Allin-Khan for health secutary Shirley?

Did it last year, easily the best enduro I’ve done, by a mile. Big days out, some excellent stages with some good elevation/distance.

Organization was spot on, and as above, it’s pricey but good value in my opinion.

What are the stages like in terms of difficulty / technical-ness ? The highlights video did look a bit tame…

Roughly in line with other UK enduros I’ve done. Where do you normally ride?

The stages are a mix, there is some flat out fast stuff and steep techy and everything in between.

I’m aiming to do it again this year.

So even if Mike Smith works for company A and Mike Smith No.2 works for company B Xero has a head fit?

Yes.

I ended up prefixing the contact name with the company eg. “Company A – Mike Smith”

Probably not a very helpful answer, but a while back I ended up banging my head against a wall for a while as Xero doesn’t allow for duplicate contact names.

It’s an issue that goes back years:
https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/4401439/

It’s likely that it wouldn’t matter to you but the fact the company is daft enough to use Contact Name as a unique identifier doesn’t instill confidence.

Ranty!

Lots of candidates missing from that list kiksy.

No union backing, not put through to the members’ vote. Pretend that’s a coincidence, rather than the intention of the new system put in place, if you want.

Who is missing?

The first round requires at least 10% MP or MEP nominations, nothing to do with trade unions. Clive Lewis for instance didn’t get enough MP votes.

The second round is what I’ve listed above, where trade unions can have an impact (but only did in the case of Thornbury).

The 3rd round is the membership vote.

Any news on AS yet? I did read that one of the 3 Jewish people expelled for AS has been reinstated, but not Jackie Walker or Tony Greenstein.

I’ve only read of more people being kicked out/quitting before they were kicked out.
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/labour-expels-25-people-over-antisemitism-in-a-single-day-1.496742

Note sure when the EHRC report is going to come out, but I guess no major changes will happen until after that and the new leader is in place.

Did any candidate make it to the members’ vote without a major union sponsoring them?

Not claiming to fully understand why all the rules are the way they are… but I think I called it correct about the new nomination process meaning that the unions effectively have a veto.

Candidates needed 33 CLP nominations, OR 3 affiliate nominations, 2 of which needed to be unions.

CLP nominations:
Keir Starmer: 374
Rebecca Long-Bailey: 164
Lisa Nandy: 72
Emily Thornberry: 31

Angela Rayner: 365
Dawn Butler: 82
Richard Burgon: 77
Ian Murray: 60
Rosena Allin-Khan: 56

Only Thornbury failed on CLP nominations, and she also failed on affiliate .

Every other candidate would of made it through even without union/affiliate nominations.

Yes, Blandford is much smaller than Salisbury, but it does still have a decent buzz about it, many shops are independent and it doesn’t have that “dying a death” feel that many small towns high streets have.

Really good bike shop Offcamber as well, they run a XC race series which is again ridable to from Blandford.

Not sure when you are planning on moving, but there are plans to build new houses in Charlton Marshall, the land of which is currently underwater. Unless they have some serious flood management plans I’d avoid those!

Okeford Hill Bike Park (formerly UK Bike Park) is close to Shillingston/Okeford Fitzpaine. Can be ridden to from Blandford though.

Puddletown forest is also good for riding. Wareham forest has some too, and for nice views, the Purbecks.

There are some bits in Blandford forest, but not loads, space to dig though.

Most of the local villages are all #fairly# similar, with most having a local pub, village hall and not much else. 😂 . I’d happily live in any of those listed, and would base it more on which had the best house. I would expect house prices to be similar in all.

Internet speeds are now pretty good, buses are not so good.

If you do move around there drop me a message and I can show you around.

Had a 2014 Trance, liked it.

I’ve ridden the new 29er Trance, geo is better and it pedals really well with those big wheels.

Scott Spark is similar to the Trance , but a little more playful.

Not ridden one but a Ripmo AF can be had for £3100, that would be top of my test list.

I buy a big bag of maltrodextrin and dextrose from Bulk Powders or MyProtein and just add to water. They are only a few quid for a kilo.

Another way I’d look at this – how many people can afford a £25k+ car on HP when paying half that does the same job? Many. In comparison a £5k bike isn’t a stretch? No-one’s being put off ‘the sport’ based on E-bike pricing

I don’t know the figures, but a mountain bike is purely for leisure (unless you commute on it) . A car for many is a necessity.

I assume most people get into riding through friends and the amount of people who just pick it up individually to be fairly small.

If your group of friends all have mid range £5k ebikes and you have a £50 Halfords special you found in the shed then your pressure to get an ebike is huge if you want to carry on riding with them.

I just can’t see how that many people can afford to throw down this kind of money.

Pretty much everyone I know who rides started with a relatively cheap hardtail moved on to a better hardtail before getting a full suss .

That’s kind of my point.

What’s the cheapest ebike you can get that isn’t just complete tat? £2k? Maybe?

What’s a decent non ebike? £600?

The amount of people who just will instantly be turned off when they find out that even the most basic entry level model costs so much I think will be very high. I’m sure many people equate “entry level” to mean “for beginners” as well.

Backs up why I think a mid-range bike can still be aspirational, that £12k premium price aspiration doesn’t negatively impact on image/attitude type of aspiration.

As alluded to already, ebikes are often touted as a way of getting people who maybe wouldn’t ride a normal bike out on the trails.

Imagine someone who is interested in getting one who walks into a shop knowing nothing about bikes and sees a £12k one on the wall, asks if they have anything cheaper and gets shown the “entry level” model at £4k.

What percentage of people are just going to walk out at that point knowing that they will never be able to afford to get into the sport? Many people equate that the second cheapest option is often the best wine choice in a restaurant, so say that’s £5k.

Honestly how many people can really afford that as an entry into a sport?

My issue with these groups is that I don’t think they understand the scale of the problem. If you think that an imminent (~10 years) climate catastrophe needs averting by an immediate reduction in CO2 emissions to essentially pre-Industrial Revolution levels, your only choice really is a global return to the Stone Age. Or an immediate global change to nuclear power.

Surely what you’re saying means they do understand the scale of the problem?

Or are you saying the problem isn’t that big?

What is, then?

FWIW I reckon this is the second most unanswered question on any politics thread on here after ‘so what do you see as the benefits of Brexit?’

How do you soft-soap exposing stupidity and petty nastiness?

I guess just by asking them lots and lots of questions as to why they feel/think that way and then calmly and patiently give your reasons and evidence to the contrary.

Easier said than done obviously.

The ‘just about managing’ in your average small to medium town are not directing their anger where it should go.

Totally agree, they’ve worked the line that the Tories are for the hard working, Labour for the lazy and that tax cuts are always good thing.

But

It has taken a long time to pull the strands of this trick together, to convince idiots that liabilities are assets and that anyone other than right wing populists will take it away and give it to someone else.

But suffuse it with a bit of implied racism and the morons have lapped it up.

Then going and calling them idiots and morons is hardly the way to start to convince them any different is it?

Islington North CLP has nominated Starmer and Rayner.

https://mobile.twitter.com/CLPNominations/status/1226139468073185280

Make of that what you will.

Why Nandy? A complete liability. No talent, no brains, no principles

She at least understands that Labour need to listen and reconnect to regain the lost northern seats.

Seems to be able to handle herself well in interviews as well.

But the party faithful/Momentum/common room/PFJ’s preference is for Long Bailey and that numbskull Burgon

It is, but the numbers of them are not as big as many make out, as displayed by the CLP nominations.

Momentum has 40,000 members in total.

Labour has had 100,000 new members since the election. It’s highly unlikely that these are hardcore Corbynites who have only just now decided to join up. More likely it’s people coming back to make sure the same mistakes aren’t made again.

Starmer and Rayner are going to walk it.

If it ends up being a combination of ‘boring but across his brief’ Starmer, and ‘laugh off your erudite but condescending questioning style’ Rayner… that is probably the best outcome possible

It’s going to be those 2 almost certainly, unless either makes a monumental gaff in the next few weeks.

For those saying the party has lost it’s mind and still has massive support for Corybn:

So far, 350 CLPs have nominated candidates to be leader of the Labour Party.

Keir Starmer: 201
Rebecca Long-Bailey: 96
Lisa Nandy: 40
Emily Thornberry: 13 pic.twitter.com/HOCiY1OLAB

— CLP Nominations (@CLPNominations) February 7, 2020

“So far, 350 CLPs have nominated candidates to be leader of the Labour Party.

Keir Starmer: 201
Rebecca Long-Bailey: 96
Lisa Nandy: 40
Emily Thornberry: 13”

“So far, 352 CLPs have nominated candidates to be deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Angela Rayner: 200
Dawn Butler: 49
Richard Burgon: 39
Ian Murray: 37
Rosena Allin-Khan: 27”

Starmer is far far ahead with the traditionally more left wing CLPs (compared to the general membership).

I too agree that Nandy may be a better choice, but lets just try and keep to the facts. The party clearly knows that a big change is needed, and is acting on it.

I too have the pre geo update model (2017).

It is very stiff, to the point of being harsh in many cases. I do have quite a small low volume tyre on the rear which probably doesn’t help.

Maybe not the answer you were looking for, but what about grabbing a shovel, rake and mattock with the money you’d spend on the car park and building something new somewhere?

Remember, once upon a time QECP and head down trails didn’t exist. They came about because people put the effort in and built them

Onward and upward, the battle for a better UK has begun.

This. The anger and frustration at Brexit is to be expected. If we let that anger consume us and then lash out wildly at anyone who doesn’t agree with us do we really think it’ll improve the state of the country?

Hard though it will be, the time now is for listening, understanding and actions to make things better, for everyone. Bite your tongue and rise above.

It sounds as though ebikes bring the same issue to the climbs as you now have to try to ride up a cliff to get the same challenge you used to get from a muddy bank.

I was talking about technical climbs rather than just steep stuff. You have a the ability to put down a huge burst of power very very quickly so you can get up and over stuff much easier, and in less distance.

I’m fairly small and light, and found the same, on descents they just feel like a big heavy lump that does it’s own thing. Not necessarily bad, but very different to a normal bike.

But.

And to be honest… Riding up stuff that’s hard interests me WAY more on a manual bike than it would on an ebike. It’s about the challenge, it’s about the grit, determination, sweat and effort.
Climbing it on an ebike, meh, i’m not seeing it.

Technical climbs they really come into there own. You can get up stuff you’d never even look at on a normal bike. It opens up a whole new world of what’s possible. Still lots of effort and skill required, but for me, technical climbs would be the main reason for buying an ebike.

Horses for courses.

Santa Cruz 5010.

Maybe a bit more travel than you want but they pedal very well and often built up light.

There is no reason why you can’t keep getting better. I know lots of people older than you who have significantly improved since I’ve known them.

Both jumps and wheelies are good targets as wheelies can be learnt literally anywhere, even just outside your house in the road. Watch YouTube videos and ask other people you know for tips.

Jumps, I just built my own in the local woods. This meant they were the exact size I wanted (tiny) and the run in/out are straight and smooth. Then I’ve just built them up bigger and bigger over time. As the increase each time can be quite small, progress is sped up.

Start small, keep at it. I’m older than you and not ashamed to admit that I still get a wave of enjoyment from clearing a stick I’ve placed after the jump further than I have before.

Also, skills course.

I’ve been told that we will be going to all the bike parks, so which would be best for the job?

If you are sticking to the bike parks then there is no reason to not take the DH bike.

There’s a ton of great riding that requires a bit of pedaling, but equally there are so many easily accessed lift assisted trails you’ll likely not even see them all in a week.

More than anything now, other half is now interested to know the general feeling about me taking her to BPW on her rim brake/26″/Carrara hybridy MTB looking thing, and how much I should be repenting for this.

I guess the main thing would be how well the rim brakes worked. If they at least allowed for controlled speed then I wouldn’t feel too bad.

Did it have suspension? My first bike had some ropey RST coil things that were worse than being rigid as they were so inconsistent.

That sounds awful, not to mention holding everyone behind you up

Come on. Anyone going to a busy bike park has to accept catching up slower riders and being caught by faster ones.

Just part of the experience and hardly a chore.

To be honest if I saw someone on a Halfords special I’d give them a cheer and let them crack on.

Obvious question but is spring rate correct?

No preload on the spring?

does that mean the shock will move easily at first, moving through to the lower points on the curve, such as a value of 2ish, where the shock will meet more resistance in the linkage?

From the chart the linkage is progressive until 120mm of travel, then fairly linear until 150 with the last 10mm being slightly regressive.

The last 10mm being regressive is so that the natural progressiveness of an air shock is negated slightly, making it easier to use full travel.

For a coil this can be less than ideal, but it’s only slightly regressive and doesn’t the Storia have adjustable bottom out support?

In answer to:

as the bike feels very progressive to me

The chart shows this too, up until the last bit of travel.

Both the 2016 and 2018 Reigns have a progressive to linear to a smidge regressive curve.

On that graph the Nomad 3 has a very progressive rate and the Turner a progressive to regressive.

I never get this.. Why ISN’T they’re a magic setting for everywhere?!

Once I’ve set my shock, I only adjust the lockout on /off…

If half of your riding is on slick muddy super steep off camber and fairly low speed, and the other is on super fast smooth big jump lines then the ideal setup for each will be quite far apart.

Obviously that’s an extreme example, but most people don’t ride the same terrain in the same conditions and mood all the time.

For me I try and setup the bike for the most riding I do, rather than what I’d like to do and accept that it won’t be perfect for a lot of it, as I can’t be arsed to faff around changing it all the time.

Had a go with my new Shockwiz today around Danbury common, which for anyone who’s been there will know it’s not exactly Les Gets but it’s the most bumpy area near where I live.

Is this where you ride mostly on that bike/ where you want to ride that bike most?

Garda is stunning and there is some really good riding there.

There is a gondola in Malcesine which takes you up to Monte Baldo but it only allows bikes up early in the day which is annoying. However there are a few companies offering uplifts in the area. Or you can pedal up obviously.

Torbole seems to have the most mountain bikers in it, and has a bike park which also has it’s own uplift.

There are guides available but I’ve just freestyled routes from gpx files and Strava.

I’ve tried both on the rear. Both painfully slow rolling, but yeah, grip is excellent. The Shorty is quite a bit narrower, and on wider rims was very square. The Mary rounds off nicer.

Whether it makes that much difference in performance I don’t know, but the Shorty side knobs took a beating pretty quickly compared to the Mary.

A Transit is just as good as a Transporter.