Banana – it’s an RP23. Tried the DHX Air and it was just a nightmare, it just blew through the travel really quick unless I put loads of air into it in which case there would be little sag meaning I felt perched on top of the bike. STW did a review a few issues ago and had the same problem.

Didn’t fancy a coil because of the extra weight. The RP23 works fantastically well and really transformed the bike.

I’ve had both, just sold my Epiphany after a year and a half and have had my moment now for coming up a year. Both great bikes, I sold the Epiphany as I just wasn’t riding it as the moment was always first choice.

They’re both different beasts. The Epiphany is a lightweight 5 inch bike so I would say so if you are on the heavy side or ride quite hard over rocky terrain then you might find it a bit skittish. The Moment on the other hand is light enough for all day epics at 31lbs and it will take a better man than me to get it out of it’s depth. I was coming down Garburn Pass on it yesterday and it just amazes me how composed it is on really mental rocky downhills. It’s a perfect bike for the Alps IMO.

Here’s a couple of pics, see if you can spot the difference (-:

Feel free to mail me if any questions and you can have a spin on the Moment if you’re in the Lakes.

Here’s a great idea, lets make all the people who have been careful with their money and have savings bail out the muppets that have borrowed too much.

That’s not really the idea as far as I understand it (I’m sure Stoner will correct me). It’s about getting the banks to lend again, specifically to businesses, as it’s the lack of working capital available to businesses that’s causing them to struggle/fold, which in turn is sending the economy down the pan.

It might not be the idea but it is the end result.

Ridethelakes, just cos people don’t have savings doesn’t mean they aren’t careful with money. In fact, quite the opposite. I would think there are a lot of people who don’t have spare money to save and have to be careful with it in order to avoid debt ?

I didn’t criticise the people you mentioned, it’s the people that over borrowed and have effectively caused the whole financial meltdown.

These over-leveraged homeowners together with bankers, Governments, they are all culpable for the mess we are in. Pure greed and the careful people are paying for it.

It’s sh1te.

Here’s a great idea, lets make all the people who have been careful with their money and have savings bail out the muppets that have borrowed too much.

Mega inflation just around the corner I reckon and then the whole country goes down the pan.

Looked like a mini leisure centre. All it needed to finish it off was a few Hoodies fagging it outside.

Geez thats grim. Second what the other poster said about a cheap bike.

I have a saddle, a 27.2 seat post, some tyres and tubes… Do you reckon we can have a whip round and get a whole bike together?

Dibbs – I thought that the Satmap was the only GPS that is currently able to use OS maps?

Forget the North face trail but if you haven’t done Grizedale before you can spend a spend a good day there, there’s some great riding to be had. Then further North towards Ambleside you have routes around Iron Keld, Elterwater etc, East you have Claiffe, West you have Walna Scar and down to Seathwaite. The list goes on and all rideable from your doorstep! I would be jealous if i didn’t live there myself (-:

I might be around or someone else on ridethelakes.com if you fancy hooking up with others. Otherwise try the excellent VG Lakes guide book or biketreks, Wheelbase for route maps.

Have fun!

Cheers for the replies.

Richc – not tried switching the rotors as they are different sizes and don’t have the appropriate adaptors. Reluctant to shell out on new rotors in case it’s all in vain and I would already be out of pocket buying new brakes.

They are plenty powerful enough and have been happy enough with them up to now. The vibration is pretty extreme, it goes all the way through the bike to the saddle and bars and is pretty disturbing when hammering it down a rocky downhill!

All good here. Much tighter than ordinary skewers which gives some added benefit and easy enough to remove wheels using the ratchet system.

I would try to see them in person. It just might embarass them enough to cough up.

I seem to get done every couple of months or so as I spend a fair bit on personal and company credit cards. Intially it was a bit of a horrifying experience but used to it now as just part of using a credit card online.

I’ve never lost a penny though, just the inconvenince of having my card stopped at inopportune times and having to make calls to chase the bank.

Whats with STW being seen as some sort of charity? I’m getting bored of them pleading poverty, asking for donations etc. It’s a commercial business, they get revenue from all sorts of sources, mag sales, mag advertising and the website, contrary to popular belief is a source of revenue as well in the form of ad revenue, the STW shop and the further promotion of the mag.

It’s almost like Gordon Browns best spindoctor is working overtime, convincing us all they’re doing a public service when they are a commercial entity just like any other.

In answer to the question, no of course I don’t think they should charge!

Definitely get your agreement in principle from your mortgage lender first. Then when you make your offer you can demonstrate that you can move fast and everything is in place which will go in your favour.

Oh and by the way, in these uncertain times make low offers of at least 20-30% off. I’m looking at the moment and most houses I’ve looked at have been on the market for 12-18 months and you can smell the fear from the sellers.

Forget the bankers, they’re not the ones to blame for a total collapse of the system. If you gave a room full of children matches to play with someone would get burnt. Bankers are there to make money and it’s up to the Goverment and the FSA to regulate those banks and protect consumers and the economy alike.

Wake up and smell the coffee, it’s the Government stupid!

I object to the word Gypo, it’s a derogatory term and I’m sure many pikeys on here will be very offended.

Any foreign companies operating here have to abide by local laws. Not sure about the legality of it but I would guess that they can do it if they want to. Contracts can be changed usually with one months notice.

Absolutely, always pay off debts first before putting into savings but remember to keep some money aside for a rainy day. A depressing thought but how long would your 3 grand go if you lost your job?

“Out walking your dog, gets nasty, down to business”.

Those yanks are seriously f**ked up!

Brown is a such a c0ck, makes me want to vomit whenever I see him.

I’m in the same boat here, parents think its not fair on the child. I totally disagree though and think my Mum just wants more grandkids!

There’s benefits to being an only child as well. I have a brother and when we were young we never needed to socialise as we would just fight eachother so consequently that makes making new friends an unfamiliar process and can hit confidence.

I think brothers or sisters can be hugely competitive without even realising it as well which can be very destructive. There’s lots of successful people as examples whose brothers / sisters are drug addicts or alcoholics (Gordon Ramsay, Jackie Stewart) and I have a theory that they measure themselves against their siblings which makes them feel a failure.

Last point, watch supernanny, you never see only children being the kids from hell!

Slight hijack, do you have to pay duty when buying something from actionsports?

Yes definitely. Scart is analogue meaning information can get lost on the way, HDMI is digital so everything gets through.

As someone above said, no need to spend more than a tenner either.

Most of the ice is turning slushy now so unless we get another really cold spell it will be fine. Fingers crossed for a good summer (-:

I’ve used all three. Currently using Blackspire and I would say they give much better shifting than Middleburn but not as good as XTR. Longevity with Blackspire is excellent as well, 6 months use and they show little signs of wear.

Coffeeking has a valid point and I think that there’ll be more than a few on here that agree but would rather ride a singlespeed than admit it!

Private school all the way for my child when he comes (4 weeks to go!).

As HTTP404 hinted at, it’s not so much the standard of education, its the other kids that they have to mix with and the way they were brought up. I think it’s possible that teaching standards aren’t that much different between state and your average private but thats just a small part of of a childs education.

I went to both private and state schools (parents got skint in the last recession) and the difference was incredible. From classes of 16 in private I was in a class of 30, relief teachers seemed to outnumber permanent teachers and doing well at school was something to be embarrased about. Pretty sure I would be a bit further ahead in life had I stayed at the private school.

Last point, those that think private schools are full of hooray henry types, it’s not actually true. Maybe at Eton etc but at most of the other independant schools they’re just ordinary kids whose parents either have money, or like in my parents case and just as common, didn’t have any money but made sacrifices to give the best to their child.

Got Freesat, all good, got the PVR too which is excellent. Why pay the megacorporate evil empire that is Sky when you can get it free from freesat?

I’ve had my Fox 36’s nearly a year now and they are still buttery smooth. As long as you clean the seals and change the oil once a month or so they should be fine.

STW this month say that Fox 36’s are “the best single crown forks ever”.

Maybe your weekend frustrations are a hangover from a stressful week?

I love weekends and mine are defininitely more relaxing than the weeks.

0 here (sorry!)

Business has never been better, kid on the way and as a first time buyer I’m going to be buying a castle for 10p the way prices are going!

Can’t recommend my Gore Fusion pants. Cost about £130 but have worn out already after a few months of use once per week. Great fit though.

Scary. Watched Eden Lake the other night, if ever a horror film depressingly mirrored real life its this one…

Don’t know of any officially licensed guiding in the Lakes. Cyclewise (http://www.cyclewisetraining.co.uk) do mtb training courses like TCL etc so you could maybe contact them to see if they do anything like that.

You could just get yourself a map and explore as someone above suggested. Also try wheelbase cycles in staveley for maps and route advice.

Failing that check us out on http://www.ridethelakes.com. We have informal forum rides midweek and weekends so you can join someones ride or invite others to your rides.

Kind of agree with the above points but the fact remains that MP’s don’t get paid enough. All these dodgy expenses claims are there becuas ethe general public wouldn’t agree to a reaosnable wage given the responsibility.

Look at any PLC and the directors get 3 or 4 times what our front benchers get. The england football manager gets £5 million a year ffs! And yet we pay the leader of the country a couple of hundred grand. Madness.

The reason why our politicians are muppets is because only independantly wealthy eton toffs like Cameron are willing to take a huge pay cut and work for the Government.

I’ll await a flaming but heard it all before and think you’re all wrong!

I’m near you by the sounds of it so you can have a spin on mine some time.

(Did that sound gay?)

I was lucky to get mine the week they came out from Argos, think they were the only supplier in the country that had them in stock.

I love mine, as above the software is relatively excellent compared to others but still frustrates occasionally. All the usual stuff is there like series record which is dead simple. The 320gb hard drive is fairly big but soon gets filled up with HD programs. There’s a usb for adding on an additional external hard drive so I added a terrabyte drive to it so don’t even bother deleting stuff now. Picture is superb, standard def and high def although it’s only 1080i and not 1080p.

Yes you can access non-freesat channels but I haven’t bothered.

I’ve got freesat with a humax pvr. Whats not to like, it’s free has high def and you can add on an external hard drive so you can save an extra terrabyte of programmes if you want.

Woody – thanks for that will try emailing your mate.

Joe – thanks for the suggestions and looking into it. I’ll try the redirect, sounds like it could be helpful but still would rather a more permanent solution.

Mmm meta tags, not quite sure how to do that but will look into it.

I do use the webmaster tools but figured I should hang on until the changes are made before submitting a sitemap. Maybe I should just go ahead and do it in the meantime? The .co.uk does appear in webmaster tools and all is ok apart from the sitemap but the .com isn’t indexed at all.

As you can see I’m more of a mtber than a techy (-: