basically when cycling in the wet you have to accept that you are going to get wet. either from sweat inside a waterproof (it can’t breathe when covered in water and/or mud) or from the outside via rain through non-waterproof clothing. so it’s about staying warm when wet. this means wool or an advanced synthetic baselayer. i favour merino as it doesn’t make you smell.

cycling – combination of : merino wool baselayer, range of weights of cycling jersey from gossamer weight motocross to thick offroad winter jersey, lightweight softshell on top if it’s really foul.

non-active – primaloft insulated jacket, shower or waterproof. Hagloffs make a good showerproof insulated jacket , I have one, i think it’ the ‘barrier hood’. very good (but the hood is too small for a climbing helmet incidentally, so not for use as a belay jacket as they advertise) and then there is the phd stuff I mention above, I have the zeta belay goretex, in all-black (special colour in the winter sale). it’s almost too warm for ordinary use. phd’s sizing are vast – warning.

the key issue becomes (again) a psychological one. we are subject to marketing that promotes isolating us and “protecting” us from our environment. generally our environment here in the uk is very nice, friendly and safe. bit wet, sometimes chilly, but that never killed anyone. you can dry off when you get home, because one way or another you are going to get wet in the rain. enjoy it and enjoy being part of nature not protected from it? become one with the moisture man.

not particularly Machen from what I remember but that area as a whole is great. the woody singletrack on and around caerphilly common is great and the woods at castle coch were great. not really full suss territory though. this was 1995 mind you!

worse than useless in the rain.

i have rab down coat and a phd down gillet. the rab down coat is falling apart due to bad workmanship, second rab garment to do this, there won’t be a third. the phd is excellent in the dry. i also have a phd belay parka which is synthetic insulated with a goretex shell and it’s fantastic. not quite as compressible as down but not by much, it’s great, and half the cost. I know where my loyalties lie now.

phd designs[/url] made by little old ladies in sheffield. ace

Im not alone on the tea juice then? You must be getting the battering i used to get??

well, I stopped drinking in 2001 as drink and drgs had become habitual, boring and my physical and mental health were suffering. I didn’t drink for 8 years. Then I hooked up with a woman who was an enthusiastic drinker, i really liked her though, and the relationship didn’t work with only one of us getting drunk (‘cos that just doesn’t work), so i started drinking again. overall it was the right decision but now that we are not together anymore i have gone back to not drinking again.

i really like not drinking because i strongly dislike being drunk actually, and even more than that I dislike being hungover. i am someone who gets very bad hangovers, seems to be.

Not drinking alcohol does enable you to make the most of your time. i find i have learned how to socialise without it over the years but if you are tired and it’s dark cold and wet outside and you have had a hard week at work then it can be hard to find the energy to socialise in the pub on apple juice and soda.

also, people think you are an alcoholic if you absolutely don’t drink at all, this (being an alky) is generally seen as a unattractive trait, and people make that assumption rather than seeing you as an intelligent person making an individual and healthy choice to not drink or “severely moderate your intake”. shame eh? sometimes it’s best to occassionally take a drink just to avoid the stigma. just often enough for folk to remember “that time you had a drink….” pppffffff

blah blah i could go on. complex field etc…..

any one you like then really…? :-)

Vaio on lease from PC world, £30/month, winner, get a bluetooth equipped model though, for syncing mobile phone

it was a metaphorical hard-on, naturally :D

how do you find tea-totalism and your social life? I am too and it takes a battering….

:-)

I’m no expert but my experience with climbing and running has given me a bit of extra savvy on the weight/performance issue.

within certain limits and at most people’s level and in most ordinary riding, a pound or two here and there on your bike makes no difference whatsoever. e.g. a bit of weight gain in a telescopic seatpost is made up for in going faster due to more control downhill. a heavier frame might be stiffer and transfer power with less lost in flex in the frame or enable you to ride harder due to psychological factors. the same can hold true of more expensive frames – must be stronger surely? and then the whole tangle of factors can play in the opposite sense for light frames – must be weaker, must be more flexible, must be treated more carefully. or is it like that? does your slightly lighter frame really fly off the line? or do you just think it does?

without rigorous scientific analysis you will never know. but it doesn’t really matter that much.

the most significant factor in the equation (if you already have a bike in the 23-26lbs class) as you already seem to appreciate, is the affect of the largest mass in the system – you – your body weight and the muscle to weight ratio of that object.

you will gain far more performance by focussing on your physical and mental training than you will by dropping 500g off your bike. if you really want to drop 500g, have a double espresso 30 minutes before your ride and be near a toilet so you can let fly. I am serious. you will see it makes little difference. ‘Racing Weight’ by Matt Fitzgerald covers the topic of sporting weight in exhaustive detail if you want a text reference book.

focus on hydration, nutrition, sleep, positive mental attitude and getting your glycogen stores up to scratch before the ride – in particular on eating high GI foods in the 30-60 minutes after the last training ride. this energy goes straight to storage in your leg muscles ready for use next time. do not overtrain. you will fail if you do.

pick your route. if you must beat this guy (more on that in a minute) then pick a route that suits you. a route featuring masses of dull climbing or flat out, flat singletrack is going to suit him down to the ground. so don’t do it. get him on your territory, your terrain and win. then when you are fitter you can take the fight to him on his ground. however, the fitness you get from road riding is not something you really get from mtbing. similar but different, and it takes a long time to develop. you aren’t going to do it overnight. compare a marathon runner to a parkour athlete. same difference.

now then. the nub of it all. what is it with this guy? why do you need to beat him? this is a bit odd. some guy pops his head up and throws a few seconds into you on a climb and suddenly you have a hard-on for pulping him. what gives? are you normally the fastest kid on the block…or is your life a yawning existential void gasping out for fulfilment, any fulfillment, even the transient glory of a minor sporting triumph or building the lightest bike on the squad? perhaps mrs spikester has a point? you could spend 50% of what you are spending on a bike on a couple of dozen sessions with a (sports?) psychologist and come out of it a wiser, happier and more at-peace man…..what’s going on dude?

do you really want to know what I think? it could go on a bit…… :-)

that’s another thread killed then. my forte 8O

must remember to lie. must remember to lie….

i am wondering if my business is going to succeed and if the combination of stress and lack of free time is going to make me put on too much weight to climb at the level i would like, or if it already has, and if I can make it to january without turning the heating on, which will save me about £400 which will give me enough money for BERLIN at new year WWOOOOOOOOO. if you can get to january in an edinburgh tenement without turning the heating on you can do the whole winter you see. 16 degrees in here the noo.

big fart due to sprouts. better have some raspberry tea. must remember to disconnect the wiring inside the door entry phone so my fekkin arshle neighbours mates don’t wake me up at 3am again again again pressing the “wrong” buzzer. it’s grim up north bonnie scotland ken? barry.

nice riding though.

my god look at the size of that bull ! adrian’s 28 days asda beef. monster monster.

£950 is a lot of money for a steel frame :(

nice problem to have :-)

you won’t go much quicker overall on a hardtail. just get fitter.

Yup. It might take some balls but it’s best to politely decline if you don’t want to do it.

I was asked to give away a former girlfriend as her wedding, which I was unhappy with for various reasons (I thought I already had etc, ho ho ho) I suggested that she really ought to ask her remaining parent (her stepmum) instead and that it would mean a lot to her stepmum. It did and their relationship has gone from strength to strength since. Ours has faded away to a sensible and normal level. Everyone was a winner.

My advice is think of someone more suitable and suggest them instead. Brother or cousin is always a good place to start. Phrase it as “Thanks awfully, but don’t you really think it should be x, y, or z instead? They would be hurt….”.

Cinnamon girl wrote:

id I mention that the way to impress me is not via my stomach?

oh maannn. too much 8)

….last winter I threw myself into Max4Live (Ableton Live anyone?) to pass the time and things got a bit weird head-wise around mid February as a result. Buggy software dudes. I sold it not long after. This winter who knows what CRAZZINESS could happen…..a bit of in depth Excel perhaps?

….I forgot Extreme Engineering…it’s the million dollar shovel tonight. Ace.

oh wait….they’re pulling a plane….yay!

How does the lady like her pot noodle cooked?

that’s how it is man, that’s how it is :-)

I’mn thinking of getting a dog. Something to watch Orange County Choppers, Grand Designs and American Hotrod with. It’s a man’s life. I quite like living with some of the flatmates I have had, not others. Not in a hurry to get an new flatmate. Just work a bit harder to cover the rent. We’ll see. I’m 40. It’s basically ok.

I’d have thought she’d stop wearing it after the divorce so probably not wering it during the crash.

yup…..shows how much I follow the royals, I didn’t know they had got divorced!

trailertrash – Member – said:
Is it just me or is giving someone your dead mum’s ring as an engagement ring a bit creepy?

No, its traditional for those with such heirlooms hanging around – or for the rest of us, a months’ wages (max).

Only chav’s spend a load of money on such an item – a bit like watches…

even if your mum died in a horrible car crash? wearing it? ewww…

Is it just me or is giving someone your dead mum’s ring as an engagement ring a bit creepy?

I used to run 23-25psi on my full suss with tubeless, 26-27 tubed, but now on a hardtail I find I am getting a damaged rear rim and associated tyre damage if I run less than 28psi, so I don’t, and I get a lot less grip as a result, oh well.

‘sleeper walls’ stop at the underside of the ground floor and support the ground floor structure only – the joists. if it has a door over, then there must be a wall over, and it’s not a sleeper wall, it’s the underbuilding or simply ‘a wall’. the holes you have previously seen are often made during the installation of central heating. under a long length of uninterrupted wall is the best bet, under a door after that. knock away the middle or bottom. leave at least three courses of brick over the hole and/or install lintels if you have time. this will support the floor joists over. don’t remove more than you have to to squeeze through. don’t go under the floor on your own. check for asbestos first with a proper face mask on. watch for exposed electrical cables. use hammer and chisel not a sledge hammer.

Nah, there are measurable differences in the brains of ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ people.

Show me the research. I have to see this.

put it down to experience and move on. go ltd if/when you are ready.

Paperback Writer, especially that feedback George Harrison does on the intro before segueing into the riff.

+1

Helter Skelter
Eleanor RIgby

CRC rock! saved £100 on shoes! but I’m going to complain as it said 20% off and not 75% off tsk tsk.

Wiggle are good too but yeah when it comes to sales I don’t expect the advert to apply to my shoes. At least they should state up to 35%.

Would I email Wiggle to complain? no but I’d shop elsewhere!

is it just me that doesn’t understand this reply?

1973 is a good tune

Ah reverting to insults already then are we. Your posts from now on have become meaningless.

playground tactics. adult discussion. mismatch?

top tom one xl europe

don’t know how i managed without one for work driving before, much safer than map/phone/drive combo

the technology is pretty mature now though, so if you spend over £100 you are pretty safe with most brands

if you don’t do this something heinous happens to the piston. I can’t remember where I found this out, I don’t think it’s in the manual. I might just have had a bad feeling about doing it another way, or seen the hole and, being a man, decided something should be stuck in it amid much sweating and shouting :D anyway it worked…

In order to change the lever you have to lock the piston in the reservoir assembly down with a tiny allen key through a hole in the lever body before extracting the old lever. It can be a real struggle to get the piston far enough down to get the allen key in. Have you damaged the piston in the process?

Does the lever actuate the piston or is the piston stuck?

Try winding the lever adjuster screw completely out(anti-clockwise).This moves the piston back past the oil top up hole and opens the system up for bleeding

Nice.

I’m reminded of Mark 2:27

I’m not. Enlighten me… :-)

It was a relaxed afternoon, don’t worry about it :D

hurray, at frikkin last. mine looks the best get on!! :wink:

we should have a camel toe thread…

edit: i just googled camel toe. let’s not.

aw man how do you get flickr pictures to embed?

Let;s try that again

Here