Not sure if its as simple as that, i run the sram apex which is equal to the 105, well slightly better as my SL bike came with it while the staandard bike comes with the 105.

Ethier way and tbh i don’t know any better the apex is a great groupset does the job perfectly.

Which LBS and sizes?? might be tempted to pick one up myself if they have it in a small.

Was going to get a frame only but at that price, bargain!

Charge do a grip with the metal end cap, where on sale at evans a few months back so i picked up a few.

Would say a section dedicated to trail centers/natural trails, mtb skills etc..some info about forestry commission work they do, volunteer builds like chase trails etc. The feature about the lakes on bbc that sort of thing.

Maybe comparing 26″ 650b and 29ers, kill the debate once and for all.

Road wise, some proper rides and routes.

Im a shorty and went for the Canyon Roadlite, depending on budget i got mine for £908 in xs and after a saddle, stem flipped, pedals etc and the bike rides like a dream!

Canyons top tubes are slightly shorter and i went from a hybrid to the roadie with no issues. Took 10 mins off my normal ride without really trying.

Got a new pair of Tahoo shoes, really comfy and great for summer use, tyres always a good call, new lid maybe and gloves.

The new shimano ones are getting good reviews, tempted to get one myself, currently i have a camelbak hydropak for those quick blasts and a camelbak blowfish for those bigger days out. Never had an issues with ethier come with decent bladders and do the job.

@jamie yep the dark navy one, its really nice in reality the picture doesn’t do it justice tbh.

Starting a bit of a rapha collection for biking, there urban stuff is great for mtb’ing, might even splash out and get a proper roadie top as some point.

If its from Leisure Lakes i can say there service is top quality! I emailed them as my one brake lever was bent, tbh i didn’t notice it for a month just thought the angle was slightly out, took the bike to my LBS to get the avids bled as they were and tbh still are lousy. Got the bike back and was told the lever is bent thats why the rear is sharper than the front, tempted to bend the front one as well!!

Emailed LL, told them what had happened offered to post a pic or remove the lever to send it back, no issues 3 days later a replacement in the post. Just be open and honest and no trading standard rubbish, well not until the 3rd email/letter/phone call!

Currently run a pair about 8 years old on my mtb, a pair of the old 1’s never needed any servicing or anything just keep them clean.

I find them better than shimnano as no parts that can come off, unlike my spd’s which i lost the tension screw a few times. Recently picked up a newer pair of the 1 for my road bike so far just as good as the older pair.

Its on ITV4 again, they have the rights for next few years.

Rapha hve produced some 100th tdf tops, not a fan of the jersey but i have ordered one of the t-shirts.

http://www.rapha.cc/la-centime-jersey/?cm_re=Homepage-_-MainCarousel-_-LaCentièmeJersey

Mines the same as “The Hustler” has up the page a bit, might be a little newer, its a great watch, just one scuff when i face planted the ground a couple of years back, oher than that still as good as new.

Always on the look out for another, almost got one in the sales at christmas, but ummed too much and it was gone by the time i went back.

The key point with MS is you never actually own the game, you pay £40 from game for Halo X, play it for a year, 5 years later you fancy some retro gaming so you drop your copy of Halo X into the disc drive and oops MS turned the sever off a year ago rendering the disc you have useless. MS has alienated so many gamers with its new software idea’s well not new but copied from the Steam gaming model. But as gamers we like to go back every so often and play an old game while MS hold the rights thats it game over.

Sony have been clever no DRM and stating you buy the disc you own the contents, yes if its an online yes the severs could go off, but if its singleplayer at home you won’t need the severs so you can go back and play the game.

PS4 for me, plus i have a vita which has great potential with the PS4 and the ability to shift the game from the tele to the vita console.

For the last 10 years ive had the bikes on the roof of the car, racks and thule 591’s never hit a barrier or lost a bike, what i did lose was about £1k in value off the car when i traded it in, some of it my fault. I left the bars on and somehow they slid a little taking the paintwork from where they gripped into the roof. Also there was the issue with the roof, mine was trashed, 2 dents only tiny dents where i had dropped the one bike in the rain and the chainring caught the roof edge. Paintwork as i had driven home on the motorway, bits of stone/mud from the bikes had scratched the paintwork and tbh it was fairly obivous.

When i got my new car tbh i was going to go back to the roof, but silly glass roof doesn’t allow roofbars unless they are manufacture supplied.

So i went towbar and thule euroway g2 i think it is, yes expensive but does the job and so much better than i thought. I ditched the car due to a motorcyclist coming at me a few weeks back, the bikes and rack fully intact and no damage. Plus everyone i talk to when i stopped at services where more interested in how the rack worked and how i could get stuff out the boot, clever little latching system on the towbar rack.

Bikes are solid and less cross wind issues. Im sold on towbar racks and will have my next car with a towbar.

Brought a newer car, nothing special but eats up what was my spare cash.

Another 2012 Expert here and tbh its awesome, but the expert has the tapered headtube and other bits that make it that bit better than the other models. I did demo a lower spec model but went for the expert in the end, point it upwards and climbs nicely and down well was immense at GT a couple of weeks back.

Yep my last filling took a while about 45mins, had to have a tooth rebuilt after an accident. Its a bit odd really, since the dentist earlier ive had no pain from it, and he didn’t do anything except xray and poke the tooth.

I have an appointment next week so root canal it is.

You can travel through the eurozone on an out of date passport, not recommended but it is possible, went to the canaries last nov didn’t realise until we can’t back through Birmingham our passports expired a year ago, was told no issue just get them sorted.

If he hadn’t of been cast for sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch would of made a great dr, get the feeling that won’t happen as the roles are very similar minus the sci-fi stuff.

Who knows who the next dr will be, tough gig whoever gets it. Just please no more stringing little bits of each episode together trying to link them.

On the forums they are saying its:
http://pic.twitter.com/QrQegn71JH

They have already skipped over this, in the sarah jane program when matt turned up, she asked him how many times he can regenerate he replied 503. Get the feeling as long as the Tardis has its time energy he can regenerate as many times as he wants. Or they want.

I do feel the current series has ran its course, and tbh could do with ethier some better writers, or just a proper break. I know its big business for the BBC but its a bit bland and like torchwood could do with a break.

Me and the OH have discussed this subject a few times, it would use up all my savings so we came to a solution, registry office just a couple of witnesses, then a 2 week holiday, and just tell people when we get back.

Tbh neither of us are very social, other stuff gets in the way. Plan was to book a restuarant for an evening invite close friends and relatives 20 max for a meal to celebrate, cheapstake i know but we have been together for 15 years so no real surprises for anyone.

My view is they need to give it a break for a few years, get some fresh writing staff in and really give it a proper go again, the previous doctor/storylines much better than the previous 2 seasons.

Matt wasn’t a bad doctor just some dodgy storylines didn’t make it great.

Had a chat with my boss, seems I can’t move job role, I have a new immediate boss starting next week to relieve some of the pressure, he doesn’t want me to leave, got me no where, serious considering stepping down now, being happy while I search for a new job. Hhhmmm

Just me proper working then? late shift 1-10:30 ish, not good

Didn’t think my rambling a would go this far!

Another lousy day of fun !

Railways, runs in the family, we have all worked in that industry except myself. But a couple of the jobs i have spotted one was a data anaylst and securty which i have the skills for and would be very different to my current role but put some of my skills to better use. The other was platform support and shockingly it pays more than my current role, but its outdoors ish and again the customer facing role which i currently do.

I would love a job with Environmental Health one of there auditors, i did apply before but was rejected on qualifications they admitted i had everything else from skills and process knowledge of supermarkets which they lacked but wouldn’t take someone on without a degree relevant to there field.

Im in my mid 30’s and it scares me i could have this current job for another 35 years!

Top of my list is a good work life balance, currently its crap and thats putting it politely, weekends off not a requirement but a set day off would be better than the current, mon early, tues off, wed late, thurs early, fri mid, sat late then a completely different set of shifts the following week.

Working within the bike industry again would be a great job it combines my interests with work which would make work more enjoyable.

Biggest goal is to actually enjoy work, i know most don’t but would be great to get some job satisfaction.

Switch retailers isn’t a bad option, technically switched before when one supermarket sold a store to another and I went, still have some contacts, might be worth a move, was looking at jobs on the railway, same sort of money and sort of role.

Well yep, not sure what to do? Was after some unbiased advice

Big question will he give Kevin Phillips another shot in the premier league, great player and deserves another go if he wants another season. Just seems a shame he keeps helping clubs get into the premier league but then sold off to a championship team each season.

Mine cancelled as well. Ah well was worth a punt!

Im on the side of the hamsters!
:)

Terrible news when any bike gets stolen, hope the girlfriend gets well soon.

When i was at GT last week, i locked the bikes up just a cheap carry round i have in my camelbak, when i sat in the cafe one guy asked why? its fairly safe here, i just replied you can never be too careful and while he/she is fumbling with my cheap lock, i can be out my seat and be sorting anyone out trying to take my bike.

Been to far too many trail centers and hear of bike thefts, never take a risk, even when the bikes locked to the car i double up with my gold rated locks.

If they really sort the bike side out, they could be the no1 seller in the UK, they have enough branches and even ship to store like tesco click and collect would be enough. At the moment many use wiggle/crc etc but if halfords have the brand names and you could order today and pick up at your local store in 24hrs, has to make sense.

Yep cannock is a bit like that most weekends, luckily i get a day off in the week and tend to go midweek when its alot quieter and much more fun, and less knobs about!

FOD is good but gets stupidly busy if there is a hint of sun in the sky, great trail though.

Ive just converted my OH old mtb, into a hybrid for her, its an old giant xtx ex, great bike but she perfers her canyon now. Just waiting for the new slick tyres in the post.

Planning on doing inners on my next trip up, well thats the plan!

Might of been, was on a speshi camber, OH on Canyon Nerve.

I know when i left the OH at buzzards nest car park while i went to do spooky wood she had a quite a group at her table when i got back, hardly missed me at all.

mindmap3: my OH is pretty much the same, she handled CYB blue and the new trail at FOD which she loved, she really struggled at Cannock not as friendly as it used to be, but i keep trying.

You can park a bit futher up the hill at GT next to the Go Ape, or even futher up but means you have to climb to get back to the car. Not always a bad thing, i like a good climb.

Funny you mention the cafe, we had macaroni cheese on wednesday and tbh it was great quality, on saturday it was awful just bland.

OH accepted she couldn’t climb well, we got back in the early hours this morning, first thing she did was go onto wiggle and ordered some mtb slicks. Im under instructions to dig her old mtb out of retirement build it back up and she is going to start cycling to work its a big hill climb there, but downhill coming home.

At home looking for a biking buzz, hhmmm towpaths is all thats on offer.

Was an awesome day, i wasn’t riding the event but was in glentress mincing round the trails, saturdays weather was a surprise, even got sunburnt. Next year will give it a bash, first time in peebles all i can say is great place, me and OH had probably the best biking trip in ages!

Trust me to pick a few days off work and plan a trip to Glentress for an event to be on.

Will this have much impact on the the trails, ive seen a couple of closuals on the website from satuday morning, but impact on parking? cafe sitting, rise in bike thefts etc..? plan was to go biking thursday, trip to edinburgh friday, biking sat then travel back sunday and might do a sneaky trail on the way home.

Won’t do the oh any good for confidence if trails are packed out.