I broke my Enduro S-Works back in the summer and picked up a carbon Stumpy (07 I think) from Spesh under their crash replacement warranty.

Loved the Enduro – it did pretty much everything I wanted. However, the Stumpy feels tighter, more assured and generally more agressive. Only problem I've found so far is that I think my seating position is higher (due to the geometry or whatever), which means drop-off-type stuff is harder – or certainly more intimidating!

Neither bike was standard though – pretty much frame, seatpost and shock only. Built up with Mazzochis, 317s, fire XCs, XT, etc.

All you can do is have a try and see what you make of it. Probably best if you can test it on some of the trails you would normally use too – just to be sure of comparing more accurately.

SM

Like takisawa2 says, I remember a 20-30 min program shown on a Sunday lunchtime (c 1980) that illustrated the dangers or hanging out on a farm. Showed a bunch of kids dying it all sorts of ways, e.g. drinking chemicals from left around bottles, being mangled by machinery, falling into sh1t/swill of some kind, etc. Kind of scary at the time. And where did I grow up? 1/4 mile from a farm! Needless to say that's where I spent a lot of happy times, thankfully without dying painfully.

Cybermen, werewolves, yetis, and the Incredible Hulk.

Can't say I've had any dogging encounters – thankfully. But I do remember flying down Telegraph Row a few years back, when I carried on past the usual exit and found myself startling some medieval warrior types. A couple of them (in their shiny chainmail brandishing swords, maces and shields) looked at me like I was an alien. I guess they must have re-enacting something because I don't remember passing through any wormholes.

BTW, my comments above are not based on technical or legal reasoning – more a case of common sense, i.e. if you want to say something, then say it somewhere where it's gonna be harder to trace back to you.

Writing personal emails using a work account is just plain daft. Always, always, always use your personal account. End of.

The same goes for Skype and any other "comms" app that you might use on behalf of your employer.

BTW, I don't agree with comments that the North Downs deteriorate in winter as a result of "over use." Once you know your way around, or hang out with those that do, you'll find there are plenty of trails you can turn to. Also, from a MTB perspective, I would never contemplate N or W London over SW or Surrey. If you want decent trails and some scenic road-riding (either for those lycra moments or purely training), then the latter has to be a serious option.

Put the biking commute aside and move to the M25 area of Surrey. 25-35 mins from London Bridge, plus North Downs on your doorstep. Plenty of other benefits too. Surrey rocks:)

Didn't a famous portrait artist once say, "You're not paying me for the time it takes to sit here and paint you, you're paying me for all the years of experience it's taking me to get to this point." (or words to that effect)?

Yes, for lots of reasons. One of the most important (to me anyway), is nailing a route I determined to do a few years ago, but never seemed to have the strength/stamina. And now I've done it, with an extra few miles thrown too.

Have loads of stuff planned for next year, including some races. Plus I seem to be learning more about training methods, etc.

All in all, proper chuffed. And I'll be out over the N Downs for a few hours tomorrow – bring it on:)

That's a cool looking piece of kit Dave. Sorry for your loss. I hope it's merely temporary and the two of you are re-united on the trails very soon.

Will keep an eye out.

Cheers guys.

Have just checked out M&S and they don't appear to be offering many comparable deals at the moment. Will probably stick with JL or RS and see if I can hold out until Jan in hope that the sales offer better value.

TBH we haven't even been thinking about getting one until last night – now I feel like a kid at Xmas and just want one, even though I/we don't need one.

I suggest you watch this …

Handles like a bus and accelerates like one too. Does stash a lot of kit though.

thanks all for the sites and hints,
should I scan the torrent, or the file once ive downloaded it?
I use avast, do I need anything more specialist?

Pay attention to any comments regarding the torrent. Some will say that virus' are present, but that's because most AV will mis-interpret certain file types and incorrectly make out they're viruses.

Scan the folder/file when you download it – and use your intuition. Some will be genuine (regardless of feedback), and others will be malicious (regardless of feedback also).

Peppers
Led Zep
Floyd
Guns n Roses

Probably loads more but that's all I can think of for now.

Whatever you do, run a virus-check on everything you download – before you even unzip (or "unrar").

I should add that the the third Bourne film is **** brilliant as an action film.

LOTR trilogy – brilliant but not as good as the books.

Bourne trilogy – better in film because IMO the books had far too much faff in them.

Filet mignon for me. Especially with some funky dauphinoise.

If only I could afford such extravagance on a regular basis …

Hey Spacemonkey I haven't been able to sync with outlook for a while (HTC sync says sync failed due to calander file missing)

Call HTC Support (number is on the website) – they're pretty good and should be able to help.

M-O-O-N-D-A-N-C-E

Nice, but not as cool as GT. Look forward to going back up there though.

I did mine about 12 years ago. Can't remember how bad it was, but I had crutches for a while. Couldn't do any exercise whatsoever for 8 weeks, and even that was minimal. Took a year or so to get the "stiffness" out and get back to normal.

By the sounds of it, you'll be fine in a couple of weeks though.

As much as I like it, the google sync thing is a bit carp – it doesn't properly hook into Outlook (repeated events, etc) & HTC Sync doesn't work properly for a lot of people – I can only sync using that on my work PC but it won't load which means i can't do contacts or calendar updates from it so i end up basically running 2 diaries

Mine syncs perfectly with Exchange, Googlemail and Google Calendar (for everything except tasks because that hasn't been made avaialble yet without using a paid app – none of which I like)

I also use Dropbox for syncing/storing files online, which means I don't have to use the standard HTC Sync which most people say is crap.

Are you having a problem syncing to Outlook or Exchange?

Never heard of I Music before – just checking it out now – a cracking app – good find:)

My fav apps:
Beebplayer (both iPlayer and live BBC channels)
Budgetdroid
FXCamera
Greed – RSS feeds
Listen – podcasts
Meebo
MixZing – excellent MP3 player with album art and self-creating playlists
MotherTED – TED blog videos
NetMeter
Power Manager
Tube Status and Tube Map – plan your tube routes and get updates on lines
Wapedia
UK National Rail – live train times

RSA quoted me an extra £100 this year so I called them up and they dropped it to less than last year's.

Do an online search then call to negotiate – especially if you're looking to stick with the same provider.

IMO I'd recommend you at least eat something and let it digest (say 30mins or so) before heading out, e.g. banana, oats, toast. Then have another chomp within 30-45mins of finishing. Depends on the distance/time though.

IME, I have to eat before any kind of biking. I'm also a "breakfast person" therefore inclined to eat anyway.

If you want to burn some calories then vary your home-leg by making it longer and/or adding interval sessions (sprints).

Normal: Weetabix/Special K/Muesli and tea … sprinkling of dried fruit, nuts and sometimes pineapple or nana.

Extravagant: 2 x Ham and eggs (and sometimes cheese) on toast … and tea.

Cool. I still have my original controllers so will now hunt down a GC memory card.

Cheers all

Santa was outside Peaslake stores on Sat afternoon.

Northern Exposure 1 and 2 regularly get a run out on the playlist.

As for early 90's, I wish I had a tape deck so I could re-live some classic Lenny D ("No women allowed") and Kenny Ken moments.

Any combination of Box Hill, Ranmore, Abinger, Winterfold, Pitch, Holmbury, Leith and home.

M&S are "expensive" bike friendly.

Endsleigh are also good as an all-rounder.

There's a bottle of blue liquid you can get off Wiggle – can't remember the name. But a small capfull goes a long way and it works a treat – far better VMF than Muc Off.

(an my belly's not thanking me for it no sir-ee)

Can you see your feet? If not, it's time to get out on the trails.

I'm another for the cafe option, also with a literary element, e.g. dedicated library/reading area. Home-made produce sourced as locally as possible. Might also have a deli area too.

Would seriously consider it if I suddenly found myself cash-rich enough to "retire."

And I think Android 2.0 ships with a decent car-flavoured GPS. Have seen the demo and it looks decent enough.

CoPilot is a "proper" GPS for use in the car. Look around for reviews though, because I think it relies on a solid 2g/3g signal for updating the map as you travel – not very good if you're out in the sticks.

SportsTrackers and MyTracks are both good for recording your MBTing/running routes – can upload to google too.

spacemonkey.- urban myth put about by haters of successful pub group.

You're probably right – I have no problem disagreeing. But I do have a problem with the lack of intelligence and punter-centric-awareness of the fcukwits that somehow get a job working behind the bar of several Wetherspoons I've been to.