EURGH…Glen which one is you though?? ;-)
Okay show us pics of your Ron Hills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrs MC back again! I've just been given "deadwood" and "dexter" box sets to take home for Mr MC, anyone seen these? any good? I don't think I've even heard of either of them!

A few years ago I had a pimped-out immaculate Litespeed Obed (Marz X-Fly, full XTR, King, raceface, Pauls levers, Ti post, Ti stem etc etc) which I eventually sold for £1000 which is much less than I thought it should fetch (and less than it seemed a nice full susser of equivalent new value would fetch).

What size is it? I love Ti hardtails and if I could ride H/T (got a duff spine) I'd be seriously interested.

(Mr MC posting) MRMW I loved insomnia, fargo and memento so will have to look out the rest of your list seems we have similar tastes.

Lots of stuff listed ive seen and rated (Cookoo's nest, Brazil, Alien) so there is clearly some taste here!

A room mate in hospital in Thonon recommended TV show box sets. I loved the first series or so of Lost that was on Ch.4 – are the later series worth seeing or has it lost (sorry) its way? 24 seems to be much loved but it sounds, well, stupid, to me. BBC has decided to make The Wire impossible to keep on top of (every night, are you having a laugh) is it worth the effort? Any other gems (we dont have Sky) that are worth looking out – Battlestar Galactica sounded intriguing.

(Mr M-C posting) still got a pair I bought in early '90s when I first started riding. M-C loves em. Honest.

Seriously, now only wear em as wicking base layer under my motorcycle leathers.

Yup The Departed is brilliant! and I saw "Burn after Reading" and thought it was rubbish! Some brilliant ones listed .. guess I best start getting some out of the shop!

(Mr M-C posting) I would agree that mojo and five are too similar. Ive just got a Nomad and sill have my Coiler which I'll probably end up selling as it similar but "inferior" and I cant do hardtails either due to a bad back.

And I assume you wouldnt be happy leaving the Five lying around in car parks, so it doesnt fulfil the P7's remit of being cheap, low maintenance and low worry.

Looked long and hard at the Mojo (ran an advice/opinions thread) but have always lusted after a white Nomad since first seeing one and a nice one came up on fleabay. Come on then, post a pic of your PAJ!

it is ironic that Rabid Ramblers (a breed within a breed, not ALL walkers are red-socked and foaming at the mouth) are so possessive and aggressive in "policing" rights of way, when they got their access by systematically mass trespassing years ago.

When I was at uni we rode a hill on north wales in january (trefiw possibly, was sadly a LONG time ago…) in deep snow. The top half of the hill had recently been designated footpath only, despite the trails being fireroads that carry commercial logging equipment. We met one pair of walkers in the whole ride, and predictably the male walker went into a rant about how we weren't allowed to ride there. He bit off more than he could chew as my co-rider was doing a PhD in erosion, and all his rant achieved was to ruin his own day out and to show how arbitrary and pointless the trail designation was.

PeterPoddy can't figure out why you'd do A43, M40 then A404 to get to M4! Get A43 to M40 for 1 junction then down A34 to the M4 .. join it a lot closer to Bristol than if you went down the M40.

Swinley is good fun and okay although I wuold've thought there is far more varieyt Bath way and as you mentioned access to Wales. Do NOT move to Didcot … it is rank, all you can see it that bleeding power station, MTBing is okay but not worth living in Didcot for, and having worked there(I know I'd be a bit more biased) it's minging! don't do it!

(Mr M-C posting) ive done the bearings on an I-Drive, my Coiler and M-C's Reign using various sockets and a large G-clamp as the actual press. Stick some tape on the frame, or a rag between socket and frame to prevent any paint being chipped off the frame.

So I'm still on the case to borrow one but otherwise I found this one on wiggle, the cheapest I've been able to find
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Womens/11/Orca_S2_Womens_Wetsuit/5360041585/

is this okay??

People aren't really selling it to me talking about "killing nasties" I'm wondering if there's still time to pull out and stick to my original plan of doing one in a swimming pool, or maybe i'll just MTFU and accept my healthy body will kill nasty bugs on it's own 8O

Hey doesn't matter if you're slow it's about entering for yourself and having fun and remember the more you ride/race the quicker you'll get!

I'd say Guernsey lots of cool interesting things to do. It was years ago now I went and as kids went to some cool museums and lots of interesting stuff about occupation during the war.

Oh Clubber yes I think that's where it is! Maybe I could use a snorkel!? Are they allowed!!??? I shall have to see about borrowing one first before I spend £100 and never do one again! I imagine I will enjoy it and want to do more but we'll see!

So Richard .. talk to me about tumble turns. I did 100 lengths of 25m pool yesterday and kept thinking about having a go at tumble turns but I have no clue what to do and don't want to donk my head on the wall!!!!

Oh I never even thought that they may be banned due to weather! Good thinking! I will definately have a look at those websites, cheers.

It’s also all over the radio etc etc!!

goal keeper… performance advantage? To stand around for 90 minutes and occasionally fall over?

Just accept it women are now taking over ;-)

I haven’t had reflexology for girlie problems however I had a dodgy knee as a kid through cycling from the age of 13 years old and using cleats I went to reflexology and it worked. I’ve also had acupuncture for other issues and that’s worked. initially I thought it was all mumbo jumbo but if you’ve tried other things it is definately worth it! I found it can be very relaxing as well.

theres another recent thread about the merits of bags vs boxes etc, with some useful content.

NZCol you must have a light bike (road?) or a light hard case to come in to a combined weight of 25kgs- do you know what the case weighs out of interest? I’ve used a padded bag for 8 years, at least one trip a year and in that time had a bent rotor (now take em off) and, er, I think thats it.

Used a hardcase I hired once in the US. As it was so big, bulky and heavy I watched the baggage handler sling it out of the hold, where it fell 10 feet onto the conveyor belt for the bag truck. Never used a hard case again!

If i had a light/fragile/expensive road bike I might consider a hard case, as it is I use my padded bag for my burly full sus MTB, but will consider using bike boxes if the weight limits get any more marginal.

the best footage Ive seen from a home made video was a camera effectively mounted on the seatpost. Its more isolated from bouncing than a bar mount, and captures all the handlebar action (breaking, gears, turns, even a speedo if set up correctly) as well as the trail beyond.

Havent managed to get my ATC2K set up there yet, using the handlebar mount on the seatpost just puts it in the way of your leg…

thisisnotaspoon, this is from an ATC2000 with, I realised after the event, a wobbly mount. Sound/mic quality is always rubbish hence people sticking music on.

ATC2000 are an old model, can be found for £70ish. The newer ATC5000 has the advantage of a view screen on it- with the 2K you had to ride, stick the memory card in your ‘puter to see how it looked, adjust, ride and repeat.

This is my kid brother on a motorbike trackday at cadwell, gives an idea of the resolution and clarity of a 2K with a steady mount (he used the handlebar mount to fit it to an indicator stalk).

Heard a lot of good things about the “dogcam” but not tried it.

Regardless of how good your forks are in my experience bar mount footage is hard work to watch due to the up-and-down movement. Having on a helmet isolates it. You get both with the ATC cameras but Ive given up on my bar mount.

A helmet mount usually offers smoother footage as its more effectively suspended, rather than vomit-inducing views from a bouncing turning handlebar.

If you can mount the camera on the seatpost you add interest capturing fork and handlebar movement.

Were you asking for genuine opinions and advice, or just fishing for hits on your video? ;-)

(Mr M-C, former metallurgist posting)

as other respondents have said there is no way a bending force could have been applied to the tubes if the welds failed first. As Brant commented look at the amount of bending on the top tube-the top tube weld has held on for dear life long after the down tube has bent to the extent that its weld has failed.

Ive seen frames fail in a similar manner in what look fairly innocuous situations, you dont need a huge amount of speed or a massive impact to apply a massive bending moment that will break a frame. Last one I saw was on a trailquest type event where the riders front wheel stopped dead in a drainage rut at the side of the trail.

Breaking bikes and bits sucks but I’d say that blurry, badly composed pic is an advert FOR Kona’s weld quality.

I’m a “regular” and have no idea why they do it for free either! They have to do something like 16 hours a month as well but why oh why!?? If you want to know what the police is like most forces have a “ride along” basically you go out with them on a shift and run along behind them going to everything. Before I joined and when I wasn’t sure I did a “ride along” on a night shift and had a blinder, did some really exciting stuff and it really opened by eyes to what goes on. A lot of specials do it as a starting point (this was before PCSO’s as lot start as a PCSO now before moving on).

To be fair though I respect those that want to work for free on a Friday night pushing away drunks and they get ribbed mercilessly as they are obviously specials from the shoulder numbers SC then number starts with “8” (in our force).

cant speak personally for the DT5.1 (only just got some on a “new” bike) but all the reviews/comments Ive ever seen suggest they are quite soft and are susceptible to dents and rock dings.

Ive currently got Mavic 325s which I run 2.35 Minion DHs on and theyve survived a few years of alps, morocco and wales unscathed. Not light (716grms according to mavic website) and the narrower 321 you mention is 570grms and should work fine with a wide tyre.

as cynic-al says, “BBB” do a 3-size one which stays permanently in my camelback, though I have the Park ones in my garage tool kit the BBB is good enough to use regularly.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3976

loads of similar stuff out there

http://www.dotbike.com/ProductsP1286.aspx?utm_source%3Dinternal%26utm_medium%3Dsite%26utm_campaign%3DDFR

spoke to some of the guys building at Chicksands a while back and they said that they had specifications to work to from the F-C, with width/height ratios etc which some of their old stuff didnt comply with.

In terms of glenp’s comments about suing for insurance, I’m sure many of us would consider it when faced with a lifetime of fulltime medical care for ourselves or a loved one. Last year there was a case of a kid getting accidently kicked in the head on a bouncy castle at a neighbours party. They sued the neighbours for negligence. I’m sure they are all still on speaking terms, but blaming their neighbours, who had liability insurance as part of their household insurance (as many of us do) meant they could potentially fund their seriously injured son’s care and enhance the quality of his life.

One of the first (successful) court cases for MTBing in a trail centre in the US involved a guy crashing on a bridge in the ski resort. He won, as the bridge was built of longitudinally laid logs, and his wheel dropped between two logs and stuck. IIRC he broke his neck. His argument was that he was prepared for the risks on the trails in the hills, but the bridge was negligently designed and an unneccessary risk.

(mr MC posting) I’m prone to dehydrating and have had some really grim episodes- dizzy, constant vomitting etc. And yes Ive felt “hungover” after a warm day’s ride with no alcohol. 2 litres in 12 hours is nothing.
Remember dehydration isnt just lack of water, youve lost loads of electrolytes and drinking just water will exacerbate that as youll flush out what little salt youve got left. Diluted (50/50) pure orange juice is good to rehydrate and gets some potassium in you.

MM still not sure about moderation for heroin! Deal with far to many addicts daily to believe that it can be used as a recreational drug and not have massive life changing effects, mental health and problems etc!

NOstoc if you’re on route to the station to hand it in it’s a defence in law to it….so just say that everytime ;-) they may cotton on after a while though!

(Mr M-C posting) this is MC on her 30th birthday (in Morocco)

in the reliable flat pedal thread tangobravo said of his superstar flatties

“When i asked on the phone they said HTI pedal make them for them and deity, kona, nukeproof, and lots of other ones i cant remember are the same apart from the shape being slightly different”.

tandemjeremy’s point is just that- high speed damping refers to the speed of the shock/fork movement not the speed of the vehicle. If you hit a vertical kerb whilst riding at 10mph, your fork is going to move at high speed. If you hit a rolling bump at 30mph your fork will respond at low speed.

High speed damping and spiking may often occur at high trail speeds (like the sharp edges you are likely to incur on your rocky ground) but the two arent synonymous.

those grips came on my new Cube that Mr MC kindly bought me for my b’day and thought they looked horrible and “special” however when I started using them I realised how good they were and really comfortable unfortunately they still look special!!!

(mr m-c posting) duir yes my bad, I meant kg where I typed lb. blame it on the pain killers. The figures were right though.

I know someone championed Section 10 as a get-out, but our riding buddy who flew from bristol got charged for going over 32kg on his bike bag. I read the rest of it as you did ie. 20kg standard allowance, upped to 32kg with sports kit, 32kg for any single bag. Despite using a bag Ive had for years I reckon a well-packed box is the way to go with the new weight limits. It soon adds up – my extra DH mud tyres were 1kg each, my 661 full face is heavy, my big camelback with trail tools probably weighs best part of a kilo without bladder,etc etc.

Get or borrow some bathroom scales or fishing scales. They wont be mega accurate but you can calibrate them with a known weight (I know my true weight from medical scales) and it’ll give you a ball-park idea. If youre going with a group get organised with workshop tools, there’s no point 8 of you flying out track pumps, cassette tools, BB tools etc etc.

gutted when BA dropped their allowance (september of last year I think). we had flown BA to geneva last couple of years and they were cheaper than sleazyjet when you factored in the extras Sleazy charge (the bike cost more to fly than we did).

And as MC and geetee72 said, different airports enforce it differently- gatwick couldnt weigh bike bags, Marrakech went with “if she could lift it it was okay”, geneva are arsey and have got wise to the “support the end of your bag with your foot” trick which is good for losing 5kg or so ;-)

Where a controlled drug involved is a fungus containing psilocin or an ester of psilocin (commonly known as magic mushrooms) posession will not be unlawful in certain circumstances. Those circs are where the fungus is growing uncultivated and it:
(1) is picked by a person already in lawful possession of it (eg land owner on whose land the mushrooms are growing) for the purpose of delivering it (ASAP) into the custody of a lawful person (eg police). OR
(2) it is picked by anyone for someone to hand to the police.

Otherwise it’s still illgeal and is a class A drug!!

No but psilocybin is an illegal drug!