No one measured our bike bags, one of which was over the maximum length dimension, when we flew Ryanair in September from Manchester. I knew we were over but we just went for it as most bike bags are longer than 119cms. Weirdly though the bag that complied with the Ryanair dimensions wouldn’t fit on the airport’s special, large baggage X-ray machine essentially because it was too tall so we had to take it by hand through normal security to the aircraft where it was chucked on last minute.

For me it’s someone who races (on the road obviously). Would know how to ride in a bunch/chain gang.

At the end of the day for me he’s a Kenyan (wouldn’t it have been better for him to be the first Kenyan to win the TDF?) but he’s a brilliant, aggressive rider so get’s my full appreciation.

it’s clearly impossible to know if Froome could have won last year

Agreed and Wiggins wasn’t given the opportunity to defend his jersey this year by Sky although given his season I guess he would have struggled/pulled out anyway. All part of the slightly weird team vs individual riders aspect of road racing.

Be nice for a French rider to win as it’s the 100th and they haven’t won it for so long but unlikely to happen.

Didn’t know they had a saddle wiggle and I’ve had one on for best part of a year. Maybe I’ll notice it now and it’ll irritate me. Thanks a lot…

I always seem to need to bleed my Oros after changing pads reardless of pad brand. Same on Avid Elixirs on wifes bike. Otherwise they rub. I guess filing them down would also work for me.

I can’t remember the last time I used a multitool either on or off road even though I always carry one. Puncture related kit definately used now and again. Chain tool also been used this year after chain snapped. Would always carry a phone for rescue options/telling missus about impulsive extensions of ride. Maybe energy bar for rides over 2-3 hours. Money for cafe. 1-2 bottles water depending on length of ride. Don’t normally carry any spare clothing on road. Energy bars in pockets, everything else on bike (seat pack + bottle cages).

Penmachno
Innerleithen
Glentress Black

You might find things have moved on a lot in the last three years!

Looks good!

Worst for me is Sherwood Pines mainly because on the FC website it claims to have a red route which I would clasify as a fairly tame blue route. Disapointing.

I find The Marin trail near Betws Coed a bit boring for most of it’s length.

Wasn’t keen on Hamsterly either (about 3 years ago) but I suspect we didn’t find the best bits there.

<State the obvious>There’s no reason why all paths shouldn’t be open to bikes – a great way of increasing the use of the greenest form of (practical) transport on the planet and it would contribute to improving the populations fitness levels. There’s already provision to prohibit the use of bridleways to bikes if required so that could be easily extended to all paths. Make sense?</State the obvious>

I’ve got the K24s – my experience is they are fine to bleed but only if you have the Formula bleed kit and you follow the instructions to the letter. Similar bleed process to Avids.

I think £7 is a lot for parking – compared to other places. We alternate between parking off site and paying. Its £4 November to (I think March) which I’m happy to pay every time as it seems more reasonable. There’s a free car park at 491400,486830 with a bridleway into the forest. Look at an OS map.

I also use the Kyle Straits for Peaks and the like.

Well done for challenging – I doubt I’d have had the nerve to do it. Not sure if there’s ever the right outcome from these incidents but if no one tries…

Very dry summer here in sarf Yorkshire but not much actual sun so trails been superb. Friends in NE Scotland have reported a really wet one though so I know we’ve been lucky.

This week low 20’s so ‘Indian Summer’ in full swing. Good year overall for us so far.

I feel it reads like a complaint

It was a complaint wasn’t it? It was on a forum the SC guy uses himself so he had a right to reply which he used. We can read the complaint and his response and the testimonials added by satified customers and the comments of a previous SC guide and make our own minds up? That’s the power of the web isn’t it?

Yes. Its business

+1

I do plenty of work as a consultant at a small firm for less than our ‘advertised’ prices, additional work for free, etc

In terms of the bike shop in question it’s up to him if that’s how he wants to deal with customers. Maybe he doesn’t need to price match if he does enough business by adding value somehow instead of dropping prices for people randomly calling on the phone.

I’ve suffered from terrible cramp (in thigh muscles) over the years starting around the 3-4 hour riding mark (depending on how hard the ride is). After trying every elctrolytic supplemnent around I’ve come round to thinking it’s a lot to do with muscle fatigue as per above posts. This since I started doing a couple of sessions a week on the road, sticking to the middle ring only, really pushing it on hils. Seems to have strengthened my muscles and cramp seems to be much reduced this year. I still use the elctorlyte tablets in my Camelbak though.

I’ve got a Tacx one and it’s been fine so far (1 rim swap plus 4 or 5 wheel trues). I can always sell it on eBay if I’m ever rich enough to get a £200 one, which no doubt would be significantly superior.

I always stop and help but not carrying a pump (particularly between 3 riders) and then asking other people is very inconsiderate. You should really walk back to your car or home and refuse any offers of help.

Enjoyed it for what it was – an opinion piece. I thought he made some good points. It was written in a polemic style so I don’t think he had an obligation to qualify everything he wrote to cover every readers circumstances.

I use a Topeak for tools, phone, keys etc – http://www.wiggle.co.uk/topeak-aero-wedge-buckle-medium-saddle-bag/ Prefer this strap style to their clip-on ones as I’ve found the clip becomes less effective over time.

Personally would only use jersey pockets for lightweight waterproof if I’m taking one and the odd bit of food.

My experience is check with Hope directly or via a dealer as most of the parts seem to be different to ProII and ProIIIXC. With hindsight I wish I’d got the Pro IIs as the parts seem to be much more widely available.

These guys are good for Commencal stuff – from N Ireland.

http://www.realcycles.com/brands/commencal_bikes.php

Commencal shop site:

http://shop.commencal.com/index.php

Been working from home for 6 years now. I’ve found working alone OK but I’m fairly self contained and things like IM and Skype make keeping in touch easier. Being at my desk from 8 till 5 is not a problem but I think there’s a certain discipline in not surfing the web when you should be working. Depends on the individual I guess.
On the technical side as long as you’ve got a good and reliable broadband connection the rest has to be up to your company as you’re probably not qualified to decide how to do it and you certainly don’t want to take responsibility for setting up security related stuff. Great not commuting and as someone else mentioned lunch time rides.

Over biked (and under biked) are perfectly reasonable ways to express an opinion on the choice of a bike for a particular situation. Ego Chariot, Skills Compensator, etc are purely ways of insulting someone.

Sounds like a lot of time for a professional bike mechanic. Did you not ask them how long it normally takes before giving the go ahead?

Got some from here. Cost £6 for 2 though.

I’ve not but would have no objection if I had the cash – either if I was buying online and there was no discount opportunity or if I could get the same discount plus 0% finance. Also I’d do the apply for a credit card with 0% on purchases for a year thing. Then put the cash in a savings vehicle. I trust myself not to then spend the cash on something else.

Also if the frame on my only bike snapped and I was broke but reasonably confident about employment prospects I’d probably do it even if I didn’t have the cash.

CRC
Wiggle
Lexs
Anyone else who’s got the best price and has a stock indicator for each item

Looking at the streetmap – there are virtually no bridleways in that area! Almost like the council couldn’t be bothered to designate any when they first came in!

Anyone ridden any XC race courses in the UK that would prove tricky on a CX bike?

Dalby World Cup course?

Looks great to me. A XC course that has to deliver on a set day – whatever the weather is like on the day itself or has been over the preceding weeks

Agree with above. Looks miles better than some recent World Cup courses, e.g. Champery. They could keep it for racing after the Olympics if it’s required. Dalby would have been good I guess but maybe it is too far away from the main event.

Yes you can use PP without an account – so you can do that to avoid using their credit card system.

That is not what I said. The common misconception is that you implement stored procedures and bingo, don’t worry about injection

Fair enough.

no, it mitigates against them

So is it impossible to implement a secure payment portal that’s invunerable to SQL injection attacks (specifically)?

Doesn’t using stored procedures for all db access, rudimentary user input checking plus having a decent security object security setup on your database eliminate SQL injection attacks?

SQL Injection sounds about right

I find it hard to believe a website of the size of CRC would be subject to a SQL injection attack – preventing this is not difficult and everyone involved in data driven sites is aware of it as a threat… aren’t they??