Is this current version still the same, very small volume 2.4?

The original was so low profile that it affected head angle and also your crank clearance on rocky terrain. Great tyre from a grip perspective but boy was it tiny..

I had a vague recognition that this specific phrase is a part of the trivialisation of appalling behaviour and is a highly inappropriate phrase in the workplace. I’m in the employ of the same organisation as the OP and as we do pride ourselves on being relatively forward thinking and try to set a good corporate example, then this is especially worrying and needed calling out.

I now have a better understanding of the problem, so I’m grateful to MCTD for raising it here, as well as in the workplace.

For Roger_mellie – the term used to describe the employ and the grade of the offensive person is quite specific.  I’d guess that they’re a ‘Senior Officer’.  By this stage of advancement in a civil service career, anyone is expected to have the ability to behave as an adult in the workplace.

And for anyone who thinks that HMRC are soft on preventing tax abuse and prosecuting fraud, just remember who has been writing up the tax laws for generations:- those with the most to lose by having an effective policing system with toothy legislation.  Which is why the department is less than half the size it used to be…

It’s not giving up, it’s more about finding new fun.

Fun, where max sustainable power isn’t the main priority but a wide grin across your face is.

Still a much better fit and coverage than my old Lakes, which I wore to death over several years as a ‘winter’ boot but not a waterproof one…

hmm.. hadn’t seen that image.  see what you mean.  Could be a skinny ankled model, a shoe that’s a size too large.. or a poor design.  Either way, a poorly chosen image, for sure!

I’m not seeing that… there’s a full width, full height internal tongue and a flap that covers that, all the way to the back of eth ankle on the outside.  Seems like that’s as good as any other design to me.  Very similar to most Shimano, possibly more coverage than MW81 and similar to current Endura.

I’m not convinced that this is as poor as those first two posters suggest.  That looks about as effective as most others, bearing in mind the big hole that’s needed at the top to let your foot in.  But being a much better price than many, so these might be a decent, viable option for an everyday winter boot.

I’ve quite a lot of experience of helping athletes back out to their sport after a dose of Covid and I always try express it in much the same way…

Whilst it is certainly possible and even easy to return to exercise too soon and do yourself quite a bit of harm, conversely, it’s quite difficult to rest for too long.  Better to wait until you’re sure and return very gradually to normal exercise, testing yourself as you go and always with a Plan B for the day out, in case the wheels come off.

Examples I have seen have included delayed reactions, starting days later, that include some nasty pericarditis & cardiomyopathy, despite the initial infection having been mild and shrugged off readily.  You have been warned… !

Even with tubes, less than most bikes in my experience. I have only punctured once, on different tyres in over ten years of riding.

The Maxxis are not invincible but they are pretty tough. I’m not convinced that for the way I use mine, that the tubeless advantage is worth while. All my others are tubeless but Fatty tyre fettling can sometimes be especially tricky.

Me too… On one Fatty, Mastodon short travel fork, Maxxis FBF4.8 & FBR 4.0. As others have said it’s great company, any time you want a different challenge or are not in a hurry but want to smile, it’s ideal. Local woodland trails at dawn. Winter mud, rides with a slower partner or pal. Snow and ice that you’re not going to do on your hardtail. All of these things.

From all of the above, I think that it’s fair to say that neither is wrong and only you know what surfaces you will be riding on. One day 650b will be better, the next it’ll be 700… I have stuck to 650×47 on my Ragley Trig fun gravel bike but also have a Croix de Fer that can fit 700×40; in that format, it has been over the Corrieyairick. It’s a more sedate bike, the Trig is for bopping about in the woods…

Don’t forget the impact on the individuals in the emergency services on the night and in the site clearing work afterwards.

I’ve a pal who was in the building on that night, in the course of duty; it has had a profound effect on his life.  I think it’s reasonably clear that the fire service were misled in the evidence given to them when carrying out their site fire risk assessments and evac plans.  If all of the effective material standards and fire protections that they were advised of had been there and properly fitted, then the ‘sit tight’ instruction would have been a valid approach.  They weren’t and it wasn’t the right approach that night.  I too would like to see some serious consequences for guilty individuals over this.

It’s clear that their bags are well thought out and represent great value.

I’ve several Decathlon Riverside bikepacking bags, all of which have been excellent and have so far survived several 5-10 day trips.  Favourite is probably the large tail bag with seat and post mounting carrier.  I love the wee compression locking air valve on the dry bag and the clever, simple means of fitting and removal at each end of the day.  The carrier has a bungy on top for a jacket, a tail lamp mount that’s adjustable and holds firm; the whole thing compresses neatly and has reflective stripes on the back that are visible, whether lightly loaded or full.  All straps are stout rather than minimal, some with alloy buckles.

On the larger stem bag, there’s a really clever single handed opening and closing cord.  It’s simple and it works.  The strappage includes a tiny link down to your fork crown, stopping any chance of a loaded bag flapping about.

Inside the frame, I’ve the Riverside frame bag, the large and simple size with internal strapping, roll top waterproofing, semi rigid sides and an effective port for a bladder hose.  The Apidura frame bag bladder works neatly with this, routing the hose up to fix on a strap attached to their larger stem bag.  It all just works; nothing has failed, become torn or cracked, despite a couple of thousand miles of use, mostly in the Highlands and much of it off road..

Starving, over-populated deer don’t produce the kind of trophy heads that the richest guests are looking for.  The kind of guests who will pay absolute top dollar/Euro for a whole entourage of serfs to dress in tweeds and escort them and a pony up the hill to collect the half-tame trophy stag.

That’s immoral in my book and should be condemned.  Just like a guest on the 12th, who shoots an osprey for the sake of it.  There just are not enough sanctions available yet.  It’s also a sadness that the bird had to make it’s way onto the Nature Scot ground in Glen Doll, from wherever it was attacked.  There are a handful of suspect estates nearby, some with quite significant previous for wildlife crime.

1. Stay away from NSAIDs (brufen, Naproxen, Diclofenac etc..) they slow down bone healing by reducing the blood supply to the injured area.  Accept it’ll be uncomfortable, and take paracetamol.

2.  Investigate the controlled loading & vibration benefits for your specific fracture.

3. Speak to that expert, but get as much info as possible from the staff you’re with just now first, to identify the exact piece of damage done.  Get a copy of your films onto your phone, you may need them.

Wrists have a wide range of fracture types, some respond well to loading, others (eg some specific fractures of the scaphoid) can resist healing when they’re being loaded.

I’d say that yes, you do get battered less as you grow accustomed to the bike and how to ride it better. Ridden regularly, you’re likely to get physically stronger too, better able to absorb the trail.  Good core strength is the best thing to add to the party.

Getting older hasn’t slowed me down as yet; I mostly ride hardtail and am now officially an old geezer of 60.  I only use the FS for the biggest mountain days and hardtail most of the time.

Isn’t this exactly what kennels were invented for..?

I get on really well with the Endura GV500 shorts. Slimmish fit in the leg compared with conventional baggies and at 32-33 waist the M is perfect for me.  They’re definitely summer weight though.

To be fair, I have never had a sizing problem with any of Endura’s kit and I have quite a lot of it.  I’ve obviously been lucky, judging by others’ comments.

Oops.. Wrong thread!  Oh well..

I get on really well with the Endura GV500 shorts. Slimmish fit and at 32-33 waist the M is perfect for me.  They’re definitely summer weight though.

To be fair, I have never had a sizing problem with any of their kit and I have quite a lot of it.

I think that Lamomali et M is some sort of sub Saharan /  French supergroup thing; they opened that big concert at Montreux with Manitoumani, quiet beginnings into a massive sound from a big band of musicians, including the amazing skills and voice of Matheui Cheddide.  We had no idea what to expect and were blown away by the experience. It’s nice to relive stuff like that, once in a while, so thanks for the reminder, folks.

Try Sona Jobarteh; ‘Gambia’ is a very approachable introduction.

Nice one, @beanum. Have seen her live, performing at Montreux with Lamomali. Stunning concert, with Youssou n’Dour on the same bill.

Knowing exactly what MCTD does for a living, I can indeed confirm that @thepurist is correct.

These are the additional resources that chancellor Rachel Reeves has been preparing to join our specialist teams of inspectors.

Thanks for the updates; regrettably, I’ve decided that I will have to fly instead of taking the train to get down to London for work later this week.  Normally for this journey, I’d be on the train from Dundee to Kings Cross but not this time, it’s just a bit too dodgy again at the moment.

Another, fairly similar perspective:

I’m 76kg + bag & bike.

I too am off to the Alps in 6 weeks, AlpPacker South with BV.  I’ve recently fitted a pair of new T4E4 onto existing Hope floating rotors, 200/180 and yes, the outright power is excellent, it just feeds in so smoothly from gentle to tons, without drama.  The modulation that’s available before the outright power is the best bit about these new ones; yes, they’re appreciably better than the T3E4 I have on the hardtail overall.  Whilst those are miles nicer than the XT 8000 series brakes that came off the bike, which are a powerful but blunt tool.  I don’t ride fast enough to need blunt power.  I need and want some finesse instead and that’s what these deliver.  My educated guess is that the V4 version is more than you are actually needing and if cold weather performance might become an issue later, I’d veer away from the ‘biggest’ option.

Flying from Scotland to Dublin involves passport checks at both ends, each way.

Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

An unusual choice but ticks all of those boxes.

In many ways, it’s a bit like going back in time about 20 years. The SuperValu store in town is really quite Continental in its range of goods.

A few years back, I organised a boys’ trip to ride trails in Torridon, renting a house. One of the lads brought his pipes and as a champion player of pibroch, he practically set up the week. Stunning.

Mudguards are still available, are they not..?  I live in an area with lots of sheeps, coos and deers, so there are cruddies on all of our bikes; I just cannot understand folk who don’t use them.  But then, applying some common sense is not something that us riders always feel able to do.

Meanwhile, thinking about cattle – there’s a lot of E,coli swilling about in your average coo plop, being bugs of varieties that are worse for humans when they get into your own system.  Best avoided.

There are several options along the glen, effectively two ways past Loch Oich and three options for Loch Ness.

These sometimes have diversions for forest operations; the high route closure between Fort Augustus and Invermoriston for example has only just been lifted again, so the top route is now open again.  I’m with Scotroutes on this; I always take the top route for those sections as the extensive, relatively mellow singletrack and stunning views are worth it. The entire route from the sea lock at Bannavie to the centre of Inverness is about 74 miles and around 7800′ ascent, so that’s around 10 hours of steady riding, not dawdling, not racing..

At Loch Oich, the currently closed railway line route on the east shore is flat and boring anyway.   The only good bit of that side is the great wee free campsite on the loch shore halfway along.

The NW side is much more interesting and includes a fair bit of singletrack.

Abriachan cake stop is fascinating.  Just don’t leave your backpack unattended, as if Squeak is still around, she will steal your bag and run off with it into the woods…. @Scotroutes is she still alive?  (Squeak is a large, old, grumpy pig; her buddy, Bubble, was rustled a few years ago.)

The south east side of Loch Ness alternative route is sometimes called the Caledonian Way, as it is part of the longer route from Campbeltown to Inverness.  That side too has trail options, such as the Loch Tarff climb to the Suidhe and on to Knockie; also the extra climb up the Farigaig ‘Corkscrew’ after Foyers, to get to the Fair Haired Lad’s pass.  That’s a short but interesting, Alpinesque singletrack descent high above the lochside.   A loch Ness 360 is therefore another fun two day ride option.

Try ultra marathon running.  It’s a very popular form of self-harm and the sport is full of addictive personalities.

Same as kormoran here; effectively monocular vision, very limited to nil depth perception but as I have always been this way, the brain has adapted to increase spatial and positional awareness in other ways.

I used to crash a lot and trying to time bunny hops over water bars is a challenge.

Doesn’t stop me from enjoying all sorts of riding.

Similar; following injury, I decided to learn how to use a left handed mouse on my work computer and now do so always. It’s helpful in a few ways and the dexterity of that hand overall has improved significantly.

Still use a right hand mouse for the home pc.

Could be genuine but so far from what you say, it sounds more like a scammer copying their approach.

Be very careful, don’t do anything without independent, supporting evidence.

There’s quite an important message contained in one of the posts above; having any form of stroke or TIA is not just a circulation problem, it’s a brain injury and upsets brain chemistry more than is often recognised by the general population.  It then frequently results in changes that can affect mental health and mood significantly and while it’s hard to accept, being informed at this stage that such problems might be inbound might allow anyone to prepare for it.

High blood pressure is often referred to as a silent killer; a small proportion of folk reading this probably have it and aren’t aware, just like Muffin Man above.  HBP increases your risk of stroke, among other problems.  Being informed is a really good starting point but hopefully the team at the stroke unit are all over this already.

Heal well dude and please continue to vent on here. There will be frustrations to come.

Given a hefty enough budget, what other aspects of the performance could you enhance, if starting from a clean sheet of paper and avoiding the existing drug based restrictions?

Improve haemoglobin’s quality, affecting the ability to collect and distribute oxygen into tissues.

Improve the overnight repair rate of muscle fibres.

Make those fibres more resilient, or reduce the hormones that control their breakdown during intense exercise.

Increase the quality of glycogen, (or its storage), so that there’s more energy available in the ready use store.

Adapt stomach rates of absorbing carb fuel.

Once you open the door to genetic modification of riders physiology, the world’s your lobster…  If I can think of  a handful of these dodgy options, I’m sure that the teams have already been considering these and many others.

Efco Honda 4.5hp 4 stroke here; about 20 years old, held together with spare parts, bolts, zip ties… Currently on its second deck.  Engine runs sweetly.

It’s well looked after; gets cleaned at least once every two years.  It’s been well worth the investment.

Testing:

A false positive is close to impossible, no matter how old the test pack is.

A false negative, however, is possible. The test responds to the presence of significant amounts of covid antibodies. There’s a always the possibility that the test doesn’t respond to your sample, so it’s wise to err on the side of caution and sensibly isolate yourself if in any doubt.

There are so many vulnerable people in the world and just as it has been throughout, passing the virus around can kill people.

Follow rule #1. Don’t be a dick.

Most pharmacies will sell you test packs, some as cheap as 3 for £2.

A few months ago I would have been very interested in Ti for a new road bike but am now having significant second thoughts over the suggested lack of environmental advantage over a good steel frame.

I’ll be 60 this year and and am considering a new complete road bike for longer & faster rides; not races.  For my 50th, I bought a Genesis CdeF R725 frame, which currently runs flat bars and is on 32 spoke wheels, making it a good touring bike.  Hope X2 brakes, decent spread of 3×10 gearing and it’s functional and reliable.  It’s not light but I can ride it for 12 hours without too much discomfort.  I’m considering a ‘Road’ bike and the Fairlight Secan/Strael are firmly in my sights at present, perhaps with lighter wheels.  I worry that for example the Strael might feel overly short for my brain; I’d be a 56R most likely, so wheelbase is a scary looking 1000mm.  reviews suggest that it will ride really nicely, lighter and livelier than my Genesis.  Does anyone have experience of both Strael & Secan, for comparisons sake?

Priorities being reasonably light, reasonably quick, reasonably comfortable- a nice place to be on a long day ride..

I suspect I’d go with a mechanical 105/GRX 2×12 build and maybe those lightish wheels.