Thanks guys

niiiiicccee…. wonder if the seatstays will break as readily as the 575's ?

Amazing but expensive… I've started paying Father Christmas for my 4 1/2 year olds Giant XTC 20"

Of the guys in our 2 teams 5/7 were on HT's and 2/7 of us were on FS. I would agree with your musings that 3x as many were on HT.

I think this choice was down to the mud (or at least expected mud) I had brought my cross (ish) bike incase the mud was bad, but it wasn't needed. I rode my superlight on all 7 of my laps.

My 4 Year old at Nant yr Arian

And again at SITS last weekend

SITS heroic award must go to Trevor from USE Exposure

He filled in (for a couple of laps) for our team when one of our riders couldn't start after slicing his quad on his disc brake rotor at Afan (don't ask…. I still can't work out the dynamics)

A great event, and the weather was perfect (almost…..)

Swimming….. It's supposed to be beautiful.

Dan, Dave'll be able to help…. he's the ghetto expert…..

I've got some spare Stan's "Milk" if you need it…… you can have it Weds night if you want..

Text me if you want..

Martyntr above will confirm/tell you that I don't exactly mince down the descents 😀

Dave tends to break things quite often….. and that's a fact

Very happy with my UST 2.4 MK's…. Infact I'm changing the 2.4 Mid Wales friendly's for 2.2's for SITS next weekend.

Fantastic tyre in these parts, hooks up well on the slate trails around Aberystwyth

One of my friends (AL) had a similar problem to the one you described "armyrider"…. the bubbling stops after a while as the latex seals the tyre. He has ghetto'd his though….

Minty arse lard…. what a rip off…. nowt wrong with Sudacrem which is what I use……. 1/2 if not 1/3 the price

Cool, thanks…. will speak to one of the team captains and find out.

That crash was cringeworthy… the fact that he didn't move once he'd stopped sliding along the floor really did make me feel sick….

Good news that he's well though… He'll be back to take the "Criterium internationale" again next year…

Mud clearance for that back tyre looks a bit "californian" for my liking…. nice to see tham bak on the UK scene though…

Cadbury's world was great for the kids 3 years ago when we went. I wouldn't say I'd go back though… The smell of chocolate put me off for sometime afterwards…

We had aproblem with one of our entries as well. The post office sent the envelope back saying they couldn't deliver it as the address was unknown.

When posted again, they recieved it fine, as they did with our other entry.

Both the team captains have recieved emails from Pat and the team to confirm entry..

Oh and don't forget X-Lite bits and bobs as well

If I could I'd go for the Following.,…..

Frame – Something handbuilt and 853 – Pleanty of builders still about (UK)
Forks – USE Sub (UK)
Headset – Hope (UK)
Stem – Use (UK)
Bars – USE (Taiwan made)
Brakes – Hope (UK)
Brake pads – Clark (UK, Wales !!)
Hubs – Royce (UK)
Spokes – DT (Swiss)
Rims – Mavic (French)
QR's/seatpost clamp – Hope
Tyres – Conti (German)
BB – Royce (UK)
Cranks/chainring – Middleburn (UK)
Seatpost – USE (UK)
Seat – Brookes (UK)
Chain – hmmmmm ?? SRAM (USA/Taiwan)
Pedals – Look (French)

To save the worry of mechs I'd go singlespeed…….

As everyone else has said really. You have 3 options..

1) Salad Leaves/ Lettuce,
2) Salad Onions (Lisbons are the best IMO)
3) Spring Cabbage (my Durham early seeds are going to get planted at the end of the month and replace my Spuds when they're harvested)

WCA – How's your Butternut Squash coming on ?

I'll be there, so hopefully will be able to get my hands on some "Free" stickers 😉

Definately Carbon, Renton 🙄

Square taper. Mine are 3 years old and are as great as the day i fitted them… Plus I’m only on my 2nd BB 🙂

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/stw-garderners-and-allotment-users-friday-chat

I personally spend about 20-30 mins a day watering or weeding, or even harvesting (the best bit)

It’s a nice relaxing place away from everything……..

Nuun Cola (with caffiene) very impressed..

Lovely strawberry goodness 🙂

Not noted the Farts yet though..

Bought mine from Noahs ark after doing a google search to find the cheapest…. Great service, great price and allround great experience……. did I say it was great…?

Here’s looking forward to my first 4 man at SITS

Looking forward to doing it with you Dan. Sylv and the kids are coming too. Their sleeping bags arrived today 🙂

Mtbmatt – Was looking at your lap times and they’re pretty consistent (after the first 2) Good skills…. 🙂

Great news… Matt Page is honestly one of the most modest and nice guys I’ve met in MTBing. I met Nia this year at the Dyf, congratulations to you both and I wish you every success in the future..

Same problem here. I never get them anywhere near full travel. At most the run 90mm. Say that though I’ve never mnaged to get full travel out of any fork, Fox, Rockshox, Marzocchi….. Maybe you’re not meant to ?!

Never had a problem while I was usuing a Duo set up, 29/42. I was using an XTR front mech and had the chainset from new, with new rings.

Now using the same mech with a Middleburn Triple set up, 24,32 44 and still having no problems with Chainsuck.

Was the chain you fitted new ? Maybe an old chain could have been a contributory factor ?

Bunnyhop – I have one behind the Compost bin by the blackcurrent bushes. In the spring I saw a Hedgehog over there…. great for eating the slugs 🙂

The general rule of thumb on potatoes is 100 days from planting till harvest. This can however vary depending on Variety. 😉

29erKeith – looking good. Nice garden too !!

I’ve been removing leaves from my rocket all spring/early summer. Aslong as you don’t rmove the growing point in the centre the plant should keep producing leaves. I’ve had most of my salad leave bolt though…. I think I may have put the plants out too early, and they’ve had a bit of frost or something….

Does anyone have any other ideas ?

Does anyone know if I need to treat the soil for blight, before growing anything else, I heard they can attack Tomatoes too?

From what I remember there is no treatment once the disease has taken hold, however, spraying the tomato plants with a Mancozeb spray every 2 weeks in damp weather should hold it at bay.

As for raised beds, they’re ideal if you have back problems 😉 but also you can manipulate the soil or growing medium you use for growing your plants more easily, reduce stone content (if particularly stoney) and also are ideal if your soil is poor draining or gets waterlogged in the winter.

My evolving cross/road (ish) bike..

Road bars and gearing on a MTB frame

A bit of progress from my Veggie patch….

Tomatoes are coming along.

Sugar snap peas are doing well, as are the Pumpkins..

Finally I have growing Courgettes !! The Leeks are thinned, onions are doing well and the Runner Beans are coming on.

Carrots in Pots are definately the way forward

Strawberries are doing well….

Heres some I picked yesterday..

Dan – “The Vegetable and Herb Expert” by Dr H.G. Hessayon is my bible.

Royce is a great choice. I had one of their BB’s back in the day and it ran forever (until i sold the bike) If I buy new hubs I will be investing in a set of Royce.

I am also a Middle burn User and have been for years. Their construction is second to none.

Buy British…

Won a spot prize of a Rough ride guide too!

I won a Ladies Saddle…. just need ladies hips now 😉 (my wife has gratefully accepted it for her Spesh)

I enjoyed it again for the 3rd year. The singletrack sections on the moorland (where I swear the ground sounds hollow) are amazing.

Complete the Long route in 7 hrs total (6.33 ride time) and enjoyed all but the last climb from the village up the tarmac, up onto a dirt track, uponto the moor and up onto the grass… did I mention it went up 😉

On a positive note the descent off’ve Hergest Ridge was a nice reward 🙂