I was thinking that, but I cant find it anywhere.

I’ve also stayed here.

http://www.trawsfynydd.com/index.php?loc=33

But I though Llangollen was much better as easier to drive to and on the way back to England (going back to Reading the next day).

And was actually quite lively there and a nice place to go out for a meal in the evening.

I stayed at the outdoor centre in Llangollen.

http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/fm/tyn_dwr/tyn_dwr.php

We then drove to CYB on saturday and did coed llandegla on Sunday which is right next to llangollen.

I have slowly developed a real hatred of TV detective shows too.

The worse one is Poriot I pray for the day he’ll be wrong and he stupid little arrogant face will just drop in disappointment and he’ll probably crumble up in the corner and die.

Also Columbo, its basically the same he pretends to be stupid and everyone is fooled but then they realise he’s really smart at the end. Its even worse though cos they tell you who the killer is at the start !

Last one I went to added on prices for sheets/towel etc

Was only a couple of quid still mych cheaper than a normall B&B

When Im commuting I can be a c*** whether Im cycling or whether Im driving.

When I relaxed and not in a tush I tend to be a good/considerate cyclist/driver.

I would therefore suggest banning commuting before discussing any other changes that need to be made.

there is a trend nowadays on rush hour trains for people to sit/stand in the vestibule areas/by the doors even when there loads of seats available on that same carriage, even when the nearest station is 30 minutes away.

This is true it quite annoying at times.

There is always someone who will try to push on when your waiting for other passengers to get off no matter what.

this is nt real is it

I think Shimano stuff is a good basis for seeing if prices have changed.

Prices I remember Shimano XT cranks + BB

2000 CRC price – £100 cranks £BB about £30ish
2007/2008 CRC price – £80 Cranks + BB
2012 CRC – £150 Cranks + BB

Basically there was a slow drop in price from 2000 to 2008.
Then a massive jump now things have stabilised again.

Oh look the complete inverse to this.

Yen v Pound

I think there have been some massive price increases as the pound has dropped in value. Looks like shimano have actually managed to keep the XT crankset at exactly the same price in Yen for a good 10 years.

Dont know what inflation has been in that time in Japan mind.

“You’d need a coincidence of captive market (no local trails, limited scope to build anything substantial, driving anywhere good a total ballache.”

Old east Midlands Quarry perhaps ?

From your cornwall story it sounds like the problem is

You want to go cycling and your OH doesnt want to go cycling, nothing more nothing less !

The only thing I can add is try going in a mixed sex group. My wife can make a right hoohaa at times when its just us, but if see shes another girl do something she gets a bit competitive. :)

These look pretty short to me

ebay

might be easier to sell it and just buy a new bike.

but surely you can get a cheap fork of a similar length ?

What is the old one 400 mm A-C ?

Bet anything up to 420mm would be ok seeing as its just of commuting.

Then get a disc brake for the front.

I have a pair from 2001 !

Mind I have worn other shoes in that time too.

tick

oh cheers guys might give me some other ideas ta roge

Oh yeah and there is yately common but seemed to be alot of walkers there more a family place than a MTBing place when I explored it one saturday.

Hey Shortcut are we allowed to know where the THT tuesday night ride is or is that a secret :)

I thought most of the land round there was military.

Ie Tunnel/Porridgepot/Windmill hills, Hawley Common, Minley Wood, Forest of Eversley/Ceasars Camp.

The only bits I know that arent really are :-

Yately Heath wood (but have nt they built a quarry there ?)
Warren / Heath Warren Wood (I like riding there but a bit small maybe I dont know it all)

and obviously Swinley.

Oh that interesting Gren, maybe if we’re planning on going Monday it might be a good thing to be at Tunnel Hill ?

Roge

Ha one of the girls is actually volunteering at the Olympics as a Spanish translator. Maybe I could get her to bring her security documents.

Thanks for the info guys.

Sounds like its Swinley again this weekend, probably monday due to the gorrick Enduro.

Everywhere else will be a bog.

1988 Raleigh BMX
1998 Dawes Saratoga
1999 Kona Cindercone
2001 Trek Fuel 80
1997 Kona Caldera
2008 Genesis Altitude
2009 Beone Nirvana 1.0
2009 OnOne Inbred 29er
2011 Boardman Full Suss Comp

eh?

:)

this is probably going a bit far in the wind up though !

fairhurst user

Cyclocross and a Met parachute inspired !

The more I watch it the more I get it and the funnier it is.

You’ve literally covered all the singletrack world “pet hates” that supposedly none of us do cos we’re riding gods.

parachute helmet – tick
riding around puddles – tick
sitting down – tick
attempting to brake in corners – tick
centre of feet on pedals – tick
supermarket rain coat – tick
cutting off the top of head when taking video/pictures – tick

:)

The crossing the road bit at the start is probably the best as its just so random.

Should of had bar ends and Risers though !!!

@scu98rkr : I get your frustration. But those companies have to make money, to stay in business. To pay their employees etc.

And I understand where you are coming from as well. But the way some are replying to the posts suggests they dont.

I think the bike industry could still make plenty of money if it could settle on some standards maybe have jumped some of the standards in between. I think the main reason they dont do this is they are scared the chinese will just copying them.

If you think a few new wheel standards is too much, look at the rapid change in technology. Do you think that iPhones, STW, nice shiny pics of bikes downloaded at reasonable speeds would be possible if all organisations just decided to remain static?

Your missing my point here. The most successful IT products of the last 30 years have been the standardised one ie

The IBM PC most hardware was compatible and changeable and they opened up software development to 3rd parties. Didnt make IBM much money though, but made microsoft alot !

This would be the equivalent of a MTB where all components were interchangeable with the industry standard. The equilvalent of a MTB with 35mm bars, 20mm hubs, 650b wheels with tubs, that funny post mount disc brake etc would be an Amiga/Atari.

Closed standards like Amiga, Atari, Acorn etc etc all died off. Apple almost died off (another closed standard) but some how scraped through and has now established itself selling premium products only which means I’d never buy one as too expensive.

It depends what you mean by breakthrough.

Definitely premature to say to say we’ve learnt everything. Things might be totally different from what we expect.

But I think the time for breakthroughs may have finished. Everything seems to come in lots of little steps, with lots of groups working on the problem. Not one big bang.

Also even if we discover the world is vastly different from what we know would it matter.

We already know the world is vastly different from what common sense would tell us thanks to relativity + quantum theory.

However say Mechanical Engineers still base there world around a Newtonian model. (although obviously some of the models built contain quantum theory).

I think most people can only really grasp the world at a newtonian level as thats what we have evolved to do. I dont think many people can really see beyond that except in drips and drabs.

So even if there are big advances will we notice anymore ? We’re so used to thing changing constantly that big advances might slowly creep up on us with out really noticing.

With the information example if 15 years ago you’d shown be how ubiquitous the internet is I be really impressed, (although probably would have expected it) but its just slowly built itself into our lives without people really spotting it.

On my commute to work I pass several houses, all with full driveways, who stick their extra vehicle on the street, in a dotted cycle lane. Would there be any objections if their right to do this was taken away?

Im just as guilty of this as everyone else.

But I do often think about this nessarily from a cycling point of view but a general point of view.

It appears that our roads are all very narrow but in many cases this isnt true there are just parked cars.

If in 1940s/1950s they had made it illegal to park on the road, unless expressly allowed, I dont imagine there would have been much of a fuss.

People would have realised they needed to build driveways or some way of storing cars on their land before buying one.

However you now cant go back.

This questchon cums up soo ofton but nowon eva seems to hav an antswear.

Companies need a roadmap. Of course they sat down and think can we sell 35mm, nope the market probably isn’t ready, let’s sell 31.5. We’ll make some cash, create demand, test our product and ensure we have a roadmap for future growth.

Yeah and thats what people are complaining about. Im not saying that it was going to ever happen.

If others cant understand the frustration with constant changing for the sake of profit then erm ok.

But a new standard doesn’t change anything on your current bike? Just buy bits that fit and there’s no problem. Just because Giant have made a 1.25 headtube doesn’t make your 1.125 redundant does it? If you want a 29er/650b buy one, if not don’t. You don’t buy a Ford Focus and moan that the doors from your Anglia 105e don’t fit do you? Although the engine form the focus will fit in the anglia with a T9 gearbox as ford have used the same backplate on their engines since the 50’s, but then you’d moan that it’s not compatible with your VW golf I suppose!

Im sure there are some people who do complain about car parts not being interchangeable but this is nt a car forum.

No one is complaining about new improved parts. Its just the way they have gone about it.

I dunno if the new eaton bar standard is going to take over but if it does.

Why did they bother going to 31.6mm why did nt they sit down and say right straight to 35mm.

It seems some standards are just put there create a longer upgrade path.

I do understand that something are based on other.

Ie I dont think it has been coincide that 29er didnt become popular until
1. disc brake were standard
2. Some tubeless standards were starting to appear

This has allowed that rim weight could be kept to a minimum which is even more important on a 29er !

I do understand there will be some standard outside of norm ie 20mm axles for downhill bikes.

But the problem is the standards on an “average” Bike seem to keep changing atm.

The problem is not that bike companies are coming up with new improved products no one is complaining about that.

Every one loves that shimano shifters seem to get better every year. Ie smoother dual action etc etc

The problem is that new standards often make previous components obsolete.

About 10 years ago maybe more (BMX had already moved to large BB) it became clear that alot of the standards inherited from road bikes were not going to be strong and light enough for MTBs.

What should of happened is the top companies should of got together and said right we are going to increase the diameter of everything by 25mm (or what ever).

IE Bars/BB/HeadTube/Axles etc etc

This would have made all frame/components immediately obsolete but we would now would not be constantly upgrading to the latest “Standard”.

The problem is there is no “STANDARD” now. My mate wants to buy a new bike. Should I tell him to get a tapered head tube ? If Easton are realising a new bar width why not just make all new bike with 1.5*1.5 non-tapered headtubes and 35mm bars ?

I get the feeling the bike companies already know what the correct standards are to achieve the best strength/weight ratio for the average rider.

They should just go straight to these and be done with it.

I imagine there are 2 reasons not to.
1. To keep riders constantly upgrading
2. To keep companies with no R&D departments guessing. Once the standard is finalised the pile em high sell em cheap companies generally have the advantage.

18 miles for the family route up to 42 miles. Sound pretty hardcore to me !

I’d say yes, but suppose it depends what type of rider you are

I went from
DT 4.1+Michelen2.1+Tubes
to
Stans-Olympics+RacingRalph2.1+Tubeless.

Im reasonably light 70kg/11 stone. I found a massive difference in times of speed across Berkshire type forest singletrack.

But if im going anywhere with lots of rocks I tend to put on my old wheels back on mainly cos the tires are a bit bigger. But also because I dont want to damage the wheels.

The only idiots here are those that subscribe to the view that tolerance and appeasement are the answer to incidents like this, all it does is to encourage more of the same.

Because revenge and retribution worked so well in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine etc etc

Aston hill
Woburn – apsley woods
Chicksands
Swinley
Chilterns (watlington as base)
Forest of Dean
Surrey hills-north downs

All within your range.

In town itself Shotover hill (east of city centre) and Boars Hill (west) have enough to keep you interested, esp on a night ride.

I think this is probably a fairly definitive list. You could add the croft Trail swindon buts its is pretty small I hear.

Cannock chase from Oxford in 1h30?

Possible. I’ve done Lichfield to Twyford(berks) in 1:30 once. And it was a Saturday afternoon. The m40 was very very quiet for some reason.

Normally just under 2 hours.

400 grams !!! yes !

Sorry Im going to have to ask ,quite happy to admit Im a terrible rider, but why are you mashing the pedals so furiously in the run up to the boardwalk ?

You dont seem to be going very fast. You just seem to be unbalancing yourself by manically mashing away.

Would nt it be better to turn them slowly but firmly (prehaps in a slightly higher gear) ?

It just I dont think I’ve ever seen anyone else do that, its quite unique.

Amazing video and amazing choice of music. Fits in so well.

No one can be good at everything and your good at Videos/Web Design/Organising Rides/Posting great pictures. Which means you have to be less good at other things.