The wife and I had a great meal in a Togo Restaurant called Le Mono[/url], up in Moulin Rouge. Large portions, family run place tucked away. Cosy atmosphere. Inexpensive.

clubber – fully agreed, Just a shame as, regardless of whether you like different wheel sizes or not – I saw that interview with Boardman and thought ” good for him, he’s not going to blindly follow a trend, he’s going to do what he thinks”. So I guess it is peer pressure forcing the market, rather than customer demand – which will come ‘after the fact’.

Looks like I’ll be buying obsolete kit fir the next couple of years at least.

You might think it’s silly, but you still have to go and get your money out while it’s still there.

True, and his is a businessman first and foremost.

it just became like a run on the bank

Very good analogy.

North Face surge is excellent. Need a separate waterproof cover though.

They just signed for another 10 years[/url] apparently.

lol. Not sure about the new stickers (sorry…decals) either. Looks a bit cheapish IMHO. And I guess the continued relationship with Halfords means no budget £700/800 full sus for the UK market (like this one they released in Asia) as it would compete with the Carrera offerings. Oh well.

Didn’t read the other posts prob already mentioned but:
Duct tape does work, as does salicylic acid. In both cases, you get rid of the dead skin with a pumice stone, then apply fresh duct tape or a coating of the acid. Repeated daily, will take several months. There’s no fast solution really, and if you scrub too hard and bleed, you are back to square 1. Verrucae are caused by the HPV virus.

So how do you signal to car drivers that you’re pulling out to avoid parked cars? I use the turning right signal for two reasons – firstly that is what was taught in cycling proficiency when I was a nipper, and secondly because that’s what drivers will understand. After all, cars only have one set of indicators for all actions of this nature.

So if you’re otherwise using roadie signals, and you indicate right to simply move out, this would confuse other roadie cyclists that you are actually turning right. But if you instead use the arm behind the back signal, the car drivers won’t understand you and run into you. Paradox?

Hahahahaha.
I guess that’s what happens when everything you want to say comes out as bleeps and whistles

Some very amusing comments in here. 😀
I agree about not tailgating when commuting, I find it very annoying when people do it to me. But people have obviously been signalling to me when I’m behind, even though I’m 2 or 3 bike lengths away – either coming up to overtake, or having been overtaken by them. All the more amusing as my old banger of a road bike has an adjustable stem all the way up, flat pedals, odd wheels that don’t match anything and I ride with shorts over lycra and non shaved legs. This made me assume I’d broken so many rules that I looked like the roadie equivalent of a travelling circus. But maybe I’ve been adopted by them like some kind of ugly duckling.

Ahhh, I see. That makes a lot of sense – thanks chaps. Guess my confusion arose when I see some guys use these signals, but then don’t use any signal for turning right/left at all! But anyway, I should probably start helping other riders out with these signals too.

Just put some BikeShield on the TT

It’s been widely suggested that longer hours can make you less productive. And the UK has a long hours culture. So what’s better? a situation where people do 5 hours of very productive work and go home, or a situation where people do 8 hours of less productive work, but through sheer volume end up producing more for the day? One’s better for people, one’s better for the economy I’d imagine. And ultimately, looking at Spain, Italy, Greece etc, I’d say doing what’s best for the economy is also best for the people in the long run.

Nobody’s posted this yet?

I see you’ve cut the video to suit the music, which is done pretty well. Looks like an awesome trip and some nice shots in there. Agree with previous comments about the music (and I’m an electronic music fan) – it’s just a bit too hyper. Also agree with the comment about getting some commentary in there, or a snippet of someone talking.

In terms of music, something like Global Communications might work well – as in this WideOpen video:

That’s great. I guess it uses some kind of population average cycling speed to calculate though. I commute to Piccadilly from the Richmond area. takes me 30 mins on the bike, 45mins plus on the transport. This suggests my return journey is quicker by transport (to be fair, it’s on the edge of the green/pink). Neat idea though, like it.

So, as far as I can glean from some reading up on this, it’s not about the ‘automatic-ness’ of the guns that count, as most people killed in the US by guns are killed by handguns.
And it is true that the US is way behind the South American countries when it comes to gun deaths. However, when you compare the rate of gun deaths per capita against ‘developed’ countries, the US is off the scale. This suggests that the US is ‘underdeveloped’ in its approach to gun control.
There certainly seems to be an attitude that guns are the answer to everything, including gun crime. Quite how that reverse logic became so seemingly widespread is beyond me, but then the idea of violence as a solution to problems seems to be quite popular too, given the history of US foreign policy.

I know Specialized had different springs in their forks for ladies. Whether it was simply the ‘soft’ spring, or indeed a ‘special’ spring (highly doubt it), I’ve no idea. But the Suntour XCM on the Spesh Myka Sport that my wife owned for a while was surprisingly plush for a very low end fork. Also, the top tube was slightly sorter, the standover greater, and the saddle was wider. It actually fitted me perfectly! Spec wasn’t good for its RRP, but was fine for the 20% discount price we bought it at. Frame was worthy of upgrades too.

Wow, jaw dropping countryside hooliganism. That tree trunk drop at the end is ridiculous

Thanks Tracey – think that’s finally sold it to me 🙂
Mattrgee – considered that, but I don’t think belt sanders and 2-bed flats mix well, at least I doubt the Mrs will. I also thought about the local cobbler sanding them down – but I’d imagine they’d charge around £5 or £10 (I’m in London), and with the kit costing at least £20, not sure I’m saving much over the pro job.

Thanks pipiom. Enjoy Italy, hopefully it’s a bit less wet there.

Any update Pipiom? Are they everything you wanted or is the C1 rubber not as good as the stealth stuff? *eagerly awaits to hear before pushing the button on some second hand goretex salomons* 🙂

If you follow the BBC links, there was a big thing in 2006 about the bridge not being safe enough – with no hard shoulder and inadequate lighting. While I think if you’re driving in a pea soup, you need to be at crawling speed, I also think someone’s going to get it in the neck about this (and someone else will make some political capital out of it).

” Doesn’t look like running to me”

I imagine Feet First will get a small flurry or work off the back of this…

Fantastic. I had the same idea but got the impression they wouldn’t be able to fit them to a complicated sole pattern. I assume they just belt-sanded them down though.
Great work – yes thanks for sharing and give us a ride report after a month or so 🙂

Mmmm. I tried waterproof socks before and they just became vessels of sweat. Be interested in your write up.

Geologist – interesting. What didn’t you get on with in particular?

The other option I’m considering is buying these Hi Tecs and getting the pedal section of the sole belt-sanded and resoled by Feet First. The actual cost of all that would be cheaper than buying the Five Tens. Much like this guy has done.

rikon – awesome, exactly the kind of info I was after! Many thanks indeedy.

You can upload them to Flickr or some other pic hosting website, then add the picture’s URL using the IMG button on the ‘Reply’ box.
I’d be very interested to see those…

We carried on supporting Saddam when he gassed the Kurds BTW

Here’s a quote from good old Winston Churchill, from 1920, referring to the Kurds:
“I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas… I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes”

just wondering if all the anti’s would turn pro

Perhaps at least some idea of an end game plan, sadly lacking in every other military intervention of the last couple of decades. Given the pretext for this one is chemical weapons, in order to get hold of them (from either the government or the multifarious rebel groups) – we would need boots on the ground. Que long protracted operation, messy ending with no defined outcome and ample room for terrorist linked Islamic militant groups to get a boot in the door.

AKA “I wish I knew Natalie Portman”

What mrblobby said. Without pictures of you on it, it’s very hard to tell, so playing around with stem height/ angle could be a best option.
But look at it from a different angle as well. You can get a foam roller off eBay for £9 and roll your back every morning. This will make you a bit bendier! My Osteo recommended this to me after a twisted pelvis and it really does make a major difference.

Found it:

OK, not cartoon characters, but didn’t the whole muppet gang ride bikes at one point?

“… because Hans that do dishes be as soft as Jervais with my green hairy-lip squid”

AND

“… my God , co-pilot, that was a short runway – but have you seen how ****ing wide it is?”

GD’s come with a rubber boot, which does help keep the cr@p out of the mechanism. The boot has air holes in it and is generally loose fitting, so it’s quite useful, although mainly used to cover the ugly holes in the post I think! But generally subject to less spray than a stanchion, plus the post is much easier to service than a fork and the sliding post section is more readily replaced, so the application is slightly different. Don’t think I’d use one on any other dropper though.

http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/its_its.htm

Sounds like I got the same one off Ebay as chestrockwell – which is the same as the Aldi one, and plenty good for everyday tinkering, and is exactly the same as this: Aldi stand[/url]
The only thing I would say is that the rotational arm that holds the bike isn’t held firmly enough by the clamp to allow you to hold the bike nose down for long. But a simple bungee rope around wheel/stand leg sorts this out.

They hold all the moisture in and corrode your stanchions quicker than if you had nothing and just cleaned.