Ebay is a policing nightmare. I had a job with stolen unique identifiable teddy bears (seriously). The listing was for 5 days. Ebay told me to submit relevant documents, signed by superior ranking officers due to the crippling Data Protection Laws, and they would get an answer back to me within 28 business days. So I told the rightful owner to bid on them, screw the seller about in order to reveal his address (offered a cheque for purchase instead of anon Paypal) and he found where he lived. I told the guy to never tell anyone else that I suggested this, he understood and thankfully kept quiet when quizzed by my sergeant about it all. This sergeant turned to me the following day and reminded me that if I *had* advised him as such any subsequent court case could be compromised as the defence would run away with entrapment and have a field day.

Doh, I’ll miss his stupidity on here!
Mrs S.

We have a Skoda Fabia (2001 model) and a 04 Berlingo. Fuel economy is pretty much the same (diesel models) but by far the best feature about the Berlingo is the ability to drop the rear seats and roll your bike in upright without taking anything off them. And thats two bikes. Only problem (bar the street cred) is that as the Berlingo is taller than a regular car it rolls in the corners.

Ah, but to repair the roads, all of the roads costs lots of money. And the small problem in Sheffield of already awarding the contract to a PFI job which is currently being mucked about with. Its like when your were a kid in the newsagents desperate to spend what small amount of pocket money you had left while your Mum/Dad huffed impatiently behind you. You end up buying loads of crap 1p & 2p chews and stuff just to use up the money. Carry the remaining budget over to next year? Add it to the next budget allowance? Are you mad, that sounds like Common Sense, we’ll have none of that please!

Its the end of the financial year so the council needs to waste money on road improvements. Houndkirk and Chapel Gate are RUPP’s or Byways aren’t they? so they fall under the council highway’s dept. That’s why they do it now, when there is likely to be a ton of spring rain yet to fall, instead of maybe doing it in the dry (?) months so it could bed in properly.

Also Houndkirk Rd is so easily accesible that I imagine they receive complaints from muggles who twist their ankles on the uneven terrain while walking their yappy terriers in the summer evenings.

Somebody on here mentioned the marketing and branding that goes with our pastime these days, and I can’t but agree. I also have this feeling that the consumption of all these energy cans and so on is done by the younger generation (that seems to have no issues with littering in the first place. I did it once and only got a few paces before returning to pick it up, racked with guilt) I frequently see young kids on “DH Rigs” obviously returning from Wharncliffe, full facer hanging off the bars, walking! And on a relatively flat piece of road. In my grumpy old mans mind, DH is easier if you do some sort of uplift, drinking cans of energy is marketed as the easy way to be strong, and littering is easy if you are lazy of mind as well as body. Kids today!

The whole backpack wearing thing has come about through neccesity, and then becomes almost a “culture” As already stated on here, MTB’ing takes you to slightly rougher places than a road bike so you may need more spares.
Hell I knew of old roadie guys who beleived that you could do 100 miles with no water or food, those guys would just go and ride, with a spare tube and tyre levers stuffed in an upside down bottle with the top cut off. When I worked in a bike shop that supported this macho road riding culture, it wasn’t unusual to have to take the shop van out and scoop up these riders as they had bonked massively and were dribbling like babies at the side of the road. We used to joke that we heard the bang at the shop when they blew.
I feel, probably like most, that I’d like to be able to return from a ride if I had a mechanical or was even injured. I’ve been on a group road ride where my front wheel was knackered by somebody elses pedal. I spent 2 hrs walking back as I had no spoke tools with me. Never again I thought. Hence the backpack.

I think the main issue here is people not truly understanding “horses for courses” I have a Niner MRC, previously I tried the 29er concept with donated parts from my 700c commuter and a cheap as chips on-one frame. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it reminded me of when I had a road bike, sprinting from lights and enjoying the momentum when at speed. But I don’t own a road bike anymmore as I have less time to enjoy when out on my bike these days so I prefer those times to be off road and fun. The on-one frame was really harsh so I snapped up the niner off here secondhand. I run it 2×9 with rigid carbon forks, it takes me back to mtb’ing in the 90’s before anyone had heard of Rockshox. I use it to commute and use trails that are considered “tame”, I ran maxxis crossmarks through the summer and when it got sloppy I tried Spesh controls. I found the tyres to be too draggy and put some schwalbe smart sams on 700x40c. I am amazed at the grip it affords and how fast they are, I have never used a skinny knobbly for winter duties on my FS MTB before due to my size and crashing into rocks would often result in a pinch flat and a dinged rim.
I know manufacturers make 29er FS, but I reckon if you ride in proper rocky rough stuff, a 26 FS is where it at. Other than that I love my 29er for everything else, its a winter bike thats a bit blinged up and fun to ride. Its got nothing to do with beards, sandals or attention whore niche seeking crap. Its a bike and its fun.

To all the critics, read the quote below:

Teddy Roosevelt – To the Man in the Arena
It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

Thread closed.

War never changes.

In fact it is one of the few things mankind has proven itself to be extremely good at.

That and long winded forum arguments…

Coffeeking “To have a moral high ground and authority/respect you have to act in a way that deserves it, not drag people about like cattle, wait for them to swear and then unleash a torrent of abuse back at them”

This programme showed one of the worst aspects of policing, and possibly the reason why many officers aspire to get off 24/7 policing and into CID or desk jobs. I’m interested in coffeeking’s opinion of how those officers attain a moral high ground when faced with a drunken aggressive individual who will have no qualms about assaulting that officer as he is not doing as he is instructed. I’d like to see such people with that opinion walk the streets from 6pm until 4am and face drunken random and unpredicatable violence and not act in that manner when you have to deal with them. They may be police officers but they are only human as well, they didn’t sign up to be punchbags for drunks. Admittedly having cameras around them would also attract the real idiots and nutters unfortunately. The moral of the program is simply, when told to be quiet and walk away by a police officer, do it. Don’t complain on the behalf of people you do not know because it looks a bit rough for your own comfortable world. These people do not live by your own values, so do not use your values to judge what happens to them.

A few years ago I was unfortunate to live in Telford and ventured up and around the Wrekin once. Up the main track you will come into contact with all manner of townies and wannabe red socks, all complete with their own delightful prejudices and ignorance. There appears to be several cheeky paths that run off this track, but if all your’e interested in is sliding down a loamy/muddy track, then its all good. I generally stayed away from it, too much effort for little riding reward, preferring the land next to it. Although the Shropshire Wildlife Trust bods were a pain in the a**e wandering around waving their sticks at you.. God I’m glad I left Telford. You are better to keep driving to Wales really.

Realman, you need a full susser. I recently moved from long travel HT to FS and was amazed at the increase in speed and how much more my eyeballs stayed in my head on long rough descents. I came to the conclusion that with a HT the fork will be compressed by impacts on the front wheel and when the rear wheel hits it the bike will buck compressing the fork even more. You will eventually run out of fork travel, no matter how much you "use your legs for rear suspension".

As above, is this a bit too much of a bargain … I'm after a full susser but don't think I'll be going for this one!

http://www.extremesportstrader.co.uk/view/3505/19+full+suspension+Yeti/

I've just found an 'interesting' website which may be worth keeping an eye on. It looks to be a popular outlet rival to ebay …
http://www.extremesportstrader.co.uk/buy/dirt/mountain_biking/

Mrs Soulwood – looking after the kids whilst Mr S. is out riding :-S

Its when they are applied, and only for the first ten minutes or so of a ride. Its like bedding my pads in from new, except on every ride. Just seems odd that its doing it now after so long. The pads have plenty of life left on them too. I'm guessing they are dirty after a ride, but recently the fine weather hasn't made conditions that bad. Hmmm maybe I've just answered my own question, maybe its because they aren't getting ground with a fine paste of Peak district grit on each ride?

meehaja, if you are trying to kill yourself at home, the police can use the Mental Incapacity Act 2005 to remove you to a mental hospital. The reason this may vary from officer to officer is usually down to knowledge of the Act, as although it was drawn up in 2005 has only recently been communicated to officers.

Metallica 1988, And Justice for all,
"Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim
so true
so real"

End of thread?

I had a mouse problem some years ago and caught it by complete accident. I had a bucket under the sink acting as a bin and it was clear that it would go in there at night to munch on scraps. Before I left for work I emptied the bin (bucket) and forgot to put a bag inside. I returned home after 3am and could hear intermittent knocking noises coming from under the sink. There was Mr Mouse, just less than 1" away from jumping out of the bin having dropped in from climbing on nearby junk (you know cleaning stuff)So Mr Mouse met Mr Vistalite battery, they didn't get along needless to say.

OI!! Roadbikes! NO!

Get thee to Road.cc to talk about it.

The basic lesson here is that drugs and alcohol are not good mixed together in large amounts. I remember a guy in East London several years ago, took "E's" and drank lots at a party. He turned up at A&E convinced he was having a heart attack. Due to his pretty unstable and aggressive state he wasn't treated and he then turned the waiting area upside down while all the patients fled and the nursing staff/doctors locked the doors and took shelter. Police arrived and had to use baton strikes on him that had no affect whatsoever. He was eventually "subdued" and taken in. The following morning he had to be carried out of his cell as both his kneecaps were on the wrong side of his knee due to all the baton strikes. He had never been in trouble with police before and was a law abiding citizen.

"Every meal is a banquet every paycheck is a fortune, man I love <insert your job description>"

No it twists mine, can't usually grip it, too loose.
So lets just "draw a line under it and move on shall we?"

Bit late on this thread, my fave hates;
"I ain't never done nuffink"
"At the end of the day"
Really twists my sh*t.

Edric, I know what you mean. I have built up a very standard spec on this bike, LX cranks, XT hubs and SLX brakes with Menja forks. I picked this frame up at a really good price direct from the UK distributors, so much that it was cheaper than buying their budget frame. The bearings are guaranteed for 5 years, so I hope (in a way) that if they wear out they do it within 5 years. Basically I had a choice, buy a reasonable priced replacement second car, or buy this and get a cheap as chips old Skoda. The fun had on this will certainly make up for driving the Skoda…

The travel options on the rear of the CC start at 82mm, the top bolt hole being 129mm. This is why they make the AM, with more travel options. I like the idea of possibly extending the travel of the Menja and just moving the bolt hole to match. But not only but also, the frame looks fantastic, like a "real" bike, which is probably how Nicolai can guarantee it for 5 years, even if you race. They do say on their website that the strongest line between two points is a straight one.

There you go, figured it out. Note the interested chicken in the background.

Hmmm, didn't work that time. Molgrips, Menja 100mm. I have recently had them serviced and the guys at Magura replaced the damper cartridge under warranty and used a different weight oil. When they came back they felt even better! This is why I was reluctant to get rid of them (that and the small problem of money)

After a good testing session in the Peaks

Wahey! Another new fangled bit of technology figured out!

Still trying to post an image with no luck..

Milkie, I guess I have become a wuss, but like I said, hardly any arm pump! Maybe its just like Danny Glover says in Lethal Weapon 1,2,3 etc, sometimes I feel "I'm getting too old for this s**t"

molgrips, agree totally. I was on the brink of buying FS a year or so ago, but then everything went all bent and wonky (hydroforming) which I cannot abide the look of. I'm not saying they are ugly as there are some damn nice bikes out there and it seems the Giant models use the technique to place the shock, but maybe its the old school HT habit, but tubes are meant to be round and go in straight lines!! (similar attitude to Mints are supposed to be rock 'ard!, if anyone is old enough to remember that advert) I know the back is square section, but I'll let it off as it is in a straight line.

I don't understand why the album won't open, I have clicked it to share from these kind of sites. I have absolutely no idea how to post an image directly into the thread, don't know why it has to be so hard.

I don't buy MBR anymore, just find it too boring to read. If anything MBUK is better, it seems to have a bit more life than MBR. Of course none are as good as Singletrack!

Following on from above essel.. pens, repetitive forms, patience…

z1ppy, good to know, because I think the superlight is a different kind of bike compared to a Heckler, from what I'm led to believe from reading mags and the web. Hecklers appear to be longer travel for a bit of "MTB DVD stuff" and I am beginning to think that a lot of people automatically think "more is best" when it comes to travel. I see a lot of threads on here about people ditching their FS and going back to HT, and wonder if these people had chosen a lightweight short travel FS would they want to go back to a HT?