a new body.

What body are you using at the moment?

Thanks guys. I'll buy one to try it before getting a large box.

I was looking at the non remote to keep the cables tidy.

The rest of it doesn't sound too good. Is it something that Superstar are going to sort out?

Thanks for your reply

You can't use an external address with it easily. Anything you sned from MobileMe from the iPhone has the me.com address rather than my other email address. It's a real pain frankly and I would use it for the integration if it weren't for this restriction. I'm just waiting for Exchange support in Snowleopard and I'll have the calendar and address book synced too.

I'm looking at getting a collie for bike duties too. Also look at springer and other crosses. glen is right though, don't overdo the exercise in the first year while they're growing or they get hip and joint problems in later life.

It's pretty fair. All sorts of things affect the environment, including mountain biking.

I just don't like the picture, really poor. Bad crop, too blurred. Surely they could have done better!

They are interfering with the post, which I don't believe is strictly legal. I assume there's no way of finding out who you have been left it by. No other family members who might be able to help. Would your relative have been a point of contact (i.e. have you lived at their address)?

It does sound like a wind up. If they don't like you, why tell you that you'd had a letter and if they do, why not tell you the name/address.

Nah, these are cheesy Claife Heights shots:

I've had a play with it. The AF isn't bad at all. It's not top speed DSLR phase detect stuff, but it's better than compacts in my experience. Unless you're doing a lot of continuous AF it will be fine. You can prefocus for bike shots too and then you've got DSLR type low shutter lag.

I'd probably go for the zoom too. Oly kit lenses tend to be pretty good and the fact it's collapsable is pretty neet.

I've just bought an E620 instead as the size is much the same but you get better AF and it's better for faster moving subjects (bikes).

Thanks Gary.

Anyone aware of any plans to stiffen the ST4 up for 2010.

A couple from last weekend in the Peak:

And a couple of older ones:

Think I already posted some but hey.

Reread your post. Obviously you don't need to do the delete part if you're not removing them.

Also work with a copy in the first instance!

I'm not sure if there's a flash function but when I used to do this manually I used to:

1 – sort in ascending order
2 – add another column called 'duplicate'
3 – use an IF to set the duplicate cell to 1 if the number above it was the same (e.g. IF(A2=A1,1,0))
4 – copy and paste values in this column
5 – sort the whole sheet according to the duplicate column (make sure you're not just sorting the reference column but the whole data set)
6 – delete out all the duplicates and remove the extra column if necessary.

Shouldn't take more than 2 mins.

Hope that helps.

I really like the Olympus SLR's. I got my first a few years back and have updated it a couple of times since. The glass is the real bonus but they tend to be zooms. There is a 35mm macro (70mm equiv) and a 25mm pancake (50mm equiv) which would serve you well. THey're about £200. You can get an E420 or an E520 body (same as 420 but with in body IS) for £300 these days. The kit 14-42mm (28-84 equiv) is very good indeed for a kit lens but ultimately all kit lenses are at the budget end.

To be honest, most entry level SLRs will do you proud these days, particularly if you're sorting the light out. Depends on your preference really.

Take a look on Flickr, you can search for cameras and lenses to give you an idea. You could also take a look at DPReview if you want a more technical review.

I think it's just an original crud catcher but might be cut down at the front.

I like Mark Humpage's stuff:

Here are some examples

I’ve got a Belkin and it seems to work pretty well. Good coverage and speed.

The Netgear I got with Virgin just didn’t have the punch to get through the walls in my house. Just my experience though. There was a pcpro lab recently looking at them all. Think the Linksys came out on top with the Belkin afterwards.

The insulation on the bottom is usually thinner because it has to loft in order to insulate. If you’re lying on it it can’t expand. That’s what your sleeping mat is for.

I use a similar approach to nana. I carry a spare fleece (usually want a dry warm top anyway) and if I’m too cold then I put it on. Some people just use a duvet jacket and a pair of ‘bivvy’ trousers (basically just well insulated trousers. Works better in a bivvy bag than a tent IME.

The SP AM ones can be converted (kit in the box), the XC ones seem to be QR only. See http://www.hopegb.com wheelsets.

the cage length doesn’t affect the length of chain you need. wrap the chain around big front and big rear but not through the derailleurs. If it’s a full suss add a link or two (depending on travel). Split it and then thread through derailleurs and join.

That’s about it.

BEB, that’s how they used to be written, not sure why there is a mix of f and s shaped Ss though.

kimbers – Member
2 estate agents on chiswick hi street have closed down in the past couple of months

There’s always two sides to the recession coin 😉

It will probably be three years of your current pay. It’s forward looking not backwards. You can certainly look on it as an opportunity. Probably worth finding out what is on offer by way of jobs. Are they more interesting or larger in some way. If not, were you looking to leave anyway?

Prices have come down a fair bit and prices seem to be stabilising. daves mum makes some good points, particularly the impact of lower interest rates keeping payments down although I think the additional 20% drop is probably a bit steep. But this price drop is different to others, demand is being constrained by the lenders. They’ve made some pretty stiff promises about lending next year. It’s a tough call how it will turn out. If there is mass unemployment around the corner that will be the cause a serious blip.

However, if you’ve found a house you like and are going to live in for a few years (it is the main purpose of a house after all), then you’ll probably be ok.

Good service in my experience and pretty good pricing too.

mike_check

The later XT shifters have a cover plate attached to the window that you can screw in place to cover the hole. Net solution really.

I’ve recently switched from Hayes Stroker Carbons to Hope M4s after the pad dropped out of a stroker and bent the post. Decided I didn’t want pads that were held in by crap springs and loaded from the bottom. The M4s are plenty powerful and there’s more feel than with the Stroker. I also like the additional adjustability of bite point.

I’ve got an Olympus and you’ll struggle to find the full feature set on another entry level SLR. It’s great for learning on. The kit lens is very very good as well. In body Image Stabilisation is pretty useful. The Oly lenses are really good in general and I don’t miss the lack or poorer quality Sigma lenses, but it does mean that there aren’t so many available second hand. If you end up getting faster lenses, they are generally smaller on the 4thirds system.

The E520 is a bargain at the moment as they’ve just released the E620 which has some updates (a couple more MP, articulated screen, more AF points). Depends what you’re going to use it for as to whether these things are important. I decided they weren’t worth the extra £200 when we got my gf’s E520. Only £455 for the two lens kit at the moment here.

Pretty much all the entry SLRs are good and you’re not really tying yourself into a system until you choose to upgrade with more lenses.

If not the Oly, I’d get the Nikon, but that’s not really based on any in depth experience!

if you can, try them in your hand, that’s what turned me off the 350D when I was choosing.

If you did get it in it would probably dig into your back. Next size up would probably be better, or a Dakine Nomad perhaps?

I’ve bought a few things from them in person and they’re a good bunch.

I use A2Z pads from http://www.woollyhatshop.com. Work pretty well for me.

Oh, I’m also using Specialized AirLock sealant. I got fed up with having to change latex every three months or so and got a puncture that didn’t seal as I was late changing it. I’ve not had any punctures I’m aware of with the airlock but they claim it doesn’t go off. I guess we’ll see.