Shaun H

I'll be running 1x10 with a guide for racing enduro next year but the rest of the time I'll be on 2x10. Having the smaller ring is just nice on casual rides and makes it more enjoyable overall. But I want the chain security for racing as a dropped chain or mishift is a lot of time lost in a stage so I'm willing to slog it up the hills in the transitions with a single ring up front.

...aaaaaand that's enough internet for today.

Haven't ridden a Foxy but as far as I know they all follow similar axle paths. Did you make sure the propedal was off? It's not a feeling I can say I've ever experienced... As for punctures, I've never rimmed out hard enough to notice even running 20psi on rocky stuff. But then I run either tubeless with goo or UST (and I will NEVER go back).

Just make sure you have sound reasoning for going into engineering. As others have mentioned they won't expect an in depth knowledge from someone taking a foundation course, but they will expect you to have some passion about it so they know you will complete the course.

I personally think the Genius is too steep to be real fun on DHs. I can't give a completely fair opinion as the one I raced a gravity enduro on was 1 or more sizes too small for me but the front seemed to hang up a lot more on obstacles than my Dune. As for recomendations I was completely happy with my Mondraker Dune and as such was absolutely devestated when I crashed hard into a ditch front wheel first in the Alps and destroyed my front triangle. Fortunately the brand support is excellent and Silverfish the importer are seeing if they can sort something out for me despite crash damage not being covered under warranty. After riding it I find when I get on single pivot bikes I really miss the rear being active under pedaling and braking, single pivot designs seem to lock up a little. For more general advice - try to look past frame sizes and pay attention to the top tube length as this, IMO, the biggest factor in the "fit" of a bike. If you are riding serious DH/steeps then go for a head angle 67deg or slacker. Test ride everything you can get your hands on.

Just FYI Ash, it sounds like I'm a similar bodyshape to you and I find frames around 590-610 TT length suit me best. Try one out if you can though.

A new Meta SX? That's what I'm considering at the moment after killing my current frame in the alps

That's a little unreasonable since none of the details of the crash have come out yet. Anyway, the poor woman has lost an eye, I hope that's the worst of it, awful accident.

Easy enough to flag them...

Get yourself on Strava, especially if you're just starting again, will be good fun to see your times improving as your skills develop. There's plenty of "segments" in Cannock too

But even he has said the Lotus look fastest

I believe its the role of the jury not to apply the law word for word as such but to decide whether that person "deserves" a guilty verdict, so you can apply your own morals to the case. After all, if we were just laying down the law as its written we'd have no need for a jury anyway...

Once VAT and tax and middle men come in I'd expect the product will need to be selling for around £70 for you to make a good profit yourself. As for myself: I did carried on from school in to Sixth Form (maths, physics, chemistry, economics) and then, although noone ever sat down and explained what sort of path I needed to take to do what I like (inventing stuff etc), I realised a Mechanical Engineering degree would place me well for the future. So I did that at Aston University with a year's placement at a coatings company in Leamington which taught me a lot about the working world. I've had a brief dabble with making my own components and I've really enjoyed it but it takes up a lot of time and all the stuff I get excited about normally requires big investment. May pick it back up when I have more spare cash... I graduated last July but not before savagely breaking my ankle mountain biking. Fortunately an aerospace company saw fit to employ a (temporary) cripple and I was lucky enough to get on their graduate scheme. I'm currently moving around the different departments; I've just come from test engineering where they bash the parts with hydraulics for thousands and thousands of cycles and I'm now in the materials lab, I'll eventually take up a Design Engineer role. At the end of August I'm getting placed in Paris for 3 months and I'm really really excited about that, the company is providing me with 2 one on one tutored French lessons every week (and the instructor has a tidy bum (A) ) so I hope my fluency comes along a bit. Recently been headhunted for another company's "future leadership programme" but their product isn't particularly exciting so unless the rest of the job is appealing and/or the money is amazing I may turn it down, but at the very least it's a massive ego boost having that happen so early in my career! As for advice for the OP my sentiments echo some of what has already been said. You claim that you're pretty sure on university but nothing after that, I'd say don't even consider a degree unless you're certain it will allow you to get in to a career you know you want. Its an expensive (although I'd say ignore the recent hike in fees, unless you earn megabucks you'll pay back a similar amount to those of us who got in before) and lengthy experience and not one you should go through with if you have serious doubts.

Perhaps it's been broken all along and only now showing it visually?

"You are not allowed to access this URL " Could someone PM me when the site is working again? Paid for my ticket already! Looking forward to this, whether or not my ankle will be trials ready could be an issue but won't stop it being a good time I'm sure