can't understand why you have such a problem with wet feet ?

Take your shoes and socks off – use the bike to steady yourself against the flow – get across in one piece ,enjoy the pleasure of pulling on dry socks onto damp feet.

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (he of Talking Heads fame) not bad,it's a bit random. I quite like his comments on society etc, but the and then we met so and so and so and so, is getting a bit tiresome.

Trip to the book shop at lunch time tomorrow is on the cards.

must agree with Ton re: the high jumper , her pink shoes and socks really work too !!!

chicken & sausages from local butchers,with homemade stuffing roast new potatoes and veg . spuds and veg from my own garden 😀 ….

…gravy – from Bisto granules 😕

??? surely if you sit down you'd miss the bush ???

STEERER EXTENDER: The report back: well all back in one piece (much to my family's relief). headset still nice and snug zero play etc. despite taking in a couple of sets of steps and some pretty bumpy singletrack. (I won't intentionally be getting air, or racing downhill – it is a xc singlespeed after all)

just for the record: yes its a bodge,not ideal – but it works. its set into a steel steerer. the steerer is only about 20mm short so i guess its about 50% steerer and 50% extender inside the stem.

how it works – you insert the extender minus the top cap into your steerer so theres enough poking out to take the stem. pop the spacers on to create the correct diameter. put the stem on.tighten the top cap into the threaded head of the internal bolt (that holds the quill in place) as this tightens it pre loads the bearings (which is its job) and tightens the quill a bit more. (At this point I checked for any paly and had a right tug around to see if i could pull it off (ffnar ffnar) it being the fork ) Tighten up your stem and your done.

I did make one slight alteration – I replaced the BBB top cap with a spare Chris King I had lying around.

Now back to how all this started – the bike 'mechanic' i was refering to did not say he thought the extender was a pile of sh#te and in his opinion it wouldn't work – he told me it wasn't for extending steerer tubes, it wasn't to be used for threadless headsets it was for converting aheadset stems to quill type.

@rocketdog – I've burnt the note: somethings are best left unsaid until after you have departed this life.

well the steerer extenderer is fitted, clockwork is a complete bike again, so I'm off to ride it – if you never hear from me again it'll be because its failed no doubt. I've left a note in the shed just in case.

I'm all for the LBS but it proper boils my p### when they talk to you like you know nothing 'cos YOU don't work in a bike shop – I don't work in a bike shop 'cos they pay f### all in wages – I was in one on friday,just casually browsing at lunch time like you do when i spotted one of these
an aheadset steerer tube extender. Just what I was after as I'm rebuilding an old clockwork and the steerer tube on the forks i'm re-cycling is a bit short. Rather than just buy it i asked one of the mechanics if it was indeed what I thought it was and if it would do what I expected it to. I then had to listen to him talk absolute bullsh#t about how it wasn't for bikes using threadless headsets and how all it does is allow a modern stem to be used with a threaded headset – OK. So thats why it clearly states on the packaging its for aheadset systems and extending steerer tubes then. FFS. (I bought one and it does exactly what it says on the tin.)
I could go on – but if I do you won't buy the book

:idea:hhhhmmmmm! to the inventing shed. something that keeps grit off but doesn't keep grit in. needs to look good , be available in a range of colours and a variety of sizes – I could be some time 💡

nail varnish also does the trick

( so thats hairspray, talc, and nail varnish in the tool box.
Nice shoes.)

quite happy with mine – had three pairs , still got two.

one thing to remember is NOT to dry them on the radiator. It makes the inner membrane susceptible to splitting.

I think their gloves are a pain in the @rse. Yes they keep you dry and (too) warm but they are awkward to get on and off and are not very tough.Again if you do get some don't dry them on the radiator

eeeeeeeeeee by 'eck!

how grand is yorkshire !

its that good even Gary Fisher wanted some …

we've had quite a bit of kit done over the years -tried a couple of companies all mentioned above – but by far the best quality are Endura, and they have the best selection of different sizes from very small to big fat bloke.

We've had everything from short sleeved shirts, downhill jerseys to 3/4 thermal bib shorts, winter jackets and my favourite the gillets. You need a minimum order of 15 items per go, but that can be made up as a combo of shirts shorts jackets etc.

Customer service from them has always been top notch.

I do, due to the fact that I had a pair of diadora shoes fail 3/4 of the way round the Mary Townley Loop a few years back. Cleat ripped out of the shoe. on inspection it was where the pedal had chewed away the sole of the shoe.

You can quite easily make your own sole savers – a mate of mine made his from some old shelf brackets – flattened them out and drilled them etc. I've made some from old cigar tins (this does work but the life span is limited) – simples

pashley guv'nor ???? go on -it'd fit your grandad image

cheers clubber – night night, and god bless,my old love.

don't tell anyone – but i've taken to using a carradice barley saddle bag too.

anyone seen my slippers ?

'kin 'ell-old man !!! just cos i'm a grandad

horses for courses . can honestly say that after the frame its my favourite piece of kit

ayup tony – thats what proofide (or whatever its called) is for and i usually have a mud guard on in the wet

totally disagree that they are sh@t off road. only thing i would say is that if you are going out on a particularly long ride in poor conditions i'd get a saddle cover to protect it

I've been using a brooks B17(narrow)on my hardtail for a few years now.once they're broken in they really are very comfortable,and when they are polished up they look devine

just for comparison – prior to the brooks i'd been using a spesh BG (still do on the ss and road bike) , even had my bum measured to make sure it was the right size. It was quite comfy but doesn't even come close to the brooks.

I've tried a number of saddles over the (too many) years and only thing that came close was an SDG bell air (one with the tiger skin)

I had a brooks on one of my bikes when i was in my late teens early twenties and i seem to recall i only changed it due to peer pressure as everyone was getting gel saddles and flites etc.

I've used an old casette cog for ages now. Took two cassettes apart – selected cog of choice – used spacers from two cassettes to fill in where redundant cogs would have been. looked a bit scruffy so used some black duct tape to cover -looks OK works fine cost nowt.

i've recently started using these…

with these …

very very comfortable and they are lock on, but only at the inside end.

:?you can add text boxes on Memory Map. select the text button on the menu bar – click on the map where you want it to be etc.

not sure who the photographer is but I think (I'll check when I get in) it can be found in the book 'an intimate portrait of the tour de france'. Bit pricey but a great book with some great pics.

hhhhhmmmmmmm! thanks for the advice. looks like 'scabby' to whitby then. fancied a ride along the coast was going to catch train to scarboro'and then back from Brid' , can catch train home from whitby but it takes forever.

some body must have done/attempted it – surely

make your own alcohol burning stove from two old beer tins – have a look at the various designs for penny stoves on the internet.

I've made two recently and both work fine.

forgot to mention – i don't have the bag support fitted , it just straps straight to the saddle and seat pin – still no drama

Carradice bags – love 'em !
Use a Barley most of the time – was concerned about leg clearance when I first got it, so I loaded it ram jam full up and went for a ride up over and round stanage edge, reckoned if it didn't bug round there it'd be Ok anywhere.

You can, on occasion, feel the bag on the backs of your thighs slightly, but it's kind of 'comforting' rather than annoying 😕 didn't have any issues when hanging over the back going downhill which was the main concern. didn't notice any wobbling about either. test passed – it's now a regular companion on most rides.

oh IMO they look the business – and passing the moto x wannabes on their full susser full face full ons on a hardtail with mary bars a brookes saddle and a carradice bag 'politely' ringing your bell is quite pleasurable. 😈

two bottles on frame – bag can carry about 6 cans or 8 bottles of beer a couple of pies and yer fags + plus all the boring stuff like tools,tubes,jackets etc I've even carried eggs over a few farm tracks without breakages – you wouldn't do that with a camlebak would you ? and for camping out etc. you can always add a camelbak to carry some stuff – jobs a good 'un. just need to work out how to carry sleeping bag without nit wobbling and we're sorted for the circumnavigation of the globe

I was faced with this dilemma due to having a shed with limited space – started off by folding tyres into carrier bags, but found i was running out of space so, not sure if you can see it so well in this picture, but, i fixed two hanging basket brackets from the ceiling and got a length of old conduit pipe (broom handle etc, would do thejob just as good) hook pole through tyres – hook pole onto brackets – bingo !all your tyres (and in my case the front wheel for my single speed) up out of the way but easy to get to as and when needed.

NB: sheds much tidier now – tools correctly racked on shadow board ;and the road bike is inside the house fastened to a turbo trainer.

brother in law got a Kona from halfords using this scheme

witchcraft museum at Boscastle is very interesting.

good beaches all over Cornwall – we just got back from Bude which is OK. Favourite beach this year was Northcott clicky sand – rocks – plenty of rock pools to potter about in and a free car park

high clamp for all the same reasons as above + they work better and have less 'wasted' metal & plastic than the horrible dog turd attracting low clampers

just got back from cornwall – had some pretty decent waves most of the week. Best were at Northcote on Thursday – but be warned its fairly rocky so not recommended for novices.
Check out Crantock near Fistral – taught my sons to surf there a few years back (didn't bother with surf school)

The weather has been fantastic too – bar b q on the beach most nights.

wish i lived on the coast.