great thanks mate much appreciated!

hmm not sure – its X7kit mainly, crank arm says 6XP 2×10 – i see it has an allen key holding the spider on by the looks of it. Will the direct mounted ring fit onto this?

Sorry for sounding like an idiot but its because i am

Ive had Rons in 26″ and they did struggle with mud but were great on most other things – could be an option as will probably be better grip in 29r

Nics tread is very draggy in comparison imho

West Highland Way, an Alps trip (?) and just generally less trail centre riding and more real mountain riding

Brilliant thanks mate – ive been looking all over for something like this.

Nasty and Ugley in Herts/Essex.

Famous local Newspaper headline “Nasty man Marries Ugley woman”

ooh those revolutions look tempting too cheers Deaks

Cheers – will give the Bolle Safety glasses a go….and try not to drill ventilation holes in the middle of the lens…

@mattjg – yup i know, didn’t have enough sealant to go tubeless at the time. I may end up cutting the spokes and throwing the rim away with the tyre on it when i do get a puncture!

Tyre update – Its on!

2 “men” and 3 metal tyres levers and a few rim scratches and it went on. Tubed and needed 60psi to get to seat properly.

If i ever have a puncture i will have to learn how to wheelie pretty quickly to get home

For those that mocked, i had Jeff Capes round and he couldn’t do it so went home dragging his Lorry by his teeth, ripping telephone books in anger as he went* so it obviously wasn’t me being soft

So if you see a grown man with baby arms at the side of the trail swearing at a tyre – give me a hand will you

* this may not be entirely true

FYi – i think i have pulled a muscle in my back last night trying to get these on! FFS im getting old!

I’ll try the tips you all posted here tonight, i’ve also got some riding mates coming round, who are also mocking me, and are obviously more manly than i …. whom i will mock loudly when they fail!!!

If this fails there may be a Hope ProII Hub on ZTR crest Rim for sale tomorrow – one careful owner, only a few dents and “edges” in the rim, blood stains will wash off

Cheers for the tips – i will try again and try and keep the bead in the groove, i’m a big guy but i do have weak thumbs

I dont think resorting to using my teeth helped me 😉

Shackleton – you should have shit in a bag and followed her home and hung it on her front door knob/gate/tree, and claimed you thought that the “council would clear it up”
If she complained its making a mess tell her her house is “a tip anyway so what does it matter”…

I wonder, does she wipe her own arse or does she expect the council to pop round for that as well?

Cheers for the tips looking at a none stop muliti bike C2C so best bits of off road linked to road parts for speed

Update post demo bike run.
Although it was a medium (too small) and the top of the range Carbon 0 version, even taking all that into consideration sweet baby Jesus the bike is amazing!!!!!! I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!

The grip poise and handling were amazing, spin up wasn’t noticeable as you never slow down enough, especially if you are smooth

Thinking of selling the kids see imminent post in classifieds forum

Cheers for the opinions – a mate has a one for test this weekend and think i will go for the 2011 if i like it , which by the sounds of it i will

Sounds like the 2011 is a goer 🙂

Funso: Are all the reviews true then? I have a suspicion i will like 29’ers being a SS fan (flow and constant speed etc..) and being a big guy getting up to speed isn’t a problem.

amplebrew: that was my initial feelings, but not sure whether thats my “fox brand is better/pimpier” marketing brain wash preference – but which is better in reality

Bikebuoy: yeah very little even the geometry is within a gnats chuff of each other as far as i can see – though the standover height stays low on the 2012, but as i’m a lanky giant (no pun intended) it doesn’t really bother me.

I’ve got Avids on my anthem but Shimano on my SS ( i have an understanding girlfriend;) so easy on which brakes really.

I think i may go for the 2011 as im tight 🙂

hmm – thanks guys, i may have to take the darkside bike, or try and arrange some "family days" on the side of mountains (though with 2 kids 1 under 10 months old…that may be pushing it 🙁

Cheers for all the tips.

Review for those who may do a search:

Cannock is like Thetford on Hills. Admittedly not massive hills but it makes the most of what its got – like Thetford. The Follow The Dog (FTD) is a good intro to some intermediate without being scary trails. Theres enough in the forest to have a blast for a day or 2's riding, and practice makes it even better as going fast it what its all about.

Most of the sections are well laid out and surfaced so as mentioned in posts in this thread, unless animals are pairing up summer tacky tires will be all you need

There is loads to explore and the new trails look like they should be winners too – but as they say dont ride them till there open, these places take a lot of time to put together and if you haven't put in some work dont damage stuff others have or you're a c*ck.

All in it was a cracking ride, and if had more time would have stayed longer!

thanks – although i wish i had come up with the idea!

I'll take a look and see how much they are

2 options – that may be took late to try

The answer was in your original post "…Hit her…" – if she's claiming it and it isn't true make it so! Not PC but i'm sure it crossed your mind 🙂

Hit yourself and claim ABH – this could snow ball and she could hit herself for a counter claim, you would have to resort to GBH and before you know it you could both be seriously (self) injured or dead – still worth a try though

cheers -want something light as you never know i may get to like the feel of flatties

Cheers for teh pointers

thanks for the info everyone – may be change plans to scotland or cornwall

No idea where to go yet as never been past dublin – and only then on a boozey weekender – so ideas on that too welcomed!

Will check out the links thanks

cheers everyone!

Practice wheelies in the buff by the gap in full view of there lounge or kitchen, keep falling off and showing them your arse – a cheek mounted fence panel tattoo may help get the point across?

Or buy an evil bear size dog with “i eat kids” eyes and let it roam free….

Or dismantle his shed and use the walls to fill the gap?

Or tape his missus between the fence posts in a duck tape reconstruction of a scene in Aliens

Or maybe its time for me to go to bed….

Guillano – im nearly 15 stone after an over indulgent year, ride a carbon framed planet X and have hit things at high speed with no buckles or dings in the stock wheels

It may be the dark side but its a good way to get fit and makes a huge difference to the more important activity of mountain biking!

so in summary:

– Religion is sh*t (agreed in my humble opinion, and causes more problems than it supposedly solves or benefits people)

– Respect peoples views or beliefs (agreed)

– If you believe something why get offended when people disagree – or do you really have doubts (goes for extremists in atheism, humanism and ALL religions )

– holidays are good and i couldn’t give a sh*t why we have them but we should have more – but its no reason to create more religions to have a day off, just throw a sicky

– None of you are right as you cant be, regardless of what you think, the fact it is what YOU think means its not the entire truth just your opinion – so get over it

im not religious and im not an atheist – i’m a bikalist.

try the edge of the peaks – just moved to Bollington near Macclesfield and roads are decent surfaced and its up and down relentlessly (10miles = 900m total elevation). And not that busy with tourists -week away in macclesfield kids…i dont think so.

Sure the weathers crap and the drivers are more likely to run you off the road than give you the space our more considerate foreign friends do – but then its england we need to moan about some thing/idiot in the pub afterwards.

Remember the good riding places in europe and US are hundreds and hundreds of miles apart – you can ride completely different places in a single ride here.

Anyone fancy doing the cost to coast in 1 day – then youd see how good stuff is and how its all linked!

have you tried writing it on a piece of paper – placing it on thePC and then bashing it with a hammer to see if it gets that?

Seriously though:
Is it wifi or cabled?
If wifi – try it through a cable
If it works through a cable then its the wifi connection (PC or Router) if it doesnt its probably the router itself – so…

Reboot the router (leave off for at least 30 seconds), check cables before switching on
Turn on and make sure the right lights come on according to your ISP documentation – should have one on and one flickering on most

Restart your PC or disable your airport if you are on a Mac
Switch on PC or renable airport
Try and connect if this doesnt work then you may need to check that it isnt using a static IP through the network properties – TCP-IP options and set it to TCP-IP (windows) or Network Utility on a MAC

If that doesnt work try the hammer, my house is full post it notes wedged into PC’s through hammer action..

PS how did you post this if your not online?

Thanks – i’ll get onto them!

Thanks for the posts – got in touch with the nancies and hoping to get out on my bike again soon (2nd kids birth put the kybosh on it for the last few months – that and selling ahouse, starting a new job and relocating 200miles i’ve been a bit busy!

Cheers
jon