Hmm, that calculator is different by over 5mm, this could be an expensive endeavour.

I stayed here[/url] with a few friends and it was c.£35 for two nights. Decent kitchen and bathroom but necessitated a bit of a bunk up with 5 people, more suited to 3 or 4 but they have a few apartments so there may be larger ones.

Nothing comes close to sound magic e10 for less than £80 quid. Seach for reviews, everyone bums them. Cheapest I’ve found is here

I cant see any reason why the new arch EX won’t be any weaker than flows just thinner. Pretty much the same profile etc. At 60kg I reckon you’ll be fine.

Have you looked at the pacenti 28 rims from JRA? I don’t know whether to bite the bullet and go with them or get arch EX. They seem a logical progression from the p35 but might not be quite as strong. The guy at JRA says he’s given them some DH/rocky use on a big bike and they’ve been fine tough so might be alright.

I had a great time, a few large queues but nothing compared to ski season and only 5 minutes max. I guess it depends how many people are at the same rate as you. If the queues are bad just grab some food/drink and wait for them to go down a bit. Would definitely recommend it.

Wainhouse tower is surely the daddy of them all?

If you’re feeling flush take a look at the new pacenti tl28 available from just riding along slightly heavier than crests but lighter than xz717 but with a 23mm internal width . I emailed them to ask aboit strength and apparently the guy’s been hammering them on an intense slopestyle of a few months so should be a great all-rounder, they’re even eyletted. Linky

I’ve bled my rear one many , many times and it’s now at Maddison getting disciplined. My front’s been fine though. The internet seems to think that the sealing at various points was a bit iffy on some of the sets.

Lovely pictures! I’ll guess… Loch Earn?

I got the new XTs from Rose and although the front’s been schweeeeet. The rear’s been a PITA. Bled it four times and finally with the shimano method but time will tell if it’s done the job. Very, very easy to blow the piston seal. Howeve, I may just be unlucky and they are very powerful with great lever shape and feel.

Am I right in thinking xx revs have different damping/ compression settings that are a bit xc-biassed compared the model below?

It might have been a bit less that (internet says it should have cost about £400) as we were driving most days and went to Morzine for a week beforehand. We were taking full advantage of the nice roads too and rocking on as much as you can in a fully-laden berlingo. If I were doing it again I’d do it in more of a “drivers'” car with AC though (It can get very, very hot down in the valley e.g 35-38degrees).

Race entry = c.50-100 quid depending on pack
Accommodation = you can camp in Allemont or live it up in a private chalet. if you’re going with friends a self-catered chalet or apartment might work out the best value
Travel = c.£200 plus transfers we drove as a three but were out there fore two weeks. I wouldn’t want to drive for just a week. Worked out about £180 in fuel each over two weeks.
Food an beers = supermarket beer is very cheap, food is a little more expensive than UK but that comes with being on the side of a mountain in a tourist hot spot. you can shop down t’valley for cheaper fare.
Bike parts – take spares prices are nuts and demand very high during Mega week so you might not get what you want or have to pay through the nose for the next spec up because everyone’s bought the entry level stuff to keep them going. I was looking at £60 for an x5 shifter. I stayed singlespeed after that.
The insurance depends on length of cover, for one week covering DH racing probably 15 quid ish but I’m not expert.

Never thought about Inverness ^. How about Perth? (OK not officially a city but as near as official as you can get and should become one again in 2012 all being well)

There’s not really any MOUNTAIN biking near Bristol is there?

It looks awfully high to me. I can’t see it feeling too great either but who knows?

Maybe cheap for a reason then.. I’ve not had any problems though but I haven’t had any big gashes as yet.

http://www.justridingalong.com//shop.php?product=43 much cheaper.

Don’t give up on diving in the UK, we’re blessed with some of the best diving in the world! If, after you’ve gone on your next trip you’re curious I’d recommend going along to a local BSAC branch social and chatting with people, the training’s progressive and cheap (people volunteer their time to teach) so it’s a great way of diving whilst still learning new skills and making good friends. Of course there can sometimes be branch politics but I prefer it to being sold a ‘speciality’ to allow me to do anything rather than just including it all in the introductory course.

The second best thing you could do is by my Large prophet frame with matching white talas 150s for £490

It’s an internet forum, if you don’t lots of individuals giving their unreserved opinions go somewhere else. I’m all for a forum representative of the readership/cyclists more generally but it’s not anyone’s place to be false in order to placate others in an open and anonymous medium

I had an old hi-fi (the precursor to the rumblefish) and absolutely loved it. It felt really fast and nimble without being twitchy or overly flexy.

Bloody penis envy..

Nah, they’ll be able to afford it with all the oil and haggis export money. But you’re right. Renewable UK’s compiled data from companies shows worry over investment and policy uncertainty as the main hindrances to green technology companies.

Increased oil prices/ economies of scale and R&D will make renewables much more competitive with reduced subsidies too.

If anyone in Europe can make wind work then Scotland can.

The thing that gets me most about NIMBYs is that they just spurt absolute nonsense in order to make things look much worse than they are. I’ve gone to meetings with people and had no other choice but to patronise the bejesus out of them. They somehow think that their opinion is equally as valid as 50 papers written by 300 scientists and reviewed by 5000 and the policy of the UK government, rural development regulators and conservation NGOs which disagree with them completely.

I’m biased as I’m applying for a wind turbine but all the genuine issues have been addressed with people that know what they’re talking about (RSPB/Natural England/Regional Planning/Airports/MOD/Local Ecology society) so the only objections are people who are against it ‘in principle’ which is obviously a redundant position as there are no genuine principles that make them objectionable.

Seriously, do you think wind farms are an efficient form of energy production?

Yes, not baseload but then only Nuclear or Hydropower is and there isn’t much potential for large-scale hydropower in the U.K. anymore.

As has been said a massive amount of our electricity is wasted in transport so smaller/localised baseload would be great but isn’t going to happen.

Cost comparisons

Factor in carbon taxes/fuel price fluctuations and boom, nuclear is cheaper or at least the same for a whole lot less co2 (and sulphur compounds, nitrates, political issues etc).

At the end of the day, we can’t have 100% renewable without invasive hydropower or tidal projects which are very expensive and very ecologically damaging. Wind is great and relatively cheap but isn’t the answer as it can’t make base load energy for obvious reasons. I have nothing against wind – I’m in planning for a 330kW to 500kW turbine but know the technology’s limits on a national scale.

When cost per kWh per pound is considered, nuclear power is cheaper than any fossil fuel (including decommissioning costs) (this is in every country save the USA, China and North Korea without carbon taxes/trading and extraction incentives/tax breaks come into effect). It’s also lower in co2 (including decommissioning and extraction) per kWh than many renewables (Tidal and PV for example). We can store the stuff easily it’s just that people get paranoid about it. It’s low activity stuff (hence such a long half-life) so isn’t nearly as dangerous as some might say so long as it’s not too concentrated (if we had an oil spill scenario it wouldn’t be much of a problem at all).

It’s also an economical fuel as it isn’t very sensitive to increases in fuel price. Uranium price increase has a much lower proportional increase on unit price of electricity than fossil fuels.

Of course far better than doing this is to implement efficiency measure as it’s much cheaper and co2 efficient in many cases.

It’s a silly idea, it’s the single most expensive carbon technology by a huge amount. The opportunity costs of not building renewables or nuclear instead are huge too (why bother burning all the coal and CCSing it if you can replace it with nuclear (which is mega in terms of economics and co2)).

I ran about 64.5 on my prophet (65.5 standard with 140mm but running 160mm) and it does feel a little funny on the flat but talas/ 2 step is great for that. Really liked it on downhills though

My fave used to be hole in the wall but it’s a dive after the recent take over. Stubbings wharf is good though, sitting by the canal in the sunshine is lovely!

Oh STW…

Storm is cracking value too^

I think I’m going to swap my xr4 out for a 2.0 mud x on the front a stick a 2.1 rocket ron on the back for the Mary Townley loop this weekend and relentless 24hr in a few weeks I reckon it’ll be a sorted pair. I quite like the mud x on the rear but haven’t tried it on the front.
I’ve used a swampthing on the front though and agree they are pretty amazing. Ran them for the student champs xc (the one with the jeycore doing front flips on the this is Shefield video) and they were so confidence inspiring.

Nowt! Luxury!… when I were a lad….

You definately did the right thing calling the police given what you say happened were me I’d call 999 as there was a creditable risk of lives being in danger, especially flying around a school bus and over taking around bends in a 30 zone!
I hope the woman gets a speaking to.

I’ve used my voucher twice. makes cheap items very cheap!

Geology/biology. History is about people, dinosaurs are not people.

Surely if there is a welding failure on the chainstays then this raises questions of the long-term stress integrity of the other welds of the frame? I wouldn’t buy one until they are recalled and new frames are fatigue destruction tested. If there going to have a lot of potential warranty or even legal issues then I imagine this would be a prudent and cost-effective step to take. It would also better their image as a dependable, customer-focused brand.

and Merlin don’t use the largest jiffy bag or box possible for a set of 3 powerlinks……

That really annoys me too!