How about the Isle of Man. It!s not part of the UK, has low tax, low crime, lots of countryside and superb mountain biking. Housing is affordable and even the weather is not a bad as everybody thinks

A sliding compound mitre saw

Had the woodburner on for the last couple of nights, but only because I’ve got a new woodburner.

And some of those Blazer logs.

Petrol for me. I stick it in the car when taking the dog out for a walk in the woods. If I happen to come across a fallen tree….

Plus it’s more manly.

I can see the sense of electric though if it’s just for the back garden.

I too am over tooled after recently splurging over £1000 at my local Honda/Stihl dealer. I have taken to offering to trim neighbours hedges/prune their trees etc.

They mostly repay me in cakes

I moved up North recently. I tell my Southern mates it’s shite just so they don’t follow suit and ruin it.

As somebody said earlier though, the standard of driving is woeful

My only other regret is that my boy will probably end up supporting Manc City/Utd or one of them Scouser teams

Cough, seat post dropping, cough oval steatpost.

Bad batch about as both my friends went back to Stanton

Yep! Mine went back to the shop (who remain in denial).

Still looking….

Just switched from an SUV to an estate. Early days but enjoying the estate sooo much more. Easier to drive, much more economical and loads more space. Hasn’t been through an IoM winter yet though, so might miss the 4×4 then.

Tbh, it’s just something I’ve always wanted. Recognise irrational but just decided like the idea of ti. Stainless could tempt me though!

I was like that but have to say I found the idea of having a Ti bike better than actually owning one (Moots) nothing wrong with it and a very nice frame but didn’t ride any better (or worse) than any of my other bikes. I stupidly made the same mistake a few years later with a road frame.

I don’t spend as much as I used to on bikes these days. Partly due to family, not as much time to ride etc but mainly because I’ve realised that much of the hype about frame materials is exactly that. Good old fashioned steel for me these days.

^^^ As in “Er, hey mister, your top tube is missing?”…

Jesus! How did I miss that? What’s going on there?

Stiff links?

This. Had the same issue on my wifes brand new MTB. Easy fix

Sorry, wasn’t ignoring the questions about Stanton but missed the first few tbh as I swiped through the photo’s, but anyway it’s between me and Stanton/the retailer and I’m not naming and shaming so don’t ask. I’m sure it’s a great bike and seems to get some v good reviews which I’m sure are well deserved, it’s just not for me, that’s all.

Main thing is some absolutely brilliant photo’s which as well as giving me a few ideas motivated me to go riding for a couple of hours this morning, even though it was on a road bike and peeing down. Happy days 😀

Some fantastic pics here. Love that last one of the Kona by breadcrumb.

Solaris seems to be the way to go and tbh I was on the verge of buying one a week ago

But then again….that Chromag looks tempting…

Roverpig – Nicely done. What size is that/are you?

Breadcrumb – Very cool. But what am I looking at?.

Any members on the Isle of Man?

Parcelforce will accept it if is no more than 1.5m x 1.5m. Most bike boxes are less than this so I would have thought a frame would be.

Failing that then UK Mail?

I couldn’t believe the amount of dick head timewasters I had when I recently sold my Moots on here. Including one bloke who said he wanted it and then pestered me with phone calls to sell it to him for nearly half the price I advertised it at because ‘he’s got the cash waiting’

Thankfully a nice sensible chap from Wales restored my faith in the classifieds and I hope he enjoys the bike.

I did it on a CX. Go for it and do it old skool style!

So, forks and wheels. I really need some help here. When I built up my last bike, 29ers were for weirdos,650b were for tri bikes and 75mm was all the travel you needed up front. I haven’t really been keeping myself up to date with the trends.

What do people recommend? I read somewhere that 27.5s are the future.

Can’t wait to start building this up . Was looking at the Solaris but this seems ticks all the boxes and was cheaper. I set out looking to build a 27.5 bike but am leaning towards 29 inch now. Things have changed a bit since I last bought a MTB. What’s all this dropper seatpost nonsense?

Done it! First new MTB frame for nearly 10 years! 19″ in Emerald green. 😀

Think I’m going to do it. Now to decide 29 or 27.5 wheels.

Cheers Poey.What size are you on. How tall are you etc?

Did a search. Just wanted a bit more than opinions on what tyres are best. Got pics of the one in the classifieds. Looks pretty….

Most people won’t have a problem seeing a party leader dressed in casual clothes, depending on the circumstances

Hmmm I wonder, JC needs to be mindful of how he is perceived. Like me you are old enough to remember the furore this appearance caused a few years ago – whether justified or not (apparently the Queen Mum complimented his choice of attire that day)

I live about half a mile from the start line and all I’ve been able to hear all evening is the singing of engines

A very common elbow pain is tennis elbow. Hold arm out straight in front of you with fingers pointing down. Have somebody apply slight pressure to your fingers whilst you try to straighten them.

Painful?

That’s tennis elbow that is.

Silly old git at the top of the road has gone and got himself a new, full suspension, Santa Cruz, carbon bling machine. I’ve no idea what. But it looks wincingly fast. The trouble is though is that I’m not of the belief that it’ll ever get used on a trail and will do a maximum of 9.0mph on the daily commute

My question though, is this going to cause any problems with the drivetrain(I know nothing about anything.)? Surely this thing is designed to be ragged down a rock strewn mountain? Not pootle to the shops with the dog in a basket?

The terminal decline of British confectionary products started when KitKat stopped using that silver foil wrapping that you could make little animals out of.

They’ll be renaming Opal Fruits next

I wonder how many are fake bids from people offended by the cover.

All these years and I’ve only just realised Windy Miller was a pisshead

Men that wear Scarfs without Coats

Oh Jesus yes. That one as well.

Kylie Minogue.

Mrs SP uses this quote from Alice in Wonderland when she knows someone is talking bollox (usually me)

“It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards”

Stops them dead in their tracks. I’ve never seen it fail

Finished building this on Saturday – just need to sort the bars out.

I’ve tried hard to support my LBS here in Guernsey but…

1. They once tried to sell me the disc brake pads they’d replaced off my own bike.

2. I bought a Chris King headset from them, and they went and fitted another make.

3. Tried to charge me £1.50 for ONE cable end cap.

To be fair the owner seems like a nice bloke but his staff are a bunch of arrogant twunts!

Now I spend my £2-3k per year at CRC, Merlin and Wiggle.

On a condom machine in the Wetherspoons in Peterborough

‘Worst chewing gum I’ve ever tasted’

Under which somebody else had written

‘But oh what bubbles!’

Do you actually believe that suggesting one of the STW staff might be a paedophile is (a) acceptable or (b) likely to be forgotten?

Both?

For the Dales try The New Inn in Appletreewick[/url]

Slap bang in the middle of great riding country and MTBers always made welcome. They had a rather excellent beer menu when I used to go – which is a while ago, but still highly recommended