At the end of the Falklands we had on average 7 rounds of 7.62mm ammo per weapon left. Thats not a lot, the reserve stores having gone down with the choppers and tents on the Atlantic Conveyor. G is right was a damn close run thing but then they usually are. Argentina a nation of racing drivers and polo players, no surprise they had/have a **** excellent airforce.

Basically we winged it and got away with it. Doesnt matter what negotiations were going on in back rooms, who said what to whome. British territory had been invaded by a foreign dictatorship, there was no option but to take it back.

As for Thatch just to say all this screaming about here being the most evil unspeakable creature is a bit silly. Some people (like me) honestly think it better for everyone that we have small govnt, low taxes and a generally liberal attitude towards individual conduct and responsibility. The 80s was a pretty ugly decade but I’m just about old enough to remember the state of this country in the 1970s. Things aint perfect now but we’re doing OK and a lot of that is down to old Maggie. Miners? Who the hell would want to be a bloody coal miner anyway?

Still love Maggie. Saved the country.

Believe it or not Halfords are pretty helpful in this dept. Dont expect them to source them overnight but they will order them for you. Go in person to your local store, the spare parts desk, be nice. Helped me a couple of times, once did it for free.

I’m picking up my Boardman Team Carbon road bike from Halfords/Bikehut St Pauls tomorrow and very nice it is too. Was served by a 18yr old lad who knew exactly what he was talking about, club rider, proper enthusiast and very helpful. Will be giving it the 3rd degree when I get it as I know plenty of folk have had set-up issues but so far I’ve liked dealing with this branch.

Different story when you go to one of the big Halfords I reckon. Not pleasant places.

As far as LBS go I’d just like to say mine is about as much use as t1ts on Tarzan. Never have ANYTHING I need in stock and patronising to boot. I try very hard to support them but they really don’t make it easy. Best bike shop in London for us MTB types I know of is Cyclesurgery Highbury. Wall to wall good lads who really know their stuff.

Have 3 little ‘uns in private schools in London, am still getting my head around spending roughly 500k of earned income over the next 15yrs on their educations which is about the same price as a very nice second home somewhere warm with uplift facilities.

As for pricing, Paul you are right, RRP is crazy. I just bought a set of new 2009 Talas 32 140 QR15 for £495 from a guy in Taiwan via ebay. Came with a 15mm hub thrown in. RRP is over £700 i think without the hub.

I just sent my 32 Talas back for their first service after 4yrs+ hard UK/Alps/Spain riding. Stantions were worn so they replaced the whole crown steerer assembly for £110 and gave me new bottom end (legs? dont know what we call them) for free.

Service was £105 so £215 total was pretty good I reckon. I’d cleaned them pretty much every ride but never really dug them out properly. Totally plush and lush again, I’m a satisfied Fox customer.

Are we all familiar with What Would Tyler Durden Do? http://www.wwtdd.com

Has a nice piece on Ms Graham today. By far the most hilarious celeb-baiting site on the planet.

We piled the whole family into a room in this places on Troyes. Pricey but worth it, one of the best parts of the whole holiday…..think Three Musketeers.

http://www.maisonderhodes.com/

You dont need tickets for the road to Verbier, but dont even think about speeding. Cameras all over the place….

Troyes (pronounced tray seemingly) is the place for an overnight stop. Really beautiful unspoiled medieval French town with loads of lovely bars and restaraunts.

Go down the motorway to Dijon then take the A39 then Exit 7(I think) on the A391, brings you out at Lausanne, round the lake to Martigny then whacky races up the hill to Verbier. The 391 is a bit of a twisty road but dont be tempted to stay on the A39 all the way south and then throught the mountains to Geneva…..its way way longer even though it looks faster.

Fox Talas 140-120-100 (with 15mm QR) come in at a shade over 4lb, under 4lb with 9mm. Can pick them up for £500m on ebay, come with a 15mm front hub thrown in.

doh….just seen the bit about bridleway. hybrid?

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_team.html

Boardman do a singlespeed alu road bike for £500.

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_comp_sc.html

If it’s anything like the rest of the range it will be pretty darn good. I’m getting a Team Carbon as soon as Halfords complete the paperwork. Have to say the cycle2work peaople and the guys in bikehut have been a pleasure to deal with so far…….

I love all these old fashioned Anglo-Saxon and Celtic names, well done STW. We played it safe and went for Charles, James and Grace.

Please, please don’t shorten their names already. Flash, Feline and Rusty are right, give them the full handle. Jack is a nickname for John or James and has been for about 400 years. Standards please.

I spent Xmas Eve 1994 on the Bosnian/Croatian border in an armoured vehicle waiting for the Serbs to come at us.

As per above Trogir is just lovely for R+R. The rest of what I saw I didnt really care for.

I bought some Stratos baggy shorts a few weeks back. Are super comfortable, very gucci and high end. Liner fits like a glove (ahem) but I’m not sure how durable they will be. I managed to pull out one of the waistband poppers already….quality very very high, not sure about long term value for money.

See thats what our sport is all about. Whas like us…..

Where have Lapierre been all my life? The name alone conjours up images of Gallic smoothness and nose in the air superiority…..and the bikes are bloody lovely. I’m very happy with my Blur but if was changing I’d be getting one.

First I’d heard of them was they started appearing in the mags and Evans stocked up on them. What happened, did they just hear about an island called Britain? Any other continental uber brands we don’t get to play with?

You ever sit down in a restaraunt, get handed the wine list and have a little panic? If in doubt go straight to the Kiwi’s. The chardonnay and sav blanc are always good, the reds (often Pinot Noir) are terrific but need to spend £10-12 (Oddbins prices, more in a restaraunt).

Another big vote for Rioja, great value for money and loads of fruit. Love French wine too but as per above go do some tasting at Majestic or Nicholas if you live near one. France is a big place, wines all all different and often pricey.

Fizzy stuff go treat yourself to Pol Roger……by far the best of the “standard” champagnes but still over £30 a bottle. Churchill used to down a bottle at lunch before speaking in Parliament all through WWII, bless the man.

And lastly lets hear it for an English wine, Nyetimber of Sussex produce an excellent sparkling pinot/chardonnay (ie Champagne) for £26 at Waitrose. We had it at our daughter’s Christening last year, some French and Italian pals couldnt believe how good it was.

Sorry went on a bit there

This thread actually made me pull my finger out and go set up the company C2W scheme. Went with Halfords so I could get a Boardman, a road bike in my case, Team Carbon for just under a grand. Got to be happy with that.

Nukeproof, top man. Thanks

Thanks, will do a bit more research, be an expensive mistake if I order the wrong ring.

The BNP gave up on the politics of hate and went for the more subtle fear of muslims instead. Voting for them doesnt make you a racist but please don’t because the party members really are.

My wife’s parents are immigrants and you couldnt hope to find a nicer pair of people anywhere on the planet. Guess that makes me a race traitor and proud of it.

Prendas look great. alwaysriding.co.uk stock some good brands including Twinsix and Solo.

For Merino look no further than earthwindandrider http://www.earthwindandrider.com/home.php?cat=220

I’ve had a long sleeved one for years, still looks like new. Love it….

Fox are a victim of their own success. Are so dominant in the new complete bike market people start to regard them as McDonalds. Have to say of all the various bits and bobs I’ve used on bikes I’ve never been let down by Fox forks or shocks, don’t think I would buy anything else……need to buy them from Taiwan though, new prices here not good.

Point being I’ve never given them any tlc beyond a wipe down with a wet sponge. Been battered week after week for best part of 5yrs and all it costs is £220 for a full rebuild?

I’m pretty happy with that

It got down in through the seals and over time caused a bunch of grooves to appear in the shafts (not sure what you call them) so def had to go. New seals would never have kept the dirt out.

My Blur LT1 XL somehow comes in at a shade under 28lbs. Talas 15mm bolt through fork, SRAM X9 shifters and mechs, Stroker Trail brakes, Middleburn cranks, XC717 rims, Racing Ralphs.

To be honest I wouldnt want it to be any lighter, only comes out in the summer for racey dry XC trails and trips to the Alps. 140mm travel often ends with me getting in a little over my skis, but that set up is still heavy enough that I can just lean back a tad, let the legs and arms flex and the bike will barrel through and hold the line. Any lighter and you are kind of defeating the purpose, the bike would just skip and bounce just when you need it most.

Peter Capaldi lives round the corner from us, Tamsin Outhwaite too who always wears HUGE “don’t look at me, but look at me” sunglasses. Jon Simm, Fran from Travis, Dermot from Sky News, Mark Urban off Newsnight, Damian “Band of Brothers” Lewis.

Thats Norf London for you, I should be a paparazzi, I always clock them.

Oh and my mrs saw John Snow on his bike yesterday, riding along in his suit….not surprisingly she noticed the mental tie first.

ah cool, thanks. still not answering the phone though…..

I have a couple of mates ride them, like them a lot, great xc bike. As per above, one of those bikes people get that just feels right so they stick with it for many a moon.

Can he do Cycle2Work, whole lot of other options for the same total outlay.

trail_rat leaps off the fence, thanks. I’m 14 stone 6’3, will be on a Blur LT most of the time. Punctures and paper thin sidewalls clearly could be the issue with these things. Would be tubed for me either way.

…..and Evans will let you pay as much as you want over £1k too. didnt know Condor let you do the same otherwise I would have set-up the company scheme with them.

[/i]Fork RockShox Reba Race, 100mm travel, Motion Control damping, external floodgate & lockout
Brakes Avid Elixir R carbon hydraulic disc brakes, 160mm rotors
Shifters SRAM X9 9 speed
Rear Mech SRAM X0
Front Mech SRAM X9

All this on £1000k bike…..very Gucci.

richc if I may expand on your behalf.

gingerprince because you are not yet a total bike bore like the rest of us (give it time) richc’s post prob doesnt mean a lot to you. The Boardman has been getting rave reviews (see latest What Mountain Bike) for producing very very nice frames with a high spec. ie the forks, gears, brakes and all the other stuff that it comes factory fitted with are pretty top-end, definately better than anything else in the price range up until now. Lighter, stronger, will last longer, feel better and so on. So definately worth a look.

richc that right?

and as said above, ride a few and ask your mates.

and lastly, welcome.

I’ve been running Blue Groove/Nevegal combo in 2.1 with tubes for a couple of years. For Lakes, trail centres and Spain it’s probably a very good set up. Have gone through a couple of Nevegals on the back partly due to not having the bead sitting correctly.

Blue Groove is great for rocks and hardpack and general speedyness in the dry. Be warned though it is a TERRIBLE mud tyre, just washes around and clogs up in the gloop. The penny dropped when I switched to Nevegal DTC Lite 1.9″ (i think) for the winter mud, front and rear.

My Blue Groove will come to Spain with me again this year (though it is getting to the end of its natural), to answer your question, for a general fire and forget all round tyre I’d go 2.1 Nevegal front and rear.

and thanks for pointing out yourself that you were being pedantic. Top man, apology accepted.

so my Ti frame was built in Asia? Chattanooga actually, which is word i never get tired of saying.