I’ve used them twice. Very pleased with results both times. Most of the scratches were scratches to the topcoat varnish but I also had a deeper bumper scratch down to black plastic – all invisible after treating. My local guy didn’t do dents but called in his mate from Dentmaster to sort some minor dings (<2cm) and looked brand new afterwards. V impressed. I negotiated a price with him because he was doing several panels and it worked out vastly cheaper than bodyshop (and cheaper than advertised chipsaway prices). He came on a Saturday morning, set up an awning on the drive and was done within the hour. I’d use them again without hesitation. I’ve seen his van at a local dealership, so I presume they do a healthy trade prepping 2nd hand cars at dealerships too.
PS I’m very fussy about the result too.

I did it a few weeks ago with a group of inexperienced riders and really, really enjoyed it. The descent wasn’t as smoothed over as I was expecting and, as others have said, worth it for the views alone (sunshine helped, mind). Although the pace was slow, I quite fancy going back and nailing it at full pelt all the way around.

For my money there’s a much better ride nearby of a similar character, but with better views and trails..

Cheeky or something you could post up on here, Molgrips? I’d be very interested to hear about any ways to extend the ride or anything else in the vicinity.
PS If you’re doing it, there’s a good farmhouse that does cream teas etc about halfway round. When you get to the tarmac road after the tramway, instead of turning off the tarmac to rejoin the fireroad, drop down the hill to the Old Barn Tea rooms at Ystradgynwyn. V good VFM and massive slices of cake. There’s no need to go back up the hill, just follow the short section of road back to rejoin by the Neuadd resevoir.

Whenever I’m chasing around at work like a blue arse fly or whenever I stop on a ride to take in my surroundings I think of this poem by a fellow Welshman:
W. H. Davies – Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

…and another favourite poem of mine (which, funnily enough, I was thinking about earlier when I read the thread about the last WW1 soldier who recently died) by Wilfred Owen – “Futility”:

Move him into the sun –
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds, –
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved – still warm – too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
– O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?

Then there’s so much by Dylan Thomas that I daren’t start on that…

When I was about 11, we had compulsory cooking lessons at school and the first lesson involved baking “scones”. The night before the lesson, my mother was putting the ingredients together and kindly offered to weigh and bag the ingredients so that they were ready the next day. Easy peasy. So the next day, I blended all the ingredients together – including all of the the 750g salt dispenser – and baked my scones.
The cookery teacher spent a good 10 minutes dry retching into the sink after her first bite. She gave me a right telling off, despite my protestations, on the grounds that “nobody could be that stupid”. I blamed my mother for giving me the wrong amount of salt and my mother later explained that it wasn’t possible to assign “a pinch of salt” to its own container…..

Well, I’ve gone and done the classic and turned the nut what I thought was the right way and threaded it. Seems to be a common occurrence. I now have it out and have removed the axle. How do I get the bearings out? Can’t see anything that looks like a bearing in there and the DMR maintainence page on this is blank!
I’ve never taken a pedal apart before (I know, I know, but gotta start somewhere), so there’s probably an obvious answer. Any help appreciated.

Brilliant. Thanks lads (and ladies). Link too. Much appreciated.

What a thread. Real talent on here. Pity they didn’t use some of these photos in this year’s Singletrack calender – I wouldn’t have binned mine if they did. Zokes – blown away by your pictures in particular. Superb. Makes me want to go out and get an SLR camera and have a go, but of the 1000s of pictures I’ve taken in my life I don’t think I’ve taken any that match the quality of the majority of these. My favorite thread ever. Hats off to all the contributors.

I suppose I should be grateful that they don’t want to do it in fancy dress. I was half expecting them to be doing it in Tarts & Nuns outfits (with L plates and glitter cowboy hats etc) when the idea was first put to me and I feigned coyness and said that I would “probably” be free that weekend….

Also, seriously, I really can’t be bothered taking my MudX tyres off….

and with that, the thread withers and dies……..

Anyone know what the new “smoothed over” bit is like? From what I’ve heard, it sounds like it’s the rocky descent after the gap.
Also, seriously, I really can’t be bothered taking my MudX tyres off (they’re b*ggers to get off Bonty rims….well, they are for me using 2 teaspoon handles as levers) and was going to use them year round. Are they more prone to ripping on rocks? (I’m thinking softer rubber).

Give me a shout if you need a hand, email in profile

Such a selfless act that will surely be rewarded in heaven….
but then again…..

Personally I would fall off and hold my groin

Ok, a little bit off the subject, but I started it so here goes:
What’s the best way of looking like I know what I’m doing. Do’s and don’ts.

YOU LUCKY BUGGER !!!!!

Ah, but is it lucky? You’re talking about a man with absolutely no mountainbiking skills whatsoever (God knows, I’ve tried). This could be one massive egg on the face experience both in terms of fitness and skill. I’ve been labelled “mountainbiker” by Mrs T’s sister and feel obliged to look reasonably impressive, but despite my enthusiasm for biking, my skills are non existent.

POIDH? Dare I google it?

Usually need new straps before anything else.

How easy/difficult is it to get these replaced with originals?

Thanks, Ross980. What made me wonder about the effectiveness of solar power on the MTG-1000-1AER was the energy needed to power the mechanical hands and atomic update (I’m thinking it may use more energy than a digital model, but I could be completely wrong). Love the idea of using solar power, as long as it’s good enough for our climate.

but it’s a **** to set.

Thanks for that, Derek. I had a quick look at the PDF instruction manual and wondered about that myself. It doesn’t look intuitive or easy. I presume once set, it’s set and forget, though. I quite like the look of it and like the atomic clock update and solar power. Just wondering what a Welsh winter (or even, summer) will do to the solar power……

I think most big companies have ‘green’ targets they have to meet these days

I suspect that if we have a warm summer, these waterless urinals will become green targets of their own in more ways than one……..

The only reason large businesses have energy teams etc is to save money, not the environment. Water costs McDonalds money so by using waterless urinals they save MONEY. You must be very niave if you think they do it because they love the world.

My experience of waterless urinals is that they stink.

That’s what I was thinking. It’s the “waterless” aspect of it that I meant, rather than using the water that we have in abundance in a more friendly way. A large butt on the roof would be a good idea. Not that McDonalds is short of large butts as it is.

I’d be more impressed though if a business posted up that it’s flushes were powered by rainwater harvesting – that would show commitment to a more sustainable infrastructure

That’s more along the lines of what I was thinking. We’ve got loads of it, so why not use it?

There are environmental impacts in providing both the clean water to flush and the sewage plants to process the dirty water.

But what’s wrong with a water butt type thing and using that or maybe a little manually operated sunroof above the receptacle to let in a little rain to flush the detritis away?

Poor troll. Nobody is that much of a dumbass.

If the dumbass bit was aimed at me, I couldn’t agree more, but I don’t understand the rest of what you said. It’s not a troll – there are water saving urinals in Cardiff and why would anyone want to save water in Wales? Genuine question.

I usually pop a 16oz ribeye steak into a plastic bag with a few herbs, crushed garlic and olive oil, letting it marinade a room temperature in my backpack while I ride. Then when I need a quick snack, I fire up my portable camping gaz stove and flash fry both sides before a quick flambe using a brandy miniature. OK, so it raises a few eyebrows when I’m racing against the clock, but everyone needs to eat and I’m not into prepared foods like nutrigrain bars etc. I would opt for a curry like Mr Formaggio but my local curry house gets all churlish when I phone for delivery to an OS grid reference.

Sorry, I can’t help you with saddles, but if you’re ever in the market for a boat, can I recommend one of these?

We’ve had an AEG Favorit dishwasher for around 3 years and not had any problems. The main reason we bought it was that it was said to be the quietest on the market at the time (and you’d struggle to know it was on, it’s so quiet). According to the guy who came to fix our Miele washing machine, AEG were taken over by Electrolux and you now have to choose with care. The “old” AEG were tough as old boots and well built, but some of the newer AEG appliances are simply rebranded with Electrolux
Edit: Never thought I’d see the day that I would be contributing to a thread on dishwashers. The shame.

In a blind tasting, I’d struggle…..

(I freely admit that I’m no connoisseur of whiskey though. Can’t even spell it.)

I agree with Kuco’s brother. I swear by those Merrells too. I’ve had a pair exactly like that for 3 years now. I wear them all summer long – long walks, in the sea, the lot. Superb. Supremely comfortable and hard wearing. Most important of all, Mrs T thinks they look nice too. The only thing I wouldn’t do with them is ride a bike……….

Very interesting thread. I used CRC for the first time ever around 18 months ago and within a week or two, my credit card company called me up to ask if I’d bought Orange topup £10. I said “no” and they said that they’d suspected fraud (but not on my behalf, incidentally), cancelled the cards and sent new ones. They didn’t give any details and I was left impressed – and mystified – that they’d managed to pick it up. I didn’t link it with CRC at the time, but looking back and reading some of the posts here, it’s one heck of a coincidence……

Seeing as the guy who should have been filling the potholes round here has been up to the Gap to smooth it over, I’ll either be negotiating the A roads on a long travel full suss or doing the Gap on my slick tyred roadbike.

I drink decaf for both coffee and tea. Can’t tell the difference in taste with tea, to be honest (nor the stimulant effect). With decaff coffee there is a big difference in both flavour and the effects. It’s a personal thing, but I find that most decaf coffee tastes of fag ends. The exception is clipper organic instant (for instant coffees – yeah takes as long as “proper coffee” to make etc, etc, but if it’s instant you want, then go for clipper green top bottles. Really nice flavour IMO). For “proper coffee” I use Taylors of Harrogate, having gone through most of the brands. For the espresso machine, I like Lavazza (blue packet).
Where you really notice the difference is when you’ve been decaff for a long time (like me) and you have a single cup of caffeinated coffee (or a coca cola). Wide awake until 3am after an afternoon coffee and heart rhythm like an Omar Hakim drum solo.
Each to their own, but I’m more “chilled” when I’m on decaff, I sleep better and my heart doesn’t clatter around like an old truck engine before stalling – but that’s a personal thing. Not saying it’s the same for everyone, but I’d recommend the above brands if you’re thinking of going decaff.

I was once in a Ford dealership, waiting my turn to be served, when I overheard a conversation between a very rude mechanic and a customer on an adjacent desk. The customer had a very justifiable complaint and was being treated appallingly. It ended up with the mechanic walking off, customer totally losing his rag and demanding to see the manager. Anyway, when the manager arrived, he asked the customer to point out who the mechanic was and the reply was something like “he’s the guy in the blue overall who’s acting like a finalist in the ‘ar*ehole of the year’ competition”. The whole waiting area – staff and waiting customers included – collapsed into gales of laughter. Everyone, that is, except the complainant who was visibly shaking with pent up anger, and getting angrier by the second.

there’s been a request to not name the doctors involved in treating Lyme’s to the mods

I’ll second that. I only mentioned one person’s name because he has been involved in raising awareness. I’ll also add that you should not rely on what I or any website has said in terms of the detail of treatment. I’m only relaying my own experience of being treated and it could be a load of cobblers for all you know. You should make your GP your first port of call and if you’re looking elsewhere, bear in mind that anyone else may not be safe, qualified or reliable. The most important thing – and the reason for my contribution to this – is that you are aware of Lyme as a possibility and can remind your GP that you participate in a sport where Lyme is very much a possibility. It takes a face to face consultation with a properly qualified Doctor to properly deal with your own problem and to exclude other, equally plausible, diagnoses. Don’t rely on Internet diagnoses, other than to raise your awareness of it.

I had several weeks of Amoxycillin. It’s a second choice antibiotic, and I was treated within 48 hours of the tick bite. Your Doctor will probably liase with an expert before treating you, but Doxycycline seems to be the preferred choice of many. If you have longstanding Lyme, it’s likely that you will be referred for specialist supervision (or that your GP will probably consult with an infectious diseases Doctor at the very least).
I couldn’t keep anything down (tablets included) on Doxycycline, so there was no option than to switch to something else in my case.

That’s an extremely good link that TJ has given you. Every mountain biker (and their Doctor) should read it. Lyme disease is massively under diagnosed in the UK. One problem is that the symptoms are vague, when your doctor examines you (unless they are lucky enough to catch the rash and, if they do, not misdiagnose it as a fungal skin infection) there is little to see. The biggest hurdle is actually thinking of Lyme and considering it in the differential diagnosis. Most Doctors will have been brought up thinking of Lyme as a predominantly American disease associated with deer. If you ask your GP to name a tick borne disease, spread by deer in the USA, they’ll come up with Lyme quick as a flash. However, if you tell your GP that you’re a mountain biker and you’ve had vague symptoms of fatigue and malaise for several months, they’ll (rightly) consider some of the more common causes, but most will not even consider Lyme as a viable diagnosis. This situation is changing, though. The medical community (and their educators) are beginning to realise that this condition may be much more widespread than had been previously recognised and I know that the guy in Cardiff has helped to make this so by raising awareness of the condition. As well as your Doctor, you also owe it to yourselves to be aware of this condition so that you can at least help your Doctor by giving a meaningful history and reminding them that you participate in a sport where tick bites are common.
By the way, I’d just like to pick up on one point mentioned, or alluded to, in the link above. Your Doctor doesn’t need to wait for a serological result before starting antibiotics. Taking antibiotics doesn’t preclude later testing.
I had a tick bite last year (and the characteristic rash). I couldn’t tolerate the Doxycycline prescribed for me and the nausea was unbearable by day 3 (couldn’t keep them down). If you are prescribed them, take them with food, because it makes it slightly better. The key to Lyme is early recognition and treatment. You can also help yourself by removing the ticks properly with a proper tick removal tool (a special tweezer). If you don’t know how to do this, make it your business to find out. We’re getting to the time of year when the blighters start hanging off the undergrowth waiting to latch on to your limbs folks!
As long as you know how to remove ticks and your Doctor recognises it and knows how to treat you, you have nothing to fear and don’t let it spoil your enjoyment of the sport.

name edited by mod as requested above.

Couldn’t agree with you more. You’re unlucky to have such a run of things – I’ve had that too and life’s like that sometimes. However, I agree that many things are just not designed to last these days. I like the idea of buying a durable product and repairing it, but it seems to me that the mantra (and the economy) is to keep buying new all the time. The classics in our house are kettles and irons. Rarely last longer than a year. I went to buy yet another replacement kettle the other week and I was struck at the amount of shared parts (all the cordless base sockets looked the same, irrespective of brand) and they were all designed with fiddly plastic switches to open the lid that are inevitably going to fail soon. I hate the concept of “uneconomical to repair” too.
A wealthy friend of mine has given up buying top of the range microwaves and has settled for getting the cheapest in Tescos on the grounds that she only uses it for warming cups of milk and convenience foods and will simply replace it with another cheapie if and when it goes “kaput”. I can see her reasoning, but must be terrible for the environment.

No, I’m not a forensic psychiatrist. I was attempting to make a humorous response!

I know. I was trollin’, innit :wink:

Oh, and if I ever decide to upgrade my Spokelight (and I will, I’m sure because it is a bit cheap and cheerful), it’ll be for a Trout light. Seems like a thoroughly decent chap and I like the look of his lights.

Are you some kind of forensic psychiatrist, Haakon? That was one pretty astute observation. I’m sure that you’re right on the personality disorder bit but how would you start a thread that would be a troll of trolls? Is it just starting a thread with the intention of winding people up, or is there more to it? (not looking to wind people up just interested in seeing some humorous responses)

I was tempted by Inness & Gunn in Tesco this evening, Buzz. Opted for Duval and don’t regret it. Must try I&G next time, though.

If you think that office working men have got it bad having to wear a suit to work, there was someone in our village who was sacked for wearing a flowery dress that revealed too much cleavage. Mind you, he should have known better being a policeman…..