Sport is brilliant! As is the Queen!

Misserable bastards.

There's nothing miserable about not being a football fan, or avoiding the world cup. I hate football and always have. I won't be watching the international tournaments of any other sports I don't like either.

The attitude towards football baffles me. If you say you don't like F1, the Six Nations or even the Olympics, people just accept it. They can fathom the concept that you could just happen to dislike it. But saying you wont be watching the football world cup seems to be met with levels of incredulity more often reserved for those found eating their own arm.

What's more bizarre, I know many people who frequently claim to hate football, yet of them all I can name only one person who won't be sat watching the England games, drawn helplessly to it because everyone else is.

If it's England V Germany in the World Cup Final, I'll be out in the Peak on my bike enjoying the empty trails. Because I like bikes more than football. What a misery I am.

0 out of 13.

I'm less posh than the author of that survey if they think supper and dinner are comparable.

Though I must admit despite my test result, I totally think I fall into the 'middle class aspirations on a working class income' crowd. I'm certainly in a middle class profession on a working class income.

I hear the Maxxis Advantage 2.4 is mahoosive, if you've the clearance.

The Hillsborough branch of Morrisons is great for this kind of thing. My favourite thing was trying to ride up the down one so you stay stationery.

tree-magnet
A grand on a watch? **** moi!

Haha. Watch threads on STW never cease to amaze me. Going by the nature of our sport I always assume there must be some decent money kicking around among mountain biking types, but these threads always shock me with just how much 😀

I thought most of the black DH bits would have been loads of fun on a 24" BMX cruiser. All smooth, sweepy and flowing, like a downhill pump track. I did feel way over-biked when I was there.

I don't know what JJs jumps are, nor any of the trail names I'm afraid – I've only been the once and did two laps, think it would be about July, August last year. Might it have been extended since then? From memory the black trail consists of detours off the main red section. Does that sound right? We followed everything marked black, including bermy sections and jumpy sections with loads of tabletops.

I can remember the weather. It was absolutely hammering with rain all day, worst rain I've been out in for ages, ugh.

I managed around 50 minutes on my second lap of the black on a 6" full bouncer. Set off with another guy and stayed with him till he left me behind about half way along. He was already half way through jet washing his bike when I got to the end. Sod.

I'm sure serious cross country lycra boys on their carbon hardtails could manage it in the 40s? They always have a habit of making me feel fat and useless when I see them out on the trails.

Isn't the usual outcome of these threads that you can pretty much build a rigid single speed bike out of British parts.

IIRC it's the tyres that let it down. And if you want suspension or gears you've had it.

oldgit – Your spring driven thing grabbed my interest. Never seen it myself, but after a bit of browsing, is it this:

Matchbox Motorway was a little like Scalextric but you were able to use your own Matchbox sized toy cars. You slotted the track together, but before putting the final piece in, you had to push two really long springs through the length of the track and join it up to complete a loop – one spring for each lane.

http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=7847

Apparently known as Matchbox Switch-a-Track over here?

Best though was uncut reels of Hotwheels track must have been about 30 metres long.

Oh my god, way to make a big kid jealous.

I remember once being given a load of plastic wiring conduit left behind when a large extension was built on the University. My mother's ex was a lecturer there and had seen it all in the skip and noticed how it was just the perfect size for matchbox cars. You should have seen the size of the tracks I built in the dining room.

That RS200 flew!

looks a bit girly

Haha true, the flowers aren't helping. My layouts were far more masculine, honest…

Now where'd I put my lipstick?

Lighter, stronger? Faster hub engagement perhaps? To be honest, unless you keep bending wheels or feel that their weight is an issue, I can't see why you'd upgrade.

Telling someone to scratch a Land Rover itch with an Alfa is ridiculous. It's like telling someone to scratch an Orange Five itch with a Pinarello.

You make a valid point about theft though. Land Rover owners don't seem to understand that they fuel the eye watering theft rates that blights the marque. Main reason I stopped using mine as a daily driver. Fed up of worrying about it going missing.

As an side (cos even though I'm no longer in the fold I do still love them) despite the frequent cries of 'they're not even anything special off road' you'll hear, they are. They really are.

Lean, approach, breakover and departure angles, wading depth and axle articulation are all class leading, by some margin (Jeep included). Proper 50/50 split permanent 4WD with centre diff lock, beam axles and low rate coils – honestly, out of the factory, nothing can touch them this side of a Unimog or Pinzgauer. The compromises inherent in a Defender are there for a reason.

Whether you're prepared to put up with them is another issue. And to justify why you would be is as difficult and redundant as justifying your love of riding bikes though mud all weekend to incredulous work colleagues.

MAJOKIT! That's it!

Nice one, thank you 8)

On flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28577403@N06/4606954415/sizes/l/

awesome!

shit?

Lol.

Aren't toy cars ace. FInding myself in this nostalgic mood has made me dig my favourite matchbox car out – one I never gave away cos it was just too awesome:

Theft. Above all else, the main problem with Land Rovers (especially tidy Defenders) is you can almost guarantee someone will try to steal it. Not kidding.

Other than that, even though they soak your right knee every morning at the first left turn, they are without a shadow of a doubt the best cars in the world and if you get the bug, you'll enjoy every mile.

For driving enjoyment I'd take a 90 on mud tyres over any sports car you can care to mention.

Nice little vid 🙂

Oh my god. First I heard of it.

Could I have one of those Chesterfields now?

Will be missed.

I know what I like, and my tastes rarely change. I spec the bike that suits me, that I enjoy to ride, and I never tire of it.

When I buy a bike I make sure it's right for me, and I'm in it for the long haul. Riding for about 16 years, had 5 bikes in that time. My bike only gets replaced when it is worn beyond use – they are never in a fit state to sell.

I have an old Identity – not that particular model, but it's great fun! Yours looks burlier than mine, like it.

I wonder what you colour you put on the logbook when you have a green/brown camo car?

This thread is proof that money can't buy class.

Very few cars can pull it off. Most chosen by the more-wealth-than-taste brigade are not among them.

Dodge Challenger: Yes
Rolls Royce Phantom: No

And he's your mate?

tracknicko
my mate got yanked over by the po po's the other day and slapped with a £30 fine for riding through a (deserted) pedestrianised area.

Where'd the homie get pulled by the five-o? Fargate or something?

Cramming it all in over a week or so isn't really a short cut – you're still doing the same amount of work and paying the same amount of (perhaps even a bit more) cash. Good if you're in a rush I suppose, but it does dominate your life for a week or so. Not good if you're busy with work/kids/random menagerie.

Machine Mart have imperial spanner sets for next to nowt. Not one for cheap tools but the amount I use imperial means I'm not gonna spend on em. They're just handy to have.

My thoughts have already been said here.

The San Andreas was the first modern 'big bike'. Update the angles a bit and fit new kit and it wouldn't look out of place on a modern DH course.

The Marin Mount Vision, with Paul Lazenby on board, made a lot more people start to look at suspension seriously – as something we could all ride as opposed to it being a passing fad, or only any good for DHers.

Bloody hell, I could type all day in answer to (b). I won't, but I could.

I wasn't part of the earlier Fly slagging. It was one of two stems I always wanted back (ITD) when I couldn't afford them. A bright blue Ringle was the other.

Nowadays I run a Thomson, which is about as dull a stem as you can find. Ironic really.

Doc's oppinion was, "well it cant do you any harm so you may as well".

+1

My ortho surgeon told me to take it for my osteoarthritis. His words:

"There's evidence to suggest it's good for nourishing cartilage. Not very good evidence, but it's there."

no need to name and shame… i live in sheffield

Haha. Stick with Langsett, they're good lads.

Steve Vai – Bad Horsie.

Nothing has the power to make me turn that dial clockwise like that tune.

Sweet, not seen one of those in ages, were always real nice.

Is that an X-Lite Fly? Nice!

That looks more like it!

Another forum member in the 'they don't allow enough adjustment to be useful for me' camp.

For me the saddle has two positions – way up to full height for pedalling and way down for technical steep stuff. I don't bother with anything in between.

The day someone releases a system that allows the full adjustment range will be the day I stand outside the LBS with Visa card in hand, waiting for the doors to open.