Any specific cottage or hotel recommendations?

I have to say the two most relaxing holidays I have ever had were in rented places in the South West.

Noted, cheers guys.

Idiotic question but is Cornwall as bereft of bridleways as Devon?

I hated Bourbon until I tried Breckenridge. Buffalo Trace is ok but not a patch on it.

After the Renton Thread I’m not sure I would dare, even if they were for sale!

Thanks guys. I keep vacillating between seeing just how light I can build it up – there was talk of 34lb builds on mtbr – or beefing the hell out of it and retiring the BigHit.

Fork choice: the garage wall currently has 160mm Lyriks, 180mm Domains, 180mm Totems and 200mm 888s

Funny. I’d already thought about stripping the Gemini and selling the frame but had decided to hang it on the garGe wall instead. Lots of sentimental value – I’ve had it since 2004 – and it’s surely only worth about £20.

Oh, that and the fact that cable rub on the seat tube has made a certain death trap of course!

Anyone ridden a Delirium?

Kenilworth is just down the road from me, popped down for the mud fest, err, fireworks the other week. And I’m pleased to say the road sign for Hazeley Knob elicited squeals of delight from Her Yankyness.

Yes the pub mates suggested the Cotswolds but I’m not feeling the love for an all day epic. A 2hr round trip with Extra Time for comestibles sounds more like it.

Awesome guys Thankyou. I’m new to the West Midlands. It’s odd that I know so little about the area despite spending much of my life a stones throw away in Derby.

mikewsmith +1

Hyperventilation.

Defoe go for it.

Unless the tyres start to ooze red stuff, in which case call for a priest with a bell and a candle.

Ok to be fair it was more the same colour as Tizer.

Yes I did use a compressor. Should I worry? Will I die?

888s. But truly it’s not coming from the forks. To be fiat that was my first thought too.

Wrong colour and consistency for blood, even murine.

And oddly I did think about tasting it. But sanity prevailed.

Does Stans separate out?

@mblobby

I’m intrigued. Where do you ride usually? What are the downsides to a Larsen?

I currently run an Advantage front and Crossmark rear.

To answer the OPs question

(Rather than discuss how he might circumvent the rules and the consequences of that action)

No.

Elements will be fine.

nbt

I too have been at risk of a cardiac event. The first couple of things can help but only the last really works:

Clean inside of rim, fit tyre and then lather Fairy all around the rim/tyre interface. Pump like a lunatic.
Pump up overnight with a tube. Pop tyre off bead on one side, remove tube. Pump like a lunatic.
Give up and buy a compressor FTW.

Wow, I think this must be the first thread I have ever read on STW in which everyone is in agreement.
Can we make it a sticky?

Sounds like I’m looking elsewhere, thanks for the warnings.

So for a 180mm DH – “mini DH”? – what are the alternatives? I haven’t bought a new frame or bike for many tears and don’t intend on starting now!

Demo 7? I have read that these weigh about 40-42lbs, no less than the BigHit.

Thanks all. The reason I was thinking of one was bc the BigHit seems heavy, sluggish and seems very high. I’m not too worried about the head angle bc I ride a Gemini with a 66 degree HA in the Alps and I usually ride the BigHit in steep mode (68 degrees) anyway. I have an angleset if need be.

@JCL – The Intense geo chart says the frame is 180mm travel not 200mm but it will accept a 200mm fork. The BigHit in slack setting is 14.25″ and that really is a 200mm frame with no pedal strikes.

Can you explain what you mean about the linkages?

Cheers IA. Since I’m turning into more of a mincer than I used to be maybe a rocket ship DH bike isn’t such a good idea! The BigHit does feel sluggish though and at 42 lb, getting down to a more reasonable wright would cost a fortune.

@Kendo

Fair do’s for trying but I’m a cautious sort. Haven’t used it in ages but you never know

And to be fair it is nice to look at the days pics on a bigger screen.

Oh, more importantly I did spend a fortune on the Apple one and haven’t used it in ages. Really, don’t bother, just buy more SD cards.

Dunno. For a fiver I would buy it and find out.

I used to back up my photos the same way but I don’t bother anymore.

Mind you, you might be a better photographer than me.

My GF is 5′ 1.5″ and has a “Petite” Cannondale F5 Feminine frame lying around in the garage. Stupidly small and not in use so if you want more details give me a shout, I have the geometry on file at home.

I did it. Well obviously I got a shop to do it, life is too short to dismantle an iMac yourself.

I had an OCZ 120GB drive installed. And again two weeks later when it died with no warning. When that one died with no warning two months later I insisted they install a Crucial drive. Been sweet ever since.

The SSD means it boots up in 30 seconds and applications start very quickly: with dock animation turned the application icon only gets to bounce once before the app is up and running.

But restricted disk size due to cost, not to mention the experiences noted above mean that I now run my iTunes and Lightroom libraries on external drives. So speed given with one hand is taken away with the other.

Mines a 2006 2.3 Aero HOT. 85k and 3yrs old when I bought it, now has 150k on the clock.

Pretty reliable, cavernous boot and the most comfortable seats I have ever used.

Driven to the Alps and back twice a year, no need for a roof rack unless I’m carrying the longboards.

32mpg rolling average but 40mpg at a cruise controlled 70mph.

When I asked my local specialist if it was still fit to drive to the Alps this summer – bc it had done 150,000 miles – even the receptionist laughed at me. “Don’t ask again until it’s done 250” was the answer.

Well all’s well that ends well.

I emailed the seller asking for a refund. She declined and offered a 50% refund because she couldn’t be sure I wasn’t lying.

I emailed her a copy of the eBay Rules of Engagement and said that I would rather not open a dispute if at all possible.

She refunded me quickly but with poor grace.

I posted a positive but suitably vague feedback.

It’ll be interesting to see what feedback I get from her!

Thanks chaps.

To be fair it has made me rethink my approach to selling stuff on eBay. With the odd exception I sell small value items. I suspect that’s true of most people. And I’ve always just popped them in second class to keep the buyers costs down. Not sure ill be doing that anymore, as has already been suggested.

Danny Champion of the World
The Willard Price books
The Boy Next Door by Enid Blyton

I think books like these need to be read by the time you are ten or you miss the window.

Been checking with the post boys at work every day for the last week so pretty confident it’s not there. I’ll check with the sorting office tomorrow then ask the seller to refund. If not then its raise a case time I guess.

Loum, Freestyle and UrbanHiker have it.

Unfortunately the rest of the advice is unhelpful.

The amount of sleep you need now should be the same as it was 10-15 years ago but you should be both falling asleep and waking earlier because you are getting older.

If 8hrs used to feel refreshing and now doesn’t its time to get yourself referred for assessment.

Ok guys thanks for setting me straight.

I’m *occassionally* unreasonable so have learnt to check first just in case.

Cloud nine the item is tiny and was being delivered to a work address so that issue won’t have arisen. But fair play I missed that bit out of the story.

Ok I will email her and ask her to refund then it’s eBay dispute if she won’t.

Cheers guys.

No not yet. Would that help?

Sorry to seem naive.

Yeah that’s what I was starting to think.

I just don’t want to lose my 100% rating and also don’t want to look like a t*** about £12.

If she’d been bit more chilled in her reply I’d have said “fair enough” to the offer.

Awesome, loads of suggestions. Thanks so much.

Although I may have to distract the GF while I assess the merits of the redhead 😆

Thanks guys. Under normal circumstances pubs would be top of my list. But I’m oncall all weekend and can’t indulge.

They’re going on my To Do list for after I move here though.

Any other thoughts?

My accidental discovery and all time fave is Royal Lochnagar Muscat Aged.