Is a good day, another small step forward. Lets not forget The Duke of Edinburgh shaking hands with MM too, given his personal history that isnt insignificant.

There just arent enough so call fat cats to close the deficit run up by a nation of 60 million people.

binners – Member

how much more tax are you happy to pay?

How about the same percentage of my income as Phillip Green pays?

In others words you dont want to pay more tax. Just like everybody else. Better find a way of cutting spending then.

grum – Member

we just have to stop living beyond our means.

You’re so right, we do need to pay more tax.

Fair enough, how much more tax are you happy to pay?

Lets ask the OECD. I should have said State Spending as a Percentage of GDP, which includes spending financed by yet more debt, which has to be paid for later, through taxes. Nice situation we’re leaving to our kids.

The State is currently taking over 50% of GDP in taxes. Does anyone in here feel under-taxed? It’s always easy to point at some other guy and say “Make him pay” but we just have to stop living beyond our means.

That ring a bell Binners?

We spend more on benefits than we do on health, education and defence COMBINED.

I want to discuss those sofas…..is that genuine leather-look in electric blue?

Schhhhhhhhweet!

Oh yes…..

Salsa clamps are very good, I doubt thats your problem. Also Chromag and one that came from Canyon you hardly need any tension as long as you use ****** *****

And Hope seat clamps are best avoided…..you end up tightening them like crazy, I dont know whats up with them.

Thanks…..I can get Hope/Crest for £300, looks like AC will cost £500. Might come down to price.

Ah perfect, looks lovely……thanks fellas

Carbon paste

Carbon paste

Carbon paste

I was tightening to death a QR clamp on a Thomson post….small dab of CARBON PASTE and now hardly have to apply much pressure on the clamp. Used to drive me mental, I feel your pain.

PS I also swapped to an excellent Chromag QR clamp but I think the game changer was CARBON PASTE.

What a worm he is. Sweden is a fine country with an admirable independant legal system and human rights record. I mean its not like we want to extradite him to somewhere like Equador is it?

And thank you for the donation to the national coffers from those credulous, anti-American posers who coffed up £240,000 bail money. Step forward Michael Moore, Jemima Khan, Ken Loach, John Pilger and Tariq Ali.

Use a map, navigate from point to point. It isnt that difficult and if you’re going to be leading groups of kids on rides you should probably know how to do it.

Very good…..thats a fine building, I get a tremendous view of it on my ride into work coming through Hoxton. Morning sunshine it look stellar.

Cant wait for drinks in the bar 40 floors up.

I’m doubly sure I’m never buying Grenson again because they are a bit rubbish and overpriced and that spamming is hideous.

The self-made like those in the cabinet you mean? We have terrible social mobility in this country with the odd exception – suggesting to many people that they have the same opportunities as those running the country is ludicrous.

Agreed. You will be in favour of bringing back grammar schools then right?

David Cameron seems like a perfectly decent fella to me, I dont understand all this venom at all. Sounds a bit forced.

I sold my Boardman Team Carbon in the spring and really wish I hadnt. Lovely bike.

I think the correct term is Queen’s Birthday Parade.

At the moment, every morning but then I have Withings wifi scales which gives you a natty graph to follow and (supposedly) measures body fat content. 2 weeks to go before a big event, after which the scales are getting a rest and so am I.

I drove one last month for the first time since passing my driving test in one round Colchester in 1994. Noisy, slow, awful steering, uncomfortable……felt dangerous to drive tbh. Pal at work lent me his, he’s an enthusiast, has this orange monstrosity pimped out to the max. I really wouldnt.

Had it in November….its a doddle, not fun exactly but no pain. Had it with Marie Stopes who were terrific, abou £380 I think.

Good for the sex life

+1 School and social services. This is what teachers and social workers are trained for, they’ll know what to do. Invite them over a couple of times a week for a plate of stew. Good for you being involved.

That bit in the article where it talked about foods being marketed as “low-fat” and therefore healthy struck a cord with me. I used to eat 4-6 M&S Low Fat yoghurts every work day as snacks until someone pointed out how much sugar was in there in place of the fat. 150 calories each, I’d have been no worse off eating Kit Kats all day.

I’d consider myself pretty well informed and I try and be as healthy as possible and yet I still get caught out by Marks and Spencers underhand marketing.

What a brilliant event the Dragon is, no other event I do is anywhere near as well organised. Weather was chilly but not windy and only a heavy splash of rain at the start.

Was much harder than the last time i did it in 2010. More climbing and longer but it was the nature of the climbing, loads of short sharp stuff, the long drags over Rhigos and Bwilch were fairly easy in comparison to the early stuff. Devils Elbow! Jeezuz.

And can I just tip my hat to all the lovely Welsh folk I met over the weekend, especially the ladies from the Rotary club who were dishing out cakes up on top of the mountains. Long day for them too.

08:03, I’m pretty happy with that seeing as I lost my mates early on and just could not get in a group.

That’s me he’s talking about. 16 times a month though.

I think we can cut the Poles/Ukrainians etc. a tiny bit of slack. They’re societies in transformation, lurching from communism to capitalism in a very short space of time

+1

Scotland in the 80s wasnt exactly a liberal paradise. Shops were **** and going for fish and chips was going to the Chinky. We had exactly one black guy in Perth. Nickname? Nig. I think anywhere with a black population close to zero is a bit like that.

And I’m with Ernie, come to this country you have to live and let live, otherwise please bugger off back to Poland/Ukraine/Pakistan/wherever. We can all rub long just fine……

This is on my must do list. Wouldn’t be racing it but must be nice to do it when other people are, hook up with for a few hours, bit of chat then on your own again. Heaven

I found the geometry in the RS website eventually, yes looks like 46mm is standard. Will show him both, see what he recommends given what I’m trying to put together. Thanks.

Thats what I figured…..I cant see anything on the RS website that explains this though, how it differs from standard. Anyone know? Am having a frame built, builders want to know geom of the fork I get.

Poles bless them have many qualities, but I do fear they have a few medieval attitudes. Was chatting to my builders from Krakow last year, shooting the breeze about football.

One of them, lovely fella called Shamek says to me “This Arsenal, they are very good team no? But tell me one thing, why is everyone black?”

One of the things that makes me actually quite proud of our rainy little island is the standard of our newspapers, warts and all. I’m grown up enough to be able to read the Guardian, Telegraph, Economist and Spectator, listen to Radio 4 and then make up my own mind.

Alejandro – if you dont like the “Western Press”, which do you like?

….and how old are you?

XRM 100 Twinshot 26″ here, again came on a Canyon. I like them a lot, all the more so since I backed off the rebound and compression settings. Am building a 29er in a few weeks so will be for sale in July.

If I go on a Sierra Cycling holiday do I get to spend a week with drwato and people just like him? Who could resist? Alan must be dead chuffed the way this is going.

Wait a minute. “Alan retiring”….you think drwato might be picking up the business? mmmmm?

I’m the 5th fastest man in Hampstead.

Posh and hardcore.

Suck on that.

Cut the willy waving. If it aint on Strava it didnt happen.

Thanks….and does it result in less punctures? I seem to be able to run mine tubed at 25-27 and dont pinch-flat, just the regular thorns.

Set-up going to be AC Race 29er Tubeless wheels (if I can get them) with Ron/Ralphs and Mud-X for winter.

Is “Tubeless ready” good enough? If I do it its because I want to get a lot less puntures. No point otherwise.

I’m building a 29er over the next month or so, thinking about some American Classic wheels too and wanted to try tubeless….but should I bother? Vast majority of my riding is going to be XC/marathon race in the South East, maybe a trip to the Lakes once a year. Seems like you guys go through purgatory getting tubeless to work and maybe I wont see any real upside over tubes….?