i always thought it was a Stretch of MAMIL

yeah, if you don’t have carbon specific pads in there i’d get some in sharpish

Avid Shortys are well known for being squeally not matter what you do to them, those Kore cantis are really rather good actually, and the Tektro CR720 are a budget favourite too

“Just buy a nice bike, ride it and look after it.“

this

never been a problem for me, never had my best/only bike dissolve in a pile of salty rust, and for the price of a winter bike you can get a lot of nice new things for your only bike

michelin mud 2 are good all rounders and can handle some mud

actually they’re not that great as an all-rounder as they’re quite soft so wear quickly, they’re pretty good mud tyres though

at a guess those WTB tyres for a tenner will be wire bead, the pricier versions will probably be folding

the Vittoria Cross XM Pro is a pretty good mud option and ok, if a little entertaining at times elsewhere

whichever puts your hands in a comfy position for you

rough count…

MBUK is £4.35 and about 45% advert

Privateer is £9 and about 14% advert

i had a go on a Parabox and it was great, true one-finger control and a wonderful world away from cable discs, need to have a go on the Hope V-Twin to compare

it’s going to be a year before someone brings out an integrated hydraulic unit, and if you want an hydraulic system now, or don’t want to be tied in to whatever manufacturer comes up with an integrated system first or the expense of buying a whole new box of bike parts then go for it

get them to Strada up the road in Lancing

http://www.stradawheels.co.uk

i’m 5′ 11″ and the 18″ fits me fine, 20″ would be just right. IMO that is

in a word, only you will know

… turning them loose on wildlife.

“Smithers, release the Bengals” does have a certain ring to it

echo *most* of what is said above

picked up Tilly as a rescue kitten at he start of the year, very intelligent cat, will bring back her ball when thrown – and drop it at my feet if she wants to play and if she gets bored of that will drop her ball at the top of the stairs and chase it down, repeatedly, knows that when the grill is turned on that means toast, and when there’s toast that means butter, she will kill for a bit of butter, very very vocal, will frequently shout at me from the garden, and wake me up for breakfast, will eat anything, can be incredibly naughty but responds well to training

haven’t had any issues with bullying other cats, in fact she’s a bit of a wuss, and no problems with dead wildlife, just the odd dead rat

likes to ‘help’

i just used the same tyres as i would on my geared mountainbike, some of which were in the shed

errr, call me crazy, but, um, pocket?

I am quite competitive and want to at least have a go properly

you will probably be frustrated by your 456 then
you can make it more competitive by putting skinnier 1.5 tyres on and winding the fork in (buying a rigid fork would be better though) and putting a closer ratio cassette on

worth having a go on your 456 to see if you actually enjoy the concept of CX racing and then working towards getting a proper CX bike if you do

i had one as a ride/race MTB and really quite enjoyed it, so not sure how it would fare as a commuter

i’ve never ridden Ralphs, get some to be between now and midday tomorrow and i’ll get back to you

but they’ll look like they’ll be ok

just back from Stanmer, that heavy shower this morning didn’t help, you won’t need mud tyres, just grippy tyres that clear well

i’ve got some 2nd-hand corn here, looks like new, 50% off RRP

Campag compact road cranks, square BB.
FSA cranks, external BB.
XT cranks, external BB.
old Race Face cranks, external BB.

basically whatever’s been around at the time, normal ‘geared’ cranks with just the one ring spinning on whatever BB they required, no need for anything ‘spethial’

would it been okay if they were on mountainbikes?

i’m guessing here, but even single-file those yard wide handlebars would be about as broad as two roadies

if the M/L feels better for you then get that one, i’m the same size as you and the M/L would be my preferred choice, if that helps

“Advice I was given was that the smaller size would suit better if I wanted to go quicker and the larger size would suit if I wanted comfort and to ride further.”

this is mostly rubbish

until about Tuesday

Harder Than You Think, by Public Enemy, according to google

i have 110mm stem and 44cm (c to c) shallow drop bars on my 56cm CX bike, not sure how that’s going to help you though

“I feel strange,” he (Wiggins) said. “I don’t know what to feel at the moment. You do something like that and then you sit somewhere like this and that fellow asks a question and straight away it’s in a negative sense. So after everything I’ve done this year, it’s like you still have to justify it. ‘Oh yes, you’ve won the Tour, but it is going to be remembered for these people not being here?’

“I don’t think all the people who came out from the UK to stand on these climbs in the past two weeks give a monkey’s about that. For me, no one’s actually praised me yet. No one’s said, ‘you’ve been there since the Tour of Algarve in February, winning races – you went to Paris-Nice, you’ve respected the history of every race you’ve been to, you’ve raced and trained and answered all the questions of the press all year.”

His voice quavered as his words picked up speed. “You’ve really taken it on. You came to this Tour as the favourite from Liège and I haven’t dropped out of the first two of the GC [general classification] for three weeks now. You’ve answered all these doping questions as articulately as you can.

“But it’s all still in the negative sense. It’s ‘don’t you reckon that it’s just because Alberto’s not here?’ All year it’s been, ‘have you peaked too early?’ And even now, no one’s actually said, ‘Bloody good on you, mate, well done.'”

When the translator began to render his words into French, Wiggins broke in with a final thought. “I don’t think Frank Schleck was in the race when he went positive,” he said. “And I don’t think Di Gregorio was ever going to do anything on GC.”

To his list of achievements this season, Wiggins could have added that he arrived at the Tour having just become the first man in cycling history to win Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Dauphiné stage races in the same season. His Guardian column last week, in which he articulated his defence against those who insinuate that his remarkable performances justify suspicion, aroused widespread admiration and converted many doubters. The emotional force of Thursday’s outburst may have changed a few more minds.”

Guardian

it’s hard to comment without looking at a picture but if you’re comfortable with the bars where they are in their new position then you don’t need to buy a shorter stem, you’ll just need to move the brake levers to a place you’re comfortable with, which involves unwrapping the tape, adjusting the levers and then wrapping the tape back up

if the tape used is non-adhesive it’s an easy job, if it has a sticky backing you might destroy it undoing it, new bar-tape is only a tenner

learning to wrap bar-tape is one of the initiation rites of owning a road bike :-)

like MTBs frame sizing isn’t standard across road bikes, so one manufacturer’s 54, for example, will be totally different to another manufacturer’s 54 in height and length

go to a proper bike shop that knows what they’re talking about and ask to sit on a few and see what fits you

Tørm do Rapha style clothing for those that hate or can’t afford Rapha but want to look like they’re wearing Rapha

the bike could be too long for you, it could be too short for you, the bars could be too narrow, or have too much drop, or you could just be riding with your upper body all tense causing shoulder pain

on longer rides i have to consciously relax otherwise i get a tight right shoulder

oh, and FWIW i’m the same height as you and the M/L would be perfect for me, if a little short, if you want internet bike-sizing advice, which is about as useful as asking what size shoe you need for a specific height :-)

if it’s 54 centre-top the Bianchi website suggests the effective top-tube is 560mm, which at 6″ you **might** find a tiny bit short, or just right if you’ve got little arms

about this size (waves arms around)

go to a bike shop that knows what they’re talking about and sit on a few and see what feels right for you

that’s a Factor 001 bike with Aston Martin sticker on it, the ‘Factor’ on the top-tube is a bit of a give-away, it’s been around a while

see also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JaUMGFITTc&feature=player_embedded

i’d raise the straddle wire and replace the brake blocks

i do road rides on my road bike, mountainbike rides on my MTB and cyclo-cross rides on my CX

:)

i’ve ridden round the Plain on a CX bike and ride a lot round the South Downs on one which is a similar topography and would say that a CX bike is the perfect bike for the terrain, the off-road isn’t that tricky and you can crack along any boring connecting bits of tarmac and easy bridleway a lot quicker than you can on an MTB

you do have to think differently to riding an MTB, you can’t just blast through stuff and have to use more finesse, which makes ordinarily easy trails a little bit more involving, and those handling skills can be transferred back to the MTB which feels like a sofa in comparison

i went to a Credit Agricole in France once because i knew it was a bank, and bothered the assistant in a ‘Z’ shop asking for stickers a while back

60mph+ going down Blue Bank in Yorkshire on a road bike with a tailwind, scary

on an MTB, piffle

i heard him on a radio documentary yesterday, i thought it would be a sad day when he goes, it is

i’d go and see a professional rather than rely on looking at pictures and random ‘knowledge’ from strangers off the internet