It’s either “progress” or (if you’re cynical) “creating a market”, genuinely trying to make a difference or changing things for the sake of it … probably a bit of both in reality

The variety of “standards” keeps things more interesting and allows for developments, but I suspect it artificially inflates the overall cost of stuff … but if nobody ever tried something different, we would still be riding penny farthings 🙂

In a world full of halfwits from stupid reality TV shows who are “role models” to so many young people the Olympics hopefully opened their eyes to the truly awful individuals and fame hungry brats they really are

If nothing else, it was worth it for this.

People actually working (often together) to achieve something worthwhile, other than just massaging their own stupid massively boring ego.

Fwiw, I’m a “leftie” but can only use right-handed scissors.

That spoon looks quite nice though. I might buy a dozen and replace all the ones in my house. My right-handed wife and son might not find them very useful though 8)

I’m firmly one of the repressed non-speakers in the toilets. Just feels completely weird to me.

Our office shower & changing room also has a couple of traps.

On many occasions people will come in to use one whilst there are one or two getting changed – you can see the look of panic in their eyes whilst they hurriedly decide whether to proceed with their bowel movements in full ear-shot of people they will sit with in meetings, or do something like grab a tissue and leave to ‘go’ elsewhere.

Most seem to proceed into the trap and then sit in absolute silence, presumably until they think the room is empty.

andrewh – you are Ned Flanders and I claim etc etc …

I bought a HAWG NV a few months back, having previously owned a MULE and older-model HAWG.

I often need the 3 litre bladder capacity on long rides, and whereas the pack is probably too big a lot of the time, it is regularly useful to have the extra space (esp. when commuting & carrying breakfast/lunch), and I like to carry at least 3 inner tubes on long rides.

The HAWG NV is fairly compact if you tighten the external straps, so if you’re not carrying much it doesn’t need to remain too bulky.

was it worth the country spending 9 billion ?

Who gives a monkeys.

Not everything can or needs to be dumbed down to cost.

Regardless of whether you’re interested in sport or not, you can’t deny the games were a superbly hosted event with many great achievements by GB athletes (other countries are available).

It’s not just about the money.

I’d guess the mountain bikers on this forum have a higher than average injury rate.

Maybe. Maybe not. Bit of a wild assumption really.

I’ve MTB’d for 20 years, never required NHS resources for any injury.

In fact, nobody in my family has ever ended up in hospital because of a hobby-related injury.

My sister on the other hand, who has never engaged in any risky or contact sport/activity in her life, has ended up in A&E on numerous occasions.

None of us are obese either. Whatever that’s got to do with it.

Mrs Brown’s Boys = a turd of a programme

Never seen Mrs Brown. But sounds like it’s worth a watch – I like a good tyrannical monarchical reign.

What kind of premium rises have people seen after a big claim with M&S?

My premium for 2011/2012 was £19.38 per month.

Claim for £3000 in July for replacement bike after house break-in (incl. locks changed on doors).

Premium for 2012/2013 (renewal was December) is £29.40 per month.

So a 50% increase following the claim 😯 … no idea if that’s good or bad in the scheme of things as I’ve no previous experience as a comparison.

are they rigid soles?

No, they’re trainer-style trail shoes.

Sealskinz socks?

Won’t stop the shoes getting soaked through though …

When I was a young child I was taken everywhere on foot, on the bus/train (walking to/from the station), or by bike (except at weekends when my Dad was at home with the car).

Also, my parents didn’t allow much TV-watching, so I never got into the habit of loafing around in front of the telly.

As I got older, I cycled everywhere, walked/cycled to school, walked/bus/train to friends etc.

I wasn’t “doing exercise” with special equipment and facilties, I was just “getting about”, going places … and getting exercise as a side-effect.

These days the majority of children/teenagers seem to be chauffered pretty much everywhere by their parents.

It’s no wonder they grow up overweight and lazy.

The other side of this is that I was rarely given junk food or processed/ready-meal stuff … my parents always cooked ‘proper’ food using unusually-shaped things called vegetables and what-not 😀

There has been a gradual growth in the belief that you need “special facilities” to do sports for years.

Well it’s true for some things:

Swimming (OK you can swim in a river, but it’d need to be safe & clean – ditto for the sea)
Squash courts
Sports halls for Badminton
etc

Yes, but my point was that not having accesss to “special facilties” is no excuse for not exercising. Ok, so there’s a narrower choice, but still it’s no excuse.

The root of obesity is psychological as well as physical – i.e. what’s the main difference between someone like myself who chooses to eat healthily & do a bit of exercise and someone who just doesn’t care about either of these things?

I don’t know the answer. There are probably many reasons. Tackling these root causes are what’s needed.

But this would be very expensive – it’s easier just to treat the symptom and use a big stick like removing benefits to force the issue 🙄

There has been a gradual erosion of sports facilities and access for years

There has been a gradual growth in the belief that you need “special facilities” to do sports for years.

I don’t agree with cutting benefits for obese/overweight people, but every reasonable effort should be made to advise and encourage healthier lifestyles.

How3ever, if people can’t be bothered or don’t care, then I don’t know what you’re supposed to do for them.

Although if people don’t care about their own health then I suspect it’s a symptom of deeper issues than just being lazy/apathetic.

Some people just aren’t physical or ‘sporty’, but there’s no reason for that to lead to being an unhealthy weight.

My experience of online dating resulted in a wife 😯 😀

At the time I was a bit embarassed as I thought online dating was a bit naff etc … although apparently online dating is now the more likely way to meet people than going out in the real world and actually meeting an actual person, in person.

I reckon online dating makes sense, especially for blokes – you can get everything else you want on the internet, so why not a gf/partner/wife? 😀

It’s just an extension of shopping online, although everything’s “sold as seen”, and there’s no guarantee or warranty.

A remap also won’t necessarily give you better mpg. I once queried a remap of a n/a petrol car with a few specialists. For the engine in question they said the fuelling would not be changed. The best I’d get was increased torque, but the increase was probably too small to be noticeable.

Most remap specialists seem to go on about “improved driveability” … whatever that actually means in the real world …

I suspect a good service and oil change will be as good as anything for a non-turbo engine.

Just because you’ve ridden somewhere unchallenged for years doesn’t mean that you have a right to do so, especially on privately owned land.

If there’s no public rights of way across the land for cyclists, that’s it, end of. No arguments.

Whereas this is the root of it, you’re not allowed to say this on STW because it would mean behaving like a grown up rather than a spoilt little brat having a hissy-fit

😀

(Found the seat collar size – 34.9mm)

Is Pipers Gate one of those bits that’s had to be repaired after being completely destroyed by the off-roadists?

And people complain about erosion caused by mountain bikes 🙄

I can’t believe we’re still surprised when things in the UK are designed badly. Excellent application of misplaced optimism 😀

people just stop in the middle of trails

There are a lot of people with absolutely zero awareness of the concept of “other people”.

These will be the same penises who park their trolley perpedicularly across the aisle in the supermarket so that nobody can get past

And they are also no doubt the same giant testicles who park on single yellow lines “just for a minute”, thus causing the biggest traffic jam ever seen.

I also suspect they are the very same selfish ball-sacks who park on the yellow zig-zags outside schools because walking 50 yards is such an impossible task.

😀

If you come across any of these wazzocks, just be thankful you’re not like them …

People referring to inanimate objects, in particular bikes, and also cars as ‘she’

The only thing worse than this, is people giving names to their bikes, cars and other inanimate objects … morons 😀

the prophesy is a cyclical change that we should feel privileged to be here for

Did they mention what’s supposed to happen that I should be so eternally grateful for?

I have had two sets of Raceface Turbine cranks on different bikes over the past 10 years. If nothing else, they’ve lasted well.

I can’t really comment on stiffness in absolute terms as I don’t have anything to compare them with.

However, I’m around 13-14 stone and am a ‘churner’ rather than a ‘spinner’ in my pedalling, so probably stomp the pedals in an above-average gear which I guess would mean I’d have noticed if they were flexing a lot.

I’ve been happy with them.

I assume the cost relative to Shimano or SRAM is why they’re not very common, plus the fact they don’t seem to be fitted as OEM to much.

Fox hunting.
Bull fighting.
Seal clubbing.

😉

My shed security takes the form of an Abus (I think) ground anchor bolted into the concrete, and a very large hardened steel chain/padlock.

That is all. No alarm or security light.

Our whole back yard seems to be 8-10+ inch think solid concrete, so it’s not like the ground anchor can be easily broken out.

The shed’s only just big enough for the bike plus a load of worthless junk, so thieves can’t get in and close the door behind them for privacy whilst they ‘work’.

I feed the lock through the frame and wheels, so I guess the seat/seatpost could easily be taken, plus the stem/bars & forks if someone had 15 minutes and a couple of allen keys.

Hmmmm. Might need to address the forks part of that, seeing as they cost more than the frame and wheels put together 😯

Try and bottom out what’s causing the peedoffness. And be honest. There must be a reason (or two).

As previous poster’s have referred to, regular exercise is something I ‘need’ otherwise I get restless, then fed up, then unmotivated and then unimportant things start annoying me and I get impatient with stuff.

At this time of year when time out on the bike is minimal I usually do regular weights routines, maybe a bit of running.

I have learnt that a routine of sorts is necessary for me.

EDIT: also, personally I find using winter as a change from biking is a good idea.. I cycle most days for most of the year what with commuting, and I definitely benefit from a couple of months of doing something non-bike related.

My youngest is only 18 months, so isn’t saying much at all yet that’s discernable as an actual phrase or sentence, however, he unfailingly states “uh-oh” whenever he drops or spills something.

I’d love to have seen this idea pitched on Dragons Den … it’d have been laughed out of the building, and quite rightly so. I’m betting it’s an Americanist invention, probably from California-land.

It’s been raised 6 levels, but is still low enough to be classed as junk.

It’s all fine. Being a ‘Yank’ isn’t a race. At least, I’ve never seen ‘Yank’ on any official forms asking for my ethnic group.

Although apparently some people believe it’s possible to be racist against a nationality 🙄

Xenophobic perhaps, but not racist.

Damn them!!!! … they’ve been £399 ever since I’ve been looking, so in my world I’ve saved 25% 🙂

Either way, they’re flipping good value.

I wanted Orange, but ditto: another £100? Nah …

Pre-grated cheese, WTF is that all about

That’s what I thought. But very often it’s cheaper per kilo than blocks of cheese, so if you’re going to grate it anyway then it makes sense.

I’m surprised a smart-arse hasn’t posted something along the lines of “if you want something urgently why not use your LBS” 😀

Yes, obviously. Are you stupid or what?

Stupid is as stupid does.

Or, the rest of STW is stupid and needs obvious things spelling out.

That’s also an option.

How do you know if the evidence has been interpreted correctly?

What do you mean?

🙂 I suspect you know exactly whatI mean …

The thing is if we have competing theorems [accounts] what else can we do other than look at the evidence

How do you know if the evidence has been interpreted correctly?

If the Universe isn’t infinite, what is “outside” of it?

Think of it like a really big version of The Truman Show 🙂

seems a bit of a presumptious assumption to make considering we have not identified anything trying to make contact with us

Is it not more presumptuous to assume that there isn’t?

Seeing as there’s no inidication either way, at worst it’s equally as presumptious, not more.