chiefgrooveguru, yes please. Will email you.

Is it one of the bargain ones from Merlin? If so, I would be happy to give you what you paid for it (assuming the right size)

I can’t remember, but about half price I think. I wear them both on and off road. They fit really well and are not at all flappy, even though I’m quite thin. Best over bib-shorts.

I got some Rapha touring shorts in the sale and they are excellent. Often on ebay and they look like the pic!

Thanks

For me it is a definite yes. I’m probably older and less fit than you, but was very grateful for my lowest gear (34X32) in the alps last week. After Col d’Izoard, the climb of Col d’Agnel into a headwind was slow, especially as it was so hot in the valley.
A cheaper alternative may be just to fit a wide range cassette. Yes, you might get wider gaps in the middle, but this may not be a problem. I was always either cycling up a steep slope or down the other side, the middle of my cassette didn’t get much use!

Swoosh, I’ve emailed you, but they are 440mm a-c, 225mm steerer, disc only.

Will do and get back to you in the morning.

I’ve got some on one black, disc compatible forks with a long steerer. They’ve not been used much and have a long steerer. Would take £30 posted. Let me know if interested and I can measure the steerer.

Shimano or Salsa are excellent. Salsa on mine, but it is a Salsa.

My cross reminds me a lot of the Boxer bitch we had as a kid. Similar colour, size and build, just not with such a squashed face. Also similar character, but not so excitable as the boxer and a bit of a star pupil at obedience class.
Of course a bitch is going to be smaller and easier to handle than a complete dog, but she really is a cracker.

The wiki link is good. They are not related to pitbulls and like all dogs need to be handled sensibly, but are not a particularly aggressive breed when compared to similar large herding or guarding breeds.
We’ve got a two year old rottweiler X american bulldog bitch from Battersea. She is a complete wimp and loves being chased around by other dogs. She was chased around the field by a small cockerpoo puppy yesterday, much to the amusement of the youths playing football.

Genesis equilibrium?

Very impressed with my Giro Savant.

Sounds like more than enough walks. As others have mentioned maybe more mental stimulation would tire him out. Some walk time could be used for training, he looks like a smart dog!

Banshee is good, but a squeeze if you are tall. I would also look at the new vango blade 200 as an alternative at a similar price.

Agreed, I had a great time there yesterday.

I would love to see some proper data on the frequency of serious attacks analysed by breed and other factors.

I’ve got a feeling that such other factors such as gender and whether the dog is neutered would be much more important than breed. It would also be interesting to look at factors such as if a dog has a microchip and how many walks it gets, as these may be associated with responsible ownership.

Oh and for the record, I’ve been bitten by two jack russells and badly attacked as a kid by a german shepherd.

I’ve had 3 bitches. A soft boxer as a kid. A lovely Flat-coat X Gordon Setter who was very affectionate but bonkers. I currently have one from Battersea who is a Rottweiler X American Bulldog. She loves food, all types of people including postmen and playing with other dogs, hates squirrels and crows and is scared of horses, swans, cows, hot air balloons and hot water bottles.

We’ve got a hotrock FSR that we might be selling. Based in Hampshire and probably after about £150.

For our dog we put likely crosses into google images. The problem is that lots of crosses looked extremely similar. In the end we did the DNA test (it was a Chrismas present).

Whippet X collie?

No bias as I have a big dog, but I would go for a border out of those two. Seem a bit better with other dogs.

Hope do some wheels on open pro rims. I’m very happy with mine.

Had a older Zafira, which I quite liked, but when this went I got a Touran instead of the new Zafira. Just feels nicer to be in and drive.

Get one with disks. Try East St Cycles in Farnham. They do Cannondale and can also get other brands in. They built a Salsa for me.

I’ve got a salsa pistola, but if I was buying now I would get this:
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/ritchey-wcs-road-logic-frameset-3394-p.asp

Hi Phil, we used “Wisdom Panel”, which you should find in google. Strangely it is part of the Mars group. It’s now £60, but we got a special offer, which might come round again.

We got a rescued stray from Battersea and would recommend them. They are very honest about the dogs and cautious about matching dogs with the right owners. We had a specific list of requirements (young, female, good with kids and dogs) and they recommended a cross breed that we probably wouldn’t have gone for on looks alone. She has been brilliant and exactly as they described, obedient, relaxed, good with dogs and very patient with children (mine are 11 and 15).

Had a DNA test done recently and she is rottweiller X american bulldog. These aren’t breeds I ever imagined owning,having always had gundogs, but perhaps a better match for us than a more active breed.

After losing our setter/retriever cross to cancer, we went to Battersea to get a rescue as the kids are quite big now. We said that we don’t mind what kind of dog we got, but wanted a young bitch that is good with dogs and children as we often have visitors. They test all their dogs and recommended a dog which they thought had some mastiff in, but was down as a mongrel. We took her and I must say she has been excellent and is great with visitors and out on walks. A lovely gentle dog.
We subsequently had a DNA test done: Half Rottweiler, half American Bulldog! Would we have taken her if we had known that? I don’t know, but some of my prejudices about certain breeds have taken a knock.
Lots of lovely dogs in rescue, but take the advice from the home as they really know what they are doing!

Charge them a £50 late payment fee?

What I would do is get a child back tandem. The advantage of this is that he can keep up with you and you won’t spend ages waiting, you don’t have to worry about his (relative) lack of road sense and if he gets tired, you can tow him along. You can also chat!
We used a Thorn Voyager when my kids were younger and they loved it. We used it on road and off and the previous owners toured on it.
Also cars are much nicer to tandems!

There are some great deals on the Salsa Vaya at the moment, but I don’t think you really want a touring bike.

You could try and find a Salsa Casseroll, although I would change the cantilevers to mini-vs.

I’ve got a Salsa Pistola, which is steel but no longer made and doesn’t take a rack, for road riding. And a charge filter for commuting, winter riding, light touring. It weighs a lot and I ditched the cantilevers. It has a compact double, but I have got it to work with a 12-32T cassette out back without having to change the rear mech.

I got a 32T mtb cassette to work fine with a road mech ‘limted’ to 28T. Give it a try and see.

If no ugly ones allowed, then has to be a whippet!

My current battersea special isn’t too runny, just very windy.

Also, don’t rule out staffies, lots of lovely ones in rescue needing a home, just make sure it’s well socialised and be careful it’s not nicked by some scumbag!

We live in the country and have always had big, runny type dogs, but if I lived in town I would be very tempted by either an english bulldog or dachshund. Both lovely dogs with bags of character.

Lots of cutting round here in the last few weeks! No idea why, too wet for anything else I guess.

Thorns from hedges and sharp fragments of flint, not so much glass.

I’ve found mini-Vs to work well and got some cheap genetic ones from charliethebikemonger (£10 an end), swapping the pads for the ones on my cantilevers. Although I’m not running big tyres, the arms are 85mm long, so there is quite a lot of room, but they will collect mud if you are riding cross.

I also found that having some way of adjusting the cables is very useful and got adjustable noodles from SJS cycles.

Got 140mm fox vanillas on mine, work great.