??? What ???

oops sorry wrong forum

MBR – used to subscribe until I realised the writing was dull and self-important. Don't go near with a bargepole now

MBUK – buy occasionally – a great source of news on all elements of the MTB scene and, although a bit low on substance, can be a giggle

What MTB – MBR written in the style of MBUK, but no bad thing. If I read another article on having "your best summer riding ever" I may top myself though.

Dirt – can't tell the difference between the ads and the articles

ST – As a Dad who doesn't get to ride as much as he wants I love reading about other old codgers and their global bike adventures. At least there are more words than pictures…usually :D

C brace, cortisone and stopping playing tennis sorted me. Not had a problem biking

I'm with tyger and stumpy01 on this. The first 3 minutes reminded me of listening to the Orb in my younger days; a bit of pleasant nothingness that's good for nodding off to. The next couple of minutes I found a bit tuneless and dull and then when the poodle-perm rock bit kicked in I gave up.

I'd never have the skill to play it though, so fair play

Many many late night Channel 4 "art" films that I stayed up to watch as a youngster on the off-chance of some "special interest" scenes. Usually fell asleep with the TV on

PS no I didn't read the article so apologies if this is nothing to do with pubs at all. Just got my goat that's all :D

Beer tastes better in a glass. Fact. I put up with plastic glasses and understand it at festivals/clubs and the like but this is sad really.

Another reason not to bother going to the pubs and stay at home and drink instead. No doubt when attendance at pubs drops again they'll blame it on the supermarkets rather than stuff like this.

I don't see that it's rideable at all in the middle section of boulders.

This bit I find OK – on a HT and a full susser – the line is there. It's the marble run nearer the bottom that I find insecure.

Just **** climb it, or don't.

Part of the fun of the whole climbing scene is arguing about grades, so don't knock it Finbar :D On a serious note, the last thing I want to do is find myself halfway up a "HVS" and find it more akin to an E3. You can't just get off and push on a rock climb

Back to the biking, I think one or two people have hit the nail on the head with the Causeway descent. It moves and shifts with the seasons and the 4 x 4s so one day will be harder than another. Makes sense

Jolly Green Giant – there's nothing wrong with my hub so reluctant to splash out on a new wheel if I can help it

No Mavic fetish so open to suggestions, but £81 for ONE rim for Stans?!! And that was reduced from £90 (Rutland Cycles) 8O

Anyone going to comment on the main bit of the OP? I.e. the comparison with the Blacka Plantation descent (not the Stanage Plantation)? Great fun, easy to go too fast but not a black if Causeway is a red

(just re-read my OP…it is a bit confusing)

What about Blacka Plantation? All you need to remember on that is not to get carried away with your speed – in itself quite hard :-)
Surely you don't think that is harder than the Causeway?

Does the weight saved on tubes offset the sealant/heavier tyre?

I think I'm missing something here. iTunes IS drag and drop, but maybe not with iPods. Open up Windows Explorer and I see my MP3 player as a removable disk. I can then drag any playlist of tracks straight from iTunes into Windows Explorer. Granted if I want to have all the folder structure of Album, artist etc I have to copy and paste from my (iTunes) music library to the player but as far as I see I have the best of both worlds.

As someone has already alluded to, this does depend on whether Outlook is picking up email from an Exchange Server or just a POP3 account.

For instance if your Outlook is just set to pick up email from, for example, a BT account then chances are it is POP3 (essentially it just picks up email from BT's "post office"). Unless you leave your computer on and Outlook running an Auto reply just will not work. HOWEVER, most POP3 email accounts have web access as well, and it is usually on there that you will find an auto-responder. Your email provider should have details of how to access your email via the web.

This won't stop you coming back to 100s of emails though. All these "auto-responders" do is let people know you're away.

and the 'iPod's sound crap' remark is wrong and tired

So are they much better now? I had a first generation mini with some decent Sennheiser aftermarket 'phones. Replaced it with a £10 Zen Stone which sounds MUCH better

If the Americans-at-large (no pun intended) believe this anti-NHS guff they are idiots. Good one Obama, and long live the NHS. As the parent of a child who was hospitalised for 7 weeks last summer and is in and out every few weeks even now I am delighted to live in the UK and have the NHS.

They're just the same as you can buy elsewhere.

but you can still get duffers from elsewhere. I had problems with my Hope hub that after many posts on here and calls to Hope I eventually tracked down as a brand new bearing with poor tolerances so basically there was play in the axle. I couldn't tell just man-handling the bearing on its own, but as soon as it went on the axle it was obvious.

the profile didn't prevent the derailleur over-shifting

That's what your front-derailler stop-screws are for.

been there, got the t-shirt. Trust me, I still lost the chain. With a different bash, I don't

I notice the prize relates specifically to a set of cables worth $7250 which is a bit "esoteric" to say the least

I remain mostly cynical about this. It all boils down to distinguishing something sounding better or just different. I bought a "sound enhancer" from Argos once. It was a passive box of bits that sat in between the amp and source. It just had an on/off button. There was absolutely no doubt it changed the sound, but whether it was better or not is sooooo subjective. Anyway, I took it back to Argos…I have enough boxes of hi-fi gubbins

PS + 1 for the Shimano suggestion, but when I bought one they didn't go up to 36t. They probably do now. They don't look as good but, heh. Not all e13s are heavy but they are dear

Is it worth doing? Yes, although plenty of people will be along to convince you otherwise :D

Make sure you get the right size. E.g if protecting a 32 tooth middle ring you need a 32t bash. Sounds obvious but I – and friends – used to think you bought the size of the ring you're replacing, not the one you're protecting.

Lots of people – me included – will recommend replacing your (probably) 32t middle ring for a 36t. That way you're not losing so many gears when you ditch the outer ring.

I bought a Truvativ bash for £10 but replaced it recently because the profile didn't prevent the derailleur over-shifting and the chain going off the middle ring. I now have an e13 which was expensive but is much better

Probably already been said above, but think of this as a totally new life. Don't try and live your old life but with a child in tow since it will only lead to disappointment (unless you have a VERY understanding missus)

My wife was great with the first one. She went to friends and family showing him off whilst I went out riding. It was only when the second one arrived that my riding time dropped sharply. I get out by myself for an hour or two, maybe once a week/fortnight, but I can't remember the last time I went out with a bunch of mates at the weekend. Still, the in-laws live near the Sierra Nevada so I get a good summer riding fix with live-in babysitters. Awesome :D

fundamentally lazy and spend too much time on MTB forums. Surely that would be acceptable, albeit not for the successful candidate :?

What a timely post. I was out for a walk with my family yesterday and was asked by someone if they could take a photo (we were standing – catalogue pose – looking across the Staffordshire hills). Only later did I realise they had not taken contact details to forward the piccie.

Not in the least bit bothered, but then I did "sort of" know him – author of some well known climbing books. He asked, we said yes.

:lol:

good one aracer

As a Dad you have just gotta suck it up (or MTFU as used on here!)

SAdly the answer I expected. I must confess most of my riding is on the road these days

ride to work?

I either work from home or far too many miles away to cycle. I have considered getting up and going for a ride round for an hour before I start work, but the missus would expect some share of getting-the-kids-ready duty.

night rides

early morning on the weekend

Funny how no riding buddies want to join me on those rides :-)

PS I'm a "beginner" runner so my 20 minute run is not enough time for a good ride

I did this the other day. Much searching of pockets, draws etc later and I found them on the drive where they hadn't *quite* got into my pocket after locking it.

+1 for Elbow

I think this post has swung tack dramatically from "(should) Ramblers (be) on forestry trails?" to "should we ride without due care and attention on forestry trails?"

For what's it's worth, my answers are both no.

Land management is an art, not a science

Well said. I think some of us are guilty of being a bit black and white on this issue. I do expect to be able to ride fast at a trail centre but that does not equate to reckless. That said I would be mighty cheesed off if I had to slam the anchors on because someone (even a MTBer) was munching their cheese butties in the middle of the singletrack.

I think thisisnotaspoon is not far off the mark. The Santa Cruz Syndicate boys do seem to be having a lot more fun

Simple answer then…fence off man-made mountain bike trails. A nice bit of red and white tape up and down the trail will make me feel even more like Steve Peat :-)