Not sure I ever did notice much difference when I had a Legacy except as you say in specifically bad conditions such as snow or mud. I only ever had it in low box twice in 9 years. When it started to fall apart I swapped it for an Octavia petrol 4×4 estate.

Don’t know if the vrs is purely front wheel drive or like the 4X4 has the mostly front wheel drive but will redistribute if necessary system. In all honesty, I can’t detect any difference in grip between the 2 in normal driving except that the Octavia drinks a bit less fuel and requires one fairly expensive service a year, instead of one very expensive service plus one absolutely mind bogglingly expensive service each year as the Legacy did. Not sure if the more up to date versions of the Legacy have changed but the S reg subaru had 7.5k service intervals with megabucks services every 30k and 45k and the perfect storm at 90k when everything coincided. In my case the clutch went at that stage as well and the bill came to about what the car was worth in part ex. According to both the independent mechanics who worked on it, it wasn’t the easiest to work on either – although I am sure that there are others on STW better qualified than me to comment on that.

Daft question but how/is it possible do you take the core out of presta tubes?

Not sure whether some continental ones screw out or not, mine didn’t, but with a presta to schrader adaptor that costs about a pound you can adapt any presta tube with a bit of a fiddle. The nut on the end of the presta valve is normally held on by a widening at the end of the screw thread but will normally unscrew anyway with a bit of force – I got mine off with a pair of pliers and minimal leverage – you can then either a) tie a piece of thread to the end of the valve or b) not bother, it didn’t appear to make a lot of difference. Let the valve drop into the tube catching it neatly through the wall if possible, attach adaptor and insert slime etc. and then a) pull valve back into place with thread, b) push valve core back into place as you are still gripping it through walls of tube, c) work out where it has got to in the tube by feel and manipulate it back into place – and then reattach nut. Some mess, but it is relatively minimal.

They got me through last winter with no deflations despite several thorns.

P.S. Bontrager are also supposed to be doing 29er self mending tubes but I have not found them on this side of the pond yet.

I have used several different variations and don’t use anything else at the moment. The original GR1 are fine but unless you have ginormous hands the small is better than the large. I have size XL gloves and still find the GR1 large to have too big a diameter to be comfortable therefore if in any doubt go for the small.

I have also used the GC2 which allows changes of hand positions on the hybrid and have used GE1/GA1 with Carnegie/Mary bars where the originals really don’t work. Of the 2 I think I prefer the GA1 for comfort. As above, you need to experiment but the gains are worth it.

+1

She’s a scientist at heart I think, so not someone who has that burning desire to be a medic for its own sake. It’s more a way back into frontline research, but from the clinical direction. So long term (and it sounds long term), she’d probably be looking at the interface of medicine and biomed research.

I do remember one of the graduate students I trained with saying his reason for studying medicine was that as a researcher he had and would get paid a pittance but had noticed that his medically qualified colleagues got paid a bigger pittance than he did.

Read LOTR and the Hobbit several times although not for some years. Skimmed Silmarillion and decided life might be too short.

Doable.

Even 30 years ago there were mature students in Medical Schools. In my year there were 8 of them as opposed to 142 of us and the number of applicants was roughly 1500 in each category so getting a place was several orders of magnitude harder.

Things have got more sensible in the intervening years and now 10-15% of entrants are graduates with different schools having different entrance requirements see here. They cannot discriminate on age but may take likely length of training etc. into consideration.

In addition to entry for the standard 5 or 6 year courses there are also a fair number of Schools who will do 4 year accelerated courses for graduates. Listed here.

Life has got a little easier over the years for junior doctors as well. 132 hour weeks were not really compatible with family life and I remember a converted lawyer I worked with suffering as a result. Post EWTD the limit is 48hrs and its shift work so that makes it more sensible as well. There are also part time further training opportunities post medical school but as you have to do the same training time then taking 10 years to finish your specialist training when the rest of your peers do it in 5 isn’t necessarily an advantage.

Whether you are a graduate or an undergraduate at entry the important thing is that if you really want to become a doctor then you will. The people who don’t make it are the ones who aren’t prepared to put the effort in, either because they decide it’s not worth it or because they think they are too clever to need to.

In the end it has to be an individual decision for her and her family as to how much she wants it and, if the opportunity is there, then whether it is worth the cost.

TA Specialties, you finish up buying the whole crankset in kit form a la middleburn. They also do shorter crank lengths which is why I have been sorting one out for sons bike. Like Middleburn, they are not cheap though.

Tend to wear them more often than not. Have a fairly light pair of Lizard skins neoprene ones that I carry in my pack if I am not wearing them from scratch. Otherwise Race Face Dig for XC and hard shell knee shin – race face rally I think – for when I expect to fall off.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may interact with blood pressure lowering drugs, and may possibly enhance the effects of anticoagulants, although the chance of either of these occurring with a topically administered preparation is extremely remote. Where aspirin or other NSAID tablets are taken concurrently, it is important to bear in mind that these may increase the incidence of undesirable effects.

Above quote is from the UKPAR which is the official document relating to Ibuleve’s licence in the UK, and for those with insomnia may be found here. I can’t provide any research to confirm or deny Brant’s suggestion that rubbing the affected area without bothering with the gel may be just as effective, as the MHRA did not seek or publish any new clinical information before approving the licence relying instead on the information provided with previous applications going back some 30 years which may or may not be informative but unfortunately have not yet made it onto the interweb.

Most doctors work on the basis of avoiding uneccessary risk even if it is extremely remote so on balance, it probably won’t do you harm but it probably won’t do you any good either, so why bother?

Signed up

Glad it is not just me. I had this problem with an X7 shifter and an SLX top pull front mech as well. I fished an old X Gen mech out of the cupboard and went with that as well.

Pay particular attention to this clever young man.

I am happy with this description, deleriously so to be honest, but in fairness I should inform you that my wife isn’t that convinced about the word clever as applied to me and my children find the description of me as young, hilarious to the point of hysteria.

The “Toys19” will of course be the sort of bike you can ride through fences on and yet still pedal up dams without undue difficulty.

still dont get it

I predict that in about 18 months time a load of american Titus groupies ( and from what I can see they make the STW On-One/Ragley followers look fairly non-committal ) definitely not getting why the new Titus range are called the “Cashmere”, the “Angora” and the “Toys19”.

Not even after the explanation. In fact, particularly not after the explanation.

I took the news to mean that Brant had had enough of the QC and delivery problems with Ragley/CRC/Hotlines and decided to move before it got ridiculous. Can’t say I blame him and think that some of the accusations on here are a bit on the fringe side to be honest. I wonder if he shot JFK and helped fake the moon landings too……

I wish him the best of luck at Titus/OnOne and hope he has some new ideas to take with him.

I completely agree. I have had 4 On-one/Planet x bikes and no issues with any of them. Always found Brant helpful and approachable. In the circumstances, I hope he is also thick skinned.

Fuel filler flap on one of our cars stopped locking. Metal clip had 5 years of fatigue and bent rather than clicking into place.

First quote was nigh on 174ukp ( replace whole assembly, paint new flap, reassemble ). 30 seconds thought came up with view that I already had a flap the right colour so that bit of the job would be unecessary, 30 minutes on internet came up with a part number for the metal clip and instructions in Czech which I helpfully provided to garage. Total cost of parts 1.34ukp, paid the garage to fit it though so by the time they had dis-assembled and re-assembled and added VAT it still cost just shy of 40ukp.

Mind you I took Montague/Swissbike with me when I left the car and took the long route home via Ellerburn and Dalby so not all bad.

I’ll use that if I may, has a certain charm to it.

Be my guest.

Sorry to hear this. I make my life easier/different by only looking after adults with diabetes but there is some excellent advice here.

My only other comment, and I know it is not relevant at the moment but forgive me as I may not remember to post it in 5-10 years time, is to try and involve your child in managing their own diabetes as soon as is reasonable and as much as you can so that if at all possible it doesn’t become a source of disagreement e.g. “we’re your parents and we’ve been managing your diabetes for years so we know better than you”. Otherwise it can make the teenage rebellion years more than usually interesting.

We were one of the first units in the country to introduce DAFNE. It is a self management educational course and really helps patients but it is usually for age 18 plus. However, a version of DAFNE for 11-16 year olds has recently been piloted and by the time your daughter gets to that age it will either be long forgotten or available everywhere.

Best wishes to all of you.

Worn a wedding ring since 1998. His and hers made by a jeweller locally. Just seemed the right thing to do.

Mrs R knows she is stuck with me. I pointed out at an early stage that as I had taken 36 years to find the woman I wanted to marry, even if I started looking again immediately, by the law of averages I was going to be 72 by the time I found anyone else and frankly by that stage I won’t be bothered.

We bought a 4m one from Bell tent company for use on the garden last year. It stayed up for most of summer as a spare room in the gargen for the kids and also got used overnight to get them used to camping in the garden. Got a lot of fun out of it and its been back up since Easter. Good for the kids for play or privacy.

Tricky one this as the conventional medical answer is what is outlined above, that there are adhesions in the joint that in most people somehow magically un adhere after 12 to 18 months and if not then may be helped by surgery or manipulation that on the face of it should cause further scarring and adhesions. This tends to go against all we are otherwise taught about scarring and healing.

There certainly are some causes of shoulder pain that are only manageable by surgery, but for a standard frozen shoulder an alternative is to explore the interesting world of trigger point therapy. See here. The book is available for around 6-8ukp if you look on ebay, also available from amazon. The concept of trigger points seems to be well known to pain clinic doctors but not the rest of us and the techniques appeared to sort out my other half’s frozen shoulder when conventional physio etc. was doing nothing. On balance I am a believer but the suggestion comes with no guarantee.

Mind you, if I called for a first aider and got a doctor I’d be pleased.

That is of course based on the common but slightly dodgy assumption that somehow doctors can do first aid so much more brilliantly than first aiders. In fact, for most of my time, I practice third aid after the first aiders and community/primary care have had a go first. Despite 30 years of hospital and pre hospital care experience and training I am still significantly less effective at placing plasters in a neat and useful manner than most first aiders.

Suspect you are right, in which case air fork is probably the way to go and as you say, that will cost.

Might be worth giving TFTuned a ring and see if they have any suggestions regarding the Tora.

pyramids. purely for You Bastard.

Agree, You Bastard features in my Clarecraft collection.

Favourite books probably Men at Arms and Nightwatch although any of the Watch or Witches novels will do me fine. Also agree Nation is a wonderful book.

TF Tuned also stock spare aprings. Need to check and make sure that you don’t already have the soft spring in though. Seem to remember TF have instructions for changing/checking on their website.

Current ones have an ETT of 602mm, don’t think it has changed from the original model. The product page here has the measurements under the geometry tab towards the bottom of the page, and recommends 60-80mm stems for the 18inch under the sizing tab. I ride a 20 inch 456 and a Scandal 29er both with 80mm stems – longer felt a bit sketchy.

I am nearer 20 stone than 15 and running Hope/on one hubs with Mavic 521s on the 26er and a wheelset I built myself from some Nukeproof hubs going cheap on CRC at the time and 29er Flows on the 29er. Also used On one 26er and 29er wheelsets in the past without trouble. Flows and 521s allow wider tyres than the xc717. Agree about the hope hubs and the quality of the build as well. I just find the rear hope ratchet too noisy for my tastes although others seem to think its the highlight of their day.

a – started riding bikes as the mid life crisis three before the present one. Wanted the fun of building something useful to see if I could so maintained my first fairly cheap MTB and went from there. Now built up 7 frames for various friends and family as well as myself and about 4 sets of wheels after deciding that wheels were cheaper than whole bikes. Recently, moved onto fork repair out of necessity. Now have first FS and plucking up courage re rear shock service in due course.

Garden full of fox poo and ark full of chickens here. Ark has run below and house on top and sits on a large sheet of weldmesh to keep out the diggers. On wheels and moved every 4-5 days. We have the space to do this.

They do make a mess of the grass if you let them and in the area you have you may just have to accept that. You could have a house and two runs and let one recover while the other one is in use. Automatic closer for the door and wire buried at least a foot in the ground.

There are guides to building houses on the net and also a couple of good books for DIY builders by Michael Roberts – Poultry House Construction – as well as simple guides to various systems – one called Chickens at home – by the same author.

ventana el capitan………a proper big boy’s full sus 29r.

Ventana El Rey, an almost as big boy’s full sus 29er

Traditional answer always used to be nip round to your local zoo and acquire some lion dung – ideally by negotiating with the keeper rather than the lion. Never met or heard of anyone who has actually tried it and always wondered if it would in fact work, but, now I come to think about it, if anybody has been daft enough to try it then STW may be exactly the sort of place to find them lurking.

So, in the immortal words of the great Delia of Norwich – Lets be ‘avin you. Frankly, I am going to be jolly disappointed if nobody on STW can put my mind to rest on this matter.

With regard to the fork conundrum there have been a couple of recent threads
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/29er-forks-1
and
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/29er-suspension-forks

Wiggle do the standard outers separately as do CRC, parker international etc., but if I understand you correctly you are not looking for the standard outer. Assuming you are in the UK, the importers are Chicken cycles and they should be able to tell you whether the outers you want are available separately and they also have an extensive dealers list on their website so you should be able to find a dealer locally.

What does “I can generally stay upright” class me as?

Not sure, but when you find out stick me down as well please.

Managed to avoid coming last in my agegroup in MTBO so far, always a chance that next week will end that run of course, but I go up an age group next year to the over 50s and they are a fit and mean looking bunch in a way that I am not.

No they are not. You need to stop believing the propaganda

NHS fund about 2 billion in the black, I understand, all paid for by current employees and surplus will be being used by the government. By my reckoning that makes it the very opposite of unfunded and unaffordable.

+1 in applauding Midnighthour.

We used them when my son had a broken arm. Pretty sure they do work better than a plastic bag and an elastic band. Band is neoprene and 1-2 inches wide so provided you measure up and get the right size it does provide a good seal, plastic is somewhat thicker and more durable than any regular plastic bag. Same principle, just better and a lot less likely to leak. Came recommended by the plaster technicians. We finished up with 2 because the little monkey mmanaged to break his wrist twice in quick succession during a growth spurt.

For me, roughly 50ukp per hour gross for the NHS, including allowances for on call and out of hours, and the going rate privately is at least twice that, in some cases significantly more.

From what I know, accountants and lawyers of equivalent seniority expertise etc. are collecting somewhat more and probably have more in their pension pot as well. Doesn’t particularly worry me either way. As a profession the possibility of going freelance en mass was under serious discussion a few years back. We would have gone for the barristers chambers model in all likelihood. ? more money but almost certainly a lot more hassle and a lot less time to spend on behalf of patients.

What does nark me is that there are 3000+ people in my hospital supporting the 80 consultants and giving us the best possible chance to do our job properly. Many are not well paid, their pensions account for the low overall average and they appear to be in danger of getting the shitty end of the stick, not helped by stories like this.. A couple of years ago the nice people then in charge of our local hospital “agreed” to cut the workforce by a third and then came back to us and asked if we had any ideas as to how this could be done whilst “maintaining services”. I could cry sometimes.

Nowt to do with CRC. Schwalbe label it as a 16in!

Aye, but according to Sheldon there are a total of 3 different ISO sizes all called 16 X 1 3/8 plus at least 2 other different 16″ tires as well.

Best of British