what’s the point in posting if you don’t read the OP?

Couple of hours local round Bingley. Came back clean – plenty of mud but all frozen.

Def wouldn’t take it through with roof gear on. Go to a hand car wash. Costs the same, better for paintwork, leave roof rack on.

A nice, legal, all-weather trail with a few interesting features between Airedale (Bingley) and Wharfedale (Ilkley) would do me. And open up HUGE numbers of big days out riding without involving cheeky trail shredding or a long towpath ride out to Skipton

yup…looks like we’ve had 2 – 3″ this evening. Riding from home it is, then….

Cheers fellas…will look out of the window from Keighley in the morning and take a punt!

bump……anyone ridden South Dales in the past week?

Cold and crispy, crusty snow good. Compacted snow ice and draggy slush bad!

silicone spray. or wee. at regular intervals

SD-253 – not seeing that offer on MSE. Got a link?

Has anyone got any experience of getting the energy company-sponsored contractors out to insulate a loft that is already boarded? Ideally I’d like to keep it boarded / have it reboarded afterwards…..

normal +1. Even with boys. I get bored playing with trains and frustrated with my 4 year olds RC Heli which he no longer thinks he needs “help” with.

Don’t beat yourself up about it. Their attention spans are quite short whilst they’re young and they also eventually reach a point where you can set them off playing and leave them to it.

Time invested is always worth it though…stick with it!

Yes it’s a bit heavier than a carbon frame – so I guess it depends how important weight is to you and how light your other components are.

Also depends on how far away from ideal racing weight the rider is…..

My bro had one one these for a while. Definitely worth something to someone who wants a very nicely pedalling old-school hardtail frame.

Excellent power transfer, quite long, takes an 80mm fork or would make an excellent commuter / singlespeed. The only aspect I would describe as outdated is the lack of disc mounts, but this isn’t the end of the world.

Mrs S and I are from SE England and therefore do not have accents

Yes you do. You have SE of England accents…

you’ve obviously spent the money already, so you can afford / justify it. many people can’t or won’t. Many people can’t afford £6k in biking gear either. Horses for courses.

excellent diagram (the first one) cheers

not sure I have that many years left in me….. 🙂

done this on a night ride. generally fine until I used too much front brake instead on a steppy descent. had to vault the bars, bike somersaulted past me and broke a lot more than the rear brake.

+1 for Karrimor gas lantern. best deals on gas cartridges I found are the butane / propane one that DIY shops sell for use with plumbing torches

hmmmm yes djg lover……i can relate to that sentiment…! some things are best not put off….

My experience:

Travelled 1h from home. Riding partner collapsed and died. I went in the Ambulance.

The bikes were picked up by local farmer who also helped with rescue effort. Later impounded for examination by the police. This is standard practice for a sudden death.

Car was left overnight. I phoned insurers the next morning who put me on the policy for free. My Mrs drove me up there and we drove back in convoy.

Thought seats were generally similar widths, so this is new. Could I ask what narrow seats you have experience of?

hadn’t thought of Touran…..will have a look at what’s out there

LOL @ Harry. That’ll be what they take me to the madhouse in!

good stuff – cheers/ How was the Pug in terms of reliability, Jota?

I know someone who had an early HDI 3 door and it was a nightmare even whilst still under warranty!

what a crazy place to drive. From this it appears:

1. Lada drivers a completely and utterly sh!tfaced most of the time.
2. Excessive closing speeds and inappropriate speed for visibility seem to be the cause of the biggest smashes. Applicable in UK too….

Wow – that’s a lot of metal. I hope they find something worthwhile here or abroad to do with them.

On a personal note, I do quite fancy one as a semi car-replacement project. Mudguards, trouser guards, luggage carrier. Could do half a weekly shop. Hell I could even have one at each train station either end of my commute!

Cheers all. Johnny – glad to have made the change?!

yep, it was the £40 per end that got me thinking….

next question – will I be able to reuse my Avid IS to post mount 180mm adaptor or will I have to buy a shimano one?

Also look at Kumho – they’re pretty cheap for this size and genuinely good tyres.

P7s are mediocre but OK. Def better than whatever budget cr@p Kwikfit want to put on.

My Cannondale road bike came with Jagwire ones as standard. Look nice and neat and tidy. Not used them in anger yet.

STW hive thinking helps again. You could have just winged it….!

Just out of interest (not being judgemental):

Have you explicitly given your permission for him to go out drinking?
Is he allowed to drink at home? If so, to what extent?
Have you had any alcohol / drugs “talks” with him?

Best long travel hardtail I’ve seen is the £1k Voodoo one at halfords. amazing value.

It got to the stage where I couldn’t see the cultural divide any more. I just wanted to ride more.

near as dammit the same. ancillaries arranged slightly differently, but generally the same.

My Accord with same engine gets 47mpg on my 27mpg average speed commute. No point in having a heavy right foot….

Probably still the best diesel you can get in terms of refinement and reliability….

I’ve just completed my first week of road bike ownership. I was probably the worlds biggest road bike denier so have had to take loads of stick from my mates (those who converted years ago and those who never will!)

For me, I find that a lot of my riding opportunities are too short to be worth cleaning up everything. I also wanted to ride my 18 miles commute. Tried on the MTB and it is too much like hard work.

So far I have ridden 60miles this week that I otherwise wouldn’t have done.

And I got a £1k Cannondale Synapse on Ride2Work for less than £50 per month which makes is practically free…..

I’m sold on the idea of bedding in, based on the fact that any pads I use during the summer last half the winter. Any pads that I put in during the winter last about 2 rides……

I do a long training climb, then descend a very steep, twisty, cobbled road which involves very heavy, intermittent braking. Seems to do the trick…

One year, I will bulk buy pads and bed them all in during the dry months…