so the proper racing is saturday as that’s the only day when there is control over when people enter stages, but then you can just ride it as a loop on sunday. Is that right?

It’s been explained to me by folks more literate than I, than the stages on sunday are still timed, but with a more relaxed approach to the 15 second gap between riders.

why not make the saturday bimble \ practice day and sunday proper race conditions?

Presumably because there was so much demand they thought it better to have twice as many racers spread over 2 days.

I think people racing on both days may have missed the point.

I’ve been through this recently from the other side… but mikew pretty much nails it. Most of what he’s asking for is not reasonable and/or wear & tear.

We also resolved our situation much more quickly. We did have agents helping facilitate the negotiations…. and yes, there are negotiations. We had damaged stuff that needed replacing/repairing but knew that having to go to arbitration would be a ballache and they might not side with us anyway. We let some stuff slide, to show that we were reasonable and held on for other stuff that we were really not happy with.

Good luck and keep at them”

has the angle/position of the top surface if the swingarm changed drastically since your 5 was made?

did they send you the right model? what does the packet say?

The bottom of Beehives was a mess this summer I’m sure you can get lost there now.

Route 666 gets puddles but it’s never that muddy.

I’m in the same boat as the OP. My better half’s Pike’s are lovely and plush at the start then ramp up much better than my 34’s.

My 34’s have some damage to the dropout, making their resale value close to nowt so I’m also considering the Fit4 upgrade route..

I nearly leapt at some 2016 TALAS 36’s on the classifieds the other day until I thought about how little I’d get for my 34’s!

For off-road-linking-sections (rather than commuting) I’ll leave off suggesting tyres with reflective sidewalls and spoke reflectors as they’ll likely be covered with mud after a brief foray off-road.

The ankle things are very effective if they’re clean enough but I’d suggest a reflective rucksack cover. I know it’s not exactly stealth but visible and effective at keeping your bag clean, too.

However I think 40mpg nailed it in the first reply and the rest of us are bleating on because this is STW and we can’t help it. #keyboardwarriors

epicyclo – I cna understand your concerns but unless you’ve been an that situation and tried it….

In my experience (probably 10 years of tubeless-ness), these figures are roughly correct

90% of the time you won’t need to re-seat a tyre on a tubeless setup. Repairing a tyre can nearly always be done from the outside using a worm and glue kit.

5% of the time you might have damaged the tyre beyond repair of a worm. Despite my concerns I had a go at repairing a kenda nevegal (either UST or tubeless-ready) when I slashed the sidewall. I unhooked one side, glued a patch on the inside and did manage to get it to inflate with a mini pump.

5% of the time you might have to put a tube in.

I’d happily sacrifice a riding glove to teach that bint a lesson.

Hi magszh, we had the version of the old docs we managed to find thanks to the efforts above on my phone but the staff at Kathmandu didn’t seem to be phased and I don’t think we had any trouble getting our bikes on the plane!

Shipping is over £200 per bike to Aus. I flew (to NZ) with a my best MTB as sporting equipment for ~£50 and bought a cheap roadie when over.

I was on flights delayed thanks to that Turkish Airlines plane stuck in Kathmandu, earlier this year.

Not entitled to anything from the airline (Non EU carrier, non-EU flight) and in fact, aside from their slightly ropey communications, Qatar looked after us very well.

Got £100 each from the flight insurance (Trailfinders) no problems. Had to jump through the hoops and use their forms but paid up quickly once I submitted everything as they wanted.

As mentioned in the thread that CFH is alluding to, my second set of bearings in my Spank Spike’s have lasted a couple of wet rides. I’m going to get them apart later this week to see exactly what’s going on and see if I can rescue the (non standard, proprietary size) bearings with some grease.

Next set of bearings I’ll open up from new and fill with grease (I’m not sure I did that with these ones). After that I might see if I can get some bushes machined from a lump of something fancy.

Otherwise, thin and grippy. The Spike’s are too big for my little size 8 feet, but you do lose some effective area from the big inboard bearing.

From what I’ve seen, the Hope’s might be my next pair.

Having seen the smog having over every New Zealand city over the winters, it’d have to be a very clean, modern wood burning stove I’d ever install in a house.

I mean, everyone looks back on the air quality of the 70’s with such fondness.

The massive inboard bearings on my Spank Spike’s don’t seem to last more than one muddy ride at the moment 🙁

I’m not a doc tor but when they docs strike, I’ll be taking a day off work to join them.

Cheers for the experimenting Bez, I was about to launch in to some similar trials myself. I have a small shelf full of P7 torches that I would have loved to make more socially acceptable!

I have actually done it with a tube cutter in the past and I’ve not died yet

Are you sure?

I like the theory, how does that work? Not everyone’s power will be the same.

Presumably you establish a base power level and do 150% sprints, 200% intervals and a 70% recovery effort?

Over the winters in NZ I did some s’pin’ classes when you took your own bike and hooked in up to a turbo – then did an hour’s session with a TdF video on the big screen. Was great for getting some extra training in through the winter (cheers stevious for getting me in to that!).

I also did some gym based spinning. It wasn’t really as good as a representative workout on the bike but it was still a good cardio workout. If I was going to a gym I’d rather be enhancing my gunz anyway 😉

Just a lot of gradual evolution really.

tyres are bigger & better
suspension is better
shocks are a bit better
suspensions systems are a bit better
brakes are maybe a bit better
gears have gone more at the back & fewer at the front
weights have come down

the result is a bike you can comfortably carry up to the top of your local mountain and hoon it back down.

Dropper posts are a ‘game changer’ for undulating riding, so that you can drop your seat and attack everything like it’s a downhill run. then pop it back up to continue pedalling.

Wheel size is a red herring, it was just a move to make everyone buy a whole new bike next time you want to do some upgrading.

Now they’ve done that, the wider hub standards will for everyone to buy a whole new bike.

What did you have, a stumpjumper? Hardly inadequate or particularly out of date. You’ll find it harder to get shiny new forks to fit, but nothing too wrong with putting a 650b fork in if that increases your options (with all the usual effects of a longer fork in your frame).

IF it really is that biblical and I’m still determined to ride to work, I use Endura neoprene overshoes and some Gore Paclite cycling trousers. Keep ones feet perfectly dry and overly toasty. I’ve been briefly submerged up my calves with these before but they kept me dry somehow! The trousers have a good seal around the bottom you can tighten up.

When it’s only moderately pissing down and I haven’t resorted to the car, the overshoes can be done up a bit tighter if you don’t do the zip up all the way. Wet legs, dry feet.

Shimano seem to design most stuff so it cant just fall off, brake levers have catches, calipers have bolts with retention clips or wire etc.

Yeah, the only sensible reason for having a flat surface on the shank would be for a locking screw. Otherwise you’ve made a simple bolt much more expensive for no good reason.

Just remembered how funny your electronics were. It it because you went near County Durham???

1st rattly descent of the day (parkamoor off grizedale) and it dropped out! My LH shifter is connected to my KS Lev. It may have been loose and it wouldn’t have affected the function.

Same issue a few weeks ago! Despite being assembled with loctite I lost the same bolt. I’ve also replaced it with an appropriate length button head with no apparent loss of function.

I assumed the flat length of shank was for a grub screw or locking screw to mate with but my i-spec B didn’t have that. Maybe it’s a feature from i-spec A?

Can anyone confirm?

Your phone knows where you are and what time it is, but could it be set to the wrong time zone?

I’d just bypass the guide on the seat tube, cut the cable shorter and have the cable noodle pointing down.

2 x no votes for south coast I’m afraid. They were quick and cheap but had a couple of problems.

You’re now n-1, you should feel very daft indeed!

Enjoy the new bike!

Piggy

I am also still annoyed with myself for ‘only’ getting 99% in my physics mock for missing the ‘s’ off a time value in seconds…

That’s valid. 60 Whats? 60 Watts? 60 Minutes? 60 Bananas?

Ever heard an Italian (almbulance) siren? Sounds like Tarzan.

The Mrs and I can only conclude that JH is actually attempting to screw up the NHS by any means. Then once the system has fallen apart, people are dying waiting to be triaged in A&E and you can’t see your GP without a 10-week wait… then he’ll increase the pace of privatisation and **** us all over.

the point is, the junior doctors are getting royally **** and the only possible explanation is that jeremy hunt is either a ****, or has more eyes than brain cells.

/edit – please do keep this on topic and go and debate house prices and RIO elsewhere. starting salaries are shit for junior doctors and under the new contract they’re not going to be increased as much by banding and they’re going to stay shit for a lot longer.

does the swear filter not work for edits? ****. clearly does, must mean that shit isn’t swearing.

Just to upset the applecart, I’ve been …

Oi you and your real-world experiences, get out. This thread is about knee-jerk reactions, unqualified hearsay, dodgy physics and a big-hitter style argument rumbling on in the background as usual.

mikewsmith

Not a blue trail, but a closed course but also what could happen..

Not quite. That’s Vic Park in ChCh.

That is a blue trail (yes, with a big gap jump and chicken line). There are dedicated walkers trails and dedicated cycling trails criss-crossing vic park. There are generally signs at the head of each one and at every intersection. The signs are generally instructing walkers to give way to MTBs because they’re moving bloomin fast (in may case about half of Wyn’s speed…) down steep tracks.

That particular section of open track is incredibly well used (almost all the DH tracks funnel in to it) and is crossed by a walking track. In that location I think (having walked there to watch some racing) I think there aren’t any signs!!!

The other other important question is “The other other important question is “How much do juniors in NZ / Oz / Canada get paid?””

The much more significant question is, “How much better do juniors in NZ / Oz / Canada get treated?”

I’ll give you a clue. Much, much better.

For a doctor in specialist training the basic salary is between £30,002 and £47,175.

Specialist training is about 2-3 years beyond junior doctor levels.

My scoop is barely showing any signs of wear. Very happy so far. If I crashed and put a big hole through the outer, I’d buy another (or one of the family).

I did have a knife at one point and did like the idea of more flex and less padding.

When I was a student we asked for (and got) some hoops that went in to the front wall of the house – next to the front door, underneath the front window and behind a hedge. Once decent bike got its wheels nicked as only the frame was locked but ordinary BSO’s were fine for the year.

If you’re looking in to Asgard bike boxes and the like they are quite big and could be a problem if tenants start losing keys! I’m also aware that if you have one of those in plain sight it could attract attention more than it keeps the bikes safe.