Thats also a very good point, this is a difficult choice.

Thats what i was hoping ampthill, it means i can get a more versatile bike but not open myself up for serious abuse from roadie mates.
cube x looks nice but i would prefer a steel frame and mounts for racks would be good.

+1 cannonball
and anything by Primus, especially, shake hands with beef!

just on the off chance…i got bought a bottle of glenfiddich 12 for christmas, not really my thing, so has anyone else been bought a bottle of something they dont like and fancy a swap, before i open it anyway?

my problem is i live pretty much an hour from anywhere, apart from local morrisons and offy, both rarely have anything to my taste, just the standards.
Just wondered if anyone had seen any amazing deals that cancels out the postage, like you say…and yep, around the £30 mark.
I like my islays but up for anything

The orange is getting alot of thumbs up it seems…
Good info ed, cheers, 32lbs is very respectable. shame its so new, too early for any 2nd hand bargains!
anyone selling an ex demo?

Cheers peaches, the wildcard does look nice, good reviews too!
just been checking out the devinci frantic, sounds pretty good also :roll:

cheers 5lab, i was in there this weekend drooling over a br, but they didnt have a tester, didnt ask about a blood. I’ll ask next weekend.

exactly, although 45lbs….fair play!

Anyone know anywhere in sw, with bloods or bottlerockets on test, i might, maybe, posibly, kind of be interested in the mythic spitfire too, as a bit of a wildcard!
Just for further reference, i am not an xc rider looking at getting into jumps, dh etc, that is and allways has been my background (i do enjoy a bit of xc though and as said earlier i will prob build up an ss xc bike out of bits i have). I am just thinking about going fs instead of ht. I really want real world experiences from folks who have ridden similar bikes, unfortunately i dont want to be told im looking for the wrong bike, i know what i want and the limitations. Hope that doesnt sound shirty, its not meant to, i just think some folks have got the wrong end of the stick. :D
i thank you all again

i get what you mean but really im not after an all rounder, im after a play bike that on the odd occasion i may want to take a few miles with friends. I would rather sacrifice climbability than playability. With regards to the bolt, its not really a consideration, im just interested in what its like, looks different and coming from a ht background it makes you stop and take notice.
I think i need to spend some time on a couple of these bikes and decide if whether to go down this route or stick with a ht. Im yet to own or even ride an evil sov, maybe i should forget it and buy one of they!

Cheers all,
i hear where your coming from with a more AM based frame and build to suit, just seems like too big a leap from ht’s.
Im still not sure about going fs, but after two major back ops and a broken neck, im starting to think i should go for a bit of cushioning.
cheers for the link chaka, that is a very good price!
good to hear that you are loving the blood jemima and Dakar YGM…

So based on your test, would you buy one?
Yeah nukeproof is more AM i guess, just looks like it could be alot of fun if i dropped a size. Dont know much about it really being so new, so its on the list really to get opinions on it.
6″ all rounders arent really for me, small, chuckable and stable in the air is what im looking for but like i said, it has to be at least reasonably capable of putting in a few miles too, even if it is hard work, as long as its not pointless.
Another one for the list, i forgot to add is the DMR bolt, does look a little homemade though and what is the deal with the linkage, will it not pedal bob like crazy? dont know if id buy it but i would like a spin on one.

do it….
and then tell me if its worth it, ive been thinking about getting one for a while

Dont know if anyone has said yet but dont consider the trangos, i am on my 2nd pair and whilst they are briliant they would be terrible for riding. Brilliant for technical mountain stuff, scrambling, easy climbs etc but way too stiff and too much rocker on the sole.
Try patagonia Boaris mids if you can find them, waterproof, lightweight, flexible and look pretty good.

cheers geetee but i dont have an ibeam saddle and dont really want to swap saddles. Cheers for the offer though.
Note to self: must relax and check things properly before rushing on here shouting help.

AAAArgh…
Im a tard, the thompson post from my alpitude is 30.0, i was convinced it was 30.9.
Anyone want to swap a 31.6 ec70 for a 30.9, same or thompson?

It is the older 853 bfe, but my 30.9 thompson post is definately too small.
Yes i can get it in little bit but only with the seat clamp off.
The post i bought is an easton ec70 with 31.6 printed on it.
I would have thought either my 30.9 or the 31.6 would fit but neither do, something has gone awry

me too, i have been getting more and more tempted with a covert, not a bouncy biker though, it would be my first fs in many years…
Anyone know anywhere that has them on demo?

im leaving mine to mature till next christmas, its hard not just going for it though

meh…;)
Cheers all, yep a holiday would be good anyway but dont think its going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately.
Any miracle cures for getting your body back to form, just feels like im dragging this painful lead weight round with me everywhere.
Maybe try a detox or something? anyone know any good ones?

Dont know if this fits the bill, or is even in the right part of cornwall but Henrys campsite on the Lizard, is without doubt one of the best campsites in cornwall. We head there sometimes to escape the crowds in our part of cornwall (north), as do many other locals.
Have a look at their website.
clicky

EDIT ^^^^^^ the post above…the picture on the front is henrys

Fu Manchu +1
Violent femmes +1

and Kyuss

my missus at 5′ 2″ rides a 16″ genesis core, suits her absolutely fine, they seem to come up quite small for the size.

Just ticked one:
just finishing building my own house, all on my tod. Its a beauty, green oak frame and big thick hemp walls, in a nice quiet part of cornwall, overlooking the sea (sounds amazing now im writing it, you kind of forget!) It is a bitch though, especially on your own and not the dream you may think it would be. Still id do it all again tomorrow without a second thought.
and the next:
Rent the shiny new house out and find a real cheap wreck in the Pyrenees to play around with for a year or two.
and the big dream:
to finish the place in the mountains and then never have to work again, bumming around between the pyrenees and cornwall, with some wealthy benefactor providing me with a comfy income, for going out to play every day!

and if you need to be livened up after all that dreariness, check out
The devil makes three, brilliant, still got the alt country/folk twang but taken up several notches…

Try:
Bonnie prince billy (will oldham)
Songs:Ohia
Magnolia electric company
Iron and wine
Bon Iver
Sufjan Stevens

the sort of house you are on about, ie grand designs etc, take more time, thought and care at every stage, never get a developer doing that. The standard of houses built en masse by developers in this country is poor to say the least, just stay away from large suburban developments. Its all about the profit and quality suffers. Even if iy looks good it will need work within the first 10 years, possibly major work.
Buy a plot and contract a real builder to build your own house to your own spec. Depending where you are, plot fron £60k- £200k, 3 bed house build would ge around £170-£200k, you just gotta wait best part of a year to get it sorted.
Ive just done it myself £140k build costs for a green oak, open plan, seriously low energy, 3 bed house. Done all the work myself though for that price and has taken me just over 18 months. Well worth the pain…

have you ever laid a slate floor? boring, frustrating and messy

if my missus sees that, i will be buried under the slate floor!

Im sure you’ve looked and know this, but check renault traffics and nissan primastars, they are basically the same as the vivaro, might help broaden your search.
Mate down here was thinking of selling his T4 SWB Treg, with around 110-115k miles. Think he was after around £3k, it is a 1.9td though, ex cocacola, so red…I’ll ask him if hes still going to sell, could do with a repaint though, or a damn good compounding and buffing

Ianv, yep we have heard about the ropey french teaching system, hence looking for somewhere near an intenational school, apparently one in Pau and one in Toulouse.
Will check out Quillan but so far its looking like somewhere south (further into mountains proper) of Pau, be good to hear from anyone who knows that area well.
And any pics of the area, or anywhere else cool in the pyrenees, would all help the motivation…

I was tempted with a 03 vivaro with 78k miles on autotrader for £2650, its gone now but you will find quite a few around that price, and it was a nice colour, ie not white…

Try the t4forum, but £3k is a little budget for a t4 without starship miles and ignore the jokers who try to tell you that they are good for 500k, its only to try and sell their 200k miler.
I have a had a couple of t4s but wouldnt buy one again, they are amazing as vans go but just too damn expensive/overpriced plus we pay a massive premium down here in cornwall cus apparently they are cool!!!
Get a vauxhall vivaro, youd get quite a tidy lowish miler for that money and they are pretty sweet to drive too.

skylight, or dormer? If its a dormer, it might be a bit more involved, if its a skylight, id just chaff out the worst of the rot, fill it, paint it and then silicone (sikaflex)all around it and hope for the best. If that doesnt work it wont have cost much in time or money and at least you know you tried. Then replace with a new quaility one, still not a huge expense.

Westside ;) got to be done, always lived on the west, dont want to change now.
could handle the med for a bit of lazy holidaying but thats about it

JW…how did you find it getting work in a european school, assume your fluent french? missus is a geography teacher 3 years in and head of year but dont know how much that means over there. We have thought about Pau but with a limited budget for a property, we are going to have to go a bit more out of town.

I know alot of places like prades are great to live and beautiful, i just cant tear myself that far from the surf, dont want to become a weekend warrior, but guess something will have to give, im just a have the cake and eat it person!
Roll on the summer so we can get out there exploring!

Ax les thermes is a hot contender though, but alot is going to depend on where teaching jobs come up, im sure we can find a wreck of building to keep me happy anywhere. I just want to see real mountains from the window…

getting a nose full of cold, clear, un polluted mountain air. Might sound a bit weird but never fails to make me smile and feel that life is good, no matter how miserable, stressed, knackered etc i am.

Yep the i is my paper of choice at the moment, always been a guardian or independant reader but never blessed with enough free time to read the whole thing.
Also with its size, the i makes a much more suitable read on the can.
still cant beat the observer on a sunday though

yep, the luchon area is where we have been focusing our attention, any specific towns/villages worth a look, preferably with a healthy riding/climbing scene?
LUZ-ST-SAUVEUR looks good, another reason for looking around there is for schools, my other half is a teacher and would want to find work in an international school. Dont mind 1.5 hrs drive to surf, mountains are the priority.