Unless you have almost no standover, there’s totally a point to having them on hardtails.

barney – Moderator

There’s a debate here, clearly – but I think there’s a difference between manufacturers sending you written or video material and inviting you to go on a launch where you’re free to make your own decisions.

Also worth adding that if it’s (for instance) a new videogame or pharmaceutical, flying a load of writers/journos/doctors/etc. somewhere warm and sunny would be a blatant attempt to sway positive coverage, but when it comes to doing a global bike launch with journalists from all over the world, good riding destinations make a lot of sense and you’re hardly going to fly them to Swindon instead.

The Scalpel launch last week in Italy had around fifty journalists (of which I was one) from all over the world, and doing that has it’s own economies of scale compared to doing a launch in each country. It was all paid for by Cannondale, but as Barney says, we’re allowed to write and photograph whatever we want in these cases. It’s not a matter of just being spoon-fed content by a third party.

But even more crucially was everyone leaving a big enough gap at the top of each descent? Do we need a safe passing distance law next year? Did anyone have a motor in their seat tube?

We were disappointed to find several photographers who are not authorised by us or associated with the event in any way selling rider images.

ir_bandito – Member
Its unfortunate, but Rob Barker’s pics (of me) weren’t very good, or in very good locations.

Same. One of the unofficial ones tilting his camera 45 degrees is something I haven’t seen anyone do since college :|

Doc Ward picked a really good feature and composition with that tiny gap jump – good lead in and out of the frame, load of crashes, jumps, people running by with broken bikes, etc.

Never mind ebikes, what about this:
http://www.danwyrephotography.co.uk/Mountain-Biking/Mountain-Biking-2016/Dyfi-Enduro/Landscape-Jmp/i-CwpqwDW/A

And all when this guy did the whole thing carrying his bike:
http://www.danwyrephotography.co.uk/Mountain-Biking/Mountain-Biking-2016/Dyfi-Enduro/Landscape-Jmp/i-xjhx8vg/A

Yes, one that can fly outside in conditions that aren’t perfectly still will run you much more than £50. Anything that price and lower is basically an indoor toy, and even those with live camera feeds cost more than that.

Not assuming you are, but if you’re using it commercially in the UK you’ll also need to qualify with it, which costs around £2K to do. Once you have the qualification, for now at least, drone pilots get paid pretty well.

Two of them whizzed by on the first climb.

My first one too, got round in four and a half hours. Wish I’d doubted myself less and gone further up the pack at the start line, as I was overtaking people on climbs for the first half, and behind people on descents until the end. At least no one’s in any doubt you’re behind them with all that clattering slate! Think I’d rather stick with the burly bike for fun descents than go for a faster time :)

I heard a few people moaning about arseholes who’d apparently been shouting “Get out the way!”, but mostly found everyone really good natured about passing and being passed. Lovely event!

Still in provided an elaborate plan with planes, trains and housemates works.

I’ve been working away for pretty much all of April. The only thing I’ve managed even vaguely close to organised physical exertion was 40 minutes in a mosh pit last week :/

I built an airplay setup with an RPi Zero, a Phat DAC and some cheap speakers, but this at that price is tempting enough to replace it. Cheers OP, Ashy, and GFS.

I’m giggling at you not being able to stop laughing.

Be thankful it wasn’t a few litres of liquefied fox shit in bile. A labrador did that once while I was on the phone to a client, thankfully on a wooden floor. I’m not squeamish but it was a struggle to not throw up myself while cleaning it up then jetwashing furniture outside.

Bridget Christie. She did a set a few years back about why she stopped acting in adverts. The year before about bic pens for women. Both hilarious.

A stranger’s stride as he was a few sentences into an anti-cyclist rant in a pub, when I interrupted him with a hammy delivery of “Yeah but see, some of these car drivers, they think they own the road“. He looked a bit embarassed and stopped talking.

Also my phone but it had it coming, horrible smooth over-sized lozenge that it is.

I’m using a Protastic battery eliminator

If it or whatever power source you plug it into have killed two GoPros, I wouldn’t let it anywhere near a third no matter what they claim on the product page.

What kind of power supply are you running it from? If it’s a very cheap one it might be badly regulated and damaging your cameras. I had a bootleg iPhone charger kill a touchscreen, and have heard of them killing plenty of Raspberry Pis too.

I’m riding a pair of them at the moment, and yes they remind me of high roller IIs. I’m finding they have plenty of grip, roll fast enough on dry days but can clear mud when they have to, and seem like a great all rounder tyre if I can’t be bothered to change sets according to the weather.

edit: I don’t tend to get loose dry stuff to ride in though, it’s either rocks or mud.

I had completely forgotten that I discovered how to do this as a kid. You brought back the memory, slimjim78. Thanks, I think.

Alternative to tights in summer: I got some of this to put under pads
https://www.bodyglide.com/shop/body/

It works.

Alex – Member
‘Alex has a singular ability to fire intellectual arrows at the heart of the periphery’

I love that this sounds like praise right up until the last word :D

I’m 13th bullet bulletproof.

Chris Akrigg, bawsing up and getting in in the baws.

Pressure sensitive double sided tape from 3M Direct will run you just over a tenner:
http://www.3mdirect.co.uk/3m-adhesive-transfer-tape-9605-clear-19mm-x-50m.html

It’s not so much tape as thin adhesive on a carrier strip, and it’ll stick to pretty much anything short of polypropylene (once it’s on it’s on though – no repositioning). If you’re using silicone or any other liquid adhesive, I’d advise roughing up the back of the acrylic but leaving it smooth near the edges.

Signed.

I usually walk or picnic with friends in Holyrood park when I’m up in Edinburgh, and suspected those woods round the NW edge might be the site. The NIMBYs are really over-egging the amount of space it’ll take up, those woods have never seemed inviting, and I think trails there will be a real asset to the park.

Some great descents on that, cheers Tom! :)

Me, Daz and Clover will be heading over.

Link because it’s big and imgur makes it into an mp4:
http://imgur.com/urqjKsi

Centaur.

As a friend once asked of Crufts: “Is there an award for bleakest genetic cul-de-sac?”

I had better luck with Stans than Slime, but they both leaked air.

Chipps no BMX, so without Daz I don’t have a lift, otherwise I’d take one. Soz.

Mackem – Member
I think I’ll be mincing round Philips park tonight if anyone wants to join me. I’m referring to my style of riding BTW.

As far as I’m aware this is the plan. Chipps and I heading to Prestwich, probably for 20:15 outside the Church Inn.

I don’t think viewranger does editing, just recording. You probably have to export the routes you have as GPX files, use something on a computer to edit them, then reimport.

xherbivorex – Member
i bought a new full face helmet last week. it’s a real midlife crisis/so enduro it hurts job…

Found this dude hanging out above a train door:

I had the same job once, but after it had moved to St. James st. I don’t think the manager it had then was into mountain biking, just being a massive perv.

Apparently until just before I started they had a giant foam cookie costume they used to make one unlucky soul go flyering in each night. The manager went on holiday, one of the bar staff stuffed it in a bin, and everyone swore ignorance :D

Wheel with a ball bearing disc front hub arrived just a little bit too tight, but I never checked it because it seemed to run okay from new. One day I noticed the wheel tilting left whenever I braked. Rode it for a few more weeks. Opened it up, and not only was the surface pitted, the hub was so far gone there was room for an extra ball bearing in that side.

tthew – Member
Thursday night, Rock City, job done. Experience the stickiest bar side carpet in the universe.

That used to be the leopard print one in the Cookie Club. At one time, it’d stick to your feet and come up an inch or so with each step :D

Was the hedgehog blue?