Is the electronic shifting going to be brought out for the shimano singlespeed groupset?

Can second indigo stuff from Matlock.

Have a lovely set of drawers and coffee table.

I remember Fine Fare and International.

Reminds me of being taken to Internantional to get a can of vimto and a milky way by the shop assistant/ god mother at my Grandad’s Jewellery Shop.

headsup: Hmmm I’m an ICM in Az. WREP GI. What about you? We have guys out in Georgia too. On WREP and SCPX.

Cheers all.

Baku is beserk. Very rich and very poor. Lada’s fighting with Land Cruisers etc. Not a good advert for the black gold if you ask me.
Earlier this year I did 3 tours of 6 weeks on 2 off in Mauritania. I was not so homesick there, mind you less bored and work was very technically interesting.

Clean slate tomorrow, it’s a different day etc.

brakes you’r eprob right, binners Wales is ok.

We have been skyping with the kids at tea time, but I’m knackered and distracted. BBC world news on the tv is getting very repetitive and I’m running out of books. A kindle starting to look a good idea!

I’ll just grit teeth and think of the money that is going towards buying the house we are currently renting near Grenoble.

Goodnight all. Going to try and keep off the sauce this week, and take some time for me.

AQR.

We rode woth them for about 4 days in erm….2005. Blimey long time ago! Can’t comment on the hotel, other than it looked good as we camped. The provided lunch baguettes were good, and Ian and Kate, IME work really well together as a team, we found them completely different characters but got on with both of them great. We did a skills coaching kind of day with Ian, which was really good too. They were mostly riding cotic souls bck then with Ian, on I think, a prototype of the soda, which says how long ago it was. Blimey.

sfr is essentially vodafone,
otherwise there is orange (partnership with french telecom), darty box etc as well as others. Worth checking with france telecom etc to check actual internet cover at their address. Not always great, some even have a satellite connection etc.

Actually, if you’re froneds are gonig to be in campsites…why don’t you just camp? I guess you have reasons.

Cheers

Dan

Ditch the portacot, those things weigh a tonne. We have had a sucession of ‘mini’ tents instead. Little life do them amongst others. Thin decathlon pop up style. You can just out them on the floor, or on beds etc, but I guess at 14 months, he/she can move around a bit so make sure to weigh the corners down. Micro mugsy (mini mugsy was ok) was reguarly capsizing hers as she would stand up and lean on the top to roll it.. No harm done though if it’s on the floor. Our current one isn’t great as the poles aren’t very strong despite them being thicker dia than tent poles and have now bust (but that was due to Micro vs mini incident….) We also ditched the matress and use a decathlon 1/2 length thermarest copy as it’s much lighter, more comfy and packs down better.

Have fun, sounds like a nice relaxing but on the right side kind of trip.

Dan

I had the Sheffield shop fit some touring bindings for me. I had to fill in loads of disclaimers saying I was not going to sue them. Sad situation if you ask me.

hacksaw then use a Bastard File?

Aye you could be right there! Have fun. That’s the main thing.

Cham cham cham. What a sham. The place is not France. The locals are so up themselves, the place is horrendously expensive, and, and , and, and. Great scenery though.

I hope your job is all kosher and completley through the french system. Chamonix is a hotspot of Brits trying to avoid the system and is a favourite raid for the officials. Good Luck!

And yes, I am qualified to comment.

Dan, resident ‘somewhere’ near Grenoble registered as self employed in France, paying French taxes :D but currently in Baku, Azerbaijan :?

Should be ok for general use but I’d replace if planning a big ride or an event etc. I use superglue to infill holes like that. Works like a dream, but the tyre is on its way out, but you could prolong its life.

Cheers. Have a nice morning.

I’ve only ever had Tektro and Ultegra. The difference between the two was like night and day. The Tektro wins hands down…only kidding. Ultegra much better the caliper seems a lot stiffer so applies most of the force to the rim rather than deforming.

Not sure if any diff between 105 and Ultegra performance wise, but there might not be that much difference in price.

My top tip is to head small and local. Lift passes so much cheaper, somewhere to stay is much cheaper, supermarkets much cheaper etc etc. They are generally lower though which can be risky if booking ahead and no idea snow wise.

Alternantively….I once headed to Val d’Isere to see friends who were stying there. I couldn’t find anyhwere for less than 100 euros per night for just me at short notice. I found a youth hostel 25km down the road which for 25 euros per person per night gave you breakfast, evening meal, dormitory style accomodation, evening meal and free shuttle bus to Val d’Isere or Tignes! Might be able to book family rooms.

Hmmm < looks out of home office window.> “Oh look, there’s the alps, ” <turns head>. “Oh look there’s Grenoble Airport” :D

I toured on my kaffenback this summer with a XT 9 speed (M770 I think) chainset shifted with a 9 speed 105 (2-3 models old) front mech and 105 STI shifter (same generation as the front mech).

Out of interest it was also running an XT rear casette and xt long cage rear mech (easy gear tastic as I was towing 20kg not so mini mugsy, and all the kit for camp touring for the 4 of us: Me, Mrs Mugsy, Not so mini mugsy, and micro mugsy…..)

SO whilst your SLX may not all work, you’ll be able to find other bits that will.

err morning. Anyone have any ideas suggestions?

The likes of ‘cyclefit’ will give you a very good, precise expert fit.
Based in London. I used them, then found out my frame was way too small and my saddle was 45mm too low (ermmmmm). Ended up bodging existing frame and compromising then got a custom frame made and now I have confidence in my fit when I have my ongoing knee issues.

Get fitted before you buy or limit yourself to a make/ range of makes/models.

And yes one makes 52cm will be wildly different to another makes 52cm.
For road bikes this is the case, maybe less so with mountain bikes.

Ok. Internet based french credit card?

I did 5 days of riding in Meribel in July and didn’t have to do anything to my bike. Others bikes seem to have got really hammered: bushings, pads, bottom brackets, misbehaving air suspension, gears going out of sync. Bits dropping off etc etc…

Rigid singlespeed rocks :lol:

Can I join the support group too please. I work from home in France for a UK company. Landline calls to the UK cost me nothing, and I still don’t like ringing them. Soemtimes I get in a flow though and ring them for at least 1/2 hour a day every day for a week or so to discuss progress etc. It does me good, but I need to force myself.

We are currently trying to set up a site investigation contract using a Turkish subcontractor for a job in Azerbiajan and Georgia, so I am speaking to them too, but we prefer e mail as it is easier for them to understand the English, but I ring them to pressure them to action my e mail, but agian I’m not at ease ringing them.

I use http://www.xe.com for my ‘work’:

I am a registered ‘entrepreneur’/ travialleur independant (self employed) in France and my invoices have to be in Euros, except my sole client is UK based (my old employer when I lived in the UK) and pays me in £ into my UK account. My hourly rate in £ stays the same, but my hourly rate in euros changes month to month depending on the exchange rate.

Thanks pedalhead, it was great. Just round the corne from Grenoble.

Not walkabke I think. There are good trams in Grenoble. Live about 1he away towards Lyon

As I said above have gone for à Dosh Classic

I do have à man bag 8O as live in France and have to cart car papers and all.

Thanks all, well not quite, but Hey Ho. Found lots of interesting ones. went for a
Dosh Classic and am making the step at 34 years old to change (!) from boy to man by rationalising my schrapnel.

Is there anything like a jimi that can carry a bit of schrapnel?

Hmmm the Jimi ones look interesting.

I wonder if I could instigate the introduction of a 1 euro note?

hmmmmmmmmm….

You could be right. I think all preivous wallets have been presents that took time to grow on me…..

…I just thought that well this is STW world and there’s plenty of weird people on here…who might just have a wallet fetish, or wallet design company or something. There’s been huge threads about “what jeans for a 40 year old…”

Great. Submit it too Kendal Mountain Film Festival. It is your duty.

What tools have you got? Shimano specific stuff already? i.e crank spanners etc. That was a bit of a factor for me.

But most importantly the best will be the one that fits you. Neither might fit you….

Us. We moved to France from the UK, near Lyon, but now nearer to Grenoble. Moved in Sept 2008. On paper, you might think it was easy for us as Mrs_Mugsy is French. However she had lived in UK for 13 years, never really lived in France as an independent adult, and had never worked in France. So we had family there, and language capabilities but it took a long time to work out all the systems operated. Not easy.

One of my highlights, of how grassroots it all was, was driving a 7.5 tonne truck with all our belongings from Sheffield to UK. A good adventure, and very proud we did it independently.

We originally thought it hinged around me finding work, as that would be the hardest bit. However after several years of trying, but possibly not that well targeted, we had a brain wave: Mrs_Mugsy was on maternity leave and due to go back to work, we decided she would look for a job in France and I would look after our son if needs be.

I walked into my boss’s office with nothing to lose (Geotechnical Engineering in a large multinational ‘multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy’) and said “I’m moving to France, either we find a way of me continuing, or I’m leaving.” We agreed on an outline pattern of 3 weeks working at home, 1 week in the UK office.

So nearly 3 years later: I’m french registered freelance, my sole client is my old company (IR35 does not apply in France) and in that time there’s been approx 4 months when I’ve not had any work. Over the last 12 months my work has shifted onto more international projects and although I’ve not had any working trips to the UK I’ve spent 5 months away from home in Africa.

We’ve been v lucky, but we made it work and we have had back up plans (i.e. I look after the kids) and my wife has guaranteed work.

In summary, you need not think outside the box, the dusty recesses of that box might suffice!

Exactly.

Ride and Smile.

Several times including 3 times at the end of La Marmotte.
As mountains go on a road bike, despite the recent history it is pretty uninspiring. It is a road to a man made resort, it’s not a natural col (Col de Sarennes is nearby though I guess) and has no ‘old’ history nor inspiring landscapes.

It’s not that long, nor that hard really… sorry!

I can understand the fascination with riding it though, despite how bitter I must sound! And I can understand it is a huge challenge to many and respect their feeling of achievemnt on ticking it.

Plenty of grass about! Might see If her and daisy can come over when I am away to keep our grass short!

He was born in Sheffield, has a Brit passport. A French mamam and an English dad. He has lived here in France since 10 months old. I don’t know what he is apart from my best mate!

Many thanks. I will give them a ring.

Chamrousse would prob be a bit limiting for more than 2 days for the experienced. ( I love it, but live an hour away). However there are lots more resorts like it near grenoble. A road trip touring around for a week or more would be great. And alpe d huez etc are still close. Sept Laux v good for boarders. Small resorts much cheaper and less crowded. Rather than everyone moaning about price. Change tack! Contact me if you want some alternative ideas.

Off for my 2nd day of touring for this season on Thurs!