I built up a forge in the Summer – really enjoying it so far. More laid back than the ragley big al it replaced – very at home on steep stuff.

I had a pair of gorilla brake pads that happened to a couple of weeks ago. I messaged them through their website and they put two new sets in the post. Great service!

Nope, but I live nearby and would love it if there was something like this.

Brilliant, good to hear experiences – cheers all.

Great ideas, all. Thank you!

Good points all.

On the question of what’s the other side of the wall… it’s a private road/housing estate garden. Photo below. I’d be surprised if they are interested in what we do on our side of the wall – everything will be below the top and well out of sight.

However, I don’t want to mess with the wall directly if I can help it as I have no idea how robust it is, and don’t want to be responsible for rebuilding it if it falls down!

Thanks for the great feedback all. Lots of food for thought and I’ll work a bit more on the ideas!

If it slopes away from the house that may make some elements easier – e.g. I could do flashing into the house wall (although its stone walls) and then run a gutter along the big stone wall at the boundary.

I like the idea of tying it into the wall if that’s do-able – would minimise extra structure needed. I’d want to avoid tying too much into the garden wall as it’s old, and not sure of ownership, etc.

Excellent thoughts – thank you.

Here are some initial responses:

Q1: How are you going to clean the upstairs windows?!

– Good question. Need to consider this! Some good ideas about a hatch from others.

Q2: Where are the existing downspouts (surface water drains) to feed the rainfall into?

– There are a couple along the length of the back of the house which I could potentially use.

Q3: How can that be “semi secure” if it’s open at both ends?

– With a drafty-but-lockable door/gate. It’s out of sight of the road, but I wouldn’t want to make it easy for people to get into.

Q4: As it is against your boundary I suspect there may be planning issues – have you checked this?

– Not checked in detail, but I’d hope this wouldn’t be an issue as although it’s a boundary it would all be below the height of the wall, and out-of-sight to others.

Here’s a couple of photos (‘scuse the clutter!):

Interesting points above… I’m not a newbie to biking, and mostly ride my hardtail at the mo, so would anticipate being clipped in for rough stuff.

However, one thing that appeals about the mallet E is that it sounds like you can use them as flat pedals in a pinch for going down to the shops, etc. 

I’m currently leaning towards the Crank brothers mallet E on the basis of:

– Feedback here and elsewhere

– This article: https://enduro-mtb.com/en/best-clipless-mtb-pedals/2/

– This video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnnJLmQsPZg

– A few other reviews.

Much appreciated – cheers all!

Well the shoes purchased (by mistake – expected the flat version) are FIZIK Terra Nanuqs – bought from Bike Inn, so a pain to return to Spain. 

In practice if I like clipless I expect to buy other shoes for warm weather and general riding.

T2D = type 2 diabetes

LTC = long term conditions

NAO = national audit office

TLA = three letter acronyms that the NHS is full of

Investigating now… That’s a strong recommendation!

Done!

I think this is an interesting experiment that will be good to learn from.

As others are pointing to, I wonder whether a more equitable solution may be a forum with a commitment of some kind to “be nice to each other”.

Dartmoor and exmoor.

Interesting – is Loop a kosher thing, or just a way to get and sell your data?

Being really lazy here… has anyone got a good Excel model for calculating benefits over time for a solar install?

For the benefit of lambchop, I’m currently looking into a solar install (I live in South Devon). The best quote so far is a local installer, offering this for about £12k:
– 5.525kW solar array
– 13 Trina Vertex S 425W solar panels
– SolaX Triple 5.8kWh battery
– All the rest of the gubbins (inc scaffolding & install)

I have asked him to look at an option for optimisers too as our roof is a bit complicated and some panels may be shaded for some of the day. Of of the bigger firms was trying to sell a solaredge system, but googling them throws up lots of unhappy customers and they cost a good chunk more than other options.

Any opinions from the STW massive on this setup?

You’re missing out… Season 2 is just as good as season 1. Some of the best telly out there.

Thanks very much for all the feedback and ideas so far by the way – STW can be relied on to provide a diverse set of views and expertise for almost any situation. Lots to think about!

Our members live between West Cornwall and East Devon, although much of our regular riding is Dartmoor and East Devon. If you’d like to join up and respond to the survey on the front page that will give you a good sense of where we are and your views would be very welcome. SW MTB Club (name TBC)

The same goes to any other STW’ers who live in Devon or are visiting – the club has a bunch of fab people who ride locally who would love to show people around local off-piste, Dartmoor loops, etc. All are welcome!

The old club used to charge a membership fee, and we’re waiting to see what members say they want before going forwards with any financial commitments.

The top of the blue is still closed, and the off-piste in Tower Woods (after dead dog and road crossing) is unpassable due to felling. Red and black are fine and there’s loads of off-piste in decent shape if you don’t mind it being extremely mucky and slippy!

My aim is to either ride outdoors, do an early morning sufferfest on the static bike or 30 mins of yoga every day.

I’m in. Bloody hot weather and holidays over the summer have been no good for my already poor fitness levels…

I had a magnetic multi-tool that I thought was brilliant – so convenient. However, it did rust after a couple of weeks and I wouldn’t go that route again.

tpbiker: Are you interested in the views of people looking out for how children are raised? Are you interested in research carried out and the evidence on the effects of this sort of corporate behaviour on kids (boys and girls)?

It’s not just those directly effected by inequalities that have valid views on it.

Also, like others have pointed out, such inequalities may be perpetrated by people in the same “group” (i.e. women) that are harmed by them. This shouldn’t effect people of either gender pointing out issues and seeking to improve things.

K – Apologies – you’re right, you didn’t say “man up” – you said “man enough”. Same thing right?

K – a couple of thoughts:

1) You’re assuming that everybody contributing here is a man – not sure that’s the case, or that it matters. The issue raised here is one that is well researched and understood by people of all sexes/gender identities. These sort of corporate behaviours have been judged by most of society to belong in the past (alongside racism, etc) and the OP was pointing out how the organisers haven’t yet caught up with this.

2) For what it’s worth, most people these days would describe “man up” as a sexist phrase as it associates the male gender with bravery and doing the right thing, etc. Not raising this because I’m offended or upset, but in the context of a discussion about sexual equality it might be worth using language that is sensitive in that respect at least :)

3) Again, I don’t think this debate was started on the basis of an issue around individuals (i.e. the models) being sexualised – rather it’s about how the sport as a whole is publicised with sexuality and its being done in an unequal way.

There’s lots of conflation here of three (or more) issues.

The point the OP was making, and others have built on, is around the lack of equality in how a sports event is promoted. They commented on the impact this has on their wife (presumably because it’s embarrassing to watch something publicised in a sexist way) and their child (because many sports have moved on in this respect, and as a parent they would like to see sports carried out and marketed in an equitable way).

The factors around whether things are marketed in a sexualised way (arbitrarily) or what it means for the individual models, or women wanting to get into this line of work, are entirely separate points, which perhaps deserve their own thread if people want to discuss them.

EDIT: On re-reading the early posts, perhaps the point around arbitrary sexualisation of sport publicity was a factor in the OP.

NEXT EDIT: …although this is still a separate issue to the point around equality, and it may be helpful to avoid conflating the issues if possible.

tpbiker – what has people’s skin colour got to do with any of this? Someone else (or maybe you, can’t remember) has raised this a few times and I’m not sure how it’s relevant in this thread.

It’s good to call for diverse input though, so support that. Note that the thrust of the OPs point relates to what this means for young people/children – unlikely to be many under the age of 10 on here I suspect.

There is a large degree of circularity in the arguments being posted, but I suspect there is a slow evolution of ideas and ways of communicating concepts. The issues can be complex, especially where people haven’t been exposed to them in a meaningful way before, or haven’t tried to see things from other perspectives.

That cartoon is excellent.

How I wish for a “+1” button…

Thought it might be worth bigging up the mini documentary posted by PrinceJohn earlier in this thread as it’s excellent. The impact for me was only loosely related to the topic of the thread, but it’s an awesome video about an amazing person. Link to youtube version (as Vimeo made me sign up to watch it): Learning to drown

Also: Points very well put by anagallis_arvensis, Cougar, LAT, johnx2, tomhoward and tjagain. In the face of people getting worked up by “wokery” and trying to derail the original point by making it about employment prospects for models it’s really good to read what you have written!

That’s beautifully put PrinceJohn.

It’s also interesting that it’s the people who have an issue with the OP’s original point who describe “outrage” and “handwringing”, when the point being made is neither of these things – rather it is a sensible and measured criticism of the way a sport is being managed and publicised in a sexist way. It wasn’t a comment on the individuals who are employed to stand there looking sexy.

I would also add to those who suggest that kids might not pick up on this sort of thing: They definitely do. The way society normalises certain things is immensely influential – I see it in my kids and others, in ways that they are conscious of and not. Things have definitely improved since I was a kid, but being a parent has made me much more aware of how far we still have to go to move towards an equitable society.

I think it’s brilliant that people point these issues out, and even if people go too far with it sometimes (which I don’t we are here) it’s in an effort to make the world a better place for everyone, which in my view is an honourable endeavour.

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by that chewkw. Could you explain?

As a father to three young girls (aged 5-10) I think it’s really important that people like the OP point out this sort of thing, that people make a noise about it, and that when there’s an opportunity to influence how things are done people consider how to make it better.

Being a father (to girls particularly) has made me much more aware of how pervasive the whole gender stereotyping thing is (first as a baby, then at nursery and at school to a lesser extent). I want my girls to grow up seeing no difference in what they aspire to do career wise or hobby-wise. I don’t mind sexualisation of some things in principle, but I would rather they grow up seeing it shared out between men and women rather than being one sided.

Great to hear the voices of support in this thread, and perhaps through reading these discussions others can gain a better understanding about why it’s an issue worth doing something about even if it doesn’t effect them directly.

I’d also very happily show you around if timings work :)

There’s loads of off-piste at Haldon- some off the main trails and some from random starting points around the hill. It’s a mix of difficulties, but plenty to keep intermediate riders on their toes.

May be best to join an existing group ride – check out the F2M facebook group for example, who normally have an “enduro” style ride on a Thursday evening.