i got a big banjo bros (terrible name..) bag which is great – the quick release requires unweighting the bag to tighten if there’s anything in it.

it’s been waterproof in everything i’ve ridden in, useful pockets and is pretty cheap – here’s a medium version http://www.urbanhunter.biz/acatalog/Banjo_Brothers_Medium_Bike_Messenger_Bag.html

pfft, you can bend the shit out of steel, it will be fine

i assumed you would be able to get 1/8 spline cogs too, but you can’t as far as i can tell!

not that running a thinner one makes much of a difference.

a steep hill.

53 14 would be good if you’re going downhill..

so…

when do they come back?

quite impressed they knew it was coming!

practice it in the garage where no one can see.

I use super cheap Schwalbe Blizzard Sports – great tyre and only £6.99!

yeah great if you like kneeling in slush as you fix your 3rd puncture

this question makes very little sense, what do you want to do?

i used it to fix a hole in my shoe where i wore through stopping a bike without a brake.. but not really anything particularly useful.

have found “polymorph” to be more useful really, it cures to a solid plastic rather than rubbery stuff and does it quickly, though it’s a little harder to cut and manage etc, have to plan how to shape it beforehand for the best results.

(it’s plastic with a low melting point, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, mould it, solid at room temp and you can re-use it)

that “safe T seat” doesn’t look very safe at all! seems you’d just mash them into the bars and under yourself if you came off..

though tbh i don’t know that i’d want to ride a kid around at all, not on the road anyway.. though that would probably change if i had one and needed to get somewhere! but i nearly get squashed enough when i’m just looking out for me..

is that really what they weigh? oof

spokes don’t cost £30..
Well, near e-bloody-nuff they do!

http://www.cyclebasket.com/m9b0s454p0/Components_/Spokes_-_Stainless_Steel_Double_Butted_-_Silver_

36 spokes/nipples plus a slightly high (so better if you get a load) £6 p&p is £13.20

spokes don’t cost £30..

in my excellent 2 race career i can say it’s best to be out front and overtaken rather than making your way up the field, that’s what slows you down.. so while maybe you shouldn’t start blow-up fast, being at the front at the beginning would be a huge benefit!

edit: not that i was ever out the front..

yeah it’s hard **** work.. i managed one each the last 2 years, that’s a reasonable gap to forget how frankly unpleasant it is.. but not sure i can bring myself to do another!

the wee **** looks like he can hardly stand.. how is this possible?

3) sell it to suckers on ebay instead

had a lovely surprise down the bottom of the grassmarket where they have removed the road and marked it with a single cone in the middle, on the pavement.

great fun on a wind assisted road bike..

do it all! but very slowly.

have you looked out of the window? and you’re going to sweat inside?

spds are great, but they require shoes he doesn’t have, and means carrying extra shoes if you plan to do anything else at the end of your journey.

it’s more of a heavy duty commuter / do it all bike.

ah ok, well then yeah, if it’s going to be used to go to the shops etc, flats, clips and straps are the way to go imo

well i wouldn’t want a road bike on a fire road.. but anyway, if you don’t want to take 2 pairs of shoes, at least put some clips/straps on those flats

spin it in your hands, not on the bike, you should be able to feel if it’s shagged

i cause a lot more erosion with my bike than with my feet.

**** that, it’s a good way to get run down.

really..? this was 2008?

i would have guessed 1993

anyway, **** knows about the technique.. personally i don’t want to go any faster down hills!

maxxis do “welter weight” 700 tubes which i felt helped a bit, that and i went a little bit fatter with the tyres which tbh makes things easier all round on more mtb appropriate rides. (then i got a mountain bike and haven’t ridden the thing since, but let’s gloss over that, they are still ideal for certain types of ride)

I have to admit, I can’t think of a single occasion when I’ve thought “I wish I had sliding vents on my helmet” – when purchasing I’d pick the one without every time. You’re going to have to explain to me why they’re such a huge advantage.

sometimes it’s quite cold

compact, comes with the bike..

95%+ i use the big ring, most local rides i won’t be out of it, though sometimes 2 cogs from the largest at the back – i don’t know if that’s bad practice but once you’re there it’s tricky to shift down at the front and up at the back to match..

i’d much rather have a double tbh but then again the very steepest hills i will be in the easiest going.. maybe though i should just suffer through for the other benefits.

seems to have a sealed-off helmet.. interesting! (and sweaty)

i’ll get the clingfilm out

wat

you don’t signal on a fixie..

I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE

what costs us more and causes more deaths though? Old people driving, or old people having no mobility as their unable to drive

yeah, but they are old.

oh i never thought about it being for a fork with no mounts.. i r moron

ok.. what is the aim? other than fun dicking about with carbon fibre

those sutherland dunes look great fun – i know they’d be fine for descending or flat, but how are they for climbing? do they get enough traction on duney sand?

not specifically, grew up around there but not as an off-road cyclist – however, the college valley is lovely! and the actual pool at hethpool is great, including natural jacuzzi, though perhaps not quite so tempting in october..

this thread has some ideas and links to routes if i remember http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-cheviot-hills-northumberland . There’s also some wooler-ish based folk doing more bouncy stuff http://www.team-chr.co.uk/