whitestone wrote:when was the last time you fubarred a rear mech?

Sleepless in the Saddle 2009.

Horrendously sticky clay mud, in the middle of the night, snapped an SRAM X0 that was expensive enough for me to never buy anything above X9/SLX level ever again...

Polaris Challenge events, back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Not a lot has changed.

How will they get round the intellectual property aspects of publishing a plethora of material owned by many different authors/artists/etc? Dunno in US law, but I'd assume that if it was already published - as the vast majority of the collection seems to have been - there's no issue as it was alrea...

I'm all packed up to naff off towards Bala for a weekend See you there Pyro - will be at Bala too this weekend with friends and kids. Ah, if I'd have spotted this before the weekend I'd have given you a shout! I had a cracking time, 3 laps down the Tryweryn with a couple of old friend, a solo run u...

Stuck in a boiling hot office with serious tech issues so should be miserable... ...but since that tech issue is our e-mail's gone down, no-one's pestering me for work, I've got a fairly unlimited supply of tea, and I'm all packed up to naff off towards Bala for a weekend of kayaking, hill running a...

Won't make the Rally but love the look of the route. I've headed out to the Briancon/Argentiere-la-Bessee area the past few years to go kayaking, and have wondered about a way of getting a couple of days decent riding in. We head out in June though, so there could still be snowpack on a some of the ...

Good to meet you both, and cheers for the shout and the chat! I knew wearing my BBBP jersey meant someone would spot me :) I only did the northbound leg, and a bit slower than you two. Set off just before 7pm, got in just before 4am having had knee problems after Moffat, was a cracking ride though. ...

Doesn't that need a Puking Gnome to go with it?

I'd give Manitou a big thumbs up. I've run 3 sets of Tower Pros at intervals and they've been great. I still have a set of 80mms (that used to belong to Mr Barrington, iirc) on my hardtail, and they're very very good - nice feel, not overly expensive to service, easy to tune and not overly portly. O...

Just a phone pic, but one from a brief pause during the Kielder Cross event at the weekend. Robins Hut on the north shore of Kielder Water.

Sorry, looks like they've gone.

Exotic rigid carbon forks for 29er (470mm A-C, I think) Very good condition, minor cable rub on crown and a couple of tiny nicks on metalwork, but still shiny and fairly new looking. 1-1/8th straight steerer (fairly short at 151mm), QR dropouts, disc only. Pics on DropBox HERE £55 posted / £50 colle...

I'll have to check in the garage for you, I can't remember to be honest. I've slept a lot since I posted that!

Price dropped. :)

As my name has cropped up on this thread reference Blackburn / Wildcat; is there not a distinction to be made between qualifying for an event by the same rules as everyone else, riding it, and then writing about it afterward on my personal blog and the alternative scenario of Blackburn posting deta...

so many of these other events are nicknamed races

'Nicknamed'... Chortle...

That says nothing of the HTR550, merely the HT550

So all of this supposition might be utterly pointless, then :)

If you haven't asked and then been invited to that group start why would you then turn up to ride it at the same time anyway? That is being selfish and if enough people did it then spoils it for everyone else. a) Because some people are dicks?*. b) Because (as far as I know) you don't have to be 'i...

Probably should have caveated all of this with a statement saying that I don't necessarily disagree with you Chew. I like a good discussion, which unfortunately means I usually come across as an argumentative < expletive deleted > . Apologies if that's the case! what does it matter who those people ...

Thanks for the offer on the Strokers Pyro, I'll see how I get on with the cables for now, but might take you up on the offer in the future, although I'd have to give you something for them No you wouldn't. If you decide you want them at any point, PM me an address and stick the cost of a pint in a ...

Yes but it all comes back to: Its about respect and rule #1 The risk is that Alan and others could just consider that these events are becoming too much hassle, and then they end up pulling them from the public domain. You only know they are happening if you know the secret handshake. Yup. But sinc...

I had a long chat with a road sportive organiser about intellectual property in terms of route planning... Where money is involved, people can get very defensive... Oh aye. Our 'discussion' got funnier after said organiser (not originally from the area) had it pointed out that 90% of his route was ...

Yup, what the other two have said. Looks a decent basic spec, run it until stuff dies then upgrade-replace. Forks would be my first port of call as and when they start to expire. If you desperately want hydraulic brakes as an upgrade I've a set of Hayes Strokers you're more then welcome to for nowt,...

Maybe I'm reading too deeply between the lines and while that press release doesn't actually say it, it does kind of imply that there is something almost official or sactioned between themselves and the HT. I know what you mean, but I wouldn't say so myself. It's like a press release saying a spons...

Pyro, Maybe different parts of the country or club for popularity. I doubt I did more than 2 of them in almost 20 years but was aware of them as an exercise. Maybe! I was in the North West Junior Squad and it was something we did probably every other training weekend. Always enjoyed it, certainly m...