so don’t express shock at the cost of the Howies selvedge jeans.

Why not? If I wanted to go into the frankly awful shops on Park St and look for £170 jeans, I’d do it. I don’t. I never will. I’m commenting on the fact that a shop that mainly sells jeans and t-shirts only had one item they thought would fit me and they were a mental £160 a pair. I could care less what the cotton fabric is for a pair of made in China jeans.

I popped in there on Saturday to get a copy of The Ride. They reckoned they had a pair of jeans that would be long enough to fit me.

£160 a pair.

I didn’t bother.

oh – nearly forgot

threw the band Tigertailz out of their own gig. They had been on, they were ‘bigging it up’ backstage as only the ‘British kings of glam rock’ could, and we were tired. So they got chucked out.

I saw Ken Livingston at a station in London once. He appeared to have a cold.

Henry Rollins apologized to me when he bumped into me backstage at his own gig.

2 management styles – leading or shepherding.

Perhaps if you live in a cardboard box, on your own and don’t involve other people, ever, and don’t know anything about people or have to manage them in the real world.

Management is process – leadership is giving direction and reason. Leadership slides from dictate to abdicate and everything in between. There is no fixed point of leadership that works all the time with everyone. Flexibility and understanding which approach to take at what time is what succeeds. Being one thing without change will see you fail.

Make sure it has a ‘captive’ top. Most any of them are fine – no need to spend daft money on a branded cyclist one – Surly make bikes and STW make magazines – not hip flasks!

Get out the mudguards I bought several years ago.
Revive the winter boots.
Put on thicker gloves.
Wear knee warmers.
Use another 1/8 of a bottle of Fenwicks concentrate.
Perhaps buy another brush to remove mud – only if feeling flush.
Get on with it.

Turner Sultan in XXL and currently down to 240lbs myself. No issues with flex anywhere on the Sultan – it is the DW link version with DT Swiss ratchet QR on the back and Fox bolt-thru forks. It survives my clumsy lardcore style with ease. Never heard of anyone else with flex problems either. Shock is man enough too. 29ers can cope with scary downs – not in a slack DH way, but the Sultan was made as a ’29er 5 Spot’ so that sort of bracket.

If you get down to Bristol at all, more than welcome to try it. Get on the mtbr.com forums for other ideas inc the Lenz Lunchbox.

Managing is relatively easy – you can learn management from books and classes. Leadership is the hard part. People need both and if you are to succeed, you do need to do both. TT’s simplified, distilled view of leadership:

Your position means you can make your staff do things. Leadership is making them want to do things.

If you ‘get’ that, you are going in the right direction.

rad – you are a selfish man if that is how you see trails and other people. You might live where there are lots of trails, but you sound like the idiots who insist on riding Leigh and Ashton all year and turning areas into The Somme.
The OP is talking about a relatively small and over-ridden area near Bristol city centre. Thousands of riders a week are over there and, without some sense and self control, it would be a couple of years before it died. There aren’t other animal tracks to go and trash as you would – it is a finite resource.
While there are people thinking like you, I won’t beat myself up for my own riding behaviour – which I vary to match the trails throughout the year.

Don’t ride Leigh Woods and Ashton when they are sodden – get a map and find new trails that don’t get hammered like they do. The main trails didn’t start the winter in great condition and if everyone rides them the same, they will be grim until July.

Get out and explore – there is a whole world of little-used bridleways out there – even around Bristol.

BETD will press out the old bearings and fit better Enduro ones for about £20. Worth it if you have an old set of BBs.

Hollowtech+II+bearing+upgrade

http://www.eletewater.co.uk/%5B/url%5D

Nothing but praise for this stuff. I’ve been using it in my Camelbak for months now and not suffered with the cramps. given I sweat like a fat lass in a chocolate factory, I tend to notice cramp quickly. This stuff has almost no taste and works for me.

Maintain forks whilst battery is charging!

Did anyone actually notice the price? Not even mental people would pay that – even with Formula 1 brakes!

Elfinsafety
I’m glad I live in a country where I won’t have to go to war. And I’m eternally grateful to, and have enormous respect for, those who had no choice, but fought so that I can sit here in the comfort of my home, typing out these thoughts.

What about those who had and have a choice? Those who volunteer so there is no need for conscription. Those who do it so you can maintain that comfort. Do they not deserve respect?

Two downsides though, it takes a lot of coffee to make a cup. Forget the 7-8 grams of an espresso, you need twice as much at least and for a mug dose well over 16-17. Second if you use it a lot (I use mine an average 3-4 times a day) over a period of a year and a bit it does not seal as well as in the beginning so you lose pressure and you can have coffee leaking up on the sides and also the filter holder develops a bit of a curve in the middle so you eventually get weaker coffee.

I have no idea what you’re doing there fella. 1.5 scoops of coffee will make a strong mug – just let the first fill filter through as you stir, top up the water then plunge. I’ve used mine about the same rate as yours for at least 2 years, a colleague a year longer and have no seal issues at all. The (tiny) curve in the filter holder makes about no difference as you plunge the coffee grounds onto it anyway.

You are stirring it and misrepresenting here. Is it the pram that is a grand, or as mentioned above car seat, base, pram bit, forward facing bit, chassis, rain cover, cosytoes etc? Not top of the range to pay £1k for that, but not best VFM.

Like buying a bike then costing for helmet, lock, shorts, tops, jacket, Camelbak, glasses, pump, gloves etc.

John Lewis sales in the New Year?

Are AeroPress coffee makers any good?

They are excellent – no substitute for anything else, but great. I use one every day at work as it is better than anything else available.

You can do all that navigation and self-reliance stuff can’t you?

Ask your mum or dad for a new one for Christmas.

If you don’t live with your mum or dad, you are too old for that sort of thing and should take it as a sign.

Rip up nasty cheap laminate. Replace with anything else in the world – varnished newspapers would be better.

what source of ground would anyone recommend?

The closest one to your house. Find your local decent coffee supplier and get it ground there. Or save for a grinder.

Image.
Feeling of safety for occupants.
Status.
Elevated driving position.

If these are practical uses to you, then you buy it.

It depends what you ride. SS and / or rigid, black and white only for you and shun this modernity!

Learn in the UK. No point in going to somewhere nice to fall over a lot. You’ll get far more from the holiday if you lean before you go.

Sainsburys by us don’t stock STW. 😥

Bristol – Cycle City and all that – but I can get MBUK there 🙄

He can’t update it very often – it takes him 9 months to make a decision! 😀

Get several quotes – not one. National companies cost more, local usually cheaper.

Some men do it too.

Are you afraid of them as well?

http://www.cioch-direct.co.uk/perfect_fit/perfect_fit.html

The further North you are, the more like Southern Germany it is. The further South (beyond Rome), the more like North Africa it is.

Trains are surprisingly good. Beaches are usually (IMHO) awful as they are all privately owned. You’ll not have the weather in April for lounging on a beach. Florence would be top of my list, Rome has the big hitter attractions, Naples has the crime, camping will see you get robbed.

I can recommend
http://www.cacciani.it/english/home_giadrina.asp

in the town of Frascati, just outside Rome. Good rail link, great small town, superb food, lovely views. Just off the beaten tourist trail.

Rab xxl won’t fit you. It is a close fit on me (but the arms are super long in certain styles). Montane won’t fit you either. Sometimes a Helly Hansen factory shop visit can throw up XXXL in odd items.

Smartwool socks – the very best there is.

What do you want to wear the boots for? Anything remotely serious and you might be best looking at 3/4 shank boots. Given your over-average weight, you put far more pressure on boots. Someone your weight would find 3/4 boots flex about as much as normal boots do for normal people. I’ve always found ‘normal’ boots feel too soft for me and the additional stiffness in stronger boots makes them feel far more comfortable. My old Grivel leather mountain boots are still the most comfortable footwear I have. Scarpa aren’t a patch on what they used to be.

Have you got a blank filter plate to back flush the machine? Happy Donkey have them and the cleaning powder to do it with – and the instructions. I know that is as important for these machines as de-scaling it.

Do you need a helmet light that powerful for commuting? I don’t need more than I put on the bars.

yes and how can they charge different prices for the same item just because they are different sizes?

erm..because they can? Too many of one size, need to reduce stock, certain sizes not selling.

Benson has always had a good bunch of cyclists there. There will be more than a few mountain bikers inside the wire who you’ll find quick enough.

Are we sure he wants to look at astral bodies? Does this bloke not have a more earthly body down the street he is trying to perv? If so, magnification may be more important! 😀

as far as i am aware we didin’t lose anyone that day

As far as you were aware, you didn’t lose anyone yesterday!