I know what the OP means. At around 4pm today I was pondering watching the Ospreys, settling by the fire with a book (it’s been a busy day after a busy week) or going out on the bike. It was dry at the time but rain was in the air. I opted for the bike. Now having soaked myself to the skin, pushed the pace on streaming windswept open moorland and scared myself sh*tless descending pitch black slippey, slidey woods, I know why I did it. It’s the warm glow in a hot shower, hot steak sandwich and beer by the fire and the endorphin rush that makes you feel alive. It’s a different feeling to the one you get after a hot, sweaty, dusty ride in the heat of summer.

Was chatting to one of the guys in Cranes music shop in Cardiff (music shops are second only to bike shops when it comes to temptation to spend £££..). Apparently, ukeleles are selling like hotcakes at the moment. Wonder how long it will take before someone mentions Jake Shimabukuro……….

Your, missing, the point. This, sites legendary for it’s grammatical error’s. Plus I think, your’ll find that the proper word for colon is bowel

I’ve lost faith in Nokia and Ovi suite. They seem to be fiddling around at a snail’s pace, sorting one problem then developing another. I used to be able to send and receive e-mail from several accounts on my E72, but not synch with Outlook 2010. Following an update, I can now synch with Outlook 2010 but I can’t send or receive any email from any accounts over the mobile phone network and the account setup is locked. Have pondered doing a hard reset (as per youtube video – never done it myself before) but I’m not sure I want to deal with the inevitable carnage that would surely follow, plus I’m actually enjoying not having the constant intrusion of email alerts when I’m away from my PC……….
I loathe the Apple touchscreen for typing (done it and hated it) and it fails the “jeans front pocket” test. I’m wondering whether a Blackberry would be better next time round, but don’t know anything about them and can’t be arsed to dwell over it too much until the time comes to change.
Have a look at Nokia’s discussion forums. Seems to be full of unhappy punters (mind you, I expect most phone manufacturers forums will be the same – iPhone excepted, no doubt)

The biggest enemy is apathy. I’ve encountered this sort of thing in other walks of life. It may be that the story has no substance, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a government – keen for cash – puts out a proposal to see what sort of response it generates. The government, if they are looking at it, will want a solution with as many winners as possible. If the land generates income from logging or wind farms and retains a right to public access, then I think that it’s unlikely to change. If, on the other hand, there are commercial interests elsewhere and we remain silent, or a minority voice, then it could be at risk. It is very much in our interest to watch how this develops and take an active role in opposing any plans that jeopardise our enjoyment of the land. They won’t be too bothered about upsetting a handful of mountain bikers if they can generate income that allows investment in other, more politically favourable, areas such as NHS investment or keeping schools open. It may be unlikely, but I don’t think that anything’s safe in today’s climate and we need to make our voice heard and generate support elsewhere if it ever looks as if it’s going to happen.

A mechanic at a Trek dealer told me a couple of months ago that the bearings on my EX8 had a lifetime warranty as long as I was the original owner. I wasn’t listening at the time because I was still taking in the cost of fork servicing but I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.

The rise of communication through the written word in the last two decades has been rapid and, increasingly, is widespread throughout all sectors and slants of our rich and varied society.

No longer is the act of everyday writing of singular words and their pluralised brethren the realm of the middle manager, or the educated man (or, whisper it, the rare woman permitted access to learning and, subsequently, the workplace). Now, they belong to everyone: whether smashed together, losing the perihperal glue of vowels along the way, as we text and instant message, or via the expression of colloquiliasms, regional accents and varied levels of education and learning, national and ethnic origin.

We are, in effect, witnessing via the very post-modern systems of analysis through which such communication occurs the very evolution of language as meaning rather than prescription for which, only 40 or 50 years ago, we would have fought hard as a representation of change away from the old order.
Did you copy that off the Internet? If you didn’t, then you are Brian Sewell and I claim my £5

I just capitalise the lot. I like living on the edge.

I quite like LOL in that it’s spontaneous and I only type it out when I genuinely LOL (nothing worse than a disingenuous LOL in my book). “Ha ha” is good too, as is “Tee hee hee”, although “Tee hee hee” implies a sort of shifty eyed, hand over mouth type of LOL.

Trailertrash – I wish you hadn’t burst my bubble by putting “copied off the net” at the end. I was well impressed until I read that bit :lol:

I realise that I’m going to have the p1ss taken every time I mistype or get the grammar wrong from now on. Richly deserved to too LOL :D

LOL Realman – your two quick for me!

(if someone tell’s me I should of typed “you’re” I’m gonna pop)

Lots of times no?

Your right :oops:

dont get me started on this.
ok then,

LOL. Sorry, Martymac. I suspected that I wasn’t the only one. I think that my English teacher must have given me too much of a hard time and I’ve now turned into her (grammatically speaking, of course…..and no I’m not perfect and get it wrong lots of time too :wink: )
(How tempting is it to write “lot’s of time to”? LOL – it’s hard to stop deliberately getting it wrong once you start)

The seat is reclined back too far for starters. You’ll spill your beer.

PS I notice you say “first ever FS” bike. Again, apologies for my rather simplistic assessment, but my EX8 was my first FS bike too and the biggest thing I noticed was that it simply allowed me to go way faster without crashing (up to a point). When I revert back to my old hardtail, I can believe how much more “dangerous” it feels and I have to slow down quite a lot (I appreciate that my own lack of skill contributes to this as much as the bike, though). The Trek is also considerably more comfortable on a long ride than my old hardtail.

2009 EX8 here and way beyond my capabilities too (although, if you’d seen me ride, you’d realise that that isn’t saying much).
I haven’t ridden many other bikes to compare (I find it hard enough to find the time to ride my own bike, let alone test lots of others) but it felt right for me – even if the top tube initially felt a lot higher than my previous Specialized bike. I’m not expert enough to give you an in depth assessment, but the only minor niggles for me were the standard tyres (which were changed for me by the LBS at the time of purchase), the difficulty of getting Bonty tyres on and off the tubeless ready rims (needs a crow bar, not tyre levers) and I wouldn’t like to try to change the Avid juicy pads trailside. The biggest downside is the cost and frequency of servicing for the Fox suspension – if you believe the manufacturer’s recommendations, although that, obviously, isn’t unique to this bike.
I’ve got a hefty dent in the down tube and apparently this is a common thing with EX8s (but I can’t see how that would be unique to this bike either, though). A big deciding factor for me was that my LBS (Rocky Mountain Cycles, Talbot Green – not so local for me but close enough) is held in high regard for the quality of their workmanship and the warranty is very good indeed. The way a bike looks isn’t that important to me (I’d buy a fugly if it was good), but I’m often stopped by other riders who comment how good it looks. I’m unlikely to get rid of it any time soon and I’ve been told by a dealer that the frame and bearings are covered for the time I have it and if I get any problems with the Juicy levers sticking, Trek will replace them for Elixirs free of charge?
I only ever do gnarly, vertical downhill sections and 10m drop offs by mistake, having let my concentration lapse and failed to stop in time, so the fact that it can survive the subsequent carnage speaks volumes.
So, for me it was a double whammy of good bike and good dealer nearby if it goes wrong.
(I realise that my assessment may be a bit too simplistic for you – apologies)

I’ve thought about this many times, mainly because 99% of my riding is solo. I always make sure that Mrs T knows my route. I also have a satnav feature on my Nokia E72 that gives a grid reference for my exact location (as do many other phones). Assuming I’m conscious and have mobile reception (which I do on most of my regular rides) then I’d hope to use that.

Not sure if it’s exactly what you want, but I’ve found CRC website useful because they allow you to search tyres of a certain size. I found it easy to find 24″ tyres for my kids bikes, but mountain bike style tyres rather than a road bike. If I remember correctly, some of the tyres sold in this section came in narrower widths and less “knobbly” tread patterns, so you might find something suitable.

Interesting thread (apart from the offensive bits, that is). I can see both points of view. I’ve been thinking of getting a Diablo as a helmet light. Never done any night riding before and not sure yet whether it’s worth shelling out on a Trout/Luminous light or going for something cheaper like a Magicshine to see if I like night riding and can justify the cost of getting a more expensive one (rather than gathering dust, unused). A friend of mine has recently bought one of the spokebloke lights and I borrowed it for my first solo night ride on Monday – hugely impressed. For my riding, I can’t imagine needing more. I can see the benefits of both all in one and separate battery lights. Fenix sounds good as a helmet light, too.
P.S. Has anyone seen the Alan Partridge episode where he’s sat on the bed quoting the latest “What car” review of his ex wife’s new boyfriend’s car? If you have, you’ll get a sense of deja vu reading this thread……

Simonfbarnes – I think I’ve seen your picture somewhere else. Where you holidaying in the vicinity of Saskatchewan in about 1967, by any chance? If you were, I think you caused a bit of a stir and there’s a bounty of $500 for your safe capture that still stands to this day.

You’ll probably have difficulty finding someone who will provide the level of cover you require, or if you do (and I suppose everyone will insure you at a price) the premiums will probably be sky high. I am both self employed and employed (I own 2 businesses and I’m employed by an organisation as a sideline interest). I have insurance to cover me for my self employed work (and it ain’t cheap!!), but it doesn’t cover mountain biking. It’s one of the main reasons why I try not to do anything too risky. I’m sure that it’s only a matter of time until I come a cropper, though……..
It’s probably more about affordable cover rather than just having cover, I suspect.

Seriously though, you chaps are way, way beyond my skill level. I’ll never get to that level, but just wondering when speed is necessary for more basic woodland and trail riding. A big jump for me is still less than a foot! I need a skills course really. Although you pick up stuff along the way by trial and error, the more I hear, the more it convinces me that I need a bit of teaching too.
If any of the Cardiff boys are reading this, it’s Garth steps that gets me (a series of about 10? steps about a foot tall and a metre apart on a gentle incline). It can’t be done slowly (I think) otherwise you drop down each step and go over the bars. Most of the time I can get down it by letting go of brakes before each step but not so fast that I’m bowling into the next. Trouble is, I go over the bars about 1 in 10 times and I’m running out of my 9 lives!

Euro – is that picture of that big jump photoshopped?

it’s from this year’s Red Bull Rampage contest

It’s an amazing picture. You must have b******* the size of basket balls. I hope you weren’t one of the first two riders :wink:

Euro – is that picture of that big jump photoshopped? You surely didn’t do that, did you?

I give it lots of MTFU. I even try my best not to touch the brake levers at all on a steep descent. In fact, I’m usually leaning back so far and clinging on to the handlebars so tightly that extending the fingers to touch the break levers is out of the question anyway. Even if I’m leaning back so far that my scr0tum’s clattering on the back tyre and acting like a third brake, if the brakes are off, I will crash. The exception is if there’s a rambler in the way, but even then, they’ve learned to either scramble quickly out of the way when they see me coming or sprint away in the opposite direction, shouting obscenities all the way, in the hope that I will have either crashed before hitting them or slowed down enough to make a softer impact.

…..on the other hand – and in the interests of common decency – it’s probably better if I just post a linky instead………..

I’m probably the only one on here who used to model underwear. I’m sorely tempted to post a picture…..

PS we paid <£100 for ours, but that was a few years ago. They last forever and are very well made, so you’ll probably find loads for sale second hand.

They are superb. Best thing we ever bought for our kids and used it loads. Like Fadda, we used ours more than the pram (mainly because our lifestyle is such, we spent a lot of time walking on beaches and mountains where prams aren’t suitable). It’s also better at negotiating crowded departments stores instead of taking the pram or pushchair. I suppose like everything else, it’s worth getting a good one if you can. We had a Jack Wolfskin Watchtower and it was really good. I could carry ours all day long in it and it worked as a makeshift highchair if we stopped to eat. I’ve heard that cheap ones can hurt across the shoulders after a while.

I guess that’s why I’m a big Jessie. I was hugely impressed, but I didn’t like any of that. I need boggy marshland and soft grass around me to break all the falls. All that hoppety-hop business down the rocks would have me on intensive care, bandaged from head to foot and being fed through a straw, within the first 20 yards. Where do you start working up to that sort of thing?

:wink:

Harsh..

Very true. However, if you’re a Surrey Hills rider, new to riding around Cardiff, you might as well go in at the deep end……

So as a Surrey Hills rider am I going to be disappointed by the stuff near Cardiff then?

Surrey Hills, you say? Keep an eye open for the Taff trail at a place called “Coopers Fields”. I think you’ll find it highly technical and immensely challenging with some killer inclines. Non locals tend to find it pretty much unrideable without a long travel FS.

Not sure I understand myself any more……. :wink:

*Tries again*
I once bought a pair of wide and exotic high performance tyres for a car that was not a Galaxy. By shopping around I saved over £50 per tyre.
I once had a Galaxy. I stuck with the OEM tyres and shopped around for the best price. I saved a bit. But not as much as I saved on the more expensive tyres for the car that wasn’t a Galaxy.
:D

The thing is, would you then play cricket without the armour plating to protect Bert and the twins? You would? Respect.

(people with t3sticles may have insufficient knowledge to respond to this thread)

Is it possible, when you know that you’re going to slide and come off, to adopt a “stance” whereby the bike slides sideways and you simply let go and land gently on your feet in a sort of “spreadeagle” position but remaining upright? Thought not.