I'm not going to earn £1200 a month after tax stacking shelves at tescos (That's what two kids in full time nursery costs). If the Australia thing doesn't come off, then I'll think about other options.

I'm waiting to hear back from an Engineering firm in Sydney after two interviews and called in references. The job won't start until the end of Jan / beginning of Feb (if I get it) and since we currently have two under 5s in nursery I'd earn more looking after the kids full time than getting a seasonal job. My CV is fine and I did all the courses I could while I was on consultation.

I've signed up on the movember website but can't get the link to facebook to work. And I need some sponsors.

Not really worried about that – you'd be surprised how far away the shock is from your nads. It's got a very low/dipped top tube and most times you come off you'd be going forward anyway not straight down. I like them both could do with a bit of objective advice as I can't decide 🙁

Just use a Stanley knife and take your time. As long as you get a nice straight cut you're fine. If you've got the avid bleed kit then it really is a piece of piss to do. If you trim at the lever end you may get away without bleeding them anyway – as long as you don't spill all the brake fluid on the floor. Go to (ahem) Bikeradar (ahem) and download their avid bleed guide as it's better than the one on the SRAM website.

can you wash tires in the dish washer? I've got 3 bikes plus my wife's and two kids bikes – I'd have to buy 12 new tires when we got there.
Not sure about the removals people packing stuff either, I've got one bike box but is it worth buying 100m of bubble wrap just to be on the safe side?
Cheers for the heads up on the cane furniture btw.

we're moving to NSW in the new year and i'm a bit unsure what they investigate as 'looking under 12 months old'. Do you have to get things professionally cleaned before you ship them? We are getting everything shipped by the company my wife's working for but what sort of criteria will they have for how clean the bikes are, how new they are and what we are allowed to take into the country? Help!

I've read all of Tim Moore's books (some of them a few times) and 'I believe in yesterday' is the first of them that I've not finished. Some of his books are great – french revolutions, Spanish steps, continental drifter; and some of them aren't – null points, frost on my mustache but his latest just didn't grab me the way he usually does. I might go back and give it another go but it just feels a bit forced.

Hope or Salsa. Check the website for size.

Pretty poor spec compared to a lot of other brands. Have you checked bikeradar for reviews? Are you definitely after a 100mm travel full sus? There are a lot of good light 120-140mm travel bikes out there that would kick the ST4's ass (including the commencal meta 5 that the Orange ST4 is based on)

why?

(And if he can afford the tattoos then why not get laser eye surgery ?)

Direct line refused to insure any bikes over £1500 so we swapped (using go compare) to AA and they didn't have any problems. I'll let you know if they're any good as I'm just waiting on a claim for my stolen bike.

I had a drive round some of my local bike shops and the local Orange dealer tells me that the biggest Blood is 17" – WTF? So that'll be a no then (I'm 6'3")

So, I'm thinking Lapierre – I've had a look on the forum and other than the fact that the Spicy 516 is a lot more expensive than the 316 for the upgrades on it I can't see anyone complaining. Anyone had any problems?

The fact that you said "can't really afford" as opposed to simply "can't afford" means you could probably find it

It would be a straight choice of feeding the children or buying the Alpine. They've got a bit of bodyfat – they'd survive till October.

Orange won't do me a discount – even as a regular – for theft replacement. The 2010 bikes are at £2800 and I can't really afford an extra £300 at the moment. Arse.

So – Lapierre Spicy, Giant Reign X, Kona Coilair? If I can get hold of a 2009 there are some good deals out there.

I really like the look of the spicy 516 and the kit is awesome for the price. Anyone got one? How does it ride as on 'normal' trails?

Should have said – mine was an 18" and was only just big enough. Might be interested in the 5 AM but it would need to be through a shop as it'll be an insurance payment.

blood

If I see some little scumbag riding it near where I live there will be.

Ever hear of Orange giving discounts for theft replacement?

My favourite name for a bike shop is Moonglu in Rippon – seriously WTF?

I like Harry-the-spider's Biketastic

Night riding on your own is pretty depressing even with music.

You know where you can find people to go out with on tuesdays. If it wasn't for Pete we'd never get our arses out the door either (not that i'm out much at the moment either).

Chin up lad – worse things happen at sea 🙂

depends on what size the frame is, how tall you are, how long your arms are and your personal preferences.

I'm 6'3", ride a 20" summer season with 70mm stem and 685mm bars with 20mm rise. I've got a long body and arms and wide shoulders and the set up feels fine. If you're finding 685mm too wide then get some narrower bars (I've got a set of 660mm bontrager race bars off a Trek ex-8 if you're interested) . How much weight are you going to save by changing the stem anyway?

My Patriot came with a 60mm stem. Should I swap it for the FSA XC-120 100mm stem in my spares box? 😉

still no pics?

I lived there about 5 years ago. Northwich itself is a bit of a hole but there are a lot of nice places in the vicinity. We lived in Hartford which is kind of attached to the west of Northwich. I'd advise you to have a drive round the surrounding area – depending on how much money you've got to spend you could look at Knutsford or Holmes Chapel on the other side of the M6 or any of the villages between Northwich and Chester.

read a study somewhere that showed that driving quickly actually makes very little difference to your journey time – things like congestion, traffic lights etc make much more difference.

Ever driven from Preston to Glasgow on the M6/M74 at night?

"I cant believe we are going down the route of rating their antisocial levels."

Really – this is the STW chat forum. What do you think goes on here?

Former England & Leicester Rugby Captain Martin Corry – saw him interviewed yesterday for the Skyride thingmy.

I've been using the acid stuff and tried the scholl freeze it yourself stuff but no change so far. I've just phoned the doctors after reading this thread to book an appointment for the chiropodist. STW has actually made me get off my ass and do something positive!

I was advised in a work driver training thingy that the emergency services will always look for a "baby on board" sign and prioritise them in a multi-car accident. They look naff but if it can get my kids out the car faster than the 17 year old ned who caused the accident then I'm prepared to put up with it. – I've got "little princess on board" because they are most of the time 🙂

He comes across quite well. It's a little comforting to know that Brown does have someone behind him that actually knows something about politics. Even if he is waiting in the wings to take his job.

I only found out this morning through a twin6 promo email. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I hadn't been following his blog quite so closely recently – It felt like you were intruding into his personal space. I know blogs are for sharing but I didn't want to see the final post.

It kind of brings home the nastyness of dying a little by little each day. My Father-in-law has what started off as prostate cancer and is now attacking his lymphatic system and bones. It makes me so angry to see this former county level rugby player and marathon runner unable to stand for more that a few minutes and on two crutches. I know we're talking months rather than years and my two kids aren't going to know their grandad.

We can all do something to make a little difference[/url]

linky – I must have missed it yesterday.

How about a 2007 Giant OCR 2 with one or two upgrades 😳

Like this

Linky

When you bleed the caliper you really need to pump the syringe a lot. even when you think you've finished give it another couple of tries. I've bled mine twice – and they came pre bled – and they finally feel ok.

On another related point my Juicy 5 back brake master cylinder top cap seemed to be blowing bubbles yesterday. WTF? should there be an air hole there?

Good choice – I'm way too late to give you any advice but the 18" is perfect for up to about 6'1". I've tried the 18" 456 and the 20" and at 6'3" with a 34" inside leg I was thinking of going down a size – there's no way you should be riding a 20" at 6'.

Just finished building up my 20" summer season tonight 😀

Balls – do you think there's anyone wanting to swap a firm for an etra firm spring out there?

Think you might need a softer spring mate. Have you tried MTBR? they usually have loads of advice on fork set up.

I've just wasted 20 mins of my life searching for "pike springs" in the forum. The concensus opinion is that you need a heavier spring because you don't need a heavier spring 🙁
So lets say for example a rider was 15 1/2 and had just bought a set of coil Pikes with an extra firm spring. He's getting 20mm of sag – so not enough really but according to the SRAM site the X-firm is recomended for over 85kgs and i'm the rider is 97kgs. If he swaps to a firm spring instead is there going to be too much sag and a lot of bottoming out? Anyone out there a similar weight (15 1/2 stone) and riding a firm spring?

That really sucks – Redundancy isn't all that hot if you've got kids and a mortgage to worry about.

That's pretty short notice if they told you today and you finish on thursday

I think James and Ed did really well to hold back and not descend into petty slagging or fighting. We have no idea the levels of exhaustion these guys must have been dealing with on a day to day basis and to not crack completely at some point is amazing. A couple of hissy fits after 20 odd days of racing really is bugger all in the grand scheme of things. They all went into it knowing what Cracknell was like and would have been breifed by the support crewe to try and riegn him back from total self destruction. I blame Ed and Fogle for being too weak to stand up to him – they should have done a damn site more than just make a couple of suggestions then bitch about it to the camera when Cracknell had ignored them and kept walking.

Good series though.

Kate nash – Made of Bricks.