Compare the MEEERRRRRKAT dot Com .. my favourite advert of all time
http://www.comparethemeerkat.com/

what a brilliant website!

and dammit Asda have just sold out of Iron Gyms. Mrs MC will just have to put up with my skinny arse a bit longer….

(mr MC posting)

watching TdeF on ITV4 makes me want….? hmmmm

A bottle of Just for Men as it will bag me a desperate middle-aged bird who will sleep with me on the first date cos she thinks I might be a bit younger than her.

A russian meerkat in a dressing gown.

A bike from halfords, as it'll be the wrong size, have badly set up suspension and lock the back brake on corners.

Some margerine so that some nasty old woman will come to my house and tell me my cholesterol is 4.3. Whatever TF that means.

A water park commute home. In my pants.

I think epicyclo summed it up as I see it perfectly-

You bend it,
You mend it.

Basic rule of keeping friends.

A really good mate would say not to bother though, and if you were a really good mate, you'd still mend it.

conversely to mastiles story, picture some of us brits fresh off the mountain snowboarding in colorado, straight to the hotel bar (at 11,000feet altitude) drinking the hotels' own 5+% luscious microbrews. Cue four very quickly-pissed brits.

Job, as you say, done! Theres plenty of decent, strong beers in the US and plenty of people drink it. It seems to be a bit of a truism that every country exports its worst beer.

Chapaking, bizarrely never had golden sheep, black sheep seems to be exported down south more (or at least to my corner of it)

French breakfasts, their cake shops! nice big hills for riding .. mmmm

girvin flexstems were diabolical, and farcically expensive. Felt like your bars had snapped. And the superior Softride stem cost more than a set of forks and still felt like broken bars..

Julianwilson said
>I have heard that those vibration-daming bar plugs for road bikes are also a bit emperor's new clothes. Any experiences of them?

Not a roadie so not sure specifically what youre referring to, but bar end weights can be crucial to damping out vibrations in motorcycle handlebars (which I appreciate are a different kettle of fish, with all manner of different frequencies of vibration to deal with).

You don't necessarily need mounting points as you can get these clips which clip onto the frame and you bolt the pannier rack to the clips. I would just go for something reasonable like Topeak or something but he'll have to see what racks fit his bike and it'll also depend on type of bag he wants to carry. Best to tell him just to go into LBS and see what they recommend.

for northern types, Black Sheep (so called as they split from the theakstons family brewer)

also a big fan of this stuff from lake district when I can find it

actually got into "proper" beers living in the US, as despite the mass-produced dross they export, they have countless microbreweries turning out fabulous examples of every type of beer.

This was one of my local beer shops 🙂
http://www.frontiersaloon.com/BeerTakeOut/TakeOutMicroBrews/MicroBrews24.htm

(mr MC posting) ita amazing how observant we blokes can be sometimes, given I cant find stuff in a half-empty fridge….

Mate been trying to get me to do and probably would if it wasn't at such a stupid tiem of year and it's just the freezing cold water that makes me say no! I have a funny feeling though in a few weeks when I go out for beers I migh have some drunken agreement. What abuot this for a starter:

http://www.mhsurvival.co.uk
looks fun ….

Have you looked at joining the police? There are a lot of ex forces in the police who all speak highly of their times there but very quickly got sick of the deployments and look stints away from home, especially if you're settling down and have family (I know not everyone is the same). But police has a lot of variety, options and good jobs out there. You can easily arrange a "ride-along" basically a shift going out with the guys to see EXACTLY what we do .. definately worth doing, and worth thinking about if you have that forces mentality, obviously looking for something challenging and that offers variety. good luck!

I thought it was really really dull and didn't really say much at all!! It was "the truth about crime" and there are 2 more next Tuesday at 2100 and following week.

WIGGO WIGGO WIGGO oi oi oi …. whoop some butt in TT then hold fire on Ventoux .. wouldn't it be awesome for a podium finish from Wiggo. Oh well no one talking about Cav any more, shame!

WIGGO WIGGO WIGGO oi oi oi …. whoop some butt in TT then hold fire on Ventoux .. wouldn't it be awesome for a podium finish from Wiggo. Oh well no one talking about Cav any more, shame!

telemaster18 I say it "diane ease" and when Im paying £500 for motorcycle leathers no one has ever seen fit to correct me….;)

CFS, theflatboy.. what you mean…hang on…..er…..no, surely not?!

😉

IMHO whathaveisaidnow is the funniest response so far, but of course YMMV.
Also

DH- bike and rider too fat to ride uphill. Wears baggy kit to hide it.
Phat- how DH riders spell fat. See above.
S/S- geek looking for a niche within a niche in order to stand out.
29er- see above.
650b- see above.
Ti-overpriced, no longer trendy.
CF-overpriced, trendy. Breaks every ride, often fatal.
Superstar- really good affordable kit, often same as named brand stuff.
Superstar- cheap cr@p, breaks as soon as you look at it, never works.

What don't they have any new adverts yet on ITV4!?? Shame I'm stuck at work think I really need a TV in the office for these big sporting events!

Smee, it hardly stifles debate, or people realising what specific topic is being discussed, just dont put the "result" in the title. the "Jens voight how did it do it" didnt spoil anything, he could have crashed, won a stage, bagged the polka dot jersey etc etc.

You can still highlight "Cav" "Wiggins" "Lance" "The battle for the green jersey" and those that want to will know what youre talking about, those that want to avoid it can do without the crux being ruined by writing say "Wiggins wins".

Hmmm, cheap sky access you say…..

(mr MC posting) lived just outside (in US terms) of Philly for 2 years. Philly is a cool city in its own right, with a lot of american history (cue jokes) to check out as well as nightlife.

Its about a 2hr drive to NYC straight up the interstate, and there's regular buses/trains. Getting a greyhound is an interesting experience!

Philly and the state Pennsylvania have a lot of historical sites and monuments. Its on the bottom edge of the appalachian mountain range and theres some great scenery which would make a nice balance from NYC (which I love).

http://www.visitpa.com/things-to-do/index.aspx

rock climbing in Ralph Stover state park, the Fairmount Classic MTB race in Philly's answer to central park (it was televised, I came 8th…), mad techy rocky singletrack riding all over the state and neighbouring New Jersey, bumping into Bruce Willis walking round a corner (filming a scene from Sixth Sense), Quakers and Amish centres…why TF did I come home…

MM where's Mr MC he lived out that way! guessing he's still in bed with his broken leg 😉

All good and well for Mr MC to watch the tour but we don't have Eurosport now stop fe**ing whinging and just do it!

(mr MC posting) yes smee some of us avoid hearing the news and sport before watching the highlights, but visit this site for other news/information/discussion.

Im sat at home with a broken leg and listen predominantly to 5 Live but still manage to avoid the results, and tuning into STW daily helps keep me enthused excited and motiviated about the cycling world whilst I take an enforced 2 months off. Obviously by your rules I shouldnt be able to take advantage of this for 3 weeks?

Why should I, we have to avoid a cycling site, when the answer is as simple as not putting specific details in the title of a TdF thread?!

I agree its not soley an MTB site which is a good thing, it celebrates the variety of the cycling world (speaking as someone who doesnt own a road bike, or a single speeder, or a 29er and has enjoyed the exposure to other areas).

Fingers crossed for Jens Voight, and a "clean" MRI.

Says that he is currently in Grenoble having an MRI scan on his spine but haven't stated whether it is known injury or precautionary. Looked nasty and very face plantesque .. can feel the pain!

Mr MC posting) ditto never tested one first, have rated all my bikes to various degrees but all positive, and IMHO different bikes take some acclimatising to so a brief test ride is of limited use as you could bond with a bike you took a while to figure out, and grow to hate a bike you were initially impressed by. That's happened with motorbikes I've test ridden and owned-the bike that most blew me away on a test ride I kept for the shortest amount of time as it felt too extreme for long term regular use.

Was initially really sceptical of an I-drive I was given as insurance replacement for a stolen FSR, but was stunned how well it rode and 10 years on its still being used and loved by its new owner (a riding mate's riding g/f). Got a Coiler dirt cheap at year-end 5 years ago (has anyone ever bought one at full RRP?!) and absolutely love it-will keep it even though Ive just bought my dream bike (Nomad) as I'd probably regret selling it. Looking forward to getting to know (and hopefully love) the Nomad.

"dont be so sure" as in a conspirational "Aha, but…."

seems we're arguing about nothing, other than the difference between "what the writer implies and what the reader infers".

I never said the mooted spy satellite was looking at the moon or that it CUOLD resolve the rover, I said, in the context of conspiracy theories, that such a thing existed and was looking "downwards" ie. towards the earth. I do happen to believe that is the case, and I think thats how/why they solved the spherical aberration problem so quickly.

Your post

"I'm pretty sure we'd notice a top secret satellite with a mirror that was 25 kilometres in diameter"

reads as you suggesting/believing that the mirror in the HST was 25km across. Your cut-and-paste suggests that is the required theoretical diameter which I assume is where you got the figure from, and you weren't in fact suggesting the HST was so vast. I've re-read the sentence and thats still how it reads to me. The joys of the tinterweb.

>Graham S said
>mirror that was 25 kilometres in diameter!

are you tripping?! Or just really flimsy on basic dimensions, let alone the basic rules of optics and physics (PhD and 5 years postdoc research in electron microscopy so have some vague idea about optics since you brought it up).

The Hubble's primary mirror is 2.4 meters in diameter. 25 km, how TF did they get that into space?

http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/

cant really see how chainsuck can be bike specific. Its the chain sticking to your chain ring, usually due to a dirty/stiff chain and/or worn chainring. As long as your bike has a chainstay near the BB it will suffer from chainsuck if the right other conditions apply.

Dont underestimate how quickly an ally chainring can wear enough to allow chain suck.

Replacing a well-regarded bike is an extreme step, try getting a new middle chain ring and chain.

(Mr MC posting) hmmm Trek seem to be weighing in on the side of TJ

http://www.trekbikes.com/pdf/carbon_care/06TK_Carbon_Care_Flyer.pdf

(Mr MC posting) see other current threads on blur LT and carbon bashing/championing. Many of the breaks on bustedcarbon are from crashes that would have totalled an ally or steel frame.

TBH IMHO a carbon fibre bar/seatpost is a triumph of engineering over material choice. CF is strong in tension, so those bars are designed and built so that all the force of you nose landing that drop-off is taken in the material along the top of your bar.

I'd ride a CF frame before a CF bar, even though Ive no doubt Easton etc have got their products sorted (the fact they havent been sued into oblivion suggests their kit is durable).

Shame I can't over my natural distrust as I love the Ibis Mojo that this site keeps flashing in my face!

I like that Uplink! he he!

(mr MC posting)
>Graham S said;
>Even Hubble doesn't come close to having a large enough telescope to resolve an image of the rover – never mind the frickin tyre marks

dont be so sure. I'm NOT into conspiracy theories, but I went to a lecture given by a MOD bloke, and as an aside he mentioned that the reason why the problem with the aberrations from the distorted mirror was solved so quickly was that they had made two mirrors. And the other one was on a satellite not looking "outwards"…

To be honest it beggars belief that so much money would be spent on a technological development with an obvious military application, without that application being exploited.

the £150 NC17 Magnesium pedals look eerily like the DMR V12 Mag with the optional Ti axle fitted.

Both of which are probably made on the same production line as the Wellgo MG1, which as Mr agreeable says are on ebay new for ~£30.

Mrs Flash that was exactly my point! If you put
"TDF – Stage xx" then people can read and comment anything like that including Cav's disqual etc etc.

Can't even be bothered to comment anymore it was just to stop people runining for those that want to watch the highlights and get excited without knowing what happened!

Thanks .. end of.

another stolen bike thread, gutted for you. Check ebay, local classifieds, gumtree, pinkbike etc regularly.

Worth the mods setting a "stolen bike" sticky thread where people add theirs?

(mr MC posting) from distant memory (lived in US 10 years ago and often shipped stuff home to my brother), you only pay the import duty if the cost/value is over a set limit, IIRC it was $200 then. So if I'd posted a £47 ($70ish?) part home, labelled to that value, it wouldnt incur any import tax.

It could still be liable for VAT, regardless of value. However….

Then you get into what bluepalomino said; many shippers mark something as "gift", or having a very low intrinsic value, or being a trade sample etc in order to avoid tax for the buyer. I recently bought a new shock from a trader in Taiwan off ebay and paid nothing tax-wise, and when I sent my brother some forks as a gift he paid no tax.

Might be worth emailing Supergo to find out what they do.

Contador to win!!! rock on what an awesome stage today watched it live on ITV4 and was jumping around the living room so excited! As for Wiggo (as he calls himself!) what an outstanding display from an Olympic 4k pursuiter! Having lost 7k in weight since Beijing! WOW!!

Oh thought someone would be quick to criticize but people are looking at the forum for different reasons and at different times, just thought it would be nice then people can choose whether to find out by clicking on the TDF link!