yep went for the proper flat bar shifters in the end, twas me that cleared out CRC!

Alex@epic
Great guide as ever, nice and clear!

great answers all thanks
no sorry not bh90 hoses wyslwyg

Double or triple?
Did a lot of research on this and concluded that the 34 on the front double compact isnt a great ratio (sure all the roadies will disagree with this) – go for the triple and either 11-28 or 12-30 on the rear and that will give you all the gears you ever need whether loaded or unloaded. :-)

all good comments, thanks

Yep I think so, no point in trying to match XT and 105 – better to go for the Shimano road specific shifters

Yes very painless, Im in too, all done and dusted within a minute – cant wait 8O

The DHB bags get good reviews with some cardboard reinforcement inside – much cheaper than the evoc which are the bees knees apparently. I too have used cardboard bike box but these do get damaged but it is cheap. There are some dhbs on ebay at the moment..

Ton – well said.

cycling for a 4-5 few hours each day in Europe, charge up available every night

Annebr – no invisible friend, trust me. The point is that “sorting him out” whether that be in a legislative or aggressive way is unlikely to make any difference. There is an obvious issue here (maybe actually we should feel sorry for him) and even though his actions were inexcusable, no-one actually knows what drove him to behave like this, do we?.

People have all sorts of problems we know nothing about and whilst I am no pasifist, perhaps in this instance like a few people have said, move on rather than inflame the situation further with another course of action.

Life’s too short to hold grudges.

blue touch pater lit…stand well back :-)

Annebr – divine intervention (hopefully) – aka what goes around, comes around

All this talk of Ton and brick s**thouses has got me wondering
Is this ton? perhaps anyone who knows him can verify.

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Great ideas Hebden – wish Id thought of those as well

Not much lovin’ goin on here 8O but great spot on the front and reasonable nosh. 5 mins from your first hill climb of the day

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1028722-d290262-Reviews-Romantic_Hotel-Port_de_Pollenca_Majorca_Balearic_Islands.html

Well done for keeping your cool Ton. Reporting him may inflame the situation further (remember he does know your address) so prob. best not to do anything IMO. Let sleeping dogs lie, claim the moral high-ground and he’ll get his comeuppance one day Im sure

I dont think one manufacturer changing its tune can be an indicator of the whole market. I think there will always be a market for 29ers now. I love mine and having had lots of 26″ bikes over the years, none felt quite right due to my height. As soon as I rode a 29er I knew it was the bike for me; I wouldnt buy another type of MTB again :-)

And another for not browning meat
Veg in the slow cooker night before
Meat in the morning (or night before if ultra lazy)
8 hours on Low (i.e. more like a rolling simmer) will kill anything in the stew

just print out a flyer for this years event and stick it on his desk in the morning, then do the same next week, and the week after. You could get a long running joke out of this if no-one spills the beans.
:lol:

Surly Long Haul Disc – meant for touring

Make sure your stove is installed to building regs requirement and you obtain a certificate from your installer (who should be Hetas registered)

“The flame pattern is easily the best I’ve ever seen, even better than a Clearview?“

Thats some claim to make. Before installing our burner 5yrs ago, I looked at all of those on the market at the time. Clearview stood out a mile on fuel efficiency and ease of air control and maintenance (i.e. if you burn well seasoned timber, you will hardly ever have to clean the glass) This is indeed true :-).. only downside was the cost and youll be looking at £1k for their most basic model (PIONEER 400) but they are British made and a good company to deal with. That said on price, they hold their value well so if you do ever move, you’ll sell it no problem. We spent about £2.5k for the stove, hearth and external flue.

The key to making a decision is do your research. Lots of stoves on the market but a few stand out: morso, clearview are two of the best IMO or how about a Hotpod? these look v.cool..

http://www.hotpod.co.uk/the-story-of-hotpod-multifuel-stoves.asp

Good luck!

Try a dishwasher tablet through on a hot wash – never done this myself but heard it works

6 months – they’ve no comeback, unless someone in the legal knowhow can say otherwise. Its part of the joy of buying houses; sometimes you have to sort out the problems the previous owners left you with.
Id keep it polite but firm, stand your ground.
hope that helps

will look at Salsa thanks

Pendle bike racks are great, we have a 4 bike rack and it works a treat
Our nose weight is 90kg so no issues with loads

Cotic have stopped making the >X< now and yes I dont want drop bars anymore
Skippy – very light, too light at the front end, want something a bit more sturdy (i.e. flat bars) – i guess its a personal thing about how road bikes feel to me

Inn at Whitewell has my vote again – been their lots, great food and the log fires are a must

http://www.sawdays.co.uk has some AMAZING places to stay – if you cant find somewhere decent on there, then nothing decent exists. tried and tested :-)
but some can be on the pricey side 8O

Fed up with my road bike, too skippy

Which then begs the question, why not get a mountain bike?

I want something that feels/handles like a mountain bike, that I can build up like a MTbike, is quick that I can put thin tyres on and is good for training rides on the road. Im not the one for long road rides with white lycra clad roadies and I dont want another MTBike.
I know folks who like their RRats so I guess its horses for courses.

whilst on the same subject, Im also 6ft3 and thinking of a L roadrat but cant for the life of me find one to try – anyone got experience good or bad of tall riders on RRats?

Try Evergreen if you are pushed for cash, used them before, v good

The bodum bean grinders work well, less than £20

Islabike Cnoc 14 all the way tho’ hear what you say about cost
So yes more expensive but sooo well built and easy to handle for learner riders, good low gear, responsive little brakes
Just sold my 2nd hand one on here for £100 posted so for stretching your budget a bit more, you can get one much cheaper than the silly price tag of new.

err Njee20

Olddog, but the risks of all you say is that you end up with your heart doing silly (potentially dangerous things

Rubbish! If you have an underlying heart condition perhaps, but then any strenuous exercise is a bad idea.

Not rubbish, your heart is not designed to do certain things.
Running your heart rate at max for your age is dangerous, esp. if its not used to it.

Also…

I’d also avoid trying to be a sanctimonious

I wasnt being sanctimonious at all. I was there for a good workout and he didnt like the fact that I ignored his routine (silly pushes etc.) – he didnt even look at what I was doing. All I got was “do you know how long it took me to set up this routine, blah, blah, Ive got a qualification in sports science, blah, blah. His attitude stunk.

Olddog, but the risks of all you say is that you end up with your heart doing silly (potentially dangerous things) thats why a HRM is so useful. If you go too high then you are working outside of your aerobic zone and wont get the maximum benefit out of the class. It would be interesting to hear anyone with a medical perspective on this as this is my opinion, based on what I know about exercise. Happy to stand corrected.

In my experience, most of the spin instructors dont have a clue about cycling and you end up doing all this arm pumping rubbish and other movements. As per previous thread, wtf point in that? The instructors wont like you but though, you are the paying customer. I once had an argument with one instructor who said I didnt know what I was doing. I asked him if he rode a bike at all, to which he replied “no”. Exactly I said. I didnt say anything else and walked out. Kept going back though, he didnt like me after that :lol:

My advice is treat this as if you were riding your bike, set yourself some sensible hard cadence for climbing and sprinting (I disagree with the previous comment, no point having your resistance turned all the way down or all the way up), wear a HRM if you have one so that you can work within a sensible range and get the most out of your session.

Oh yes, you will sweat a lot and drink a lot but thats part of the fun.
Ignore what everyone else is doing as well as most of those havent got a clue about how to ride a bike properly either 8O

all good points ta, will try a ride
Anyone got any views on 26er tubes on 29ers – do these work ok?

Shropshire

you must have a good job so you can get yourself riding at lunchtime!

For what its worth, Ive got Mavics built by Tim @ Sideways (he recommended these over the Stans) What he doesnt know about building wheels, isnt worth knowing :mrgreen: