Shard is a good afternoon… expensive though. Best booked in advance too. You’re rewarded with, I think the best view across London and more time at that height than in the wheel.

Best pub for me is Lowlander near Covent Garden. Delicious Belgian beers galore!

Not like this:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4767/pork-with-garlicky-bean-mash

One of the more unpleasant things I’ve cooked!

Ok, cheers guys. Will try all this after work tomorrow when my thumbs straighten out after the last go ;)

Yeah, Northwind – I think the problem is the super stiff wire bead, it’s not flexing enough to mate closely with the groove in the centre of the rim.

What tyre levers do you use? I’ve got some of the Park metal DH levers, but am scared about damaging my rim.

Some of these look handy!

http://www.parktool.com/product/tire-seater-pts-1

Haha! Thanks cfinnimore. Maybe I’ll make it tomorrow… I managed the rear one. Although at the expense of some paint on my rim.

Feel like I need a third hand for this!

Minions Dhf/Dhr are pretty good all round tyres. Maybe swap the Dhr for a High roller for better rolling resistance.

There are lightish (but not Swalbe condom thin) versions of all those tyres

On the basis of this thread, I bought a Merkur 34C, EJ brush, Prorazo soap and a selection of sample blades (Astra, Derby, Shark and Dorco) from Amazon.

What a revelation! With the original Merkur blade, the shave was fantastic. Just done one with a Derby blade and it’s even better. Face has never felt so soft.

Still learning, especially where I can and can’t shave against the grain. No serious nicks yet, it’s surprisingly easy if you’re careful.

I actually look forward to shaving now! To Adam who was worried about the blades – give it a go!

Nice to see a bike video without a banging soundtrack :)

*watches thread with interest*

Am in the same boat! Have done Fox forks, but not so familar with Rockshox internals.

Thanks for all the replies guys, be interesting to see how cheap the new X1 kit gets on bike-discount.de or CRC.

In the meantime, I’ll stick with 2×10 XT. Current drive chain need a bit of an overhaul, but new cassette, chain, chainrings should come in under £100.

Someone up there –^ mentioned running 1×11 with a third party narrow wide chainring. Would that work? Or is the chain a different gauge? Could be a cheaper upgrade route.

I’ve done this loads of times now – similar situation to you. If you wait for everyone to be ready to go on holiday with you, you’ll never get to see anything. Live’s too short for that!

I did a safari three years ago with:
http://www.adventurecompany.co.uk/

They have loads of activity based trips, some of which are specifically catered to solo travellers. Try and choose a trip that doesn’t shout ‘honeymoon’. So, if you’re looking at a safari — for example — go for the wild camping option rather than the luxury lodge one. Am sure the same will hold true for other types of trip too.

Last year I did a trip up the east coast of Australia on my own. If you decide to do something like that, rather than an activity based holiday you’ll probably find you spend a fair bit of time on your own, especially in the evening. I tended to make sure I ate a large meal at lunch, did /something/ until late in the evening and had something light for supper. That way you’re not sitting on your tod too long in a crowded restaurant.

You’ll often meet people in a similar situation whatever type of trip you do. Have made plenty of new friends going on holiday on my own which has opened up opportunities for future holidays too. :)

Xubuntu with Chrome or Chromium installed is pretty lightweight and will likely support your wifi card without faffing.

Incredibly, he was fine and walked away with scratches and bruises. Lucky though! One of those crashes where everyone goes silent for a while.

Update on this – went with Sierra Cycling / Alan in the end. Had a great week with them and rode some quality trails.

If anyone’s interested, here’s my video! Excuse the cheesy GoPro Promo music, was playing with the new templates feature in GoPro Studio.

Found this too.. early prototype?

http://vimeo.com/46363627

Is now a good time to start a new thread?

26 vs. 27.5 vs. 29 vs. fat

Probably about time we had another wheel size debate.

Would love to have a go on this bike! It looks like it would be a blast downhill.

I’ve had the same problem. Have big hands, so tried bigger grips which really helped. Skinny grips are fashionable at the moment, but not great for those of us with chimp-hands.

Thanks Mike… will persevere! It’s probably that I’m trying to edit a week’s worth of footage in one go.

Not specifically chicken tikka, but for home-made curries generally I can highly recommend these.

http://www.thetinytakeaway.com/%5B/url%5D

Is a good alternative to lots of half used spice jars losing their flavour in your cupboard. Small UK business too, as an alternative to punting money to Schwartz / McCormick.

Love the green powder coating Kayak23, looks classy. It’s a small thing, but I’ve never really liked the standard Nukeproof decals / paintjobs.

I’ve worked with some great project managers. If you’re organised and a people person, you’ll probably get on well. All of the bad ones I’ve worked with have fallen short in at least one of those areas!

I’m sure PRINCE2 will help you get the job. Possibly for your first role, look for Project Support to learn the ropes.

If you’re looking at IT project management, it couldn’t hurt to do a little reading around Agile projects.

Oh, and top tip – don’t _ever_, under any circumstances refer to any of your colleagues as ‘resources’ within earshot.

Wow.. had a bit of a Google, lots of reports out there. Will replace with a standard rotor and see what my LBS say about the cracked one.

Tempted to replace the front one now, but as that’s not discoloured with heat it probably gets significantly less hot.

I’ll second the suggestion for Stans rims. I’ve used Mavic UST and Bontrager ‘Tubeless Ready’. My Stans Flow Ex (on Hope Pro 2’s) are the easiest rims to get a seal I’ve had.

Even Maxxis Highroller’s pop nicely into the rim. Have always struggled with that tyre in the past.

Are the new Pikes really that good.

Yes.

Although I guess it depends on your starting point. I can see how to the OP, they’re a step down from coil Fox VANS. On the other hand, as an upgrade from a set of Fox 32’s, with the dive-prone CTD air spring then they’re a significant upgrade. Much more supportive in the corners, more supple in the small stuff, less bob-prone. I’m not sure how they’ve done it, must be the new damping cartridge.

Another vote for the Topeak Hexus – I have two, one in my Camelbak and one in my road bike saddlebag.

Be a little bit wary about the ‘light’ full faces like the Urge Archi Enduro or the Met Parachute as they may not offer the protection that you think they will.

I’m sure in some cases they’ll help, but there have been reports of the lighter weight chin-guards bending or acting as a scoop and pulling the helmet back on impact. The Met design in particular doesn’t cradle the head like a full face, so there’s less (asides from the strap) to stop it moving in an impact.

Worth considering anyway. Definitely not saying they won’t help in some situations, just don’t expect the protection of a real full-face.

That’s great – thanks Alan and Chris! Time for some ruminating.

Hmmm… Not a bad idea. I was thinking of taking the mountain bike, but road bike sounds good too.

http://redlinebicycles.com/bikes/2014-monobelt/

And replace the Reba with a carbon fork… No idea how you get one in the UK though.

What you’re looking for is pretty niche. If you drop the belt drive requirement, you’ll have more luck.

Love ’em – very comfy. I have the flank, which is the one with a little protection on the upper shin.

I’ll buy them again when mine wear out.

That last one is very neat. I have an old Park one. It’s been fine, except with dropper posts and modern hydroformed tubes, it can be hard to find somewhere to clamp it.

Sounds like a plan!

Hadn’t occurred to me that you can reduce the travel by swapping the airspring pushrod. But googling for that specifically comes up with a few useful threads. Apparently the uppers and lowers are the same across all travel lengths and wheel sizes.

Thanks for the help :)

Text the guy if you’re unsure and ask for the frame number so you can check it out.

https://www.bikeregister.com/

Hmmn.. 17mm sounds like quite a lot! Maybe I should stick with the 150mm Pikes. Was hoping to get the 160 ones in case I upgrade the frame.

Cheers for the advice guys.

There was an interesting point of view about flood defences that I’d not heard before in the Guardian a few weeks back:

Drowning in money: the untold story of the crazy public spending that makes flooding inevitable

They look like a great upgrade for people (like me) on 150mm Fox 32s. 15mm axle means no need to upgrade front wheel.

Looking forward to getting back onto RS forks again, after a few years of Fox. :)

Thanks Klunky :)