This is definitely 4X this year. 4X ProTour (or whatever it’s called) is having a round on the Saturday.

I just moved some furniture from Glasgow to Edinburgh using http://www.anyvan.com. You just put in your requirements and then companies send you quotes. The idea being that if a van has some spare space they can make a bit of extra cash carrying something else and offer you a slightly cheaper price. Might not work with a sofa but worth a try, there’s no obligation to buy and the movers we got were very good.

If you want to give them a try, a mate of mine who works in the bike trade left me a pair of SRAM XO shifters when he moved back to Australia as he was planning on getting a load of new free swag when he got back home.

I’ve never used them and they’re yours for hte price of postage if you want them.

If you fancy getting started for free you could do worse than Mixxx[/url]

You’ll probably want a cheap MIDI controller to control the EQs and faders and such rather than use the mouse. The Korg Nano controllers are ok and nice and cheap. If you can find on on ebay then an M-Audio X-session or X-session Pro would also be a good option.

Oh, and a two output soundcard so you can monitor the other channel before you mix it. No idea on thise at the mo – sorry.

And +1 to mboy – it ain’t cheap once you dive down the record collecting (even buying mp3s!) and gear buying rabbit hole!

Pollard gone! Drop cost 16 runs though. Is it still going to be the difference?

I hate to weigh in with some actual scientific evidence but someone’s done a randomised trail and found no statistically significant difference:

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/doc-says-carbon-no-quicker-than-steel

Actual study as published in the British Medical Journal: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c6801.full

I quite like the pithy conclusion in the abstract: “A lighter bicycle did not lead to a detectable difference in commuting time. Cyclists may find it more cost effective to reduce their own weight rather than to purchase a lighter bicycle.”

My general rules of thumb:

Learning new things – flats
Mucking about on jumps and general hooning around – flats
Going fast – SPDs

OT for a sec but I think she campaigned for lycra being allowed (or at least campaigned against it being banned). It was Rachel Atherton who didn’t want lycra.

Mods! Ban this filth! Actual empirical data backed up with photos? On an internet forum? Disgusting.

(PS. Well done, that was very interesting)

In the Dirt magazine article it said that Knight struggled a bit on the Motorway section because the lips on the jumps were relatively steep for that type of bike so if he’d given it full welly he would have ended up in the treetops somewhere. The motorway’s not as straight as it looks on a DH bike if you’re going twice the speed either!

Burial – Untrue (amazing, one of my favourite albums ever – almost ambient in parts, fuzzy, reverb drenched UK garage samples, snippets of half heard dialogue and vocal samples and a melancholic air that needs a few listens to properly grow on you but once you have, you’ll be a fan for life)

Magentic Man – Magnetic Man (bit dubstep-goes-pop, but fun if you know what you’re getting)

James Blakes’ EPs (abstract and wonky end of the spectrum)

2562 – Unbalance (top end of the dubstep/techno crossovers)

Benga – Diary Of an afro Warrior (a bit patchy but defintely check out ‘Night’ – one of the all time classic dupstep tunes)

Skream – Skream (his debut album, much better than the recent one)

exctly what I was thinking steve-g. No need to get into vb unless completely necessary in my opinion!

How about spending the money beefing up your Five? Lyriks/Fox 36s and some beefy wheels/tyres for a start.

I take your P reg Nissan and raise you an L reg Metro Tahiti. So basic it doesn’t even have a cigarette lighter plug to charge up my phone. I gave a friend a lift in it the other day and he asked “Do you ever feel scared driving this?”

I take it you're going for triple because the double and bash is out of stock? Just be aware the double is 36-22 whilst you'll be on a 32-22 with this one. Might not be an issue but I run a 36 on my double and bash set up and I think I'd rather have it for the odd fast section, 32 is quite easy to spin out on depending on your normal riding.

To answer your original question though – the triple has a 32 tooth middle ring so you want a 32-34 size bash ring.

Had my Wellgo Mags for about 4 years now. Looking a bit worse for wear and a few pins missing but still going strong on my big bike.

Also up for the M8 Papal Crit. Might be a bit slow on the DMR jump bike I rode to work on mind…

Another +1 for CX300s. I tend to lost headphones on a regular basis and CX300s are cheap and sounds very good for the price.

Not really planning anything. Just thought I'd see what a hypothetical ultimate UK road trip would look like.

Sort of came out of wondering where I would take some visitors from Canada if they were to come over with their bikes. So, unlimited time, main idea is to ride ll the best spots in the UK

I reckon a mix of both would be good. Re-reading that I reckon there should be more in Scotland before you head south of the border. any suggestions?

Thanks for putting on another good event Sanny.

Definitely think both films would benefit from shortening a bit. I'm no expert but I thought the music and cinematography were spot on but a lot of the talking could have been cut. The first and last sections of Find were interesting because there was something interesting to talk about (bonkers endurance idea and the experiences of world class riders) but in the middle, despite some amazing footage and great music, there's only so many different ways you can say 'Riding's great and its great to go to new places to ride and meet new friends' before it gets a bit samey.

Still bought a copy though. Had the surreal experience of waiting in line behind Danny MacAskill's Mum insisting on paying for 2 copies despite the best efforts of the staff to give them to her free (she's in the film FFS!).

Its a bit selfish to be complaining about braking bumps isn't it? How many of us haven't been going a bit too fast into a bend and grabbed a bit too much brake to compensate at some point?

I quite like braking bumps up to a point – stay off the brakes over them, get slowed down a bit by the rattling, final little dab (before the turn obviously and making sure you don't lock up!) and you're through the turn. I see them as handy braking markers, as in no need to brake until you're through them!

Off topic a bit but from that article you davidrussell linked:

The Whistler resort in Canada, who this year hosted the Winter Olympics, sent over some of their managers to see the Tweed Valley – they said they were incredibly envious of the potential we have here.

The Tweed Valley is good and all, but really? I might believe that from anywhere else but I suspect these representatives might have been being polite…

Its fairly average IMO. Its got a few fun sections but nothing as sustained as the 7 Stanes. Worth a quick blast if you're up that way but not really worth travelling for on its own.

Umm, so to answer your question – I'd give it a go if you're up there anyway.

Thanks for the tips folks. I know the shock length and stroke length I need (200 x 57) and I know I'll need to fit the right mounting hardware, just wanted to make sure I'd buy a shock not be saddled with something tuned completely wrongly.

Thanks for the tip on tunes LoCo – I'm pretty light (10st wet through) so I reckon i'll get away with a medium compression tune which makes it medium all round – I guess a good starting point for stock after market shocks I guess.

Will probably keep the coil shock for more heavy duty riding (occaisionally ride at Ft William for example) but wanted to give a lighter air shock a go for less hardcore applications.

I've used Nvu in the past with no problems. The multiple views were a good way of moving from WYSIWYG to learning html pretty quickly too.

Another vote for the Advantage here. Actually feels more planted and secure when pushing it into corners than the High Roller I've got on my other bike. Both 60a compound. 2.25 Advantage is also much wider than a 2.35 High Roller for some reason so don't be put off by the sizing.

Not been back for a while but off the top of my head – Tin Angel on Spon Street is small but nice, wih emphasis on live music. Browns on Earl Street is also good – bigger bar but decent drinks and nice atmosphere. If you're after a proper pub with a wide selection of ales then Whitefriars on Gosford Street, just down the road from Browns is probably your best bet.

After hours? Probably Kasbah is the only bet although not been there since it got done up and changed its name from the Colosseum a few years ago!

Umm, apart from that I'm struggling and I grew up in the place!

Fox Launch are great IMO. Light, comfy and easy to pop on and off without having to take your shoes off as they have a clever criss-cross fastening that clips into the plastic knee guard at the side. Maybe not the cheapest but worth the cash.

http://www.stif.co.uk/gear/select_options.asp?productid=5160

Giant Reign X – had mine for a couple of years now and its dones everything – Whistler, Alps, Fort William DH, big all day rides in the Highlands, trails centres all over the country. Pedals really well, gets you up everything with minimal fuss then behaves like a DH bike on the way down. 170mm travel matched up with some Fox 36s at 160mm on the front. Lovely.

Sure you could find a frame second hand for £500 with a bit of looking on ebay.

EDIT – just spotted this on ebay, Buy it Now for £450. I'm 5'8" and ride a small with no bother but probably on the upper limit.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GIANT-REIGN-X-FRAME-small_W0QQitemZ260588689315QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item3cac4bd7a3

How about this one?
'Cat Blamed for Cricketer Graeme Swann's Drink Driving'[/url]

It basically comes down (oddly) to how much climbing you're doing for me. If its just a single climb then descent ride or uplift, then take the full face cos you don't need to keep taking it on and off as much. If you're going to be doing some proper up and down XC stuff then a full face is just a pain in the arse.

Full face helmets make more sense in the Alps because you'll climb for an hour or so, pad up then plummet back down so you can strap your helmet onto your pack for the climb then pad up at the top. Not many places you can do that in the UK.

Another vote for Reign X. Have an X1 which has been steadily upgraded for the last 2 and a half years. Been battered on the North Shore in Vancouver, Whistler, Verbier, the Highlands, Fort William and more and its still going strong. Perfect do it all bike. Goes up pretty well for such a capable downhiller.

On a topical note – Billie Jean by Michael Jackson has got to be up there.

Have a search on ebay. There’s usually the odd bargain on new jerseys if you have a hunt around. I’ve had a few from there including nice Pearl Izumi jerseys with RRP of over £50 for less than £20.

The Guardian website has a decent looking 8 week one. Not sure how targetted it is but not bad for a start I guess:

Blurb

Training timetable

I reckon that’s probably more likely to be due to freecaster rather than the browser. I’ve had no end of trouble watching streams of the world cup in Firefox and IE so far this year. I think they’re just a victim of their own success at the moment.

Current one will be fine. As GaryLake said, just crank the outer adjustment screw down so the third push on the shifter won’t engage and you’re good to go. Just converted a triple to a double & bash myself and used the existing mech no bother.

Absolutely massive.

I’ve got a set of 2.25s and they’re way bigger than the 2.35 High Rollers I’ve got on my other bike by a long way. Better to go for the 2.25s on a Five I reckon.

Yep, wipeout is a great game. If you like shooters Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops is also good. Currently addicted to Pro Evo Soccer 2009 which is an excellent port of the PS2 version.