There will be a code on the bearing currently in there, for example '6902RS' (Hope Pro II axle bearing). These bearings are sure to be prodced for other applications so take that code and get on to your local tool shop/hardware outlet and get hold of some. Or order them online, obviously

I HEART BONGOS

You'll need some spokes too, unless they are VERY strongly oppositely polarized :D

Now there's an idea…….

Ooh, Sainsburys……how classy

Sealant is always a good idea, you'll feel like a bit of a dick if you get a thorn puncture ten minutes in to your first ride and slowly deflate over the next couple of miles. 50ml of stan's or wheel milk does the trick and gives you peace of mind. I speak from experience, UST tyres aren't immune to small sharp things. Other than that, excellent choice, tubeless is the future

The Swede: tell me about it, I bought a new one at the end of last year and only mannaged to get £2200 for my 06 model. Ironically I can't ride the new one half as welll as I could the original. Like the look of the Pro Racing 300 Gassers that have just been unveiled

Throttle and clutch control/weight shift and an ability to 'feel' for grip are a must. Tons and tons of practice are advised and it doesn't need to be on daft big stuff, something as drab as a big grassy hill can keep you entertained for hours and are a great, safe way to pick up techniques. Watching other riders in sections is also a great way to pick up lines and tips, you shouldn't be too hasty in trying to get in to a section first, especially when you're still 'green'. I still have to tell myself to slow down and watch others.

I've been doing it since I was 9 (27 now) and still get a buzz from eeking out a big 'clean' on a tough sub, especially if there's plenty of fellow riders watching!

http://www.trialscentral.com is a good place to start

Good luck!

FULL ALREADY!

I'm in the Isle of Man Domino, so yes, postage might be an issue. How about you?

Thanks CF, i'll have a look at them.

Eurocycles, Isle of Man. Look us up if you're over for the end to end!

saturday delivery is usually by special request only, and only if the local agent does them. Also, usually £25 extra, or at least it used to be a couple of years back

how do u do it? who do i ask?

Wow, if I had a dollar…….

The way I got in to it was with a bit of initiative and a lot of hard work. Look in the back of the magazines, google holiday companies, send lots of grovelling, complimentary, well informed yet light-hearted emails.

Find out what companies in the various areas require. You'd be surprised as to how much it differs due to local authorities and their attitude towards bike guides etc. In some resorts they are very laissez faire about the whole thing and in others you will most certainly go to jail if caught guiding whilst not amply qualified. Steve from The White Room is a good authority on the subject and one of very few Brits to have gone through the french instructor system (I don't know him personally but have read a lot of his posts on here on the subject).

A good place to start with is the SMBLA and their various levels of guide/coaching qualifications. I did mine with Cyclewise up in the Lakes, it was great and I learnt a lot, i'm still learning three years later in fact.

Once qualified, you also need to find a job, which is not as easy as it sounds (especially in the current economic climate). I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a brilliant company with awesome owners, with incredible riding which suited me down to the ground and who just so happened to need a guide. Not everyone can be lucky enough to work for Bike Village though :wink:

Now's the time to get busy, good luck

Mine did exactly[/b] the same thing second ride out, CRC got me a new pair within days, but I only wore them a couple more times before the poor fit and constantly having to hoik them up led to me selling them on here.
Not for me unfortunately, I now just use a mudguard over the back wheel and wear an extra pair of non-padded shorts over my tights for extra insulation

Kjus, as in Lasse Kjus, the former Downhill skiing man mountain

Brian Gay – Golf

Feel more sorry for his caddy who has to walk round with a tabard with 'Gay' emblazened on the back

You're cursed Molly :cry:

Not strictly in Les Arcs but there's a quaint little one in Landry, at the bottom of the valley called camping des Guilles. Coming to think of it, i'm not sure i've ever seen one in Les Arcs itself. There's a good one in Bourg, just round the corner from the kayak centre, only a ten minute walk in to town. The fernicular railway runs from about half a mile away straight up in to Arc 1600 and it's always down hill at the end of the day!

You will need to purchase the tubeless rim strip and valve seperately, available from your local Trek dealer, about four quid a wheel if I remember correctly. Bonty tyres are tubeless ready, but you'd be an idiot not to run them with sealant, also sold seperately. Stan's or justridingalong wheel milk seem to be the best stuff

Contact lenses cost me around five hundred quid a year so even if I have to have it tweaked every so often, i'm still the winner

Specialized 'enduro' lock ons: comfy comfy goodness

bike shop grease monkey and general dogs body

Ski Republic do 2 for 1 on hire equipment and it's good kit too, google them and see if they've got a shop in Sestriere, they've certainly upset a few people in the alps in the last few years with their upsetting of the closed economy apple cart in ski hire. Good for 'em, I say…power to the people!

Spesh Air Tool Sport. Single head for both valves, lockable, ally barrel, very stable, will get a 23c road tyre to 120psi in 15 pumps, £27.99, take £30 in to town with you and buy two Galaxy Muffins with the change

Chuffin brilliant on all fronts

Funniest one for me:

Remember to tighten front spindle next time

I like that a lot, fast becoming my next fantasy bike build to replace my P7. Get yourself some Gore ride on MTB cables or at least some full length shimano outer and the pre-lubed XTR inner, it has absolutely transformed my shifting

Reminded me a lot of Rock Profile, very amusing, i'll be iPlayer-ing the rest (thursday night is night ride usually)

Cheers for the input boys and girls, it was the security/airline restrictions side of things i was trying to get the bottom of, seems as though it's one rule for one, another for the rest. I'll certainly give it a go

*Snigger at Miketually* :D

XTs every day of the week, even sunday. I have the misfortune of having to deal with a siezed set of Juicy pistons/binding rotors at least once a week in the shop. I've never even had a pair of XTs in for repair, all my mates who run them rave about them.

Simples

Is the bloke wearing a denim skirt?

No chance

I called dibs on her when I saw it last friday, texted all my mates and everything. Didn't take long, mind.

Sorry lads

£16 is pretty good I reckon. It's easily a half hour job when you factor in taking tyre and tube off, and cassette if it's on the drive side. Getting the spoke in and tightening is the quick part, retensioning can sometimes by done by the note it makes when you tap it in comparison to the others but this is no hard and fast rule. Truing is a dark art and if you've no experience of doing it then it's difficult to appreciate how long it can take to get a wheel true and round if it's been well out of sync. £2 for the spoke and nipple, £12.50 plus VAT for the labour @£25 p/h…sounds like a pretty good deal to me

Unscrew the old ones. Screw in the new ones. Make sure you've got the spacers in the same places as you had originally.

Simples

What they all said.

23C max and a bit of faffing and you're sorted

http://www.bikevillage.co.uk

You won't regret it

As if I needed any other excuse to post these photos from today :wink:

Mine's a custom build:
Pike 454 U turns
Pro II/XM819 wheels
Elixir CRs
XT/X0/X9 drivetrain
Thomson & Easton bars/stem/seatpost
King headset
Specialized grips and saddle
Candy pedals

Love it

That's that f*cked then Molly :(

I'm doing it. For the time being i'm commuting 60km three times a week when opportunities allow (not easy at the mo with current road conditions). Try not to miss out on the regular thursday night ride (3-4 hours) and get in a long roady or MTB ride at the weekend. Will be stepping this up as the year moves on and the weather improves, doing longer road rides on my day off during the week (6 hours +). Have no intention of doing 100 miles on an mtb before the event, probably do 80 miles max (I live near the IOM end to end finish so I can ride the course in reverse then back the normal way and that adds up to about 80 miles). Looking forward to getting some serious miles in and dropping some ballast as the event moves closer!

I second Bike Village, awesome terrain, gut busting food and Sam and Tom's knowledge and enthusiasm knows no bounds. I'll hopefully be out at some point in the summer after having to cut my guiding season short last year because of ill health

Bikevillage.co.uk

cheers for the advice all, sorted it using the download manager in Realplayer