Chipps: Ah cool! Can’t have been that many people there, it was quite a small venue… yeah I know what you mean, almost too perfect somehow, would be better if he let go a bit and engaged with the audience but I guess that’s not him …I can’t imagine him coming out with: “ARE YOU READY TO ROCK! ??”

racefaceec90: The EJ signature strats are pretty widely held to be one of the best sounding strats short of going for the (much more expensive) Fender custom shop. I’m actually building up a strat of my own from parts with similar specs (light alder body, tone control wired to bridge pickup, quartersawn 1 pc maple neck with a ’54 C to V profile, 12″ radius and the clever flattened peghead thing the EJ strats do to get rid of string trees).I don’t really like the idea of having someone elses signature on my guitar so didn’t want to buy an actual EJ but he definitely knows how to make a good sounding strat.

No, I wouldn’t be put off. I find Paypal really handy as it already has the delivery address etc. set up.

I do worry a bit about something going wrong with a transaction and them not being easy to contact though.

Need!

…Actually no, this is the one I need:-

http://www.infinitecycles.com/2012/02/limited-production-cannondale-scalpel-29er-ultimate-weighs-just-21-6-pounds/

I have a Gore Phantom for when it’s cold. It’s excellent but gets a bit hot / sweaty when the temperature is over 7 or 8 degrees. I have a Castelli Transparente, made from windstopper x-lite, which is thinner, more flexible WS for warmer days like this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/castelli-trasparente-long-sleeve-wind-jersey/#more

Nice!! Some classic stuff there 🙂

At the risk of seeming incredibly ego-trypical, I’ll post one of my own proggish efforts (I’m not a proper band, just a guitarist who does some recording at home!)

Any reason why I shouldn’t buy cheap carbon bars ?

As Njee said, Yes:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ive-broken-4-frames-in-13-months-recommend-me-a-29er-hardtail

And lest we forget the Time pedals…

Njee: no worries, a tyre that could do both is a good idea.

Tacopowell: The Crests will be fine I’m sure (and there’s not much to touch them for the weight) You just need to find the right tyre is all. You can always try a selection via mail order and return them if they don’t fit well. CRC even have the paid return thing now so shouldn’t cost you anything.

the purist: that makes sense. A guy at JRA recommended me Maxxis tyres with Crests, said they very rarely have problems with that combo.

Tacopowell: If you are concerned about punctures with tubes you can always use the Panaracer kevlar strips (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/panaracer-flataway-tyre-liner/) I have them on one of my bikes and I’m quite pleased with them so far. Adds about 35g per wheel.

And don’t get Fire XC Pros – they’re specifically mentioned as inappropriate due to their propensity to blow off the rim.

Njee20: He’s not going tubeless…

…..I was planning to use tubes…

but Yes, Fire XC’s would be too loose to run tubeless. They are really nice and easy with tubes though (even on Crests!)

Fantastic. He’s rapidly becoming the Murray Walker of his sport 😀

Hardtail if you’re going for a fast time, full bouncer if you are just trying to complete it. Try to go as light as possible as you will be carrying everything up 10,000ft of climbing. If there’s a headwind forecasted, pick another day.

I did it on an old Sub 5 a couple of years ago and that was a good choice – you really appreciate the comfort after 80 miles!

Good luck!

I sympathise…Crests are a royal PITA. Someone else (Mavic?) needs to make a lightweight rim that fits tyres properly….lot of threads with people with the same problem on here. I even heard that a major wheel supplier is complaining about it.

The problem is, they don’t advertise it but Crests have been made larger than normal to make them easier to run standard tyres tubeless. “Tubeless ready” tyres (like yours, I presume) have been made tighter than normal to make them easier to run tubeless on standard rims. So the two in combination make for a very tight fit.

You have 3 options:-

1) change your rims to something else: Expensive and crests anything else is probably heavier.

2) Change your tyres: You might be able to find something (non tubeless ready) that fits better. I tried Panaracer Fire XC Pro 26×2.1 on 26″ Crests and they went on with thumbs no problem.

3) Carry on with the Aligator wrestling: Warm soapy water, washing up liquid, gt85 on the bead to help it pop into place etc. Of course this is fine indoors, what about when you get a puncture on a cold, wet night ride?

Depends on the kind of guitar style you like, really, as he has quite a wide range of influences from country to jazz and rock but “Ah Via Musicom” (1985) has the best playing / tone on it for me.

That will give you a pretty good overview of his electric playing though. Even better, it was back in the days of the mullet!

I’m not sure if it’s fair to say he *can’t* sing – his pitch is very good. He does have a particularly un-macho style though. I read that he always tried to sound like Bryan Adams or Christopher Cross (make of that what you will!).

I think it’s a bit like Geddy Lee in the end: It bugs new listeners but you get used to it pretty quickly. I definitely prefer to hear EJ singing rather than him using a guest singer at any rate.

Holy crap! I didn’t think he’d ever come over here again. I saw him at the Marquee club in London in ’89 (I think) on the Ah Via Musicom tour – Absolutely amazing performance. As much as all the “best guitarist” stuff is nonsense, it’s hard to conceive of anybody actually being better than him 😛

Lovely idea…sunny afternoon…zipping along the lanes on the Pinarello sporting a rather debonair mix of Rapha and Assos. Approaching roadie starts to give you the nod….then recoils in horror as you lift up your right foot to reveal a massive flat pedal 😛

“For Sale: Pair Time pedals (1 broken) would suit cyclist with 1 leg (preferably the right one)”

Hi, sorry I missed your Q’s: Thanks, it’s actually one of those bikes that looks much better in the flesh than in photos for some reason. I built mine up from a F+F, it’s about 9.5KG (with 450g of inner tubes).

Don’t have the mag here but I think the ST review was a comparrison between 29er HT / 26 full bounce using the 29 Flash / 26 Scalpel as a sort of case study. From what I remember it was kind of non-commital whereas I’d be really surprised if someone tried the Flash and didn’t rave about it (havn’t ridden a scalpel, so can’t comment on that).

The steering is pretty fast I’d say – head tube feels steep. It feels like a race bike, weight is quite forward really but you get used to it pretty quickly. Will write more in email, cheers.

Very good wheelbuilding guide here:- http:sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

What a load of arse! Yes, makes me ashamed of my 29er 🙁

I think you’re pretty unlucky there, MTG….I have two pairs of those (I think…Time ATAC XS carbon?) and they’ve been awesome. On muddy winter rides I hear friends with Shimano’s complaining when the Time’s just work with no fuss.

The time ATAC XS carbons are about 320g and £100ish – quite a bit heavier than the eggbeater ti and the like, I guess. The extra weight is well worth it to me for the functionality / reliability, though.

I was a student in that era and lived through quite a frightening amount of smiths as a consequence.

I appreciate the silver tongued pokings at contemporary society and all that but there comes a point when, however post-neo-ironic you set your stall out to be, the music you make has to stand up for itself and be taken at face value. I’m afraid that’s where it falls pretty flat in my opinion. He does look good staring dreamily skywards on a Sunday supplement cover though, I’ll give him that.

So….a vote for “Ladygarden” from me 😛

I thought the S/T review was a bit…I dunno..odd somehow

A couple of other reviews:

Cannondale Flash Carbon 29er 3 – first ride

http://pin-it-you-muppet.blogspot.com/2011/12/cannondale-flash-carbon-29er-ultimate.html

This forum is a good place for info: http://forums.mtbr.com/cannondale/

Here’s mine:

I absolutely love riding it – It’s flipping fantastic. Happy to answer any questions if you want to know more about them.

Busted mine last year. As above, don’t bother going to A&E unless there are complications. They will just feel it, tell you it’s broken and refuse to XRay it.

Brace your chest when you sneeze or cough. It will be better in 6 weeks.

Fox could easily remedy this situation with a good old fashioned scratchcard lottery – simply scrape the gold coating away (in a newsagents, of course) to reveal 3 special Fox logos and you’ve won a replacement set of stanchions!

Are we still allowed “that” as a prefix when referring to major capitals (ie: “that London“) or is that off the menu as well?

Bit worried about losing that one…it would be like saying “Vienna” without saying “Ahhh…Vienna” afterwards….

“More than 2000“?!?…so they counted up to 2000 and then lost count?!?…….Look…are there 2012 of them or not? 😕 Get another guy in and start again, this time, cross each hieroglyph off as you go and use the 5 bar gate system.

Chaps, He’s currently riding 10-15 miles per week (nothing wrong with that) – cut it out with the recovery rides and 15+ hours a week turbo talk 😆 Mate: Just get out and ride as much as you can, race your friends and enjoy your bike. That should give you big enough improvements for quite a while.

oh and sign up for Mayhem – it’s ace! Having a goal like that will really spur you on to get out riding 😀

That is a pretty hard decision without a test ride…I know because I was in exactly your position last summer, choosing between the 29er Flash and the Scale without seeing either one…

I went for the Flash, partly because of the lefty (which made an awful lot of sense to me when I looked into it) and partly because I already had a Cdale carbon Six road bike which I know has that elusive stiff / comfy quality that I wanted from a hardtail MTB. I’ve heard many good things about the Scale too, though…tough choice! At the least you’ve got an owner of each here you can interrogate…

good suggestion about XC Racer too…

It is funny up there sometimes…There are whole posse’s of guys who look like they’ve decided to try MTBing this weekend and have come straight from the “downhill outfitters” in central London.

As long as they’re on two wheels, though it’s all good really 😀

TeamHurtmore: Good for you buddy! I did the Shalford TB on Saturday too. What a top course! Was supposed to ride it as a group with friends but ended up going for it a bit as I was enjoying it so much.

The timed Trailbreaks provide a pretty good alternative, given that we can’t legally race on bridleways. I get very jealous of all these point to point races in the States…Racing on circuits is fun and all that but it’s not quite the same.

I rode past a Pelican just as it was swallowing a fish in Costa Rica! very, very cool.

With the G first thing to check is see if it’s binding in the nut. Can you do a quick test? Get the G in tune then do a couple of note bends on that string somewhere, is the open G now flat? If it is, try pressing down on the section of string behind the nut and see if it goes back to pitch.

Cheers.

I actually talked to a very helpful guy at Schwalbe about this. Sadly, I don’t think there’s an easy solution to the problem. So many people seem to have problems with Stans rims (and Crests in particular) it just seems like you have to get lucky and find a tyre that is on the large side of the variance. Longer term I think the rim and tyre manufacturers need to work a bit more closely with each other to resolve these mismatches – Maybe the current ETRO standards (Euro tyre / rim sizing standards) aren’t prescriptive enough or manufacturing tolerances are too loose….

jota180: Yeah, that seems ridiculously tight. I like the tread on the RoRo’s but that scares me. I think whatever tyres I try next I will send them back if they are that crazy a fit.

AndrewJ: Ah will try the warming thing, cheers!

Shandy: Yeah, the high pressure method sounds not so good. I had the one blow-off already (new max HR discovered!) so not keen on another..

Farticus: Oops, that’s the thing about tubeless. It seems great for some people but currently it feels like a bit of a lottery.

mtbmatt: It’s not a daft question, yes I start with the bead in the middle and work my way around to the valve etc. Actually those tyres have stretched a bit – I’ve used them with tubes for a few months now and I can get them on with that method without too much struggle. Still need tyre levers though. I might look into the Schwalbe liquid stuff. Anything to make it easier!

hock: Moving to Iceland would work, though carrying water, soap, a jetboil and a washing up bowl in my Camelbak would be the less extreme solution.

Klunk: No – Creative Assembly.

I’m an art lead in the games industry. I’d pretty much echo the good comments above. Testing can be mindlessly dull or an interesting, rewarding job with oppurtunities depending on who you work for…

If your son is interested in pulling games apart, he would probably enjoy it. If he likes the idea of being paid to play games, then he probably wouldn’t.

There’s generally two kinds of testing, in-house (at the developer) and external (at the publisher). In-house you only test one or two games but you work with the devs. External you’ll be shifted onto whichever Harry Potter game is ready for testing for a month in a big room full of people then shifted onto the next thing game etc. etc.

Though it does offer oppurtunities, I’d be a little bit cautious about seeing testing as a good “way in”. It can be if you are persistent, talented and lucky but bear in mind that most of the non QA jobs in games are quite vocational and would require a relevant degree or an exceptional portfolio. Also the UK game industry is not strong atm so there are a lot of unemployed, experienced professionals to compete with.

As far as paying someone to learn to be a tester, I think that’s nonsense. Find a game company you want to work for, learn *every* micro detail of their games then pester them for a testing interview and don’t take no for an answer.

Hope that helps a bit. If he’s got any more questions, just ask.

Thanks for the helpful replies.

Nick: Might try tubeless again at some point, preferably when the weather’s warmer, as my last (indoor) attempt resulted in the walls of the spare room / temporary bike assembly parlour being redecorated in Stans when tyre blew off rim. Wife not pleased!

hock: ha ha! that sounds perfect.

Charlie the bikemonger: thanks, that looks like a good idea – you’re out of stock btw! 😛

Aidan: Thanks, I quite fancy a go with the EXO Ikons actually…

SSBoggy: Thanks, I’ve heard good things about Maxxis, though a friend was running Beavers and had problems with them being a bit light / thin. (lots of flints around here) He sustained…would you believe it…”a gash in his beaver“. 😆

MTBMatt & Blazinsaddles This is the annoying thing, I think with some tyres there’s quite a variance and it’s definitely the case with the Schwalbe’s, some seem to drop right on and some (mine!) are absolute bu**ers. Sort it out fellas!

reggiegasket: Thanks, some consolation to know that others are experiencing tyre fitting misery too 😛 I can’t stand reading those posts where people are all: “it popped right on the rim, inflated first time with the minipump and I was away! havn’t had to touch it for seven years“.

Probably a daft question but just in case…it doesn’t just need a bearing reset does it?

Moab is a great place to stay for 3/ 4 days: good shopping, arches national park and Castle valley for sightseeing. Slickrock, Porcupine Rim, poison spider / portal for off roading. I would think road biking around there would be pretty sweet too. (would love to road bike through castle valley)

Bike hire / shuttling is easy around there. Don’t worry about the temperature it should be just nice in October (warm but not crazy hot). 24 hours of Moab is sometime around then too, so you might be able to take that in. Fruita is not far away either….

This looks like a cool place to stay: http://uraniumbicycles.com/get_local.php (it’s very handy to be in the town, though).

Don’t think I’d spend 2 weeks in Moab though, 3/4 days then hire a car (or RV or something) and drive around Arizona / Nevada, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley etc. One night in Vegas too!