I’d consider 650B provided that there is a good selection of tyres. I Won’t knock it until I’ve tried it.

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Untitled[/url] by redfordrider[/url], on Flickr

Rocketdog – my bike fits me perfectly, thanks.
Druidh – you are welcome to have ride on it sometime.

Tacopowell – my Zion 29er is the 2011 model and came with Reba forks. I’ll be getting a carbon Niner fork for next winter. 80mm is more than enough for the XC/marathon riding that I do. I reduced the travel myself. I’ve a Stan’s Race Gold Wheelset (1345g) for racing or just putting my mates to the sword. It’s certainly up to riding Innerleithen and Glentress which I do quite often. I like they way it looks – it certainly attracts attention though. My next project will be a Planet X Dirty Harry (small) for race day use.

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Untitled[/url] by redfordrider[/url], on Flickr

Not all places take both Visa and Maestro cards. It’s worth asking to avoid embarrassment. I’ve used my UK visa debit card for two years with no problem at cash machines. However, Mrs R’s Lloyds card caused no end a hassles.

Classic English 3 speed, ss cx, 2 x geared cx, Surly 26″ LHT tourer, 26″ FS, 29er HT, 26″ HT

Politicians lie? Surely policies must change to reflect current understanding of the situation and not just blindly following sound bite rhetoric and dogma. I’d rather have leaders who are willing to change their minds based on evidence in order to make informed decisions than ideological zealots refusing to use reason and critical thinking.

So what is this trail etiquette thing? Should slower riders let faster riders pass? This seems to be the norm where I ride and everyone seems happy. Of course I mostly overtake riders going up, but they get to pass me going down – so it’s nice to be nice.

Video man had a few chances to overtake, but should have stopped and waited if he couldn’t do it safely.

I’ve only just resolved a chain suck problem that was carving chunks out of a Frame. After much fault finding, a new middle ring and chain has solved the issue.

What happened about the “Cash for Honours” scandal? It appears that if you give money to a Labour Government you get a knighthood or a seat in the Lords; give money to a Tory Goverment and the best you can hope for is a meal downstairs in the kitchen. Seems counterintuitive.

el Che – I think that Trades Unions do stirling work. I also think that Labour are embarrassed that 80-90% of their party funds come from donations from the TUs; which is why the story has not been followed up. labour stands to lose the most if party funding were to be reformed and donations capped to about £10,000.

I like lots of Labour’s policies, but I’d also like Ed Miliband to condemn irresponsible and oppurtunistic talk of strikes by TUs at a time of deep economic crisis. Our elected representatives should act in the national interest rather than in those of their major financial backers.

I use bikeroutetoaster.com to create routes and then download them to my Garmin Forerunner 305 – no map, but a simple line with a arrow that keeps me from overshooting junctions or straying too far off course. I also use the free sustrans iPad app as it basically comes with free 1:25k OS maps for the whole UK – useful for planning CX adventures. On the trail I use 1:50k OS mapping on my iPhone. However, it doesn’t give you a grid for when things go wrong. There are iPhone apps that will do this. Overall, GPS is a great tool for staying on track, but a paper map is still best for planning or finding new trails to explore.

I’m 5’7″ and ride a 16.5″ Van Nicholas Zion Ti HT 29er with a 90mm -17 degree stem. The effective top tube is 590mm -about the same as most Medium 29er. 80mm SID works well. I’m running 42/32/24 x 11-34 gearing. I love riding it. It’s better than the Specialized Epic 26″ that it replaced.

Mrs R simply buys mens bib shorts or wears mine. Her latest purchase is a pair of 3/4 Endura MT500 which she likes a lot.

+1 for ditching Pushloc as it’s nothing but trouble. I don’t miss it at all.

The funding of political parties needs reform. Wealthy donors, Trades Unions and Lobbyists all exert ‘undemocratic’ influence on politicians. Nothing is for free.

I’m glad XC is becoming more technical – stops roadies from turning up and disappearing up fire roads.

The Trades Unions pay Labour more. Not really something that they want to draw too much attention to.

LTHT seems to be a British thing. Perhaps it’s the combination of not needing FS for most UK trails and the soggy conditions that destroys FS pivots etc. I’ve got a HT 29er now as I got feed up with creaking FS bikes.

Buyers remorse – no idea what that feels like!

Single Speed? 1 x 9/10.

Hope Pick and Mix is the answer. See http://www.hopetech.com/webtop/modules/_repository/documents/HOPEHEADSETS2011Web.pdf

Looks like you’ll need a Hope 2 for the top and a Hope E for the bottom plus the Hope HS136 converter.

One One also do headset that may work http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/HSOOSMTAPER/on_one_smoothie_mixer_tapered_headset

Boonen is a machine. Hope the old gladiator heals soon.

Nice report. I’ve ditched cantis for V-brakes and Problem Solver Travel Agent – much, much better.

Schwalbe Ralphs and Rons seem to fit fine. Easier without a tube.

variflex – the Army needs a variety of land to keep exercises challenging, realistic and to reduce travelling time and cost. Currently, it has access to huge areas of Germany, Kenya and Canada. However, as troops return from Germany and budgets shrink, more will have to be done locally. Also traing areas are sometimes not used as fauna and flora are often allowed to recover to prevent overuse such as soil erosion, compacted ground etc. The MOD manages its estates well and are good conservationists. Sometimes, exercising troops simply can’t be seen or heard – camouflage and concealment being part of field craft. I doubt the NT or FC will allow more access or the building of jumps and north shore structures.

The Pentlands can’t be compared to training areas in England. There are five times as many troops in Aldershot-Camberley-Deepcut-Pirbright than the whole of Scotland and four times as many in Catterick Garrison. The Pentland ranges at Castlelaw are contained by the topography and ranges are easily seen from miles around. At Ash Ranges the ground is largely flat with thick pine forests between multiple ranges – all to easy to walk/ride into.

So far, the MOD has been remarkable patient and obliging. Let’s not piss them off.

The Govt’s plan is to increase the TA by about the same number of regular posts being made redundant. Therefore, the Army will still be around 100,000 troops. 30,000 TA will be using training areas over weekends. Also, the MOD has no problem with recruitment. Some jobs have a 18 mth waiting list.

As explained above. The Army needs a lot of land. Modern forces are much more mobile and lethal than WW2 units.

Dull. Move on. Nothing to see here.

No. More troops in the UK and many more TA who will train on weekends. Expect to see much more military activity in the UK at a training area near you.

Actually TJ, the number of troops in Scotland is already increasing. Currently, there are about 3,000 regulars and perhaps a couple of thousand TA. 800 Engineers are moving to Kinloss this summer and major units from Germany could find themselves north of the border – perhaps 10,000 regulars and reserves before the end of the decade.

The Army needs a lot of space. Obviously, it requires room to manoeuvre armoured vehicles and to exercise with fast air or aviation. However, it also needs smaller areas near barracks for minor exercises, field craft lessons, navigation practise eg Pentlands, Porridge Hill, Ceasar’s Camp etc. Also, there needs to be variety in order to avoid troops becoming familiar with the areas – otherwise it quickly fails to be challenging or realistic.

We have 7 pairs of VFF in our household. I’d gladly write them a glowing testimonial. I now run better, further, faster and with fewer aches and pains than before. I use Innov8 Baregrip 200 for fell running as they have Rocket Ron like soles!

Spannering bikes is half the fun! It would be very dull if bikes became too complicated for DIY mechanics. Having a Chris King headset fitted to a Ti frame (to protect the warranty) is the only work I’ve had a LBS do for me in 20 Years. Youtube is your friend. Especially SRAM Tech and Pinkbike Tech Tuesday videos. I’ve recently started servicing my own Rockshox forks – adds up to a lot of savings as I have three bikes with Reba/SID forks.

I would really like is to be able to hire expensive bike specific tools e.g. DT Swiss Tensio Digital Tensiometer £675.00, Park Tool Bottom Bracket Tapping & Facing Set £500.00, Park Tool Universal Crown Race Puller £130.00 etc. Could be a business opportunity for someone.

Having sad that…figuring out how to do without the above tools can be fun too!

I’m currently using Stans Universal stems with no problems on XT rims.

My Garmin 305 measured the distance at 27.77 miles. I was expecting it to last a little longer and was surprised to be directed down to the finish by the marshals. I’m not sure that I had any more climbing left in my legs though.

Multitool with chain breaker
Spare SRAM power link
Big Air CO2
Inner tube
Tyre lever
Puncture patches
Plastic insert to repair torn tyre
Tubeless plug (ready to go)
60ml Stans Latex
Stans core removal tool
Universal emergency hanger
Kevlar spoke
First aid kit
Space blanket
Whistle
Phone
Garmin 305 and GTU 10 Tracker
Head torch

Good for 2hrs or 20hrs. I mostly cycle solo and could easily find myself having to walk 10 miles should I have an m-kill on 2hr ride.

2:38:25 43rd. I’ll be keeping my triple chainset, thank you. Great conditions – dry, fast and with sections that rewarded good bike handling skills ie not mine! But the day belonged to the climbers. The first section did a good job of stretching out the field before the single track began. Overall, a great event. Looking forward to seeing the photos.

Another big fan here. Actually thinking about popping in to say hello on Friday to get some goodies that will make the Whinlatter Challenge more bearable.

What about these?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FSOOCBS/on_one_bolt_on_canti_bosses___m6_thread

Race Face Turbine Wide – love it.

I like the company.

Turkey is not engaging in invading other countries

Interestingly, Turkey regularly invades Northen Iraq to suppress Kurdish separatists. As for Libya…better the devil you know than the devil you don’t…