I have the IXS trigger and the equivalent IXS trail helmet… the truth is I can feel almost no difference between them in terms of weight or ventilation when I am wearing them, which means I wear the full face for almost everything. After a while you feel naked without the chinbar…

I got a hole in a Camelbak bladder years ago and stuck a piece of helicopter tape over it… it never came off and worked fine for ages until I eventually changed Camelbak and got a new bladder..

Both wife and I had ours done about 8 years ago, early 30’s, best thing we ever did, wifes eyesight is still fine, my eyes are like binoculars and my kids have a running game to see if I can read far off things which I usually win. Should add we didnt do it cheap, I think we paid around US$ 8,000 each with a very well recommended surgeon.

After all this time I still wake up some mornings and think I left my contact lenses in, bizarre!

I am using the Vittoria Air Liners on my ebike and they have performed very well. I can get away with using the lighter Exo Magic Marys instead of the downhill casing, so the weight penalty evens out. Also I really like that they are a tube shape, they basically fill the tyre, so you really feel the support even at low pressures and can even finish a ride on the insert in an emergency.

Naysayers? Just seems to be people sharing their actual experiences!

For reference, we have lived in Holland, Denmark, United States, Panama, Colombia as well as Switzerland, so hardly “comparing to the UK” as some above are claiming!

Also I used to get threatening letters from the residents association about my hedge been 10cm too wide and things like that, every single thing has a rule. Its serious, they can get you kicked out of your rental!

We lived there for 2 years 2008-2010, although it seems fantastic to tell the stories now of Morzine / Les Gets every weekend I never really made any friends or close connections and my overwhelming real memory of been there is of been a bit bored? And hungry, food is all bland and restaurants are super expensive and crap. The super anal organization of everything definitely got to me in the end.

We basically decided to move once our youngest daughter was school age and we realised the school fees would bankrupt us (public schools impossible to get in to and private schools charge a percentage of your gross income!!!)

Also if you are moving there with a company you have to make sure they have covered you for all the potential costs in the expat package. My wife had an operation for appendicitis and the health insurance we had covered the private hospital – all very nice – but then it turned out that you have to pay the bills first and then reclaim them. When the first CHF 6,000 bill arrived, I thought ok, paid it, will claim that back… then over the next week about CHF 25,000 more in bills arrived….

Yup about 3km of rocky downhill trail (carefully) on a Vittoria Airliner after a sidewall damage right above the rim that wouldnt seal.

Liner and tyre were fine and are still in use after I repaired the sidewall at home.

“I’m trying to work out whether, when going for a bike ride with someone on such a machine, it’s better to stay just at 24km/h and wear their battery out, or just above 24km/h and wear them out.”

Mr big swinging d**k just entered the discussion… Going to do that uphill champ?

I would:

– Scribe out the box with a knife
– Set the router to 1cm depth and rout out the box shape as close to the scribed lines as I could
– Finish the edges of the box with a sharp chisel

Exactly 😂

We will have another one, based on experience up to now, cant really say better than that!

My wife has the latest model XC90, 2lt T8 with turbo and superchargers. High spec model, cost a fortune but once she drove it, nothing else would do – and we drove everything. The safety features mattered to me, since we live in the 3rd world and they all drive like nuts, and I believe the Volvo is a very strong and safe car.

With 3 kids plus dog, we really wanted 7 seats, and the Volvo hands down has the most room in the “boot” with the 3rd row of seats up, due to the leaf spring rear suspension.

We have had it almost 2 years, touch wood no problems, dealer treats us great, all happy up to now. We also got the 5 year warranty just for peace of mind.

Compared to the Audi, Range Rover etc we have had before, totally recommended, and somehow you feel much less of a flashy prick driving it!

Ive come to think that if you consider them just a normal bike with motor to make things easier, you are missing the point. For me my e-bike is sort of middle ground between my motorbikes and my mtb, it has some of the qualities / enjoyment of each. But for me its certainly allowed me to do rides I would never do on a normal MTB, you can descend for miles and miles with no fear about the climb back up, choose routes to gain as much altitude as quickly as possible, and also explore without fear of bonking far from home and lost!

I have the SnakeSkin 2.6 Magic Marys with Vittoria inserts on my e-bike. Perfect setup, no problems in very rocky terrain.

However, no way would I be able to use the SnakeSkin variant without the inserts – they are floppy as anything, wouldnt hold up as far as I can see.

I bought a Heckler and its brought back my love of cycling, I had basically quit 3 years ago. Now I am riding 2-3 times a week. What I find is that as my fitness is returning, I am just going harder and faster, dont feel at all anymore like I am taking it easy. Im shot after a ride, but so much fitter than I remember been in a long time.

The other thing is, the country where I live is all wild riding, no trail centres or anything like that, so e-bikes are a fantastic tool to find new routes and explore, you can plunge down new trails without the fear of “if this goes nowhere we will be pushing all the way back up” – we have found amazing new trails because of this.

When my wife was looking for a new car we tried all the 7 seaters including the Mercedes GLS… for me the Volvo is simply light years ahead in terms of interior design and comfort, the space inside for passengers and luggage is really good. Also the 2.0 litre four pot does a pretty good job (coming from a former V8 driver, thats something)

Yeah they weigh each and every ship to see if any pirate DVDs onboard

Cookea, who is “they” who will pay? The ship owner, which happens to be JP Morgan via a finance deal directly with the shipyard? The ship owning company, which is just a paper company? The charterer of the vessel maybe, in Shanghai? But how will you get the Chinese government to force them to follow an EU directive? Ah by the way, the charterer of the vessel doesnt actually even own the fuel been consumed, because its provided to the vessel on 45 days credit by a trading house based in Geneva…. its not quite so simple!

A Panama Flagged, Marshall Islands shell company owned container vessel, that takes fuel in Singapore, collects cargo in China and delivers that cargo to Rotterdam… where exactly and to who, do they pay tax?

When I was 21 (!) I went to Panama to work and met my future wife. After one year we went to the equivalent of the registry office in Panama and got married… I didn’t tell anybody back home for weeks.

Luckily 15 years, 3 kids and 4 countries later, seems to be going well!

Could just be a unicorn combination of a few thou oversized headtube and a similarly undersized headset cup.

I would just use bearing fit…

Reading some of this thread, its a miracle that their isnt more divorce threads on here… some of you must be right barrels of laughs to live with 🤣

Its totally addictive. Writing off my Monster 821 with a tank slapper (thank god no injuries) has led to an MV Agusta Brutale 800RR and a Triumph Tiger XCX both been purchased!

I have for many years bought frames and components and always constantly upgraded my builds, and honestly really enjoyed the process. Maybe not a typical buyer, but for me a big part of the enjoyment of the hobby.

I bought some 26” Enves for my Santa Cruz pretty much just at the time that everybody then went to 27.5”.

I then bought a 27.5” Yeti frane, again speccing carbon wheels, and almost immediately everybody went to boost meaning my 27.5” wheels with 142mm hub are now useless to upgrade to the next new frame.

I honestly felt rather ****** off at this experience and decided I was kind of done with the luxury brands. Last couple of years have spent money other hobbies (Ducati road bike, Kawasaki ATV) where I dont feel I wil get totally flip flopped by the brands I support.

Glock 21

Do an apprenticeship in something that will actually pay decent money over the long term… minimum wage or there abouts is fine when you are 18 but very little progression possible as a bike mechanic

Im thinking about getting one. Been late 30s, running a large business and having 3 kids doesnt leave a lot of time for training – the few hours a week I get to ride, I would prefer to be able to go further in to the wilderness than my fitness will allow. An ebike in this situation seems ideal… maybe that makes me lazy…

I know somebody who did buy a new 488 and crashed it same day. First thing he did of course, was turn it to race or track mode, turning off all the traction control and other “nannies”… result, new 488 upside down with every single body panel dented.

Why do people on these threads never understand that a car loan buys an asset? If you look at your personal balance sheet you have your £13k loan and (hopefully) a £13k asset against that loan… whats the problem?

Well, all I will get is abuse I am sure, but same happened to us, someone breaking in back kitchen door around 11.00pm one night. Only difference is when he got the door open he found himself looking down the barrel of a Glock and me telling him I was going to to blow his head off if he took another step. Dropped his “tools” including the crowbar and sharpened screwdriver and literally vaulted back over the wall he had come…

I have a young family and not going to screw around wondering about his intentions, Took me a long long time until I could sleep well again though. Police said since he was already on my property and inside the house I should have shot him. Glad I didnt though.

Awaiting my flaming…

Apparently they deserve the benefit of the doubt…

Its sh** like this that makes me realise I could never move back to the UK. How has the law ended up making us completely and utterly defensless in the face of crime against our hard earned homes?

I wasted far too much time doing the home service 2 or 3 times and the damn thing always started sagging again on the next ride… my advice is to send it away

Engineered solution, nice.

My business partner and I recently figured out a charter on a private jet is often equal or cheaper than both of us flying business…. now that is the only way to travel

My friends are certainly starting to wake up to the fact that pedalling 29-32lb 160mm travel bikes on trails that are not Enduro World cup level sucks… most trails it seems 100-120mm is fine for mere mortals

I have been mountain biking since I was 12 years old. I am not “playing”… due to taking big risks and working bloody hard, I can afford whatever bike I want now… and whats wrong with that? Its tiring the constant righteous poor lobbyists on here at times!

Thats assuming we all agree that moving the flange out by 3mm on either side of the hub results in such a massive change in wheel strength

I can squeeze my Nomad 142mm dropouts in or out by 6mm with just finger tip pressure… just saying. Im not convinced a 142mm axke in a boost frame is the end of the world…

What I really want to know is if the XX1 11 speed derailleur I have will work with 12 speed shifter and cassette…