If you are 25 stone then probably not. 180 is plenty for an xc bike, just needs to be setup right.

I’ll let you know in about a week :wink:

Try wider bars with a zero rise stem.

I missed an opportunity 20 years ago that still rankles. Invited onto a greenpeace ship to go annoying ruskies in the arctic – they ended up getting arrested in Murmansk.

I had just accepted a promoted post tho and didn’t take the chance.

This sums it up. You regret not taking the chance then and will do so in 20 years time. What if we had taken the chance? Doesn’t bear thinking about……

Sorry am I missing something here. You have enough money to travel the world for 20 years and come back to a small pension?

What the **** are you waiting for? Pack your bags!!

I have an acquaintance who has spent the last year sailing round the world on a yacht. Every time I read his blog it make me wonder what the hell I am doing in this country. If I had the money I would be off on an adventure.

Many people get the chance to take 6 months or a year out, but to spend many years traveling the globe is something few will ever get the chance to do.

http://www.svlibertalia.com/

Can’t wait, the first series was brilliant. I watched the whole thing one evening and it was one of the best tv shows I have ever seen.

Buy a new pc to play newfangled flashy games (as well as doing work)

Mud tyres, mud guards and lights on the hardtail

Curse the idiots who put the clocks back.

Renew gym membership.

Try and find a hot new girlfriend for the dark nights ahead.

Water, puncture repair kit, pump, multi tool, apple and some biscuits. Job done

2010 Saracen Ariel. Job done.

Is better.

Night riding for me is about being able to ride during autumn, winter and Spring. More light = faster and more fun. End of.

Sand in your vagina again GW?

Ride pumptracks.

May be members of that forum don’t meet up or know each other?

Nope a lot of them do, they are just not as judgemental as some on here.

seat tipped down for climbing, tipped up for downhill :wink:

It’s amazing how well behaved people will admit to being on an internet forum.

I’m a member of another forum where a similar question has been asked. The answers were quite different to what is being said here………..

I have been arrested once and was not convicted. This is not a good indication of how badly behaved someone is, only that they got caught.

Some of the stuff I got up to as a yoof would have landed me in jail for quite some time……had I been caught.

People lead such different lives. It is amazing how well behaved the majority were on here.

Good job I have calmed down and become more sensible as i’ve got older.

Dude, it’s anonymous.

That maybe, but a percentage of members are so high on their horses, it just isn’t worth the hassle. Judgementalworld.com

Besides, I’m not a fan of incriminating myself, the skeletons can stay in the closet :wink:

Not much I can admit to on an internet forum. The holier than thou brigade will be out en masse.

My (humble)view on this is that if you’re new to MTB then the best way to approach this is to learn to ride the bike on flats first. That way you learn to actually ‘ride’ the bike rather than be a passenger on it.

By this I mean you learn how to be a part of the bike without having to rely on a mechanical attachment.

Then after a year or two learn to ride clipped to the bike. If you find you like it carry on and if not switch back to flats.

Sadly it seems the golden era of flat pedal (DH) racers seems to be dwindling after only a brief flirtation in the limelight. The only rider that seems to be carrying the torch these days is Sam Hill and he seems to be a bit hit and miss these days. Gee, Peaty, Minnar, they’re all racing clipped in.

BTW your shins will be fine; it’s almost never your shins that get clobbered by the pins but rather your calves. When you slip a flat pedal it’s typically your calves that get gouged; they bleed profusly and your partner will curse you for bleeding all over the bed sheets, but strangely enough it doesn’t ever hurt.

Most of the scars I’ve got on my calves were from gouges (gouge really is the right word) I never even knew I’d done.

This x10

As a beginner if your aim is to become ‘good’ on a bike then you should start with flats as you cannot get away with bad technique and have to learn the proper way (heels down, correct bunny hops, efficient pedaling)

If you are not fussed and want to go from A to B as quickly as possible then crack on with clips.

She is good looking + ‘could’ be a murderer = media frenzy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

the term ‘bottomfeeder’ springs to mind…..

I ride everything from xc, dj, downhill and whatever trendy new marketing term the latest bikes have. I tried the one bike to do it all and it was rubbish. I now have 5 (soon to be 4) and am much happier :D

It is utter gash.

I’ve done 8 easy. Then again I have the metabolism of a racehorse, so it doesn’t really have an effect. In a whole day I think I could do 20 quite comfortably.

Hora has tried to buy my 2011 Enduro frame, so I’m going with this.

Anyone up for selling a pair. Maybe you got caught up in the frenzy and dont actually need them? :wink:

Send me an email @ worldeliteAThotmailDOTcom

If you can find one a Sinister Ridge is pretty much indestructable. Doesn’t matter how heavy you are or how hard you ride, it is like water off a ducks back for the ridge. It is build like a brick lavatory house.

Here was my frame: http://kudos100.pinkbike.com/album/ridge/

It is designed as a ‘freeride’ hardtail, but can do pretty much anything from long xc rides to downhill and dj. I miss mine but it was too much bike for me :(

Anyone rate the compression tops? I tried one on but it felt itchier than a very itchy thing.

I went a bit overboard a bought, two winter shirts, one winter jacket, two compression tops, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks and a pair of waterproof trousers :oops:

I think the compression tops and winter jacket will be going back though. The compression tops are itchy and a bit cheap and nasty and not totally convinced about the winter jacket……..

It doesn’t get any better than this. Pure magic.

esnipe. Means I don’t get caught up in the bidding frenzy.

Entroducing is one of the best albums of all time. Second album was ok, nothing special. I won’t get my hopes up for this, but will have a listen.

Looks awesome. Shame they put a small sensor in it. If it came with an aps-c size sensor I would buy one.

The nex7 will smash it to bits.

This I can agree with, even if I still disagree with Tamron being better than an L lens.

I’ve worked with many pro’s and have shot with both lenses. The Tamron is the better lens in terms of sharpness. Wide open the canon is better and the build quality is streets ahead of the Tamron.

I know one pro who I used to work with who uses the Tamron for exactly the reasons I stated. It is sharper.

The difference is Tamron and sigma make a few really good lenses, whereas Nikon and Canon only make a few average ones, most are stellar.

I’ve read very good reports about the Tamron, but think this is the exception rather than the rule, nicely summed up by you may get a sharp Tamron, but you should get a sharp canon (or nikon equivalent).

The other factor is build quality, Ive a 24-70 than has been abused in a studio for 4 years, dropped numerous times, cleaned thousands of times with edges of clothing, leant on, sat on … you name it. But its still going strong (bar a slightly wobbly mount).

At the other end of the spectrum, was recently registering focus calibrations on a 1 series body and was shocked at how poor a Sigma 70-200 2.8 was resolving detail, even stopped down. Was quickly sold on as a result.

Quality control is not as good, but canons quality control is not that brilliant itself. I have seen soft L lenses and I have seen soft tamrons and sigmas.

Wide open the canon is marginally better, but stopped down the tamron is better. Not much in it.

I love the build of L lenses and the 70-200 is the cats whiskers, but unless you are pro I don’t see the point in spending x amount extra to have the coveted ‘L’ series lenses.

Too many people worry about having the expensive gear, when they have little understanding of composition or light.

Can’t say I agree Kudos100 high end pro lenses are just amazing – can’t go back to kit lenses once you’ve used them…

Kit lenses are shit. Tamron and sigma make some decent lenses that are not as expensive as Canon or Nikon. My Tamron 28-75 is sharper than Canons 28-70L and is about half the price.

Yes the build quality is not as good, but the images it produces are wonderful.

maybe for amateurs, pixel peepers and measurbators.

why have all the film c-41 and E6 labs closed in london? i know people who spent 20k a year on film and processing 8 years ago, their film bill now is zero.

Not for high end ad and fashion photographers. Clients want proofs yesterday so the vast majority shoot digital, but I know some who shoot both. Especially large format. 5×4 still beats just about every digital back.

The labs have closed because the vast majority are shooting digital due to cost and pressure from clients, but that does not mean digital is ‘better’ it just has different strengths and weaknesses.

that happened in 2005 with the 5D and 1dsMKII in 2004. get with the program.

Nope film is still king when it comes to pictures with high contrast. Even the most fancy digital backs clip the highlights, where as film softly transitions to white.

Once they crack this film will truly be obsolete.

Oh and regarding kit, the vast majority will never use even the mid range bodies and lenses to their full potential.

Don’t bother with high end stuff unless you are rich or a pro.

FF is great as is medium format, but unless you are making large prints it isn’t all that. The main advantage is being able to compose easier due to the bigger viewfinder. You get used to a crop sensor though :wink: