There could be the same amount of cats but the mouse / rat / vole / squirrel / other small squeaky animal populations could have massively declined over that period meaning the cats are more likely to hunt birds instead.

When was the last time you heard of any one with a mouse problem?

Where I live (in the countryside), there are certainly no shortage of rodents. Two years ago the little furries managed to chew through our water pipes (yes plural) causing a major leak. Now we have mouse traps and poison boxes everywhere to keep them under control. A quick ride in the local woods is also enough to see that grey squirrels and rabbits are abundant. Maybe there are less in more urban areas, but I seriously doubt it. I’ve seen plenty of rats lurking in our town centre.

I would always advocate learning to ski first and then turn to the dark side later if you are still curious. Over the last 20 years skiing has progressed enormously (ironically partly due to the influence of snow boarding) to the point where it is now infinitely easier to learn and progress than it was when I started in the mid 80s.

To sum it up, boards really suit powder conditions and tight, steep off-piste tree runs best and just about everywhere else skis are easier and safer – especially on icy hardpack. If I was a complete beginner, this is what I would be considering. But if conditions are right i.e. snowing like crazy with powder everywhere, then learning to board could be more rewarding and fun, at least initially. But the odds of seeing those conditions are stacked against you as a complete beginner. Be prepared more for heavily trafficked flattish hard-packed green and blue pistes, which are not much fun at all on a board.

Are there more domestic cats now the 30 or 40 years ago? I don’t think so. So any decline in the bird population unlikely to be due to cats.

A very good point and well presented. I’m wondering what the response will be?

Where I grew up in a grim northern town, everyone kept cats primarily for vermin control. They were hardly considered “pets” back then.
General human activity/consumption (other than pet cat ownership) is a far more likely explanation for any dramatic decline in the bird population.

But a good thread for outing all the cat haters!

Our 2 daughters went 16″ and then 20″ Early Rider Belters. The 20″ fully-rigid trail belter (which I don’t think you can buy anymore) is particularly good. Super lightweight, easy 3 speed gearing, belt driven, decent chunky Maxxis trail tyres and completely reliable. Our 7 year old is still on the 20″ Belter and going strong. I don’t think a budget suspension fork would give her any advantage on this bike – only making it heavier. Had no complaints of the ride and the tyres have plenty of cushioning for her 23 kg frame!

One other thing that occurred to me while setting the Stooges up, was grip length;
how long are yours and where are you mostly holding on? If you’ve got 800mm but have long grips that you always hold near the levers, then surely you need narrower.

That’s a good point. I’ve noticed my wife rides with her hands well inboard of the grip ends (a good inch or more sticking out either end). I’m not that surprised as her bars are 780 wide and she’s 5’6″ with a very slight build. I should chop them down really, but she doesn’t mind riding like that. Her natural bar width would probably be around 700.

I see a lot of online journalists saying a lot of things, I know its all about opinion, but a lot of views always come across ‘we are right, you are wrong’.

Recently I have learnt that we are ALL riding bikes that are too small, you have the wrong bike if you cant run a 50mm stem, 780mm bars are for everyone and a few others.

I guess i find myself (stupidly) influenced by what I read. I don’t even know why!!

You certainly have to read between the lines. For example I was reading an in-depth review of my own bike (130 mm travel trail/XC full suss) and the reviewer (who was a really small guy too, barely fitting on a medium frame) reported that the bars “need” to be wider (770 is obviously not wide enough these days for a shortish travel full susser aimed at the trail/XC market) and he would have preferred 800. He was a young guy, probably quite fashion conscious and impressionable. That was my interpretation anyway, lol. In fairness the overall review was pretty good, but some of these comments are hard to take seriously.

You just have to look at your own riding and ask yourself which of these fashion trends are actually going to help you out. For sure the current “enduro” trend is good for those seriously pushing the limits of their trail riding, but for me it just means more bike to have to haul around my local singletrack. As per my highly contentious 2015 vs 2019 geo thread I stepped off the LLS wagon when they started going over 1200 mm wheelbase. Simply because I have no use for a bike of that length and it would actually be a disadvantage for 99% of my riding.

Having said all that, maybe your bike REALLY is too small for you. The only way to find out is to actually try riding a larger frame and see if you are more comfortable. But I think chasing wider bars and shorter stems on your current bike is unlikely to get you anywhere. It’s not like your current bars are in any way super narrow or you have an unusually long stem.

My bike has matching stem and bar markings. With the bar set in the zero position, the rise is definitely rotated slightly forward of vertical. If I aligned the riser parallel with the steerer tube then the backsweep would be ridiculous and the upsweep would probably become a downsweep. I would also probably be off the marked scale (which is +/- 40 deg). It definitely wasn’t designed to be run like that! As it is, the zero position looks pretty sensible in terms of upsweep, backsweep and rise. I was actually thinking of rotating it a little further forward as an experiment, as my arms are relatively long and my frame reach is quite conservative.

I suspect there are simply too many variables involved (bar rise, upsweep, backsweep, bar width, frame reach, stem rise, stem length, head tube angle, stack height) to make any sweeping generalisations.

Those who believe in private education by definition do not believe in equality of opportunity.

I don’t think it’s so black and white as that. I don’t “believe” in private education as a concept and would much rather not have to spend £15k a year or whatever per child on education. But if I think the state system is not good enough then I would certainly go private. Our 2 daughters are currently in state primary school (10 and 7) and I can’t fault it so far. Our local grammar school is very good, so that’s an obvious option (as they are both academic). Our local comp is also well regarded and there are several private schools nearby. So I think we are quite fortunate in those respects and could afford the private fees IF necessary. I see private education very much as a last resort option in all honesty.

Equality of opportunity is all very nice as a concept, but it’s really not how our capitalist society works in practice. But at least there is free state education available and it’s not all shit as some people seem to think. It is however clearly inconsistent and clearly lacking funding. But that’s down to taxation and government spending priorities. I’m not convinced abolishing private schools would help much, if at all in that respect.

There’s a mindset and set of attitudes that come with a public school education along with a cocky insecurity that even comes across on a forum.

I think that says a lot more about your personal prejudice than the reality. I’m sure there are plenty of cocky, insecure public school pricks. But as someone else pointed out, these are far from exclusive traits of a public boarding school education. Unfortunately, these traits appear to be common throughout our society.

Be back out to Big White (BC) as usual this season. I’m looking forward to it after completely missing the last season for the first time I can remember. Hoping the snow gods perform their magic too!

Consider snowboarding as in my view the learning curve is steeper but you will get the ability to use more or the mountain more quickly, also it’s easier to progress year on year than skiing based on conversations with skiers, boarders and those who do both.

To balance this, skiing on hardpack, rutted piste with patches of ice (which is what you will be seeing a lot of in your early years) is less painful on skis.

But really it’s all swings and roundabouts, just choose the one you like the look of most and you can always swap if you change your mind later. Skiing is ultimately more versatile when you get into it, but it’s probably quicker to reach an intermediate level on a snowboard.

I don’t think they give it all that much thought.

Lezyne flow cage has been great!

I like those too. Just fitted one on my wife’s bike and seems to hold the bottle nice and tight.
I have a Specialized cage on my Enduro (of similar side loading design) and that has been faultless for 5 years too. Now got a Canyon side loader on my new bike (again very similar design). I guess I just like the plastic side loading type!

I don’t think I would want a 70mm stem!

Why not? If it’s just a case of making the cockpit a little more comfortable. The shorter stem, wider bar trend only matters if it actually makes you ride better. Otherwise it’s just a look. 770 (effective) with a 60 stem is a pretty “modern” setup anyway for that kind of bike and would have been considered full-on enduro spec only a few short years ago. But if your frame really is too small for you, then sizing up does make sense.

Firstly is there snow at the end of December in Bulgaria

You most certainly cannot count on that! The whole of the Alps is a snow lottery in late December. If you want to be reasonably sure of snow (and you should be) then I would go mid season (mid Feb – early March) and go reasonably high. You could be lucky in December and have great snow, but the odds are stacked against you, especially in Bulgaria. The good thing about going mid-season is that the snow base will be much higher and so even if it doesn’t snow much while you are there, the pistes will still be in reasonable condition (providing it isn’t too warm). As complete newbs you don’t really need tons of fresh snow falling, just nicely groomed pistes with minimal ice.

Also a good idea to take a few snowdome lessons beforehand if you can. It will accelerate the learning curve no end. They are expensive, but worthwhile if you want to get the most out of your first mountain trip.

“Free-ranging cats are likely the single largest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals…”

I think they need to focus a bit more on the effect “humans” have on the natural world before blaming cats.

You could open a new gmail account and send the details for that. Although at some point they are going to request your real home address to send you these “freebies”.

16.4 kg! It was listed at 14.6 kg (presumably medium without pedals). Surprisingly heavy either way. I expect the high end carbon builds must be a lot lighter than this. I think the 910 is listed at 12.8 kg, which is still not super light.

I am trying to buy less shit, as an eco lifestyle choice, bikes are kind of exempt, but I have 7 just now.

I’m not even riding much just now, but it’s fairly “trail”/cc.

…and you ask if you should get a new bike, lol. Sounds more like you should get rid of some bikes to me.

So I have bought a bike with a PF30 (Specialized Diverge Sport).

Poor sod! I’m just about to sell a bike with that piece of junk. If you throw a load of money at it then you can probably make it work or just ignore all the creaking and clicking sounds.

My usuals are 760 and the Ergon grips add 5mm each side I think so 770’s really.

Same as mine. My bars are 760, but measure 770 with Ergons. Bars on my other bike (Spesh Enduro from 2015) measure 760. Both feel good, but are a bit of a pain amongst the very tight trees. I can’t think of any good reason why I would want to go any wider. If anything I would probably benefit from going a bit narrower for my local woods. Margin of error is pretty small as it is.

It’s possibly worth mentioning that seat tube angle is a dynamic thing, at least on full sussers. For example I have a 155 mm travel bike and a 130 mm bike with seat tube angles within half a degree (the 155 is 0.5 deg steeper). When I ride them both the 130 mm bike feels like it has a much steeper seat tube simply because it sags less.

If most of your riding is seated and flat(ish) effective top tube is a useful measure.

Yeah, I always look at the effective top tube length when comparing frame sizes. If you simply went off reach alone, you would think everyone had turned into knuckle dragging primates over the last 5 years.

I haven’t measured but I’ve gone from a bike with 420mm reach and circa 71° sa to a bike with 510mm reach and 77° sa. Seated feels quite similar but the new bike feels significantly longer when stood up on the pedals.

Your bike’s wheelbase is almost certainly longer and you are just sitting further forward relative to the BB. I presume your arms are the same length as they were before you got your new bike. On really old bikes I remember having to hang way off behind the seat on steep downhills just to avoid going OTB. It wasn’t pretty at all!

aye – but a few degrees in the seat tube surely only equals a inch or so on the saddle adjustment to get the same position?

Of course you can adjust your seat +/- from whatever neutral position the frame geometry dictates. But that’s the same for any seat tube angle and the adjustment range is quite limited. So while there is inevitably some overlap from seat rail adjustment, a steeper STA will still generally allow you to sit more forward relative to the BB. Ideally you would want your seat to be clamped somewhere reasonably close to the centre of the rails rather than at either extreme end where you may simply run out of adjustment range. Plus it’s not ideal in either a mechanical or aesthetic sense.

Also a slack seat tube means there is more variation in fore-aft seat position as the dropper goes up and down (although not necessarily so on bikes with curvy seat tubes where the actual seat post angle is quite different from the effective angle relative to the BB) and there’s nothing you can do about that (except for developing an “active” seat rail system as described above)

As reach keeps on increasing, unless we are evolving longer arms, it’s inevitable that seat tubes will get steeper to compensate.

Seem at odds with each other?

I guess it does if you read it in black and white, but I was just meaning that relatively poor parents who are keen to put their kids through the 11+ don’t have to be rich to do so (in response to someone else implying that you need “money” to put your kids through grammar school). Being totally illiterate, abusive or simply uncaring parents is always going to be somewhat of a barrier.

Obviously parents need a LOT more money to put their kids through a private education and I don’t see any merit in taking that choice away from those parents unless you are committed to a socialist state.

Which proves my point.
Many kids have illiterate parents for example, can they help with 11+?
Many have no parents to help at all.
A lot have parents who couldnt give a toss enough to help, a lot of parents may not be educated enough to help.

Interesting article on beeb today apparently 41% of kids in London have extra tutoring outside school.

Of course I understand that not all parents are going to help tutor their kids with the 11+ or be there for them in any way at all. I just wasn’t sure how that relates to the cost of 11+ tutoring or the abolition of private schools? It might not be “fair” on the children, but having poor illiterate parents is never going to be a great start to their education under any system short of unlimited budget free state tutoring. I was merely suggesting that you don’t have to be super rich to put your kids through the 11+ if they are inherently capable of passing it. And no amount of cash will get them through it anyway if they are below the intelligence threshold required.

just repeater boosters which boost the wireless signal sound not ideal.

Why not? They seem to work for us and cheap as chips to try. Our house is large by most standards and coverage upstairs was pretty poor in some bedrooms. A simple repeater (TP-link extender) on the landing solved that issue.

I could yes and I expect you could too but this sentence shows a massive black hole in you understanding of what life is like for a huge number of children. But then reading things like this helps me understand why some people have the views they do.

I grew up in Oldham and went to one of the local comps there. So I think I do have a reasonable idea of what life is like for a fairly wide variety of children. But I’m not even sure what your point was in bringing that up?

I think you really need to focus on whether you want an fs or ht as a priority in your choice of options.

Yeah, this absolutely ^

Then it boils down to just how big you want to go, both in travel and length, slackness. If as you say you are more XC oriented and riding predominantly Danbury, Thetford, Swinley then I wouldn’t get too carried away unless you just like the look of the bigger trail bikes. If you can demo then all the better.

I’m 125kg fully kitted up, ride single speed rigid, on 27.5+ x 3″, 35 mm wide rims, and running 16psi front, 18psi rear. I’m slowly dropping pressure because although it rolls really well it’s still a little bit firm.

I guess that shows just how much variation there really is in all these parameters!

The Henge on my Enduro is quite comfortable (for me at least), but I’ve been using a new Ergon SM Pro for a few weeks and it is even better. It has slightly more padding and is a similar shape and size to my Henge. It has a fairly flat profile with a slight kick-up at the back, which seems to work well for me.

For me anything from 20 – 30 psi depending on loads of variables. I also run less front pressure than rear. I’m around 85 kg riding weight. What do you weigh? What terrain are you riding? What sort of bike? What wheel size? How wide are your tyres?

Generally speaking less pressure = more grip up to the point where they start to feel too squirmy or you can feel the rims hitting through. Sounds like 18 was maybe too low for you. As above 27 is big jump, but it’s all trial and error until you find a good compromise.

For the very few who can afford the fees or the coaching for the 11+.

Yeah I already mentioned the fees for the private option. Abolishing private schools simply on the basis that it isn’t fair for those who cannot afford it would be a bit like banning large houses, expensive cars or even private healthcare. Unless you want to live in a socialist state then money will always give you additional options in life. That’s the whole point in earning money, so you can live better and have more choices. State schools are what you get for free and some of them are actually very good, although I do realise that depends on where you live (again a life choice)

For the grammar school option, expensive 11+ coaching is not really required. You can do it yourself quite effectively. Maybe borderline students might have a slightly better chance of scraping through with a dedicated tutor, but then they might well struggle once at the school. I know one mother (a tutor herself) who actually took her son out of grammar school because he was struggling with the pace and he did much better in the local state school. His sister on the other hand thrived at the grammar school. Grammar schools are definitely not for everyone who can pass the 11+

Jeffsy sounds like massive overkill for your riding style and what you enjoy. I would have thought one of the new ‘downcountry’ bikes to quote Mike Levy, would be a better target for full suspension. Devinci Django, Santa Cruz Blur with a 120mm fork etc, Canyon Neuron, Stumpjumper ST etc….

That was my first thought too. I recently bought a Canyon Neuron CF and I reckon that will be great around the likes of Swinley, Thetford etc. I’ve only ridden it around Woburn so far (quite similar to Swinley) and I would say it’s ideal for there as far as full sussers go. Other bikes on my shortlist for that sort of riding were Scott Spark, new Trek Fuel EX, Stumpy ST etc. I’m sure they would all be good too, but the Canyon was easily the best build spec for the money. I was able to go full bling spec on it for just over £4k. Carbon DT Swiss wheels, full factory fox suspension, X01 etc.

So what you (and at least one other) are saying here is that only middle class and above parents are capable of being role models or being committed to the education of their child.

it’s just the lazy work shy progeny of the rich may have an additional safety net to fall back on

So you criticise someone for apparently stereotyping and then do exactly the same yourself in reverse a few posts later.

I’m not a big fan of private schools personally, but they appear to work well for some kids. I’ve known families who have split their kids between private and state education simply to suit the individual child’s needs. To me it’s all about finding the best match for your children. For some that may well be a good state school, a grammar school or a private school (if you can afford that option)

Different people like different things. I think it’s massively over biked for your riding, but if it makes you happy, then it’s all good.

I honestly don’t know why people take offence at the term “over-biked”, I’ve been over-biked for pretty much all my riding over the last 15 years. For me it’s just a term to describe having a bike that’s bigger than what you might actually need to ride a trail or perhaps something that is slower than optimum (regardless of the fun factor). Technically speaking, I would think most people are over-biked for most of the time, especially if they only use 1 bike for all their riding.

I’ve tried to use the term here in the context of how over-biked would I really want to go for my riding? At what point would I think this is just pointlessly OTT? As you say, I have no technical reason to go beyond 130 mm travel and could manage with a lot less – possibly be faster too, but I’m not racing and I do value the comfort. From a geometry perspective I can’t think of any reason why my bike needs to get any longer, lower or slacker than it already is. It was a different story in the mid 2000s when I felt like my trail bike was too high, too short and nervous on descents. The threat of going OTBs was very real back then, especially before I put a gravity dropper on it, but I’ve never felt remotely that way about my 2015 Enduro and the Neuron is totally fine too.

If you go back to my original post, I wasn’t even trying to justify my own bike choice – I’m quite capable of working out what I like to ride. It was more an observation at how the industry and media have recently escalated trail bikes and LLS geometry beyond anything that was considered sane only 5 years ago. A 2019 XC/Trail bike is now equivalent or even slacker than a 2015 Enduro race bike. My question was actually how far is this trend going to go in future and is it actually benefitting ordinary trail riders who are not actually doing any DH or EWS racing? It looks to me like average trail riders are better served today by shorter travel bikes (I could be wrong), which is fine for now, but what about another 5 years? Will I then have to look at 100 mm travel bikes to find something that isn’t super long and slack?

Or will I come to realise (like I’m being told by some people here) that modern LLS “trail” bikes are actually more fun for riding around places like Woburn, Swinley, Cannock etc. I will try to demo some out of curiosity when I get a chance – bikes that really interest me at the moment are the Whyte S120, new Orbea Occam and the Yeti SB130. All of those are significantly more LLS than my new Neuron, so would make a good comparison.

Dynaplug racer here again. I used to use a Panaracer kit, but that’s a bit more fiddly to use. I just carry a mini-pump for inflation as I’m not in a big hurry.

A Canyon Lux would be at the XC racy end of what you are looking at. I’ve just picked up a Canyon Neuron CF which is more trail biased. Very impressed so far and great value builds. Like you I’ve got a longer travel full suss trail bike, which is definitely sluggish compared to the Neuron.

You probably need to stop those silly strawman arguments and projections. Try and look into critical thinking rather than judge others by your own binary thinking standards.

Yeah, I should stop taking the bait! I’ll include my own “binary thinking standards” in the bait category too. Cheers.