@hora both work very well. I have not had any issues with any of the S2s that I have used when it comes to web browsing. The original Galaxy S and the Galaxy Tab had poor laggy browsers but on the more recent devices it hasn’t been an issue.

@Trekster As far as I know Strava doesn’t use any data as it just logs GPS data. Endomondo does I suppose but I don’t know how much (probably not a great deal). Other apps are available that can download mapping data for offline usage and then they don’t consume any data. Honestly I have never paid that any attention as I have a staff plan for a major network and so don’t need to pay any attention to usage 😳
Realistically I would be looking at a plan that offers 500mb of data per month minimum if you have access to WiFi at home. More if you fully intend to buy into the smart phone lifestyle and will be spending lots of time using the device. Significantly more again if you don’t have WiFi.

If you are on a cheap plan then the Xperia U might be worth looking at. It’s a small phone but has a fantastic spec and is available for £15 – £20 a month. If you want a top handset then the HTC One S and X, Galaxy S2/3, Xperia S and iPhone 4s are the handsets to look at. In my opinion any of them are fantastic handsets. My personal choice would be a One S or Galaxy S2. The One S feels fantastic in the hand and I have lived with a Galaxy S2 since it launched and really enjoyed using it. The One X and Galaxy S3 are the top spec handsets, boasting quad core processors but are both very big which puts me off. Between them I think the S3 is much nicer though.
The Galaxy range are the only ones that have a removable battery and micro SD support which for me personally is a major boon if its being taken on long days out, and being able to back up things to a removable card is an absolute must in case your phone dies one day.

Spec wise the top Android phones are very similar and offer the same core features and have access to the same third party applications. What typically varies between them is first party apps that generally don’t get used as well as a handful of features which are seldom life changing (camera modes for example, or social media integration). Mostly it comes down to the look and feel of both the hardware and the software which is a completely personal choice.

I don’t actually tend to take my S2 out on rides and usually take an Xperia Neo V. If it gets wet or damaged or lost I’m not fussed as it’s not my personal phone with too much of my life saved to it.

There are a few. I assume you mean the Xperia S. It’s decent hardware, great screen, great camera and Sonys launcher that they use on Android is actually rather snazzy and nicer than Samsungs in my opinion.
Being Android its easy to change launchers anyway.

Spec wise there are some subtle differences. The Xperia S has a slightly faster processor than the S2. Xperia S doesn’t have a removable battery or micro sd support which for me would be deal breakers.

Xperia S is still only running Gingerbread but Ice Cream Sandwich is coming in a couple of months.

As for the S3, spec wise its better than both and would be my go to handset if cost was not an issue or size. Its rather large.

As for Android vs iOS. Another discussion altogether but I prefer Android.

I use the a Galaxy S2 and decide to keep it than moving the the Xperia S. Not decided about getting the S3 yet (purely because of its size).

Could be a few things. I have had problems with my Iliotibial Band which causes me pain on the outside of my knee. Pain comes on after a long ride and hurts when loaded. So pedalling up hill or walking up or down stairs.

There were a few families of geese with chicks on a towpath in Marple last week. It was terrifying, no where to go but forwards with about 8 huge geese hissing at me as a zig zagged through them. I hate geese! But I love ducks 🙂 swans are ok.

I use a Montane Velo Featherlite and I absolutely love it. It has a really nice shape and cut. It’s not super waterproof (heavy thunderstorm stuff) but is great in the misty drizzle that I’m always exposed to in Manchester. It packs up nice and small so I always have it tethered to my backpack when I’m out or even clipped to a belt loop when I don’t have my backpack just in case (you never know if you are going to be stopped fixing something and be a bit exposed to a chilly breeze or something).

Longevity? Not sure, I have only had it about six months.

The shorts got a decent review in one of the STW issues a few months back. Seem kind of expensive to me.

Take a paper bag and earn a few quid on the way?

Canyon Nerve XC (3 in one thread, oh dear) because I just sit all day spin the pedals and it goes up whatever I point it at 🙂

I have been debating trying a race. This might be just the sort of thing to get me started. I assume baggies and no previous racing experience are welcome?

Oh wow, cheers for the kind offers guys. I just dropped it off at bike smithy which is the easiest option since I have a bunch of things to do today. At least now I know its in good hands.
Only been living in Stockport a short time and I’m pretty happy to discover that I have a decent bike shop less than 5 minutes ride away, and within easy walking distance in case of emergency!

Cheers! Bike Smithy is only a mile down the road from me! How I have never spotted it when going through Hazel Grove I do not know.

Sad news is a new bottom bracket needed = no riding tomorrow. 🙁

I’m working until 7 today and working tomorrow as well 🙁 just getting browsers and kids dribbling ice creams all over the shop.

Nice photo. Looks great. It also makes them look rather tiny. Perhaps that was the aim.

I go on my own frequently, although most of my friends think its weird and would never go on their own themselves.
I also sometimes eat in restaurants alone, and will sit in a pub alone with a book if I want to go out and no one else is free.
Maybe it’s weird but I just don’t feel the social pressure to only go to places to enjoy myself with other people.

I’m not sure if there is a correct or standard way of measuring standover height but my large Nerve XC claims 32″ standover which by my reckoning with my 34″ inside leg is taken from the highest point of the top tube up by the headtube. In practice I have about 5″ or so of standover clearance.
The important part as has been mentioned is top tube length. My large feels big, especially as my legs are long relative to my torso.

I have two pairs of the same endura shorts in the same size (apparently) one pair is too tight to do the Popper up the other is loose enough that I have to use the belt to keep them up…

30 Days of Night.
Equilibrium.
Unleashed.
District 13.
Children of Men.

Some random ones off the top of my head.

A lot of my customers are Somali and of all the different communities in Manchester that I deal with they are by far the most genuine and the nicest. As a generalisation of course.

My physics teacher once posed the question about a helicopter flying in a verticle tube with a diameter the same as that of the rotors. Sadly I can’t remember the answer or indeed if one was actually agreed on.

The masts that are being turned of are redundant cell sights. Both Orange and T-Mobile are removing sites that are not necessary any more because there is an Orange and T-Mobile site in close proximity to each other. It’s not cost saving at the expense of service.

Cell sites do go down, report it. If you speak to technical support they can check the site at your postcode to see if there are any reported problems. If you have 5 recorded instances of time/date and postcode where you had problems then you log a fault as well if one has not already been reported.
If its everywhere then it could be handset or sim card related and simple tests can be done. Sim in a different handset etc. to see if problem is reproducible.
You can do it in store as well but it’s more hit and miss because the sales consultant may not be as knowledgeable in dealing with those sorts of issues.

I see I’m not the only person with this problem! I usually end up with too short legs and then use socks to take up the slack :p

I have the same problem with gloves as well. I have pickpockets fingers and I can never get gloves that fit my long fingers.

The rain doesn’t bother me. The wobbly paving slaps from Piccadilly station to Piccadilly gardens (Manchester) that squirt water up my trouser legs when I stand on one do bother me though. Never a good way to start the day 🙁

I had to do a health and safety course so that I could ride 25m down an access road to the bike racks at work. The instructer made no.bones about the fact that she didn’t care about our safety but that this was all so the companys back was covered in case of an accident.

Didn’t expect this thread to still be going when I got in from work. Any mention of Page 88 of Issue 73 yet?

FWIW I’m a bike flipper.

Not stolen but a train nearly left the station before I was able to retrieve my bike. It was a weird one with a seperate cargo carriage instead of racks in the normal carriages.
Depending on the company there are different systems. Some have a luggage rack that you can tie your bike to, some have little cubicle things, some just use the wheel chair area. usually there is a bike symbol on the carriage where you can put your bike.

Buy a ticket for your bike?
I have traveled with and taken my bike on Virgin, Northern, Arriva, Cross Country, First Capital Connect, and Transpennine express and never had a problem where I had to buy a ticket for my bike or book in advance.
I just avoid peak times when I can (not always) and be polite to the train guards and other passengers.

9.5 miles each way (Stockport to Manchester avoiding the A6) can take 40-50 minutes depending on if I’m daydreaming or not. Nice hill to finish on the way home and only a brief spell on oxford road battling buses.

Too nerdy?

a_a

My school used to run a skiing trip as well which the vast majority of students couldn’t afford and had extremely limited places anyway (10 places from a student body of 600).
To make it worse they had a massive display in the foyer that had the last 3 or 4 years trips laid out in nice photo montages. Hyped it up for weeks in advance in assembly then had an assembly where the students who could afford to go talked about how amazing it was when they got back.
I remember when the letter about it first got handed out in form period and a bunch of us just chucked the letter in the bin, my tutor asked what was going on and those that had chucked it just said that we aren’t asking something of our parents that they can’t afford. He was very embarassed.

As for the OP, give him the money for the book, if he doesn’t want it then tell him you will get a different book instead.

I used a foam roller to relieve tension in my IT Band and I do tretches every day. Two of them are in this video and I do a third stretch as well which involves standing with crossed legs and bending sideways. These were recommended to me by my physio.
I also adjusted my saddle forward as I was extending my leg slightly forward on the downstroke.
Otherwise rest it, take pressure off it when walking up and down stairs, when standing up etc. Rest it until you can walk up and down stairs without any hint of trouble and then give it another week before heading out on your bike.

Puncture repair kit.

Oruxmaps does the same. And is free.

I use hot water, squirt a little muc-off onto a cloth and then wash. Soft spray from a hose to wash the foam off and sorted. It also means I use considerably less muc-off than squirting directly onto the bike.
For cassette and chain I use Orontas which is the best degreaser I have found so far.

I found a small lump in my neck just under my jaw line. Went to the Docs, had a biopsy the next day. Had the lump removed 3 days later. Started Chemotherapy 2 days after that. So yes get it checked out.
Whats the reason not to?

Interesting. I love chillies but have never considered growing them. What conditions do they require and any variety that is recommended as easier to grow over others? I’m a big fan of habanero chillies.

Generation Kill and Treme both have David Simon on the writing credits and are each very good and very different. Generation Kill I found more enjoyable and its just a mini series.

Other stuff you should check out.

Breaking Bad – No excuses! Watch this!

Boardwalk Empire is excellent and last season finished brilliantly.
Boss has got off to a promising start.
Homeland seems interesting.
Sons Of Anarchy is ok, not so deep but still good.
The Shield is great.

The company I work for does the same, there are automatic triggers for the frequency of sickness and also a maximum continuous period without a valid doctors note. Taking 4 days off in one stretch is ok but 3 individual days over 3 months triggers a disciplinary. Maybe unfair for legitimate illness but it makes people think before taking a day because of a hangover.

Matt black with a bit of silver.

Mine flared up randomly, so I went to the physio. It was just very tight rather than anything I was doing differently but the pain after my ride was immense. I was unable to walk properly and had to hop up and down stairs with my good leg.
My physio gave me some stretches which I still do every night after my shower, and I got a foam roller to relieve any tightness.

I got one just the other day to help with my tight ITB. Its really helped but was outrageously painful at first.