Surely the RS Reba is the most suitable fork for the Scandal. set at 100mm or 115 they would compliment it perfectly without needing to chopper it out

That makes more sense.

Good buy though :-)

Geoff did they have any more at that price???? Are you sure

fennesz i disagree with your big bike summary with regards to spesh hotrocks. They are indeed min scale versions of the bigger bikes.

My son has developed from 12 to 16 and will get a 20″ in december. All have been lightweight when compared to any other bike i have looked at, they have all had near perfect service and all have a rear coaster brake which has suited him fine until now. He is naturally ready to do away with the coaster brake and i have looked at the 20 model and would be surprised if the Isla bike is much different in weight.

That said i am going to have a better look at the isla bike as they do look good quality, however, as my lbs is a spesh dealer i will find it difficult to go past their excellent service. My son is the only 5-6yrs old i know of to wear out a coaster brake. Spesh had to strip one from one of their stock bikes as they dont even carry them as parts.

Oh and finally, i recommended the 12″ Hotrock to the sister in law for their little lad. I got a thank you the other day when they £99 bike 2 yrs ago sold for £65 on ebay. Thats exceptional value

My 2 kids were in the back of the net within 4 wks of trying on both occasions. I really do feel sorry for those that have to turn having a baby into chore.

Sex when you are tyring for a baby is one of the most intense sensations around. I was gutted when it happened so quickly. I could really have gone another 4 wks at least.

After my knackeroptomy i couldnt help but wonder if my pipes needed flushing out. It was strangely pleasurable

Whinlatter is much better now than when it first opened.

My gripe was that all of the slippy roots were on blind bends where you were just starting to get some speed going. After a couple of laps i knew they were coming so no big deal. BUT this trail is also marketed for newcomers to biking and i found that 90% of the people i passed were Howard & Hilda types on a break in the lakes. Every one i passed made the same comment about how dangerous it was and they hated it. In that respect the trail was not very good imo. Yes have roots but dont leave them in places where they acted like man traps, have them open and avoidable for joe public. If you have ridden it since the opening you may notice the slight alterations they have made which are a vast improvement.

Other than the above, its doesnt seem any different to all the other man made centres. A nice little blast imo

£4500 for a piece of crap that wouldnt win an argument in a crash with a cyclist, never mind another car OR a 3yr old Pug/Citreon/Ford etc etc which has lost most of its depreciation and can give many many years service. £4500 gets you a lot of small motor these days without resorting to crap.

This thing reminds me of those cheap scooters/motorbikes people were buying from abroad. Looked like a motorbike, even rode like a motorbike for a while but before 12mths were up they were found to be pale immitations of the real thing.

Yep, you have to pay for all three. £2 per time.

Without getting into the rights and wrongs of it, £20 seems a nice figure to donate for 12mths riding imo

I have heard it said that Kirroughtree cost about 10 X £ per metre than Ae line did.

You get what you paid for.

Rode Ae line a couple of weeks ago. I am gutted to say its the worst it has ever been.

I was one of the people who stuck up for it as a trail because i believed it rewarded those who put the effort in to attack it. Those that complained it didnt flow, i put down to lack of speed etc.

Well now I hate it tbh. It doesnt flow regardless of how fast you attempt to ride it. The aggregate used is much much to large. It is never going to ‘bed down’ and now that the mud has worn away from it you may as well be riding in an old quarry. It is puncture city if you attempt to sit down and it hasnt really got any challeneges to speak of.

Add in the diversions. I ignored them recently and ended up knee deep in mud which i accept is my own fault. I just wanted to see what they had been doing to the trails. I was gutted to see for myself.

I felt more bashed about on whatever length of ride that is (16mls maybe) than i did the previous weekend with 100+ miles of wales trail riding. Hated every second of it.

I had RS Recon with 85-130mm travel adjust and poplock on fitted to my pipedream sirius hardtail.

I now have RS reba SL’s fitted at fixed 115mm and no poplock. I guess the travel adjust was handy when trying to find the happiest compromise but once i did i never adjusted my fork. A well adjusted fork, set up for your style will serve you better than one where you just dial it in and out at every given oppertunity. People dont take into account how much of a difference a couple of clicks on the rebound dial can make to a fork, they just assume that longer travel means better performance. I havent bottomed my Rebas out once but they are much shorter forks.

Who mentioned short term contracts?

Thats a different matter.

It costs a company money to advertise a job.
It costs to employ someone
It costs to train someone

So do you take someone

a) Over qualified and will jump ship at the soonest oppertunity. Probably has issues with the pay structure and will not take kindly to being told what to do because they have previously been in positions of authority.
b) Is appropriately qualified or even under qualified who will work their arse off for the job and has every intention of being loyal.

It a consideration at least

Have you invalidated any warranty by doing that?

Oh they are fox’s, they dont come with a warranty do they ;-)

I wasnt trying to start a BM v STW debate on how many posters they have. I just believe STW has a much higher proportion of members who seem to be getting canned lately.

From what i have seen from the ‘how many bikes’ and ‘how much do you earn’, ‘where to invest this & that’ threads i rather think stw has more affluent members. WHether this has anything to do with it, i dont know

Giving the little gits a good kick up the arse would work just as well.

I heard on the local radio the other day that the police were hunting a local man. A gang of kids aged between 12 & 15 had been throwing stones & muckkies at passing people. One guy stopped and grabbed the nearest kid and threw him to the ground. They reported that this kid was shaken and bruised and they wanted witnesses. WTF, the guy should be getting a pat on the back

Had a Hamax for 6yrs now. Youngest lad and now my nearly 2yrs old daughter are using it. We have been around red sections at mabie and green/blue loops etc. They love it, especially when you get some speed up on berms.

Mine is like brand new after 6 yrs so its quality kit

£100 drop!!

I would be expecting to pay no more than £800, possibly less.

Granted they are good value bikes and because of the price increase they are even better value but come on……

Regardless of the ‘should have given it a slow & painfull death’ reports. I kinda agree with big dummy. As soon as i showed some aggression it turn tail and ran so wasnt so much a dangerous dog as an overexcited one. Different matter if it had connected with my wifes ankle!

So are these people allowed to walk with the dog off the lead? If not who would you report it too?

Yep, definately twice….

I am a pet owner too so like to think i am tolerant.

I like to squelch with the best of em ;-)

I wouldnt recommend High Street at this time of year. The weather is too unpredictable and unless there is a severe frost or mega drought the going is less than favourable on the tops imo. The fabled descent from the top doesnt exist. Its still bloody hardwork even in the summer unless it hasnt rained for weeks because its so boggy/peaty. That said, if you catch it right its a great route.

If it were me i would consider Grizedale, Garburn/ambleside/Jenkins Cragg or maybe even Walnar Scar. All would guarentee riding regardless of the weather atm.

My brother left school with below average qualifications. He joined the Royal Engineers as sso as he could and his life took off. He had direction, he had fitness and he had training. He ended up qualified to drive HGV’s at 18 including hazardous materials. He got himself heavy plant qualified and ended up in every piece of war torn world preparing landing sites and repairing them for invasions (Some great stories of being dumped by Hercs on bombed runways). After doing quite a few years they actually force you to retrain in another trade so he took some course in water refinery and drilling which took him out to Cyprus for 3 yrs with his wife. He learnt to scuba dive and got qualifications for parachuting there. He then came back and handed in his notice (Whatever they call it) and was told that he had a right to be trained in another trade before he left and he chose construction health & safety. He is now a regional Health & Safety guy for a major construction company (Quiet now but work booked for years on the olympics).

All through this he always had so many holiday days that it made me sick of hearing about it and the pay wasnt half bad considering how much he spent/saved compared with me.

All this for a guy who left school at 16 with a life of Mcdonalds if he hadnt signed up. If i hadnt hooked up with my wife at such an early age i would have done the same.

In my experience you get a hell of a lot further by having the balls to pick up the phone and asking to speak to whoever is in charge. Explain your interest and be open and honest about where you got the info from. Why would it be kept secret?

I am in my current job (Got made redundant in NOV) because someone gave me a headsup. I called and was fobbed off by the receptionist. I made a few calls to get the name of the person i NEEDED to speak to and they nearly bit my arm off. If you show the nounce to push yourself i would say you would be half way there if there is a job available.

trekcol (Colin Knell i presume) has already said. Take the bike back to place of purchase and get them to do a heavily subsidised fit of the Wide Stance Bearings (Whatever they are). If it is that guy i believe he’s head honcho for Trek Warranty UK. You get upgraded bearings for cheapo price.

Was she your wife or your girlfriend?

Arent those people slating asking for permission a bit hypocritical. They are calling it an outdated tradition, but isnt the act of marriage based on a tradition?

I started going out with my girlfriend at 15, her parents basically brought me up as my parents moved away. I asked her dad if i could marry her when i was 24 and we have been married for 10yrs this year. Her mum even went with me to collect the ring before we flew off on holiday where i planned to ask her.

I have respect for her family and tradition so i made sure i did things properly. Maybe thats one of the reasons why i feel that the vast majority of marriages are a sham imo and all about the day rather than the strong foundations they should be about.

I grew up with my wife, i have spent my entire adult life with my wife and i plan to die beside my wife. I found that recent story about the old couple with cancer who went away to die together amazing. Its how i would like to go (Without the cancer!)

I ran mine for 2 yrs on 85-130mm recons. It was fine in all settings however it always felt a little heavy.

I have recently fitted RS Rebas set at 115mm (Prob sag to 100mm) and the bike has been transformed. It can handle everything and is much easier to throw around. Even the techy stuff seems easier, maybe because i have so much more confidence in the bike.

I have run a steel hardtail in the lakes & stanes for the last few years. I changed mine to a double & bash (E13) purely from a financial perspective. I was sick of buying new big chainrings. I could guarentee that on the first ride with new chainring i would have a couple of teeth mangled. Not such a big deal but it got to the point after a month or so where i couldnt trust the big ring to put any power into it as it would slip due to loss of teeth.

As i said 3 yrs ago i changed to bash guard. I havent really missed the big ring and tbh i set up the fron mech so IF i do any events i can put the big ring back on with a longer chain in 5 mins. All the marks on the bash guard and my peace of mind justify my decision imo.

This all reminds me of hen i was about 13. We hated cats in our ousehold. They kept coming into the back garden and fishing in the pond and shitting everywhere. They also wound our dog up They quite often got treated to a brick up the arse or a dunk in the pond.

Anyhow next dors cat of a few years old was a ginger tom who thought he owned he place. Once found the bugger in our house. He came to his end one day when he was flattened by a car and as we did the milk round we were the first ones to discover this. My pal decided to have a laugh and had this mangled cat on his shoulder for the entire round. He was talking to it and trying to feed the bugger. Its jaw etc were broken so it looked bloody horrible.

End of the round we dumped it in a dustbin and left it at that. Few days later the neighbours (Who we got on with tbh) shouting for the cat. Must admit i shamefully had a few giggles about it.

I was young!!!!

Anyhow, i am the oner of a 13yr old cat who i have cared for like a child since i was 20 and i would be sd to see her go. But go she will and i wll get ove it.

I had a similar problem and used it as fix. 6mths later it happenedagain. The guys at Dinotte are fantastic. If you email them i guarentee they will ask for you to return it and they will upgrade the engine for free.

Cost me postage of about £2

Resetting Li-ion light – Technical Bulletin When toggling between steady and flash mode, customers occasionally and inadvertently put the light into programming mode. If the programming mode is incorrect, the light will not function properly. Improper functioning may cause permanent low battery mode or other inappropriate functioning. A self test will confirm the light’s programming. If the program is incorrect this can be corrected with a few simple steps outlined below. To avoid entering programming mode, please make sure the light is connected and fully powered before toggling the light into flash mode. If you purchased your light June 2007 or later from the DiNotte Lighting online store, or other reseller of DiNotte lights, it is most likely you light is a 200L (white) or 140L (red, amber) Self test: A light that is powered OFF will perform a self test when the battery is connected. Make sure the power is OFF and disconnect the battery for six seconds. Plug in a fully charged battery. The light will experience three pulse sequences: Two short red pulses (pause) two short blue pulses. The third sequence will come from the headlight (or taillight) and will flash a number of times. A lithium ion light should flash three times. Programming Li-ion lights. (please read steps 1-8) before trying to reprogram the light. Any dwell time between steps will exit the light from its programming. 1. Power light OFF 2. Disconnect battery for six seconds 3. Press and hold power button (do not let go) 4. Connect battery 5. Within six seconds, light will illuminate – PROGRAMMING MODE 6. Release power button 7a Press power button once (light will flash once) 7b press power button again (light will flash twice) 7c press power button again (light will flash three times) 8. Within 2 seconds, the light will flash confirming its new program and turn itself off. If Step 8 occurs before you complete 7a, or 7b, redo steps 1-7.

Thy are in PDF format. Email me and i will send them on

Just looking for it now :-)

Opened up my SSC BB last night and it was full of grit. Flushed them out and repacked with grease. Back running like new.

Whats the problem? Enduro, Shimano, Betd etc. They all fill up with grit and eventually die. Learn to pull them apart and repack with grease and you triple their life pan. It doesnt take long.

Tempted by the chris king as it seems to make financial sense.

I used to act like fagus when i was 10yrs old. I used to grab my football and storm off home so no one could play.

Thing was i always ended up lonely sitting at home getting told off by my dad.

In the end i realised that rather than be a stupid little boy, i should learn to appreciate others and accept that i wont always agree with them. Once i realised this i found that i made a lot more friends and got to play with them so much more.

Fagus, you need to grow up.

He’s probably **** out.

Pervy bugger

Rode Llangdegla last week. Its one of the least tyre dependant routes i have ever visited. I dare say i could ride it on semi slicks OR whatever other tyre i fancied and it wouldnt make much difference. Its just general trail riding. No real rocky sections or roots. No real mudbaths either. Just leave whatever tyre you like on and it wont make much difference. My Bonty Jones ACX were fine.

Pieface – You are kidding arent you?

Enjoyed that :-)