ATM machine.
GPS system.
“Pulled the trigger on” (cf: american forums)
“rocking” (as in “I’m rocking this new speedometer”) However this is perfectly fine and even encouraged if said with a small tincture of irony.

I’ll be there, Pete (it’s Jim from BEC) probably on the newly built up Flash (though I’m still a bit sketchy on the big wheels!) I think BEC are supposed to have a “track side presence” (two gazebo’s zip-tied together).

I’m always complimenting you on your bike and colour choice but I’ve decided, rather than “Sea Grey”, I think it’s actually: “Gastro Pub Grey” 😉

Was in Stanmer yesterday and it was riding great, as said above, slightly slippy in places and a few puddles but I think we might be in for a dust bath this year 🙂

Ergons. They really do seem to help people with the exact problems you describe. I don’t get hand numbness but I bought some GS1’s for my new bike anyway just for long ride comfort…their design makes an awful lot of sense when you look at it.

As someone else suggested, motorpacing larger vehicles is the answer. When planning a weekend away with the bikes, phone up and order something very big to be delivered to your holiday destination so you’re always assured of a nice big lorry to slipstream.

I never have any trouble with mine. Everything on my wife’s bike, however requires hydraulic firefighting equipment to shift….

What I do to undo hers is:-

– Put the splined lockring undoing HG nut thing on.
– Put skewer back in (to hold above HG nut in place)
– fit chain whip on one side and spanner (on nut above) on the other.
– Lean wheel up against the Aga (ooh! – don’t get excited, it’s old and is just used for bashing things on) so wheel is upright, chainwhip is at 9 o clock, spanner at 3 o clock.
– then I climb on. One foot on each (the handrail on your Aga will help you balance and brace yourself for when it goes) and jump up and down on it carefully. That always shifts it in the end….

Hope that helps!

Bez:

Show me any savoury food and I’ll show you a valid sandwich filling (maybe not soup, though).

Aha! You sir, should convey your noble posterior to the Americas, where you will discover an infernal contraption they call “the bread bowl“.

(Don’t think you can slice that one 9-3 OR 12-6 without consequences)

Glad to hear they’ve sorted it out for you.

In 9 years worth of a few dealings with them, I’ve always found Orange CS to be excellent. As with Hope, I always get the impression that the guy on the phone has just put down his welding mask to answer it 🙂

Fizik Gobi XM, great saddle for marathon rides, though from what I’ve read, about 40% of people don’t get on with it.

I actually think the Prologo Scratch Pro saddle that came on my road bike is even better. I’d probably get one of those for MTBing next time.

What kind of BB is it? Square taper? Hollowtech? Unless you were doing some serious “stunt riding” it sounds like a manufacturing defect. In any case, the bearings on a BB ought to wear out long before the axle snaps.

The shadow mechs are nice and out of the way and they do away with the cable loop at the back. The old style does have a much stronger fixing though – straight into the mech hanger. (SRAM still have this style) The shadow’s is linked to the hanger via a rather flimsy pivoting plate, which will sheer where the old one would have survived…. My recent experience is, if you smack the shadow on something you now lose the mech hanger AND the mech (since this “linkage” part of the shadow mech, which breaks easily, is not replaceable, (naturellement!)) rather than just the hanger. You are less likely to hit it with it being more inboard though…

The SRAM mechs look like they might have replaceable parts – is that the case?

btw: If you’re not dead set on XT, the SLX shadow ones are the same design, only slightly heavier and much cheaper.

Worst Bit: Cresting the top of the Kenda climb on my 2nd lap, after the lactic acid from the run & first lap had “set” in my legs. Discovering that I’d forgotten to tighten my allen bolt seat post clamp and that it was very slowly sinking during my night lap.

Best bit: Supporters and team mates, Jump of Doom (made me smile). The “Dunkirk spirit” in the now legendary plasticine woods.

Quick Rant: What’s all this nonsense about not bothering to put any shelter over the transition then?

“In reference to grahams crash photo.
I sat by there for a bit and that little bump was taking everyone by surprise, even when there was a guy unconcious on the floor with a couple guys up the track warning riders to slow down folks were still hitting it at full bore. The second guy, who I saw crash, properly nailed himself. Even the official race marshal/safety guy was struggling to slow folks down.
Can’t believe it took them so long to do something about the hazard. The ambulance visited that spot four times before someone decided to do something about it. “

Totally agree. We were camped right near there and saw two guys ambulanced off on Friday’s pre-ride / practice lap. It should have been clear from those incidents that that dip was going to cause further problems under race conditions.

The slow down diversion they put in around the tree just before it worked great but it was too late coming. Many more riders got hurt before they finally added that in.

The big difference is that Boardman were working on very small margins to get the brand established. Because most LBS add 50% to what a bike costs them and the UK importer/distributor has a 30% add on, a bike costing £800 doubles to £1600 by the time it gets to a shop. By using Halfords distribution and by keeping sales high and margins low, a Boardman that cost £800 to make sells for £1200.

Do you honestly think this is true then?

I bet every bike shop in the country would love to find a brand that has a 50% margin.

I do think it’s quite a good theory that Boardman are temporarily lowering their profit margins and undercutting rivals to establish the brand but yes, LBS margin on bikes is more like 30% (or less) I think.

I do like some of the innovations that have come along: The Hollowtech 2 design really works well for me (even if it is just an aheadset turned sideways) – lightweight, strong and easy to maintain. Of course I’m rather less impressed with the liquorice Shimano BB that goes with it – That thing is an absolute joke: 4-6 months those were lasting and clearly not fit for purpose at all. Thank god Hope came along and made a proper one – Thank you guys.

I don’t mind shelling out for expensive kit but it has to be up to the job. There’s some great stuff around but too much of it is just disposable. I’d argue that it’s not even ethical for companies to produce gear with this kind of “throw away” mindset. Besides, If I’m paying £100 and up for a rear mech, it better be rebuildable and you better have all the replacement parts available for it too.

Does anyone know if American classic have sorted out their freehub issues? There seem to be a lot of complaints online about the bearing quality (they use a non-standard bearing size?) and having to set the lateral force on the bearing “slightly loose” to avoid premature wear. To me it doesn’t look like the reduction in weight is worth the increased hassle.

The Hope pro II’s are a bit noisy (I’d prefer a completely silent ratchet) and a bit heavy for use in a lightweight wheelset but they are well worth the weight trade off for reliability, I think. They are easy to service and the spares are easy to get hold of. What’s more, Hope will probably still be able to sort you out with spares in the future if your hubs last many years (as my old Hope XC’s have).

– Ate dinner in a restaurant a couple of tables away from Jilly Goulden (from the “Food and Drink” TV show)
– Got Eddie Large‘s autograph at a golf tournament.
– Saw Nicholas Lindhurst in a music shop in chichester. He was trying (badly) to look inconspicous but a little girl shouted out “look mummy, there’s Rodney!!!)
– Sneaked in to an after gig party at the Dominion and met Joe Lynn Turner (nice guy, friendly) Jens Johannson and Yngwie Malmsteen (a bit distant but not arrogant)
– Talked to Griff Rhys Jones at the Architect’s I worked at in Soho. He gave me a look that said “Don’t you dare recognise me”.
– Jenny Agutter came in the same place (above) She was *lovely*
– My great, great, grandfather was Stonewall Jackson (a famous confederate general).
– Bought an amp on Ebay. When the seller gave me the collection address, it came up as “Adrian Smith holdings, Dave Murray holdings etc. etc.”. Turns out he was Maiden’s tour manager.

..and my most treasured one: bumped into Ed Wynne (from the Ozric Tentacles) in Tin Pan Alley in London. He seemed quite surprised to be recognised. Shook his hand and told him how much I loved his music.

I only have experience of one Chris King product: I fitted an 1 1/8″ King headset to my Orange Sub 5 in 2002 and it’s still on there after thousands of miles and 9 winters. Last summer I stripped it down thinking it was about time I cleaned and regreased it but it was clean as a whistle inside. It’s never needed tightening either. Not many products around that give that level of service.

As the other chap said though, Hope hubs are great for massively less money than the King ones. I’d go with Hope hubs and a King headset.

Quantum of solace is the worst one I’ve seen. I don’t think I’ll be watching any more after that effort: Daniel Craig just doesn’t have the charisma necessary for the role. I enjoyed Roger Moore’s “hammy” far more than Craig’s tough-guy blandness.

I thought Brosnan was good but yes, the screenplays got worse and worse. The invisible car in the arctic was a real “jumping the shark” moment for the Bond series.

I love them, they are really tiny, well designed, well engineered and reliable…One of those bits of kit that is just "nice to have" and will always come in handy.

As for brightness, I would see if you can try / borrow one before buying. I've used one as my main light for night riding off road for the last couple of years and find it fine (though if your riding buddies all have brighter lights – the "arms race" mentioned above – you can end up riding into your own shadow sometimes). For night racing though, I'd definitely supplement it with something brighter.

As has already been said, it depends a bit if you want the sensation of riding at night or if you need to have the whole trail lit up by car headlight levels of brightness.

We should really be getting the world's biggest choir together in welcome: "Ehhverry sperm is gooooooood…"

Griff Rhys Jones: Worked in an architects in Soho we used to get a few tv types in. (he was a bit grumpy, just gave me a look like: don't you dare recognise me!)

Jenny Agutter: She came in the architects once too and everyone crowded round…she was just lovely!

Yngwie Malmsteen: (guitarist) Went to an aftershow party and met him after a gig. Despite his rep he was nice enough…

Joe Lynn Turner: (singer in Rainbow) At the party above (we were gatecrashing) he came over and introduced himself. Really nice bloke!

Ed Wynne (from the Ozric Tentacles) I saw him with his face pressed up against the glass looking at pedals in a totenham court road music shop window. He seemed quite surprised to be recognised but was very nice.

??????haiku?? (A haiku you say?)

Travelodge affairs
cause a mighty twitch of the
Inter net curtains

Got a mate who I deal with at work,
Who's wife likes to give out a perk
When she's playing away
He's delighted to say:
"That sounds like a text!" with a smirk.

I'm not usually that keen on white bikes but that is loverly 🙂

I've had my Sub 5 (early version of the 5) for 8 years now. Brilliant bikes!