One of the coolest ebikes out there is a vintage electric scrambler s ebike. If I could post pictures of it on my iPad I would…..

Give me an Avionics V1 or an Italjet Mantra/Bulldozer ebike and I will be happy. I would post photos if I could work out how on my iPad. Who cares whether they make you sweat…..they are the future and Uber cool.

I feel really sorry for George Bennett. He had a serious mechanical at the base of the Zoncolan and had to wait for a replacement bike. Lost over a minute standing round due to the chaos of no support cars on the climb. I think he ended up taking Gesinks bike eventually and stormed up the climb passing most of the field and did one of the fastest times of all up. The TV coverage missed it all. Still only lost less than 2 minutes to Yates and is still 8th on GC. Go George! Just need a bit more luck on the remaining climbs.

Go George Bennett! – a bit under the radar in all these conversations but generally keeping out of trouble and still well within reach. He admitted he attacked too much a few stages back but seems to have learned his lesson in this last stage. The TT will be his weak point unfortunately but great to see him playing amongst the big boys in the mountains!

Yes a boring stage but all grand tours have flat long days – got to give stages for the sprinters to show their stuff. I am rooting for George Bennett for a good GC result – a great rider that seems to be improving all the time. 5th a few weeks ago in the tour of the Alps just one position behind Froome and ahead of Aru. A dark horse but here’s hoping. Not a great prologue result unfortunately but neither Froome or Aru did much better. Go George!!

You say you have ambition but no workplace ambition. Can you not combine? If your ambition is to be a mountain biker for example why not try to be a mountain bike guide or something like that? Or will turning a passion into work ruin it? …..I have no answers actually just musing.

Well whatever is said about recent Gibson guitar quality or whatever it is still sad to see them in this state. I have a cherry red ES345 1964 reissue I bought new a few years ago. Beautiful guitar, great guality and sound. No complaints from me (it did cost a bit though).

Watching the funeral of Winston Churchill on a tiny black and white TV in Suriname with adults all round deadly quiet and emotional. It was only many years later that I understood how momentous that moment was for those who had lived through the war. I was 3 and a half.

Men’s mountain bike race will be interesting to see if New Zealand can manage a clean sweep. Could be on the cards!

I quite fancy a Disco Sucks tee shirt now. But only people on this thread would understand the complex frisson of its meaning though.

Definitley

What was your favourite and which was the worst?

Syntace titan 9 pedals I have found really good – wide and thin. Quite costly though but quality is.

Moonmen bikes gets my vote consistently stunning!

A V8 Ford Mustang is a mans car but women are extra sexy when they drive one (see the latest Rolling Stones video for example which i would link here if I knew how).

Singlespeedstu – yes I have/had 2 black sheep bikes – 7 breaks and counting (the faith forks seem ok though). My Moonmen seems a lot burlier and better built. No problems so far. Hopefully Todd has learnt!

Black sheep stuff can break as well although I have not heard of a faith fork failure. The best titanium truss fork around at the moment is a Moonmen fork IMO – costly though.

I am reading ‘Do Androids dream of electric sheep’ by Philip K Dick. So far I am really enjoying it – quite different to Bladerunner with some similarities of course. I am going through a bit of a Philip K Dick phase – what a great writer!

Devash a week ago had the perfect list…is he my doppelgänger? I would only add Bela tarrs ‘the Turin horse’

Shinola The Rambler is a cool chrono around you price range.

Who do you love – Bo Diddley

Highway 61 Revisited (Bob Dylan). Probably the greatest album ever recorded.
Complete recordings (Robert Johnson)
St Mathews passion (J S Bach)
Murder Ballads (Nick Cave)
Foreign Affairs (Tom Waits)

Some of this list will inevitably change as I think more about it (except for the first choice).

My car – 450 hp
Wife’s car – 125 hp

Total 575 hp

Plenty of amazing stuff. Songs not already mentioned

Curse of Milhaven (ok just saw the last post)
Higgs Boson Blues
Magneto
Etc.

Saw him live two weeks ago. Two and a half hours of sublime music played with real intensity and fire – brilliant!

I owned one – a 2007 2.7HDI model for over two years. Great car very unique and very beautiful! Very special and a dreamy comfortable wafting drive. Lots of gadgets – heads up display, swivelling front lights, reclining heated rear seats (if you get a lounge pack), etc. It was designed for the French president so it’s got that luxury limo feel in a quirky French way.

Negatives are things break and can be costly to fix which was ultimately why I sold it. I was sad to see it go though. Have a look at the C6 owners website for more info about typical C6 issues – it’s a great resource. When everything is working it is one of the coolest cars to cruise around in I reckon.

New Zealand? especially the new Christchurch adventure park.

Moonmen custom Ti bike. Possibly the best custom mountain bikes around at the moment by a true master – Todd Heath.

You will have to send back your BPR patch in disgrace though.

Hey Metalheart. I picked the Ramones. Great, great, great,great…..I had The Carter Family over Merle though. Even darker visions of a world of death, murder and mystery. Great choices otherwise!

Another vote for Solaris (the Tarkovsky version) and Stalker – my absolute favourite.

Not sure if it is technically sci – fi but the Turin Horse by Bela Tarr is an absolutely amazing film about the end of the world and time. Not everyone’s cup of tea though.

The Carter Family
The Ramones
The Rolling Stones
Howling Wolfs band (with Hubert Sumlin)
The Dead C

http://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Schofield-Signalman-DLC-1.jpg

One of my favourite watches – a Schofield signalman. Hope the link works I struggle with posting images.null

Interesting mix of tastes here. I was amused by Drac writing off the 1920s Villa Savoy as horrid. Only arguably the most significant, beautifully conceived and influential house of the 20th century.

Surprised no one has mentioned Schofield watches. Very cool British brand. Looking forward to the imminent release of their bronze beater mark 2!

The Dead C …….AMM………Merzbow……Not sure what sort of genre and yes pretentious!

Well my current car has around 450 hp. Way over double anything I have ever owned but life’s short and I always wanted to own a big V8 at least once. It’s far more than I really need of course and it can be quite intimidating at times especially in the wet when it can spin its rear tyres quite easily. I don’t go over the speed limit if I can avoid it but the sheer pick up from stop and the V8 roar is totally grin inducing – yes I am a bit juvenile. I absolutely love it! Makes driving feel like an occasion and experience rather than just a means of getting somewhere.

Safety has only a little to do with the car (if it’s a modern car) but is more about how you drive them I reckon.

Mine:
26″ rigid singlespeed
29″ rigid singlespeed
29″+ rigid singlespeed
Fat bike rigid singlespeed

This list makes me think that maybe I need more variety in my bike choice? I think I need a 27.5″ rigid singlespeed.

A New Mustang GT for me. A big loud 5.0 litre V8, brash American muscle car looks, juvenile touches like ground speed instead of kph on the speedometer. Lots of fun!

Interesting to see Three Fish mentioned Stalker – it’s one of the most memorable films ever made IMO. In fact any film by Tarkovsky is breathtaking!

My all time most memorable and the greatest film ever made though I reckon is Satantango by Bela Tarr! A true life changing experience (and total endurance fest).

I don’t get the love for saints. I have a set on one of my bikes. They are OK but compared to the better options out there they are too heavy, the platform is on the small size, the Q factor is a bit much and I found the bearings have a tendency to creak. Once again the Syntace pedals are on another level in comparison.