Tom, not entirely due to race but certainly one of the main factors. You know how the majority of taxi drivers are , you know Muslims? I know of several policing campaigns which set out to improve the mechanical conditions of said taxis, for the safety of the public but were always stopped due to accusations of racism from the taxi drivers themselves. So they are allowed to drive on while bits are falling off and the brakes don’t work.

If you want to keep sweat out of your eyes then the only item that has worked for me is the sweathawg cap, ordered from the US. Other items have been too hot, too tight resulting in a headache or just not good enough. They are one of the best bits of kit I have bought recently.

Yeah I had this where I lived a while back. One guy deliberately teed as I was passing, ball landed near me and the guy was all smug until I picked it up and cycled to the pond and threw it in.

Same here, SRAM did have a reply to this on its site, something to do with the change from dual air to solo air, to chambers swapping pressure or something. When the fork is compressed slightly there’s no movement as the chambers are working apparently.

Me too. All night with stomach cramps and every two hours letting water out from me ar@e. On day 3 and I am now out of the liquid stage with just an uncomfortable stomach and zero appetite. Forcing jam on toast down very now and then to keep energy levels up then feel like I’ve just had a banquet.

Okay, I googled it. Ouch. How did you do it? Are you a middle aged man and only 3% of bicep ruptures are distal ones so you have a rare one! not that I would want to trade it with you.

Came off my one and only road bike aged 19 some 21 years ago and snapped my front tooth in half vertically as it exited through my upper lip. Cue several caps, crowns, posts, infections, root canal fillings over the next 10 years. Thought recently that it was all behind me until excruciating pain in my lower front teeth revealed that two of them had now died as a result of trauma received from that bike crash. Cue another £800 pounds in dental fees. That road bike was only £300 the diesel on the road was only a quids worth but the cost to me is still unlimited. Fat tyres all the way after that though!

My experience of slotted dropouts was that without some sort of tug nut to get the wheel back in the same place then the back wheel was prone to slipping under high exertion if you didn’t have an old school steel skewer done up real tight.

RP, I can’t offer any advice on riding a FF29 nor a buzzard but I ride a Solaris. Before my test ride I had a Niner MCR and I thought it was awesomely fast. I recall thinking to myself that the Solaris really had to be special to better the MCR. My first thought on the Solaris was how much front wheel I could see, a 70mm stem with a long top tube and slacker head angle made a big difference. It’s taken some time to get dialled into to off reading the Solaris after so many years on a Soul,but contrary to what a lot of people say about 29ers, I found the Solaris easier to manual than my Soul. My Solaris is extremely capable downhill as well as everything else.

“It’s probably like that due to people riding in wet conditions. Sometimes the best way to maintain trails is to not ride them.”

I see this comment a lot lately, but really how do we think “trails” were made in the first place? If people decided not to go anywhere as it was muddy the trails would have all but disappeared.

That looks awesome mate, is that why you took a photo? Stick some proper thin spiky mud tyres on, proper winter boots/gaiters and just enjoy it. As for the inconsistent depth puddles, isn’t that the fun of dropping in a big brown puddle? Thinking to yourself “how far down is this one?” I would have just glad to get out if I had been stuck inside since last year.

I feel it too, just replaced a worn out geax gato and found plenty of solidified lumps of latex on the inside which has saved me from fixing punctures, probably in the rain and in the dark.

I had a set of sp wheels that got seized by winter salt. It was an absolute nightmare to get the spokes out as they just rotated in the hub. I had to burn one out of the hub as it seized solid and there is still one locked in the front hub but I really can’t be bothered with it as I’m not going down that road again. So buy them if you only ever ride in the summer.

I worked in the met some 13 years ago, I’ll never forget the experience of stopping cars with 3-4 black males inside as the car either reeked of cannabis (yep you can smell it in another car it’s that strong) or there was intel that it contained drugs or weapons. You had to get another vehicle to assist as soon as the car was stopped all the males would leap out and be extremely aggressive and threatening inches from your face calling you racist etc. It would often end up with persons detained sometimes arrested before you even got to search the car. Surprisingly there would be drugs or weapons in the car. Often you would be joined by one or two extra cars of black extremely aggressive males, they were the back up cars. There would usually be complaints of racism, excessive force all spurred on by criminal solicitors ( if you’ve seen breaking bad you’ll know what that means) what I’m trying to explain is that this behaviour is a tactic to discourage police attention, the ongoing noise by the Duggans and their extended families is part of this tactic also. Of course they don’t want to be stopped while they transport drugs and weapons, of course they don’t want the risk of being shot doing what 99 percent of the rest of the population don’t do. Everybody else who is naively sucked into this noise should take note of the saying “be careful what you wish for” I’m not saying the mechanism we have for dealing with crime is perfect, but it is acknowledged the world over it be the best.

Jeez, what a load of shite this thread has turned into. WTF are those guys going on about up there?

And would there have been a riot if he did kill someone?

Mark Duggan is a victim of himself only. He has been arrested before and escaped justice probably through very good free legal advice. It is a classic example of someone who believes they somehow operate outside of consequential behaviour, that their actions do not impact upon themselves, if it does then it’s not their fault. Mark Duggan refused to learn from his behaviour and pushed this to the maximum. I know if I was subjected to a hard stop by armed police with the commands of “don’t move”‘ the last thing on my mind would be to jump out and flail my arms about getting rid of the evidence. He gambled, probably for the umpteenth time and lost. If he stayed put, got charged for possession of a firearm we know that he would be out after serving half of his sentence. He made this happen, no-one else.

Hora, you waited alongside a cyclist all last week? That’s a fair amount of determination.

Well I thought it was pretty awesome. To those who said meh, try taking your brakes off one time downhill. Granted she has a pretty big space to do it in but it shows how much braking is for comfort rather than required.

Apparently he’s spent some time with Jason Rourke,son of Brian, making frames. I worked with Jase some years ago and he is a right Stokie. I imagine the conversation will undoubtedly have lots of chief and cracking in it as already mentioned but what’s making me giggle is the stuff Jase will be saying, umm thingy, mate, d’ya know wharra mean love, duck etc. It will be ace.

Furryhead, unfortunately not everybody knows about their bike beyond the fact it had two wheels, the colour and maybe how many gears. There is also input error, I searched our database for a suspected stolen Kona and drew a blank. Only when searching wider, which took ages did I find it. I imagine the conversation went like this, “what is your bike called” reply ” a Kona”
Guess what it was recorded as? Akona. Face palm. Jobs hard enough without crap like that.

Autumn is the start of the Mud Tech season, where only true riding jedi’ can “feel the force” when riding over a carpet of slippy leaves which hide roots, rocks and holes. Great fun. Also as the weather gets colder there are less morons out and about getting in the way. Bonus.

Sometimes the best rides are the unplanned ones, especially if they end up with finding secret spots. I take it the gamekeeper was unconcerned with you causing trail erosion, telling you off while on his quad!

Me too, before this degenerates into puerile wheel size hatred. I have owned a Soul for over 6 yrs and have only bettered this with, a Solaris. It didn’t happen overnight, more like 12-14 months of which 10 months were rigid on the Solaris until I decided to put a pair of Rebas on. Granted they aren’t everybody’s cup of tea but for me at 6’4 it’s the first bike I have owned that doesn’t look like a gate. My soul has not been ridden for months since putting sus forks on the Solaris. I am constantly surprising myself at what I can do on it, so used to riding a 26er for over 20 odd years you get kind of get stuck in your ways/opinions on what is possible or not.

I reckon it’s the French issue that puts us off, share with the French! That’s just not colonial cricket what!

…..traffic lights but only when they’re green. He likes traffic lights but only when they’re green. I like traffic lights except when they are red. He likes traffic lights except when they are red. I like oh sod it can’t be arsed.

The guy is Legend. I wish I could clear gates that way!

Although the offence at the time may have been rape, it looks pretty clear to me that what was done with the iron bar led to her death. So the offence is murder at most manslaughter at least as even the most uneducated know that sticking iron bars where the sun don’t shine is bad for your health. Seems to me that when truly shocking incidents occur that we as a society rather not look at the elephant in the room and will react by either clearing the room by state sponsored murder or look the other way and make sure that the crockery is all adjusted and in line in an OCD manner by insisting that these monsters are treated in the most civilised way possible and afford them every right possible.

I used a carrier like that on an early 853 Rourkie MTB build. The tubes are so tough that the first batch worn out the seat tube reamers, my old frame now has to run a 27.0 post. Anyway you’ll have no problem with strength, just a possibility of it marking the paint/transfers as mentioned earlier.

I agree with the OP. If the vid starts off with full facers or piss pots pushing uphill I find I have already lost interest.

“In reality many people like to eat foods that are laden with sugar and fat and don’t like to do much exercise”

But isn’t this just how animals behave? Our ability to secure a reliable source of food laden with energy has only happened post WW2, not a lot of time in the evolution of man. It always interests me that ‘wild’ animals will only use energy to catch food, protect their interests or to mate. Animals rarely go for a 100 mile run for the fun of it. Man has to be conditioned for exercise from an early age, otherwise we just revert to base animal instinct.

I was talking to a mortuary worker at the last snowmaggedon expecting that he was rushed off his feet with frozen skint oaps. He told me that far from it that a hot summer was worse for deaths, you can always put more clothes on, but once you are down to your smalls there’s little more you can do to cool down. Personally I prefer the winter, more challenging and less morons wandering about getting in the way.

Bencooper, thankfully the govt slashing the NHS budget for mental health care has kept all those police thugs away from you and kept them standing with people who are addicted to various substances both legal and illegal who want to kill themselves. The recent hot spell has seen up to ten fascists a night up at the local a&e with people seeking help from non existent mental health services.

I have a similar issue but not overbiked more a duplication, a Cotic Soul and a Solaris. Problems as I see it is the absolute pittance you will get selling the fs frame secondhand. I reckon your’e better keeping it for the occasional use as buying it again in 2yrs time will cost a fortune.

Riding to get in the mileage is a sure fire way to lose your mojo. Ride to enjoy mountain biking, to enjoy the outdoors, the sights and smells. Take your computer/GPS off forget about strava and just have fun.

“STW trollers/Desk jockey/Timewasters”
+1000

The ones who will always want pics for pics sake. The ones who will add comments like “if only it was small/medium/large/blue/red/pink etc I’d have it straight off you” Do you go into high street stores and take a loaf of bread to the mgr and say “If you had this in thick slice I’d have it you know?” then leave it on the ground at his feet? Yeah, down with this sort of thing and what not.

Hmmm, if it’s getting too easy on your 130mm FS, get a HT? The trails aren’t going to get rockier in your lifetime, the plates move far too slowly for that. I have ridden HT for 99% of my 24 year mtb experience, including regular forays into the Peak. The 1% on a FS I found it did make the Peak easier and faster but I felt overbiked when I wasn’t in the Peaks. Fortunately the FS made the decision for me and broke so I went back to a HT. Riding an MTB/bike isn’t all about the tech and the gnar.

I broke my right clavicle leaving a step as it overlapped by an inch, this was 26 years ago. I’ve had no strength problems, but I now notice that my head is slightly to one side in photo’s. I recently went to have a full 360 degree x ray for teeth, the nurse was constantly moving my head straight when I thought it was. I have monthly osteo treatments for my neck to loosen up and keep my head straight. I know when it is due as I think the peak on my helmet is wonky, try to adjust it and realise it’s me.

My last 18 months have been similar, although I’m no racer but work shifts and have two young kids who are only just growing out of the ‘perma-snot’ that young kids have. I would have a heavy cold, recover and just as I felt myself improving beyond my fitness pre illness, I would come down again with something. I eventually ended up having sinusitis, pneumonia and tonsilitis along with several other colds and what not. It really shifted my perception on ‘training’ and I have just rode really steady and ate sensibly. Hopefully now at the end of it all I am actually lighter and fitter than before all this started. The old adage of riding slowly to go faster has helped me! It seems you have figured it out though, rest up and take it easier, not everyone is a natural at this stuff.

I broke mine and “stepped it” when I was 21. Consultant reckoned it would be fine despite the “step” being about 1/2″. Now at age 40 it causes uneven tension in my neck and pulls my head slightly to one side. Cue regular osteopath visits.