Crikey
She makes we want to change the channel…
Chocolate voice? For me it makes think of something brown too but it sure isn't chocolate!

I really like QI but she is one of the worst guests I've seen! Last week alongside Sandi Toksvig was just painful!

I watch Belgian cyclocross racing that I've recorded onto DVD & run a HRM.
A race lasts about an hour – good distraction – helps motivation too.

I've got a selection ranging from 520 through to XTR.
XTR & XT have been faultless so far.
The cheapest 520 clicks on the left hand side but still functions fine & the the 540's feel like they need a re-grease or something as they don't spin quite so nicely.

if I remember correctly the impeller was plastic on the earlier ones but it is a long time now since I got involved in Mini's. (Rover still existed for a start)

To be fair to the Focus, they are more fun to drive than anything else in the segment so good choice.

Which model has caught your eye?

I was cycling on Tuesday evening on a cycle path & had a jogger who chose not to use the footpath due to ice/snow nearly hit me.

He was in full IPod mode and wasn't looking up at all (I had my Troutlight on FFS) and at the last moment he woke up. Rabbit in the headlamps moment but fortunately he jumped in the correct direction….

Sorry to hop in to the topic in such a manner but:

@ Solarider…

I'd be interested in your forks….

Condolences on your loss.

I took my kids to their grans funeral (2 & 4.5 at the time). The 2 yr old of course didn't know what was going on but for the eldest it was a good chance for him to understand the concept of death…

He took it very well & as my partner has some religion in her it's nice that our son considers granny to be in heaven…

Both kids could feel the somber nature of the funeral though & could see all the people paying respect to their gran which we felt was important.

Each to their own of course but for us it was without doubt the right choice.

I had a similar problem though less severe than your breakage.
Went cycling with my club on Saturday – crashed 2 times, the second was a comedy chain reaction on an icey lane that brought 8 of us down.
Both crashes without a mark on me.

Yesterday sledging with my sons, I try to move a bit quickly to catch my youngest as he heads towards to me and go straight on my arse.
From that I covered in bruises. Heel, arse, eblow all suffering & walking like a cripple.

Man I felt stupid as my 5 year old was asking if I'd hurt myself….

The 6 weeks out is a bummer :(

There is a very weak definition of what an M+S tyre actually is.
It is something like, a tyre that is specifically designed for Mud & Snow….
Bit like comparing a supermarket mountain 'style' bike with a 'real' one.

Basically it is up to the tyre manufacturers if they 'believe' their tyre is suitable for such a marking. There are definitely some tyres marked as M&S that have rather limited winter performance. Winter performance comes from a combination of pattern, compound & construction whereas a mud tyre has less reliance on tread compound.

The snowflake marking is a US Federal marking. This means the tyre must pass a snow traction test to receive the marking though this is up to the manufacturer to confirm. As the penalties for 'being mistaken' (or lying) are rather high, if a tyre has the snowflake marking it can be normally considered as valid but this is only truly reliable in the US where the mark has some value. In Europe there is no test required to display the marking.

There are tyres available that are known as 4-season or all-season pattern. This means that they somewhere halfway between a summer & continental winter tyre. The typical snow performance for such a tyre means that passing the snowflake mark test is rather borderine.

Was chatting on the phone to collegues on the continent. "Doesnt anyone in England use winter tyres", "er, no I reckon most dont know such things exist", [laughter] "how stupid!"

Laughs right back at the stupid europeans. We don't get weather that warrants winter tyres from one decade to the next. Even now, this isn't winter tyre weather, unless you live right up in the hills. (And we've had 8-9 inches round here). Pretty much everyone seems to be managing on normal tyres.

uuurrrghhhh – wrong. There are 2 types on winter tyre. Continental Europe & Nordic Europe. The tyres for contintal Europe are precisely for the winter conditions that are typical for the UK. Cold (below 7deg), wet roads with some ice patches & occasional snow.
Nordic winter tyres would perhaps be more suitable for Northern UK right now in that they are designed primarily for driving at constant freezing or below temperatures & with frequent snow & ice.

The difference between summer tyres & continental winter tyres as already written on here a number of times now is vast! I can agree that the UK has an issue in that too few people have winter tyres to prevent road blockages which screws up everyone but just to say winter tyres are not beneficial is mis-informed.

I have bars, stem & derrie wheels.
All have been without problem till now.
They have only done maybe 1000km but at XC kind of speed so they've certainly been tested.

the big bummer on cars (vintage Minis excluded) is not the price of the matrix but the price for the stripping down to get to it!

I was just considering the same question but in the end plumped for €45 for an XTR…
I have a ceramic Hope which has been faultless throughout for 12 months but didn't fancy coughing up that much cash.

I ordered some bits & bobs on the 29th Dec & they were here in Belgium on the 4th Jan. (maybe we have different type of snow here :D)
So far CRC have never failed for me on delivery…

I've got a 2WD Kuga with winter tyres & it had been quite excellent in the snow. In the last month it's been in Belgium, England, Holland, Germany, France & Switzerland all without any hint of grip problems.
Though as mentioned already it is the tyres & not the car really, but of course being a diesel also helps.

The bad thing is that even if you have winter tyres, if you are 1 in 10,000 you will still be stuck :(

I swear by Arai (RX7). Ride a lot of km's & they are comfortable, stable at high speed & don't have issues with misting. (quite noisy though but I haven't found any helment where you didn't need earplugs for the highway).

I used Lazers when I raced motocross & they were also very comfortable…
From friends that had Sharks (when they were particularly 'trendy' because of Carl Fogarty)I heard they are quite a different shape to Arai but of course that was best part of 10 years ago. (damn I feel old)

Back when I was a teenager whilst parking my motorbike up next to a friends immaculate RD350LC I got my trousers caught on my footpeg. I toppled over & my brake lever was first point of contact into the petrol tank of his bike. Huge dent in his pride & joy :(

It doesn't sound so bad but I felt an absolute sh*t as I know how much it meant to him..

shouldn't exceed 70?
why the hell not?

I drive on winter tyres and don't hesitate to drive up to the tyre limitation. T rated is 118mph! I use H or V rated tyres & am in Germany almost every week & happily enjoy the autobahn 'limits'.

Winter tyres are just normal in countries that prepare for conditions seen in the UK in the past few days. If you think it's normal to get stuck on small hills, crash or sleep overnight in your car then winter tyres are perhaps no help…
Perhaps it's just easier to blame the council gritters?

As already mentioned a few times on this thread – they are also noticeably better when temperatures are under 8deg, particularly when wet.

Hi Bob
Made the same journey yesterday lunchtime & it was fine.
A world better than conditions in Calais! :)

interested to see this topic as I was wondering the same.

Last week I responded very quickly to an advert, both on here & also to the email in the userID. I was the only person who responded on here.
I never heard anything back until I saw the sale item was now reported as sold…
Seller indicated in original advert he wanted paypal but I had no idea if his reported email adress was linked to his paypal account.

Now I have no idea what went on in the background in this instance but it sounds like some of the posters are suggesting a paypal race is the only answer!
If that's the case so be it but then perhaps it is polite to describe it as such. It seems a shame that there are so many 'buyers' who are screwing things up by not following through with their promises.

Used the light on my way home last works fine, but interferes with my Cateye wireless computer, and totally blocks the signal!

Mine also interferes with the radio signal when I'm riding so I have to use Ipod instead …
(but in general it is quite amazing for the money)

Great suggestion.
Medals for Belgium. Bring it on. :-)

I had a Suzuki DR650 a few years back. Was a '95 model I think & it did everything could expect of it without any issue.

Not massively inspiring (which is why I changed) but functionally great.
Dominator / Teneré / DR650 all pretty similar I think.

I agree it sounds expensive on face value but considering the amounts spent on carbon bike components :-) it's not crazy…

Anyone know anything similar that comes in cheaper?
It's the mix of the different sports that is most appealing – canoeing especially.

OT: Does anyone over there watch the internet TV coverage of the Belgian SuperPrestige race series?

Ooh. Didn't know you could. Got any links? I went to Hamme-Zogge last year in the snow – such good fun!

I have never tried it personally but they were going on about it a couple of weeks back when rider Bart Wellens was training in Spain whilst recovering from sickness. They phoned him up during the race & he was watching the coverage on-line so could give his comments on the race.

Should be linked on the day from http://www.vt4.be
I'll try it next weekend & report back if anyones interested.

The Belgian card is your affiliation to the cycling union (wielerbond) which extends your BC coverage to Belgium (as far as I understand)

OT: Does anyone over there watch the internet TV coverage of the Belgian SuperPrestige race series?

Toyota Formula 1?

Maybe even better – the Petronas World Superbike that Carl Fogarty ran for a number of years.

On a mountainbiking note: will anyone dare mention the Hammerschmidt crank? (or am I being premature?)

Most CX races in Belgium are free to enter cos they're all sponsored. With BC insurance and the Dispensation you don't need to pay any excess insurance either, you're already covered

good luck with the freebie from here in Belgium :wink:

Re: the biopace chainrings.

What is the difference between them and the Rotor oval rings that are still available? I know a couple of people who use them…

the firestone tires quote is also slightly incorrect.
It was an inflation pressure issue & nowt to do with the exhaust pipe.

Ford chose to lower the inflation pressure to improve comfort without adequate confirmation testing & this led to some tyre failures….

and you'll have to pay additional day insurance (10 euro or so) as part of your entry fee..

Where & when are you going to race?

I do about 52km to uni and back… cant wait till I get a car, cheep though

I am guessing you mean by bike?
That's a good distance.
How long does that take you?

so what about the whole 'surprise' aspect of the proposal or is that just a load of romantic tosh too?

37 & a tyre engineering manager

Be grateful you live in the UK for once.
Belgian drink drive rules are shockingly relaxed & there seems to be little or no social stigma to drink driving!

we have 6 limits each with gradually increasing severity.
0.5 – 0.8 promille = minimum 3 hour immediate driving ban & a fine
0.8 – 1.2 = minimum 6 hour immediate ban & if driving dangerously your licence is taken until your case is in court (& a fine) where you risk a 7 / 14 day ban.
1.2 – 1.5 = same as above but bigger fine
1.5 – 1.6 = 6 hour immediate ban / court case & fine
1.6 & above = 15 day ban / court case / fine & further ban of 1 month (or longer if you have a bad record)
drunk behind the wheel / refusing a breath test = same as above.

For example; double the British limit = expect to pay a thousand euros & lose your licence for a fortnight!

That's why we need cycle paths everywhere!

wr125 is an enduro 'styled' bike no? The YZF-R125 is defintely no Aprilia RS125…
WR250 & 450 are actual race bikes with some (limited) on-road ability.

The 450 still sounds the best compromise for your plans. I can only guess you visited a dealer with little off-road experience?
(and I agree about the KTM200 – great m/c)

I've got a selection of both.
XTR 970 dual control is just fantastic I think, particularly for the urgent grabbing of a lower gear…
I have an older set of LX DL levers with XT RR derrie & I find they don't index so well & are much slower shifting

When I'm riding on 'normal' shifters I do have a very bad habit of shifting the wrong way & as a result I find myself going into an even worse gear ratio just at the moment when I want something in the shorter direction. Freqent 'Doh' moments :-)

It is quite an amazing design but I am rather concerned if it really takes 9 hours to machine. If that was true then it would actually be quite 'cheap'

When does it stop being sport & become a game or even art for example?

Dressage? Is that sport?
Rythmic gymnastics? Art?
Ice dancing?
Synchronized swimming?