no probs on the train outside of rush hour. A few of us rode to brighton the other sunday and got the train back

I find the size is not the issue (up to a point) – it's how heavy it is. 8ft beach break that's not too heavy – fine. 5ft dumping reef (or beach break) – pretty scary.

I completely agree! Friday morning seemed to combine both though 😯

Would rather take apart a shoulder to head high wave than brick it all session though.

I like to mix it up, sometimes I love the buzz of riding out scary waves, other times work on the technical* side. A bit like MTBing really

*ie. being less sh1t a top turns

that's not bent simon!

thanks creg 🙂

I'm confident in the water and have no problem paddling out, duckdiving the clean up sets etc in biggish surf, it's paddling into the powerful noisy ones when boards are being snapped that is the issue! I love conquering that fear though, it's a huge buzz. I can't wait for Portugal in October!
Part of the improvement problem is that I probably only get around 15 surf days/eves a year max and a good 50% of those are brighton slop. Cycling is my priority!

Supersession, that's ace! I have managed to get similar sized cover before, but only on close out waves for a second or 2, doesn't really count.

*willy waving* I can spin at over 200rpm for 22sec at rollapaluza and there are plenty quicker than me.

30mph is definitely possible in a sprint with 26" wheels. Again, just over 15 is a comfy long term max

that "reef" seems to be a real waste of money which is a genuine shame.

I was out of my comfort zone Mat, it was a coupla feet overhead. this was taken once the tide was pushing in; at low they were pretty much all like the wave further out!

I managed to get low tide croyde on friday morning Mat, no tubes for me, fear was the overriding emotion!

Your top pic looks cool. What we need is bournemouth's artifical mini-chopes… 🙄

surly ones bend if a chainring bolt loosens, or if you're nice and lend someone a bolt 😡

alloy ones don't have that problem

I love those pics! I can convince myself that I can do largish jumps, drops etc on the bike, however I will always be a crap "never been barrelled" surfer so bonkers waves always turn my stomach a bit just looking at pics and vids!

too ambitious mate! that's not far off an outdoor velodrome race gear.

try a 48 front or 18 rear

A cool night, it was great to hear the story behind it all. Good free beer too 😀

At £400 for the week all in you wouldnt even get a shed in Brides les Bains with a reblochon thrown as a freebie.

my earlier post showed that under £250 gets you a clean nice halfboard week 🙂

Centaur is as good if not slightly better quality (less plasticky parts in the lever) than 105. I think a chaintool is the only 11speed specific tool that you would need for the Athena.

I've just got 2 places! bikes and beer, mmmmmmmmmm

specialized myka? As she's light she won't need what is an essentially overbuilt heavier bike. I would have thought a chameleon especially will feel very harsh. I built a Myka up for my girlfriend recently and we went to the peaks the other week, she loved the lowish weight on the ups and the swoopy top tube and womens bars, grips and forks for the downs. They are very well thought out. A larger size than the 13.5" below will come with longer forks.

I popped down a few times during the TdF, as well as the occasional coffee. great place

ski weekends did 6 days skiing halfboard for £239 last year in brides les bains (meribel). Really good food and access to the 3 valleys, I doubt you'd need 20% of the slopes if you're a beginner.
6 days lo-season pass is around £150, so VERY good value all in. I did a weekend last year and loved it, I'll be going back for longer in 2011 😀

works fine

intervals!

I miss my '79 998 with minilites and s discs! It was my first car and I had it for 3 or 4 years but I couldn't afford to keep it alive 🙁

Lift-off oversteer on wet roundabouts is one reason why I will be buying another one day

If I'm not doing a cyclocross race, I'll be down with some croydon 'eds 🙂

I think the main advantage of fillet brazed frames is that tubes can be replaced relatively easily. I know of a few track frames that have had their top tubes replaced after crashes.

llangenith

in the fatigue test

ie NOT impact. OP's bars failed hitting a tree, not through fatigue. Aluminium is well known for having a finite fatigue limit, which is why planes are de-commissioned after a certain amount of flying hours.

Skin heals better than both materials though!

Hi Mark, glad to hear you got away with it, though perhaps it was Dango's penknife 😉

As I said on Sunday, carbon doesn't particularly like impacts and can look fine even when the surface appears fine. Aluminium bars are just as likely to fail under say a heavy landing though. I wouldn't worry about putting carbons back on, just replace them if you they lose a fight with a tree!

I hope your arm is OK,

Philip

are the rings on the 105 worn out? don't forget the 30 will only fit on a triple set up!

No one watching/interested?

one grand tour too many. I'll check the cyclingnews report but not hugely fussed.

it's because proper giants have integrated seat posts

you'll likely need chaintugs if you use a QR, but not essential if you use proper bolt up

carbon chainrings and gold chain:

where's the best place to get high class micro SDs? I'm aware that there are lots of fakes kicking about….

racing through a beer tent, unfortunately they had sold out of beer by the time the race had finished so I had to make do with a G&T!

dat biek iz brassssssss lol. u need a sarcin bt u cant aford 1

Beer is the last thing you want after a ride.

nothing wrong with it in moderation, it's just that moderation afetr a ride might not be the same as moderation after the office.

It's not uncommon for TdF pros to have a bottle of beer or glass of wine with a meal after a stage; if there was a victory within the team, a glass of champagne with dessert too!

first lunch an hour ago was ham sandwiches, pork pies and and almond croissant, about to pop out for a tesco pasta, crisp and fruit juice deal. Blueberries for nibbles 😀

carbon has been chosen on fishers sugar and c'dales scalpel specifically because it CAN flex. All about engineering, rather than supposition innit.

The quote was about a particular style of bike, a LT HT, so not really general or a joke.

since when has the length of fork changed the material properties of a frame?

such a lot of balls is spouted on t'internets!
carbon frames and components have traditionally been built up as lightweight race machines and so pared down to a bare minimum, therefore are more likely to fail than overbuilt Ti hardtails.
As has been said, it is about HOW they are designed and built, not material alone.

oo00oo, a brazed and lugged steel 1910 frame is a million miles away from a state of the art monocoque CF one. That's a bit like saying a formula one car hasn't changed much from a model T. In terms of there being less material, it's the law of diminishing returns, bikes and other luxuries aren't commodities bought by the kg and the amount of work required to lose 100g but retain the stiffness can be huge.
Many car manufacturers lose money on their Halo models. However, I quite agree with

Plenty of people seem to have no upper limit to their budgets so I can't blame the bike companies for cranking up their prices.

Good luck to them, I can't wait 'till I'm rich 😀

shell petrol station has worked on 4 tyres for me when a track pump didn't 😀

34-11/32 here for me too. Need to be going comfortably over 25mph to spin out, which offroad is generally fast enough unless you like fireroad descents.

hora, keeping the 22 would restrict you to a singlespeed top gear and the low geared climbs would lead to a slow ride.

Perhaps try a 28?