And the endurance?

I just can't see many of the track/BMX/DHers keeping their HRs up for >2hrs for an XC race, or still being able to sprint flat out after 5 hours on the road

Try sprinting round a bmx track then come back and tell me these riders aren't fit enough to race for a few hours :) You've got to be pretty fit to cope with that intensity of anaerobic exercise.

Shanaze Reade ? BMX and Track riding pretty much sewn up. With the transferable skills to cope with the technicalities of 4x/DH and the speed for Xc.

It all really does depend on what you want the bike to do. I'm 6'7"ish and i'm starting to think my 20" Patriot is actually too big for the type of riding i'm using it for :-)

Any early Pulp stuff – Intro, His and Hers.

Or Flowered Up – Weekender http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMAHtOuZtnc only 12" i've ever brought :)

I just think there's something fantastically ironic about a man with well groomed hair and wearing a bead necklace making a joke about another man being gay.

Unless of course these are now indicators of a chaps masculinity ?

Sweeping generalisation i know but, with a man (or a single non-parent woman) the only person's health that is an issue for the employer is the employee.

Rubbish – if my wife is ill then i have to assume child care responsibilities. Fortunately my employer is considerate enough to accommodate this !

ACS claws are noisy but reliable as far as i'm concerned. It was a Shimano DX freewheel that let me down and meant a long scoot/walk home.

I like my 'classic' On One Inbred (32:16) – but this is soooo much more fun (32:16)
:)

Will have a matching purple rear wheel when i get the bits i need (hurry up bike shop !).

But comedy and offensive-ness are subjective and intimately related to context.

And this is an internet forum. Just not worth getting worked up over (although there seems to be a nunber of folks who like to).

I'm still failing to grasp the idea that somehow expressing offensive views on the internet is ok 'because it's just the internet'.

bit of a hijak but how the hell do you get a snapped pin out.
tried to get it out but to no avail.can,t drill as ally pedals(goose thread)any ideas.

I tried, and failed, and then got a mate who works for an engineering firm to tap in a new hole next to the one with the snapped pin in.

Attack Gripshift for the front dérailleur – Attack trigger shift for the rear – Best of both worlds.

Can't fault the grip shift – never misses a shift and not a lot to go wrong.

the same post has just appeared above !

8)

a lifestyle/ethics/health choice that our comfortable western lifestyle lets us choose

tell that to the people of Gujarat

In answer to the post

I don't really care if people are vegetarian etc…but I'd say it's definitely not natural for humans.

my post makes perfect sense :)

But yes, others may not be able to make the same choices we make….

Not at all natural – a lifestyle/ethics/health choice that our comfortable western lifestyle lets us choose. And yes i am a vegetarian.

Over taken many patriots on the ups and downs on my 5 AM

Sometimes i ride my Patriot slowly, some times i ride it fast, some times i ride it on flat rides, other times i point it down the steepest track i can find.

Are there really people riding round tutting at me and thinking to themselves "what's he riding that big bike here for" ?!?! The mind boggles that they are so concerned about my choice of bike 8O

I use mine for everything – from the alps to the canal tow path via the bmx track. Usually just with a 150mm single crown fork but now have a 170mm triple clamp for when i want to turn it into a 'proper' dh bike.

Seems fine on slow techy stuff to me (Stainburn mostly) and also capable of taking some massive hits if needed.

Would i buy another – possibly – although the newer Blood is certainly looking like a tempting alternative.

Enduro replacement bearings for the Xt rather than throw away a perfectly good bearing cup ? About £22 from bted.

6+ inches of travel when there's no technical stuff? See a fair amount of that, and you do wonder where they are riding to locally that needs a big bike as you think you'd like to have a go on your 6" bike that looks like their bike.

Good point.

I tell you what though – I had the best time!!!

It only counts if you beat the downhillers on a rigid singlespeed as everyone on STW is able to do :P

My brother had a custom Merlin titanium singlespeed built and it's just a thing of beauty – crazy expensive but he wanted the best, is an engineer so understood what he was signing off when he had the frame plan, and it has turned out to be a fantastic bike.

I'd get one if i could afford it :cry:

(He did however have a cheaper singlespeed prior to this purchase to check he actually liked singlespeeding before taking the plunge on such an expensive frame :-) )

I enjoy actual bike races, I just think that having an imaginary race against someone who doesn't know they are in a race then bragging about it on the internet is a bit sad.

Nicely put :)

And funniest thread for me for ages – can't believe people get so worked up about this kind of post. Nice work j-claw !

I found this video pretty useful.

Go and see the one at RAF Cosford[/url]. Watching the film of whole squadrons of them scrambling to get airborne is pretty hair raising. My parents neighbour used to fly them and they used to train for flights where you'd take off with a nuclear payload and never know if there'd be anything left to return home to…..

Cannock is a significantly larger area over which to run an event – Stainburn is a very small woodland. Only one other track through it apart from the bike trails and even that isn't marked on the OS map as a 'legal' right of way.

If you were a twenty something one time world champ and you kept being beaten in races by a 30something father of two you'd probably be pretty forlorn about it :)

About 2 years ago i talked to a couple of orienteers who were walking round Stainburn with the mountain bike tracks marked on their map. Having said that looking at their website the map isn't listed as available so maybe they realised the folly of running an event where user conflict could arise.

Discussed it with other trail builders at the time but don't know if it made it back to the FE. Not sure if they were aware it was a bike track but seeing as how they were standing next to the north shore at the time it would have been difficult to argue otherwise !

One thing I would suggest is to ensure it's a bit bigger than the one at Stainburn, I know the STA guys put a lot of effort into it, but it's pretty pants.

More useful feedback from someone who has never bothered to contribute in person (? – please feel free to correct me if i'm wrong……)

In June we did

1st day drive to Glospie
2nd day 2 laps of Golspie
3rd day Balblair and Learnie (new jumps there are fun !)
4th day Laggan
5th day Innerleithen
6th day Ae

Then we were knackered – Best of everything there apart from any natural riding :)

So far I love the 5.5 and know it was the right decision for a do it all machine,

Honestly, i give you another three months on it going on your past record :wink:

LOL – that was the question i was going to ask – what do you think the conversion rate was; from enthusiastic trail rider/internet commentator to useful volunteer trail builder.

Sounds like it was the usual low rate…..

I just do up the zips and velcro and chuck it in with the rest of my stinky kit.

I'm guessing so – but i won't be there – off out to the countryside instead :D

Isn't it PJ's 'urban ride' – so Lawnswood Arms sounds about right.

LOL out those getting upset by his riding style.

I think you'll find on the continent queuing/waiting your turn is not a technique practised by anyone, be it in lift lines, on a track or even waiting for the bike wash :)

Maybe i need to pop down to visit Chevin and have a look/test ride to see what all the fuss is about.

I thought the main disadvantage was the limited choice of frames/forks/rims/tyres ?

Just got this joke by email and it seemed topical in the circumstances. . .

Tired of constantly being broke & stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife with himself as the beneficiary, and then arranging to have her killed.

A ‘friend of a friend’ put him in touch with a nefarious dark-side underworld figure who went by the name of ‘Artie.’

Artie then explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a spouse was £5,000..

The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn’t have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife’s insurance money.

Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man opened his wallet, displaying the single £1 Coin that rested inside. Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, & reluctantly agreed to accept the £1 as down payment for the dirty deed.

A few days later, Artie followed the man’s wife to the local Tesco Super Store. There, he surprised her in the produce department & proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands & as the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath & slumped to the floor…..

The manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the murder scene. Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, ol’ Artie had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.

However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the hidden security cameras & observed by the store’s security guard, who immediately called the police. Artie was caught & arrested before he could even leave the store.

Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the whole sordid plan, including his unusual financial arrangements with the hapless husband who was also quickly arrested.

The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared ..

(You’re going to hate me for this …. )

‘ARTIE CHOKES 2 for £1.00 AT TESCO!’

Oh, quit groaning!
I don’t write this stuff,
I receive it from my warped friends and then send it on to you.

Yes. Great night ride bike.

Ride bike, stick in garage dirty, get out garage, waft WD40 over it, ride bike, stick in garage dirty, etc, etc….

Now Laggan Wolftracks Blue (or is it orange now?) there’s a BMX track on ‘roids.

You should try the revamped Learnie ‘bike park’ in that case. A lot of fun and way better than Laggan.

I like Llandegla for what it is. An opportunity to graba few hours on the bike on tracks that generally hold up well what ever the weather and can be ridden by everyone (at varying speeds depending on what they are looking to get out of the trail).