I very rarely choose the ferry over the tunnel.
Tunnel is sooooo much quicker, though as some folks have mentioned, it can be a good chance to stretch the legs & get something to eat.

I live not much more than an hour on the other side though so have no need for a journey break.

Tooks the kids across on the ferry once last year though & they really enjoyed it (choice was made due to high tunnel price at that given moment)

Does a nail in the tyre compromise the structural integrity significantly?

No but it can allow water ingress to the steel belts which then corrode leading to separation & integrity issues.

I’m just back from the French Alps where there was a huge covering of deep snow…
The Police were not allowing any vehicles above 1200M without snow chains or socks unless they were in 4WD equipped with winter tires.

I have a Kuga (2WD version) and the police didn’t know the difference so I managed to sneak through. It was a bit touch & go and I had to reverse back to get a run up twice on a couple of steep bits but managed to get through (I didn’t have snow chains)
I had brand new quality winter tires fitted just before I left though.

The routes for 2012 are now published:

http://sport.be.msn.com/cyclingtour/rondevanvlaanderen/2012/eng/parcours/

You’d like to think that GM would make sure that the Saab workers were safe, bearing in mind that it’s GM themselves that have stopped the sale.

I wouldn’t hold my breath though

Indeed – it’s quite nasty what they did to Saab.

I’m meeting with some ex-Saab employees tomorrow in Goteborg so I’ll see what they have to say about this latest step..

I would got in touch with Michelin, they have pretty good mileage warranty!

http://www.michelinman.com/mediabin/Approved/Michelin/Visuals/Digital/limited_mileage_warranties.pdf

That is valid for North American tires, which are very different to European…
In the States mileage is king.
All major tire manufacturers have a mileage warranty scheme.

Why stay in Brussels?
Gent is better option surely, and far nicer :)
(unless you are doing the 260 when Brugge is probably sensible)

In the industry it’s considered best practice to diagonally swap (LF to RR etc) to ensure even wear across all 4 tires…

Hitting it with another wheel / tyre assembly generally woks quite well (though is hard work)….

I reckon they’ll do a classic route for the cyclo, using this years pro route could be really messy.

I do hope you are right. Laps around Koppenberg with 17000 riders would be just disastorous…

Indeed – 20 euros is far to expensive….

I’m intrigued to see the actual routes for 2012.

The first part of the 140 (or 150) was also never very exciting…

Thanks for the ideas…
Focus can only be collected in person I have read as they are ‘protecting’ the brand

I’ve since found the 2011 Crux for 800 from Certini…
Looks good.

Lots of guys from my club are doing this too.

Should be a good one….

The RX8 makes a great drift car.
One of the locations I test car tires, holds drifting days & a few of the drivers use the RX8.
Apparently quite robust and very happy with the rev happy nature of the sport.
Makes a brutal noise when hitting the rev limiter. Sounds like a machine gun :)

Are they joking with you? ;-)
No offence to the people of Dunkerque but it’s bloody horrible.

They are stacks of hotels along the Costa del Flanders….

I learnt flemish / dutch through watching English TV programmes with flemish subtitles.
Not the most conventional manner but it’s good if you are lazy & ignorant like me. Of course this is supplemented by other media but I have never taken any formal lessons.
I am also fortunate to live (t)here with a flemish lady too which certainly helps.
Sadly my kids only speak Flemish so that is also a good kick in the ass to learn.

I didn’t spot Ian Field either. That would have been a good result. Shame Nys had a flat tub. I go the feeling Pauwels was strongest today but it would have made for a good finish.

Was the online coverage just the feed from Belgian TV?
(I was watching on Belgian TV…)

They mentioned that Niels Albert crashed during the sighting laps and had damaged his shoulder but regardless I am sure he must have been tired after Sundays race.

I should have travelled the 15km to watch but it’s better on TV. Maybe I’ll go to Gavere in 3 weeks….

I can’t recall the weight of this but I remember someone on here suggesting it was bloody heavy (in the slightly odd world of comparing component weights)…

Only quite recently (1yr) I thought to try X0 grip shifts for the first time as I found a derrie & shifter deal super-cheap online :)
I’ve ridden just about every Shimano combination & currently have XT & XTR fitted on my other bikes.

I love the grip-shifts….

Really positive shifting, and very effective when you want to grab a gear unexpectedly as there is no need to reposition the hands / fingers. Not quite as fast or smooth as the RF’s on the upshift.
I feel.

I read this week that SRAM have finally decided to bring out a 10spd gripshift for 2012. Great news.

Thanks for the suggestions
I took a look on the website & I see the 20″ is around 9kg and the 24″ is just over 10kg.
My Trek 1×9 winter mudbike is lighter than both of those…

I am thinking of ‘very’ lightweight to try & minimise the difference between race BMX (featherweight) and mountainbike….

Perhaps I am being silly but I thought it doesn’t hurt to ask…. :wink:

I hope there can be some XC / CX racing overlap between the 2…
Summer season mountainbikes & winter season CX.

Over here in Belgium CX (veldrijden) is hugely popular and it makes for fantastic TV.
1 hour race, easy accessible for cameras & potentially a chance for the mountainbikers to gain a bit of recognition.
In Belgium the top guys (household names) earn as much 25k start money for the big races…

Do you open the throttle at all?

I ride on the highway except 2km either end of the trip…

As for mileage – depends a lot on riding style – My BSA with a 110/90 cross-ply rear lasted around 7 000 miles, my BMW r 1100 about 3-4 000 miles. I tend to be heavy on tyres. The BMW cost me nearly as much in tyres per mile as petrol

I get as much 30k km on a rear on my BMW but that says a lot about the route my commute takes me.
I get them free too so it’s not like I am being tight…

Firstly I commute 150km a day on a R1150GS & it’s great.
Comfortable, stable, ABS, heated grips etc.
I’ve now done over 75K km on it without any problem in all weather conditions (even snow)
It’s quite big & heavy but so am I so we get on well :-)

secondly tire changes on the motorbike.
tread depth requirement is the same as cars but it’s even harder to quantify / measure…
Like cars it’s not about distance covered but wear rate. I get lots lots lots more distance out of my BMW than my Kawazaki ZX9R.
If the tire still has a profile that resembles the original shape (ie not squared off in the middle) and still has clearly visible tread pattern then you will be just fine…

28kg nose weight.
That’s incredible…
Could it be less useful?

Is the ‘towbar’ made of cheese & attached with sellotape?

I hate the tunnel, when you have a loooong journey ahead, the last thing you want is yet more time sat in the same position

I think this is a very fair comment and of course depends on how far you have to travel on each side of the crossing.
I do the journey fairly frequently but have only a couple of hours on each side so don’t feel the need for a break

Tunnel is king for speed & ease

P&O most expensive ferry but service is fair & they are flexible.
Seafrance cheaper but worse service
Cheapest is usually Norfolkline Dover – Dunkirk

(all the above are only in my personal opinion)

I nearly always pay the extra (+/-50%) for the Tunnel just for the convenience & speed.

I have watched the 4X races over the last couple of years on Eurosport & enjoyed them enough to tune in for the next round each time.

Some courses are certainly better than others though. Some of the tracks really were just downhill BMX and no-one was getting really close to Jared Graves with his lightning starts.

With a bit more challenging courses it could have been good I think. I think there needed to be more hazard on the fastest potential route…

Sad to see it go though.

I have never thought DH was worth watching on TV…

I have an ‘old’ model Epic and to be fair it still rides really well.
It doesn’t feel old at all though the suspension travel is a little shorter than more modern XC type fullys.

I have the S-Works frame & it is still very competitive weight wise for an alloy frame & all the bushings were recently replaced.
I wouldnt necessarily write the old thing off just for the sake of age..

Bert Grabsch and his incredibly slow cadence. Just watching that guy makes my legs ache…

They are great (where required).
We have had one fitted now for around 18months and it has got rid of the scale build up.
This had damaged our boiler not no mention, the more replaceable household items.

Make’s more bubbles in the bath now too :)

google translate is sometimes best avoided…..

*if you’re going to Flanders Vlaanderen don’t give it the French name…! :wink:

Ashamed to say I have only ever ridden the ladyboy versions :(
Maybe now I’ve got a road bike I can do it in 2012…

Sportive 150km & 75km started & finshed in Ninove…

Re: Hotels:
There are a few but you should be quick for obvious reasons:

http://www.oudenaarde.be/en/visitors/accommodation/hotels/

Damn
That’s typical of my luck
I was only in Boras last week….

I don’t do facebook but speaking as a local there is indeed a lot of upset regarding the course change.
Some for sporting reasons though plenty of based on the financial effect.
Personally speaking I agree with Johann Museeuw when he says give the new course a chance before condemning it.

I am very keen to hear how they propose the sportive will run though….

To be fair it looked a lot better in real life, despite combining a belt drive with a Dura-ace crank….

It definitely looks lots better than most electric bikes, though as a ‘concept’, I’ve no idea how effective the electrical assistance is.

I guess the hotel decision is more complicated now as there is no point in staying in Aalst or Ninove.
Oudenaarde doesn’t have many hotels as far as I recall.
Gent has plenty of choice of course, and is only 30mins away.

They are very much alive.
They had their display & test bikes out yesterday at a cycle event in Oudenaarde…