Hearing aids can help with this. Get a hearing check up. I have hearing aids. They can reduce tinnitus quite a bit.

Latest idiocy. what do we do with the submarines without the warheads but with the Trident missile system? Conventional warheads? Why would we spend all that money when we can already deliver them via current submarines, ships and aircraft? Barmy thinking driven solely by Union pressure and another example of policy from the hip of a desperate man. Waste of time having the labour defence review.

Its not all about the weight. Think many people expect too much from the bike and not enough from them selves. Want to go quicker easier up hill? Get fitter. Go down quicker, more skill. 3 weeks in Canada last year didn’t see the 150mm under biked. All the locals were on Enduro type 150mm bikes, Wardens, YT etc. Uplift all day, yeah Id go for 160mm. Be great. Reality is you have to go up to come down. And for a good uplift day I stick DHF/DHR on. That makes a difference ;-)

Sure Bronson, Pikes, SRAM Roam 60, HR2 front rear, Thompson, XT trail pedals, carbon bars, XT brakes 180 front rear, Gobi seat, Xo1 sram 1 x 11.

All normal gear, less the wheels I guess, but my view is that once I have bought them they can go on the next bike to ;-) was built and weighed by Skyline cycles

Id upload picky but I’m a biff at that but vid is here http://skylinecycles.tumblr.com/post/81575377453

Just looked at photo – 26.66 not 26.55 memory fade

I’m at the quacks on monday, so fear not. I’m not going to start self medicating. I do want to start trying to keep my blood sugar levels constant though and reducing stress.

wise mate, get all the info and support. Your in control, you get to choose whats best. Doctors can refer you on to more specialised advice, support or drugs. Best to start with the professionals. Taking random medicines more likely a placebo affect. Could be psychological, sessions with councillors or psychologist might be more beneficial.

Most obvious advice, talk to your doctor, not the forum experts we deal in snake oil and sympathy.

Bronson, 26.55lbs weighed on bike shops digital scales with trail spd pedals, HR2 front and rear, pikes goes down just as quick as up ;-) Trues its not a 160 mm but I don’t think I miss the extra 10mm travel as much as I would hate the extra 4.5lbs of a 31 lbs bike. Why quote weight without pedals? I certainly need them, even on a bike ha ha ha

Worn 42t ring.

The 42f ring is alloy. Material specs from SRAM :

MATERIAL 4130 chromoly steel (cog cluster), AL-7075-T6 (largest cog)

I’d suggest you put a smaller ring up front so get a better chain line and wear on the steel rings. 42t ring should be just for the odd steep climb. I’m on 4th chain, change about 0.9 plus. No issues, 42t ring like new. Centre rings showing lots of wear

Well good luck FJ hope its sorted. Yup you can do all the right things but there could always be something lurking to get you.

Last Oct, driving to sportive on M5 was hit from behind in my car in the slow lane at 0640 in the morning. No other cars on the road. I was doing about 60 when I hit the crash barrier. Some tit in a BMW 525i asleep I guess rear ended me. Walked away with nothing but whiplash. Could have been so very different.

All you can do is make the best of it and try and cut out the self imposed own goals like life style where you have a choice.

what was causing the build up of fat on your arteries ‘flap jack’

yup cholesterol is just a guide to one condition I think we understand that.

3 pints every night and not a porker? 140/90 is right on the high blood pressure mark. Time for a life style change?

Touch screen is very hand. Makes moving around screen etc very quick. Also handy if you need to do a go to point. The larger screens make for very easy use. Depends on your use. For example Ive used mine to cross Portugal north to south, big screen very hand when you need to make a route change to nearest village etc

Depends on your use I guess

650 Oregon does both, good screen size, SSD slot for OS maps, has all the edge functions

Slippery, wet,challenging. Expect skill handling increase and love of roots ha ha Want armoured trails BPW. I like and ride both. Just different

nope wouldn’t, apart from the cost it would be the loss of my time. Lets say 2 hours commute each way. 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week stuck in traffic? Sod that.

always good to quote or link articles on the web as authoritative just because they are on the web ….

adjective: authoritative

able to be trusted as being accurate or true; reliable.

You don’t need sugar, plenty in fruit and almost everything we eat.

To summarise? If you expect to live a full life then a low fat diet with exercise is key to longevity. High cholesterol, high blood pressure and being overweight are good indications that your life style isn’t very healthy and will have consequences.

There are no guarantees but the general health advice is pretty consistent. Small changes to your diet will have long term benefits. Were not talking about the odd slice of carrot cake. Its your day to day week in week out diet that needs to be healthy.

Easy steps, try cutting out all processed food, pizza, cake, biscuits, sugar in tea coffee etc. Save you money to. Its taken as read that you drink in moderation. Try porridge oats, muesli with skimmed milk. Fish, salad, potatoes, pasta, fruit. Note the lack of processed food.

Send it back get a refund

bargain, great bikes

Dog tag

aware of my own immortality and age, best not wait or put things off

I retired early, bring it on an extra £72 a week would be great!

stopped working or worked less were young mothers, teenagers in education and those due to retire soon.

Split pin works

New pads even come with split pin …….

Transition Scout or Santa Cruz 5010 v2

geometry is more important than travel

says it all really

@pawsy – at what point did you start wearing a hearing aid? What was the reaction of family/friends/colleagues?

Please note, in my case its loss of quality. So people raising their voices is a waste of time. Its tonal. Some people I can hear fine in almost every situation. So don’t shout at deaf people. Speak slowly, pronounce your words. BBC presenters are ace :-)

Your hearing deteriorates so slowly you don’t notice it. I was about 48 – 49 when I was having lots of hearing tests and then got my first hearing aid. Very discrete in the ear. But since then I’m not bothered. I have the biggest ones I can find. Hearing aids are ok for some loss but in my case they aren’t much use because of tonal loss. Relationship was difficult and eventually broke up. No one is going to tell you its because they cant stand talking to you and you answering everything wrong, you answer what you think they said. Conversation in the car or areas with back ground noise, no chance.

Young people, make sure you look after your hearing. I didn’t and paid the price. It has a large impact on you and isolates you. Don’t phone me, its a waste of time. Text, email or messenger :-)

25% loss here. Whilst theare is easy availability and better diagnostic techniques much of hearing loss like mine is caused by industrial noise. The NHS hearing aids a few years ago were horrible. Now they are the same as the best from the high street. Easy and simple to get an appointment to. Well done NHS, technology and lower prices! It’s horrible not being able to hear. Ruins your relationships and enjoyment of life

Have you lube’d the rim and tyre with a bit of stans = oh errr to help it slip on

note I did not say slip in ……… or mention going in dry

No need for leavers with right technique. I use my foot on the tyre and can put on or take off a tubeless tyre without leavers. Changed two Maxxis HR2 yesterday no issues on SRAM Roam carbon rim.

Technique:

1. let all the air out
2. Angle wheel about 45 degrees
3. Step on tyre – sort of heal and ball of foot
4. Press down on tyre with foot pushing the wheel away
5. You might need to rotate the wheel a bit but even on old sealed tyres the seal will break

Putting them on much the same. Its also a great technique for on the trail. You end up with the tyre on one side and that little 150mm of tyre really tight on the second side where people use leavers. Don’t. Use your foot like above.

I do use two tyre leavers about 100mm apart once the seal is broken on both sides to get the tyre over the lip but there is really no force needed at that stage. Just helps.

I never lock the leaver to the spoke

Had a job offer, big pay rise. Easy job. Like most above I couldn’t think of a good reason to take the job. My children told me I had another option. Retire. I did. Best bit of advice ever and I claim best excuse to turn down a job. Thank you children.

Two HR 2 today. New on front no problem. Old one on back wouldn’t go up without cleaning the tyres edge with sandpaper. Went up second time. Stans rims seems to go up with track pump. SRAM rims needs the compressor. £100 on compressor, money well spent

160 not needed for trails and most else, Id run 140 – 150 max but must be 34mm fork

The 130 is a cracking bike, looking at them myself. Bronson 150mm rider. Tight flowy trails my 2010 Zesty 140mm is great fun but as above the 32 Fox is way out preformed by the Fox or Pike 34 up front.

Took the Bronson 150mm to Canada this year, wasn’t under gunned on black diamond and honestly cant think 160mm would have helped. Its about the right geometry and how you can throw your bike about.

Maybe more important if you want to go big, switch your tyres to say DHF and DHR Minions and you will see a bigger difference than 10 mm of travel.

His flirtation with Nazi mythology and Adolf Hitler wasn’t one of his high points either. Although he recognised later much of this was due to the huge amount of drugs and alcohol he used.

Bowie, great guy etc etc I have his music etc etc

But why oh why do we have Facebook and forum users wailing on about his life and how it saved them? Dribbling on with platitudes as if they really cared or followed him or his life when he was alive. It seems to happen any time someone famous dies.

Hose. Aimed to get all the crap out. Never ever use anything else never seen why I need to do it? My XT running great after two years and no cleaning. Have been bled.

When I put new pads in I always do a load of stoppers on the road that seems to face them off and they last for ages.

Id say no mate. They were just used in spring etc. They have a very obvious water entry point straight up the middle. Check Defrosters. Opening is on the side. As the water splashes up on the defrosters it hits a sealed area. Laces will hold water and increase weight.

Winter, dry snow st low temps isn’t the same as rolling through endless puddles

We’re all different, BMI is just a guide. Use it as such.

and as far as I know, you can’t get replacement rims for them)

Not so, had a warranty repair on mine recently no issues. Two weeks later had rebuilt wheel. Also with the carbon rims SRAM do a crash replacement scheme. Should you, just riding along and …..

+10 defrosters

make sure your trousers are long and go over the tops, same for any boot really that’s where the water gets in.

Oh and don’t stand in water that is higher than the tops of your boots

Don’t discount the 30 ring – it might seemed under toothed but it gives you a better chain line and if your riding includes serious ups you will welcome it after 50 – 100km.

Try it, wear it out then decide. If you run a 32 and end up wearing out the 42t ring on the cassette then Id suggest moving down to 30. You find the wear is more central on the cassette. I get 4 plus chains on a cassette and ring easy.

I have 32 on my Zesty as I use it mainly on trail centres 30 on Bronson for those climbs ……

What is not a good idea is to buy then upgrade

That all depends on whether the upgrade has the thing you want. Even worse to pay more for a a more expensive product you also don’t want.

agreed, pretty obvious that no point in upgrading if you don’t want it. Was just saying Ive seen posts ‘Ill buy the X version then upgrade couple months later’. That means the item is about twice as expensive. Just false economy. One of the reasons buying a frame and build can be a good idea so you get everything you like even down to grips saddles etc E.g I always go for XT brakes – XTR just seems the same but way more expensive.