..

Richard ‘tax haven’ Branson (while claiming to be the saviour of the British people).
Any ‘sport’ that can be done while smoking a fag or drinking a beer or reading the paper. Yes golf, snooker, darts – I’m talking about you…. And those people at the gym who read the paper while sitting on a bike or cross-trainer or whatever.
People who do air quotemarks (which probably includes me)
Any and all politicians.

Oh and plus1 for Ton and the beautiful game where everything is ugly; the players, the fans, the officials, the coaches, the money, the TV presenters, the commentators. Ugly. All of it.

Just FYI regarding the Crud Roadracers, you can spares for them from Crud for the price of a couple of stamps. So don’t worry too much about breaking them as you’ll be able to get replacement bits dead easily.
I’ve had a set for a while and broken them once but I’ve recently bought a set of the new ones, which I like a lot and now consequently have loads of spares.
I think they’re designed to break easily in case they get stuck in something they shouldn’t.
They’re very light and discrete on the bike which I like.

I got walloped by a kid once with a golf club on a crazy golf course.
Thumbnail went all black and swollen and hurt like b@ggery after a couple of days.
Went to A and E where the doctor straightened out a paperclip, heated it up with a cigarette lighter until it was red hot and then jabbed it the nail.
‘KIN OWWWWW !!!!!
The blood was everywhere

It’s called a double v in french though. Stupid foreigners

And them Germans pronounce it ‘dooble vay’ too …

I had an accidental epiphany moment when I learned you can zoom <In any windows page> by holding down control and scrolling with the mouse.

Bugger me !

Found the ‘interesting’ part of a blow-up doll once, floating in the canal

That happened to a friend of mine during the summer, he lost his wedding ring on a beach in France. He searched for ages on several days, and then the day they were due to leave he went to give a description and his phone number to the resident lifeguard, lifeguard says ‘hang on a minute’ and then produced mate’s ring from out a desk drawer. Turns out a local with a metal detector had found it that same morning and handed it in. What are the chances eh ?
There’s always hope !

Lapierre XR here

Is that the one with just the single upper pivot and which relies on flex in the carbon chainstays for the lower ‘pivot ?
How do you find it ? Are you not concerned about fatigue cracking in those chainstays ?

Thats what contributed to the feel. The shock was wallow “down” as you climbed and you would have been “pulling” it out of its sag and “over” any lumps rather than it reacting in a springly-like fashion and lifting the rear wheel over – hence you feeling like you are dragging the bike up.

Yesterday I tested my ASR5 in the surrey hills with “too much” air in (about 18% sag) and some hefty rebound set to counter the bounce as a response to my own thread on here about setup. The bike was lively and spritely (in a good way) as hell, but still oh so comfy.

Interesting – thanks

:-)
That is well creepy though

Oh, I thought you meant Dylan Hartley

In short, no. It’s like a wired speedo from the fork.

Thanks Hob Nob

What trek was it?

2014 Fuel EX8

I would consider 100mm short travel on a 29er though

yes, true, fair enough. I meant short travel in general rather than just 29ers

What was wrong with it’s climbing?

hard to describe really, just felt heavy and sluggish. Used to those same climbs on a light hardtail so maybe I was expecting too much. Yes, perhaps not set up quite right for me although it felt ‘right’ size-wise. After the ride I noticed ghat the ring on the forks was only to around 100mm and the ring on the shock had been pushed off the shaft so quite possible that the sag wasn’t set up quire right for my weight.
I didn’t notice the front wheel lifting.
I also have a 160mm travel bike which is slightly heavier yet I didn’t find the 29er easier, in fact possibly harder on the climbs.
Maybe it’s about the suspension setup and, yes, wheel weight.

Vondally – interesting, thanks. How tall are you out of interest ? Agree about the twisty stuff, I caught the back end a couple of times on a trail I would normall clear on my 26 hardtail.

I never understand why anyone pressure washes a bike – as you note it forces water, at pressure, into places you dont want it to go

Cos it’s easier and quicker than doing it by hand. I have better things to do with my time and I’ve never seen any ill-effects.

She should have gone with Special K, she’d have got through the gap then ….

Because they’ve got far more sense than to get involved with that nonsense !

You can ponce around at Twickers, or get a train to Kingsholm for the proper rugby experience

Watching Glaws lose, you mean ?
:D

Yep, autumn’s definately on the way. I put my pants on inside out this morning because I had to get dressed in the datk !

Or get some better mates!

And a new wife !

everyone dances and sings

There’s a Monty Python sketch in there somewhere, struggling to get out

I dunno – just stop worrying about what other people think?

Easier said than done I guess.

Or get some better mates!

Maybe you’re on to something ……

What you need is The Right Trousers

Ha ha, brilliant, well done !

[armchair psychoanalysis]
Just out of interest, why don’t you enjoy it? I’ll wager it’s because you feel self-conscious doing it – which is a hangup you’d feel better about getting over.
[/armchair psychoanalysis]

Yeah, I do feel self-conscious while doing it, and clumsy, and ridiculous. Which are not feelings I enjoy. How would you suggest I go about getting over it ?
It really isn’t a big deal, it just gets turned into a big deal by everyone else. There was a time when I used to enjoy it, but now whenever I take to the dancefloor it’s like Moses parting the Red Sea
as everyone stands back to watch me make a c0ck of myself. If they didn’t make such a fuss about it I’d be quite happy minding my own business. No thanks.
And I don’t live in Africa !
:-)

Of course not everyone has to dance all the time, and I won’t dance to music that doesn’t make me want to, or if I’m not in the mood, or the atmosphere doesn’t feel right – but having a blanket rule of no dancing ever just means you’re a bit of a miserable bugger IMO.

See, that’s exactly the problem I have with dancing. You want to dance ? that’s absolutely fine. I don’t, so please leave me alone, I’m the least miserable person you could ever hope to meet but I don’t want to pretend to enjoy dancing and that doesn’t give you the right to make me look stupid and **** up my evening.
Nothing personal, like :-)

Dancing is fun and good for the soul you miserable buggers.

Not the way I do it it isn’t !
:-)

rOcKeTdOg – Member

Funnily enough, I rode down the canal from the Mailbox all the way to Worcester the other day and very pleasant it was too.

Apart from the estate over the wast hill tunnel surely?

For real ale go to the welly

Oh yeah, that’s true, I had wiped that from my memory …..

Dancing ! no one’s mentioned dancing yet, what the hell is that all about ??? 99% of people who dance at parties look fooking ridiculous to me, which is exactly how I feel whenever I’ve drunk too much to resist friends’ constant nagging to join them. Spoils the whole night for me and makes me just want to go home.
Or maybe it’s just me ….

I use a Timbuk2 ‘man-bag’ – actually a small courier bag. Works for me – and I only get mild abuse of my two sons!

I just bought one of them and I luuurrrvvve it. But not in a gay way, obviously ….

Funnily enough, I rode down the canal from the Mailbox all the way to Worcester the other day and very pleasant it was too.

I flew into Kai Tak in the cockpit a few times. It was common practice to dump the thrust reversers BEFORE the nose gear was down. Jeepers !

I’ve used him many times, and he’s always done a great job. Nice chap and thoroughly reliable, wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.

(my ex-window cleaner was called Ben Alder)

Oh, and by the way, ground staff at Glasgow aren’t BA employees, they’re handled there by a third party company.

That’s all terribly unfortunate BB, but let’s not forget here that what actually caused all of this was Heathrow being closed due to a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787. A combination of an airport which is always at 99% capacity, and an aeroplane that has had a somewhat less than glittering introduction to service.
Sure, BA could have handled it better but their operation was in tatters all over the world at that point.

Who was that sweaty little fat man in the suit standing behind Dave and shouting like he was on Songs of Praise ?

That would make Match of the Day a bit more interesting.
Looking forward to the World Cup then ….

The Greenway, I believe, is a disused railway line that heads towards Broadway. Don’t know if it goes all the way. I’ve ridden along there to Long Marston, about 7 miles, from memory and it’s very pleasant. Flat, well surfaced and dry. Perfect for family wobbling. There’s a pub or two in Long Marston and I seem to recall that there is a cafe in an old railway carriage along the way.
I think it goes right past the race course so easy to get to and you wouldn’t need to ride through town to get to it.

A pair of Typhoons from Conningsby launched on a QRA after an aircraft inbound to Heathrow lost comms

Got replaceable dropouts ? Put a smidge of blue instant gasket between them and the frame and do the bolts back up. Likewise use it on the seatpost, sorted all sorts of creaking noises over the years for me.

I built up a 16″ Scandal (same geometry as the Inbred) for my wife. I’m 5’10” with 31″ inside leg and it’s too small for me. Not as bad as the 16″ Marin she had before but the 18″ would definately be the one I would choose if for myself.

That Airbus tanker is called the ‘Voyager’ in RAF service. It’s a version of the A330 civilian airliner.