Only travel on flights that leave London City airport, it’s the only sure way to avoid them.

There are worse travelling companions, generally American often called ‘Mary Beth’ and weighing in at half a ton which, even in business class spills into your space, whilst insisting on trying to converse with your cute british accent until you have to force yourself to be very rude and don the noise cancelling headphones an essential travel accessory.

I’ve got to say if someone at the Greyhound Trust rehomed an ex racing Greyhound with a family with young kids they need seriously talking to.

Greyhounds especially ex racers have a rep for being a bit nippy, if they don’t have a degree of aggression they don’t make good racers.

So I’m sorry to say imv it’s got to go and really with kids? Unless you rear a dog from a pup in the family as part of it, then I don’t think you can ever be that certain.

Having said all that I’m still very sorry to read of your trauma, it must be absolutely awful and I do hope the youngster isn’t put off dogs and you find a happy resolution maybe a new home for your dog and a puppy for you both to rear from scratch, maybe a new start with your existing dog with a fresh awareness.

Not a film I’d watch twice which is annoying since I actually paid money for it on iTunes.

A bit late to the thread, but I doubt you feel any better and certainly nothing I can add will do that, all I can offer is condolences and know from similar circumstances exactly how you feel. I’d like to say it gets better in time, but close mates, that you’ve known well, over a long period, in my case windsurfed, sailed and ridden with, not a week passes something doesn’t trip memories and sadness returns albeit a bit briefer as time passes.

What do you do? Just get on with doing stuff and content yourself when you have to put up with lifes bullshit that at least he’s out of it now and in a better place, all you can do really and do what you would have expected him to do had the situation been reversed. Keep an eye on his Mrs and kids step in if you can and they need you but don’t push it..

Keep your chin up.

My advice would be caution in the current market, and don’t try to do it on borrowed money or expect to get funding beyond what you introduce, it’s quite tough in retail right now, so the entire sector gets marked down by those who tick boxes when you get a bit tight and need to borrow to tide you over when nobody walks in the door.

Which lead me to another point, just opening a store and expecting folk to walk in and buy stuff in the current climate at what you want them to pay for it sadly isn’t going to happen right now either, there is such downward pressure on pricing from the oversupply the recent upward trend has placed on the market, customers are quite literally spoilt for choice.

So, having said that, an enthusiast engaged with his/her customer base, trading in some of the niches still vibrant can make a go of it. If you can find a shop premises that say gives the ability to have a say a coffee shop alongside, make sure there is ample room for repair and service which is about the only bit that is reliable right now. Organise rides with your customers, Road rides, Offroad rides, Mum and Toddler mornings don’t forget the ‘mature empty nester markets’ work hard and you can still succeed.

Don’t let yourself get bullied into holding too much stock by zealous reps, bone up on things like stock turn, profit and loss reports, don’t enter into binding long term lease agreements and know your local market and the potential it might have for you to create a market that serves your model. Consider new ideas, some folk are going heavily into Electric bikes, some are focusing on high end road, but if the local area isn’t the higher end of middle income those markets might not deliver.

So I wouldn’t say don’t do it, but I would say tread cautiously and research first and have a plan, it’s a lonely tough world out here carving a living for yourself, it can be very scary, but it can also deliver a rewarding life and lifestyle, it’s an old saying but true, you get out of life and business what you put in, assuming of course that there’s not a crap Government in power scaring the shit out of folk about the future..

I may be off here but I think my pal has a Pointer and my own dog a Dobie shares pointer Dna, and obedience isn’t high on their list of attributes.

Mine loves running with miles ahead of the bike, fine on trails with no distractions, but he is easily diverted by livestock, he once head butted a cow we came across at night and he acted in a manner that gave me cause for concern with a sheep. So cannot now be trusted off the leash if livestock are about. He and my pals pointer have both been to every dog training and dog agility class going, everything is fine, right up until that moment when they decide they want to do something else for whatever reason, then they have bloody minds of their own.

In short, there are other easier dogs to work with.

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a pal who owns and runs an online mag, he’s tried all manner of advertising for his site and in turn offers, rather like STW, online adverts to the kite and bike market and he came up with some Interesting stats[/url] (note apple v android users)

One of which was that by far the most effective advertising for him to promote his business, that of attracting the worlds mountain biker and kiters, was Facebook, he gets more return per buck spent with them than any google, exhibition attendance or other promotion.

Now I’ve also heard this from other folks, we did very little to attract Transition owners to the Tr.OG Facebook page, so I wouldn’t write Facebook off just yet. Would I buy shares? Hmm think I might wait for another stock crash and then pile in for the upturn, but then I got so badly burned in the 87 crash I’ve never really invested in shares since.

They were encouraging this two days ago.

I think it’s media hype plus the Forestry Commission making more noise than they necessarily need to because of budget cuts, oh and today I read it’s all New Labours fault because they were told four years ago.

Fact is, Ash is a very prolific breeder and there are bloody millions of them, no way they could have counted, there are a dozen that have sprung up in my garden in the last 24 months alone, they’re like Sycamore only the wood is more useful. (Media have now decided Morgan Cars will have to change their Chassis ffs.)

jambalaya – Member

@honourablegeorge an @igrf

I am a fully paid up Transition fan and Covert owner. I just thought I’d seen press that the Bandit was going 29 only, I’m glad to see that’s not the case as confirmed by yourselves and the company website.

@igrf – not sure why you think Surrey Hill’s ‘mob’ prefer Bandits over Coverts, seems pretty even to me. Nirvana (Transition dealer) had Covert’s in stock and on demo before getting the 29er Bandit.

Bit of an ‘in’ joke, a couple of windsurfing mates and posters on here are Surrey hills botherers riders both favour the Bandit (and wax stupidly poetic about it), whereas all my local ‘pals’ ride Coverts, the Covert did of course pre date the Bandit by a year, I’ve ridden both can’t see what they’re going on about they’re both great bikes, but imv the Bandit doesn’t stand that clear of the Covert, it’s horses for courses and to my mind you can take the Covert places the Bandit wont go, but not vice versa.
As to 29ers we still have stock of Bandit & Transam 29ers whereas 26’s blew through fairly early on, so in our world 29ers aint happening so the thought of Covert 29 is a subject of debate even though we have a lot of trade interest.

Funny one of these past through here two days ago, towing a trailer and to his credit, the dude had a wippy ariel with a flag on it, but it was soo low to the ground. I was driving the other way and he pulled out of a side turning in front of this dustcart, the driver of which was focussed on what was going on behind him, he came so close to being wiped out, no way the dust cart driver could have seen him from his driving position and I remember thinking at the time how dangerous they looked.

Got nothing against them myself, can’t say I’d be seen dead on/in one but it’s easy to see why folk worry about them. They are way off the normal peripheral vision radar, bad enough school runners in 4×4’s and normal bikes, if recumbents ever proliferated I’m sure we’d see an increase in the cycle accident rate, which by virtue of the growing number of roadies must be increasing anyway.

He’s probably nursing a hangover and wondering what embarassing stuff he might have posted on the internet last night.

He could also be busy gnawing off his arm of course.

jambalaya – Member
jam bo – Member
I’d get a bandit if I didn’t have a five.

Only available in 29er these days unless you go used.

Not so they sell at the rate of 3:1 26 v 29, the UK market does not appear to ‘like’ 29ers as much as the US plus they look weird, so although we will still offer 29ers there will be more 26er Bandits on order.

The big question and given this is a thread about do it all bikes, is what to do with the 29er Covert, the 26 is imv the perfect do everything machine and I absolutely love mine, but I’m also head of the queue for the Carbon version which I’ve ridden briefly and is in a whole other league, so with all that why produce a 29er Covert – just saying.

Here’s what pink bike have to say about the Bandit, it also got excellent reviews by one of the UK mags who rated it in the top ten of all the bikes they reviewed this year, SIngletrack also like the Bandit (can’t say it’s a particular favourite of mine then I think you’re either a Covert or Bandit type depending on your local terrain and wether or not you’ve been Jedi’d..) The Surrey hills mob tend to prefer bandits, us closer to the Alps down here in Gods country prefer the Covert.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Transition-Bandit-26-Tested-2012.html

EDit found that STW review here[/url]

Or do what my Mrs told me to do, ‘get another dog for him to play with so he wont be bored’
= Twice as many holes.

😉 😆

Nice pics everyone, really enjoyed scrolling down this thread, spoiled only by the dude lost in Richmond park who clearly strayed on here thinking us off roaders might be interested in his legs..

Post a link to some mental health charity or anger management clinic, I find Facebook needs extreme irony at all times, then everyone unfriends you, other than those who ‘get it’ and peace returns to your world, oh and post a link to the death clock every now and then, that’ll keep them happy..

Well at the moment I gather it’s most prevalent up the East Coast, lets hope it stays up there, can’t say Ash is my favourite tree, but there’s one in our Garden that has grown since we’ve been living here that I’d be sad to lose. I quite like trees, don’t ask me why, I don’t go round hugging them or anything, but places where there aren’t any always seem so much more desolate and unfriendly.

Anyway I’m downloading this app and will keep an eye open when I’m out riding which was the point of the thread even though I smell BS on behalf of the Forestry Commission which is suffering in the cuts and probably looking for reasons to maintain high executive salaries no doubt.

It’s airborne afaik, pretty serious in Denmark, they banned all imports of saplings. Quite why they felt the need to import them anyway I’ve no idea, Ash is by far the most prolific producer of saplings there must be twenty sprouting in my garden and the lane nearby.

I can’t imagine they’ll close down any trails.

So is that it? Just the three of us?

Was it the Grauniad I wonder?

Would the Daily Wail put the case in a way that might arouse the STW massive?

Does the massive even know how to spot an Ash Tree?

Transition = Cool
Everything else = not

They have red flags and lights at both ends of the range, in our case they also patrol with boats on the water since we sail pretty close to it.

It’s a bloody nuisance these days, it seems to be on the go day and night with all this Afghan training, machine guns rattling away endlessly and it used to be 50p a round a while back I hate to think how much they cost now. They fire millions of rounds down here and a lot of it live, the whole coastline from Hythe to the Redoubt Fort is a live training area, they used to have Shankhill Road built inside the fort once upon a time, I guess it must look like Basra now.

I wouldn’t ride through there ever, there must be so much unexploded crap, thunder flashes etc we have enough of it in the hills on our regular rides, the whole area around here is used for Military training, good news in as much as there’s lots of riding, not good news if you pick up some of the crap they leave laying around.

Try googling Kali Durgana it’s cheaper

I can’t wait for the inevitable “Paul McCartney shagged me when I was twelve” revelation now that compensayshun is on the table and the ambulance chasers are on full alert. **** me how old was that Pre pubescent girl on the Stones album that caused a bit of a stir? Why I bet we could even implicate Cliff Richard in fact **** it why not maybe I could get some cash…

Got to say I think laptops are done these days, unless maybe a Macbook air or some Samsung similar thing I’m trying to find the name of.* The days of lugging laptops around breaking your back I think are fast disappearing.

Still depends what you want to do with it I guess..

*Found it, Samsung 9 series.

retro83 – Member
Absolutely shite movie, which I should have known would be shit after one of the writers of ‘I woke up and it was all heaven lol’ Lost was involved.

So many plot holes, mistakes, stupid/unexplained actions from the crew. Makes me angry now just thinking about it. Such a wasted chance. I mean if you put any thought into it whatsoever it falls apart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1YuvUQFJ0

Wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s totally shite, but like the dude in the video clip I did find it puzzling, even after a 2nd watch in case I missed anything, a very annoying movie with lots of stuff un answered and or totally illogical.

You probably need to watch it if only to make yourself as irritated as me.

Tax avoidance is just another spin to divert us from the real problem in that we are Governed by incompetents.

Incompetents who don’t pay or contribute to the nations tax burden, rather add to it, whilst they fiddle their expenses. There are too many of them and they frequently avoid any attempts to reduce their own number.

I wouldn’t pay this or the last lot a red cent more than I absolutely need to, as it is paying 20 % VaT, which is more than a lot of us profit from our own businesses and suppresses sales and tax earnings, is bad news.

If I had the organisational skills I’d go about suggesting a Nationwide Tax Strike, then see how long they last with absolutely no revenue from us all. Having a go at Bradley Wiggins is probably some spin monkey in No10 trying to divert attention from George & Co, some of his revenue is genuinely earned overseas, there must be a totally legal reason to divert those earnings offshore, good luck to the fella he’s earned it which is more than can be said for the spin merchant or his masters..

wrecker – Member
Actually, I love the Transition range. A friend has a Covert which I love riding. Bandits are highly reqarded and well priced. The TR bikes are very desirable. Big tags though. Bottlerockets are getting more attention care of a certain instructor. I have a real soft spot for the trans am. Lovely. Always get the colours so right too.
Have to see the covert carbon frame price before I commented on that.
I’m not a hater. I just cannot see how anyone could justify £500 on a bike like the klunker.

Yes I get what your saying, but then I don’t get why some folk pay four, five and even six figures for a roadie which would fold over the first jump but not do your heterophobia any harm. Well its a risk we’re going to take, we’ll carry a few, what we’re more worried about is what usually happens to us, we get ripped by Nukeproof once we’ve created a bit of noise and they take the volume sales..

wrecker – Member
Like it but £500 is pie in the sky I’m afraid. If I were the importer, I wouldn’t bother buying any.

Erm thanks [guntoheadicon], not being facetious but if you were the Importer what of the Transition range would you import and why? I’d be extremely intrigued by someone elses opinion here.. and if you say Bottlerocket I’m going to know who put you up to it.. 😉

A question first, are you trying to sell the scarves on behalf of your wife, or are you trying to learn product photography?

If it’s the first, then try something off the wall like draping them around animals, dogs, cats or farmyard types complete with sunnies of course, in this day and age in order to be noticed things need to be very different.

If it’s the second, then generally product photography gets carried out preferably in a daylight studio if your lucky enough to find one then with lighting as highlights, next best is studio lights with umbrellas, cones, highlighters. I did have a set kicking around from a former life I’m wondering where they are now.
Also doing the job for real you tend to use large format cameras, not such a problem with scarfs but close up with other stuff you get sharpness issues due to acute depth of field close up.

It used to be my job in a previous life, it must be easier now with digital backs, in our day we used to shoot polaroids till we got the effect we needed.

Having said all that, I didn’t think what you’d done so far was a bad effort, at the end of the day product shots are about getting the job done so folk can see what it is they are about to buy and you’ve done that O.K. already..

walleater – Member
Oh and no disrepect to the original Klunkers who paved the way.
Really? The guys around Bellingham have been doing this for ages (building up old Schwinns and the like and racing them)and I don’t think Transition are going to change the world by having a laugh and trying to sell a couple of hundred of them off the back of it.

What is funny is the price of them in the UK! They are going to be around $500 over here which is reasonable for the spec of the bike, but 500ukp in the UK? Ha ha ha…..

We’re not laughing, we pay the same import price, but we have higher duty, and Government sales tax of 20% just so we can be part of Europe pretty much the same for everything, you yanks don’t realise how cheap you live and fill your gas tanks..

oliverd1981 – Member
This is what a £99 supermarket bike should look like. Not really convinced it’s worth nearly £500 to somebody who already has a bike…

All true, but lets say you ride these things with your mates down some pretty gnarly stuff and inevitably as boys do, the jumps get jumpier and the crazy stuff gets crazier and the clunkers start falling apart, so as you happen to own your own Bike company you think hey we can build something for this that won’t fall apart as often, do you.

a)Try to make it as cheap as possible and risk it folding and possibly damaging the credibility of your bike brand.

or

b)Build it so it is as strong as it can be without being stupid expensive?

Given you are also a very small company so wont be making many of them anyway and it is done just because you can rather than any Global corporate profitability drive..

johndoh – Member
Quark? So what’s that then?

Nobody uses it.

Hmm, I wouldn’t write it off just yet, I know quite a few old guard that stuck with it and now it’s Html5 compatible and targeting the tablet publishing sector.. Yes it did lose the plot by not getting on board with OSX soon enough, but Indesign were late with the intel Macs. All these programmes have their ups and downs, but if you want to be in the business you need to know about their strengths and weaknesses and to be able to cope with their out or in put depending what sort of job you end up with.

What you end up doing is key here, if you are at the creative end you can choose what you like, if on the other hand you end up at the production end then even more important to be able to handle the work of others, which will inevitably come in mixed formats.

Just saying, never be closed minded, not this early on in your career path.

I went to Art College, I guess it would be called a Univeristy these days and be a degree course.

You need to know the basics of Photography, Typography have a good command of English, Art at A level as I remember, nowadays you’ll need to be totally IT literate, you’ll learn the illustration programmes, plus Quark, Indesign, Photoshop, then I imagine Dreamweaver, Flash, Html5 whatever is current in web design, it’s probably a pretty heavy duty course.

Er that’s all assuming you mean Graphic Design of course.

I can’t take anything seriously, nor can I reign in a peculiar sense of humour, that frequently others might not find funny, which then cracks me up even more.

Boy Scout, got my ambulance mans badge.

smartay – Member
Looks like a just get out and ride no fettling type of bike.
Any idea of price as yet from Transition

£485 as long as the exchange rate holds..

I’ve been fortunate enough to witness and follow close at hand, close enough for me to mimic what they do subconsciously which was the only way i could ever learn stuff until i met Jedi.

The first kid was Geoff Gulevich, I followed him down ‘crank it up’ and did stuff there’s no way i’d have even contemplated nor would ever had again until i went on one of Jedi’s courses, both totally different riders, one just young and intuitive the other a seasoned practised born in the saddle riding genius.

Either way, riding with experts is the ony way to learn, you can watch videos or from the sidelines all day long, it does nothing for me, but being there alongside or best, just behind them…

Yep, love it, had it on both my Coverts thinking of moving it onto a Double.

It ‘whirs’ a bit in the high speed, but since you only use that in the down bits it doesn’t matter, the benefit of the instant graunchless gear dump if you get caught suddenly is just unparalleled.

A high ranking Cyclist gets told to get off and walk, whilst a Flunky in a limo would have the gate opened, the cyclist swears at the plebs and loses his job, and we’re happy about that?

Plod should be sworn at, it’s part of the role of one who would attempt to enforce the will of a corrupt society upon his fellow man for financial gain.

I trust the offending plod will also lose his job or at the very least be condemned to the beat for all time.

What nice surprise did she prepare for you as gratitude for ten years of your life.

Why is it always the perogative of the detainee to appear to be grateful?