Just been through this process. I am also 6’4″ and around 18 stone.

I looked at the Reba and the Manitou Tower – the 29er Minute has been renamed and I couldn’t find any of last year’s Minutes with 100mm of suspension. Moreover, as far as I could glean the 120s are not convertible to 100s ( althouth the 100s and the 80s may interchange). I also needed a 1 1/8th steerer, not a tapered.

As far as I could find out the Tower Expert’s come with a soft spring and the Pro’s with a medium spring and you and I will need at least a firm and possibly an extra firm. Even though the Pro is a hybrid air plus spring system, there seems a fair bit of anecdotal internet evidence to suggest that without the upgrade the spring will snap. The Pro’s are a MARS spring and although the Manitou website lists the part number I could not find one in stock anywhere on the internet, neither could my LBS find any record of the part on their system, either by that number or any other, and Hotlines haven’t responded to my emails. Finally, the 100mm Pros are out of stock in this country and last time I looked stock is not expected before mid June. Apart from that they look very good.

The Reba is available in 100mm but only in QR unless you want a tapered steerer – and even the tapered steerer maxle has now disappeared off the CRC website and only seems available in america. RS’s website says that they have not produced any aftermarket maxle 29er rebas this year. I went with the Reba RLT QR on the basis that by the time I had waited for the Manitou, got the spare spring, if it existed, and paid someone to change it I would have spent much the same as the cost of the Reba. There is also a Recon Gold 29er QR fork which is a bit cheaper.

CRC also do a couple of suntours with 15mm axles, the 26inch version of the air sprung suntour raidon seems to get good reviews but I couldn’t find much info about the 29er version, and a Marzocchi 44 which is heavily discounted and possibly un-coincidentally has had some fairly average reviews. CRC is also unclear as to whether it needs a spacer inserting to convert it to 100mm. I already had the wheels for my build and was limited to QR or 20mm without a new hub and a rebuild, so ruled out the 15mm axled forks as not cost effective for me but you may have more flexibility if you have hope pro hubs or haven’t committed to a wheelset yet.

Available options for someone our size therefore appear to be the air forks i.e. Reba dual air QR, Recon solo air QR, Marzocchi 44 TST 15mm or Suntour Raidon 15mm in descending order of price.

Hope that is helpful.

I had this mad plan to use SB8s on 29er Flows. It was quite clear that even if the bead had been half an inch longer I would not have had a snowflake’s chance of getting one onto t’other. Maxxis Ardent/Aspen however were tight but doable.

You buy Singletrack magazine.

Probably you subscribe to Singletrack magazine rather than simply buying it. Pedant mode off.

Also judging by the results in the local MTBO league, you seem to get considerably more competitive. I go up an age category next year and I definitely need to raise my game simply to stay at my current level of uncompetitiveness.

+1 for AVG and Zone alarm
Looked at microsoft \security essentials for a netbook running Win7 starter and it got shirty and would not load. May have been because it did not like my choice of browser – Chrome. Went back to AVG and Zone alarm and no issues.
Use Malwarebytes as the malware hunter for regular scans as a double check.

Me, paranoid – no I just have children who will follow and link given half an opportunity.

Best solution has been to abandon Windows and use Ubuntu/SUSE on one computer but unfortunatley that gives certain issues with compatability with work/school.

Just bought an El Rey and waiting to source a fork so I can build it up. To begin with wasn’t sure whenther I was going to get the old or the new and thought about waiting for the model change before buying but to be honest I prefer the look of the old as well, and I don’t think it’s just because that is the one I have in the box in the office.

At first sight only advantage of the new version for me looks to be fork availability as everywhere I look someone seems to be flogging off tapered steerer forks at sale prices presumably because the demand isn’t quite there yet.

best is 6444

Not good on former soviet republics and obscure cities in Canada

Got out for a couple of hours late afternoon. Rode from home up into Dalby via Givendale Head and across to Adderstone and then looped round back to Givendale and home. One short sharp shower but otherwise very pleasant.

I have a tradekar carrier which is agricultural but does the job. The exact model is no longer available. More to the point I got it from

http://www.roofbox.co.uk[/url%5D

who seem to stock carriers for all price ranges and for the terminally confused have some really good info comparing the pros and cons of the various carrier types and brands on offer. They also seem to stock most spares and I have always found them efficiant and helpful.

Running Rampages all year round as best compromise I have found – obviously depends a lot on local conditions.

Just out of interest, why?

Can’t speak for Stoatsbrother, but in my case because cardiac MRI is a relatively new technique and therefore only tends to be available in specialised units hence I am not familiar with it and don’t feel comfortable with my interpretation of the results if they come to me, whereas echo and the CT investigations have been around for a bit longer and I am more familiar/comfortable with the information they can give me. Not my speciality though.

I had a 1998 S reg petrol 2.0 estate which was just under 2 years old when I got it, and therefore about 40% of list price, and went on for a further 8 years before going for scrappage. By that stage it was a collection of subaru shaped parts flying in loose formation and had close to 120k on the clock. No complaints, it was great fun to drive, got me around North Yorks in all weathers and carried all manner of kit without issue. As it replaced a Saab 9000 turbo it was also highly economical in comparison but that meant about 28-30mpg. Suspect the newer ones have a longer service interval but it needed servicing every 7.5k, the every 15k was a biggy, the 30k was worse, the every 45k was eyewatering and the 90k was the perfect storm ( including clutch and brakes by misfortune ). I was keen to get out before the 135k just in case.

Parts were not cheap if you had to resort to Subaru’s own and to run it sensibly you needed an independent garage or as above the ability to do it yourself. The cost of parts was reflected in the cost of insurance as well. The view of the guy who maintained it for me was that it was not the easiest car to work on as some of the access for brake lines, clutch etc. was convoluted.

I suspect the diesels depreciate less but the bottom line for me was great fun, versatile, depreciates quickly early on and therefore a sensible used purchase from that point of view but not great mpg and servicing of that particular model was not cheap.

Traded in for an Octavia 4×4 estate which has many of the virtues but less of the downsides.

Got caught by this about a month ago. It reloads into the start up file each time computer reboots which is why it keeps reappearing. Luckily my computer is relatively ancient giving me enough time to look at the start up folder, find the link and remove the folder in which it lurked before it managed to get itself started. Subsequently pointed in the direction of the malwarbytes solution listed above.

After some experimentation I finished up going for a pair of MKS GR9 and some strapless toeclips like the Zefal or Delta ones in the link above. The GR9’s are also to be found amongst those listed on the SJS site via the link above. I agree with Gary M, go with what makes you feel comfortable. I found that this combination gave me some stability without feeling tied in.

I have a spare set waiting for a new build, Threaded section of bolt measures 45mm. Full length including head comes up as 50mm.

Ouit for a couple of hours at 7am this morning on edge of Dalby. Chilly but beautiful.

Apart from 3 much better ones in Whitby.

I know it is a fortune but I do like the Magpie and there are at least a couple of others that are excellent. Failing that, go over the swing bridge heading towards the Abbey and turn left and get your own fish at the fishmongers, Tatties at the grocers on the way back to the car park and go home and do your own.

Finally heard from my father in law, our family and friends in Christchurch are all OK. My brother in law lives just the other side of the river to the East of the city centre, within easy walking distance of the centre, and the rest of our family and friends are in St Albans area to the north of the city. Mrs Ratadog VERY relieved.

Apart from lack of power/utilities, everything else in those areas seems OK if this is of any help to anyone else.

Just heard that one of my work colleagues from Christchurch airport tower has tragically lost her life.

Very sorry to hear this. We have family in Rutland St, St Albans and Heywood Tce in Richmond and still have no word. They should be OK there, but there is a random element to these events that always scares you.

No, sorry, I am in North Yorkshire, but thanks for the compliment. I stand by me previous comments about referral, both in this thread and the former one.

If you have any questions that you don’t want to air in the forum then my email is in my profile.

Mrs Ratadog’s brother and elderly aunt in Christchurch plus possibly her dad – still waiting for news as no internet or telephone there at the moment. Not nice.

Agree that GP may well refer you if you are persistent. Also I tend to get phone calls and letters from GPs asking for advice and offering me the option of seeing patient if I feel that it would be helpful.

Consultant’s area of knowledge tends to be narrow but hopefully a bit deeper than GPs in their particular area of expertise. GP’s tends to be much broader. Trick therefore is picking the right specialist.

Yes and Yes.

Have an Adams singlespeed folding trailer bike. Used for both kids and second one just about grown out of it now aged 7. Over the years have used it with 2 different HT 26ers, a road bike and a Scandal 29er with no particular issues other than the fact that it gets a bit bumpy for the wingman off road if you don’t warn em about impending bumps. In the end, I did find it easier to leave the hitch on a spare seatpost with attached seat and simply switch seatposts/seats when I wanted to use it.

If you really want to confuse them change the name of your house.

It took 18 months and three visits for them to register the fact that as I had a TV licence in the new name of the house they were on very dodgy ground trying to prosecute me for not having a licence in the old name of the house.

We live on an old farm so once found a chap on my property scouting round to find which building was the “old” address. As I escorted him from the premises I explained that the building he had been looking at was indeed occupied intermittently but neither the swallows who nest there each summer nor the dog who used the run there when the rest of us were out were that into TV and more to the point I didn’t fancy his chances of getting them to pay.

I got some spokes from them and they were highly efficient and very good value

Small blade on a 20 year old leatherman goes out most of the time. About twice in the season I clear the nettles and brambles from a stretch of singletrack bridleway on one of my regular runs and go out early on a Sunday carrying a 20 inch billhook in my pack. I must admit I have given some thought as to how I might explain this if I meet the local police dog handler giving K9 its morning run out in the same bit of woods. Currently tending towards chopping off a handy length of branch, throwing it down the path and shouting fetch.

Like Onzadog earlier in the thread, I masquerade under the name of the family hound, except in our case Rata the labrador is snoring gently on the sofa as I type and is about to reach the grand old age of 13 in the next few weeks.

In fairness, if I lived in NZ I’d be happy to chop them back as and when. I made the assumption that the OP was rather nearer to Yorkshire than NZ. We got down to -15C at worst so far this winter and they do have a tendency to sulk if wet cold and frozen.

Re New Zealand Flax – we have lots of them an the grounds that I like them, the kids play hide and seek round them and I have this faint hope that if I give her memories of home Mrs Ratadog won’t insist on emigrating back to NZ without me.

Wait until the frosts have passed and done their damage and if its like last year wait another month or 6 weeks for some new growth to appear, then, cut out the dead leaves as low as you can go with a sharp knife and while wearing a stout pair of gloves because the old leaves can be sharp. Cut them at a slant so as to stop water getting in and rotting the base of the plant.

As for the roses, it is probably MTFU time I am afraid. Don’t plant them back where there have been other roses already, or if you must then dig a big hole and re fill with top soil from a non rose area. Plant the newbies in a mixture of topsoil and well rotted horse muck and retire to the bar with the air of a job well done and the happy thought of years spent fighting off the greenfly, blackfly, aphids, mould etc and all for some rather nice flowers for a couple of weeks each year.

Frankly, I’d go for the flax every time.

B, C and/or D

which reminds me that I must sort out that replacement chain ring

We had a Belling that fell apart quite rapidly and after 4 years had only 1 oven and 2/3 of the rings functioning. We were going to have a Leisure but cancelled the order after 4 weeks when they couldn’t tell us when they might have the parts to fulfill the order.

We replaced the Belling with a Britannia about 2 years ago and so far very impressed, but they are a bit above your proposed price range.

However, we also looked at John Lewis own brand and they looked OK, came with John Lewis reputation for decent stuff and a 3 year guarantee. Looking at their website here they are currently doing the 90cm for 1ukp under the 1000 and a SMEG for not much more.

I have used the roof box company [/url]in the past and have a tradekar 2/3 bike rack from them bought a few years ago. Designs have moved on since I bought it but the website lists the pros and cons of the different types and makes and usually has a good deal on something relevant. They have also been very efficient when I have needed spares. Well recommended.

http://www.ecbtv.co.uk/page/HomeUK

I have an old garage with dodgy plaster and went for a Saris Bike trac – expensive but mount to any surface. Wiggle sell them as do others.

Is the lab black?

Condolences.

We got an Action Gate Lodge here[/url] as we wanted a stilt house. Pricey but it came as a kit and we got good support. They do several cheaper versions and seem to have stockists everywhere. We bought from a stockist in Northumberland.

We have also dealt with Caledonia play whose stuff was excellent. We have one of their basket swings.

Me, saving lives has resumed

Third ward round in three days today, although for variety did a clinic as well. Taken Friday as day off though and will use the days in lieu to get out on bike when Spring is a little more in the air than it is now.

http://www.santacruzbikes.co.uk themselves have a builder of sorts for each frame although restricted to their suggested kit packages IIRC. Not sure of any others. I tend to look at the frame price and then try and scrape together the cost of a lottery ticket.

Big fat zero for about a month. Significant periods of that when one could not stand up on my usual routes even without the bike.

Would have been a travesty if AP McCoy had never won it, and he won at Aintree this year on the background of dominating his sport for 15 + years so he got my vote.