I recently bought IXS Assault hard shell arm and leg armor. They were available in 5 sizes (XS to XL) while Fox had only 2 sizes. IXS also had a ladies version available. I don’t have any experience with their soft armor, but it may be worth a look.

That Retrobike thread has inspired me. I just recently retired a WTB Laser SLT saddle due to the cover being worn through on a few of the edges. So tore off the old cover tonight. Tested some Elmers spray adhesive that I had around; don’t think that it is strong enough, though. Will look for leather, glue, etc. next time I’m out.

Yep, found it. Stem cap w/bolt and packaging.

Teeny little sheep with words about taking the long way…wait, wasn’t that Supertramp’s lyrics?

Wee on them! (I can’t believe that no one else said this already!)

Won’t smell like a dead cat then…

A ghost took a dump in my house! New thread – what sort of toilet paper do ghosts prefer?

BTW there is already an accepted meaning for ghost shit.

What next, STW?

I’m 99% sure that I have one of those Mint Sauce stem caps somewhere…

I never understood Mint Sauce. I would read it, then read it again, but it still wouldn’t register. I don’t hate it; I just don’t get it. At all.

Maybe its a British thing as I’m American…

Scud

Ok, so you’ve hit on the real reason that I had mine fixed… :D

About 12 years ago, I cut my hand pretty bad and went for stitches. A week or so later, I bumped my little finger on something and felt an intense pain. I had broken partially cut tendon to my little finger and I could no longer bend it at all. I had surgery a week or two later, and they were able to repair it. It’s not 100%; the finger does not quite straighten out completely so it always has a little bit of a curve in it. But at least it bends. I was worried that if I didn’t get it fixed, that I’d be catching the finger on things and breaking a bone or dislocating it. I’ve had no problems with it since the repair.

During the surgery, they secured the tendon to a small plastic button (just like on a shirt) that was sutured to the tip of my finger. That stayed of for a couple of weeks. I also had to wear a plastic brace that kept my hand curled in a neutral position (to not overstress the repair while healing) for several weeks.

Moral of my story – men should not use kitchen knives!

Not to rub it in, but I’ve always got one in the mail when I subscribed or renewed. I have 3 or 4 of them, including the newest one in classy plastic. Of course, its absolutely useless for me because I’m in the US.

What Batlink said plus the kronolog is a mechanical system, some of the other posts on the market are hydraulic. The seals on the hydraulic posts are under a great deal of pressure, and many fail. The kronolog is supposed to work like a woodworking bar clamp. Its a rather simple mechanism, and therefore it may be more reliable. Only time will tell which system, brand, etc. solves the reliability puzzle; they all make great claims but a quick search of the interweb will reveal horror stories regarding the reliability of all of them.

AyUps here, too. Narrow beam on the helmet, wider beam on the bar. The gecko helmet mount is fantastic. They’re bright, tiny, and lightweight.

OP – Sue the daddy cat’s owners for support! You’ve got 4 more mouths to feed, furniture to replace, litter to buy… :D

There was a post on here a while ago that listed some other offset bushing sources, but I can’t find that thread again. I did email the links to someone, so here they are:

offsetbushings.com[/url]

Proshox

RWC – have you tried the V5s yet?

I just broke the endcap on one of my V4s, and there’s some lateral play in the other one, so I’ll probably have to buy some new pedals in the near future.

Murrysville, Pennsylvania, USA. (Near Pittsburgh)

I’ve heard good things about these Jump Stop.

I have read horror stories about these K-Edge.

I like SigmaSport; I’ve had both wired and wireless. Wireless is neater, but both the transmitter and computer need batteries, so one more thing that can go wrong. And a previous bar mounted light (Cateye LED) caused interference with the wireless computer; it didn’t work at all with the light on. I’ve since gone back to the wired version for maybe $25. Really all that I use are current speed, trip distance, total odometer, and maybe top speed once in a while.

Successful launch of a satellite is 1950s technology. The Soviets first did it in 1957.

In the past, sometimes North Korea has followed missile failure with a nuclear test; mid-40s technology that the can’t get right, either.

I wonder what level North Korean mountain bike technology is at?

Original photo:

Flat pedals…or…flat pedals, I guess.

And none of them are wearing helmets; I bet they’re all dead!

There are solutions:

You could ask for these for your birthday shreddies[/url]

Or you can pop pills[/url]

Combustion is always an option/threat

rootes – I like your point, but I think that there is another layer of complexity. I realize that this is not a perfect comparison, but I don’t have the next 6 months free to do detailed research:

Nissan have 22 different “model lines” (their term) on their main webpage for the US.

Giant[/url] lists 72 different models (the underlined links) on their webpage.

Worldwide, there are what, maybe 100-150 brands of cars, including those like Tata (India) and Cherry (China) that aren’t available in the US/UK markets? How many thousand brands of bikes? Giant alone has over 3x the models that Nissan does, so the bike market is much, much, more fragmented leading to higher development, distribution, and marketing costs, and less economy of scale.

I live in Pennsylvania, but several hundred miles from Bethlehem, so I am not at all familiar with that particular bridge. It is apparent that it is less than ideal for cycling, as a cyclist was killed there last year. The bridge is at least 40 years old, and it’s original design was further comprimised last year when an inspection found deteriorating structure beneath the sidewalk news release. Since then, they have reestablished a pedestrian walkway at the expense of narrower traffic lanes work press rel.

So, the bridge is definitely not the best place to cycle in the first place, and recent changes have made it even worse.

I’m not clairvoyant, so I have no idea what the cyclist should have done differently to avoid the accident, other than not cycling on the bridge. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still get into an accident. Hasn’t everyone run a red light at least once while driving? If no one was in the intersection, then no big deal. Put a car/cyclist/pedestrian there and things are different, though. I was once sideswiped while stopped in my truck at a red light. I was properly stopped in the left turn lane. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time!

Kudos to the bus driver!

In ‘merica, even our large federal agencies do what is needed to keep children safe from threats to their safety!

LBS says not available till May 15 here in the US. Thus, only the privileged such as well connected MTB journo types have actually touched one yet. Pinkbike already has a how-to for cable teplacement, though: Bad Omen?

Stihl rocks; all of my stuff (chainsaw, 2 trimmers, hedge trimmer, and a blower/vac) is Stihl. I have a Honda mower as there is no Viking here in the US, though.

Rogue hoes with the hickory (axe type) are awesome for digging; the best trail digging tool IMO. I have a 55H and highly recommend it. They’re made from old harrow discs, so they’re made from a high quality steel that stays sharp for a long time.

I have used the 60A (with the pick or stinger) but it does not dig as well. This is because the 2 sided blade is about the same length and the handle is mounted in the middle. Thus the handle on the 60A hits the ground and stops it at a shallow depth, while the longer blade of the 55H goes in deeper and loosens more dirt. I haven’t seen the rake yet, but the combi tool that Nana shows above likely has the same drawback as the 60A.

The rogues with the ash or fiberglass (rake-like) handles are not strong enough for digging. They do work well for lighter work such as cleaning out drainages though. Or hoeing a vegetable garden…

The Pulaski is a combination single-bit axe and mattock/adze. I try to keep mine real sharp and use it as a root cutter only, but some people use them as a primary digging tool.

McLeouds work well in some soil conditions, but don’t work well for me as there are a lot of tree roots in the soil here.

All of these are primarily US type tools though, so I can’t say what the availability is in the UK. Even in the US, they’re expensive and aren’t available at regular hardware stores. So they have to be mail ordered, and it’s costly to ship items that are both long and heavy.

I have been running a WCS 2-bolt seatpost and 4-axis stem since late 2007 with no complaints. I have no experience with the newer single bolt seatpost. I’m getting a dropper post soon, though…

I’ve successfully used a standard glue-on tube patches inside the tire casing. They’ve been able to repair regular tires run tubeless with Stan’s sealant with no issues. In fact, I think that one of my current tires (Tioga Psycho Genius) has had a patched sidewall since last summer.

And apparently Pluto is not a planet any more.

Like this?

Don’t think its IXS or Rockagrdn…

The core remover tool makes it really easy. I used needle nosed pliers for years, then bought the tool. Not necessary, but really convenient!

Last fall, I stripped and refinished my front (exterior) door and sidelights which were varnished. In the past, I have used paint stripper with methylene chloride; it is very effective but is dangerous to breathe and burns your skin.

This time I used Citristrip and was shocked at how well it worked. At most, it took two coats on an area. I used a plastic putty knife as a scraper along with scotchbrite pads. The clear afterwash got rid of any remaining residue. In the future, I’ll always try the citrus type of product and will only use something stronger if the citrus stripper doesn’t work.

10″??? Is that all?

That’s a narrow racing saddle compared to this: Couch

Seller says that it measures 13″x13″. I saw one in person; if they were real cheap I would have bought one as a gag gift. And no surprise, it weighed a ton!

I was looking for service manuals in this thread and some STWs gave me some links. I don’t remember seeing any ‘sploded though…

I had to replace my 8-10 year old Diamondback floor pump this winter. When I got the new Lezyne pump, I joined both pumps together via a short piece of tubing. Both gauges read the same. I was impressed as the old pump usually spent 6 months of the year in the covered bed of my truck!

Craigslist is a popular site; usually used to buy and sell locally in person as opposed to long distance through the mail. “Bikes for sale” gets its own page.

I used bar ends until early 2009. The last set had cracked my carbon bars at the clamp during a crash. At that point, I got a much wider Al bar and mounted the bar ends to it. When riding, I never used the bar ends at all. So off they came, and I cut the bar to the inside of the bar end clamps.

From the book of Sheldon Brown 14 Ways

As a US subscriber, mine arrived on Friday.

I liked the old magazine and IMO it wasn’t broken, but I was curious to see the new version. I guess that I like the new format; it reminds me a bit of the new Switchback magazine, but it weighs at least 3x as much! I like the cover shot, but the fact that it wraps around the spine and back cover is of little interest to me. I’d rather have the Title, Issue #, Date, etc. on the spine I think. This issue has a nice mix of articles; the weather here was unseasonably beautiful this weekend so I haven’t read many of them yet!

The new size is very similar to most US magazines; the old was much taller. I really don’t have a preference either way. The paper in the old mag was already a better grade than most other magazines, so going to an even heavier grade makes me worried that the added weight will make overseas subscriptions prohibitively expensive though.

I too noticed some minor creasing of the pages inside. It was most noticeable on the large photos. My guess is that it was not shipping damage, but a printing problem. I say this as both covers arrived in pristine shape and were perfectly smooth, but many pages inside were slightly creased. Definitely a First World Problem!!!

I’m looking forward to the next issue.