I say go for it – pick up a book on Access and have a play at home / work. You can sign up for a month trial for Office 365 here:

https://products.office.com/en-us/try

Which includes Access. It’s not the same version, but mostly it’ll be templates that have changed. You should try to avoid them if you want to learn how it works.

IT is full of people who do cool things because it scratches an itch. In this case, absolute worst case and it all goes tit up, it sounds like you shouldn’t have any trouble switching back to your paper based version. If it takes off, you have a bunch of requirements encapsulated in your Access version that someone else could work from.

It’s like they’ve condensed the worst of the Internet into a political pamphlet. I’m amazed.

Probably about time they compared cyclists to Hitler.

If the weather’s horrible, dropping down to the 50k isn’t a bad idea. You get the option usually between 1/3 and 2/3s of the way round to take the shorter route.

Lots of people ride cyclocross bikes. If it’s muddy stay away from full suspension bikes with limited mud clearance. Did it on a Remedy on a wet year and regretted it. Sofa suspension on the road and the tyre scraping mud off on the rear triangle off road.

Is a really great event though. Old school XC riding, like it used to be before trail centres were invented. ;)

Black = faster
Yellow = more air.

Good to know. :)

First I’d seen of that frame… interesting that design is being resurrected.

Still kind of surprised that:
– they’re focussing on the frame, when I’d be more worried about front wheel traction / comfort.
– bigger tyres aren’t an easier / better option

But I’m sure greater minds than me have thought about this!

On Les Arcs – I’m with Pat, one of the (best) Trail Addiction guides – if you want flowier than Les Arcs, go to Wales.

If you want to feel like a hero by the end of the week because you’re clearing switchbacks you can’t walk down, Les Arcs is for you. :)

Stunning trails, and beautiful scenery particularly if you go down the same side as the La Varda trail (you don’t have to ride that trail, there are other, less terrifying options).

I did Beaufort-Areches last year with TA too. Fantastic trails too, but different because the area is a lot less built up.

I saw this one in action over the summer (assuming I’ve found the right one). It’s got a twin action on the valve that lets you release the valve ‘pin’ before you break the air seal on the shock.

Was impressed (for a shock pump!), it seemed well engineered.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sks-msp-suspension-pump/rp-prod72640

Text is still here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5d2sMG2iv5oJ:ridgewaydouble.net/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

And this looks like the route:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zB8c6M2JHoxw.kpvmoe13XHX8

Ooh, that’s a shame – I hadn’t spotted it first time around. Anyone got a copy of the GPX they can distribute?

The Chain Reaction ‘pro’ bag is a bit of an Evoc clone:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/chain-reaction-cycles-pro-bike-bag/rp-prod114204

I got the Polaris bike pod a few years back. Have had my use of it, although would get either the Chaino’s one or an Evoc when I replace.

I saw someone line a bike box with thin ply, which looked bomb proof, although I shudder to think about the weight.

* watches thread with interest*

I think Hope Valley is a similar distance by train.

Great suggestions, thanks all. :)

Should be able to find something in that which doesn’t leave me looking like a sponsored MX rider (or worse, a hipster).

Thanks for all the links. That FoD one looks pretty good, will drop them an email.

Thought people who like riding bikes off-road would like doing other things in the mud too!

I have a WD My Cloud:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1140

It’s ok for my uses, but I’d find it hard to recommend. Some of the built in features for indexing content (images, music, videos) run in the background which really thrashes the disk and makes it run hot.

It’s a proper little Linux PC though, so if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty you can turn this stuff off. Is fine for me now, but you shouldn’t feel like you need to do that with a consumer friendly product like this.

Be careful if you’re recording in 60 fps. I think Youtube supports 60fps now (although not tried it myself) but Vimeo doesn’t.

Converting to 30 from 60 isn’t the same as recording in 30 natively. You don’t get the nice motion blur that helps a 30fps look smooth. I found Youtube (and Vimeo) did a nasty job of down-converting 60fps to 30. Video would look very choppy and badly compressed.

Do the jackets still come up quite large on North Face stuff?

In that case, I retract my previous statement.

I was at the back on _both_ the climbs and descents. ;)

Tom

@muddydwarf – yup, that’s the one. Think the name or logo changed in the last 12 months.

You’re not the same muddydwarf that was on a Ciclo Montana trip back in October 2012, by any chance? If so, hi! I was the one with an intact rear wheel. ;)

I don’t have a problem with them. I ride 13 miles to the trails and another 13 miles home. In the summer, that’s fine but I’d have a much more enjoyable ride back if I could spin and cruise at 15 mph. At the moment, the things I like about riding my bike would be too compromised by having to lug a huge battery / motor around. Am sure as things progress they’ll get better.

I also like the idea of using them to cover more ground on ‘big days out’ too. If I can manage 3 big climbs instead of 1 and ride for 6 hours instead of 4… that sounds good to me. I think that’s what the Trek video is alluding to.

As for impact on the trails, I don’t buy any erosion argument for the current (road legal) e-bikes. They add something like 250 watts, which, if my maths are right, is equivalent to adding a second rider. The bikes are still pretty light-weight, tyres are conventional mountain bike (so not as aggressive as moto tyres).

I regretted it and switched back as soon as my contract expired. Not at the time, when the phone is new and spangly but after a year or so the Android phones get fewer and fewer updates (unless you’re willing to root the device). iOS you’re usually good for at least two major updates.

The Windows / Lumia phones look really good… they might draw me away next time around. Unbelievable value for money too.

Asides from model differences, it may also depend on whether the Linksys NAS stores settings about the drive layout / configuration on a separate flash drive in the NAS.

You have to weigh up any perceived benefits from turning the fork upside down and the faff of having air bubbles migrating from your brake levers.

Personally, and this is entirely up to you, I’m not convinced. Like you say, the bushing tolerances are small, the oil is thick and I’ve never removed a dust seal and found my foam o-ring was completely dry. Not since the days of Indy shocks anyway!

I went with Sierra MTB this time last year and have been with Ciclo Montana twice before that. Had a really good time with both companies.

I think it’s fair to say that the rides were ‘bigger days out’ with Ciclo. The climbs are longer and the terrain around Orgiva is steeper than the coastal mountains, which made the descents tougher. The flip side was that the trails with Sierra were a bit more flow-y, which made a great week’s riding too.

The other big difference is the evening meal arrangement. Evening meals are included at Ciclo, but not at Sierra. That probably makes a bigger difference if you’re going on your own.

I wouldn’t rule out Ciclo as being ‘too extreme’. Marco is probably the most patient guide on planet. Both times I’ve been I was at the back on descents and close to the back on the climbs. It’s a holiday and in my experience people don’t mind having a chat for a few minutes at the bottom of a 800 vertical metre descent!

Tom

Yeah, I’d be too worried about my seat post slipping to do this. I’m too paranoid about my bike that I wouldn’t leave it unattended in town, full stop!

Also, while I remember – none of the advice I read about ‘dropping your heels’ quite tied up with what felt right to me.

It’s more dynamic than just dropping your heels. Quite often you’ll find, particularly on flattish trail that your feet form more of a V, with the leading heel dropped and the trailing foot scooping the pedal. When the trail gets more vertical and you’re really hanging off the bike, both heels will naturally be dropped.

Anyway, don’t sweat the Internet advice (especially mine). Ride and you’ll pick it up quick enough.

I could ride fairly happily after a few rides. Weirdly I had problems climbing and rolling drop-offs, both of which were a result of not dropping my heels. Took me a while to get used to the feeling of being off the back of the bike a bit more.

I also needed to lower my seat by 1 – 2cm when switching.

Remembering not to pull up on the pedals when I wanted to do a hop – particularly if it’s for fun rather than necessity – took me a lot longer. My god did it hurt when I came back down to earth with a pedal on my shin!

If you’ve got low-end wheels, I think you’d make more of a weight saving (and improve the ride) by upgrading there. Charge Duster is a lovely frame, but it’s steel (assuming your Giant is aluminium) so you probably won’t save much weight there.

Upgrading frames is always more expensive than you think too! In my experience you almost never manage to move as many components across as you think you will.

I’d enter the race on your 26er and see how you do. Just enjoy it! Save the cash until you’ve decided whether you prefer racing or trail riding and then get a bike to suit, if you must upgrade.

Just my £0.02p :)

So would this be a good /cheaper way of having a nas server? I was using a usb hdd plugged into my bt router to serve music/backup and serve photos but for some random reason it stopped working despit the hdd being fine on a laptop.

They don’t make great NAS servers to be honest. USB port is fairly slow, think it shares bandwidth with the SD card or something. Also ethernet port is only 100Mbps. It’s not fast enough to stream HD video from anyway, but music and photos would probably be ok.

As for setting it up, you’ll have to follow a guide / edit files yourself from a Linux command line. Here’s a guide:
http://elinux.org/R-Pi_NAS

I don’t use mine as a NAS. It’s my VPN end-point and also does backup duties from a NAS to the cloud.

So many to choose from:

* Tomb Raider 1. I loved this game. Playing the anniversary remake years later and listening to all of the audio guides was such a nostalgic feeling.

* Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 – my brother and I played this to death. When the CD snapped I had to download the cracked German version (schlampig means sloppy!). *fliptrick-manual-fliptrick-manual-fliptrick-manual-grind-fliptrick-manual-fliptrick-manual-massive-air-POINTS!*

* All Ghillied Up (Pripyat mission) in CoD4/MW. Atmosphere in spades, before the series got all Michael Bay.

* Mass Effect 1. Such a surprise, had never played a space RPG before. Completely blew me away, sure 2 / 3 were ‘better’ but I lapped up every single nugget of backstory in ME1. Helped me get into Sci-Fi TV series and books too, neither of which I’d been interested in before.

It’s weird, I can’t think of a single film that’s left such an impact on me as these video games.

That’s such sad news, I hope everything works out for you and your family. So sorry.

Hadn’t spotted the upgraded Parachute. That looks ideal for me.

Anyone want an old TLD D2? ;)

Haha, that’s probably the kick in the pants I need.

I could have moved closer – to London – but I’d have given up (easy) access to trails at the weekend and a nicer house.

Thanks guys :)

Another vote for DHB or Gore bibs from me.

And yes – what is with Endura’s sizing? Sometimes I’ve put small liners in medium shorts.

How about one of these:
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/safe-bag/%5B/url%5D

Protects the roof too.

Some of these things work better for me, personally than others. Not saying it’s true for everyone!

* tapered steerers – I’m riding around on a 160mm fork that weighs as much as a cross-country fork from 2005 and as stiff as a downhill fork from the same era. If the tapered headset is an enabler of this, I’m in!

* thru-axles / maxles (front or rear) – all good with me, it’s a much better engineered system. No longer do I get that ‘zing-zing’ of the disc rubbing at the back. No stupid little spring to lose if you accidentally undo the QR too far when changing a puncture on the trail.

* external BBs – I’ll take the trade-off reduced life-span for for the simplicity in fitting. No-more crank pullers, no risk of the mounting surface wearing and the crank constantly coming loose. I spend many times more every year on tyres than I do on BBs.

* tubeless – again, another win for me personally. Almost never puncture these days, where I used to get a lot of thorns.

Not a fan of push-fit BBs. Doesn’t seem to be any longevity advantage and replacing them is terrifying.

Out of interest, how high do people wear their packs?

I’ve always cinched mine down fairly tight and high-up, but have started experimenting with it lower down my back lately, which seems to help a bit.

Yeah, for shocks / droppers it’s worth bearing in mind that the increase in pressure due to altitude is a tiny fraction of the increase in pressure they go through thousands of times as they compress on a ride.

My understanding is that generally (and up to a limit) a seal improves as the pressure differential increases because the o-ring / seal deforms more. So I guess the worst you’ll expect is increased stiction from the air-seal in a plane. Counter intuitively, you’re more likely to get leaks with less air in your shocks. The same is true for tubeless tyres, they’re more likely to burp with less air in.

At work I used 2 x 24 inch desktop monitors, at home it’s a 13 inch laptop and an old desktop with a 22 inch monitor.

On the Eclipse / multi-monitor support thing, I un-dock some of the panels and put them on the second desktop. Eclipse remembers their position relative to the main screen between start-ups. That works really well for the (cluttered) debug view, JUnit panels and ‘show hierarchy’ panel.

All my development is Linux / JVM based, so I rely heavily on Vagrant for testing purposes.

Imagine the carnage if that thing blew off the rim on inflation. :-o

I sh*t myself when a 26′ tyre popped off!