Took the Zaskar to second in retro pairs this year – thanks to the Antiques Roadshow guys who were in second but ‘fessed up to cutting a lap short due to mechanical issue. Very sporting of you chaps.

As has been said – stunned at the dry trails, @JoB arrived back after his lap with near dusty & certainly clean tyres, couldn’t believe he’d actually been out. He then gave me the bad news about my team mate having broken a chain on Lap 1. He also cracked his RTS which was a bit of a shame, but not surprising given it’s age I guess!

I have a Lumi on low on the bars, never really found I need more but have a joystick so thought I’d give it a go to see if it makes any difference on the helmet for my commute into London.

TBH, I’ve dropped it entirely; I ended up blinding riders in front (who check behind them for lane changing) – far moreso than with just a bar light.

I appreciate the helmet light as much as anyone offroad – or if riding by yourself. When there’s other riders not expecting a dazzling it’s a bit of a problem.

Get a room you two!

+1 for W10 here too. More stable imho than 7 or 8 & it’s interface ‘feels’ slicker. You’re not averse to change, by any chance?

+1 for TheBrick’s comment – Tax will be a big factor – presumably you’ll be paid in HK rather than UK? If in UK then contractor rules have tightened up over the last year or two. Definitely worth checking before committing….

Not about the Russians at all, but Ready Player One by Earnest Cline will be a great read / listen for the vast majority of the STW demographic, I’ll wager

Go for the Middleburn Slickshift Hardcote & it’ll probably outlast your bike…..

Boo. Ah well, thanks anyhoo

Used both contacts & glasses for years before having my eyes lasered. Annoyingly, aged 43, my nightsight has now deteriorated to the point at which I need something for night riding / driving again.

Previously, contacts worked largely fine for me. Only conditions which I really didn’t get on with them was in a particularly wet road race (imagine very wet conditions, gritty spray off rear wheel in front) & on an off-road descent when my eye watered, I felt what I thought was a tear rolling down my cheek. Unfortunately, it was a lens, when I was in the middle of a Colorado descent, miles from my base, with no access to spares for a couple of days. Ah well. Not bad for about 10 years with contacts.

It’s worth mentioning I nearly always used a set of sunnies over the top – I hate squinting in bright conditions – or just feel vulnerable without them protecting my eyes, even at night. Oakley Pro frames all the way, even now, for their great around the head fit. But all in all, contacts worked 99% of the time for me, biking or not.

Glasses, well, they’re expensive & readily scratched, even with the various coatings if dropped. Plus few give the wrap-around coverage of a decent sunglass lens. It’s nice to be able to remove sunnies mid-ride if it gets too wet – you can’t do this wearing glasses with -7 prescription without inviting a painful death.

So if you can’t afford / don’t fancy / aren’t the right person for laser treatment, contacts every time.

As an ex-CW tester I tried a lot of road saddles. When we went away, all of us took whatever we usually rode with to ensure we were comfy.

All the guys always took Spesh Toupes – almost all on 143’s. And that wasn’t because we had them for nowt, because we could have had anything.

FWIW, SLR’s are the invention of Belzibub himself for my willy, on the tops or drops.

Saddle choice far less important on an mtb as you spend considerably less time on it anyway 🙂 I generally use whatever the bike comes with these days offroad.

No problems here; I recently bought a heavily discounted Cannondale rrp £5k bought on the same interest free deal for £3k. Most expensive bike I’ve ever bought with my own money, was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. The V12 Finance piece was pretty straightforward, Tredz built & shipped the thing in the biggest cardboard box I’ve ever seen in my life & was with me in a couple of days from order. Almost too easy.

Had a mate who sent back a big top due to it being so flexy in the rear. Did he just have a bad one or are they all like that?

As a double (aluminium) Yeti owner, I’m hoping it was a one off, but he knows his stuff so I fear the latter…..

Freehub or freecoaster? You might want to try RadBMX or one of the other forums for something this specific….

Fuzzhead – thanks – have had a look, couldn’t see it 🙁

Can recommend Canaan & surrounding areas if you’re as far as Virginia. New York state has some awesome rock climbing so I would guess there’s some biking there.

Few hours drive North of Boston, New England winter ski resorts have got to be good (although only been there in Winter myself!) Stowe, Killington, Sunday River etc etc. I’d live there happily!

…as in extensions to your existing SKS (or similar)?

If that’s what you mean, am currently using a vertical 6″ strip off an old water bottle on the rear for club runs, my club mates love it seeing as it’s been so wet of late!

A mate used a similar sized strip off some box section wrapping-paper plastic tube. Worked well, possibly better than my Zefal bottle as it covered the sides too.

+1 for Revant here too – great lenses, better than Oakley price

UV protection – aren’t all polycarb lenses inherently UV protective?

I have a company BlackBerry, admin have blocked installation of apps

Grrr, ‘Admin’ may have physically done the blocking work, but I expect it’s your company policy dictators who’ve actually asked Admin to do this for them to manage their costs / devices.

Me, work in IT, surely not….. 😉

Not sure how much truth there is in it, but I did hear the horrible looking prefab houses were apparently built by PoW’s in WW2!

Having lived in Westcott for nearly 10 years, it’s nice if you’re not looking to integrate much with the local community who we found quite an odd bunch to say the least. This was typified by our immediate neighbours who considered any ‘outsiders’ unwelcome until they’d been around for 30+ years, seemingly.

I’d like to think we were super considerate, keeping the noise down, no late night DiY, house parties, always a cheery hello & efforts to get to know people. However, we felt largely ostracised after a few years & struggled to sell the place for a long time thereafter. Immediate neighbours were just awful to the Mrs who was effectively bullied whilst I was away at work. Actively dissuaded potential house purchasers against buying to spite us. It can happen anywhere I know, but I’ve never, ever had an issue anywhere I’ve ever lived (and I’ve been around a bit).

Just seems quite insular compared to many other places IMHO.

@Merak – love the idea but no mudguard eyelets 🙁

Me.

Sunshine1; presumably you have to ride down a road adjacent or in very close proximity to the tram lines – which are also going in the same direction as the road?

You’re suggesting you want to change your bike to avoid your wheels falling into the tram ‘ruts’?

If you like the Cannondale that much, you don’t want to change it, so you need other options; as I see it these are either learn to avoid the rails by positioning yourself on the road further away from them. Alternatively, take a different route.

Either way, don’t change a bike you love just to accommodate for you what is a tricky section at present.

Good luck!

Cheers Nick. Do you reckon Jackie might be able to help out then?

Thanks chaps, will give the regular folders a go with Stans then.

Cheers all – will see what they’re like when (if?) they arrive.

It certainly seemed to on another forum. The guy made his kit himself though.

+1 For hh45. Surrey Hills have been trashed over the years with inconsiderate riding during prolonged wet spells.

However, it does drain better than pretty much anywhere else South I’ve ridden. Just give it a rest for a day or two after rain.

Mmmm. I’d happily put ipx / spx on if 64 bit supported it.

I’ve snapped every brand of chain I’ve owned

I’m sure that’s your dodgy riding style 😉

I don’t think SRAM are as good as they were, and they’re expensive

They certainly are in **your** shop (not that that’ll stop me buying them there)

Friday chain?

I have to admit I try to use SRAM’s, slotted PC-89’s being my fave chain ever (but unfortunately now discontinued), never snapped a single SRAM – even the 89’s despite being slotted, I must have had at least 20 of them, used on both road & mtb.

Haven’t bothered with Shimano’s for years, mainly on advice from you lot. Had a deal off someone here with a Connex & broke a side plate on that (Tour of Wessex day 1, fortunately had a chain tool with me!) so back to SRAM’s. Although they do seem to be getting jolly expensive these days. Maybe I ought to look at some of the KMC’s….

+1 for the Kinesis Racelite – although they come up quite large & you’ll need long drop front brake

Great thread.

Training’s great, I like doing it as much as the next person, but choosing your parents well is the best prep you can possibly do. As has already been said – those doing well at 24hrs will be doing pretty well at 2.

There are plenty of compelling arguments out there for the training only affecting a relatively small percentage of overall performance & the remainder is a combination of mental ability plus genetic potential.

“pull an endo, unbolt your bombers and set about them before wheely-ing away from the scene, you’re obviously not fit to ride a bike”

Love it!

I was going to call it SF but then you’d have wondered where I meant.

Thanks though – sounds like my kind of riding – maybe I’ll not worry about the trails!

23 miles for me into Londinium, was blimmin’ freezing with the headwind this morning, although the way home last night was ace. Hoping it’ll be the same later!

Noticably fewer people out today too – at least up until the usual manic bit where A23 & A3 meet where it all turns a bit mental & you end up trying not to race everyone. I regularly end up at the lights with 20+ other riders around me.

Yup – Norwood Paragon mixed team again.

Was supposed to be in the winning Vets team last year but opted for a work paid trip to Colorado instead!

Well, at least you can use it with Nokia’s data suite – which is actually the best thing about Nokia’s these days.

Note I say Data Suite, not the disasterous Ovi suite.

I had to get shot of two pretty old pc’s last week. I managed to get shot of them by leaving them adjacent to the front gate with some other odds & sods destined for the tip.

The bloke even knocked on the door & asked if he could take them. Obviously, I’d already removed the hard drives. Much better than dumping them as the cases if nothing else would get reused (apparently)

Look up Doug Petty – he’ll sort you out with local routes & emergency pickup should you overcook a corner coming down Sa Colobra