Woolacombe.

good choice of beaches – woolacombe town beach is excellent, clean and lifeguuarded. the other end is really nice too – Puttsburgh, a bit more sheltered if wind is SW.

Croyde, in my opinion, is a place that likes to take as much dosh as is humanly possible, while not being that friendly. (the village is extremely pretty though).

We got stung for £62 for 2 nights in a two man tent staying in "surfers paradise". right on the beach but def one to avoid.
Croyde beach also tends to have bigger surf than Woolacombe, making it hard work/intimidating for beginners and kids.

Have you thought about staying on the Gower peninsula? beautiful beaches, half the price of Devon and 45 minutes from Glyncorwyg. a good compromise?

We're going there at Easter, really looking forward to it.

I rear ended a car on the way into work this morning.

once we had both pulled over I got out of the car and was walking towards the one I had shunted, and Snow White gets out, saying "I ain't f*cking Happy"….

I said. "Which one are you F*cking then?"

presta is a good one to have as a spare, as it will always fit through a hole in the rim, (for your schrader running mate who forgot an inner tube) (being narrower than Schrader). possibly an argument for a stronger rim with smaller diameter holes (though I am perfectly willing to be mocked at this suggestion!)

thanks all – off to ride it tomorrow all being well. Flat isn't much tidier when Mrs JB is in residence TBH (which is a good thing IMO)

bike feels quite a lot lighter then my inbred too.

Recon fork looks great – I'm pretty sure I won't notice the difference between that and a reba – but it feels really, really stiff 🙂

bought it complete. got rid of wheels/casette (going on inbred to sell)

so now it has some pro 2s on XC717s and a nice XT cassette.

Whyte don't do a Frame only on the 901. they do on the higher end stuff though.

RRD – rumbled! I didn't notice – too excited about my bike!

I believe it was silent witness….honest

I've got M520s and they are fine. Just look shit. but then you can't even see them when you're riding.

who'd wanna be Howies?

buff sub brand making hoodies and other stuff out of…..bamboo i think.

blower – a mate of ours has this one – fitted 6 people in the porch drinking rum all night. nice big tent.

http://www.millets.co.uk/product/095606.html

cheap too – £130 is pretty good.

thanks everyone. I really wante something you can stand in and get dressed easily, as well as somewhere to shelter from the rain during long periods of hangin around (mayhem, etc)

Being riddled with cramp at the set 2 rise last year was the last straw. and like everyone said – it's a bargain.

p.s. its a sample thats been used by our training dept (on how to erect tents), and they need to get rid, so its been lightly put up/take down, but thats it. Sor sorry, no more available….

🙂

We went to a BYO wedding last year – marquee etc. it was ace. They still dropped 12k on it though….

Canon Warranty I'd have thought. Logic would say it should be fine, after all, it's all made there, so you could argue there will be less chance of transit damage….

thanks chaps.

It's getting bought.

*excited at being able to stand up in a tent and hasve somehwere dry to hide….

:-)_

pinches – email me your CV and I'll make sure it gets to the right people at CycleSurgery. We've got a new shop opening in Victoria soon and it's going to be really good – currently a workshop manager job going there…

Anyways, chuck me your CV and I'll pass it on.

Cheers,

Jim

email in profile

ace – We were discussing on whether to bother hiking up from the fork in the road on the way up to the dyke today. Decided against it. Loving the snowboarding with you bike on your back! Ace!

This is the best I could muster this weekend – never thought I'd be kiteboarding on the downs…..

This was our local course on wednesday.

TBH I imagine people stay off the greens anyway as they won''t be steep enough to sledge on.

Besides. Snow is fun and a bit of fun descending on a golf course every 30 years or so can't be a bad thing eh?

Still cold and snowing here.

It's been cold since mid december.

and still the longest snowy/cold period in my memory.

Me kiting up on the south downs today

stratobiker – Member
Don't fret it.
You had the work out, and you got the Karma.
SB

seconded. good karma. You are a nice bloke. that neighbour of yours obviously isn't.

duncan -I work for CycleSurgery – drop me a line – email in profile. I'll make sure your CV gets to the HR people.

superstar_opponents – Member
Remember that superstar are the ultimate in evil. Pads don't last 2 minutes and I personally couldn't feel safe riding my bike with the chance of the pad material falling off the backing being so much higher than a proper product. That and they're unpleasant guys to deal with.

Clarks/Fibrax/Alligator all seem trustworthy and long lasting.

IME they (superstar) have been polite, arrived quickly, and I have had zero issues with brake pads lasting longer than the regular supplied shimano ones.

Superstar may have had a bad batch a year/18 months ago, but they really are fine now.

Duncan

Been to the hemel snow centre I see!

Do you like it?

not too bad….

I have had some days where I coulnd't be arsed and copped out a little bit with camera photos, but they still seem to work and will be fine in the end when I get my 365 collage together.

Today was a good day 🙂

[/quote]CaptainFlashheart – Member
Jimbo, can you please make sure my discount for my summer holiday is big this year? Lemnos or Sivota looking top at the moment.

Oh, and say hi to Mark!

I'd love to, but I've been out of the neilson office for three years now (that went bloody quick). I assume you mean Tennis Mark? I still see him from time to time – I'll give him a nod from you!

Oh, I miss my 5 years at Neilson, happy times! 🙂

Soldeu/el tarter great for families and kids.

Kronplatz, northern Italy is excellent for beginners, – great ski school and child care facilities at the top of the mountain so kids have a great time in the snow and feel a bit more involved.

My best recommendation would be:
http://www.neilson.co.uk/Snow-Austria-Katschberg-At-a-Glance.aspx

Awesome family resort. good hotel, lots to do. lots of Austrian Jolliness as well.

Agree with Captain Flasheart on the above.

I might be biased, but as an Ex Neilson seasonaire/UK Product person, I'd say Neilson are tip top for families. mail in profile if you want any more info…..

agree with the above.

lovely, friendly dogs, very loyal and pine for their owenr if separated, and therefore aren't the best left on their own (no direct ecperience, but a friend has had one for four years)

beautiful dogs, like running, like playing, no shedding issues really.

I'd like one.

Bregante – Member

btw, not strictly within the rules but some dealers will allow you to "top up" over the £1k max on the qt. (a mate bought a Lapierre Spicy 516!!!) I have heard tell on this forum that this is being clamped down on – so be warned

don't do it. HMRC/DFT are getting the hump with this and clamping down hard. If it continues to happen, the scheme will get dropped.

Yeah it'll be fine – every enduro I've been to has had a complete cross section of people entering from pros thorugh to weekend warriors with beer guts.

Most enduro courses are pretty undemanding technically, as you have to be able to ride them relatively safely when you're ****!

It's bikes, it's riding, it's all good. Enter it and have a great time – I'll hopefully see you there (I'll either be spannering in the pits or riding round with a bright red face)

🙂

prob going. not sure if working on the spannering side of things (we're sponsoring it) or riding yet.

Looks like it should be good….

Hora – member
I was in Hudds town centre yesterday and I wanted to machine gun everyone in sight. Then open a camp for the remainder and experiment on them.

I think that says more about you than them Hora! (Lived in Holmfirth for 25 years)

I now live in Brighton, and although I get a bit nostalgic when I visit the folks up north I would NEVER go back, mainly due to the warmth/proximity to sea/variety of riding/access to other countries that living on the south coast gives you. I do miss proper beer though.

p.s. in a head to head between huddersfield and Croydon, Huddersfield would win every single time!

stayed in brighton, rented a room out in a rough, rough pub, and then dressed up as proper gents.

Even woke up without a hangover, these days, that's a bloody good NYE!

cheaper on the deal extreme website for the same lights – look like someone is buying them off there and adding 25 quid onto the price.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

I think the torch is off there too.

Lots of people bought them on here, almost universal praise for them being excellent I gather.

rode the 09 one – I didn't want to love it, but frankly it was the best bike I had ever ridden – fun, light, easy, stable, grippy – totally improved my riding – it was ACE

Hope you enjoy it!

my old inbred – perfect machine, and only £400 to you sir!

petefromearth – Member
very nice collection – but what on earth do you ride to the pub on?!

He's probably got a little hack bike for the pub: 😉

(in case I get labelled jealous/miserable I'm only joking and would bite the hand off anyone offering my any of those bikes!)

designed to take it. but you won't notice the difference.

I'd go for whatever fork is better value/favourite colour.

to be honest it'll also depend on what amount of sag you run on the fork as to how the bike would handle – if you got the longer fork you could run a tiny bit more sagto help the head angle, but as I said before, you'd struggle to tell the difference.

Managing to get a green light for two sets of XX in the same day – I'm betting your job involves some pretty incredible negotiation skills! (or you're single)

Love the first one!

Full suss – and TT – fugly

all the others….very nice!

wheel pro seconded.

best £9 you can spend. built a set of proII on XC717s using his guide and they are solid as a rock 5 months on (i'd never built a wheel before in my life)

thread closed!

bigface is right. riding isn't technical at all (except the slimy muddy bits) really it all depends on the weather. no rain = fast riding, tough climbs. Thimble full of rain=somme like conditions.

For most though, it's not about racing really, it's about getting round the best you can and the nice feeling of riding in a huge event! think 24 hour sportive on mountain bikes and you get close.

I love it, and I'm going back!

🙂