Pen y Fan is a no go area for bikes. I'd love to give it a go though but my conscience is too strong.

I've always knocked them down, either all the way through if your steerer will allow, or just knock it down out of the way of the new one if not. You'll have a job knocking it out the way it came, although it's not impossible, but you'll be hammering for a lot longer.

I find them excellent. Easy to set up. Great for changing up/down gears quickly. The only niggle I had with them is when things start getting muddy and wet you lose grip and it's difficult to change gear (more suitable or grippier gloves would help a lot I suppose!).

I wouldn't expect them to do it as part of the sale. Something to negotiate to get done maybe.

Body weight's the cheapest option if you've got it to lose. Otherwise start with tyres then wheels.

First year out of 6 on a full sus for me (Cannondale Rush) with Maxxis Advantage 2.1 front, Crossmark 2.1 rear. Seemed to be a good choice all round.

Or for something different – I've got a paladium wedding ring. Very hard wearing too if you're not planning on taking it off whilst riding etc.

File sent. Like's been said I have the 2009 route so it may or may not be the same this year, but it still gives you an idea of where most of the route goes and where the fireroads are etc for an escape route.

The spacing for marshals are fairly regular too so if you do need to escape just ride to the nearest station and they'll be able to show you the way I'm sure.

Yep, what's your email address? I'll send it then.

Oops, bracken clearance I meant to say. Edited post above now.

It's moorland management. Bracken clearance most likely. To stop it encroaching onto the heather.

Had a look at them, they seem to only do VW. Should have said, it's for a Toyota Hiace.

Take out the axle, give it a clean and roll it over a flat surface. That'll confirm whether it's bent or not.

Use it all the time. I find it as good as any other lube, and a fraction of the price compared to some.

I'm very impressed by the Bender Fender, made and sold by Mucky Nutz. £7. Fits neatly under the arch of the fork. Looks cool and is very neat too in my opinion. It works brilliantly, stopping water and mud flicking up from the front wheel. It also stops mud collecting around the bottom of the stanchions and seals, something other guards don't do as far as I know.

http://www.blurb.com/

My wife and I used these guys in the States to make a wedding photograph book out of the photos we had. We were very pleased with the results.

Anyone landowner/tenant, or agent acting on behalf of either, who wants to cut down trees, whether commercial or not, will need a Felling Licence from the Forestry Commission, unless they fall into the "exempt" category (volume of timber felled is less than 5 cubic metres and things like tree size under 1.3m, "lopping & topping", fruit trees, clearing for utilities works, gas, water etc. dangerous/nuisance trees etc). The licence will carry a load of conditions, depending on the application. There is nothing stating that the landowner has to automatically provide prior notice/consultation before felling, after all, it's their land, unless stipulated in the conditions of the licence of course.

For those who are really interested or have a lot of time on their hands, here's most, if not all the laws governing the FC's control on tree felling:

Forestry Act 1967 (Part II) as amended by the Trees Act 1970 and the Forestry
Acts 1979 and 1986.
• The Forestry (Felling of Trees) Regulations 1979 (SI 1979 No 791) as amended by
the Forestry (Felling of Trees) (Amendment) Regulations 1987 (SI 1987 No 632).
• The Forestry (Exceptions from Restriction of Felling) Regulations 1979 (SI 1979 No
792) as amended by the Forestry (Exceptions from Restriction of Felling)
(Amendments) Regulations 1985 (SI 1985 No 1572) and by the Forestry
(Exceptions from Restriction of Felling) (Amendment) Regulations 1988 (SI 1988
No 970).
• The Forestry (Modifications of Felling Restriction) Regulations 1985 (SI 1985 No
1958).
• The Plant Health (Forestry) (Great Britain) Order 1993 (SI 1993 No 1283, as
amended by SI 1994 No 3094, SI 1995 No 1989, SI 1996 No 751, SI 1998 No 2206,
SI 1998 No 3109, SI 2001 No 299, SI 2002 No 295).
• The Watermark Disease Local Authorities Order 1974 (SI 1974 No 768, as
amended by SI 1984 No 688, SI 1986 No 1342 and SI 1992 No 44).
• The Dutch Elm Disease (Local Authorities) Order 1984 (SI 1984 No 687, as
amended by SI 1988 No 604).
• Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) Regulations 1999.

😉

If you fancy your chances coming face-to-face with some of this machinery, one of which has a blade at the end of its arm that can cut, turn, strip and cut a mature tree into lengths in a few seconds, go for it 😉

I've been using X0 gripshifts on 2 bikes for a few years now and they've been faultless. I used X7 and X9 triggers before and thought they were poor in comparison (sloppy shifting and they failed on more than a few occasions).

Once you get used to them, gear shifting with gripshifts are very fast, and you can jump several gears in one twist, which is handy if you're going from a steep descent to steep climb for example.

I've never had trouble with accidentally shifting gear whilst holding onto the bars – something that I'm always asked whether I do get by others when they see that I'm using gripshifts.

No, I could hardly lift it 🙁

I've got a 5 year old Seat Ibiza TDi 130 (pretty much the same engine as the Golf version I believe) with 90k on the clock and it's faultless (fingers crossed still will). Has been serviced every 20k with an oil change every 10k, cam belt etc at 60k. Don't think you have much to worry about if the Golf has had similar treatment, which it sounds like it has.

Here's my XC120

I used to have Zymes but I had trouble with them falling down on rides, even though they were the correct size. Whether the cut of them doesn't suit me or what, I didn't like them.

ProII rear bearings:

6802 x 2
6903 x 2
6902 x 1

Have a look around on the internet / bearing suppliers. You can get the complete set for about half of the price of the bearing kit on CRC. Last time I bought a set it cost around a tenner for INA bearings. I use this guy on EBay:

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/GAP-Bearings__W0QQ_armrsZ1

I've had a Geko and now use an Edge 705 and FR60. All great units. Only problem I've had is that the original 705 I had developed power problems. Rang Garmin, sent it away, had a new unit back within 2 days, no questions asked, no issues, FOC. Hope they'll always be like that.

Wait until late autumn / winter* and then spray glyphosate (usually sold as "Round-Up" but comes in other names too) onto the stumps. There are other specific chemicals that'll do the job. Drilling holes into the stump will create a bigger surface area for the chemical to get into the tree so that might be an idea.

It'll take much longer than physical removal but a lot easier. The chemical doesn't actually rot the wood, but it does kill it and encourage pathogen infection which will eat away at the stump and roots. It may take a few months and several applications, depending on the size of the main stump and size of the root system, so be patient.

It's best applied to freshly cut wood, so if they've been stumps for a while, take a slice off the top of the stump to expose fresh wood.

* The sap in a tree travels into the roots during the winter months and up from from the roots in the summer months, so by spraying in the winter months, the glyphosate moves down into the roots with the sap.

We're using Premiere Classe In Dijon for our trip down to Les Arcs this year (€48 per room per night). Cheap, basic but clean. They're dotted all around France. Hotel Formule 1 is another option. Hope that helps.

Any chance you can forward No. 261 to huwthomas77@btinternet.com?

Thanks.

Idea of cost through DHL huw?

I sent my Orange Patriot frame to Kent from Cardiff – can’t remember exactly now but it was around £12. Picked up from my house at lunchtime one day, arrived at the buyer’s house next morning. Can’t fault it.

I’ve used Parcel2Go[/url] several times for quotes and ended up going through DHL each time, who have been excellent.

You can get “generic” bearings. I usually source mine from EBay but you may have a bearing supplier nearby that you could pop into get some. You’ll need:

Front
2x 61804 2RS

Rear
1x 61902 2RS
2x 61802 2RS
2x 61903 2RS

Go for a good quality brand like INA or SKF.