Joystick is about 24mm diameter, and very light. the DX one is notcieably heavier, so worth considering. I was prepared to grow some neck muscles and save £130 though!

I made a very capable helmet mount for my torch out of a 24mm pip clip. works a treat.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330566331641

this is the one I bought – it absolutely kicks arse.

Actually one of the best organised, best courses, funnest atmospheres I’ve been at. beer on the finish line. after party on brighton beach. lots of freebies. A proper grass roots event, unlike many of the for-profit enduros going on these days.

if it rains, it makes Eastnor look easy.

Last year was bone dry and sooo much fun. Some great riding around Stanmer.

So yes. It’s ace. Get entered 🙂

very amused at the thought of organised gangs making sure they only carry legal weapons on the streets with them – I’m surprised a police officer could be that naive*.

My OP was more to do with why LOCKING BLADES are illegal, and why other pointy stuff isn’t.

How I see it, surely an object only becomes an offensive weapon when it’s user decide to use it in that fashion. I absolutely agree that you shouldn’t have a knife on you unless you’ve got a good reason for it (as I did as a sailing instructor/using it on shoots), my point was that a folding knife really isn’t any less dangerous than a locking one, and the police officer that took my gerber actually said that had the locking mechanism not been operational I wouldn’t have received the caution I got.

*not really, come to think of it.

I’m not talking about carrying them habitually – I don’t, and never did. I had it confiscated at an airport when I was heading out on a photoshoot for work (multi – tools are handy for these things).

It was at a time when I was teaching a lot of sailing (again, a situation where multi tools are useful, and a good knife is absolutely essential) and it was juts something I had in my bag. No John Rambo aspirations here.

locking knives do tend to save your fingers being chopped off.

as amedias says, if you’re into stabbing people, theres nearly always something close to hand to use to get stabbing with.

all sound like pretty thin excuses to be honest.

at the end of the day there are a host of things that can be used as weapons – just seems a shame that you are a criminal for carrying something as mundane as a multi-tool.

Which also begs the question, why are they so easy to buy if they are illegal?

I think that’s fair for the location and the job/industry.

my girlfriend at the time started her graphic designer job in an industry that made a LOT of cash. her first job started on £14k (five or six years ago now) in London.

To be fair I think a lot of graduates these days are bitterly dissappointed with their earning potential straight out of uni unless they are in certain industries.

Must be a bitter pill to swallow having racked up £30k of debt invested in your future to be worse off than many unskilled jobs.

That said, the bin man analogy isn’t very fair. What would you rather be doing? sitting in STW towers playing with bling bikes and creating interesting work (as well as the dross, but that’s just life) or emptying bins? I’d take the financial hit every time*

*If I could draw, which I can’t.

And anyway, I bet refuse collectors get bloody fed up, as they always are used in the shit salary comparison “XXXX?? even a bin man gets more than that”

I have to say I’m Phil/TJ – She’ll be on double time I expect, and that is simply what working in retail is about – you work when everyone else isn’t.

Sadly, being young and working part time = shit hours and crap pay. It’ll get better.

I’ve just deleted a ‘wheniwerealad’ type rant too.

EDIT – And don’t get me started on tube drivers.

in reference to the Evans thread earlier, it’s a shame that good service doesn’t get celebrated as loudly considering how quick people are to name and shame on forums.

Just sayin’ like.

I’ll jump in and say Evans have always been pretty impressive in my book.

Local shop always volunteers a price match on stuff I buy from there, meaning I don’t have to shop around myself – result? I return. I’ve not had to have too much advice from them so can’t really comment on that, but overall I think they do a good job, and moreover put a lot back into cycling as a whole with their ride it events etc.

the odd customer service issue, be it with staff, or external suppliers, is always gonna be a consequence of growth.

I’d say they seem to be pretty good at running a business to be honest.

pretty lame really. Sorry.

I have to say that the most odious character to come out of this is the chap who took the video in the first place.

I saw him being interviewed on BBC breakfast and he came across as an evil smug little f#cker. exactly the sort that eggs people on into fights for his own cowardly titilation.

I think Matt is correct – if the whole carriage showed a bit of unity and spoke out against the lad he’d might have had a change of heart.

The big guy shouldn’t have done it. Manhandling someone off a train, resulting in injury (even if it’s only a scratch)is assault. It’s pretty plain to see what he did.

bottom line is that you can’t assault people for being a dick, or rude. It’s illegal.

My theory is that cold air will help constrict blood vessels in your respiratory system. constricted alveoli = less surface area for oxygen exchange = less oxygen in your system = less aerobic performance.

Does that sound plausible?

deadlydarcy – Member
Tbh, if all the bizzies were like deluded, I’d feel a lot more strongly about it. I borrowed a couple of bits and pieces off him, and straight away, he wanted kid glove treatment – like I was one of the guys who pays him off regularly for ignoring a few hundred kilo of charlie in the fuel tank of a Honda coming in at Avonmouth. I ended up having to give him cider, brandy, cigars, Sainsburys vouchers, a go in my car (which he then went and copied with his purchase), £50 behind the bar in his local (this is still ongoing FFS) every weekend, a carpet cleaner and a sit-on lawnmower.

I mean. Come on! FFS. Bizzies…what can you do with ’em?!?

Quite right knob ends are easily killed with kindness.

still, an annoying story nonetheless.

That was very, very funny.

tough times – I’ve been lucky in work not to have to deal with this before, but can relate to being down recently. email in profile if you want to vent.

Jimbo

@ CFH – quite right, he was a disgrace!

you well?

Strype street was always a bit more MTB while spitz market was always a bit more hybrids/roadies.

I liked strype st, always been a nice shop.

DC is still in the building as far I know. As ‘orrible as ever!

far from it – It’s not a rural setting by any means – suburban is probably the best description.

Funny that. I live in Brighton. A city.

Fully comp actually worked out cheaper too, so in that respect, it was well worth it.

but thanks for the cheery comments 😉

Jive bunny.

I was 8

Sorry

Gore stuff for me, every time. IMO the best that money can buy in terms of quality, waterproofing, durability, fit.

Great kit.

well, on that basis, I’ll avoid the riding and just have a skinful tonight at the office party. Then move house tomorrow.

maybe next week then….

sorry, just seen other thread on this. whoops.

I don’t actually – I work for waveriders holidays…

I flog kitesurfing & windsurfing holidays.

We now also do bike tours 🙂

to be honest fuel prices aren’t really that big a deal for me – I do less than 2k a year (lots of small trips to the beach for kitesurfing, and the very occasional trip to the south west or wales, but it’s rare these days).

The real killer blow for me will be Insurance costs, which I find incredibly annoying that as I get older it’s STILL getting more expensive.

pah!

cakefacesmallblock – where do you get your insurance? My t4 is costing an arm and a leg to insure this year!!!!

Stanmer for some sun trails, south downs for more open xc stuff…

when you down here? Depending on day I could meet up for a spin.

J

Many people in the NF are retired, or work in Bournemouth/Southampton/London…. very very few rely on tourism..

That may be the case, but as a tourist, the people you come into contact with are the pub owners, restaurant owners, village shop owners, camp site owners etc – all of which are in the tourism game, and *most* of which would rather you wern’t there (but just post your money directly to them).

Also, it probably says a lot that a large part of the population are second homers who are probably the worst NIMBYs going.

THE most unfriendly, unwelcoming bit of the UK I’ve visited.

Had one of the most miserable bank holiday weekends in the New Forest. The fact is that virtually all of the residents absolutely loathe the fact that they have to rely on tourism to fund their lifestyles.

We went looking for trails and found nothing that was really fun anyway, so it’s a bit of a wasted trip if you go as you’ll have a crap ride and piss off the locals. Unless pissing people off is a hobby of yours, in which case it’s bloody good sport.

most likely it’ll be just me and my folks. I’ll be heading up north. first xmas as a singleton in 6 years, so all going to be a bit weird, and I imagine not the happiest.

I’m taking my bike, though. 🙂

Druidh. Sue me! I did a quick search on “surly Blog” and nothing came up. Didn’t have enough time on my hands to trawl the entire forum before posting.

Sorry about that!

wot paceman said 🙂

Funny enough even after 7 years riding round brighton I’ve never ridden with brighton mtb – but planning on doing so this winter once I’ve moved house and into a place that works a bit better with muddy bikes.

loving muddy night rides right now. it’s mega 🙂

it’s quite astounding the difference the wet makes to road tyres – in the dry they just seem to hold on forever and I’ve never felt like they would let go.

in the wet, they will never be that good. a bit like car tyres really.

I’ve had to make major adjustments to the speed I take into the first corner coming home from work in the past couple of weeks.

Dereck, I watched that film a couple of years ago.

pretty much the most depressing thing I’ve ever watched.

If ever you’ve sort of wanted a nuclear war to happen, just out of morbid curiosity to see what happens, watching this is a good way to make you change your mind.

There is absolutely zero cool stuff to come from anyone nuking anyone/ Scrap it all, I say, because one day, somewhere someone bonkers enough will be in a position to put their finger on the button.

Did mine 4 years ago at afan.

5 months of it not healing normally, followed by a hook plate (very painful, as it reduces movement). I now have no feeling in my shoulder as they went through a couple of nerves during the first op. I got on a bike riding to the shops/around town about 6 weeks after the first op, and it was agony. Stopped. Started riding mtb about 3 months later but only short rides as it was very painful and had to walk pretty much any DH, but climbing and smooth xc was do able for short rides.

Had the plate removed 9 months after insertion, and, I can’t tell you the relief I felt when I woke up after that op. It’s weird but you become accustomed to not sleeping due to the pain, of everything involving shoulder/arm movement hurting, and then waking up to it being completely gone (admittedly on painkillers and a massive big cut in your shoulder again.

Nearly three years now since that op, and it still aches a bit when I’m 1)riding in the very cold and 2)when I’m really exerting myself – it’s sort of a litmus test of whether I’m working hard enough! Bottle-wise, I’m slowly getting it back, but generally I’ll weigh up the risk/benefit a lot more than I used to. I love riding my bike, first and foremost, so I generally avoid doing anything that’s pushing my ability, as the year of the shoulder pain/not riding my bike was a terrible time I don’t wish to repeat. So, my riding has changed – my mates get airbourne, I generally don’t. I do however, hurt them on the climbs ?, so that’s where I get my kicks from!

So, generally, I’d say chin up – mine was probably leaning towards the worst case scenario for a collar bone in terms of time it takes to heal etc, and I’m now riding more than ever, it’ll get better, just head out for little short rides and don’t get out of your comfort zone until you feel ready – it’s all bikes, it’s all good.

I’ve also got a kick arse scar to show off too. 🙂

Canaries are hard to beat in the winter but still a short hop from mainland Europe.

I did a few days roady riding in Lanzarote last month. fantastic, quiet roads, considerate drivers (compared to the UK!) – the island is made up of 400ish volcanoes, so HILLY – I racked up 2000m climbing in a 40 mile ride.

quite diverse scenery in the winter – theres a proper wine region on the island which is fascinating and great to ride through, timanfaia national park and the fire mountains if you want to ride through proper moonscape stuff.

It’s a cool island, providing you stay out of the BIG tourist spots, Playa Blanca, Costa Teguise, Puerto del Carmen. Good places to base yourself for riding would be La Santa (close to club la santa and it’s easy to latch onto a group of riders if that’s your thing), Nazaret & San Bartolome.

Also fantastic surfing through the winter if you’re into that.

I’ll be heading back at some point.

edit:
also some good mountain biking to be had