that'd a lot of money to spend when you haven't even checked out the oposition!
Yes, yes it would!! Tried a Trance – nice bike but felt 'remote' from it, if that makes sense? – tis also fugly IMO.
Tried a Spesh Stumpy – seemed sorted but have trouble getting past irrational Spesh prejudice.
Tried a Scott Spark 35 – seemed lively and involving, coming from a HT. Had an irrational Scott prejudice too but the Spark appears to have changed that.
NOT TRIED an ST4 tho' – anyone?

gusamc – Yup, that's also what I was thinking…..

£250!! 😯
Looks like a split then.

*I was thinking £450ish*

hora – Rebas are 2008 with V brake (have Hope blanking bolts in) and disc mounts.

Considering giving up an 853 Inbred and going FS. Have ridden a demo on a 5 Pro – it's a fantastic bike but maybe 140mm travel is too much for what I do week to week – thinking about a Scott Spark 35.

Headset press………………………..erm, OK, lip salve and riding glasses – let's say helmet, gloves and cycling shorts are a given.

Smell – yup, dog muck closely followed by 'slurry'.

Sound – a, cough,SRAM,cough, chain breaking at high speed. 😥

I've had one for 10 months – it's a great do owt bike. I use it mostly for commuting with a set of Conti Contact Sports.Took the SpeedKings to Wales last summer and rode it off-road for the best part of 2 weeks and found it to handle really well – obviously, I wasn't riding, er, 'gnarly' trail centres but it rode far better than I expected it to. Size-wise, I've got a 58cm frame and I'm 6'2" with a 34" inside leg – fits really well.

I started my MTB career as a teeenager living in the Fens of Norfolk
*counts RRRs toes/fingers – 12/10 and 2 thumbs* How's yer sister? 😉

1998 Pine Mountain frame – mint.

Thetford – dull,dull,dull.
The 'official' Grizedale routes. North Face? North Face of what?
Norfolk and Lincolnshire – rubbish! 😉

Noobies that run red lights………and get the rest of us a bad name.
Them ****' extending dog leads
Cars parked in cycle lanes
Wet rocks
Thetford
Travelling for 2hrs to a 'trail centre' when you could have ridden sommat just as challenging not 30mins from your doorstep.
Skegness – grim.
Front mechs
Gripshift

Ahem, just over £800/year for the coming year – got the bill last week. 😳

Can only concur. Top service – replaced 2 pairs of, out-of-warranty, baggies when all I asked was how best to unpick a bust zip and how to replace a broken fastener. *does that make me sound a porker? It was just wear and tear, honest*

These?
Got a pair of older version – hardly worn due to erm, waist expansion but will fit 32"W 34" IL. £15 posted.

Toxicsoks – What lube you using?
Finish Line XC

The frame is 20" (I is 6'2")

Run 36/24 with bashguard

The "suck" seems worse when you drop a couple of gears before a short, steep section and put down some power.

Aieee!

I've been pretty quiet for most of the night but it's about to get VERY busy. Funny how it always gets busy in the last few hours before you finish, isn't it? 🙄

"And don't listen to all the people on here telling you that these skills aren't important/aren't needed (because they are, and these moves are the foundation that proper off road riding is built upon)… "

Bugger! *sells bikes*

This sums up the argument, that I don't want to kick off again. I just want to see a few solutions, ta. 🙄
I still don't get the lube bit but, hey ho. BTW, new, steel,front chain rings, new chain, new cassette and had the LBS check out the chainline (OK) when the ****' thing still did it.

Crikey! Shame.
I'm down again
And I don't know how to tell you
But maybe this time I can't come back
Because I might be too far down

I wish for real
That I could turn it on and off
Like hot and cold and up and down
Because I'm down again

I'm too far down
I couldn't begin to smile
Because I can't even laugh or cry
Because I just can't do it

If it was so easy to be happy
Why am I so down?
All I can do is sit and wonder if it's going to end
Or if I should just go away forever

When I sit and think
I wish that I just could die
Or let someone else be happy
By setting my own self free

And you don't want the emotion
Because the taste it leaves is for real
But nothing's ever real until it's gone
And I might be too far down

And is this just another thrown away
Or is this the end of the whole stupid road
But you wouldn't want to know how I feel anyway
Because the darkest hole is at the end of the road

I'm down again
And I guess I'm not the only one who dreams
That there's not any way to tell you
Because I might be too far down
😥

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you. I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. I never game much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a **** before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice………….so I'm handing in my resignation. OK?

Hmm, must be the cyber police at work, then.

I got hit with 3 viral colds at the begining of last year. Like the 'hard' man I thought I was I kept riding through them…….until I finished up with post viral fatigue syndrome. Weak as a kitten and off the bike for 12 (that's twelve) weeks. GP did his nut with me for being stupid. Post viral colds -nowt(exercise) for a full week AFTER symptoms go then gradually get back up to usual intensity over the following 2 – 4 weeks.
MTFU? Hah!

50? Nowt but a young 'un.

Wondering about a 29er meself. Maybe a 1 x 9 setup. Have had a go on a Niner SIR S/S and was very impressed but that seems a bit, erm, expensive.
Scandal? Inbred?? Swift??? What others?

Out for a bit early this morning but "have" to stay in for the rest of the day to allow contractors access to the house in order to replace gas supply pipes.

Was out on the roadie for a bit around 07.30ish. Bright, clear but fookin' chilly in North Leeds. *whinge mode* Why can't folk clear the ice/frost from their windscreens/windows before they set off? Windscreen wipers going like buggery but only about a 4" square of clear windscreen with some myopic prat peering out but still doing 40-50mph – bloody stupid!*/whinge mode off*

68mm,113mm – Thanks folks, have a virtual pint!

The cranks are the original Truvativ Hussefelt – can't seem to find any useable info…………..

Struggling…………………………………………. 🙄

Former Sunderland and West Brom player Bernt Haas. Known to team mates as 'Vindaloo' or 'Crispy Bum'. Poor sod. 😀

I'm actually horrified how some people have such terrible relationships with their families. I've always had a good raport with my parents/ step father (me dad died when I was 23 – Ey up Eddie!) and have continued that sort of relationship with my offspring (22,20 and 16), bless 'em. Tis such a shame.
*goes off to count blessings*

<10mins by most direct route but usually take a 30 – 45 min off road loop in order to get my head straight before commencing battle for the day.

Health Care Scientist (…..is the latest label 🙄 )

Every day, unless there is a straight after work beer function – in that case I walk (30 mins).

what sort of climbing will you be planning?

stu, the kind that two old fat blokes can puff and pant up, while talking tosh…………
Sounds like my sort of thing! 🙂
Don't mind if I tag along, do you? 🙂

Lifted, with a bunch of Welsh, rugby playing, drunk, idiots, a Mini from its parking place and put it on a traffic island…………in the middle of a dual carriage way……………..that was surrounded by concrete bollards. Still feel a bit guilty about that.

A Talbot Avenger that, as a callow youth, I inherited from the previous LG when he, sadly, went to meet his maker. I sent a letter to make an appointment for the damn thing to do 0 – 60mph but, 30yrs later, I'm still waiting for a reply.

Good point, well made. Just thinking about the damn things has put me in a bad mood. An utterly pointless vehicle.

Anyone who assumes voting Conservative will make any difference – same sh1t, different bucket.

Leeds won fair and square because, on the day, they were the better team and "wanted" it more. Don't have the stats to hand but I reckon the 70's Leeds were no "dirtier" than anyone else at the time,just,erm, a little more calculated in how they operated – lessons learned and put into practice by most modern teams. The O'Leary team were in no way "dirty", at least on the pitch. 😉