Tomm

Either way, people clever enough to use a computer probably avoid Halfords. Mind you, I've heard that poor people can now get the internet. It's an outrage.

Surely CRC are loooooads bigger than Wiggle? If not, they should be!

Well that's not a very helpful reply. Clearly you're the expert in this field (and so many others), so don't be shy! Tell him how he can improve! Impart your wisdom! (Jackass)

Oh. It's a bit crytic, that one. Can't say I've ever heard that expression. So we're suppose to have faith that Fatpants' bike knowledge actually exists, despite all evidence? I always was an atheist *. *Actually, I'm probably more agnostic...

Yeah, you can't base decisions based on the opinions of people who have ridden the bike in question. You've got to razz around a car park doing wheelies to work out if it's any good. Or, if you really want to put a bike through its paces, do some skids. Mark: What?

You've been keeping that one quiet...

What? If it wheelies nice it must be good for riding DH? And this is coming from someone who works in a bike shop? srsly? I reckon if you knew your shit and you had tried plenty of frames in the past, then you might be able to gain a bit of information from blasting around the street. The problem is this bit: You don't / haven't.

Lol, that sounds like science, right there!

Ah fair enough, didn't realise the Banshees were 4 bars. That probably improves things. Single pivots aren't necessarily bad though - all Commençals are single pivot with linkage-actuated shock (Gee Atherton's supreme DH is the current DH world champ), and plenty of other bikes use straight single pivots (Orange, Morewood). All those bikes are fine to ride both uphill and down. I'm still very unconvinced that the Carrera would be nice to ride. It does look like very good value though. Fact fans: Apparently the Spesh patent only applies in the US, so any European company is allowed to use a Horst link as long as they don't get sold in the US.

I said they're great for lift-accessed terrain. They're f**king horrible to ride on anything resembling an uphill section (or even on the flat for that matter). Think of it as a mini-DH bike. If I was going to get a bike for using in the UK, I'd get something that's at least a bit capable of riding uphills, but that's me. I've grown quite fond of uphill bits in my old age And yeah, an SX trail is another bike I'd definitely consider, but they tend to be expensive. Frames can go for £550 second hand (saw one on SDH today). A second hand Giant Reign frame isn't too expensive, they go for about £250 (my housemate is trying to find the right one at the moment).

You sweaty bitch. That was rubbish.

Yeah but Stinkys are f**king horrible to go up hills on. And the Banshee is exactly the same suspension design so I don't think it's going to be magically any better. I suppose it might have different geometry but I still wouldn't buy one. Er, no. It'll still be complete toss. Get a Giant Reign I reckon. They look nice, and they go up hills too.

Manchester has quite a wannabe courier 'scene' and they're all idiots as far as I can tell. Gears are useful. I would probably ride a fixie if I thought it would be fun (for short periods, they are) but as for riding it to make you look cool? If you think that, you probably fit into the aforementioned idiot category. I use my road bike for commuting and general razzing about. It's a Carrera something or other - hear me out on this one. It was about £240 and I've had it over two years now with no complaints at all. It's fast, smooth, and it all works brilliantly. Plus it's not too flash which means it doesn't get stolen. Mine's done over 3000 miles and it's still 100% original. That's pretty awesome if you ask me. I don't care about going for 'fun' rides on a road bike or training or any of that stuff (or using it to look 'cool'), but for just getting from A-B and leaving it there, it's the perfect bike

Yeah, but Juicy 7s are twice the price of Juicy 3s. The 7s and 5s are great (and pretty similar, as far as I can tell, the only real difference is bite point adjustment on the 7s), but for once I'm gonna agree with FatPants - Juicy 3s are a bit toss. As FP says, the calipers are different and they use different pads. Shimano Deores are much better if you need cheap (mountain bike) brakes. However, the Merlin deal is a corker when you consider that the frame-only price for a meta 5.5 is £850. Pay £50 more and get a full bike? The spec is basic but what do you expect?

The letter we got from NTL said something like "we understand that you might be using an unsecured wireless router - consider this warning an opportunity to improve your internet security" and next time there's no excuse. I dunno, I doubt they would do anything with the police, but they might cut you off.

You don't half chat some shit. My housemate got a letter from NTL telling him to stop downloading illegal stuff - they do a three strike sort of thing. The letter said the exact day, date, time he broke the law and what was downloaded (the specific track). So obviously we'll be changing from NTL when we get a chance...

I don't think that's the case - You're over-simplifying it. If a rider lands a 9ft gap, he will be moving much faster than if he does a 2 ft gap, and will have more momentum to carry his weight forwards. If you see someone land a huge gap, their arse will be way back over the back wheel, but they can still regain their balance. Too many assumptions?

In reality that doesn't happen at all though. At the instant of touching your tyre onto the wall you're gapping to, your weight won't be above the wall. Your forwards momentum, and shifting your weight (shagging the bike) will keep you moving forward so you can reach a balance point, but that occurs afterwards. It's very complicated, because when your wheel contacts the wall, you have something to push against.

There are way too many assumptions to work it out. For example, at the precise moment you land a normal gap, your weight (well, your centre of mass) is rarely over the obstacle you land on, and it's also significantly lower than when you leave the lip. So even a flat gap couldn't be worked out using formulas like that. Too many assumptions would have to be made.

Well I've deleted Sergio's and that one from that French dude trying to flog Rock hubs. If anyone else sees any images in signatures, feel free to report them. I will delete any I see but I don't see everything. P.S. Dave, well done for drawing attention to yourself

No. Who has images? I delete any I see.

I dunno, my 22" Samsung can be bought for £160 I think (maybe less now), and it's really good. Fair enough there might be some better ones out there but the quality seems more than adequate to me.

It's R reg, so almost 10 years old now. And yeah, older cars become less efficient and powerful. I don't drive a massive amount - just to the supermarket and around the city so I'd probably get more if I did motorway miles.

My little Polo 1.6 petrol does about 34mpg which is a bit annoying really, it should do more. We just drove to the south of France in a VW transporter and even that was getting more MPGs than my car (admittedly that was a diesel though).

These people are right though - you can't really ride trials on a jump bike or jumps on a trials bike. If you try and get something in between it'll be rubbish for both. The best bet would be something like a DMR sidekick with rigid forks which would be OK to jump but it would be pretty terrible for trials. It just depends how seriously you want to take it I guess. Or alternatively (what I've done) get a trials bike and then get a dirt jump frame / forks and share wheels between the two to save cash.