Great stuff, most kids and teenagers actually crave this sort of attention but are baulked by the suspicion of a lot of adults. Treat them with respect and generally they will respond. Communities need people like you, well done

I used Vernon Barker in Dronfield to modify a ti frame (disc mount, bosses changed) a few years ago,  a good job at a reasonable price

I built a wooden triangular frame with slots that you park the back wheels into (sorry, can’t post photos, think a Toblerone shaped frame) in my bike room. Got the design off the net, if you Google bike storage you should find something that suits

Bad luck OP,I’ve just had a knee replacement and I’m off the bike for the moment which is very frustrating . Getting on a bit, I’ve had occasion to consider life without a bike and it’s something that I don’t really want to think about. Even this layoff is driving me crazy. You have my sympathy, and I admire how positive you’re being. All the best

Is there play between the upper legs and the lowers? Apply the front brake and rock the bike back and forth and you may see, or more likely feel play. If so the bushings (a sleeve inside the fork legs that the uppers slide on) will be worn and need replacing, generally a bike shop job

I’ve tried various solutions in the past and my current set up is the least faff. I use a length of metal gutter to hold the wheels straight then use luggage straps to secure the bikes to the van’s anchor points. Pipe lagging on contact points when carrying more than one bike

I’ve been squeezing a Mountain Morph into a Skyline for a couple of years,  it’s worn a hole in the pack, repaired with gaffer tape. Just another niggle with the pack

+1 for Newgale, basic  but (almost) on the beach with great clifftop walks and all you need in the village

In a market for luxury goods, price is not determined by cost of production,  it’s largely based on what the market will stand

One of those plaster of paris blocks that contain a fossil/mineral/rock, comes with a hammer and wooden chisel, with the idea that the little dear excavated his own relic? They come in various sizes, the most basic are about a fiver and contain a plastic dinosaur skeleton, right up to bigger blocks that contain a range of genuine fossils, minerals etc. Even the big blocks are only about £25

Advice from my lbs is that the crucial component in a tubeless road set up is a tubeless ready tyre

I’ve tried one or two options over the years but most were a bit faffy. If you can fit your bike in without removing wheels etc I find a simple metal gutter (mine is from an old bed support strut that just happened to be the right size) to keep the wheels inline then use luggage straps fixed to the van’s internal struts the quickest/easiest way to carry my bike

(I know this is a bit behind the discussion,  I’m just an occasional lurker) Lactate, used as a verb (i.e. as Sean used it) means to produce milk. Lactate is also used as a noun in chemistry to mean a compound containing lactic acid.

+1 thanks to lunge from all the silent majority of lurkers on this thread.

I always prefer to watch Eurosport. While Millar,  Boardman and Co are more informative,  Kirkby and Yates are comedy gold. Carlton with his mispronounced French and oft-repeated ignorance – based opinions on a wide variety of irrelevant subjects. I also love to play Kirkby – bingo, where he will on cue repeat some nonsense every time a rider or situation comes up. Sean is much better on tactics etc but makes up words (‘performant’) if he can muster enough words to form a sentence. For me the highlight of the Tour this year was hearing Sean say, when Alaphillipe attacked “if on a big mountain like this you attack too early and get the big legs and lactate, then you are in trouble”. The image of Alaphillipe jumping out of a group only to find milk spurting from his nipples will (hopefully ) stay with me forever.

Some tyres are buggers to get close to the rim. I always find an airshot or gas can the only way to force a stubborn tyre into place

The pub in Biggin (just off the A515 N of Ashbourne ) does camping. Haven’t stayed there for about 15 years but we once used it for an orienteering event

I bought a pair of Electron EVO a couple of weeks ago. They have “solved” the high axle thing by making the pedal a bit less low profile so now the axle is the level with the rest of the cage. Light, strong, cheap, but the v12s are good too. Maybe a bit stronger and heavier. Take your pick

How small? I have a Banshee Rampant full sus 2011 for sale at a reasonable price, built up with quality kit and a frame size that equates to 15.5″. Email in profile for details/photos if you’re interested 

I’m getting round to selling a Banshee Rampant 2011 that’s hardly been used (4 or 5 times in 4 years). Rockshox Rev forks,  Fox shock,  Hope brakes and hubs, XT/SLX gears, and decent build kit throughout,  (not) ridden by my wife who is 5’7″ and it fits her well. Let me know if you’re interested

Provence. It’s got sun, lovely quiet rural roads, lavender, olive groves, gorges, hills that are big enough but not too big, great food. I’ve been there with roadie pals and done some real road biking and I’ve done a road riding holiday with my wife and it was perfect for both. I’m a mtber but it’s the only place I’ve been that can get me enthusiastic about road riding. We based ourselves in Buis les Barronies,  about 40k NE of Mont Ventoux and it was ace

Not a flying beast til the end of the story but bear with me. Roadie pal of mine (well, ex – pal,  he is a roadie after all) once came quickly upon a squirrel,  which darted in front of him and did that feint-one-way-then-go-the – other thing that they do, trouble is ‘the other way’ was straight into his wheel. Picked up by the wheel, wrapped around the fork and flung into the roadside, dead. He went otb and broke his collar bone. He verified the story by showing me the clump of squirrel fur still attached to his fork

I had a magpie fly straight into my chest while out riding on Tuesday. Not at all the mutated – dinosaur feeling I expected, it was big and warm and soft, I wanted to cuddle it but it rejected me

Can’t believe Lucia Williams hasn’t been mentioned  (sorry, can’t post vids)

Reminds me of the time we were cooking in our tent. Friend (novice camper) wanders over with gas canister leaking gas from a partially opened valve to ask what was wrong with it. Luckily I spotted her in time to stop her getting any closer to our stove…

Such as pedalcover

Agree with people’s opinions on the three routes. I’ve done all 3 and all were well worth it. Also highly recommend the Gorges de la Nesque, do it from Sault and it’s a spectacular swoopy descent along the edge of the gorges with tunnels and beautiful scenery. Have a great time!

Shimano say 35-45nM for pedals

Chatting to my mates  out on a ride yesterday,  most were saying either they don’t come here any more, or very rarely due to this popup/redirects issue. It’s taken me three attempts to post this because of all the new phones I keep winning. This has been going on for months now and isn’t getting sorted.

1)identify which thoughts are the result of your low self esteem, not just the obvious surface ones but the underlying assumptions that lead to negative thoughts.2)recognise that, although these thoughts/feelings may have an internal reality, they don’t reflect your real relationship with the world, I. e. stop believing in them.3)consciously work to undermine your negative thoughts, using logic, positive thoughts, other people’s opinions of you,  etc. Once you can accept the first two the third one is a bit like smiling even when you don’t feel it, it does improve things. This is the approach I adopt, it doesn’t always work but it does go a long way towards not getting lost in your low opinion of yourself. Sorry if this sounds a bit simplistic/prescriptive but I’m busy at the mo. Feel free to message me if you want more detail

I managed to snap an xt crank that was over 10 yrs old by rubbing my heels on it over this period, just fell off while I was riding along a canal towpath. I’d been waiting for it to go, I’d rubbed a hole in it a few months before it gave way. Replaced it with deore because that’s what I had lying around in my shed.

Only other crank snapper I’ve known in 30 years riding is my son who in his teens snapped a solid crank on a road bike when he was in a chain gang. I had to drive 40 miles to collect him. This was 20 yrs ago.

Still, most of the things we worry about won’t  happen so maybe the OP isn’t so far wide of the mark

Welcome back, looks a nice bike you’re building there. Your brakes probably did have the correct oil, it gets contaminated over time. I’ve just bled a set of Shimanos and what came out was black from the seals deteriorating

Yep, back here too, unfortunately

Yesterday it took 3 attempts to read Cougar’s post explaining what Mark was gonna do, due to redirects. Today I’m reading and commenting on threads without interruption, so whatever he did seems to have worked. Cheers chaps!

As I’ve described on here before, I have long term issues with anxiety/depression which are much more under control these days since I acknowledged the issues and started dealing with them about 15 years ago. Telling close friends and family and continuing to be open has been key because you get a lot of help and support from those that love you, and crucially  an objective perspective on the stuff going round your head, but I had to be very selective about who I told. Basically to seek validation from another can end a relationship if that validation is denied

Yep my son did this a couple of years ago when he found his stolen bike on Gumtree,  he called the police who suggested he set up a meeting. When he did so he got the police to attend, met the scumbag and the police intervened, asked detailed questions about the bike and my son got it back. Later, he put it up for sale and had someone come round claiming it was their nicked bike. Apparently it had been sold to this poor guy, nicked back and put up for sale again!

Just came on here to see if any word on what’s going on /anyone offering an explanation of how this issue is being resolved (optimistic, I know) and before I got to the bottom of the page had the same redirects. Wondering why I bother. Still wanna use this place but I, like many others apparently, will be off soon cos I’m sick of wasting my time. Is there anybody there (apart from us poor saps)?

Almost got to read half a page before 6 pop ups blocked and the free phone redirect. STW continues unusable then, gonna give up even trying soon.

Just checking how things are today, got 9 pop ups blocked and a couple of redirects to a new phone within the time it takes to find this thread and moan again about not being g able to use this forum. Is anything being done to sort this out beyond telling us we’re doing something wrong?

Gave up using STW yesterday because of the constant pop ups,  just tried again and still getting a repetitive pop up for free phone every few seconds which my security tells me is a dodgy site. Very frustrating, can’t use the forum at the moment

Getting endless redirects today, several per minute, forum unusable ( Samsung tablet)