Most disturbing thing I ever saw was in barcalona.
A practically naked guy standing on a box in the street flaying himself as some sort of performance.

stinking converse…

Chap-door-run in Queensferry…

And then we moved onto setting fire to a tissue wrapped dog shite on the doorstep we were chapping.

Well, not me exactly…

the gato 29″ 2.3 is my favourite tyre for scottish mud (i.e. all year round) and a total bargain at a tenner, i bought a heap them…

hard wearing etc are well as everything else they do right, 10/10 stuff

when my bike is loaded, I’ve got everything on the bike other than water which i store in my hydro pack.

its a wing nut so its further down your back and is hardly even noticeable.

never been an issue.

Denis 99. How long have had the jones? It took 6 months to get my head and body round mine.

Ran with 175 for absolutely years. Switched to 170 a few years ago, definitely notice the difference. I’m almost 6.2″ but moved to lessen pedal strike etc. fine tuning and worth it.

nobeerinthefridge

or my favourite

‘if it wiznae fir the hibees you’d be hunz’

you could go to volcanic tongue and bankrupt yourself (its one on the best record shops on the planet) but i think it recently closed. ill probably just get pished…

p-35 rear geax gato, chunky monkey and once in a blue moon an ardent 2.4

p-35 front geax gato, chunky monkey or knard 3.0

rolling darryl front, nate, nate or nate

im a graphic designer with a side salad of brand and marketing stuff, set up my own business almost a year ago and work from my wee cottage. its still a bit up and down but its great being my own boss. feel I’m truly creative again, even entertaining factoring in drawing and painting as part of what i do/sell as well. loud music and top drawer in the work place with no one to disagree! (until the boss gets home)

being able to switch the mac off and head out on the bike whenever i fancy is great as is no longer dealing with an awful commute and idiots in suits anymore. take comfort from the fact ‘if it was easy everyone would be doing it’.

if the ‘hell breaking loose’ means getting up high and away from folk – blackhope scar in the moorfoots makes sense, despite being the highest point in the lothians its surprising unvisited. 7 or 8 ascents now and I’ve only ever met a golden plover on the plateau.

i moved from leith to a great cottage in a very secluded and leafy part of gorebridge. property is cheaper and the new railway line will make waverely 20mins away… and we now have a very cool garden.

the pentlands, moorfoots, lammermuirs, and glentress inners etc are all easy to get to as well as miles of more local stuff. (and i don’t drive)

id suggest living anywhere around edinburgh pretty much gives you access to heaps of very good riding.

easy access to trails and a suitable base for my business were two of my most important boxes needing ticked in leaving actual city living.

id say that was a canary.

a text to tell you this is beyond amateur. id not respond but go back in on monday and make your boss squirm. easy to say but situations work best when you remove the emotion and deal with the incompetence your boss has shown. and use him admitting this to get you as good a deal as possible.

i got the bullet from my first design job after art school and totally off balanced the two morons ‘managing the process’ by being super calm. they had factored id be throwing chairs about and screaming…

use the force!

folk have many different motivations to cycle.
i local guy i know needs to have an event circled on his calendar to focus his training – if he doesn’t have than he doesn’t go out on his bike at all (due to lack of motivation).
i think this approach totally misses the point of cycling – general fitness, adventure and long days out in nature. but then, he’ll think its me thats got it wrong…

returning to riding rigid was a bit of a shock to my system 4 years ago. even though it was only moving from a hard tail, i got beat up bad. twisted my back and ached all over. the main problem was lack of fitness though (and harbouring a secret distrust of tyres below 30 psi)

sure, a rigid bike won’t be as fast over everything as anything suspended. but wide rims and tyres, plus and fat options as well as fitness and experience get there in the end. and there way less to fiddle with and maintain.

certainly not for everyone but everything i need to do the stuff i love doing.

Stars aren’t star shaped. Imperfections in the glass causes them to look star shaped.

mr slaters parrot by the bonzo dog doo-dah band?

SPLLOOOOSSSSSH

Great bike OP

Jones with fat front here also. my 29/29+ front wheel is gathering dust in the 18 months I’ve have the fat front option.

i did a fair bit asking around before i pushed the button on the set up. the advice i got is that the bud can twist on the rim a bit (being very grippy) and being so massive especially at very low pressure on the ‘narrow’ darryl. not good. clearance is pretty tight on the truss as well.

i went for a nate on a darryl and its absolutely perfect for me. I’ve went from being totally obsessed by pressure to previous bikes to once every month or two noting the tyre is slightly too soft and top it up. its at around 7-9psi if my gauge is working.

i know these bikes always attract comments, i was distracted for the first 6 months by its weird looking ways but, its now my only bike and far and away the most fun and capable bike I’ve ever been on.

im desperate to get a garden office sorted out. working in the house is getting me down. i looked at dunster houses but I’m not leaning more towards an old refitted lorry container. cheaper and more secure i reckon.

thegreatape – hoho!

is that the sign with the guy putting up a brolly?

heres another question thats bother me privately for years, the ‘skid marks’ on the slippery road sign don’t and never have made sense?

the car must have skidded out of another presumably slippery dimension (were you can skid like that) before being captured on the sign.

my answer to every tyre question – gear/vittoria gato 2.3

amazing in total mud, with wide rims, still doesn’t seem draggy on concrete or anything in between. and very cheap…

and in my experience wider that a 2.4 ardent.

(would love a 29+ version in a heart beat)

im not long back from a trip round fairly rural england visiting several friends with the bike ‘in’ the car. the bike came in the house every stop regardless how ‘fine’ it would be.

thats the… bleuuurgghhhh!!!

reminds me of a pink /green stump jumper from around 88? i thought it was totally amazing at the time although my jaded graphic design eyes would probably vomit these days.

i do like the pink/orange fade job though on the bg…

veggie from a completely veggie household here

normally these threads all degenerate into ‘just have bacon roll’ or whatever… this one seems to sort of still be functioning so good. ill need to try the op recipe.

we actually decided to have a bbq last weekend. bbq’s do seem like a good thing to do when the suns out after a day on the trails but bbq’s tend not to be a massive gig for non meat eaters

however halloumi kebabs (with onion/peppers/mushrooms etc) when down a storm with some Portuguese piri piri just to keep things ‘interesting’.

“Nothing needs to die for you to live”
Father Yod

interesting thread. whilst i love watching the tour I’m actually not sure i like many of the personalities involved at all (or thats its remotely important). froome is a bit blank. never liked cav or boardman. millar is a bit stiff. wiggins had a bit of an edge that made me think slightly differently about him. but ultimately its all pretty humourless. suppose their lifestyles dictate so much discipline, something has to give. total respect and admiration to their skill/fitness/focus though.

i had a ’13 unit and loved it. managed to shop around and got it for £650 iirc. frame has clearance for bigger 29er tyres as well. the only thing that i didn’t like was the ‘mud shelf’ created by the chain stays behind the bb shell but other than that a great fun bike to hammer.

i sold it after a year as it was always second in my ‘which bike today competition’ against the 10 speed jones but i still do miss it…

yup, its an amazing and emotional video. what a guy, and an inspiration.

you can see what being on a bike means to him on his face, something we can all totally relate to…

i not biked there but walked and kayaked most of the area. sections are definitely bike-able but loads of sections are hike only (the rough bounds of Knoydart no less). its a truly amazing part of the world though and in good weather you’d be hard pushed to find anywhere more stunning (or midge infested).

Hide your bike and head up Ladhar Bheinn, Luinne Bheinn or Sgurr na Ciche if you get a chance.

right tight, left loose

cats ‘making love’ in our back garden is always lovely to listen in on…

Custom Map Wallpaper

my favourite bike continues to split opinion. ‘spaghetti junction’ ‘shopping trolley’. even after the 4 years it took me to repay the loan i need to buy it in the first place, it remains the most incredible, surefooted and capable bike I’ve ever owned.

I’ve never cycled further or as regularly as a i do now. I’m out myself 99.9% of the time in all weathers, at all elevations. its x3 times more than I’ve ever spent on a bike previously and was a serious gamble as i’d only read about ‘jones’. i hadn’t even seen one in the flesh before collecting it after i got it built up. i’d be man enough to admit at some point after that, i may have got it wrong or its all hype but even now, its still got a very positive feeling, its the only bike i personally need for a long long time. and adding the fat front after a few years just totally nailed the whole thing.

i probably bored jeff in oregon and biff here to death, trying to described it –

“I could talk about traction, compliance and general riding stuff but its just easier to say it all works to an extent way beyond my own ability or requirement for a bike. I still have that grin…”

Tubus?

http://www.tubus.com/product.php?xn=83

i’m rubbish