Isn’t he still stuck owning Newcastle despite repeatedly trying to flog it?

I’ll start by saying I am/was a Newcastle fan, haven’t watched a game for some time but to say I dislike the f** b*****d would be putting it mildly. Ashley ‘loaned’ NUFC around £130million after buying the club, apparently after not really looking through the clubs accounts prior to the sale going through, although the NUFC DIRECT web address was registered around a year before and now handles the clubs official merchandising revenues. While he is owed this money by NUFC, which basically means he owes himself the money as sole shareholder, he can use the debt to offset tax liabilities from his other companies profits, as well as milking NUFC for as much as he can get ( merchandising, player sales etc). He is not as desperate to sell as a lot of people seem to think he is, unless it’s for a massive profit, as it would’ve been sold long ago if he really was

I have a 2017 36 Factory FIT4 on a 27.5 hardtail and a 2019 36 Factory Grip2 on a full suss 29er. The grip2 is far better

+1 for Troy Lee gloves, prefer the Airs but have a pair of xc as well. Fox gloves, in my experience, don’t last long before the stitching comes away, I wouldn’t buy another pair

They got the grading totally wrong when they opened the red- it’s officially regraded as black now and tbh it’s a hard black, and it caused some problems

Remember bumping into a young lass (probably late teens/early twenties) near the end of the first boardwalk on the Top Chief (Red Giant at the time) a few years ago, she had been talked into it by her boyfriend who assumed and assured her it would be ‘just like spooky woods at Glentress’ before he sped off at his own pace. She was f****n furious and terrified at the same time, I actually suggested that she might be better off VERY CAREFULLY pushing back up ( she was off the bike and pushing down anyway) if she was struggling at that point. I remember passing the boyfriend further down and him asking if we’d seen her? I wouldn’t have fancied being in his shoes that night. The Blue looks like its gonna be a 10k plus flow trail, should go down well if the blues in the lower woods are anything to go by

But it was an eye opener for me how much quicker I could go on the Nomad

If SPEED is the main reason for buying a new bike

Take the shortcut and buy a long travel 29er with good geo.

This would be my advice ^^^^^^^^

Carbon Bike Repair in Surrey, I had a cracked downtube repaired last year and its holding up fine so far, they have pics on their website/Instagram page of frames that have been completely snapped that they’ve repaired and claim to be able to match any paintwork perfectly, obvs at extra cost. I didn’t bother with paint as the repair is hidden from view but I’d guess it depends how much op is looking to spend. I paid around £350 without paint (a lot cheaper than the crash replacement front triangle I was offered by the manufacturer) but the damage was a 2 inch crack, I’d guess a snapped seatstay is going to be a fair bit more expensive

Endura mt500 jacket, Fox Ranger 3l waterproof pants, Sealskinz mtb socks and Shimano am9 shoes. I also have a pair of Decathlon AM pants, they aren’t as good as the Fox Rangers but were £40, the Fox’s are around £140 last time I looked and aren’t worth paying that much extra. The Shimano shoes aren’t waterproof but the flap over the laces when worn with sealskinz is the best combo I’ve found for dry feet

Rock Razor super gravity, just be aware they can be a pain in the a*** to fit when new

I saw the Sonder, given the choice I’d have a Kingdom over that, the geo suits me better.

A lad I spoke to at Alpkit in Gateshead told me they can get the signal ti made to your own geometry, ie to suit a 150 fork instead of the standard 130, increased reach etc but obvs at extra cost. I didn’t ask how much extra but when I replace my hardtail in nxt couple of years its definitely on the list

Another tip is to NEVER eat it on the day you make it, absolutely always tastes better when reheated after a night in the fridge with chopped coriander added just before serving

The Curry Guy Bible.

^^^^^this^^^^^^

cut through the frame if it’s faster than removing chains etc.

I presume this applies more to (pedal) bikes than motorbikes?

Yep, must admit I hadn’t spotted the motorbike mentioned when I posted that

Chemfix

Alive 2007 is outstanding and the best Live electronic album ever.

Agreed, the 1997 one is good as well

I just use the supplied adapter. Never had a problem with them.

^^^^^this’^^^^^^

Didn’t come with an adaptor

I’d be asking the retailer why, they are cheap plastic and don’t last long (long enough to fit and remove said bb) but I’ve had a few xt bb’s and they all had the adapter in the box

I remember all the hotels in the Aviemore and Fort William areas having half price deals on and being up there snowboarding every other weekend, instead of once every 6 weeks or so. Finish work on Friday, 6hr drive up then getting home around 10pm on Sunday after 2 days on the slopes, up at 5am n back to graft nxt morning

It can’t be done, even if the end caps are replaced with 142 spacing the rotor mounts will not line up with the caliper when fitted to a non boost frame. As above shouldn’t be too difficult to shift

I’ve tried TFR before, a mate used to have a hand car wash business and gave me a small bottle to try years ago, he wasn’t really sure about how diluted it needed to be for a bike but it didn’t do the brakes much good, didn’t clean as well as muc off and I definately wouldn’t use it on a carbon frame. As I said above muc off motorcycle cleaner can be had cheaper than that stuff (Tweeks) and it doesn’t have any negative impact on brakes

Bike cleaner is around £9.99 for 1 litre

Muc off motorcycle cleaner can be found a lot cheaper, I’ve been paying £25 for 10l for a few years now (buy one get one free deal), they state on their website its exactly the same stuff but isn’t sold by most bike shops

The initial moan was about going indoors to a business to paint his bike.

I see far more blatant rule breaking on a daily basis and have done throughout the whole pandemic (not isolated to my place of work but pretty much standard practice across the industry I work in from speaking to former colleagues) – agency workers coming and going with no testing, no attempt at social distancing or masks worn by many people who genuinely believe it’s all a hoax, people going a full day (including using the toilet) without washing their hands, colleagues refusing a vaccine because ‘I don’t believe it’s safe’ despite spending most weekends ingesting random drugs bought on the dark web etc etc etc. ANYONE going into shops and petrol stations etc without a mask deserves any criticism that comes their way but again I see worse on a daily basis (delivery drivers in and out of various factories not wearing masks and laughing at you if challenged about it being one example, management more concerned with getting jobs finished than enforcing their own covid safe rules another). I generally follow the rules as far as possible and have done from the first lockdown but anyone being outraged by Brendan Fairclough painting a bike frame indoors would have a full on meltdown if they spent a day in my shoes. I’m in no way trying to defend any of the above and have had several arguments with lads I’ve got on well with for years over the last few months

OK, can we please knock this thread on the head.

^^^^ agreed, off to ride my bike now (alone)

only 2.4 wide though by the looks of it.

Double Down or DH casing only as well

But then Rob’s still paid by Giant

Vitus these days

Pro footballers are tested twice a week

A mate of mines wife is also tested twice a week, she works in admin at a care home and has had both vaccinations already despite having little contact with residents. She’s told me that quite a few of the care staff that ARE in daily contact with elderly high risk people are regularly boasting about going to house parties and several have refused to take the vaccine when offered it. Its this type of behaviour that has got us into the situation we are in, not people riding bikes in the open air

Just hate the man, utterly evil

The real evil is the TV network owners who use idiots like Carlson to do their dirty work for them. I found it hard to believe its perfectly legal to go on national TV and present your own personal opinion as FACT without any proof to back it up in the USA. Carlson is nothing more than an actor masquerading as a news reader and the fact so many people believe his b******t is genuinely disturbing. I’d like to say ‘only in America’, but the way this country is headed doesn’t bode well

Not used any of their full on waterproofs but I’ve had a Montane softshell for a few years, it’s far better than any of the ‘mtb specific’ equivalents I’ve looked at for the same sort of ££££

Fail to see why professional mountain bikers (or amateur ones for that matter) meeting up for a ride is any worse than all the professional footballers who obviously don’t cut their own hair and hug each other when a goal is scored. The rules/laws are not being followed by a lot of the population and very little is done to enforce said rules by the police from what I’ve seen over the last few months, the working classes have by and large carried on working as normal while a lot of the educated middle class, who CAN work from home, don’t see the rules being ignored on a daily basis in far more blatant ways than Brendan Fairclough may or may not have done

YT Decoy probably best component wise, having owned a YT Jeffsy ( which cracked after 5 months and was refused warranty )I wouldn’t touch one with a bargepole, despite them opening the UK centre

Dainese

^^^^^^^^^^^

. I do like the on/off nature of XTs

Keep the XT’s, I like my Hope E4’s but they definitely aren’t like any Shimano brakes. I’ve had various Shimano brakes over the years, most have leaked from the caliper or had the bite point issues, Hope’s feel totally different but also feel the same every time, haven’t had a single issue in 3 years now

I’m still running original pads.

+1, bought not long after they first went on sale, no issues with original pads

https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/helmets/giro-montaro-helmet-review

Defo still available but maybe I got lucky with the pads going by this review

Pretty sure Shimano recommend servicing the clutch on their derailleurs, Google Shimano clutch service, I’ve done it once and it took about 15 mins iirc and I occasionally remove and clean the jockey wheels

Haven’t driven a Merc in years but I wasn’t a fan of the extra pedal/release handle setup instead of a handbrake last time I did, not sure if they still have this but it would put me off buying one

I managed to find a Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt (on sale at £1450 instead of £2400)for a mate who had just got into riding last summer, he was dead set on waiting for a Calibre Triple B coming back into stock even though it would be more expensive because he hadn’t heard of Rocky Mountain and it didn’t have a dropper post. After seeing the calibre in the flesh he’s glad I convinced him to go 4 the Rocky Mountain so there are still bargains out there if you look. Sure it came from Paul’s Cycles and the brand x dropper he fitted has been faultless so far

Pretty sure I saw some of the same ones as Costco were selling in The Range (Gateshead) at the weekend, as I’ve already said above I have some and wouldn’t recommend them due to them being slippy moulded plastic and I find the 20kg (it’s a lot BIGGER than the 10kg, not just heavier) is impossible to grip comfortably as the handle is too big

Acros headsets do have the bearings bonded into the cups afaik, whole thing needs to be replaced

Costco also had them last week!

Don’t bother, I bought some, the smooth plastic is incredibly slippy with even the slightest trace of sweat on your hands and the handle of the 20kg is too big to grip properly. Lesson learned, buy from somewhere that specialises in gym equipment and not a discount warehouse

Fox Ranger 3l

I’ve been very impressed with these so far, although I was equally impressed with the Ranger waterproof gloves I bought at the same time which are now falling apart after just over a year, hopefully the trousers will not go the same way. I also have a pair of Decathlons AM trousers, not as good in general and not as waterproof but cost £40 instead of £150 for the Fox’s, they do a winter version which might be worth a look if they ever have any in stock

What would help, in a few areas, is a wild population of lynx but that’s a long way off yet.

There was talk of doing exactly this at Kielder forest a couple of years ago, pretty sure it got a fair bit of support, obvs the local sheep farmers were not keen but not sure whether it’s still under consideration. Venison is probably my favourite meat at the minute and most of the major supermarkets sell it these days, most of it from New Zealand ffs, surely it can’t be cheaper and easier to source meat from the other side of the planet when the UK is overrun with deer

Despite ruling out the Minion ss, and I must admit I’ve not used one, I have used a Schwalbe Rock Razor on the rear without problems and I was surprised how much grip it has (supergravity soft compound and 27.5 x2.35) for most of the year, especially on hardpack/rocky trails. The supergravity is quite heavy and was a pain in the a**e to fit but the trailstar or whatever it’s current equivalent is should be worth a look, although I rarely used it in really muddy conditions

B