What you need…

1.1g salt
200ml of Safeway’s Blackcurrant drink
or
215ml of Sainsbury’s High Juice Orange
44g of Boots’ Glucose-C powder
1 litre bottle
and accurate weighing scales

…to make your own 1 litre sports drink

1. Pour the blackcurrant concentrate into a 1-
litre bottle.
2. Carefully add the glucose powder
3. Add the salt
4. Fill bottle with water and shake vigorously
5. Serve chilled

Recommendations:

Before exercise or less than one hour, drink 300-500ml of water. Add 30-50g of carbohydrate if exercise is to last longer than an hour.
During exercise of less than one hour, drink 500-1000ml of water. During longer exercise, drink 800-1600ml of a sports drink per hour.
After exercise, rehydration needs can usually be met through food and water. If you’re competing again within a few hours, rehydrate
using a sports drink.

…just read that somewhere

Bez I like your set up and will give it a go myself but probably with a Galaxy S 2 and a waterproof case that I have my eye on. This will be for a tour I’m doing in summer and not off road. Have you tested this with a dynamo yet? What I want to do is connect the Anker battery directly to my hub dynamo via the mini usb in whilst also charging the phone via the usb out. I don’t have the Anker battery yet but it’s on order. I’m hoping this will act as a buffer to provide a consistent power output to the phone but am a bit concerned that I’ll need something between the dynamo and the Anker battery to smooth the flow, similar to the E-werk.

How about a T-Level Infinity Rolltop bag. It’s big, expensive and rare. Was going to get one then decided it was too much for me.

The new Panasonic Eluga is a waterproof android phone. Only prob for me is that the internal 8GB memory is not enough without expandable memory. It doesn’t accept microsd.

…except for the wonky valve

There’s a lot of posts about the Motorola Defy but it is only water resistant. With my busy lifestyle I actually want to take calls even whilst I’m snorkeling off the sandy beaches of Sardinia so you’ll find me using this

I ordered one of these recently. I’ll be touring later his year so the ability to plug this into my dynamo and charge via usb slot aswell as the option of using it as an emergency power backup for my phone with the usb power out. Pretty cheap too.

I can speak English and French to a fair level and bits of German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi and Tagalog….I couldn’t really have an intelligent conversation in the last few though. Would love to be fluent in them as well as Cantonese.

Just ordered myself an SP PV-8 36h from ebay for my road bike. Really like the idea of hassle free lights for my daily commute. I’m going touring through Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France straight after the Dunwich Dynamo in July and would really love a hybrid dynamo powered light with a usb port in the rear for charging my phone. I’m currently looking at the e-werk. I cannot use The Plug as it isn’t compatible with my old stem. There is something similar that somebody is working on here but I would love it if Exposure created something like this on their soon to be released light. It would mean there would be less wiring hanging off my bike which is the problem with the e-werk.

Yessssssssssssssss………bring it on 8)

I thought I had a hernia a year and a half back. The pain was more intense when I lay back on my bed but not so bad whilst crouched over cycling…the pain when from the abdomen wall straight down into my ball sack….it lasted about a week or two but ended up being the vas deferens. I did take some pills for a while which were prescribed to me. There’s a number of things that can cause hernia like pains but sure you’ll feel a weakness in the muscle wall as described previously. Best thing is don’t get paranoid it’s one thing as it could be something entirely different. Take on board loads of advice but ultimately see a doctor.

Riding along a back lane on my way from work on Tuesday when a car approaching from the opposite direction shone his full beam on me and then flashed temporarily blinding me. I regained my eye site and collided with a tree that had fallen across the road. Whilst I was untangling myself and my bike from the branches the driver walked up to me and asked if I was OK. Then I realised he was old bill. He was trying to help but didn’t and now ‘cos my head took most of the impact I look like Pizza Face. Eveyone’s taking the mickey out of me at work. Bike’s OK though so not too bothered.

To be honest I have yet to see a genuine sale on an item that hasn’t been discounted by the same amount or more at any other time of the year. It’s a fallacy if you believe it’s better saving your hard earned cash specifically for this time of year. For those big purchases you’re better off monitoring the price throughout the year and holding on to your money rather than impulsively going on a Boxing Day/January Sales spending binge

I’m using Gigaff on the £10/month goodybag…was with Asda. O2 not quite as good coverage as Vodaphone but works for me. I get the feeling it’s such good value that O2 will see it as a threat and throttle their service. Asda raised the cost of texting so can only hope the same doesn’t happen with Giffgaff.

Hey I’ll meet up with you!……oh no I won’t…I’m in Surrey

Keep an eye on Songbird..especially if you like Firefox. It struggles with my 1.2TB music collection but they will get there.

I thought I’d replace the seals although on the whole they seemed fine. Evans only had the newer (SKF) seals in stock which are almost double the price of the older ones. I would have just bought the older seals to be honest if they’d had them but I want get back on my bike asap. I’m posting some side by side comparison photos for all you Seal Geeks out there so you can make up your own minds whether the upgrade is worth it. SKF seal is on the right (SKF just visible at the top). The lip on the newer seal feels stiffer.

Wonder if it’s got anything to do with a batch of specialized bikes that are being sent back to the manufacturer. I was in their hq the other day and they were busy sorting boxes of bikes ready to be returned. Some defect with the brake bosses I think one lad said.

enfht that’s what I would like to know…..I want to avoid sending them to mojo if possible. The bushings look a little awkward to replace and since mojo would probably just replace the lowers it’s effectively a new fork if I get the bushings AND the uppers replaced. Not sure this would be cost effective. I won’t be looking at Fox forks in the future but then I don’t know what the internals are like on other forks. Anyone care to post some pics? I had marzocchi bomber Z1s years ago….they were easy to service, cheap seals and had no probs with them at all. The bike was stolen eventually or I’d still have them today.

nasher thanks for telling me that…..I was thinking of perhaps changing the inners after the winter to kashima coated ones. Now I’ll be considering changing to lyriks next year

enfht..I bought them second hand at the beginning of June. First thing I did before using them was to clean them out and change the oil. There were signs of wear but not nearly as bad as they are in the pics. When I took them apart today and drained them the oil was pretty clean so the seals are good. I just think those friction pads are a silly idea.

Endura superlites are great but mine tore at the crotch. Rode around with bibs underneath so nothing fell out through the hole. Still I got a couple of years out of them and the benefits were they dried quickly and kept my bibs dry which is all you need. They extend just over the knee to keep the cold wind off but because of this they can get hot in the summer. I’m trying a different set of shorts for mtb’ing now so will see how they fare through the winter

Watch out for ticks!

I went to apply as a Communication Systems Analyst with the RAF. I was 19 at the time and thought the interview would be a breeze as I’d easily completed the aptitude tests and the health assessment. So the interviewer chap seemed very personable and made me feel a little more relaxed by his friendly demeanour, he told me to relax and be honest with my answers. I got asked the usual questions which you’d normally associate with joining the forces including what I thought of gay people etc and also whether I’d ever taken any drugs. Well I felt pretty relaxed and it seemed to be a rather informal interview so I said, “well, where shall I start…urmmm I’ve smoked some skunk, oil and had some wicked Red Seal recently, tried some ‘shrooms last October but not sure I’ll be doing those again…I love E’s they’re probably my favourite drugs to be honest…dance all night on those things and they make me feel properly loved up….don’t like Speed too much as it gives me a massive downer…Tabs I’m not too keen on…tried one but it made me feel a bit sketchy….urmmm that’s probably about it.” There were a couple of other questions after that which I can’t remember. Needless to say I didn’t get in.

I’ve got some Craft armwarmers. They grip well at the top of the arm and are a very comfortable close fitting fabric. Only set I’ve ever tried but do what I would expect them too by keeping you warm without being hot and without slipping or bunching.

Breaking Away

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078902/

Thanks, I am writing the email now! well after this post anyway :-)

I agree with Blackhound. Craft is really good quality and the service from alwaysriding is fantastic…and no I don’t work for them but I do most of my shopping online.

Ooops sorry wrong thread!

I read one review Dirt and it was enough to put me off getting them so I went for the Hayes. I thought the same as you aswell actually in that more metal equals more contact which equals more stopping power.

Hey nice one! They are cheap. Might get a pair of those flame style ones after I’ve searched for reviews. Would prefer it if they didn’t rust as that would add weight.

OK cheers Skids. So those 160mm and 180mm options for the Clarks are too large? Basically they are 6.30 inches and 7.09 inches respectively. I don’t really want to spend too much as these are a for a spare set of wheels which will have slicks on for commuting to work.

I want to avoid getting post mounts and am hoping they are standard sizes. To be honest I haven’t measured them. Just got the sizes off here as it’s the same bike. I take it I should measure the outside diameter to get the exact size

Cynic-Al that’s what I have been thinking. My groupset is from 1995. I think my best bet is to go with a rebuild retaining my Campag Chorus hubs and replacing the rims, spokes and nipples. I’m using the spoke calc to get the dimensions. I’ve decided to go for CPX 33 rims with 14mm brass nipples and DT Swiss Competition spokes.

I’m riding my mtb to work at the moment which in all honesty is knackering but is still saving me £11 a day in train fares. Must admit I fell off my bike when the rear of my bike started overtaking my front wheel and was lucky there wasn’t a car behind but I wasn’t concentrating fully. Because of the black ice I was worried about riding down an A road with all the crazy traffic and felt adventurous so happened upon a bridleway with some fantastic early morning views and isn’t a much longer route than riding by road. When icy and on the road concentrate fully. It isn’t much fun when black ice is about but for me I don’t like the alternatives. I wouldn’t recommend it on slick tyres definately not.

Lol, all this chatter about smoking is making me want to light up. I’ve been smoking for the past 14 years and started because I was working at Wimpy and all the smokers were going out for a fag break. I just wanted the extra break so thought I’d do it. Plus this girl I liked at the time was doing it too so I thought it’d give me a bit of a chance with her. I never pulled her in the end ‘cos I was too shy.
Well, I’m still smoking….two roll ups a day. I used to smoke at the most 8 cigs a day but find them a bit harsh on the throat and really expensive now.
I ride 125 road miles a week and have done consistently for over a year now and that excludes the mountain bike miles I clock up at the weekend. I feel as fit as I have ever done riding the 12.5 miles to work in 32 mins on a good day. I smoke at lunch and because I work in a safety critical role at work it’s my release. If my company had a gym and gave me an hour and a half for lunch I’d be working out Instead I have 45 mins. A convenient amount of time to just eat my lunch then go for a rolly.
To be honest, in this safety conscious nanny state we live in, I get thrill from smoking just as I would riding a motor bike without a helmet on. I know my obligations when it comes to not endangering the lives of others but when it comes to mine then that’s my business.
Oh, I also have a good opportunity to ditch the losers at the work christmas party and skulk off outside.
Anyway now I’m gonna have my third roll up of the day….see, d’ya see what you lot have done to me!

I heard that there isn’t much difference between the Saint and XT shifters but that XT can be bought for less. Anyone had any problems with either of these two?