Think my favourite one to date for the whole performance was chemical brothers at Alley Palley two years ago, i’m not the biggest fan but the whole experience between lightning, visuals, props and music was truly special.

Other one would be prodigy in 2008, first time seeing them and they didn’t disappoint. Have seen them a number of times since and haven’t been as good but that is more due to gig etiquette and people wanting to film the whole thing rather than dance.

I know of one friend that bought a mk1 g16 in a size smaller than he should have and sold it on a few months later but he does change bikes quite often and most of his riding is jumping and jibbing.

I bought a mk1 g16 second hand a few years ago and still got it. It took me at least a month for me gel with it and get it set up for me and my riding style. Live in Essex but go over to Surrey hills most weekends. I like and want the geometry but don’t always need the travel but there aren’t many bikes that would fit what I want (stumpjumper evo or a 141 maybe).

I’ve seen high end evil and Santa Cruze frames fail, I seen cheap carbon frames not have any issues (as well as some that do). For me personally buy the best you can with the best warranty available. If the worst should happen at least you can get a replacement.

Transition scout or nukeproof reactor for more of a trail bike feel but good geometry?

Both the pole and Stanton can be run with boost and non boost hubs. Have heard mixed reviews on pole and their customer service from people on the Geometron fb page when looking at changing to of something with similar geometry.

If you only have room for one bike an enduro bike wouldn’t be my pick. I would be looking at something a little bit shorter shorter travel but with sorted geometry. My two picks would be stumpjumper evo or the priviteer 141. Both could be over forked if you felt you needed more travel and the evo can be over shocked (different length shock) to get more travel out back.

Ps I have a two bike set up of long travel enduro rig and hardcore steel hardtail and I wouldn’t have one without the other.

Happy to eat it at home or at a restaurant (whether it’s a small stake, sausage or burgers). But to be honest i’m happy to try anything (peasant, rabbit, kangaroo burgers, goose intestine, beef tendon, tandoori snails…)

My 3 essentials that has changed my winter riding for the better are:
100% brisker gloves for dry cold days, not the most warm you can buy and rubbish for if it’s wet but good for a lot of autumn conditions. Still need to find a descent wet weather pair of gloves.
A gilet, don’t need to spend a fortune on on (and to be honest with water proofing coming off in the wash I wouldn’t bother spending too much anyway). Great for keeping wind chill off rather than just dry, and less likely to boil in the bag as a full wet weather jacket when it’s not raining but damp on the ground. Wear with a base layer to stay warm.
Fox fire gilet, not sure if they still do these but had mine for a season, worm on the body but cooling on the arms. Perfect for the colder weather. Did have there jacket as well but was way too hot for anything other than snow.

I would personally go brand new over second hand unless you can easily see the bike beforehand. A top end worn group set will shift rubbish compared to a budget brand new set/bike. Also if a simple worn chain might require a new cassette as well. Worth going to see the second hand bike with chain wear tool and walk away if too worn.

Either this or buy second hand frame and build up with mix of new and old parts (did this with misses bike and built up a tranny scout for £1500ish)

Worth knowing, sram guide brakes are universal/symmetrical in design so if you watered to swop them over you don’t have to bleed them (just have to turn them upside down and use other sides clamp).

This afternoons current usage:

Solar – 19.0%
Wind – 21.4%
Hydro – 0.9%
Gas – 34.0%
Coal – 0%
Biomass – 5.5%
Nuclear- 13.8%
Pump stations- 0%
Import – 5.5%

Pump storage will go up at 4/5 when dinner time starts to happen and solar will go down a bit after that.

So a couple of things to add to any of this, first off I actually work at a gas (3 Gas Turbine Generators, 3 Waste Heat Boiler, 1 steam turbine setup) power station but the company also own and operate biomas / coal power station, other gas power stations, pumping hydro stations and in the process of setting up carbon capturing plant.

With any energy production it’s not a simple subject with one answer. I am fully for the use of wind and solar generation but they do have a number of problems that means they can not be the only option to use. Obviously if it’s night time or not windy they will not be producing electricity so you will still need to produce the required amount using other means (so would still need a system that could product over 100% required without renewable).

Secondly you will never get 100% solar or windy due to the requirement of modulating the frequency of the electricity which you can’t do with renewable. We sometimes have to run when it is too windy or sunny due to the larger inertia (a big heavy turbine and generator) to control the frequency and make sure it stays at 50 hz. The pumping stations will pump water to the storage lake to use up some of the excessive electricity produced. There are even some power stations that will turn there generator into a motor to use up the electricity to help with the control of the grid.

Yes the pumping stations can supply a constant 4 hour connection to the grid (National grid set a minimum 4 hours running contact with energy supplies). They are mostly used to deal with sudden demand of electricity (10 minutes and they can be full operational V a boiler would take over a day if stone cold) when everyone suddenly decides to make a cup of tea in an add break.

My site will only operate when asked to by NG, this means we get a better price but also less Co2 released. Normally we only operate 2-4 times a week in the evenings.

One other form of electricity production that hasn’t be discussed is waste incinerators (burning anything that can’t be recycled). Since landfills are not allowed anymore majority of household waste will go to incinerators. Because the cancels pay them to take the rubbish away they undercut the price of gas power stations so run 24/7. The Uk even send of of their waste over to Holland to be burnt in their incinerators (which adds to the fun of Co2 production) and then sell the electricity back to the Uk using undersea cables (should the Co2 produced by these Dutch incinerators be counted as Uk carbon released?).

This afternoon energy production consisted of:
Solar – 14.3%
Wind – 14.9%
Hydro – 1.0%
Gas – 45.6%
Coal – 1.9%
Biomass – 5.0%
Nuclear- 12.3%
Pump stations- 0%
Import – 5.0%

The biggest way of reducing Co2 release is not just by changing the way that energy is produced but by how much is used, through out the beginning of lockdown energy usage was down by 30% (every day was a Sunday in the eyes of energy sector).

I know of two trails that are off piste and worth having a look at. First is at the start of MBR, instead of going up Brutus, look to your behind you. Trail goes goes back down to the skills area so can easily be looked back around. Just be careful of the very end as it’s very steep onto flat. The next is at the bottom of Herman on dragons back. Instead of going up the road climb tack the road to the right, and right again to cross of the small bridge. Next take another right and then a left and start climbing up the fire road (think there are gates there to go through) in to a lorry turning circle. Climb up the fire road until you come to the first switchback corner. Here is the first start section with a grassy start. Again it gets steeper and crosses over a stream. Following this single track out on to the fire road for the next 100m before turning right and climbing up a shingle track. This will start to head down on to another Down hill trail. This will lead on to a very very narrow trail that will lead down to a road. Follow this along before crossing the footbridge to get back to the bottom of Herman trail.

Through out this whole pandemic me and the misses have both worked fall time (me as a key worker in a health and safety role (home based but attending different sites throughout the day) and the misses working from home probably even harder than normal. We will both apply for the voucher for our bikes even though they definitely done full under the fixer upper category because we haven’t had any help/furlough money from the government. If it hadn’t of been as high at 80% pay for sitting at home I might of felt differently.

Same as above I would say carbon frames are more likely to to spot on accurately made than metal based due to cookie cutter way they are made. The jig itself will be the same, the carbon material cut the same and presume it will be a bit of a production line of people only installing a few pieces at a time (rather than building a whole bike).

Metal relies on being correctly cut (normally by a machine but expect to need a human to debure and clean up), the tacking up of the frame the jigs need to be set up correctly (on custom frames even more of an issue) as well as pre checks and adjustments after each tack to make sure it is true after the tack has cooled and then more checks after the whole frame is welded up pre heat treatment (this is were orange bikes have such an issue with all of the extra wielding needed along the tube lengths).

Both materials (well the metal inserts on the plastic frames) would need the pivot bearing, bottom bracket, head tubes and seat tube (reaming) to finalise the correct fit. Obviously everything comes at a cost and be added on to the rrp.

As for bikes manufacturers that I would expect to be top quality I would put nicolai, Stanton and btr as some of the best from what I have seen.

The Merc is just a rebadged Renault just in case you don’t known

Can’t remember the brand that my misses has (its an Italian one thought) but same as said before go and get her bottom measured and a seat to match. The local bike (more road than mbt) did it for my misses and even gave a two week trial period if she didn’t get along with it.

Reminds me, have never got on with protein shakes post ride so end up going for just a milk shake.

SIS berry gels and hydro taps get my vote as well as clif peanut bars. Would say worth trying before a big event to see how you get along as flavour, effectiveness and next day effect depending of individuals.

Think a harder version of swinley, similar trail surface with bigger hills. There is dh runs over at style cops (but have not tried these). The blacks on the Dog side are not hard but on the monkey get a lot harder. Was there last Monday, had a few divisions.

Chrispy – sounds like you missed off the final decent (after you cross over the bridge you turned left and went back along the blue trail rather than go right to climb up to the ‘beginning of the end’. If you have the knowledge you can loop up the best bits of MTB and dragons back and even a bit of off piste. Worth having trail forks app to see everything

Right then, got back to digs are a bit of an interesting ride. There are a number of trails that are closed due to forestry works (mostly on the purple – Fedw deg, hanner a hanner, red – man a man a mwncl). As for brushes, all the trails were passable but there was a fare amount of spikey brush in places eating away at your legs and arms. With the number of diversions in place and the general non flowing trails I would say head to the Marin trail (which I did the day before hand) which would be a better day out.

Going to pop there this afternoon so will comfirm what it’s like. Has been raining a bit this week locally so hopefully not too wet

https://geometrygeeks.bike/bike/sick-wulf-2018/

So I have a large wulf OG 64 degrees head angle set up with 29×2.6 tyres and am 5.9” is size. I would say after a years worth of use I would happy go slacker for a hardtail to 63 or even 62. The reach is spot on with a 40mm stem (have a geomatron with a 500 reach and have to run a 32mm stem). I would say it would be worth talking with Stanton as they do do the custom route as well

I have a frame from Marino (one of the sick frames to be precise) so why I did not go down the custom route i’m quite have looking and reading frame geometry. As above, a chance to one element of geometry will have an effect on another part. How tall are you and what sort of riding do you like?

I would open the tyre up (take one side of the tyre off the rim) and clear out the old dried sealant and put in new. Yes the tyre may well blow up without doing this but if a thorn goes through the sealant won’t work.

I bought a set of ion flat sole shoes as I wanted to try something different instead of just fivetens. The sole was too stiff for me but could be worth a look (think the flat shoe was very much based off of their clipped shoe).

Try and always avoid being on the roads if I can but with Covid I have ended up doing a bit more exploring of the local areas away from the main woods due to the heards of new people. The one thing I do do which I would say definitely helps is to block and wave on to the car behind with hand signals if I can see a little be further than the car behind. Most drivers realise what I’m doing the very second a car comes around the corner after I’ve signaled to them And will pass (when clear) with a wider margin and friendly honk/wave/hazards on.

Unfortunately there is always one or two that don’t believe me and go for the overtake only to find a car coming head on to them (que trying to pull in me and me showing them how I shake dice). I do think the less traffic has meant that the d**k driver have stood out more and that they have more opportunity to drive like idiots.

Bother lives around the corner from langsett so if I do come up and visit from Essex tend to ride from his (30min xc) to langsett and around the reservoir and up North America trail to get to the mid top part of cutgate before coming back down.

I have ridden from ladybower to langsett and back. Good fun day until mates freehub broke and he had to be pushed, scooted and ebike towed on all the ups.

Have 16 plate Leon fr bph diesel 2.0. More than enough poke for every day driving/traffic light wrong lane Grand Prix/over taking on country lanes. I have the three door which does make rear leg room tighter but I don’t tend to have others people with me. I like the dsg, it might be worth going into the car setting and playing around as mine have the sports steering but with some (but not all) eco modes selected and it seams to make it more smoother and better around town (no clutch kicking in and out as you coast).

Somewhere between a noob and riding god…

Happy to fit a trail gap of up to 15ft gap jump and hit 25ft tables.
Prefer technical single track style riding. If you go on starva times i’m top 10 on local trails and mid pack on trail centres and riding Mecca’s like Surrey hills or Peak District.

So I’ve always played around with bike setup a fair bit and definitely a fan of the whole long low and slack set up. For reference i’m 5.9” on a good day but tend to ride a large in most size frames with a short (32-40mm) stem. I use to run a large banshee spitfire with 27.5” wheels but in with 26” dropouts which I really liked (fun and poppy but with the length for ploughing at speed). I swooped the frame out to a Longer (medium) nicolai geomatron mk1 g16 which really pushed the length Of the bike (500 reach) but also chainstays (445). I find the chainstays too long for how i like to ride (the mk2 and g1 have the ability to change the length with different chips). I’ve also got a Marino steel hardtail with sliding dropouts which are set in the shortest setting. I think the mix of long front and short rear (with low bb) helps to make a fun bike but safe for me.

My list to look at would include:
Transition smuggler – mate has built up one and it’s been great over the lock down for the more xc rides but still copied with places like fod off piste.
New Commencal meta trail – similar set up but slacker and longer.
Spesh stumpjumper evo – if you really want something stupid without too much travel (one bike to rule it all, can have stock changed out to make it run longer travel).
Mondraker foxy 29er – somewhere between the others. Like the suspension linkage design as very active.

Brother has a segment (we test road the whole orange range before deciding that the segment was more than enough for his riding style and location). It really depends on a few factors like what sort of geometry you are after as there are a few short trail but long/low/slack 29er that I really rate/on the list for my next bike that others would hate. What’s your normal ride (distance, steepness , trail features).

I would say Audi TT hardtop could be a good bet, lots of different engine options, practical, reliable, dsg gear box which is very good. Only bad thing is a lot of people won’t consider its proper sports car because it’s based on golf/a3/Leon under piñon and you can get a diesel one.

Try Epping, Danbury or thorndon woods. All have very good trails but are all a bit hidden so either do some strava heat map/segment research or local knowledge once things are back to normal.

So I’m just finishing up a job where I could either get a company car or sort out a lease myself. I ended getting the company car due to if something goes wrong it’s the company that has to get me back on 4 wheels and carry on working and making them money. I ended up paying some of my own money (extra £100 a month) to get the model I wanted (seat lean fr 2.0 diesel 150bph DCG over the se 1.6 diesel 116bhp with no toys. Other guys did pay extra to get Audi A3 or even a4 models which I know got even more expensive). In the 4 years of driving it it’s just clocked on to 90k. My thoughts were when ordering this car was to potential buy it at the end of the lease so worth specing it to what I wanted (which I will be buying it for commuting to new job though I though it would be worth buying for second car/other half). Also with doing 20k a year I wanted something that was comfortable to be in and make driving easier (which it certainly does with the built in satnav and a bit of poke for the motorway and auto). The only other issue that I wished I’d thought about was company car tax that went with it which to be fair I would of got stung with even with the standard car (first 6k of wages are taxed so don’t have the 12k tax free limit). The new cars available to lease have moved away from seat and Audi to a real mix bag of Toyota, bmw, and ford with a push for electric, hybrid or petal which would make the tax cheaper as well as extra money added by me in the first place.

Going by the government guidelines you can meet up to 5 others (so 6 in the group) in an outside area with a social distancing.

I am meeting up with others but riding in small groups (4 max so far) and generally trying to ride with the same 6 people if we do go out (bubble theory). Use own transport, have to be self supporting for tools and spares. Staying local (no car needed to 20min drive away). Normally ride out of the bizzy day time to avoid others

I personally don’t know if this is or isn’t breaking the rules as a lot of what’s been said isn’t clear but the way I look at it i’m still working and probably being put in worse situations than when riding.

Would generally stop and ask if they needed help on the trail and have even stopped while in the car for a roadie (because I had my travel tool kit in the boot). The only one thing I would say is I am reluctant to start giving out my spares (tube, magic link, co2 ect) because though unlikely to need it I would expect some else to give me their and then want it back if the same problem happens to them. Happy to give advice or even fix it if they have tool/spares but don’t know how to use them (I do ride with mates that only carry as much free air as they can so always rip into them if they have to borrow multi tool).

With covid19, still might ask depending on situation but wouldn’t hand anything else out (mostly due to still working so more likely to be a spreader).

So i’m in the process of house hunting (currently in a 2 bed flat with the misses with a small kitchen and a lounge/dinner setup) and would say we are after a kitchen/dinner setup. The kitchen is where everyone ends up in if you have people over I find and it just makes more sense when it comes to food prep to eating transferring.