Sure
Just take a multi tool

Edit: and cash card just in case it totally goes belly up ;-)
(Had chain ring fall off once)

Same for me on crest / switch. Was shocked after 1 day xc that they were very loose. Had to retension 3 times and they’ve been fine since.
Fair price for the weight

Another very satisfied liberator owner here….
The Chinese cheapo products I’ve owned last around a year and I’ve had the liberator for at least 3 winters already.
Don’t mind paying for quality but can well appreciate the reasons for stopping.

And best of all he’s Belgian :-)

(All be it from the dark side) ;-)

His old man was also something special but perhaps pre-dates such opportunities

he seems to be a good cnntender for the spring classics no?
RvV / Paris Roubaix / MSR etc

very good in that environment generally & you know he can floor anyone in a sprint that is still in touch at the end of those races.

Tinkoff Saxo were nowhere during the spring

hoorah

I am in the black :)

(I do/did also get tax refunds every year so I cannot complain too much)

I’m just about to employ a new engineer for my team and we initially talked about employing him through Germany but now he’s coming to Belgium. It’s costing a lot more to offer him same net package :(

I think there’s a couple of Belgian expats on here.
I’m one of them & >10years there :-)

It’s got plenty of good points but also some awful frustrating characteristics too.

(The above mentioned driving standards is just one)

Politically hopeless & will surely retain the record for country without a government for a long time. Latest elections were equally baffling.

Cycling is king though (in Flanders anyway) so I can forgive a lot

(Where does this most highway miles come from? – cannot be correct)

Indeed no mountains as such but plenty of hills. Feel free to ride an Ardennes based MTB marathon and tell me there was no climbing challenge ;-)

PS: Hi from a very wet Swiss Alps where I’m enjoying some longer descents

I ask these questions in job interviews (well HR does normally) as they are relevant to selecting the right candidate.
Sorry if you find them intrusive but I find they help.

Next week making final selection between candidates for a position based in Germany and 1 has to relocate his family. I’m fine with that but it’s important topic to discuss because if he & his family are not really up for it we’re all going to be disappointed in 6 months time.

I got to watch the semi in a bar in Hamburg.

German people are sound. Can’t really understand why Britain think they are so different.

My 9yr old has mx24 team and its really quite excellent.
He pushes the thing damn hard as he’s a bmx racer mostly and so far not a single issue. Its a good weight too.

Another vote for erdinger or any German alcohol free weizen beer.
really quite excellent (if you can find it) and whilst its some years since I drank beer I think it tastes practically the same & this is confirmed by friends who have compared back to back.

Not usually available in the pub though :-(
I can’t drink sweet stuff all night long hence I try to find something a bit bitter (original lemonade or ginger beer for example)

Vanmarcke bottled it in the game of nerves….. :-(

Just roll with it…
There’s always someone faster (unless maybe you are Tony Martin)
In these instances it’s you. Settle back & enjoy the status ;-)

I’ve got a piece of old chain attached to the workbench for these moments

Wheel vertical butted up against the workbench….

I fly mostly pan-european and on the flights carry-on luggage capacity is quite limited hence if I’ve got a bag don’t wait too long.

I did miss a flight once(Brussels airport) whilst hanging out in the business lounge because there were no calls or updates on the screen…
Whoops.

When are you going?
(I live there so can perhaps advise on some things or events going on during your stay)
Julian’s list is quite a good start though.

Belfort tower is quite cool & not just for the best views of the city…

Latest 3 series feels a bit more Mercedes than ever…. (Long way from mx5 fun)

1 series remains good fun with the lovely RWD feel; even with the 2 litre diesel.

His to lose after all the hard work from QSOP….(feel a bit sorry for Boonen actually – media would have destroyed him if he’d lost)

Had hoped to see something more from Vanmarcke after yesterday but it is bloody windy over here today.

I’m still smiling from yesterday :-)))))
Stannard was just awesome.

I commute each way over 40km’s of jammed Belgian highway every day by motorbike.(75km each way in total)
Hazards on / main beam (& noisy pipe) and then hanging left foot for those kind enough to acknowledge my presence & give me a little room….

Been hit twice over the past 10yrs and had some horribly close misses.

I’m very grateful to any driver who makes my journey a little less scary.

Similar yet different sports….

If you see another great mtb rider like Marco Fontana ‘struggling’ against the top crossers I would expect Schurter to have same issues.
Kulhavy has also given it a go & been unsuccessful.
Kevin Pauwels has been Belgian xc mtb champ a couple of times but he’s done it on fast, less technical courses.

Interesting topic though particularly with the seemingly well supported suggestion to bring cross to the winter Olympics in the future

if it helps: I only get it visiting the classifieds section…

(previously I got it on all of the STW Forums)

I commute on a K1200R….
Not a good choice for comfort / serenity / economy but it takes your mind off work ;-)

BMW GS Adventure was considerably better and I (sometimes) regret getting rid :-(

what car (tyre size) is it?
What is in the car handbook for tyre size?

Stybar was super strong – just as he was described in the pre-race statements from the guys who were training in Mallorca.

Nys rode well and certainly had Stybar on the ropes until he dropped his bike taking the fence hairpin. Great last lap though from Stybar – hard to say if it was fatigue or pressure that got to Sven…

Sad that we won’t get to see the World Champions jersey so much next season but there can be no doubt that Stybar is a class act.
Hope he can be at the front again for Paris Roubaix.

Here in Belgium there are some upset people (mainly Nys fans I guess) who are saying its unfair that Stybar only rides a limited cross season but I’m not buying that.
Anyway – Stybar is practically Flemish anyway. Lives here, speaks Flemish, Flemish gf, Flemish pro-tour team. (Our version of Chris Froome?) ;-)

“I’ve just sharted”

I’m hoping for a super day from Stybar. :)
Meeusen has looked very good in the past 3 weeks too & maybe Pauwels is also starting to find his legs once more.

LVDH hasn’t looked the threat he was early in the season for while despite squeezing good results out. Great guy – super humble (especially for a NL) ;-)

For the ladies I hope Compton doesn’t have the same issues last Sunday (something about a allergy / asthma attack)

Contigo is excellent.
Keeps coffee hot for too long if anything. If you fill with a freshly made hot drink it remains too warm to consumer for best part of 30mins…

Single day events are best (as they don’t impose on the family so much)

The Selkirk Marathon looks interesting option.

I’ll keep an eye open for the North Pennines event too.
Perhaps I can combine this one with a family visit :)

http://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mx-20-team/

Just under the 9kg

My eldest son has the 24″ version & it’s a great bit of kit.
Simple but effective….

I’m teetotal now for some years.
The only negative I can find is if you’re in the pub for more than an hour or 2 it’s hard to find something pleasant to drink. (1 diet coke is enough)

I used to drink too much. Not alcoholic but it was certainly a bad habit. Probably a bottle of wine per day plus weekend beers.

Since stopping my weight is lower but best of all my memory & speed of mental response is signficantly better. It was only when I stopped drinking I realised how it affected me….

There are worse ways for her to find out..
We had the workshop broken into & the thieves took my 2 best bikes.

Not only did my lady not know how many bikes I had, she didn’t know how much they were worth so it wasn’t a very pretty conversation. I was tempted to ask the policeman to stay around for a while ;-)

And really fast…
268.831 kilometers an hour (in the slipstream of a race car)

Just watched the race from Baal. Seemed to work OK for him ;-)

Commentators claimed same spec bike is available off the shelf for €8k and that it weighs bang on 7.0kg…

It was also claimed that Sven took an active role in the development but I take that with a pinch of salt.

Let’s see how he gets on tomorrow in Roma (and if he uses discs)

I got it in Belgium too (Nexus7 on wifi)

It was written in English…

I’ve got 2 boys (6&9) the same… Trained them to sleep till 0630 or so now.
They occasionally sleep till 0730 but usually the one who’s up first wakes the other…

You get used to it (sort of)

You might wish to cross check those numbers….
Should be around 3.5% as op suggested

Actually this is quite a large difference & in my experience too big.

It is a bit weird but as a teetotaller there’s only so much coke you can drink…
A nice tea or a cappuccino is most welcome.

It is fine to do, just more expensive long term…
There is always a risk from heavy handed fitters but perhaps if you always use the same dealer this risk is limited.
Store them in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight.

Btw: The ‘sealant’ mentioned above is only vegetable based mounting lube. It has no sealing properties.

Started the build on my Lynskey, failed to find a new Racing Ralph that’s hiding in my man cave & took my eldest son to the greatest cyclo cross race in the world…. :-) :-)

Great race. Went to watch it as its only 6km from home. It’s hard to appreciate on TV how steep it all is..

Huge crowds…
Apparently there were 10k tickets already pre-sold before today too.

Sven said in the post race interview that indeed he saw Walsleben had lost 10metres with his chain issue & rode the long climb ‘under control’ knowing that he’d have something in reserve for a kick during the penultimate straight.