It might for you ..

out of interest why? I feel like a lot of people have misconceptions about them not being “playful” or poor on technical trails but these days this is simply not true. Personally I think its more down to poor technique which makes people think this.

im currently in a similar spot my derailleur is on the way out its 11sp and most likely im going to end up with a 12sp because its all thats around.

Hang on! Apart from anything else does it really cost £70 to get Beyoncé’s new album?!

Assuming a vinyl release right? Check Ya Head reissue from the Beastie Boys is like 130-160 I think.

Can I ask why people are so against having their data collected like what impact does it have on your life?

Apart from the nice little cardboard ones used by small indy cafes who just want you to spend £35 on 10 coffees so you can get one free

This is me. I figure im going to buy those coffees any way (when in the office) so why not get one free very now and then. Most the coffee shops by me now have phone apps im not fussed about data to be honest who cares your data is constantly collected.

I feel like these days its mostly the small brands that offer it Cotic do loops from their main office and outside of Cotic, Bird and Starling I would struggle to name more. Agree though what does riding a bike in a car park tell you about how it will ride. I think the steel is real demos are back up and running so maybe give that a shot if you want a steel bike.

Just suck it up and respect your mates choice of women?

Unless they are really awful ie a horrible racist or say an abusive partner my vote is suck it up.

840 on the endurance bike

840 dam! You must have like a 8ft wingspan.

Spinning through the comments I don’t get how people have got away with not their student loan for so long? I started work a few months after uni and instantly started paying it off. I think it took me about 8-10years to pay it off.

I know a few have mentioned the ccdb air il but for me the shocks just not fit for anything other than trail centre riding. I think if your fairly light, small or smooth on a bike. (aka i ride like a salmon) you can get away with it, but to get 17mm or sag on my rocket im running over 200psi. (im tall but pretty much a bean pole.) If i was building a bike as a do it all I would be going for Jeht.

Recommend what I ride… SolarisMAX mullet.

how do you find that better than just running it as a 29er?

Once you have improved on the above, you should be better at picking a smooth line even if this means jumping some sections (just like a table top) and smooth is fast.

I ride mine a fair bit and would say this is the best advice. You can’t (well you can if you’re good enough) just hammer through trails like you do on a big bike. Picking smoother lines is 100% the best thing you can do and then transfers that thinking to the big bike and i bet you will be faster.

As for hammering your joints I think you just need to accept to a degree that will happen on a hardtail.

I say this not to showcase my superior family genes..

I thought this was me. Wife has had it twice and I dodged it both times. Original variants and then Omicron. Got me in the end went to a gig, thankfully it wasn’t too bad. Figure it will just get everyone in the end.

There’s a reason this is strapped around the waist of lots of riders at races and on the trails and routinely gets best on test in comparative reviews.

Agree the first one wasn’t very good, it never stayed in place. but the most recent with those extra pull straps and velcro + buckle the thing never moves.

Right, im obviously missing simething and more than happy to be educated. But when you have N-Dubz on that list and artists like Mic righteous are missing im scratching my head.

That list is a bit depressing. The idea that Aitch is in there instead Skinnyman who released arguably one of the best uk albums of all time is shocking.

I dont ride on the drops on my road bike, why on earth they would be any use off road I have no idea!?

I used to think this but a good set of flared drops are perfectly fine. I ride mellow trail and some chunky bridal way on my gravel bike and doing that on the drops is so much better than flat bars on a gravel bike. You have so much more control over breaking and steering.

I’ve gone from 11 speed to 10 speed… thanks to the wide range Deore cassette. Last kit I bought was under £100 for shifter, mech and cassette. It’s lighter than 11 or 12 speed XT… as well as being cheaper than either.

This sounds interesting. im currently on a 11sp never felt the need for 12. Have you ever tried the advent 10sp? I know box do a 9sp that goes from 11-50t which gets me thinking but im wondering if 9 isnt enough gears.

If your salary is in the top 10% and you can’t afford 5k on a bike then what on earth are you pissing your money away on? Priorities, people!

And thats it right how much do you priorities bike stuff. Im not in the 10% but earn a good salary we don’t have kids and riding bikes is pretty much all I do so I save and miss the odd holiday with my wife for it. Although it seems more expensive but I think changing a bike every few years does make it cheaper I just got a rolling frame set and am going to swap my drivetrain over.

Its not exclusive to bikes its selling second hand stuff in general i think. People basically want stuff mint condition but pay peanuts. I had a guy haggle like crazy over some trainers then told me the agreed price was too cheap and they must be fake. which they were not. im going to be selling a rolling frame soon dreading it. just cant be assed to deal with the time wasters if I had the space and didnt need the money to fund the new bike I would keep it.

I’ll give you one to avoid; TLD Stages

I have had 3 proframes and now have a stage and honestly think its miles better. its a little less bulky than a proframe, better ventilated, lighter, and easier to wear for an all day right. Also TLD do crash replacements Fox don’t.

The half-time ‘entertainment’ line-up is, for me, another reason to give the whole thing a miss.
If it’s your bag – enjoy.

Given where the superbowl was if they did anything else it would have been an absolute kick in the face to the culture. Personally as a huge hip hop head I loved it.

I think this maybe the same one Timf posted but i often use this one https://www.komoot.com/tour/31621694 Ditchling Beacon is the only really bad bit and the roads are pretty chill most the time.

A quick heads up here… all four colours will have the integrated seatclamp when they arrive.

Out of interest why did you make the switch to an integrated seat clamp?

All Five Ten SPD shoes I’ve had have been shite [ ] the plastic inner sole has cracked

I have been using the 5:10 kestrel boa for like a year or so now on my commuter / gravel bike so they get used a lot and are holding solid. They are the adidas branded though so I don’t know if that means they are made different to the old ones.

Brexit/COVID/fracturing of society by social media bubbles has left everyone burnt out and grumpy to some degree IMO.

I think this is very much it the wider-wold is pretty rubbish right now. I don’t post as much as I used to I find posts get picked apart and you have to be super carful how you word stuff im likely guilty of it myself too. Best thing I ever did was remove auto sign in. Now if I don’t care enough to sign in and comment clearly I really don’t care that much.

Eggy crumpets.
Recipe: make eggy but with crumpets.
You’re welcome.

This thought has never entered my brain before but my minds blown! I need more details… is it like eggy bread or just scrambled egg with crumpets?

Post ride I normally get home too late for a snack so wait for dinner and its a recovery shake and nothing else.

Much as I dislike the man, I do have some sympathy for Johnson.
I see him as very much a product of a broken and unfair society.

I think what you mean to say is he has taken advantage of and manipulated a broken and unfair society.

He is a man thats grown up with extreme privilege and given opportunities the vast majority can only dream of. The man should be given no sympathy hes vile.

Have you tried the Zoa range? I have last years Zoa insulated jacket got my normal size and its fine. its supposed to be on/off bike stuff so have a less roadie fit.

Same as Trump – he is simply incapable of realising he is in the wrong. What he says IS the truth and what he wants is what will happen.

100%! Only addition i would make is this also extends the majority of his party too. Boris wont go over this and he will fight another election which i would be extremely surprised if he didn’t win. My faith in the public not voting tory is very low.

I have always viewed Borris as a real Churchillian leader gifted to us for troubled times.

The sad reality is this is how people do actually view him… well my tory supporting mother any way. I think the only the resemblance is they are fat, white and old… or pale frail and stale.

Employers decision, if you don’t like it, find another job, there are over 1.2million vacancies in the UK at the moment.

I maybe over simplifying this, but surly they want to continue their profession there isn’t another employer… in the uk any way.

I am micro managing at the mo. I inherited the team and don’t think they are quite cutting it from a productivity perspective – which they know.

Since when has micro management made anyone productive or made a team member feel good..?

For me the subtext of micro management is someone who’s an absolute control freak so work takes twice a long while they decided which solution they have come up with is the most right.

You know these programs have virtual backgrounds, right?

Yes, whats why i said “Plenty of people at my work either don’t turn their camera on or blur a background.” (which you took the time to quote) I have never bothered with it as its simply easier to turn my camera off.

We only meet 3 times a week for 30mins each time and I know most of them do not spend that much time on other calls so I don’t feel like it’s too much to ask. Am I being unreasonable to ‘mandate’ cameras on?

Yes. For all you know they could be flat sharing with loads of people on a kitchen table, working from their bedroom, have poor internet, or perhaps they want to keep their private home well… private. Stinks of Presentism to me. Plenty of people at my work either don’t turn their camera on or blur a background.

when wfh im in my kitchen for meetings that involve people I don’t work with on the regs I don’t have my camera on – simply because I don’t want them to see my kitchen. In fact I just have a black square and my name as I often run/sit in on user testing sessions so it looks im basically not there.

Steve James, a consultant anaesthetist at King’s College Hospital in London who has worked in the ICU since early 2020 treating Covid patients, told Sajid Javid why he did not believe in vaccination.

To a degree he has a point, for nhs and care stuff it shouldn’t be no jab no job. It should be please get the jab and if you don’t heres a system in place to ensure we keep everyone as safe as they can. The nhs employ over a million people I feel like if they impose this rule on nhs staff it should be for everyone no matter who you work for.

We are just going to have to make do with capacity we have, our positivity rate seems to be lower than most European countries

Whats the saying fail to prepare prepare to fail…

I literally just ordered some off the .gov website. Last couple of times I have got them off the site its been really slow to send out emails I think the system is just really overloaded.

Thankfully this year my wife took one for the team and got covid so we couldnt go to my parents. Made the obligatory phone call to my mother who proceeded to tell me “they” shouldn’t be allowed in and get given too much free stuff while “we” get nothing… My grandad was a displaced person after ww2 and my mother is half polish – if anyone can work out why she can’t make the link between my grandad and whats going on now I would love to hear it.

I must admit i am continually surprised by the number of racist relatives on this thread.

I used to think this was just a generation thing (people like 70+ aka my parents) unaware of what was and wasn’t acceptable to say these days and a general lack of understanding. Now I just think a large part of the UK is pretty racist.

i currently have spds and 5:10 kestrel with a boa closure simply because i don’t want to deal with laces. stiff but not too stiff when you need to walk about in them for what ever reason. If you want laces the new Adidas ones look nice.

TBH I’d rather the law allow the Police to randomly stop and breathalyse anyone at any time, regardless of reasonable grounds.

I want fewer drunk drivers on the road rather than drunks looking for a loophole. If random stops = fewer drink driving incidents, then the Police should be allowed a free reign.

I guess the problem is when police are given such powers they have never really used them in a balanced way. Just look at the numbers (specifically demographic) of covid fines and stop and searches.

Why is London’s vaccination rate so low?

If London survives I suppose it bodes well for the rest of us.

lots of reasons i think. More diverse population some of which don’t trust the vaccine, younger population who think covid isn’t really an issue for them, lower paid workers who can’t get time off, could be anything. I heard its 1 in 3 don’t have the vaccine here which is staggering.

I think its way worse than it was in the very start i know so many people with it now and everyone has got it just living their life. Not like they been raving and licking lamp posts