And if you end up on National Challenge, Special Measures almost ALWAYS follows.. so yes, you are being pedantic. Still, you are in the right profession for pedanticism. Only a matter of time before you start wearing huge knickers, laugh like a Tory, and read Enid Blyton books.

No.. there are individuals who are orchestrating this… Company owners, consumers, governments.. and the pupeteer elite like the Rothschild clan and Al Gore who have attempted to subvert science with their man made global warming nonsense and associated carbon offset taxes.

Unless they kill someone or assault a senior member of staff that is.

Generally they are given a hug when that happens and the teacher is blamed for it

A regular rank and file teacher sure, that would happen. A regular teacher will also be arrested at their home (any time of day or night) have their fingerprints and DNA taken if they are subject to a malicious false allegation by a student. This happens.

A senior member of staff like a head or deputy head will enjoy greater protection.

no your making stuff up

No schools last year got less than 5 %
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12168122

The school I was at got about 12% as I recall.

I heard, some A-level students who had just got there results, were all doing Media Studies, Music and Drama, and Art

The difference between different subjects is shocking, Biology is statistically the hardest A level. I have been thinking of trying to start Env Sci as an A-level as its much easier. Thing is Uni’s know this and base their offers on what your doing. You wont get into a good uni with A* in Film studies, Sociology and Env Sci, but you would with B’s or C’s in English, maths, Sciences, History etc.

Obviously you have never heard of time Mr Pedantic. It’s that abstract thing that sort of syncs with the appearance of the sun and the moon.

Before last year, certainly within the last 4 years, there were schools achieving less than 10% 5A* to C. One in Reading comes to mind, now an Academy. So you must be making stuff up when you say you were at the worst perfoming school in the UK. Unless you meant for the period you worked there. That time thing again. And there are loads around the 20-35% mark, which takes them into special measures. If there weren’t any last year scoring that low, then that’s likely because of the inflated (perhaps) worth of BTEC’s and such. Though that will likely change.

Yes you are pedantic.

Wicked Cycles in Colne, near Hope in Barnoldswick. Pair of Hope Hoops for £260 all in, arrived in less than 48 hours. Very good customer service.

I now got two sets of Hope Hoops so I am happy too!

One for the Pitch and one for the mmmbop. Both DT 5.1’s (EX500).

I like eyelets!

Ok, update.

Wheels have arrived safe and sound. All is well. Took just two days for delivery.

All Hope Hoops just £260 a pair inc postage from Wicked Cycles in Colne. Very friendly service. Not had this level of service for a while. So.. thumbs up from me.

http://www.wickedcycles.co.uk/

Mum and Dad shafted their children, and the bankers shafted everybody.

It’s clever marketing. That’s all. Look how many people blindly choose the Stan’s because they think they are getting more of a bargain when built as Hope Hoops. Why would Hope or the shops that sell Hope Hoops sell all their wheel options for the same price if Stan’s were genuinely up to twice as expensive as other rims? DT did exactly the same when they hit the market, charge more than Mavic, therefore increase percieved value. Having said that, living costs are higher in Switzerland than France so maybe DT do cost more to make than Mavic.

I weigh 15stone, weight of rider has a direct relationship to spoke tension, spoke tension is less on a non-eyeletted rim. For this reason they just can’t be stronger than an equivalent Sun, DT, or Mavic with eyelets. I don’t doubt they are a good rim, but I do doubt they are as robust or have the life cycle of a Mavic or DT. My DT 5.1’s are not soft.. so not sure where that rumour came from… if I was made of money I’d choose Stan’s perhaps.. but I am not.. I want my Hope Hoops to go 3 or 4 years at least..

I’d be happier with a Stan’s if they had eyelets. But then this is how they appear lighter..

there’ll be a massive civil rebellion way before I retire…..

what kind of price you thinking? ballpark…

It is amazing how a freehub can totally change a ride, especially around animals or pedestrians/walkers.

With my Shimano hub I like to stealthily whizz past people. When silently approaching from behind, people are less inclined to get paranoid about you and your bicycle or get in your way. Also, you can creep up on wildlife like deer and rabbits, which is nice. No chance of this with a Hope or similar, but I do love my Hopes.

Wicked Cycles in Colne, round the corner from Hope apparently….

When they arrive, I’ll update you.

3 years of weekend riding eh? Or riding like a girl! lol

Me, I like eyelets.

The fact that the tension spec for flows is lower than eyeletted rims is of immediate concern.

RSP Astrum.

Studying a colour wheel and colour theory can be useful, as can looking at what manufacturers do, even of dis-similar products (that rely on colourways) like trainers, and other sportswear or clothing.

Black red and white or grey has been done to death (especially by Specialized) but I still like it. Complementaries (not complimentaries) i.e. opposite contrasts like blue/orange, yellow/violet, red/green can also be used to good affect. I did my lime Ragley in black with brown/gold detailing. I got this idea from some wallpaper.

When I read the post im pretty sure a GT employee said its made in china and they have a history of working with that factory.

I stand corrected it is actually taiwan.

I suppose I’m wondering how long it will be before someone sets up manufacturing in the UK as the prices aren’t that dissimilar anymore with the exception of Orange off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone else mainstream that is,with the exception of the custom folks.

Not going to happen. We (the West) have been deliberately de-industrialised, to break the working and middle classes. And the BIG LIE of man-made global warming has allowed more banking shenanigans in the form of media hysteria and carbon offset trading which only serves to hinder re-industrialisation…

The UK is finished. We are 2nd world already.

In some UK schools as few as 5% of pupils achieve 5 x GCSE’s A* to C

Really?

Our school had 95 to 100% year on year 5 A* to C and although a great school I can imagine most others would be in the 50% range at least. I did mine in 2005 and did f-all work and did comparatively ‘alright’ grades and that was 5 A* to A.

I really support the Ebac proposal as long as it doesn’t have too much Tory social engineering. The consensus of people at university was that they are significantly harder and require you to take maths (we are really, really falling behind with maths), science and at least one language.

**** Ebac. It’s nonsense.

95% 5 A* to C. A grammar school then? Only grammar schools achieve such. Very few state schools achieve much above 75%, and those achieving 60% or more are usually in nice areas.

You can guage the behaviour from the 5A* to C. More than 60%, good kids mostly. Less than 60%, bit of bad behaviour at times, but mostly ok. Less than 50% and we start to see tired teachers over using their voices and loads of detentions (which can take a couple of hours to set each week), less than 40% and we see depressed teachers, and kids who will attempt to ruin every lesson.. less than 30% and you are in a hell hole, where 3 to 6 kids in every class will be allowed free reign for 5 years to ruin lessons and the education of others in the class. Unless they kill someone or assault a senior member of staff that is. Otherwise anything goes. The kids are king. Long live the king.

My other concern is how many schools are now ridding the curriculum of Art and Design Technology… truly we live in lean, mean, and very sad times.. the bankers stuffed up and the state school kids are suffering.

When I used to teach art I would pay for pencils, brushes and paints out of my own salary. I’d get them from the pound shop. Either that or the kids had nothing to work with. Mean stingy (or just ignorant) parents and tosser politicians begrudge our kids anything. Oooh but aren’t the schools stuffed full of computers (albeit hindered by security filters so they can’t look up images of tits, very little IT support, and congested networks). Sometimes you can even book one of the computer rooms when you need it!

Ah…… Great Shitain!

In some UK schools as few as 5% of pupils achieve 5 x GCSE’s A* to C

If thats true its going to be about 10 schools max I would imagine. I used to work at what was the worst performing school in England at the time and it was doing better than that.

You’re being pedantic. Plus, it’s relatively easy to ascertain the percentage of UK schools who achieve such. Pedantic because 5%, 10%, less than 30% i.e. under the UK average is not uncommon.

Worst performing school? Really? What was its 5 A* to C?

Everyone has an opinion on education.

Most of these opinions are shite.

bike 1. Macig Shine 900L front
bike 2. Grenade 900L front

For the rears I love my RSP Astrum (2 x 1/2W LED). Easily the best self contained rear light on the market.

In some UK schools as few as 5% of pupils achieve 5 x GCSE’s A* to C.

Some subjects are harder than in the past. Teachers continually come in for a lot of shit, which is a shame, since they earn a pittance compared to other ‘professionals’, and yet likely work a lot harder with more stress.

If any of you are parents, you should be more concerned that teaching is being greatly undermined as a profession in the same way policing is being undermined by community support officers. I increasingly meet trainee teachers without degrees and I am aware that a number of schools use teaching assistants (who may just have GCSE’s or CSE’s/O levels) fronting classes for extended periods. Virtually all supply teaching is now done by cover supers/teaching assistants and not teachers.

Don’t know what my Pitch Pro weighs. Only thing original on it is the seatpost and seatpost clamp. I suspect lighter than when I bought it despite heavier rims, because everything has been replaced with higher end gear. There were some very easy places to lose a lot of weight cheaply e.g. Deore casette, Deore hub, coil fork (went on to mmmbop)..

My recent build 18in Ragley mmmbop worked out at 29lbs with coil Pike fork (from the Pitch) and pro2/DTEX500 etc. Could probably get that down to 27 with lighter fork, tyres, and seat. But I wont, I like a comfy seat and WTB tyres. 29lb is fine.

I weigh 15 stone so I build for my size. I know I’ll not get on with less than a 450g rim on the rear of the full suss, or less than 480g on the rear of the hardtail.

I think a lot of builders are crooks and they charge as much as solicitors (another bunch of crooks). People are best off trying to learn how to do the work themselves.

One of the best bargains you can pick up on ebay is the Arcam Alpha 8 amplifier. Easily one of the best amps of all time and can be had for peanuts (less than £150, sometimes much less). My Alpha 8 is still going strong after 16 years!! And it has had a lot of use.

My main system is knocking on a bit now but it sounds amazing.. NAD C370 amp (just had refit to make it like new by NAD), Denon DCD835 CD player.. Mission M74 speakers…

Why Kenwood? They are nothing special. They made a few good bargain amps, but they certainly weren’t in the same league as Arcam, NAD, or even Denon. Denon made some good amps…

Poor. A teacher. Underpaid. Probably will never own a house.

The UK is a failed state.

flows flows flows.. the borg have spoken.. flows flows flows.. even if they are overpriced and have no eyelets. lol

I will conform…..

Unlike the children in this thread, the country of origin is important to me. I think a manufacturer immediately cheapens their offerings by having them made by slave labour in China. Taiwan I can live with, they have a good standard of living, and fairly decent wages not too far removed from UK wage rates. However, I make sure I buy lots of Hope to keep some money in this country at least.

The reason why the UK and other countries like the USA are in the shitter, and so many of you will never be able to afford the kind of house your parents lived in, or have a decent job, or your children have decent jobs or homes is mostly because of this use of asian slave labour. That and high speed trading or gambling up an economy to a point where the gambling is 70 times bigger than the real economy…

So yes it does matter.

Stronger I’m not sure about, but they do rival them for strength. Flows have a dh world cup champion to their name after all (and no, she doesn’t just bin them after one run- the sets she was using at the IXS in Innerleithen looked hammered)

Quite a few Mavics seem a bit out of date and overweight these days tbh, 717 is a silly weight for such a skinny XC rim, 819 is a lot heavier than an Arch and not any stronger… Lots of pretty old designs.

Ahem. You said ‘she’. So what is she? 8stone? 9? 10? I weigh 15 stone. She can get away with riding any rim; she’s a feather weight. Not sure how you are able to claim the Arch is stronger than an 819 actually. The 819 is nearly 500g with eyelets isn’t it? I don’t buy all this hype. Sun rims are good but when did they become better than Mavic?

Being had by the LBS seems to be the thing, that and assuming you know nothing about bikes.

No wonder people prefer to buy from bigger stores on the internet.

MADE IN CHINA

If they are over tension that is telling you something.. without eyelets this is not likely a long lasting wheel. I like Sun rims… but I just don’t like non-eyeletted rims. So no Flows for me.

I found a shop doing all the hope hoops for £260 inc postage!

Hope don’t charge extra for the Stan’s option because Stan’s obviously cost Hope roughly the same as Mavic and DT. ‘Stan’ (whomever the company is who designs these Sun made rims) might be playing a clever game of marketing!? First, exclude the eyelets so that your 500g rim now weighs 470g, and then charge an arm and a leg for a rim on its own in order to increase percieved value. Increased percieved value means more sheeple choosing the Hope Stan’s option.

I doubt that Hope is paying any more for Stan’s rims than it is for Mavic or DT.

Me? I like eyelets.

I like both my silent Shimano and my noisy Hope Pro II. However, the noise makes a huge difference when commuting or riding in parks or along canal paths. I don’t always want pedestrians to hear me. Sometimes it is much safer to just stealthily dart round pedestrians in silence. People get so ridiculously jumpy around bicycles, and the Hope noise isn’t always useful or wanted. In my experience a pedestrian is likely to get more stressy and get in your way if they hear you coming.

Also, the hoise can prevent you sneaking up on wildlife. It can be nice to peddle a little behind a deer or close to some rabbits.. you’ll find that much harder on a noisy hub.

I find everyone recommending Flow rims to be much more annoying.

The old DT 540 was essentially the older 5.1 with pinned not welded joint. The +30g or so was the weight of the 540’s pins..

That’s good to know..

I can’t consider the Subrosa cos this Hope Hoop Pair price is too good to miss. Shop hasn’t yet shifted up the price of Hope like most have.

Basically the Pro 2 Hope 5.1 will migrate on to the mmmbop. And the Pitch will get the new wheelset. So if anything I am most likely to go same again with DT, or even the EN521. To me it seems counter intuitive to start thinking about sub 500g rims again… and the Flow is a sub 500g rim.. unless you get it in white..

Maybe I’ll go DT again.. why have they suddenly gone out of vogue?

I doubt they are stronger than the EN521. The EN521 is after all the same width, a little taller, and what.. 60g heavier, or 40g heavier than the white Stans? That weight or some of it must surely equate to strength? We are talking Mavic here.

I wouldn’t select a rim purely based on price. Particularly if that choice is between the EN521 and DT5.1 (EX500) and Stan’s Flow. They seem equal in quality terms to me. Maybe the French company Mavic are a bit better value, or there is a higher premium to be expected for Swiss goods?

I am trying to select a second set of Hope Hoops. I was toying with another set of DT 5.1’s (EX500).. but I haven’t ruled out the EN 521.. I would consider Stan’s but they seem a tad on the light side to me, I see them as an even racier version of the DT5.1 (EX500) however, and at 15stone I think maybe they are pushing the envelope for me. Though maybe this isn’t true. Dunno.