Justin Timberlake?

Chapaking thanks for the invite. Stainburn is great craic, and also one of the reasons I need new wheels! I ride there from Pannal most times I'm over. I am looking to go further afield this weekend though. I have been "on a clock" for most of my riding recently and now I have the chance to get away for a full day and see more of the Dales.

Poisonspider Otley is very handy, thanks for that.

Am I going to get burnt at the stake by ramblers for doing the 3 Peaks?

If you can't see the skill involved Google Anderson Silva, George St Pierre, or Lyoto Machida.

Machida is a good example actually. One of the first karate fighters to be successful in years. He can almost totally avoid being struck or taken down and his strikes are so quick and accurate that it only takes a couple for a knockout.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the advantages of the thinner gloves? They make it much easier to knock somebody out with a clean punch which means the total number of damaging shots to the head is greatly reduced.

Everything is an extension of the basics in the Lopes one. There are only so many things that can go wrong and usually the cure will be in that book somewhere.

Haye doesn't need to dance around like Mayweather, Valuev is so slow that his defence should be fine. Also Valuev is so slow that if Haye can slip his jab he will probably have to go on the defensive, he can't really counterpunch. Haye should just outbox him and see if he tires.

It is with great sadness that I read of the commercialisation of the Surrey Hills.

Captain Crash if you are so risk averse what were you doing riding with a single light that was about to die any second?

Can't decide myself between these and a set of Ay-Ups.

Haye will hit him so many times he'll think he's surrounded. He is a very polished boxer. Valuev is a freakshow, the only way he will win is a lucky punch. The single most decisive factor in high level boxing is hand speed.

I reckon Floyd Mayweather could assemble a set of step ladders, climb on to them, knock Valuev out, and be out of the ring counting his money before the Russian knew what had happened.

Some people will tell you that they are good quality steel frames that ride way better than the price tag would suggest.

Some people will tell you that they're made from old gas pipes and the only reason anybody would ride one is so they can be pretend internet friends with the designer, who hangs around on this site.

As an ownership proposition its less about whether you want a cheap and reasonably well designed bicycle frame and more about whether you

a) think it will make you part of a cool internet gang of bike nerds
b) think it will make you so totally not cool. In fact you'd be better off with something 3 times the price so you can tell yourself you're special. Beside which, you disagree with the way the cables are routed and think the head angle is 0.234 degrees too slack.
c) are so cool that you will ride whatever you want

dmiller my missus used to have one of those bad boys, it was known as the Terminator.

Invest in a box set of something like The Wire and get on the turbo.

Was your misses still there ?

There are definitely times when I would swap my missus for a 575.

A nice rich dinner out and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc did the trick for us.

Do you not feel like such a unique and special individual anymore?

Any take-off will have to have a transition from the angle of the run-in to the angle of the take-off. The kind of jumps kids build, with bricks and planks of wood, have an immediate transition, from say 0 degrees to 20 degrees as you hit the plank. Obviously if you have a nice flexy plank it smooths this transition and gives more pop, every 9 year old BMX expert knows that.

On a beautiful dirt jump the angle will go from 0 degrees to close to 90 in a very gradual fashion, this is what makes a good jump smooth. Similarly, a nice landing will take your forward motion and the rate you are falling at, and deliver you smoothly onto the horizontal plain once more.

In the main, all you need to know is that if you don't fancy the jump, scratch your chin, shake your head, and knowingly say "I'm just not sure about that transition…"

Just do basic upper body stuff so you don't get out of balance, and concentrate on the legs. If you are doing high reps and still cycling plenty you won't put on excess weight on your upper body.

Joe you are right, there are transitions anywhere the angle of a slope changes. Obviously too much time spent building kickers out of snow has got me all fixated on the take-off 😆

Its the bit between the bottom of the jump and the take-off. Basically its the important bit because if it is well built it makes it very easy to keep your balance. If its badly built you have to compensate and/or end up at the take-off slightly out of balance, which isn't a good way to be leaving the ground.

You can get plenty of benefit out of a couple of hours a week and you don't have to be heaving weights everywhere with your eyeballs popping out. It can be quite relaxing once you are into a routine and it is great for preventing or rehabilitating injuries.

Get somebody who knows what they are doing to set up a programme and ensure that you are using the right technique.

Do free weights, much better for posture, balance, and functional strength.

Keep your reps high at first, above 12 and preferably 16-20.

Do plenty of core work.

Concentrate on form and control.

Weights will give you more overall strength and a stronger core.If you want explosive speed you need to do circuits or spinning. If you only want endurance you are better off riding your bike.

Yeah you are best to keep them seperate, you don't want to tangle something that is 100% yours up with something that is potentially dependant on other people.

Your accountant will probably find some way to take money out of your business and re-invest it in the other without having to pay Income Tax on the whole lot.

Scaredypants it just clogs up the classifieds with people who aren't really serious about selling.

Coffeeking, its so true about the roadies. There are a couple who commute on a tow-path near me and it pains them to acknowledge my existence whilst on the MTB, despite the fact that I ride up the verge to let them pass.

On the road bike I plenty of waves, except from the hardcore roadies where grim acknowledgement is more common. I think that is something to do with my top-to-toe Wiggle ensemble and painfully mainstream Focus bike.

The problem lies with the mentality of the average white van man. Whilst they are highly attuned to identifying aggression in other males, their attitude to women leaves something to be desired. They will bully whoever they can get away with bullying.

Getting your panties in a bind over drafting (in general) is pretty lame. I ride my bike for the pleasure I get out of it, if somebody wants to cruise along behind me thats their choice. If they suddenly streak past me, and defeat me in our imaginary race, then fair play to them. If somebody beats you at something you can either accept it, make excuses, or train harder. Or maybe you are training too hard and becoming a grumpy person?

I was coming out of town the other day on my mountain bike when I noticed a wee fella tucked in behind me on a commuter, wearing full business suit and a high vis jacket over the top, and his helmet falling into his eyes every hundred yards. I picked up the pace a bit and after a mile or so he was still there, sweating all over his work clothes, getting a bit carried away and having a great time, with a big smile on his face.

Loads of keen cyclists commute. They are still a tiny minority compared to the average commuters who just like a bit of fresh air and have borrowed a bike their mate had in the garage. Most of them wouldn't have the slightest clue about drafting anyway.

I had a day out on a 575 and I was very impressed. The review in the mag was quite accurate, somehow it soaks up everything without losing pedalling efficiency. They are easy to build up light too.

Sure didn't Leicester win the Heineken Cup one year, off the back of some cheating from Neil Back?

Thanks guys, I've made a few enquiries in the classifieds, reckon I'll go for something with hydraulic brakes so it'll probably be a project!

2.35 High Roller front
2.35 Larsen back

You can lean on the High Roller with a bit of confidence and the Larsen rolls great and actually grips pretty well, unless it gets very muddy.

Another thing to bear in mind is resale value. I sold a frame on here recently (07) and only got 200 odd quid for it. I would have just built it back up but I felt it was too long for me compared to my other bikes. Unfortunately the suggestion that they break has torn the arse out of the second hand market. In my opinion they are actually a bit of a bargain second hand if you stay away from 09s. There are a lot of Commencals around here and I know the actual odds of a breakage are very low, especially on the 07s and 08s.

They are beautiful bikes to ride. On the other hand, the Chumbas look nice too!

Total ****!

Surely you can just stick a 29er wheel in a Dorado and reduce the travel?

Thanks folks!

Dales Bike Centre I will definitely pay you a visit, I've often looked around me whilst sat on the A66, and wondered where all the good riding is. After some searching Biketreks looks worth a visit in Ambleside too.

nbt the Roscoe is one of the main ones I want to try but I would need to go bigger than 17.5" unfortunately.

mtb direct

Get a couple of pairs of Superfeet insoles and MTFU.

The twunts in question are more likely to be LOLing away on Pinkbike I'd have thought.

Atherton is running an air shock with lockout, he could make up some time. I reckon he is one of the fitter riders, Atherton, Hill or Minnaar for me.

Front only. I kept checking for flats when I had one on the rear.

Ile des Barrats is in Cham Sud which is the dodgier end of town, petty thieving etc. Its closer to the bars and restaurants though, and handy for the buses.

Mer de Glace is quieter and is actually very handy for some of the trails. There are some very nice dirt jumps nearby as well.

Unless you are really keen on nightlife I'd go Mer de Glace. I doubt there will be a strict noise curfew and there probably won't be many people about at that time of year. I never bother with the buses either and its easy to ride to all the various hills and lifts.

Gran Torino

I bought an E75 a couple of months ago, had never got around to adding any apps. It was a nice phone but it developed a fault which meant I couldn't open the SMS app. Unfortunately it fell out of my bag at some stage during a series of crashes on the black run at Les Houches and that was that.

I'm going Apple now. All I want is something that is easy to use for email, music, photos and video, and has some half decent apps that are easy to get hold of.