Tomm

Sean Connery was recently hospitalised following an accident at home where a book fell on his head. In a statement, he said (in your best Scottish accent) "I have only myshelf to blame"

7.825 x 2.25 is the same as 200 x 57mm which is probably the most common shock size. HOWEVER - as Craig says, most DH/freeride bikes are bigger than that, and a quick Google suggests that a 2004 Big Hit should be 222 x 70 which is quite different! Having said that, I know there are different versions, different mount points and even different rockers for 26" wheels so there are a lot of variables. Anyway, I'm fairly certain 200 x 57 is wrong - make sure you check it. You may be able to use the same spring. On that bike it looks like an old Fox Vanilla which means the spring has a pretty narrow internal diameter, so a new shock may be too fat for that spring. Depends what you get. Out of interest - why do you actually want to change the shock? If it works reasonably well I wouldn't bother, and spend money elsewhere (forks for starters).

What's 'poor fuel economy'? Forums say it gets about 25-40mpg depending on town vs motorway. Which is exactly what my Type-R gets. I'm looking at trying to reduce my expenditure. Sell the Civic / cancel the finance (car is now worth more than outstanding finance) and get something cheap ish. Not too fussed about running costs because I don't do too many miles at the moment. Although I'm not sure I want the lottery of having an old car blow up on me as a daily driver. Or just take the dashboard apart and disconnect the light... I know they can technically check this by comparing the startup lights sequence with a manual, but I doubt they will. On the other hand, might be an idea to actually fix the airbags that could one day potentially save your life.

170 bhp, RWD, looks tidy, <70 k. What's the catch? http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/bmw/e36-3-series-91-99/bmw-323i-coupe-less-then-80-000-miles/620109

That trick only works once though. What will the next iPad be called? I reckon just 'iPad'.

Yeah, I reckon they'll call it the 'new iphone'. Or something like iPhoneHD or whatever. Something to differentiate it from the older ones but losing the increasingly-daft-sounding numbers. iPhone 17 in a few years' time? No chance.

BMX don't have any suspension? Anyway, I wouldn't want to use Dart forks for that type of riding either. Not because they're not active enough, but because I value my face. Marzocchi DJ1 or DJ2, RS Argyle etc. Should easily get something second hand for £200. I'd think about getting a bolt-through setup though - I.e. maybe budget for a new front wheel too

Basically every manufacturer makes a 140 or 150 or 160mm bike. Take your pick. Most people will ride around 140mm bikes for XC these days but something with 160mm travel can easily be ridden on long day loops, but they'll be much more suitable for DH. You can't get a bike that does everything, but if you want a bike for riding all day (non-competitively) AND the odd DH session, I'd go for something like a Spesh Enduro with around 160mm travel. Although the best option is plainly a DH bike for DH and an XC bike for XC

That's really expensive, especially the insurance. Way over the odds, surely? I wouldn't buy an iPhone (of any type) now, not with a new one coming out in less than a month. Whatever it looks like, it'll have a big impact on the prices of other phones. Perhaps when it does come out, the iPhone 4 will be heavily reduced? That might be a good buy at that stage - my iPhone 4 still works really well, not really feeling the need to upgrade it (contrast that to my iPhone 3G which, when it was 2 years old, basically couldn't do anything without grinding to a halt).

Smashy smashy Apparently both driver and co-driver escaped with no life-threatening injuries. Awesome.

Nah he wants sub 19 seconds for the 200m, he's said that. He didn't have very good preparation coming into these olympics apparently, so on his day he could definitely go faster. Having Blake push him will probably help too.

Saddles are really individual. The most comfy seat I've ever used is my Flite SLR which at 135g is absurdly light and hard... but just the right shape for me. Not for the feint-hearted though! Most people seem to get on well with a Charge Spoon at £25 ish (although I hated mine FWIW). They're quite wide and flat - ideally you could try one and see if it's for you, but £25 isn't a massive amount to spend to try it out? The other really popular one is an SDG Bel Air. I've had 3 of those over the years and they're great (for me). Again, I think the cheaper versions are <£30.

If the previous owner has specced the wrong shock, then that's fair enough wanting to change it but you still probably ought to get the right shock for the frame. You need to know the eye-to-eye (sometimes writtten i2i) and stroke of the shock. You also need a spring that's the right size to fit on it, and the right weight for you - You may be able to to swap your current spring over depending on what you've got and what you're buying. If you post up the details of your shock and spring we should be able to tell you. A new Fox Van RC costs at least £200, that's without a spring. You might be able to get it slightly cheaper elsewhere if you hunt around, but as always if you're stretching your budget it's probably better to go second hand. Try the various forums (SouthernDownhill, Gravity Slaves, Descent-world, Singletrackworld) and eBay. Ideally get one with a spring for less risk. If you want new: http://www.chainreac...x?ModelID=83890

Well no, but then I wouldn't commute on either of those bikes so it's irrelevant. For commuting (if you're going to lock your bike up anywhere) you want something that goes well but looks shit and costs no more than about £500. Especially in London. IMO of course.

Oh, you're opening up a rich seam of periodic table jokes here. While we're on the subject, do you know any jokes about sodium hypobromite?

Two women walk into a building. I'd have thought one of them would have seen it. A dyslexic woman walks into a bra. A baby seal walks into a club. What's red and smells like blue paint? Red paint... Like!

They're awesome, obviously, but they're popular with misty-eyed pistonheads readers so the prices are pretty high for 20+ year old cars. It looks as though it's pretty easy to get one with potential for a few problems. Plus the interior looks OLD compared to modern cars. As long as you can live with that, and you get the right one, then they're pretty stylish cars for the money. No idea about common problems though. Check out the BMW forum on pistonheads.

19.32 and he slowed up over the line, plus he said he felt weak. He can definitely go faster, will be good to watch when he does.

For some reason I see bikes wobbling around on roof racks and it really puts me off. Looks like the bike would be damaged over longer distances. Surely with a big wagon you can just chuck the bikes in the back? Robin to answer your question - my mate's got a very substantial Thule rack which clamps onto the actual ball. Clamps very securely and will take 3 bikes, plus you can lower it down to get into the boot if you need. It's expensive though - think it's about £300. EDIT: This sort of thing. This isn't the actual one though. http://www.thule.com/en/GB/Products/Bike-Carriers/Towbar/Thule-EuroClassic-G6-LED-928#

Can you put a longer stem on your Marin? I.e. does it have a really short stem at current that you could swap for something 110mm + and stretch it out a bit? Perhaps as a stop gap until you find something decent second hand? £100 isn't a lot but £200 would give you a decent choice of older full sus frames. Something like a Giant Trance from a few years ago would be good, they're pretty cheap at the moment. That other Marin looks OK for the money - Not an amazing deal but not bad either. Only problem is it looks stolen?

Uh, no. You need to get a shock the same dimensions (unless you REALLY know what you're doing). Can you use the same spring?

If your bike got stolen, why on earth would you want to replace it with something new and shiny costing a grand?!

Even if the other driver admits liability and their insurance pays up?

Did that make a big difference? I've got 3 points on my license from 4.5 years ago so I still have to declare them (even though my license is now clean after 3 years ). Doing the online quote thing it seems to make ~£50/year difference. Not huge but annoying when you multiply by 5 years...