Good result. You got a bike you are happy. Simples.

FWIW I got back into biking a few years ago. I bought a cheap hard tail for £500 as so many recommended here. Rode it for 18 months and loved it. Saved up and got a FS in the end of model year sales – in my case a Lapierre Zesty so not unlike the Rocky Mountain you just bought.

I love that too. If I had bought that first without having had the hardtail I would still love it.

+1 to going on a skills day. It will help you get the most out of everything that follows. I’m going on one in the spring!

Have a blast. Try not to crash. And don’t hate the haters.

Big fan of Glenn Brown myself, in all his styles. Tate show in Liverpool was great.

Been away working all week. There was snow when I left. It is still here. Snowman has reduced in size by about 20% in the four days – I will take a more accurate measurement after lunch.

Thanks to all contributors on this thread. Once again shows what an excellent public service function STW provides to communities in difficulty all over the country Hebden Bridge.

First 6 months are rubbish. No point pretending otherwise. M or W TFU.

After that – brill.

The big ones are three for a tenner at Heathrow. Just about to leave to catch a flight. Nomm nomm nomm.

Is it wrong to have eaten three before we land (on a short haul flight…).

Have been on macs for 10 years. Family members set up with separate accounts with no admin rights. Never had any issues. My work windows laptop is a POS but of course that may be our IT monkeys setting it up wrong…

I have a couple of old blankets left over from a house move – the sort they use to stop stuff getting damaged. Works a treat but a proper one might be less faff I suppose.

I should say so. Out this afternoon with the kids and “the Beast” – a huge plastic sledge I got when we lived in the states. Seats two, three at a pinch. We will be the fastest and go the furthest. We will be awesome. And we are NEVER awesome.

Every dog has its day. Time to go have some fun…

No problem with parts – the parts company did not go bankrupt and is still around.

Oops – I forgot.

Usual Suspects.

Bonty Mud X have been good for me. Clear very well, and not too pricey.

Agree with lots on here. My list would include:

Citizen Kane
Some like it hot
Delicatessen
Chinatown
Shawshank
Blade runner (directors cut)
In Bruges
Pulp Fiction
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
The Matrix (but none of the sequels)
Alien
Star Wars
North by Northwest
Psycho

Lost ours just before Christmas. He did manage to last 19 years and 20 months so “not a bad innings” and all that.

Hope yours makes a speedy recovery. Healing vibes from our gerbils…

Velvet Underground.

What ever is going on at Lapierre? If those are the new graphics for the Zesty this year they’ve gone right down hill…

😉

Nice bike BTW. Graphice excepted, of course…

It will be Benedict Cumberbatch. He’ll have to eat a few pies beforehand and maybe go to the gym, or they could do all that with CGI?

Still love the first Stereo MCs album – 33 45 78. Maybe also add Galliano to the steadily building excellent list!

Lapierre do make very good looking bikes. Very nice. Add me to the “jealous” list.

These look good value to me:

Sensa at Merlin

The XX second album Coexist – it is as good as everyone said the first one was…
Quite like the Egyptian Hip Hop album.

I have a Rotel 820BX not being used. In perfect working order, and built using very good components back in the day so should live forever. No bells and whistles but very clean sounding. If you are near MiltonK it’s yours if you can collect…

Oh – has a superb phono stage in case you ever get the vinyl bug!

Other default cheap 29er choice is Voodoo. Very cheap, especially if you catch one of the regular sales…

Grado SR60 is the best affordable headphone I have heard. Easy to drive too so work with phones and iPods. Open backed though so not suitable for train/bus etc. Plus amazingly ugly…

No. You may however skid about a bit. Use it as a chance to brush up your bike control skillz?

I just had a thought about a practical suggestion. If your Mrs would not want someone going with to the consultations can you do an audio recording in your phone so you can listen back when a bit calmer? Just a thought.

Anyway – I hope all works out well for you both. Positive vibes from here and fingers crossed. These moments are the ones that define us and sounds like you’re coping astonishingly well, even if it doesn’t feel that way to you.

Blue Aeroplanes
And amazingly that is a +1. Sometimes this place really surprises me. Can’t believe someone already mentioned them.

And for something different, The Goats. Don’t u derstand why that first album, which I though was a work of genius, didn’t immediately make them massive.

And agree I would like to see a world where The Fall are successful but wonder if they would still be the fall if they had become part of the Mainstream. Nothing to do with snobbery – everything to do with losing the essence of what defined them.

Agree bending it again is not best solution. Personally I’d get a file out then ride it happily. Just my opinion – I tend not to be so cautious on this sort of stuff though will probably end up squashed in a horrific bodged QR repair accident one day…

There is a reason they are placed low, and a reason you should not use them if it is not foggy. Shoot the buggers, I say. I blame Clarkson.

£500 new? How about Voodoo Hoodoo. It’s even got gears so you don’t need to grow a beard.

Personally I’d be looking on eBay for that kind of dosh…

Great cars to drive…

I have Topeak Explorer – they do 29er version in both standard and disc specific example. I have the disk one on my bike – easy to fit, works well…

Just to offer some alternative options, there are some very cheap KHS deals on their website, or build up a Titus Rockstar from a frame from OnOne. So many bikes, so little time…

double post

i think you just press the little cross that appears next to the word as you type to ignore the suggestion think it remembers next time you write that word.

Been chased by one on a solo night ride in a Swedish forest. Like previous poster it was the one time I was in with a chance of a KOM. Pedalled like fury to get away…

I ride large Zesty. I’m a long limbed 6ft 1 and fits well. Worth trying before you buy as that’s quite an expensive bike you are looking at…

Move to Scotland? Don’t be daft – there are dragons up there. And nowhere decent to ride a bike. No sir – its Milton Keynes for me!

Good luck. I will get to visit one day – am a bit jealous. Enjoy it!

No need for hob nobs – I have a nice glass of red to hand…

As you may guess by the wine drinking affectation, I would probably be classified as “middle class”. I am finding this debate fascinating as I am looking ahead to when my kids get to uni age and wondering what I will tell them?

With what is happening to the cost of FE and also what is happening in the job market I can see me making a case for them to skip Uni and go straight into the job market. But being middle class, I have real issues with them not going to uni. Pure snobbery on my part, but there it is. I have 5 years to figure it out before I need to have the conversation for the first time…

Please – carry on. I’m learning stuff here…

I think it needs to be capitalized. Or possibly capitalised. Or something. What was the question again?