Ok cool, does that mean it has to have a tapered fork? I’m very new to this stuff.

This is one of those tempting fate posts, but since I changed to michelin tyres (a combination of lithions, prolight2s and prorace3s) I have not had a road puncture in 5 years (and that was with a worn out bonty). I do a fair amount of miles on the road averaging 100-150 a week.
All the punctures I have had have resulted from problems getting the tyres on (I have easton ea50 wheels, try and get a tyre on one of them and your know what I mean!)

Anyone know whether the lurcher will accept a tapered fork?

Oakley photochromatic for me.
Its well worth paying the extra 20-30 for photochromatic, good quality photochromatic react pretty fast and you really want that when your diving in and out of wooded areas.

yes, we have all the documents and yes we have already contacted the Mayor of Port De Pollenca directly!

Nope, we were not riding over the white centre line.
Riding 2 abreast is not illegal, however as the nice guardia man informed us you cannot cross the centre line of the right hand lane, so essentially you must stay in the far right quarter of the road.
When you are 2 abreast this is almost impossible.

Either way, this happened to us, it probably won’t happen to you. Just thought I’d warn you to not only carry at least 200 in your group, but also your passport!

Cool, thanks for the replies.
A bit more info.

Build wise I’m tall and lanky at around 6’1 and 66kg.
Riding, I can’t really say what style I have yet as I’m pretty new to the sport!

Maybe I have made a bit of an error with the revs then, as they come in around 300grams heavier than the F32s. Especially if I plan on racing. Maybe I will try and get some sids or just keep the fox’s for racing? I’m in no rush to get rid of them but changing over forks seems a bit of a hassle.
Oh and it’ll be XC racing only I think, maybe an enduro in the future.

Cool, thanks James will look at those.

Any thoughts on easton wheels? I have a couple of sets for the road bike and they have been flawless, never gone a mm out of true and built really well.

I only got them as they were going very very cheap. They are the 100-130 versions, I fancied having 100-120 to play with to see what the anthem was like with a tiny bit more travel. Nothing more than an experiment really.

Sorry, should have said, its a 2010 x3.

put a ‘front’ elixir I bought on the rear as it came with a 1600mm hose, works fine!

solo,
the squirm I was getting before with the nics on in muddy conditions felt very controlable, the tyres would slide then bite. But today they felt very erratic in their grip if that makes sense.
I’m running them at about 30psi by the way.

Cool, thanks for the replies, I thought it was mostly a technique/body position issue. I just thought I’d ask to see what people thought as I don’t get over to cannock very often so its hard to test different tyres etc. out to see!

Mr Wombat, how is a thread asking for advice pointless? if its pointless you don’t have to read it!

I’ve been a road cyclist/triathlete for a while. I’ve gone through phases of doing 5-7 hour rides most days. I’ve also tried many many different types of shorts and I’m afraid I’ve only ever come back to the same conclusion. That if you want to do big miles or you really care about your under-carriage you have to get assos. It sucks because they are so expensive and it seems off-putting because they are double the price of even decent shorts, but at the end of the day nothing compares. They are also made very well and will last forever.
I’ve spent many thousands on kit, thousands on timetrial frames, wheels etc. and I’ve always looked at this kit in terms of the time saved. But cost for time I think has to go to the assos kit as I’ve been able to train longer and harder thanks to being so comfortable. So treat yourself.

The only problem is if you only get one pair you will be washing them everyday as you will only be able to wear assos once you have tried them!

I’ve been toying with this myself recently as I am about to move 55 miles from where I’m going to be working. With any luck I’ll only be working 2-3 days a week at most but I really don’t want to spend all that money on driving.

So my plan was – Drive down monday morning with bike in back. Bike back monday aft/eve. Bike down tuesday morning and drive back. It’ll cut my journeys in half and get some good miles in.
The other thought I had as mentioned above was to drive halfway, find somewhere I can leave my car and ride the rest of the way.

definitely agree with very low fat looking a bit nasty. I’m about 4-5% – 66kg @ 6’1 and incredibly veiny/pale. If it wasn’t for performance reasons I’d try and put some back on, although that would involving me eating carbs so no go.

Maybe if I could get a tan?

Legspin have mailed you on the above address.

For the record I eat almost all my food one handed.
Lots of salads – if anyone says salads are boring I charge them to try one of my salads, I’m no chef but I think they are pretty good!

curries (made of course with all natural ingredients and tonnes of cream , yum)
Mushroom stroganoff

Casseroles, stews,

Meat and veg, lots of red meat. Venison goes down very well.
Sausages made from cows I’ve seen walking around the fields and produced by a proper butcher.

The list is literally endless. Remember that most of our foods are low carb but we add carbs to them. Potatoes, rice, pasta etc.

Mal – if you are having trouble with bonks riding on nothing have a handful of nuts before you go out. It will at the very least put something in your stomach that should be enough to fool the body into thinking energy is imminent.

I am really pleased with how this thread has turned out. And I am so glad that so many of you have got something out of the discussions.

The bottom line is food is not just food. Many have often labelled it as simply nutrition and whilst this is its primary aim the way it provides this and the affect it has on the body varies massively.

The second key point is that we all must become more familar with what we are eating and why. We must no longer take for granted that food produced for us can do us no harm and that these companies must have tested their products and deemed them safe for consumption. Many of the foods we eat today did not exist in their current form even 10 years ago (such as hydrogenated oils instead of butter). As I eluded to above there is a shift towards whatever is cheapest with no regard for our health.

Knowledge costs nothing and whilst sometimes it may be hard to wade through all the so called evidence if you choose your sources wisely (i.e. not the daily mail) you will find that most learned forward thinking people come to the same conclusions.
And I must reiterate the point earlier that money spent here will be saved and then some in later life.
What do you think a heart disease patient who can barely get out of bed would say to them if I said I could make them healthy again if they could offer me enough money…they would remortgage their house.

will do!
The same goes for anyone from the Leciester area who wants to take me to cannock or somewhere else good!

seems to happen alot on bikeradar due to different reviewers reviewing the same stuff. One person loves it, the other hates it.
I have a focus izalco road bike that just got bike of the year, they loved it apparently. But last year the exact same bike, same model everything, got 3 stars and was said to be very average. Personally I love it. I take all of their reviews with a pinch of salt as its often just one persons opinion, despite the fact that they always seem to say we did this and we did that.

not tried it solo, but the coconut oil is sooo powerful.

That said, after using it for a week or so you kind of get used to the taste. Its always there but nowhere near as strong as when you first use it. Also because of the way it is not absorbed into the food you can sort of drain it off which removes most of the taste.

ah I see the topic has focused squarely on oils since I’ve been gone.

coconut oil is the best, BUT you have to really like the coconut taste. I can tolerate it but don’t love it.

Its fantastic for frying, butter burns after a while, EV OL (as with most other oils) is sucked into the food. Coconut oil just sits there, you only need a tiny amount and it sticks around, the food doesn’t burn. However as I said it does flavour the food somewhat!

Well that was a nice ride in the sun, better take advantage while it lasts!

right, off out on the bike for a while. Do doubt I’ll be back here later. Oh and Phil milk is great for you, just try to make it full fat or jersey gold top.

The hero one, I do admit though I was being an arse.

legspin I’ll take you up on that if you retract your earlier statement in the thread 😛

There is a massive difference I’m afraid. Much more than the taste.

Extra virgin is pressed, its a juice. Its not refined.

Regular olive oil is refined from all the crap that has been pressed for all its good oil. It is chemically refined and the result is…..Lamp oil!

This has high levels of certain toxins that are known to be toxic to humans and animals.
To make it fit for human consumption it has a small amount of extra virgin added to it to water down the toxic acids, from IIRC 6% (above which is toxic apparently) to 5% which makes all the difference apparently.

So that olive oil your using is no better than most other chemical refined oils.

Sunflower oil is the same I’m afraid. The high heat involved in refining causes alterations in the fats – now let me be clear – we do not know if these are harmful YET, but the skeptic in me says they are manmade so best avoided. The also DO create trans fats, which are isomers of the originals – if my chemistry isn’t failing me there. It doesn’t go full saturation like margerine but still alters the fats makeup. Not good in my opinion.

if anyone wants to offer to guide me round the peaks they can have a day finding out everything I know, I warn you though, once I start talking I don’t stop.

No probs cinnamon girl, I’m glad your getting something out of the discussion.

njee, serious answer, the butter eater would probably be thinner!
They wouldn’t be as healthy as the butter would not contain all they needed, but because of the lack of insulin stimulation they wouldn’t accumulate fat. They would also only eat the amount their body required for energy. Especially as butter is not sweet.
sweetness causes a dopaminergic based response causing us to over-eat, which is why sweetners can make you over eat and gain weight, especially as sweetners make you crave carbs. This has been proven in many studies.

this is not a spoon – yes of course, its now a ‘blend’ still contains the vegetable oil, but contains just enough other stuff to make it legal.

dangerousbeans – yes that is always the worry in the back of my mind that we may be wrong, but this research has been around for almost half a century but has been ignored. Due to the ‘lipid hypothesis’ the american government, the american heart foundation and the food companies involved any scientists who countinued this research were not only sacked but also black balled, unbelievable but true. So it has remained a bit of an underground movement till now.

No coconut milk is not a fad in my opinion. It contains lost of medium change triglycerides (MCTs)
These beautiful little molecules are fats that can almost act like carbs and can be used as a relatively rapid energy source. I use them in my training drinks, they are like rocket fuel.

The only opposition to coconut milk is how they are packaged. They do not like being in tins and can cause leeching of the compounds in tins into the milk (this goes for most tins liquids but seems to be worse in coconut milk for some reason)
So if you can get it is cartons and enjoy!

dangerousbeans, can I get back to you on that. I am trying to keep up with all the current research, but its hard with a 60 hour a week plus job. (by the way for those of you wondering I am on a day off at the moment!)

Yes legspin please do. Get rid of the flora it is literally killing you.

Go though your cupboards people, get rid of any vegetable oil containing products (you will be suprised) any inverted syrups.

All fats that are not part of the following list
Ex Virgin Olive oil
Cold pressed rapeseed,grapeseed etc. (all ok as long as cold pressed)
Butter
Coconut oil
Palm oil

Use butter,coconut oil, palm oil for frying.
These saturated fats are very stable at high temperatures so do not chemically change like other oils high in poly/mono unsaturated fats do.

Yes this is going to cost you. but the money you spend now will be paid back to you with interest in lack of prescription charges (for all those meds you’re going to need in the future) not to mention your good health for decades to come.
Eat whole foods, grow your own or eat organic if you can. Don’t be short-sighted with this.

Where has that come from?
The research into Low fat diets is seriously flawed.
There is little research on high fat diets, but even so the evidence would be worthless as there are too many factors to implicate the cause.

Therefore the current research direction is looking at the specific hormonal and biochemical effects, only with this basic knowledge can we hope to understand whats going on.

crikey you are correct.
But as the danes (who have eliminated trans fat/vegetable oils/marg from their diet by law) have proven it is possible.

But what we need to do is start the protest by not buying the crap they are selling. They need to be forced to change their ways by the only method they know, drops in sales.

So avoid all processed food that contains vegetable oil and inverted fructose syrups. Even high quality foods contain these now, because they are so much cheaper than butter/real fat and sugar.

The main issue is though that if I tell joe bloggs to eat fat he WILL get fat, he WILL probably get heart disease. But thats not the fat to blame its his carbs. If he cut the carbs and ate the fat he’d be fine. This advice is dangerous in the wrong hands. Which is why I am annoyed at myself for being so open on a public forum, at the end of the day my comments may do more harm than good, which is deeply upsetting.

Exactly legspin, can you see why I get frustrated? At work I feel like I’m fighting a tide on non-believers.
I will shortly be putting on a lecture to all the cardiological consultants at the Glenfield hospital(The leading cardiac hospital in the country). Invites will also be sent to the top cardiologists in the country. The aim will be to present the current evidence in an aim to get some of the most influential people on our side.
Then we will take it to the government/nhs in an effort to change the awful advice given out on how to be healthy and try and destory the demonisation of fats.

merino all year round for me too, find it regulates my body heat very nicely.

I’d like to say Marmite chocolate, but its so good I just can’t So wrong its right!

Solo,
Yes I have carbs and protein post exercise. The amount of carbs is based on how long the training was and how often I went into the red etc.
Sorry, I think there have been some crossed wires and in my despiration to refute the comments of the some of the ‘fat haters’ I may have misled you and the OP.
As idave states carbs are very important for athletes, they are no essential if you define essential in the same way you have ‘essential fats, or essential amino acids’ But they aid recovery etc. If you did not have carbs post training you would repair your muscles and you would re-charge your glycogen it would just take much longer and you would be at risk of further damaging muscle when it has not fully recovered.