Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Catch 22 – Joseph Keller
The Road – Cormac McCarthy

These would be on my list

The fronts a bit ropey as well TBH, new set would be on the cards but have am pretty much broke as jut recently got married! Thanks though.

Thanks, will take sterling and transfer in that case, we land in columbo and we be stopping off in Pinnawala, Kandy, Sigirya, Minneriya National park and then finish in Chilaw so will keep an eye out for the spots you recommended. Looking forward to it, hoping to bring back vast amounts of tea in luggage!

Going to stick with 2×10 as have got on well with that spread of gears, changing the whole drive train because the teeth are so worn out the chain set and cassette the gaps between teeth are too wide and the teeth are pointed and narrowed, new chain rings for the chain set is about as much as a brand new one.

Now musing xtr in moment of rebellion…….

Apologies for dullest thread of the day but I have been on ribble and found SLX chainset,BB, cassette and shifters, KMC X10 chain and deore brakeset for £176 once a discount code used. Can anyone tell me if this should be compatible with my current x5 front and x9 type2 rear mech?

Current brakes are avid elixir 3’s, spares are expensive and not readily available and if the internet is to be believed not as good as shimano. The crank/cassette/chain ect is well worn out and due replacing so was just planning on getting everything done in one go.

Thanks for the responses I downloaded the free app mentioned in the telegraph link and have been able to view the videos directly from my sd card after inserting it into my phone!!

I picked up a set of pacenti sl23 rims on superstar volta hubs, real world weight of 1.5 kg for £160. Seem well made, stiff and fast not sure about long term reliability but for the price it was worth a punt! Cartridge bearings and 11spd compatible to boot.

In at number 305, you lot must of all had a lie in!! Fingers crossed for a dry April, the bridleways used are my local ones and currently any trails not on the top of the hill seem to be hidden under 6 inches of claggy clay.

Just out of interest, of the people that would take the fox to the vet would you expect to pay for the cost of treatment or euthenasea? Or would you expect the vets vets practice to fund the treatment of a wild animal?

In my experience most wild animals brought in for treatment either would have been better left alone (e.g. Young animals with mild problems taken away from the own environment and mother) or require euthenasea due to severity of injuries which people usually expect for the vets to undertake and dispose of the remains at our own cost.

Thanks for the psa just ordered a set of pacenti sl23 rims of volta hubs for £150 for the road bike, way cheaper than anywhere else, hope the hubs hold up not had any superstar ones before!

Thanks for replies, how much extra drag if any would a stinger add to the drive chain, just don’t want to feel like the bike is dragging on singletrack/climbs as most of my riding is xc/trail based?

No they didn’t check it was tight, but I have tightened it up myself and still had a small amount of play. I have the 1.5inch bearing out now and it is certainly rough and gritty feeling, it seems to have plastic shield rather than rubber seal, so I don’t think I can try re-greasing it. Thanks for the link above will have a look.

Monday to Friday 8-7ish/when the works done, with one night on duty a week and one weekend on duty a month, followed by a full weeks work. So when starting duty Saturday 8am will not be off duty until Monday night 7pmish, that’s about 60hrs straight of being at Worcestershire farmers and horse owners beck and call, and at this time of year they are certainly calling. Sorry currently on one of those weekends and sulking :(

Whyte by a country mile, really nice ally frame, I really don’t buy into the generic steel argument, design trumps frame material I think some just like the aesthetic of steel. The Whyte is certainly tough enough for getting rowdy and with the reduced weight you wont mind going up again for another run.

*this is of course in no way biased by the fact that I won one 8))*

I am a large animal vet dealing with mainly horses and farm animals so not familiar with that product, however it will be more from your vet because they will be buying it in small amounts from a supplier rather than in bulk and they will have a mark up on it which varies between practices.

You can always ask for a written prescription which can be used to buy medication from any licensed pharmacy. I would be very careful with some of the online drugs sites as there are some suspect ones e.g. selling medications cheaply with a short date on for instance. Most practices will charge a small prescription fee for sorting out the paper work.

Whilst your vet is likely to be slightly more expensive you do at least have the security of knowing where the medication has come from and a ready source of on tap advice.

Hope this helps!

hmmmmm so how about hans damf 2.35’s, I feel budget creep is setting in here…

Would 2.3 barons be a better option then, any other suggestions, looking to spend sub £50 for the pair.

I spent Friday sessioning the new DH run at the FOD, on my Whyte 901. in retrospect I don’t have the skills to pull this off, and now have a thumb which looks like a big blue sausage! The lesson? if you can pull it off you look rad and can wear a smug look on your face as you pass everyone else, but if your not you just look like a knob (as I did).

[*]Any chance smoke lenses in my DH goggles will do the job or will I burn my retinas to a crisp?

Used to live near Cheshire Oaks but not any more, thanks for all the tips, I was planning on snowboarding, however as the rest of the group I am gong with are skiing didn’t want to be antisocial, might try boarding another time if I enjoy skiing.

Any idea what an average person will be able to achieve within a week, we will be having lessons in the mornings, then on our own in the afternoons, will it be nursy slopes all week or will I be able to work up to blue slopes over the week.

Cheers for the responses, had a quick look in TK Maxx earlier but there wasn’t much in my size, will try again another time. I should be alright for layers underneath as I have multiple base layers and fleece layers from cycling. Going in early Feb BTW.

Any idea who is behind the removal of the bridge and placing the stones to the right of where the bridge used to go? It still seems to run well though. I know there was an accident on the bridge a while ago so wondered if it was forrestry lot?

Thanks going to have to look into paypal then, I have only ever used it for ebay stuff thus far!

Thanks for the feed back, there is no size printed on the seat tube, I think it may have been on the chrome somewhere but has since been worn away. Thanks for the tip Re. calipers, will see what I can sort out.

Its a shame its geared fairly high because there is little wear to the chainrings and the shifters while down tube are at least indexed and work well. Might be best to leave alone and struggle up the hills then.

Hi I guess I would be looking at 18 inch frame size.

The reason I am slightly averse to buying second hand is that all though uni I ended up scrimping, saving and bodging my bike together from ebay bits. Now that I am actually able to buy one I quite fancy just getting something easy, all integrated and without compatability issues and a warranty. Though I do agree I am sure if you know what you are doing you can get more for less going down your suggested route.

I am sure that the Core is as equaly capable as the Whyte, it just didn’t appeal a much don’t know why, I prefered the model up from the one in my budget but I think thats just because it was shiny!

I have ridden a couple of bikes with the slack head angle and quite enjoyed the feel of them. That said C456 is worth reconsidering having seen the price those German groupsets can be bought for.

Just had a look at the 2011 model, one of the differences is the addition of the tapered head tube on the 2012. just wondered is this a noticeable improvement in real world terms?

Thanks for the input, nice to hear back from someone who has enjoyed one. As far as building a Bfe goes I think I would rather buy an off the peg bike this time.

Thanks for the advise will look into those suggestions, yeh I am riding a hardtail. Shin pads would be a good idea but would be shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted my shins look a bit like a snakes and ladders board already!

I think that the first minute of this clip proves why MTB is uncool….