Had a cracking day today with Trekster and company.

XC through Ae forest and surrounding area. No wind, temp just under zero, with roads and turf nicely frozen, good viz and occasional glimpse of sun. Finished off with coffee and soup at Ae cafe. Even got the kids out on their bikes when I got home.

Grand. :)

bo####ks I forgot all about going on line this morning and now they are all allocated :evil:

Thanks all, the Pentlands is the handiest for me.

Its probably not bling enough for this thread but I find my XL commencal 4.2 a very comfy bike all day.

That said it will be a hardtail for the Keilder but I am just planning to finish that, probably in considerable dollops of agony, but finish.

Ive got a DHX4.0 on my coiler deluxe and its a decent shock as long as the spring is sized right, as per boobs note you can try my shock if its the correct size/ travel. The good thing about them is there is plenty of tweaking that you can do.

With all this talk of better speed and less energy this thread has me interested, what sort of cost is it per day to get a decent skills day??

About a year ago I gave up alcohol completely through the week, it makes a big difference to sleep quality and does stop you snacking in the evening which can help with weight control. So IMO it does amke a difference to your physical well being. I am not keen enough to give it up on a friday night though, but I find it only needs a couple of beers now to take effect.

http://www.polarbottle.com/products/

I got a drinks bottle in the USA which was made of plastic and was bouble skiined, it had some kind of plastic fild between the two layers of plastic. It reduced capacity a bit but it did keep the drinks cooler for longer.

As above best to freeze your bottle overnight or fill up with ice cubes, tap water will get to ambient quicker simply because it is warmer to start with. IIRC The specific heat of water is a calorie (4.2 joules) per millilitre per degrees centrigrade whether its at 1 deg C or 90 deg C. Wether its been boiled before or not makes no difference, the only difference is that the water will have been largely degassed by the boiling process.

I had a OE rear wheel on a Kona that kept breaking spokes right at the nipple (not the nipple itself), I persevered with replacing spokes and retensioning as you described, but it was never cured until I got the whole wheel relaced with new spokes. I put it down to a Friday afternoon job.

Torch it, you know you want to :twisted:

Salsa here as well with a Thomson seat post, has never moved even with my bulk bouncing on it.

Trekster – is that a TCL assessment day? I need to get assessed at some point.

Have you ever been to America? Everyone, with the exception of tramps on the street have absolutely perfect teeth from the guy who waters the public grass to the woman who sells you some chewing gum on a corner. Don't try to tell me they all have in depth insurance plans and a few thousand salted away to cover their dental charges. It's clearly a much better service at a much lower cost over there

Well guess what yes I have been to the USA, I worked there for a couple of years, and it was an American dentist who repaired said tooth. He told me that the original crown (done by a UK dentist 10 years earlier)was no good and had to be replaced. So after two sessions each three hours each (I am not kidding)he replaced the crown and it has never been right since, so much so I have had enough of it and want the damned thing pulled out, oh and he charged 1200 bucks for the privilige. Dont be fooled by the perception that the USA dental health system is better than ours, it just costs a lot more, and boy do they pay for it!!

good pics

If you think its past it, punt it! No point sinking money into a car thats had it.

I would say the car is pretty worthless mate. Get a quote from the garage to get it repaired and through its MOT, then compare that bill to what you can buy on the classifieds.

If your about to lose your job why not wait till you get your next job before deciding what car you need?

Thai fish curry

What the littlesthobo said.

When selling a house its not sold until the deal is done, unless a substantial deposit is paid with appropriate terms.

Use your own solicitors or accept their terms, simple.

Its also a misconception that your own solicitor acts entirely independantly, they get paid when you buy a house so they will guide you towards a sale, and their fees are not effected greatly by getting you the "best deal".

15,000 ft of climbing!! OFFS I didnt know that before I entered 8O

Had minis for years, last one was a '74 clubman with 850 engine in it. Great fun to drive when in tip top condition but by jings do they need a lot of maintainance and repair, lots of skint knuckles and swearing during those times. Had three minis, every one scrapped due to body work, and every one of them shared the same engine and rear subframe.

have fun!!

piggin heck some sad stories on here, I am not close to any of my uncles/ aunts/ cousins/ or sister. Didnt fall out with them just circumstance of going to school away from home, college, working away from home and didnt keep in touch. I feel sad now….. :|

Renton – have to admit over the last 25+ years of driving motorbikes and cars that I have undertook more than once, but it does lead to the situation you found yourself in more often than is acceptable. So now I'm older and wiser I dont do it anymore and thats from experience, better to bide your time.

I will also share with you a true story which happened to me about one year ago.

I was driving south on the M74 a night on a Sunday with all the family on board (in a BMW saloon btw!), the motorway was very empty as it was late evening. There was a large pick up truck with a crew cab cruising down the outside lane at about 60mph. After a while I gave him a polite short single flash to remind him of correct procedure to pull over to inside lane.

He immediately rammed on his brakes and whilst swerving all over the road he eventually stopped in the middle of the two lane motorway on a sweeping right hand turn!! I am now stopped behind him after an emergency stop on a turn, on a motorway, at night, with my wife and kids in the car. He then engages reverse and the window at the back starts to wind down. There was enough space between him and the crash barrier for me to get out of a potentially hostile and dangerous situation, which I did instantly.

All that from a "friendly" flash, and no speeding or tailgaiting..very scary. I didnt have time to get his number needless to say.

Its not worth it.

I have since changed what was a inconspicous dark blue beemer to a bright red one (bought it for the diesel engine not the colour) with tinted windows and its very noticeable how much people cut you up just because of the car.

bought the missus a good portable Logitech dock for xmas.

I'm in, at the moment building up slowly after 3 months off riding with plenty climbing in weekly ride to build up strength, and longish ride at the weekend. Also eating more healthy with plan to drop a couple of stones.

Not much more science than than, current odds are 4:1 against completion within time cut offs at the moment.

I am going on the premise of the running club I useed to be in who always said "if you can run 13 miles, you can run 26" in terms of maximum capability.

Yes its dry weather tyre but it was the lack of responsiveness that surprised me..

Ive got an AM one and I seem to remember the granny ring bolting directly onto the crank???

I had a Legacy GT when i was in the states with a 2.5L turbo engine in it and it was a brilliant car. Not sure would want one in the UK though with its petrol consumption.

My mate has a 2.0 litre '06 one and likes it, he tows a caravan but he says that it does struggle with the van and petrol consumption towing a van is low 20's or worse 8O.

You would get a good German diesel estate for that budget which I would go for.

Our family car is a zafira and its a great workhorse, plenty space in the back, or occasional 7 seater, handles well, ultra reliable (touch wood), comfortable, and you can get all your family in plus luggage, and four bikes on the roof rack.

Great family motor

Hmmm, its true you cannot disclaim against negligence, but as said above if someone is seriously hurt or killed for whatever reason if you are shown to have a duty of care it does leave you exposed to the scrutiny of the law.

There nothing to be lost by making it very plain that it is not a led ride and that anyone joining should be capable of riding the ride that is planned and they are responsible for themselves.

http://www.funny-videos.co.uk/videopeterkaytalksaboutbiscuits.html%5B/url%5D

Tony mate whats with the training regime? Seem to remember a bloke on here saying "just ride yer bike man" when I enquired about a training regime for the Keilder :D

Good trolling btw…

I use a Smart 5 led one and its lasted a couple of winters now, good on batteries, nice and bright, and cheap to buy

You need to switch on the p+rn filter…

Sorry mate couldnt resist.

Ordered up suguaro to try it out on the back, cheap enough in wired form – did you guys run tubless?

To those that have done it before, what sort of profile is the course do you have a rough idea of total climb for the day?

From what you have explained tel her DO NOT RESIGN under any circumstances.

It will most definitely effect any benefits.

The meeting she had with her employer needs to be minuted, and they cannot ask her to resign. If they are dismissing her they need to state that in writing and why. If they are terminating her contract it would also be good practice to say in writing why, although at 9 months I am certain unfair dismissal/ tribunal would not be an option.

Also if she believes this is out of the blue and it is not a true reflection of her performance then she needs to go into writing and state her case why, and minute what has been discussed. If her notice is four weeks, and there is only 6 weeks on the table I sure as heck would not resign.

If they want to talk a compromise agreement then they need to offer more, at least 3 months, usually tax free with the employer taking the tax risk.

If it were me I would be discussing this with a solicitor (not a union)who had previous experience in setting up a compromise agreement. It will cost a couple hundred quid at most but she certainly does not want to sully her employment record and chances of benefits by resigning.

Personally I would get it out there, you can have a wander round the shops and look at the gear to see if its fairly new and get the best deal. Have found the TO's rent older gear than some of the local shops.

YOu can always haggle with them as well, have never been to a resort where they have ran out of ski gear!

IMO of course…

I'd sack the lot of yiz…..

Ive got Bandit single X's and they are spot on for that type of skiing IMO.

Sleeping at work in a lot of process & manufacturing industries = gross misconduct = being fired.