Wondering about these myself – anyone use them?

I think the OP is actually right (and isn’t attacking carbon) – the specific claim made in the Whyte video is that an alu frame would have been dinged under those blows. Short, rounded tool, limited force and the frame held one handed, I reckon the best he could get out of an alu or steel frame would be a bit of scratching assuming it wasn’t taped and as Whyte heli-tape their carbon bikes I would be slightly suspicious he is tapping a taped frame.

Its just silly bike sales hyperbole.

This is the one Striding Edge, Helvellyn rescue . If you’ve ever been on Striding Edge you’ll appreciate that was a bit special.

I remember seeing that in ‘Emergency Services Times’ (trade paper), given the location that was a heck of a balancing act from the helo crew.

I’m no fan either although normally i keep it to myself as the beatles attract scary people who can’t handle the possibility that someone might not be 100% enthusiastic about them and who feel they have to re-educate those who doubt.

Top notch service – one of my orders went walkies in the post and Si sorted it out for me with no hassle.

Had to post again after work today – I’m on our bike users group and two of the lads from our postroom asked me for a word about cyclescheme – turns out both have just had their ‘final settlement’ figures through which are predictably well in excess of what they had been led to expect in the past. Both have got commuter bikes on the scheme although one went a little crazy and spent £800.

Anyhow both are hacked off about the changes but what I thought was interesting is that they had wound themselves up not just about the taxman but also the LBS they used who had upsold them both with promises of bigger relative savings. Their verdict was ‘should have got something for £100 from halfords’ which to be fair is probably true for a lot of commuters but it doesn’t bode well for some LBS’s. We can argue all we like on here about what the scheme really meant by FMV but these guys first experience of ‘grown up’ bike ownership has left them feeling like the shop has misled them.

I was on the other side of the thames from millbank today with work and to be honest it wasn’t really a scene from the poll tax riots, lots of police milling around, lots of peaceful demonstrators, a ludicrous number of camera crews and media types and a small minority penned in by riot police in the building who were presumably the ones kicking off.

So what we have really learned is that pretentious bloggers favour rapha. :)

Very much in favour given the massive gap in renewables to demand is likely to persist for twenty plus years and even then you would need to move to a hydrogen economy to be able to ‘store’ excess renewable for troughs in generation capactity (something that will work really well for remote communities in particular). Think the waste storage issue is a red herring really – we know how to store it we just can’t do it as there hasn’t been the political will to designate a site and get on with it.

Wave and tidal are promising but neither offer adequate bridging capacity in their current form without life-extension of nuclear or coal plants plus they haven’t to date been made to really account for their externalities either (disturbance to seabed, impact on marine species in construction and operation, impact on protected sites and archeology, traffic compression effects on shipping, denial of access to seaspace to other users, decommisioning etc) although that is changing with the IPC and MMO coming into being.

Nuclear strikes me as the only realistic medium term option without either building more coal plants, increasing gas imports dramatically or turning the lights out.

I’ve never lied about the cost of things but i have been a little swift to write off some of the more hated components to justify replacements when maintenance would have done – a very heavy wheelset went that way after i had to repeatedly strip the thing for clean and lube and there was a nicer set online at half price.

Its a bit of a pity as we’ve seen a significant fall off in interested peeps at my place of work since the clarification particularly at the casual cyclist end – the business has decided not to offer the ‘pay the owed tax on the benefit’ option and is instead going to the final payment approach which has knocked the saving down to a fairly minimal amount in most cases. I think a lot of the ‘new’ users were more willing to try it if they figured it was lower outlay for more bike and the monthly payments made them more aware of how cheap a mode of transport it really is.

Hopefully the taxmans next step will be to stop drivers getting free parking through work which is also a benefit in kind and would cut down on the number of twunts on the road while I ride in – the last time we looked at it in our place of work it caused uproar as many seemed to feel free city centre parking was a human right.

To be fair to him having seen a bso part ways with its fork over a speedbump a couple of months back I’d have been fully padded before touching some of those bikes

I went back to flats from spds after a comedy failure to unclip in time put me face down in some roots, rider error but decided i’d rather be able to dab than pedal a tiny bit more efficiently. Love my 5.10s

Galvanic corrosion and a 15g saving that gets eaten by the amount of slip i’ll inveitably add to prevent it versus steel that will cost less but will need a similar quantity of coating to make sure i don’t have to use powertools next time i want to faff with the wheel. Centerlock suddenly seems so sensible.

:)

Well its out anyway – dremeled a slot into it and got it out, seems like the issue was a lack of slip/threadlock – the other eleven all had visible threadlock on them while this one is clean, the rotors have been on the bike since new so i guess this bolt didn’t get coated properly at assembly.

What is the point of Ti then? Please tell me its not weight saving because it must be about 2g difference.

My account is fine, the total amount of cash I have spent over the last couple of years is not!

Enjoyable pootle round the New Forest with a pub lunch thrown in. Turned in to more of a challenge than I had planned for the last ten miles or so after my rear gear cable snapped, entirely user error as i had noticed it was looking iffy but figured a pub ride wouldn’t kill it.

On the bike i punted my rear mech after it ceased working for the third time in the hour so hard it ended up in the wheel, then considered the fact i had two days left of riding on the trip and regretted it.

Off the bike i punched a white van once after the occupant called me a rude name as he was driving past, surprisingly my hand came off better than the van.

I like my Fire XC pros – goodish all rounder and not so stupidly expensive that I would cry if I knackered one.

It won’t be full of the public!

I’m probably up on the friday.

You can strip one, reassembling it is the tricky bit, some folks have managed but my attempt went a little awry.

Stewart Lee described him as ‘spoonfeeding his audience warm diarrhea’ – i would agree with Mr Lees assessment

I bought this months oddly enough as i needed something to read on the train and there really wasn’t anything else bikey available at the tiny newsagents, the fashion line up picture and the overuse of the word ‘whip’ reminded me why i haven’t bothered for a year.

Love my POC Bones Arms, stay in place and aren’t particularly sweaty. Only problem is they’ve got me considering upgrading my knee and spine protection to POC at massive cost.

If its a public sector job i’m surprised they can eliminate experience in favour of degree – may be worth querying as it effectively discriminates against anyone who went to work before the explosion in degree courses.

Looks like him, wonder if it’ll be powerful enough to cope with my body armour after a weekend at a trail centre, my guess is not

Not that impressed with Knogs offerings, they remind me of crumpler (who make bags etc) giving their products silly names and oh so shocking advertising to conceal the fact most of its overpriced 'lifestyle' tat. To be fair I am cheap and so tend to go with function first and form second.

Depends on where you are, if its a first time visit and you are feeling touristy Grande Place is nice for a wander if it isn't too wet just to see the sights and the Manneken Pis is nearby if you have a more infantile sense of humour. if you are in the EU district be careful of leaving eating too late as some of the places shut up surprisingly early given the number of thirsty eurocrats about. Museums etc will all be shut I'm afraid as will most shops.

Delerium Cafe is good for the range of beers (http://www.deliriumcafe.be/) but gets a bit busy/touristy at times, for beer gifts the Beer Temple off Grand Place is good although it was shut last time I was over for some reason. Beer Mania is also good for gifts and open later http://www.beermania.be/allnewbm.php

Have fun, or as much fun as you can have on a rainy tuesday in BXL

I love my 510's (Marzocchi Merch version) – they've done about a year including winter/wet rides and are in decent nick, they aren't cheap but I think on balance they are worth it as I tend to trash skate shoes on the pedals fairly quickly.

Another 'rocking' the Bolle

It'll be interesting to see how this squares with central governments policy of deregulation. From the stories online its not clear if its just going to be for kids.

The buckles on the shorts seem to be cosmetic only and have fallen apart on both my pairs of shorts although it has no effect on performance, I love my hummvees but the stitching is a bit iffy and i don't think they are particularly well put together in places. That said i do still like the stuff and would probably buy again as it isn't too badly priced and I've had similar problems with pricier brands

Last trip to CYB I hadn't realised work had been done on Falseteeth, was more than a little surprised by the 'little' tweak

Royal Mail for the last bulky thing I got from them.

This seems to be turning into a debate about LBS rather than the OP's wider point about cost in the sector, for me I'd agree that 7k bikes are a rip off and XX/XTR aren't for mere mortals but at that level you are basically paying to have something very few people can have so you're not bothered hence companies charge whatever they like. For the 7k trek I'd want Gary Fisher to deliver the thing and pedal it up hills for me.

At a more achievable level the kit on 1k bikes seems to have got worse over the last 2-3 years which is likely tied to exchange rates in part and also the fact that we all went 'what a bargain' when bikes like the pitch were 1k and bought them en masse, companies notice this and see if they can get away with an extra few percents on next years model. Fuel charges on boxes from the far east are an issue as well as we got used to nice cheap shipping in the boom years and now its got nasty prices are up.

For me I've had to accept i'm Deore not XT in the last year and roadie colleagues of mine have done similar with a downshift to 105 on their bikes for the most part as none of us can justify the cost of items like cassettes, partially this is due to most of us being poorer (pay cut/freezes) than before and more concerned about our jobs but also because the items do seem to have got more expensive out of step with inflation quite recently. I'd agree technology has moved on and that explains some of the increase in cost but there are clearly some companies taking the mick. People obsession with upgrades doesn't help headline prices but it makes older stuff cheaper if you keep and eye out and as a case in point i'll probably be replacing bits of my drivetrain towards the end of the year as all the tarts go ten speed.

So yes some companies products cost a silly amount of money, and no I'm not buying them.

Tyn-Y-Groes is good and the beer is decent, food was good when i last stayed except for a slighty ropey steak but no complaints, perfect for Coed, road is a tad noisy but we were riding from 7am ish to cut down on the heat of the day.

New set of SLX brakes for £94 – without rotors admittedly, for something cheaper a pair of bolle specs off ebay for £6.50

I'd agree with Reluctants comment, I'm 5'10 and a bit and from memory a 17 Marin is about spot on.

3 cans of GT-85 ;)

Shocking pink, that combined with the drops should make it less appealing to scrotes.