Yes, I have been every year for the past 12 years on business. Go to the Fairmont hotel Friday lunchtime buffet (only if you like a drink though). Its very popular so sometimes need to book weeks in advance BTW.
Burj Al khalifa (tallest building is worth a look too) Gold and Spice souk is worth a go as well.
Rattlesnake nightclub is an eye opener too ! But that could divide opinion :)

Do Anthem x owners find they have loads of seatpost sticking out ? Was seriously considering one, and at 5'6" the small 16" seems to fit the bill. A 575mm HTT is about right for me as is a 120mm Head tube length. But measuring up on the basis of my current bike, I reckon if I got the bike in race setup positioning, I'd end with loads of seatpost sticking out. Do Anthem owners find that its the same for them ? i.e Long top tubes relative to seat tube length ?
I reckon there'd be about 250mm of seatpost sticking out for me

I know what you are saying, and yes you're right, but I actually have a full set of Juicy 5's spare and some SLX brakes on a mid priced XC bike I am getting. I would leave the SLX brake set on the new bike, to save the hassle of re-cutting brake pipes etc, however if the Juicy 5's come out much lighter then I would swap them over.

Been sick in a taxi
Punched someone or been punched by someone in the face
Been stung by a bee
killed a spider

The F1 driver – Eddie Irvine I presume?

No

Visited a brothel with a famous (non current) Formula one driver. And no I didnt, went just for a giggle !

Been driven home in the back of a police car whilst stark naked (female officer too)

I have two pairs one on each of my road bikes. One of the single best things I ever bought for the bike. Love the whole system. Cleats last ages, clipping in is a total no-brainer, non of that trying to flip the pedal over to clip in like on look systems, it work a treat, weird feeling of free foot movement when you first use them, but then you get used to it. Pain in the backside to walk in !

Isnt it that stuff that Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) put on the bottom of his tea tray sled in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. One of the funniest 3 mins of TV you'll ever see.

I agree about it being his "dream bike" and not anyone elses and obviously the whole point of the show was to visit some of manufacturers with the most heritage, and probably visiting a taiwanese carbon fibre moulding plant, wouldnt evoke the same misty eyed nostalgia as visiting brooks or cinelli. So I appreciate that in that respect the programme worked well.

I think I must have been the only person who didnt like the program. I thought the guy was a proper herbert who irritatingly over enthused about everything. He supposedly spent 4 grand and ended up with a bike that looked heavy, not that nice to ride, and probably wouldnt last ! And he looked blimmin uncomfortable riding it into the sunset too ! But then I guess it wouldnt have made good telly if he walked into an Evans store and said "Can I buy that Trek Madone in the corner there ?"….."Yes Sir of course you can, that'll be 4000 pounds"……"Thanks heres my credit card"…"Bye"…"Bye"…Roll to credits !
I did enjoy the bits about the whole beginnings of mountain biking though.

Love my Minion 2.35 single ply 60A front, and HR 2.35 single ply 60A rear combo. The Minion on the front gives me loads of confidence.

Single Ply Minion up front, Single ply Highroller on the back, both 2.35 both 60a, Probably not going to win any xc races with them, but they are on a zesty, so who cares ! Ace combo

My mate has the 9 and has done a season of marathon and Enduro events on it, its a bloody quick bike, and a joy to ride up and downhill (provided you except its a race bike and not an all mountain clatter through anything sort of bike. luckily he is the same size as me so I get to ride his when I feel the need for some extra speed. For the money its a great bike. Am trying to save my pennies up for next season so I can get a 9 or an upgradeable 8 as well

Yes, many times. Excellent company.

I don't really look anywhere else now!

Apart from in Whyte1's used once rejects stock :lol:

Heavy griddle pan, groundnut oil for cooking, and dont press and prod it as its cooking, trust your timings, and I take mine from the heat just slightly under cooked what I like, as I find it continues cooking just slightly after you take it from the pan. Job done, I am bloody starving now ! Thanks a bunch :wink:

Got a bike but always looking to buy a new one………….
Always buying new bits, gloves, glasses, bottles, pumps etc……….
Buys all the major MTB mags each month…………..

Would Whyte1 Please stand up and take a bow please :lol:

Hmmm hughjenjin…explain last sunday then….understand you only made it to the carpark

Damn right !! You know me though matey, you could give me the moon on a stick with a Kylie Minogue in only her lacy undercrackers on top and I still wouldnt get out of my car for it, if it was raining hard :D

I live in North Wales so am blessed to have all the areas trail centres available to ride within a short drive. Penmachno, still my fave by a country mile

Is the spacing a bit iffy on yours too, same as mine, I just bought a XC6 hope wheel set, and I cant get quite enough adjustment on the brake caliper for the rotor to quite centralise in the brake either..odd

Anyone any opinions on 100mm REBA over 100mm SID ? Love the Reba I ride now, but is it loads heavier ?

Yes, rode my mates TF9 and it knocks spots off my hardtail on the bumpy flat sections. Most of the kit I have to put on the bike would make it top spec, but wouldnt want to get to the stage that I'd be selling myself short on the shock and forks.
My initial thoughts that it wouldnt make any difference to me but if I felt that I'd sold myself short on the important stuff by saving a few quid I'd regret it. And I am definately not an on the fly lever twiddler. I am a set and forget man

you'll be constantly faffing with levers

That definately puts me off as well, I am anything but an on the fly lever twiddler. I dont even use my fork lock outs on my current bikes now, because I cant be bothered with the faff of trying to remember to unlock it, plus my pedalling style doesnt normally induce a lot of bob, so I basically just pump up my shocks and forks and go riding and forget about it, apart from the occassional use of the propedal lever on my fox shock

Good shout, seems little point in taking a chance on an unknown, especially when the treks, epics and anthems are seeming to get rave reviews. The one reason why I first looked at the Scott, was that it was probably the only all carbon bike in my budget. I think you'd be looking at over £3k to get carbon in any other brand, but is that the be all and end all for an amateur marathon racer, maybe not I guess !

I guess if you swap it over to a fox unit, you can do away with all the levers and gubbins on the bars as well

it's heavily reliant on the TracLoc to make it work to it's full potential

TracLoc is ????
I assume its the bar mounted levers. I am not much of an in-ride fiddler to be honest.

there's a lot of other options out there

In my budget, was looking at Trek Top Fuel 8 or 9, I know nothing about epics whatsoever but would be intereseted to find out more, however I have heard of some people hating the Brain system, but have no personal experience. Or an Anthem X, but in my research I think the sizing of the Anthem is going to be my biggest problem. I am so between a small and medium its unbeleivable. Small I think will be too short, Medium seems to have a too long headtube. Liked the Scott becasue the sizing seemed spot on. (as is the Trek in a 17.5")

I have been a lifelong lover of Chinese food, but recently I have been so dissappointed everytime with it, that I think my Pallette must be changing so its a Ruby for me everytime now ! Mrs Jengin is well happy as Indian is her fave anyway

On my 140mm trail bike I like my Single ply minion front marginally more over the equivalent high roller, it seems to suit my mincing style better, I have a 60a 2.35 High roller on the back for what its worth :D

If you really lean the bike through corners you should love the HR if you keep your bike a bit more upright you wont find the side knobs and you will hate it.

Maybe thats the reason for me that I like the Minion, I am definately a more upright point and squirt type rider rather than a flowy rolling speedway stylee type, although I am working at it

Definately not harder or easier, just different. You are obviously not conditioned to it yet. In a similar way it'd be like cycling for 20 years and doing no other sort of excercise and then out of the blue sticking some running shoes on and running 10 miles, and then immediately after saying "Runnings way harder than cycling" its just what you become used to. Agreed road riding is a consistent effort for extended periods with the very occassional anaerobic effort, without the luxury of immediately stopping after that effort. MTB'ing (particularly trail riding) is 2 min lactate effort….stop…..2 min lactate effort…..stop and repeat for 3 hours ! I find that hard, which is why I am working on it. I consider myself a much better road rider than a mtb rider, which is why I am working at the MTB more at the moment. Stick with it, and your body will become used to it.

my first proper road bike had a 42-21 easiest gear

If you've still got that 42-21 bung it on the Dale, and we'll go up the old Bwlch, I need a laugh :wink:

Would I get the bars down low enough on a medium, I like to ride with the bars just below the level of the saddle

Good advice, Obviously I am concerned about the Small being too short, but equally concerned about not being able to get the bars down low enough on a Medium with the longer headtube

I put a posting on the classifieds last week, in response to somebody posting a Wanted post for specialized adaptalite glasses. Was it you ? Either way it didnt get a response, so I figured whoever it was had already got themsleves some sunnies sorted. Regardless to say, I have a pair of specialized Divide adpatalite glasses, with silver frame, no scratches on the lenses, and in pretty much A1 condition, complete with the hard case. Give me a shout if you are interested, my posting that I put is as below, email should be in profile

Link to the wanted ad for specialized adaptalites

Me and a mate are entered, looking forward to it, a part of the country which is quite new to me, and I certainly havent ridden in North Yorks before.

and you are setting yourself up to cut it short/wonky/skanky etc. Just leave it alone

Probably the best advice, probably the only other issue is whether its more likely to hurt in a crash having it stuck up like that, otherwise you are right I should stop being a big Nerys and leave it the hell alone :D

I'd also suggest ignoring the little feedstop at the top of the Telegraph

Seconded, it was a right scrum up there, and not that well stocked. You only have a downhill and your at the good one after Valloire.

I amde the mistake of overdoing it just quite enough on the road up to the foot of the Telegraph

Join the club. :wink:
I was so determined to throttle back on this section last year, I was sat up tootling along being passed by everyone, like a little old lady on a shopping trip

There is an excellent guide to the Marmotte at the bottom of the wiki page

That pretty much covers it all if I read the correct guide. Definately hes right about the feed station at the bottom of the Galibier in valloire, dont be convinced you've missed it and panic. I saw people panicking and going back down the hill because they thought theyd rode past, Its a massive feed station and you cant miss it, its just further up the road than you think :D
There is a very small water stop about bend 13 or 14 on the Alpe, its like a magnet to want to stop becasue there is a big tree with everyone underneath drinking ice cold water, trying to get some shelter from the heat. My advice would be unless you feel really bad or are running out of food or water, I'd avoid stopping, Its so hard to start again after this stop, and some people bail here so near to the top, because they cant re-motivate to get back on the bike.

The road between the bottom of the Glandon and St-Michelle-de-Maurienne is a real sapper its on a major road and it drags uphill slightly, you are still buzzing from coming off the Glandon (which is a beautiful climb by the way, easiest the prettiest by far) and you can get dragged into some high paced riding in a group if you are not careful along there, in 08 I started in the last wave of riders, being a late entrant, and my clubmates were in the first wave (starting an hour ahead) as probably the best climber in our group at that time, I was daft enough to get egged on to attempt to catch their group, and battered up the Glandon like a nutcase and down the otherside in attempt to catch them, I then proceeded to get involved in some through and off along the main road you mentioned earlier presuming that the Telegraphe was not as hard as the others and I could waste a bit of energy beforehand.
I did catch them halfway up the Telegraphe, but having tried so hard on the flat to make up time, I blew on the climb and had a very long day after that. (Which is why my early advice would be to treat the Telelgraphe with the same respect as all the climbs) In 09 I accepted my limitations, fitted a compact (I rode with a 53/39 the year before) and conserved energy everywhere possible, and it was a great day, and will stay in my memory forever.

Sorry to compound the horror stories, but one of our guys recorded 42 degrees on Alpe Du Huez, if its anything like the last couple of years, its very very hot going up there. The people come out to spectate and pour water on you, It sounds like it'd be really annoying when you are knackered, but its like heaven.
Enjoy the event, its very special.

Unless your a 6 hour man, and I am being presumptious by giving you advice, then the two biggest pointers I would give anyone are.

1. Respect the Telegraphe, its often overlooked as its a 1st cat on its own and not a HC like the 3 others, but if you hammer the flat leading up to it which is dead tempting to do, assuming that the Telegraphe is the least worrying of the lot, then it really will suprise you its very hard, there is many people you see suffering on the Telegraphe as anywhere, treat it with exactly the same respect as the others !

2. Be prepared for the heat on the Alpe Du Huez, and try and ride the Alpe Du Huez before the event if you can. You may be just surviving on determination and fear of failure on the day, and knowing that you did the climb easier on previous days, makes it feel achievable when it seems impossible.

Oh yes and enjoy the descent off the Glandon, its a peach, if a little dodgy at times.

I am jealous I'd love to go back once more, maybe next year

Have done it the last two years in too much heat !! Apart from on the Galibier where the weather always seems to close in a bit. Is it your first time ?

If the Finish line dry lube, is the red cap one, then yes I like it a lot, I prefer it too most of all the others I have used particularly the Muc-off dry lube I bought recently, which I dont like one bit.