If you’re in dire need of the fifty quid back right now, maybe you shouldn’t have spent it in the first place?

Allegedly a recently cancelled credit card will allow you to use the payage for free.

Ha Ha Ha!!!!

I would stick to verbal abuse, fighting is all a bit unseemly. Although verbal abuse might not be your strong point.

When I was younger I had a mate whose father was a very well respected and politely spoken individual by the name of Frank. After a disagreement with another driver he got out of his car at traffic lights, walked over to the other car and knocked politely on his window. Seeing this well dressed gent with a conciliatory look on his face, the other driver rolled down the window, expecting polite discussion. Frank then ripped off his wing mirror and gently handed it to him through the window, with the words “There you go, now kindly **** off”. Apparantly the guy just sat there speechless.

On a serious note, theres not exactly a shortage of Jap imports in NZ – could you do a bit of tuning/rally prep on the side?

Whereabouts are you anyway?

I am a mountain, I am the sea, You can’t take that away from me.

So you’re sorry for being a bit of a knob, but you don’t like being called on it?! Did you have a few drinks?

Anyway, speedball bitch slapping and a decent chin worked out fine for Calzaghe didn’t it?!

Lost Johnny get a grip. Barrera obviously couldn’t handle Khan’s power and hand speed. He is hardly going to admit that he can’t cope, Barrera has a great chin but he was feeling those punches, he is a legend but he is undoubtedly long past his best. If it had gone longer Barrera would just have got more of a thrashing.

Khan will never silence his critics but with knobs like you about, who can blame him for being pleased when all his hard work pays off. He has swallowed his pride and gone off to the states to train with one of the best coaches in the world. Anyone with the faintest clue about boxing can see that he has improved dramatically and that is down to talent and hard work.

You should think about doing a season in the mountains somewhere. It would cost you very little out of your capital, let you ride every day and clear your head, and maybe open your eyes a bit to the tourist industry which can be great work for some people, but doesn’t suit everyone.

I say this because you seem to be sure that you want a break, but unsure of your next step. If you’ve raised your kids and can afford to do it, a couple of months away and some time for reflection will help you make a better long term decision.

I’ve used Skiidy Gonzales, Ski-Lifts and Mountain Drop-Offs, they are all fine for service so it’ll come down to the best cost. Quotes will vary depending on the pricing policy, whether they can group you with someone else, etc, so phone around.

Very funny thread!!!

Lads oh lads…

There are small minded people on both sides of the political battle in Ulster. You can’t please one lot without upsetting the other, which makes this a very difficult problem to solve.

If people want or need to learn more about the situation then this isn’t really the place for it.

I have one, they are reserving the right to introduce the cap at 2% but they are still passing on some of the reductions. You can’t complain really, they’re within their rights to cap it at 2% which is still cheap – at least you’re not fixed!

Some of you boys need a utility belt, never mind a backpack!

Park or Crank Bros multi tools seem most popular? Any advice on specific multi-tools?

Yep another DaKine Nomad here. The layout is very good, you can get a couple of extra layers and a days food in there no problem

In my professional opinion the only benefits of pods are consistency and ease of use. You get the same drink time after time but it isn’t a great cup of coffee.

You could try a counter top bean to cup, they take fresh beans and milk and do the hard parts for you, less labour intensive, more consistent, but maybe more expensive. If you want to take beans and milk, push a button and get a nice cup of coffee with foam they are your best bet.

Not knocking stovetops, barista style machines, etc, they’ve all got their benefits.

Atomlabs are lovely, nice big concave surface, loads of grip with 5.10s.

Maximum you need is a couple of dumbells and a long bar, although you could probably get a couple of kettlebells (and a book about them) for under a hundred quid. A punchbag is good craic too.

The key is to mix up what you are doing to avoid boredom, and to read up a bit on different types of training session and exercises involved.

In comparison training on a multigym would actually be more boring. A variety of exercises with free weights, maintaining good posture, will give you far better gains in terms of shape and functional strength.

If you get easily bored stick some music on and work it into a circuit split between upper and lower body.

First of all, sorry to see you were bitten, it looks painful.

I know it is awkward for people who don’t know dogs to read their behaviour, so here is some advice, hopefully this will help a couple of people.

If you feel threatened by, or unsure of a dog, stare it down. Avoiding eye contact is submissive. If it is closing the distance between you, shout at it if necessary, and make as if you are prepared to give it a good kicking. As a last resort, a swift kick to the ribs will do the trick.

The vast majority of dogs will back off at the shouting stage, they are all conditioned to see humans as dominant.

If in doubt dismount. They are at their worst when they think they are chasing you away, it makes them cocky, I can see in this case the bite is in the back of the leg.

I am a dog lover myself but I have kicked a plenty in my time, it does them no harm. Unless its very vindictive I have no problems with other people disciplining/kicking my dog, they bounce back fine!

Fraud. Get a grip of yourself. Its a couple of hundred quid! If your dad has an understanding boss he can buy whatever bike he wants and might not even have to pay anything back in salary sacrifice.

There haven’t been any decent road tests done yet, there were a couple in Top Gear and Autocar but they were absolute rubbish “I had a passenger ride with a rally driver and it was well fast, what an exciting car!!!”.

Hopefully evo or drivers republic will get a hold of one soon and give it a decent review. I’d be going for the white one, if its as good as it sounds it’ll be a future classic.

So your wife went on holiday and you bought a nice new bike, good lad!

Absolutely horrific car.

You can get a decent nick Exige for 15 grand these days. If you simply must have a hairdresser’s car the old Racing Puma is pretty good value these days.

It is incredible! The sound system in the car is at ASBO levels, I should probably know better. Its probably not safe to ride bikes to, you’d only get carried away…

Float 36 RC2s
SLX groupset with my old Saint brakes
Mavic 321s on Hope Pro2s, Panaracer Rampage SCs
Spank Bars, Stem, Lock-ons.
Thomson Seatpost, Fizik Saddle

My SX – around 33/34 lbs. Sorry about the watermarks.

I used to work in the accounts department of a major tour op. Our typical margins were 10-20% on lift passes and ski school, and up to 700% on skis, boots etc.

Lets say there are deals to be had on equipment hire!!

I’ve got a nice car but I’ve also picked up about 4 or 5 grands worth of bikes in the year since I started. There would probably be plenty of people on here who consider me all the gear, no idea when standing in a car park, and I would probably drop a few of them on the first climb out of said car park. I’ve been on both sides of the divide, when I worked in the Alps we had plenty of punters who had the best kit money could buy, but didn’t actually understand what made it so good, or even how to use it.

I test drove an ST and bought the GTI. The ST is a bit softer sprung and the nose tends to move up/down more under power/braking. The Ford engine is lovely and torquey though, great engine note. Civic Type R didn’t do it for me, Megane R26 was great to drive but Renaults depreciate very quickly. Didn’t look at the Subarus or R32 as they would have killed me on Benefit in Kind.

All hot hatches are seen as chav cars by the unenlightened…

I’m guessing you are Conor from MTBrider?

If you are getting new shoes you might as well get your gait analysed, Up&Running in Belfast are good. Podium in Castlereagh have a few good deals on but don’t do analysis. As for brands, they are all slightly different shapes. I went though New Balance, Adidas, Nike, thinking that blisters were just part of braking in shoes. Now I always buy Asics and I’ve never had a blister from them. Find the right brand for your fett and stick to it!

I would be wary of out and out trail shoes, the lack of cushioning means you should only really use them off road.

Get a grip of yourself man.

You went into the hills in February with no preparations and were surprised when it wasn’t what you expected. Either prepare properly, make the best out of the conditions, or don’t go into the hills.

The place is there to make things more accessible, not to remove your obligation to use your brain.

I should mention that my Casco met its end when a big fall pushed the chinpiece into the main shell – couldn’t get it off again and it eventually snapped. You should check you aren’t going to have similar problems.

They are a decent lid but at £120 they’re very expensive cosidering they’ll break so easily compared to a proper full face.

I has a Casco for a good while, bought because I was trying to have one bike/set of kit for everything. The Met is much better vented but lighter built, you could use it as an XC lid where the Casco is just too much for that.

It was great because I was learning and had a fair few unexpected falls. These things will save your face from low speed accidents or make a big difference in a massive fall.

Nice of so many non-smokers to drop in here for a bit of self congratulation!

Its absolutely true that you will never give up until you have a decent reason – mine was having a kid on the way. I’m not saying you can’t. If you keep everything in moderation it becomes hard to convince yourself to quit, because I reckon you get 95% of the enjoyment of smoking out of about 5% of the cigarettes you smoke. For instance with a drink or having a sit down after a big day in the hills.

As for all this hysteria about dropping dead at 40-50, the odd cigarette is going to have no material effect on your odds of survival. Cut out the pointless ones and don’t worry about the odd one here and there.

Anyway, why this obsession with living forever?! I am watching a collection of grandparents slowly decline into full time care. Their quality of life is rubbish. A couple of them could have checked out already, and might have been better for it.

I think they’re split it from what I read on the BBC website, too many whingers complaining about the "junkets" and the reduced race coverage.

There is another show on with the same two presenters from last year doing all the non race stuff.

Caffeine isn’t terrible for you but it does affect heart rate – if you have a dicky ticker you are generally told to cut down.

Man up, it isn’t like you’re kicking the smack!!

Thanks!

I’ve got those hard soled shoes with the serrated grips up the sides so they shouldn’t foul the pedal. Twisting out is ok as long as its smooth, before the op I was using an old pair of Shimanos that are past their best and can be a bit hit and miss for releasing.

Advert!!!