Only just stopped riding a panaracer smoke and dart.

I’m thinking that two sets for the whole year is plenty. Probably mud x until spring and then a maxxis of some kind for summer and autumn. I’ve tried a few different tyres recently and cannot be arsed with having to faff about changing them for different conditions.

kudos100 – that link demonstrates my point entirely. Way too much, ends up looking tacky.

I like it, apart from the red cables. Wouldn’t do it myself, but white, gold and red looks awesome.

White or silver are the best choices. http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12728310 Not mine, but a nice looking bike.

You disappoint me tazzy.

A prophet is the best film I’ve seen in a long while.

x2 Absolutely amazing. So good I am going to download it now and watch it again tonight :D

my favorite bit……

“Hey john, where did you get that fancy new bike?” “Its actually not new at all, I bought it off some **** with more money than sense on singletrackworld. He clearly couldnt ride for toffee, just like the rest of those asshats”

Lol :-)

Just started snowing heavily, in Cwmcarn.

Scuppered my plans for riding the downhill track tomorrow :(

Sounds about right to me….

“You could hear banging sounds, like a hammer, even at night,” one neighbour told local media. “But we thought they were doing work at night. We said: ‘They are going too far! They are preventing us from sleeping!’ If we had known….'”

LMAO!!

If your going to go singlespeed I’d go for the beard and sandals personally.

1) Aversion to steel is simple, weight. Show me a steel frame for the same budget that weighs 3.7lb like the MMMbop (that’s an amazing weight, how much does the MMMbop normally cost??). My experiences with steel have not been sufficiently ‘flexy’ or ‘comfy’ to convince me, plus I could just stick a Ti post in and get the same effect, lighter

I couldn’t tell you, I was primarily interested in something that was bombproof, weight was a secondary factor :-)

If you are not looking for stiff and snappy, cross the rumble, sinister (and from what I have heard) stiffee and chameleon off the list.

I was in the same boat a few months ago (not having sold a rocky ridge, that is just silly :P, but wanting a do it all alu hardtail)

Saracen zen, mountain cycle rumble and sinister ridge are all awesome.

Out of interest why the aversion to steel? you’ve mentioned long techy climbs and all day treks. If you are not jumping off things and behaving like a hooligan then an overbuilt alu frame seems a bit overkill.

XTR beenie hat free with MBUK is as close as I’ve got

Same here. You can really tell the difference between the xt and the xtr one…..

I was vegetarian for 16 years and then discovered bacon. I have been on the dark side ever since.

If someone was to suggest that being a veggie makes a difference to what kind of sports or activities a person may enjoy, I would hazard a guess that they grew up on a farm and lost their virginity to a chicken or goat. I could be wrong about redneck meat eaters, only if you prove me wrong.

Jesus there is some horseshit posted on this forum. Quite a few trolls to be found on STW……..

You can have any colour as long as it’s orange.

Decent customer service. I phoned up winstanleysbikes a few times and the customer service was appalling. Phoned up merlin and the guy I spoke to was really helpful.

This can make a big difference, although price and having the bits I want in stock are most important.

Looks a bit small, but then again I ride a 19″ and am 6’3. How long is the stem?

It was hyped up to me so much, inevitably when I watched it, it didn’t live up to the hype. Still a great movie and one I shall watch again very soon.

I think I will ask him some ‘serious’ questions as a total beginner and see what the answer is….

Just buy a half decent compact leave the SLR at home…

This. Ride it like you stole it and take a compact, or tone down the riding and take an slr. I vote for the former :-)

Hey Timothius, if you fancy coming on a ride in Sussex let me know, you’d be more than welcome. I’ve just got back into riding and have met some great people through it.

It was cold when I started in summer! Christ knows what it is going to be like now 8O

A large dose of MTFU to go for a short run in winter I reckon :-)

Tell me about it, ive gone from 20 mpw down to 2-3 mpw. got some vff’s but over did it so i’m going bf all the way.

I may well be joining you, seems like it is the only way I can build up slowly and not injure myself. It was really strange going out for a barefoot run for the first time!

SBZ – try this http://www.williamsichel.co.uk/documents/Running_Fast_and_Injury_Free.pdf

It’s an interesting read and he’s got a bit of pedigree in the sport. If nothing else it’ll while away a bit of time while you heal.

Great book Mustard, it was one of the first ones I read when I started getting interested in running :-)

kudos100…..ah someone talking sense for once – am trying this barefoot thing at the mo, feels kinda nice not to be pounding the pavement. what have i got to loose? what have i got to gain..? never having to buy (and throw away) expensive running shoes ever again

Yep running shoe companies say you should replace your shoes every 300-500 miles, I’ve heard of people putting 10’000 miles on a cheap pair of old school running shoes!

I tried the barefoot thing, but got frustrated as you have to go so slowly. Vibram and all the special minimialist shoes are nice but too expensive for my liking. I run in ten quid aqua socks :D At the moment I keep getting IT band problems so have been focusing on mtb’ing.

Regardless of who it was funded by, try my experiment and see how far you get. Your heel is bone, no cushioning whatsoever. The ball and the arch are the foots natural cushioning mechanism.

Cushioned running shoes have been around for about 40 years, human’s have been on the earth for what, about 200’000 years? Seems strange that cushioned running shoes have done nothing at all to prevent injuries (in some cases made them worse) and we were running fine without them for thousands of years.

Try running down the road barefoot on your heels and see how far you get :wink:

Cushioned running shoes were invented by Nike in the 70’s to sell more shoes. Before that no-one ran with a heel strike. Modern cushioned shoes have done nothing to prevent running injuries, if anything they have made the situation worse.

Running with a forefoot or midfoot strike is the natural way to run and is how the body is designed to function.

Here is some reading if you are interested: http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

£500 can get a lot of frame.

Evil Sovereign or a chromag stylus for example. I know which i’d rather have…..

Avocado.

Gimme shelter, possibly the best song intro ever…….

9 quid every 6-8 weeks. My barber is the best I have ever seen, I’ve yet to find someone that comes close to his level of ocd’ishness when it comes to cutting hair :-)

I’d be after a compact. I have a decent SLR and wouldn’t take it mountain biking as 1. it’s to big and bulky and 2. I would be worried about stacking it and smashing it to bits.

With a compact neither of these things are a problem.

That looks bloody terrible mate. I bet it will ride like a 3 legged camel. I think you should sell it to me at a hefty discount and get something else.

If you are willing to consider aluminium then you can get some real bargains:

Mountain cycle rumble, Marin rocky ridge/b17 or a Saracen zen for under a hundred quid. You might get a cheap stiffee or chameleon for about 200.

If you are set on steel then as others have said, trailstar, 456 summer season are cheap and will do the job.

Personally I’d look at the less popular brands and try and pick up a bargain. That way you will have more to spend on forks and the rest of the build.

I got a really expensive frame for £110, due to it being a brand that is not trendy.

Oh please, you just want to dress up in kinky sh1t and dye your hair.

Fascinated by Japanese teen culture?. Like I said, beyond help.

Apologies it was Elf. Not surprising really.

What are you trying to say? That there’s something wrong with wanting to be a Japanese schoolgirl?

No, I think it would be fun. They always seem to be having fun when I see groups of them in London. And some of the styles they have are mental. I went out with a Japanese lass at Uni, but she was really quite conservative in her dress.

Yes. You are a sick man, beyond help.

The french one is new to me and is amazingly good. Great riding, cinematography and music.

Just the thing to watch before going for a ride :-)

wanting to be a japanese schoolgirl tazzy?

that is possibly one of the most disturbing images I could ever conjure and I’m a very sick and twisted individual.

Apologies it was Elf. Not surprising really.

Did you post in the race thread, wanting to be a japanese schoolgirl tazzy?