On MTB the strap around steerer tube will rub headset top cap and spacers – not significantly but enough to wear off some anodization and logos.

I have big 500L roof box because my classic XC skis are 207cm long. For 2.0 TDI there is measurable hit in efficiency with the box, fairly close to 2 MTBs on roof on Thule Freerides. 3 bikes is worse than roofbox. I have exact numbers stored somewhere.

The roofbox creates some noise from head wind and especially if there is anything loose inside, it also makes car more susceptile to wind from the side so the box comes off immediately after the the trip. It is not my favourite thing to wrestle on and off the roof – I wish there would be space to install box lift kit on the garage roof.

I store mine standing on its butt, on top of few old rugs and strapped to a wall stud. Not ideal solution but it has worked for 6 years now.

UK probably has enough people to survive in most situations with volunteers for professional military without need for conscription.

For smaller countries (1-6 million residents) with more bear-like neighbours there wouldn’t be enough volunteers, so far conscription in addition to reasonable sized professional military organization has been working fairly well. People serve 6-12months and then specialist roles have additional training and exercises yearly (usually less often) until they are 50 or 60 years old.

In my experience (only a few times ) digging snowcave (basically igloo in snow) will get you wet, no matter if wearing Gore-Tex or not. Simple snowhole (burrow into a snowbank) is easier  but not nearly as warm as proper cave.

was on a ward with a bunch of old guys

Oh the stories you hear from them – the farting and snoring are inevitable though. One gentleman had some plumbing issues, there were multiple tubes coming out his stomach. He commented that he had no use for his OEM tubing but doctors wouldn’t cut it off even if asked. 

They’re on the shortlist for my next grips just under OneUp’s thick grips, their mushroom section tips the scales in OneUp’s favour.

I found out last summer that for really heavy sweater like myself the OneUp thick grips don’t work without gloves – they become very slippery when impregnated with sweat.

Currently running GA2 Fat grips which are slightly too fat but normal GA2s feel bit slim without  gloves. SQlab 7OX were pretty good too but the spot where I keep my thumbs wore out in 3 months.

ended up strapped to a chair with some kind of Clockwork Orange-esque fitting around my head. The doctor put some local anaesthetic in my eye and proceeded to try to dig the piece of metal out with a small needle, all the time saying ‘Don’t move! Don’t move!’

I have similar experience – the operation was so horrible that I couldn’t really speak for rest of the day, just from the horror of the situation.

Often if you start the ride with heavy gloves and when are warm from the exercise you can then change into lighter gloves. I really don’t like to use lobster gloves but they are are warm and XC ski versions are fairly thin.

It is -16C with lovely 7m/s wind from north here, no interest in riding outside today even though I used to ride 5km to work even in -32C weather.

When I broke my ankle there were two events at the hospital which created lasting memories. First one was after surgery, doctor came in and told that “it was quite a mess, we managed to get it together fairly well on third attempt and called it a day. One bone fragment is missing but it will disappear over time”. There was hardware for few Ikea cupboards in my ankle.

Second event was related to nurses cupboard being run out of regular sized catheters and only large ones left.

Yesterday I was actually looking for decals for a new fork before I even have bought the actual fork. Then I realized that this years family vacation will be so expensive that I can barely afford new decals for my old fork.

Always get the sport seats, they have more adjustments and are more comfortable. Only reason to avoid the would be if you have slightly larger than average behind.

Speedplay used to have alternative spindle lengths, no idea of current situation.

I’m not sure if pedal extenders will work with MTBs but SJSCycles have them.
One other option is to get cranks with different Q-factor, I went from RF to Shimano Superboost and got 6mm narrower Q-factor when I got shorter cranks.

What requirements do you have? Z-poles are easy to stash to backpack are not super durable. Telescoping ones are heavier and may slip.
I just had my lightweight carbon z- poles warrantied due slipping and went with heavier model this time.

Kramer

I’d be happy to do an AMA about sleep on here if there was a demand for it?

Not so fast. We need see your biceps first to decide whether you are legitimate scientist. Less than 50cm and you are not validated by bros.

As a side note, AG1 seems to sponsor half of the Youtubers so that is not worrying thing per se. Those segments can be easily skipped, it is the actual Youtube ads which are more annoying. But then again, most of us here are used to linear TV and not falling for advertising there. 

It will be interesting to look back at this time after say 5 years, what will be legacy of the all these influencers and health hackers. 

I don’t think I have ever met a South African. 

Only time I have been current on trainers was when Adidas Torsion shoes were introduced back in the day. I got mine same year they became available, wasn’t first to get but definitely they were cool shoes when I was teenager.

There are plans in the free Wattbike app, they work well even if they are not most exciting ones.
I might be putting too too much into single word thread title but please do not think that intervals are key to good long-lasting fitness. They are merely a tool to fine-tune the existing fitness.

Rab  clothing is now available on Intersports here, not a bad thing per se but catering to wider audience usually means compromises in design and quality.
Fjällräven is getting more visible in US, few  outdoor and gun channel hosts are now often being seen in their clothing.

This thread is entertainment for us in different climates. It is -15C with some wind outside, rather toasty +23.7C inside at my parents flat. Some fine tuning required due new vents on windows but they are aiming towards consistent +22.5C.

I feel briefly like I’m Tommi Makkinen, before feeling rather sheepish.

Not a bad comparison now that DMACK (maker of WRC rally tyres) has bought Suomi Tyres tyre factory which went bankrupt during spring. I hope can sort occasional quality issues and continue making studded tyres.

Schwalbe Ice Spikers are very squirrely in loose snow but work well on hard pack and ice.

Good tips from mick_r , I’ll add one – try to schedule night flight to your travels, getting over clouds increases the chances to see them.

Anyway, aurora happen when the Sun farts.

Anything expensive will be picked by some shady group.  I recall that already 30 years ago some gentlemen in herbal delivery business were using TNF down jackets.

The Oatmeal comic is spot on for inkjet printers:

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/pens_as_printers

I have HP Laserjet 2015d in my WFH setup, it seems to be only printer that family, in-laws and any other random folk have access to. No idea how old this device is but I saved it from dumpster pile in office move about 10 years ago. Had plenty of driver issues in Win7 ,8 and 10 but Win11 seems OK in that sense. One of these says I have to buy new ink cartridge but so far shaking the cartridge occasionally has been enough.

I really liked my F535 (27.5, 160mm) for 90% of my riding – only time it felt inadequate were some badly landed jumps in bike parks.
There were no different coil springs for coil-assisted spring so it is possible that it doesn’t work for all riders as nicely.

Even as subscriber that STW staff video in the middle of every thread is very annoying.

edit. Is it gone now? Great if it is so.

For these type of devices there shouldn’t be too much emphasis on future proofing – often they will be dropped and sat on before they become too old. Get something which has support for next 3 years and save the extra. So far the Apple iOS devices have been easy to upgrade from 2-3 generations older models. Even my 70 year old parents managed upgrade to newer iPad  with all the bank apps by themselves. Which was impressive considering their nonexistent tech skills. 

Something midpriced from Amazon, about 20 quid will get you good ones. 

Companies doing snowmobile and reindeer rides will provide you warm snowmobile suit, warm boots, mittens and possibly even a hat. Long underwear, even cotton is fine if you are there only for a few hours. Fleece midlayer or just your regular clothes as midlayer as you will shed the outer layer when you get inside as the suits are really warm. If you are on your own without rented gear I’d go to big shops on either end of the town or Intersport in the centre and buy reasonably priced insulated pants, jacket, gloves and headwear from shops own brand. Good warm footwear is not cheap though. No need for Gore tex outer layers if you are not heading to open fells further in the north.

One more thing, March is prime season for winter fatbiking and there is groomed trailsystem starting from other side of the river in town centre.

These guys have had good bikes and they are the ones doing grooming  as well: https://rolloutdoors.com/en/

So it happens that that it is my hometown where I lived for 32 years and still spend few weeks there every year…

Most of the facts were already laid out but I repeat few of them here. Rental cars will have winter tyres, studded or not, non-studded are grippier version than the ones used in e.g. Germany. In March there is already more daylight but weather can be just about anything from +10 during the day to -20C or colder during the nights. This means the roads may be bone-dry or covered in ice and snow depending on location or actual conditions.

The reindeer like to graze on sides of the roads, lick the salt from the roads, walk on the roads or just stand around, their logic is rather hard to follow. They are quite light animals so usually accidents that involve them become serious only when vehicles collide with each or with something else. However, elk/moose also live in the region and they are much more of hazard in collisions.

Same experience with that generic model, battery covers are weak and do not last more than 2-3 battery changes even if tool lives in its own padded box.

The first one is quite universal story about princess and knights but set in space. Plot twist about family issues in later films is lifted from tales of Greek gods, isn’t it?

My lad commented something like “it was a great adventure” about the first film when he saw it at about 10 years old. Later we both laughed at stupid plots in the prequels and sequels. 

Somewhat related, I am really fascinated by people who really get into the lore and fan fiction about any series or movies. All the made-up details and theories and debates about the backstories, capabilities and motivations of the characters might be based on just one film. But who am I to judge, I ride bikes in the woods for entertainment. 

To make things more complicated some tyre companies recycle the model names for completely different tyres. Specialized might be worst example (Ground Control and Purgatory), Schwalbe to some extent with Nobby Nic which is perhaps on its 4th iteration now and looking like mini-MM. Maxxis has been fairly consistent but even with DHR2 some widths seem to have different knob spacing and new Forekaster looks to be quite different from previous one.

I hope this is genuine retirement and he has not been charmed by Big Bum Butter industries to join corporate life.

I got Cinder Ridgeline Jacket on offer, seems pretty good for certain conditions. Only got couple of rides in before the weather turned worse but the combination of fleece-like material and some windproof panels kept me warm but not too sweaty.

Smart bike is better if you have more than one user (even if the adjusters aren’t that great), have dedicated room for it (they are really heavy) and erm maybe there are some other reasons as well. And, yes they are very expensive.

I used to have Kurt Kinetic and rollers but they were no use for other family members and it was annoying to lug bikes in and out plus trying keep dirty bikes away from kids and household stuff wasn’t easy. We didn’t have garage back then which made a difference.

We now have a first gen Wattbike Atom in guest room and three occasional users, I got extra seatpost as well so the short one can get correct position easily. The Atom isn’t perfect, these days I would get something else but the cost of swapping is so high that it will do for the time being. Slow reaction wattage adjustments and slipping shifter cover are the main issues with the Atom.

There is new Polar Vantage V3 (has maps), new Suunto Race (maps and more navigation features than Polar), Coros models and about million different Garmin units.

Standard answer is to head out to http://www.dcrainmaker.com and get overdose of information and then pick up something which on offer. Black Friday is still a month away but I guess some other campaigns will be announced soon.

Ergon BX2 Evo is what I have and can recommend. I have older BX3 as well which had some annoyances in how the pockets were arranged but they have been fixed in newer model. The adjustable back length allows proper fit on my long back and straps are comfortable with thin shirts and heavier jackets. There is a fitting pocket for phone on hip belts right side which actually is between the pack and belt. Works for regular sized iPhone with cover but I still got separate phone pocket for shoulder strap.