I think it was 16 lbs when I weighed after adding the powertap rear wheel… Storck c1.1 with Record groupset. Built sensibly light (nothing scary light or bling on it). Used to be 15lbs with old wheelset and a few other lighter bits.

I’m getting aboout double the battery life since the update, so it’s been a big improvement (moderate usage – now need to charge every other night rather than every night)

The Torq recpvery stuff is really good (far nicer than SIS Rego IMO, which is actually really basic stuff but tastes nasty because of the soy protein used). One of the “extras” in the Torq recovery powder is HMB, which has quite a strong taste (pretty nasty on its own) – this is mostly masked by the flavours, but some people seem to be more sensitive to the aftertaste (hence the divided opinions!)

I would try a small tub of Torq recovery first and see if you like the flavours…

(BTW – the worst I’ve tasted was the Zipvit stuff with the cow’s colostrum in it… I nearly vomited!)

Interesting… I might have to do some chatting in superfi and richer sounds one lunchtime…

Thanks both – sounds like a plan (amp will be hidden in a cupboard so no remote isn’t a problem). I assume these amps will sound much better than, say, a denon micro system?

Hmmm… just found the manual for the Yamaha online – sounds as if it’s not flexible enough to do what I want?

We’re in Heaton Moor – chosen as it’s a nice area (lots of pubs/cafes/bars/local shops/restaurants – all independent) with easy access to the city centre (lived in Ramsbottom before that which is nice but the commute is a bit of nightmare). The train is less than 10 mins into Picadilly, driving is about usually 25 mins at rush hour and cycling is 25 mins (or you can take the longer off road route that joins the canal near the velodrome).

The boundaries between the Heatons are very blurred, so don’t discount Heaton Norris altogether as some bits are nice (and we sometimes get described as Heaton Norris). The new tram link at Parrs Wood will improve the links for Heaton Mersey too.

The doorstep riding is pretty good if you’re out for at least a few hours (low level off road stuff for around 45 mins to get into the hills). Road riding requires half an hour of suburban stuff before it gets nice (choice between Cheshire lanes or the Peaks). I’d rather have the best riding right on my doorstep but that was the compromise we had to make for the quickest commute.

Like all of the more towny areas, though, you need to be a bit security conscious as burglaries and bike theft are common.

Price-wise, it is pretty expensive – but no worse than Cheadle/Bramhall and the likes (and better value than Didsbury). The fact that a lot of the house are big (and stunning) Victorian semis means that the average prices will look high.

Although I do often wish I could live in the hills (or ideally Whistler ;), it’s a pretty decent compromise (and the schools are pretty good I think – our Little Sausage is about to turn one so we’ll be thinking about that in more detail in the not too distant future!)

(p.s. “definitely” as in “definitely as far as I am aware” ;)

Col de Joux Plane is definitely the toughest of the very local climbs – descend down the valley and then do a left towards Samoens (it’ll be obvious if you look on a map) and do the Joux Plane from that side for the full effect (you’ll also get a nice warm up). I bonked like Lance :)

I’ve also done it from Morzine on a MTB – much easier on that side.

Stats:
Starting from Samoëns, the Col de Joux Plane is 11.7 km long with an average percentage of 8.5% and a maximum gradient of 10%.
Starting from Morzine, the Col de Joux Plane is 10.9 km long with an average percentage of 6.5% and a maximum gradient of 11%.

They have safety patrollers (or whatever you want to call them) on the crowded lower runs at Whistler at the end of the day where there is a lot of traffic and bottlenecks (not on any of the runs that you would be using most of the days). Whatever the cause of the dangerous skiing, I think that’s a good idea.

Skiing beyond ability levels is the biggest problem (unfortunately, a lot of the guilty parties seem to be British!). Skiing too fast or pissed in crowded areas also increases the risk of serious accident (bimbling down slowly and carefully if you’ve had a few pints is the only way to do it…)

Hasbean, Coffeebeanshop.co.uk or Origincoffee.co.uk for me… all very good.

Just to balance things out… I bought a Storck road frame a few years ago (which is lovely by the way) and Posh Bikes were very helpful and patient with my endless email/phone questions. Not had to deal with them since then but I’ve got a mate who has bought several Storck road frames over the years and he’s had no problems…

The wheels are built by Harry Rowlands – rather nice…

You can get velocity a23s with no braking surface I think (from justridingalong). V nice rims….

John Lewis allow 2 claims in the last 5 years (subject to the amount) – unfortunately that still ties us into M&S for another 2 years!

headfirst – our premiums are around £1200 (next renewal is Feb).

we had 4 claims between 2007 – 2009 so we lost the no claims on the contents insurance, and we can’t even get a quote from another insurer until it’s down to 2 in the last 5 years… (2 of those claims were small so we’d have not claimed if we’d been aware of this problem!)

fingers crossed that the £4k claim still applies on renewal…

We really resisted using controlled crying for as long as possible but ultimately it improved things when no other method would (we really did try!) LS has a hole in the heart so we’ve also been really careful never to let her get too upset.

The reason being sick throws her out is that we’re more inclined to pick her up when she’s sick so she remembers that she can get cuddles if she shouts enough – it usually only takes a day or two to get back in the swing of things (touch wood :)

It’s definitely not the same as just leaving them to cry – you go in at regular (and slowing increasing) intervals to reassure them. We’d rather not have to do it at all, but people who say it’s barbaric etc are talking nonsense…

Our Little Sausage is 9 months old now and is a bit variable when it comes to sleep. It got really bad around 6 months and after trying every softly-softly approach under the sun (and building up quite a library of sleep related books) we had to resort to controlled crying. We’d heard it only takes a few days but it was more like 2 weeks with LS – but it did at least work. It’s still up and down and bugs/illness still cause disruption (and anti biotics have messed her up for the last week), but we know that a few days of controlled crying should be enough to get her back on track when she’s well.

Your missus will probably cry as much as the baby when you start doing the controlled crying, but she’ll also get over it ;)

Five bags of crisps?

Just found our blog on it…
http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-65876.html

(silly hats are mandatory ;)

The Inca Trail was great – we expected it to be disappointing given all the hype, but not at all… you have to do it with a guided trip and book well in advance (best to check out reviews although we had a recommendation). The actual hiking isn’t too hard but the altitude on the 2nd day makes it tough. It’s nice having the camp already set up when you arrive and lots of good food too. When you get to Machu Picchu, make sure you do the extra bit up Wayna Picchu – it’s pretty hairy but you get a fantastic birds eye view back over Machu Picchu.

Cusco is worth a few days, as is Arequipa (you can do guided hikes from there into the Colca Canyon which is also well worth doing, or the volcano).

We weren’t keen on Lima or the coast south from there (if you do Nazca, you must fly over to make it worthwhile – my missus is afraid of flying and it was pretty rubbish as a result!). Puno/Lake Titicaca were touristy but we enjoyed them – easy to cross into Bolivia from there too.

A trip the jungle is also well worth it (can be expensive but unique). We went to Puerto Maldonardo but there are a number of alternatives – I seem to remember hearing good things about the jungle around Iquitos.

3 weeks is enough to do the highlights of Peru (and maybe nip into neighbouring countries).

Five

Presumably he is referring to gold in the team pursuit? Would love to see him in top form at the Tour (which will hopefully suit him better than climbs like the Angliru!)

We pay about £1k a year now with M&S but that’s mainly because we had 3 claims within a year or so (and our no claims protection only allowed max 1 claim in a year I think). Now we can’t go elsewhere because no where will take you on with that number of claims…

derek_starship – Member
Sale Water Park?

You run the risk of being bum raped by an ex-merchant seaman dressed as Anne Widdecome’s dog.

Sex case area.

That’s what he’s hoping for…

Doing a quick clean/wipe of your seals and a bit of lube on the foam rings takes 5 minutes! Put this into perspective when you’re next watching X-Factor/Come Dine With Me for an hour every week and see whcih one is the bigger waste of time.

Have to agree on X-Factor, but Come Dine With Me is quite good telly…

We need to toughen you up… first step is to babysit Erin overnight (when it’s 8 or 9 wakes per night like last week, the thought of riding a bike all day is easy ;)

I thought it was just riding in circles you couldn’t do ;)

I have my Lynskey Cooper (size Medium-Long) for sale if you’re interested… Haven’t got round to advertising yet, but drop me a mail if you have any questions!

It is a lovely frame but I can’t justify 2 high end road bikes and the other one is a Storck…

I had an Airborne Zeppelin before that which was fine but noticably flexy around the BB. The Cooper manages to retain the comfort of ti but is stiffer where it matters…

Depends what espresso machine you’re using… (my new Rancilio Silvia is rather demanding to put it mildly so the grind has to be perfect). In any event, spend the extra on a burr grinder which will grind consistently (which will be important for any espresso machine).

Anjum for me – best home-made curry I’ve ever had (and tried a fair few over the years)

otherwise known as caucoli :)

did you know that it was a fine example of naturally occuring fractals?

I’m still in my second year of lazy arse mode (I blame the new baby ;) but I went from several years of just doing lots of riding to training “properly” with testing/training plan from Matt Hart at Torq (using a power meter on the road bike for the bulk of the sessions) so I was able to go from consistent 9th place finishes to 4th place finishes (never quite cracked the top 3 – I’m a slow steady type and tend to lose too much time early on!)

Riding lots is fine and enjoyable, but you really have to do LOTS. A proper structured plan initially seems quite easy, but there is little wasted time and it does really build up and has an impact (just make sure you allow time to just have fun as well). Combining it with a stressful job/family life is the hardest bit of all…

If you are serious about it, I’d recommend using a coaching service like Torq – I had read various books but it’s not easy to translate into a specific plan to meet your needs, so best learn from someone who knows what they’re doing! Training with a power meter is also a much better guide than heart rate, so consider making that investment (you can do it by feel/effort but it’s hard to know what that feels like until you’ve used a power meter, and you don’t get the feedback in terms of progression).

In the race itself, pacing and minimising stops are the key aspects, along with a good reliable pit crew!

Oh, and plenty of beer and chocolate are essential too…

get yer goat, love – you’ve pulled….

Doh… the Amazon price shot up overnight (by £60), so seriously considering the Rancilio Silvia instead.

Thanks all. The La Pavoni needs a lot of TLC (Gaggia parts and service seem a lot more readily available?) and has never been that great (and not much in the way of tips to get the best out of it).

Will probably just sell it “as is” on fleabay – will probably cost me not much more overall than getting it repaired after sale proceeds (after vocuher a Gaggia Classic will cost just over £150 on Amazon).

Cheers (I tried searching the forum but didn’t get many hits – I’m sure it had been discussed many times though!)

West Didsbury is the nice bit, but houses are scarce and mixed in with student houses etc. There are posh bits to Didsbury but generally it’s just silly expensive.

Jules – most people have chosen to live where they live for a reason, so they’re bound to think it’s the best place ;)

In an ideal world we’d live in the hills but, in reality, the daily commute is a massive factor in where we live…

Being close to the Trafford Centre is a good thing??? ;)

I used to live in Northenden then Rammy and now Heaton Moor…

Northenden good if you like fighting in pubs or curry (it never lived up to being the “new Didsbury” and to close to Wythenshawe).

Rammy was great but can be hard to find a decent house and the commute into Manchester is a PITA (that was the reason we moved – not too bad for me cycling in most days but my missus had to drive).

Heaton Moor suits us well with easy commuting into the city centre and a nice centre with good pubs and restaurants (more grown up feeling than Didsbury etc). Like everywhere, it’s near some ropey areas, but it’s a good compromise. I mostly ride from my doorstep (following Goyt or Tame Valleys) which has some nice diversions on the way to the Peaks or Saddleworth). It’s the furthest west I’d like to be for decent doorstep riding.

Marple is a good option if you want to be able to ride from your doorstep but have the train link into Manchester.