They insisted it wasn’t a fault their end so we agreed for them to send an engineer to come out and if the fault was our end, it’d be a 150 fee.

^^ this

The critical bit is you agreeing to get Openreach to call round

In our case they visited after 3 weeks and confirmed our end was OK. About a week later they parked up the road by the green junction box, knocked on the door and asked if it was still playing up. Matey opens junction box, he’s in there literally 5 minutes, knocks on our door again and says it should be ok now. Been fine ever since.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/poc-vpd-air-sleeve-2018/rp-prod170991 True to size and completely unobtrusive

Have also got some 661s that are basically arm warmers with a piece of insole inside a mesh sleeve. Awful.

Hmm liqueur chocolates and weapons-grade cider :)

Many thanks

Cannock was just perfect

* both brakes on almost to locking

* speed < 2mph so there’s no momentum to throw me over the bars

* arms locked just in case

* fixate on the front wheel and watch it crawl over the lip

* brace for a pedal/crank strike

* the rear wheel rolls over the lip

* relief as the bike levels out and I haven’t fallen off

There were a couple of classics on last night’s episode:

<discussing a sculpture of a horse> ‘It’s inspired by nature’

and

‘You’re a work of art – unfortunately a still life’

lol

Anyone found what will soften/dissolve this stuff

WD40 + electric toothbrush

I ride both on bridleways and easy xc

And around fields

There are around 800 on Cannock Chase

[anecdote]a workmate of an acquaintance hit one (on his bike, off-road). He was busted up pretty badly and never rode again. Deer OK [/anecdote]

[anecdote]Rutting is over now but I’ve had stags lope alongside me at night when they’re all fired up.. I wouldn’t want to lock horns with one *cough* [/anecdote]

I have some i35s with 2.8″ Maxxis & I wouldn’t want to put a narrower tyre on them. Go with the 29s

Thanks folks those Distortions look pretty much perfect and maximum Singletrack as well. Good price on the Boardmans will drop by Halfords and have a look

Zees – typical Shimano – light, dainty, quite powerful, needs some fettling to get them right

E4s – tactile, meaty, equally as powerful as Zees, much less faff with hoses/bleeding etc, many GBP

But if you have big hands what you really want is some TRP Slates which are the best brakes in the history of brakes. With the man-size levers wound right out they have a crisp bite point, loads of modulation and proper stick-through-the-spokes stopping power. Can be used with Zee/Saint pads but the standard semi-metallics are most excellent.

rocket jr was explaining to his grandparents how his homekit DETECTS WHEN HE’S NEAR HIS FLAT and SWITCHES THE LIGHTS ON AUTOMATICALLY

Like sorcery

Hmm the Wellgos are a good size but they are quite tall, The Wah Wahs are 100 x 100 x 17

Wah Wah 2s are thin but bigger :|

27.5+ has more-or-less killed mine off

Rolls along almost as well and has 90% of the grip without the spacehopper ride. If the fat bike was 29×3″ and had a fork it would be pretty close but at the moment it’s in the shed with a patina of summer dust

Was in Mansfield the other week and that’s definitely in the North. Gritty locals, flat caps, whippets, bar eck aslike etc

By the same token a recent visit to Hereford was positively equatorial. Leaves on the trees, lots of apples, friendly relaxed natives.

anyone wear them with a “normal”  helmet?

Only under cover of darkness. Obv the strap is on the outside

there’s virtually no such thing as glasses/goggles that don’t steam up on a climb

A lot of it is to do with your lid and visor. Those visors that can also be used as a snow shovel trap all that warm moist air and where does it condense? On your eye wear. Push the visor up and out of the way so it blocks your helmet light lol or take it off altogether

Do you think that the front brake hose on this bike is too short?

Way too short. Like when you put an XT brake from a 100 mm XC bike onto a 140 mm FS with 760 mm bars *cough*

Do many folk route the hose inside the fork leg like that?

All my bikes have the hose inside the fork leg except one which has a 2019 Sektor with a built-in guide that very definitely encourages the hose to go outside

* Bonnie Tyler (Stratford)

* Tim Brook-Taylor (B’ham )

* obstructed Barry Sheene twice on the same day (Silverstone)

* Kenny Roberts (focussed)

* Randy Mamola (jumpy)

* Eddie Lawson (laconic)

* Freddie Spencer (v. busy)

* Mick Doohan (couldn’t shut him up)

* Rossi (excitable)

* Neil Hodgson & that stalker bloke (seemed surprised that I recognised them)

* Chris Bonington (Congleton)

* Alan Hinkes/Reinhold Messner (Llanberis)

* the little editor bloke from Have I Got News (Polzeath)

* Dave Cameron also in Polzeath

* Fearne Cotton’s partner erm erm

* Assorted cabinet ministers and C-list royalty inc but not limited to Geoffrey Howe, Leon Brittan, Duke of Kent, Gordon Brown, John Prescott (lol) at my last place of work

Mask it all off to the desired width and apply several surgically thin beads, smoothing each one. When the smoothed bead just touches the tape, stop

They suit some people + some bikes but not everyone

Personally I’m used to descending with the saddle up I use it for balance and to judge where to put the bike. Would be interested in a dropper that actively drops as weighting the saddle breaks my pedalling rhythm.

I have a Forefront the quality is impressive but the ventilation is unusual. The Koroyd material prevents airflow in the traditional sense but at reasonable speeds warm air is drawn upwards and out of the helmet. I would imagine it works great on a road bike but at mtb speeds it’s less effective. Otherwise a really nice lid, like POC only different. I think the newer Forefronts have more vents.

At the other end of the scale I also have an Urge Supatrail which is basically lots of vents arranged in a helmet shape. It’s light and the airflow through it is phenomenal but it’s also quite poorly made and the RRP is insane. If you can find one for around £30-40 it’s a good helmet if ventilation is top priority

I like Maxxis and Schwalbe. Maxxis are a bit like RS they have a tyre for every day of the year whereas Schwalbe are more Fox-like in that you have to choose carefully and the cheap ones are crap. I’ve also dabbled with Onza, WTB, Spesh and Michelin and sometimes I have DIFFERENT BRANDS ON THE SAME BIKE wohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The only brand that consistently disappoints is Conti. Don’t know what it is about them but even their inner tubes are underwhelming

https://burgtec.co.uk/product/burgtec-logo-beanie/

The description is 100% accurate *cough*

Aldi have something they call a training top. It’s basically a polyester hoodie but it is quite cosy and as breathable/water resistant as a polyester jersey can be.

Downsides are the slightly boxy shape and it takes literally days to dry out if it does get wet.

£9.99

Nope she bought it new, it’s immaculate and smells of soap

The Canaries are still quite warm this time of year. I like Lanzarote and Tenerife. Competition in the Playa Blanca and Costa Adeje areas is intense and all of the hotels along the front are pretty good, some are magnificent and quite a few are adults only.

All inclusive has its advantages but you’re tied to the hotel all day for the food and drink you’ve technically paid for. Half board gives you more freedom and costs a lot less. The 4-star hotel restaurants are generally excellent and the 5-star hotels will have a choice of restaurants and Chinese/Mexican/Indian theme nights

Bike is 3 months old so nothing’s worn out

But things will have bedded in/stretched/come loose etc

My NX 11sp was very similar to your setup with the additional problem of the smallest cog derailing itself

* cassette slightly loose

* axle slightly loose allowing wheel to move from side-to-side

* too much cable tension

* limit screw adjusted

* hell-pit OE spec chain replaced

So where do a longer base layer?

Craft

And not dhb

Bikes were always a means to an end, to access the more remote Scottish hills back in the 90s

Hiking is like really slow compared to biking but if you can run it’s much quicker

Right

The relative is a serial worrier and was involved in a car accident a few weeks ago. Perhaps that has triggered something

A long time ago my dear old Mum inadvertently made me a cuppa with 6 sugars in it.

I think it made me hypersensitive to sugar. Since then I can taste it in all kinds of foods (esp bread & milk) and I’m not fond of food that’s obviously sugary such as cake, biscuits, sweets, chocolates etc

Many thanks for the replies especially the sensible ones :)

Can anxiety cause physical problems?

rocket jr has got one for his drone (from a Hero 5)

His videos involve flying very quickly in 3D so there’s never really a stable image to erm stabilise IYKWIM. I guess if you’re going a bit slower and not corkscrewing around abandoned buildings it would be more noticeable. However the footage looks quite professional and less ‘camcorder’ than the 5

And despite having a screen it’s not that much bigger than the 5

May of them were new/newish cars. Does the fact that nobody “owns” cars these days make a difference

Lots of full-width speed bumps and lots of new-ish vans/cars where I work. Most people drive over the bumps at full speed so I can only guess it’s not their car. HGVs always slow down though.

Rocketman may I take this opportunity to say I’ve always admired you. Your bike skills are awesome and I stand in awe of your ability. I’ve always considered you a particularly generous individual too.

lol no harm in trying eh

How you lot manage to keep going to work if it’s that bad is beyond me, I’d be quite happy to work my notice if employers wanted me to & besides it’s all about the mindset isn’t it – just knowing you’re leaving is a great feeling in itself.

Exactly :)

So

* compose letter of resignation

* work notice

* receive P45

* never work again

amirite

lol ok let me rephrase it

Next year you receive enough money to allow you to live comfortably until you officially become a pensioner. You don’t have to work anymore but you’d like to work your notice with your current employer and friendly workmates *cough*

so…Do you simply hand in your notice etc etc

Definitely per wheel on my Fiesta and mrs rocket’s Corsa :)

Is this normal behaviour at trail centres

Drone flying and phone checking is passé at Cannock. In the last few weeks we’ve had

* horses on the trail (trail horse anyone?)

* horses on the trail going the wrong way (‘sorry our dog ran along here’)

* mental uncontrolled dogs (see above)

* dog walkers obv

* runners

* families out for a stroll along this lovely woodland path

* people picking berries ffs

* random fc dudes

* skills courses

* photo opportunities

This is in addition to the normal stuff e.g. shrines, discarded medical equipment, mythological creatures, ebikes etc

#thetrailsareforeveryonerolleyes