I’d recommend the Dartmoor Hornet. But that’s because I have one and it’s awesome. Also, mega bargain if you’re getting it frame only. Really a great ride.

If it’s just a short ride, it goes in the back pocket of my TLD Skylines with the foam padding.

If I’ve got a pack, then it goes in the top pocket behind my neck with bubble wrap round it.

I’m using 2 tokens with about 25% sag. Nice and smooth, never bottomed out harshly, just sort of firms up to tell you you’re being stupid. I found that having the rebound a few clicks towards fast from the mid-point feels good too.

First ride up Kilvey hill in Swansea. Good ride.

I’ve been running the Nukeproof AM rims for a couple of months now. Haven’t fallen off or anything, but I’ve been fairly mean to them and they still look perfect. No dings that I can see, but again, I’ve not had them on that long. They do seem pretty tough though, also, it’s pretty easy getting tyres on and off of them which is handy.

Definitely take the stickers off though.

I can recommend the Hornet. Such a good frame to ride. Bear in mind that it’s really stiff, so you have to decide whether you want more comfort for longer rides. However, it does mean that it feels pretty indestructible in the rough stuff, and it accelerates and corners really well.

I’m riding it with a 150mm fork and it feels awesome descending and on fun flat bits, but still climbs without feeling like you’re going to go off the back.

Yeah, I’m not going for final masters with them, but I find headphones pretty useful for panning and subtleties in synths/effects. Also, I’m at uni at the moment, so I can’t afford a decent pair of monitors or to go home to use my dad’s

I mainly want to record and mix to a point where most of the work is done so that when I get home or if I decide to get some studio time I’m not trying to do whole tracks in one session.

Looking at protect your bubble and they’re saying £9.49 with all the details, what makes you think it should be higher?

It’s definitely staying locked in my room, but the riding’s really good here so I’d regret having a worse bike.

Quotes look to be around £9 a month for it, which isn’t too bad, and after first year I’ll move out of student housing and have a proper place to lock it up. I’m really just wondering which insurers are best to deal with in terms of claiming if I have to?

Also, thanks to online sales and a donor bike, I’m more like £1100-1200 into it, so if I have to make a claim, I should be able to easily fund a replacement and maybe even upgrade some parts.

The Hornet feels really strong to me when I’m riding it. Also, looking at the thing, the seatstays and chainstays are pretty huge. I’m not the lightest guy, and I was confident hitting drops and descending flat out after a few rides. I guess you only know how tough it really is when you manage to break it. But I don’t see it happening soon.

This assumes you’re not a super-rad huck god, riding off cliffs and stuff though, so no guarantees.

Two thick slices of wholemeal olive bread. Mayo on one side, pesto on the other.

Salami, mozzarella, bit of cheddar, mushroom, lettuce and some sweet pepper inside.

Manwich.

Think there’s an announcement due next month, there will be at least a new version L out with big changes, hopefully a new nexus as well, which means you can choose new hardware, or an extra cheap nexus 5 which should come with the latest version installed instead of waiting for an OTA.

I’m really happy with my nexus 4, so personally I’d say nexus is the way to go. If not, then a motorola.

I can highly recommend the Hornet. Not sure what a Chameleon does that makes it worth so much more. Maybe it pedals for you or something?

Seriously though, frame quality on the Hornet seems very high so far and it rides really well too. Mine’s got a 150mm fork on it and it still handles climbs well but properly flies downhill.

Up to you, but basically buy the Hornet.

Any excuse! My Dartmoor Hornet with 150mm Pikes. Brilliant fun, climbs well at 150mm and absolutely flies down. 12mm rear means it’s pretty stiff on drops and probably helps in the corners too. That said, it didn’t destroy my body after a 40 mile day ride, so a good choice for whatever sort of riding you do.

I got a set of Pikes pretty cheap from alltricks.com (french site) they are pretty great on the flat and downhill; with one token in the air chamber, they can smooth out the rough stuff without bottoming out on big hits. They also climb well without having to mess about with the compression, just take the time to set them up and you’ll have no worries.

I’ve got a Pike RC, and the compression dial has a number of clicks as opposed to just 3 positions. I think everything else is the same. I’ve been happy climbing with it in the same position as descending (3 clicks clockwise) as it seems to stay fairly high up and not bob when moving slowly.

You said you usually just leave them open, so unless there is some secret difference nobody’s told me about, you might as well go for the RC.

Finished building this on saturday morning, spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon playing out.

Little bit of tabasco in the eggs when scrambling/making an omelette.

Add some soured cream and a bit of butter when making a tomato pasta sauce.

Melt some stilton into a risotto.

The bottom3 gears on my SLX cassette sheared off the alloy carrier. It wasn’t even that worn.

Long cage because that’s what the donor bike had. Would go for a medium cage, but the current one shifts so well that I really can’t think of an excuse to buy a new one. Then again, might be possible to buy just the plates and convert it.

@deviant I’m running 26ers in there right now. Found a great deal on those Pikes, but it was only on the 26 inch ones. It rides really well with them, plenty of mud clearance with a 2.25 tyre. The 12mm axle definitely puts more of the trail into your spine, but it’s the type of bike that you stand up and engage with anyway, so it’s worth having the stiffness. Also, the headset I got for it was a ritchey one where the bearings just drop into the headtube with no pressing required, which was nice.

Apologies for the lawn, but the mower’s busted right now so I’ve got an excuse.

Runaway for me. It’s more of a music film than a music video, but I love the album it’s from, and I love the way most of the tracks are reworked slightly for the film, which is just a nice bit of effort they didn’t have to put in.

Cheers. Might go measure how far away my knees are 😀

Does anybody know if the large Hornet (18) is long enough to be used by someone that’s 6 foot 3? I don’t mind putting a long seatpost in it, but I don’t want to be smacking my knees?

Vidcast[/url] is a website that make a chromecastable(?) stream from sites that haven’t implemented it. Only tested it on vimeo myself, worked perfectly though, which is nice for the sites that haven’t got up to speed yet.

Another vote for the Troy Lee Skylines. Decent fit, not too hot to wear. Seem pretty sturdy as well and they have super deep pockets + a zipped one on the back so you can carry enough to go without a pack if you just want a quick spin. Also, they were a lot cheaper than decent MTB shorts tend to be when I got them on CRC.

Last Sunday’s weigh marks the first time I’ve been below 15st in maybe 5-6 years…

Best advice I can give is commute by bike. I ride 5 miles each way to college as many days as I can and it’s great. Gives me a lot more energy throughout the day as well.

Another thing is to cut out the lunches. I find I usually tend to grab a snack when I get home anyway, so I leave the lunch out so I’m only eating when I get home, i.e. straight after exercise. Also, leave your wallet(or at least your change) at home to avoid buying unhealthy snacks.

I wrote and recorded a song. And this mediocre lyric video for it. The song’s good though.

More on my Soundcloud if you like.

A sound damping pad for my bedroom studio:

@stuarty Still alive. The pie was actually delicious, it’s just the photo that was dodgy.

Michelin Country Rock do a good job for me. Really smooth on the road, but enough tread and side knobs to cope with stuff like gravel bridleways.

Oh, and I also recorded, produced, mixed and mastered this London Grammar cover with my friend singing:

https://soundcloud.com/the1fletch/bex-sweeney-strong-remaster

I made a steak and ale pie.

And yes, that is ? on the top. I am that bad.

Banks is great. Not got loads of stuff out yet, but an album’s coming soon apparently. She’s also pretty good live. Check out her soundcloud for more:
https://soundcloud.com/banksbanksbanks

Take a look at Mondaine. I’ve got one, it keeps time well, and looks gorgeous(in my opinion obviously), unlike a lot of really gaudy, chintzy watches that cost five times as much.

avoid heavy lifting for a day or 2 (which I didn’t)

To be honest, I usually ignore this if I feel fine, but it may have something to do with it. Never had a massive bruise though, you might just have got an inexperienced nurse.

or

And this one just makes me want to break out the dodgy 80s dance moves.

Delicious bacon macaroni cheese.

I built up a Kona Dr. Dew out of a mix of spares and new, and it does the job nicely. Comes up light and handles well on the tarmac and copes well with off-road shortcuts too.

Surely a “Savvy cyclist” is the exact type that ISN’T going to ride up the inside of a lorry?

Then again, it might help stop the complacent, ‘won’t happen to me’ types from just taking one risk too many.