if you are using a 90mm stem you either have freakish body proportions or are riding the wrong size frame.

Or you bought a bike supplied with a 90mm stem.

What stem length pro riders use is entirely up to them. It doesn’t make it right for me, you or anyone else. Frame geometry varies, so there’s no ‘one stem size fits all’ recipe, and what feels right on the brake hoods might not work so well when on the drops.

I’d suggest you fit the stem whichever way around suits you, there’s no need to flip it to a -veº angle because a bunch of forum pixels said so.

@rewski IMHO milk is overrated and definitely not a ‘magic bullet’ recovery drink, but from what I’ve read it does contain a reasonable mix of carb and proteins.

Regardless of the mix of evidence about Aspartame I’m not keen on putting something so obviously artificial into my body. The fact that there was underhand stuff going on to get it approved in the USA does not bode well.

Artificial sweeteners can screw up the body’s response, as I believe the sweet taste in the mouth triggers an appropriate response (I forget where I read this now).

High5 Zero still contain three artificial sweeteners – Sorbitol, Saccharine, Acesulfame K. I see they’ve removed the bragging page claiming that their products contain no artificial crap though still claim “We Do Not Use Artificial Sweeteners” elsewhere on the site.

Nuun tablets contain Acesulfame K.

No artificial sweeteners or other trash in Torq or Bikefood energy drinks or Elete electrolyte.

Find a mate who plays and take them shopping.

Try LOTS.

I agree.

Don’t necessarily take shop staff comment verbatim, they will have their own ideas and you won’t necessarily agree. It’s a personal thing and if you have a reasonable ear you’ll easily detect the sonic differences while you can establish a preferred neck and body shape after trying some out.

The choice can be bewildering, even among acoustics. Yamaha are reliable, good VFM, though there are other brands at that end of the market now too.

Always, always, always try it out with a capo as well once tuned up – if one or more strings go out of tune too much the intonation is off so put it back. Ditto checking bridge adjustment – if it buzzes up the neck or is too hard to play barre chords it’s not set up correctly.

Next you need one with guards for when the weather gets a bit ‘Belgian’ like today.

Crud Roadracers would sort that issue… though don’t let that idea stop you buying another bike 😉

Nice colour BTW.

nacho, Isla does offer p/x but you’re likely to get a better price selling privately.

2010 Kona Jake is going for around £600 now. Same frame as the Snake but with P2 steel fork and Tiagra triple.

Have been considering one for a while and never read anything bad about them. They seem to be used for everything – allrounder/winter hack, CX racing, commuting, panniered-up touring etc.

We persuaded our pink-obsessed daughter onto her Cnoc by adding a little pink handlebar bag, which conveniently doubles as water bottle/snack/bike lock storage.

Her old bike, nowhere near as good of course, is available(piccy).

Forgive me if I don’t follow your link, but I’ve had enough of this!

You are forgiven, my son 😉

That’s a pity though, you might have learnt something. The author did, I did, and we’ve both been riding on the road for a while.

Until that entrenched mental attitude changes and a bit of education kicks in, nothing will change.

Agreed. Drivers are sold the dream of the open road, they get attitude training from Clarkson and their superior skills from watching F1 on the telly.

The love of the car (not just its practical value) as well as the sense of invulnerability when confronted by a poxy cyclist, means that the 2,222 people who were killed on the road last year doesn’t register for the headline writers – compare that with those who died in Afghanistan. And then there are the 24,690 who are seriously injured. That’s a lot of injures, and we’re not talking a graze or fall from which you get up and ride off.

DezB, this experienced cyclist took Bikeability training:

http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-cycle-training-session.html

I’m not saying you are a crap/indifferent/good rider or nuffink so relax, OK? Just read the article.

Drivers get away with this kind of behaviour because they can – they’re big and made of metal, we’re small and break easily. If cyclists routinely carried firearms they wouldn’t do it.

According to SJS[/url] there are three sizes of 24″ 😐

I’d suggest Schwalbe Marathon 1.5″ as an all-rounder or Durano 1″ (folding) for speed/racing. You could ring Islabikes and see what they fit to their 24″ wheeled bikes.

Without the t*ts and the prickteaser smirk what’s left? A posh burd who can cook. Big deal.

Every photo I’ve seen shows off those two properties, which suggests she hasn’t got much else to offer. An unposed image from last year:

Would you want to wake up next to that?

the welsh are a really nice welcoming bunch on the whole

That’s good to hear. Too often the ‘white settlers’ moan that they aren’t accepted by the community (though sometimes it’s because they make little effort to become part of the community). Unfortunately a few anti-English knuckle-draggers still exist.

Shropshire, even the quiter rural bits, is not a particularly cheap place to buy a house. It has generally been a bit of a well-kept secret (apart for on this forum), an oft bypassed place which has a good balance between the old-fashioned and modern ways of life. Whereabouts you touch down can make quite a difference to the experience – I wouldn’t recommend Ludlow, a Schizoid town with high property prices.

Watersports might be a problem, the mid-Wales coast is the best part of 2 hours drive away (albeit through those beautiful Cambrian mountains) but canoeing is quite popular and places like Llangollen or Bala aren’t far away.

BTW there’s no such thing as “free” childcare 😉

If you can’t fit a triple and don’t like the jump from 50 to 34T you could get a ‘cross double (36/46) and MTB cassette. 46×11 is the same as 50×12, while 36×34 will be at least as low as 30×25. SJS sell a Stronglight Impact in 34/48 and 36/50 for £70.

Isla will advise you on sizing over the ‘phone if you measure your child’s height and inside leg length but a visit to the shop near Ludlow is an enjoyable experience.

+1 to PTR’s comments about the quality. They don’t cost much more than run-of-the-mill bikes and are much better specced and finished. We’ve had Rothan, Cnoc 14 and Beinn 20 and they’re just brilliant. Other bikes of the same size they’re nowhere near as good and secondhand prices plummet while Islabikes retain their value. You really do get what you pay for.

I decided a 50/39/30 triple was worth the extra weight (about 200g ). The middle ring is ideal for pootling, stop-start and general riding, the big ring for cracking on and time trials and the granny is there for the steep climbs that crop up during my rides around Shropshire.

I felt the downside of a 50/34 compact is the big jump between chainrings. Also on middling rides I’d be right at the top end of the cassette with the 34T front ring.

However, in the end it’s personal choice and I’m sure if I had bought a bike with compact setup I’d manage just fine.

Comparison graph on flickr, rustled up when I had a 52T chainring.

Superb, isn’t it..!

Yep, absolutely frickin’ fabulous!

BC’s report is at http://bit.ly/doQBlX

Usual advice I've seen before is to ask at Pearce Cycles in Ludlow.

How about these?

Tektro deep drop are fitted as standard on lots of road bikes that have mudguard clearance like my SCR 2, I bet there are a few on ebay.

Sarn Helen, Pont Scethin?

http://www.dyfimountainbiking.org.uk/Dyfi_MTB/Welcome.html

http://www.flattyresmtbroutes.com/WalesRoutes.html

Not sure of routes but it's easy enough to build your own if you know your way around. Try including Nant Gwynant pass from Beddgelert to Capel Curig, Llanberis and Ogwen Passes to the North. All suffer with bad traffic congestion during the summer, though 🙁

A good loop would be to go up Gwynant, across to Capel Curig, left up the A5 and through Ogwen, then left in Bethesda, Tregarth and and Pentir (or the u/c road over Mynydd Llandegai if you want it even harder), up Llanberis pass and back down Gwynant.

Or go south from Betws Y Coed along the A470 to Llan Ffestiniog, then left over the moors to Ysbyty Ifan. In Pentrefoelas take the B-road through Nebo and either drop down to Llanrwst or carry on North towards Colwyn Bay direction, drop down to Conwy and go back up the valley to Betws on the much quieter B-road on the western side.

There are plenty of little known, tough rides around Hiraethog and the Denbighshire moors. Look for the routes of the Dave Lloyd Megachallenge and Gran Fondo Cymru on bikely.com – both are tough, long sportive rides known for their hard climbs.

Some of the longest climbs are around the Beacons and Black Mountains. Look for the roads used by the Dragon Ride or the Tour of the Black Mountains. None of the climbs we have will be Alpine in scale but there are plenty of hard ones around if you care to look for them.

You've already mentioned the main contenders, though you could also consider Planet-X wheelsets.

Have run a pair of RS10s on for a few months now, really liking them. Not sure what you're paying extra for with the RS20 and RS30.

OS reinstall may be worth doing but as others have said some ropey sectors on your HD might be causing it. Having said that, iTunes can be a hog and cause problems. If it's only that app causing the crashes you could back up your library, delete all iTunes software and preferences and install from scratch.

If you want to repair your HD the OS may not let you run Disk Repair without booting from an install CD – you'll have to put the CD in, restart and hold down the C key (though you need a little confidence as it initially appears to run the install but after OK'ing language etc you can opt to run Disk Utility from the top bar menu). While you have Disk Utility open I'd repair disk permissions as well.

Also in Utilities is the Activity Monitor, which is like Task Manager for Windows. It will at least tell you what's eating CPU, RAM and virtual memory.

You could download a utility tool such as Cocktail, Applejack or Onyx to do some logfile tidying and miscellaneous tasks but I doubt they'd fix a crashing machine. Hope you get it sorted. Back up your data whatever you do (or even if you do nothing)!

FCN calculator[/url].

I can't figure out why, if the OP's blue klingon is so good, would he sit on behind? Perhaps a case of ATGNI.

If you want to ride with then make it sociable. If you're playing The Game then f..k off past and make a proper job of it.

Can you buy Pro 3 Race / GP4000S in 25mm? I've not looked.

Conti GP 4 Seasons is at your price limit but is tougher than these two.

Others with p-word protection are Rubino Pro II/III or Bontrager Race X Lite Hardcase (at 250g, significantly lighter and more supple than the standard ~350g Hardcase which is as tough as anything).

Yes, I like the owl.

I guess it's not quite like the old days where the electrical shop is now, just up from No.13 (somewhere to spend your lunch break, eh 😉 ). Despite the extra space the new shop is rather tight – the amount of stock they carry in is incredible and it's nearly always really busy in there.

rootes1, love that slightly spooky front page. Shows what you could be done before we had the internet and 3,000 fonts.

Dave's shop is just around the corner from where it was and still growing – they recently swallowed the fishing tackle shop next door.

A video of Peaty & co. in vintage DH racing at Eastridge run by Mid Shropshire Wheelers[/url].

@grahamt1980 I would ignore the 100 psi. Fine on smooth roads, but I usually run 80-90 psi, it's more reassuring and comfortable on the poor surfaces around Shropshire but still rolls perfectly well.

700×25 is nominally 2mm wider than 700×23. The larger tyre has more contact area, more rounded profile and possibly more comfort thanks to the larger volume of air in the tyre. Some technical FAQs answered by Schwalbe here[/url].

I've been very happy with my Rubino Pro II (folding), which are lighter and better spec than standard Rubino (wire bead). There's now an improved Pro III. Krylions roll well, are robust and very popular.

IIRC Lithion is a lower spec tyre than these two so I wouldn't want to pay over the odds for them but I'm sure they are fine. Tyres are consumables so you can always upgrade in due course.

You have to pay to park at Carding Mill but it's a lovely place for a stroll and building dams in the stream or a proper hike over the Mynd, and they have gorgeous homemade cakes in the cafe. New bike shop (inc MTB hire) in Church Stretton, Plush Hill Cycles.

Try http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk for events and places to visit in the county. What you like depends on what floats your boat – steam trains on the Severn Valley Railway, Rays Farm (not a typical farm attraction), Wenlock Edge, Ironbridge gorge and museums (my kids love Enginuity), Stiperstones NNR, Hereford cathedral or the castle, Abbey etc in Shrewsbury. There are a number of microbreweries in the county, if you like good beers check the food festival's Ale Trail.

If you fancy riding some of the many quiet lanes in the area the council have produced some routes, including ones around Ludlow, Craven Arms, Bishop's Castle and Stretton areas. Start here. NCR45 Mercian Way and NCR44 Six Castles linear routes are nearby. You can request printed copies via an online form or download the PDFs.

Yeah, ring Islabikes.

The v-brakes on their bikes are almost too powerful – seen a couple of kids go over the bars due to application with tiny fingers (~5 yr olds, each on a Cnoc, grabbing a fistful), one was my daughter 🙁

Hey rig, wake up at the back there please!

Elaine, I was not suggesting you ride 24" wheeled bike, merely indicating the range on the site. Download the size guide if you're looking at an Islabike.

There are four sizes of the Luath road bikes – one with 24" wheels, one with 26" and two with 700c wheels.

rig, that article is rather old, quite a bit has changed since then with the big manufacturers. Isla has put a lot of thought into her bikes – crank length, bar diameter, grips, shifters etc.

Deore 11-34T, £16.99 from Woollyhatshop on ebay.

Can't see why you would want to pay more, I find the cheaper Deore/Tiagra cassettes and PC951 chain (from WHS or Highonbikes) work perfectly and last a long time.

A small chainring is pointless on a road bike

Oh dear 🙄

You can come and ride the hills with me on your 'man sized' 42T inner ring. The last laugh will be mine. I'm not especially unfit but I do occasionally need my 30T granny ring. It doesn't hamper my riding the rest of the time. The uninformed talk of chainline issues is absolute poppycock. You can always swap to a compact later if you want.

I am 5'3" and have Giant SCR size XS (42cm). Elaine, the Dolce or an XXS Giant Defy or s/h SCR would be a good size, they have a sloping top tube and 650c wheels. Don't listen to the talk of inner tube or tyre scarcity for this size, that's just bobbins.

The Islabikes[/url] Luath road models may well be appropriately sized for you. Their size chart is pretty accurate and Isla really knows what she's doing.

Is it worth listing it on Bikeradar's stolen forum?

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=40027

IMHO £20 isn't really enough for two decent units. A Cateye rear such as LD600/LD610 will get you seen in most conditions (you do want to be noticed, right?) though the little LD130 / LD150 models are useable. All run on 2xAAA.

On the front the tiny Cateye EL135 (2xAA) is the minimum I'd settle for. The larger models, the EL320 and up, have a bright spot but poor spread. Fenix LD20 (2xAA) is waaay better, waterproof and a truly worthwhile investment. Yes it blows your budget to pieces but unlike the others you are unlikely to feel the need to upgrade after a few trips home from the pub.

njee20,

My brakes improved markedly when I changed wheels from the (probably rather worn) Alex DA22 to Shimano RS10. However, if you're comparing Tiagra to Dura Ace then maybe you've been spoilt – in the nicest possible way.

4500 series Tiagra STIs have indicator window.

Sora series, including the current 9 speed, has the paddle to shift one way and a thumblever on the inside of the hood for the other, similar to Campagnolo.

Tiagra (9 speed), 105, Ultegra and DA (all 10 speed) use the paddle behind the brake lever for both. On the RH shifter you push the paddle alone to change up, push brake lever to change down. On the left you push paddle to shift to smaller ring, push brake lever to go to big ring.

Newest series of 105 (called 5700) and Ultegra have gear cables under the bar tape, as per DA. The comic reviewed 105 recently and gave it 10 out of 10, reviewer said it works as well as the more expensive 10 speed systems. Real world differences between the 3 current systems are small.

thisisnotaspoon's description sounds about right.

My daughter struggled with the Cnoc's system but when I asked her Isla suggested she scoot to start off and since trying it her confidence has improved no end.