spode@thinkbikes

So does anyone fancy a ride this Sunday? I'm getting my ankle re-set from a 2 year old injury on Wednesday. Anyone fancy a ride, somewhere different perhaps?

Well, it says he was SIMULATING sex with a bike. That doesn't necessary mean any penetration took place at all! It's not as if shagging his bike, not in public, is causing anyone any harm. Better that than a 6 year old girl....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770 I know most of you have considered it, but this is a definite NO NO.

Hopefully, Si is going to decide that I don't need to have my ankle put in cast. If that's the case, I'll be there. I'm SO up for a costume. Why don't we just wear the gayest outfits we can find? Maybe Joe Maher will let us raid his wardrobe

Heh. Me too with thinkbikes.com I've got a beta of this almost ready. But everything else keeps getting in the way!

That's where they went! Sometimes my love for Discs blinds me.

You'd be surprised how difficult it is to hit a disc sidehopping. I've never managed it!

There are loads of threads on this dual disc debate - so have a search and you'll find lots of opinions. A lot of people don't like rear discs because they've never had one - how can you form an opinion of something you've never tried? Generally from what I've seen, once you go rear disc, you don't go back I love the lock, I love the modulation, I love the reliability, I love the lack of noise, I love the wet weather riding, I love the buckled wheels, I love my rear disc! Anyone is welcome to come and try my bike out, and I've not had a single disappointed rider yet.

I thought people did already! But reading the entry, I feel really pretentious now!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caveat

I don't know the ins the outs, I'm merely showing you the door! Once I get my policy through, I'll let you know if there are any caveats.

For those of you who can't afford to lose time of work due to injury, this is worth considering: http://www.sportscoverdirect.com/ £84 a year and covers you for a lot of different sports, including competitive mountain biking, BMX, blah blah. Snap your ankle riding street and get £250 a week if you can't get to work, and money for a physio too. There wasn't anything specificially related to trials on the site, so I'll have a look through the policy when it turns up. But it's still mountain biking!

Did you wake up in a bath full of ice, to discover someone had stolen your tendons?

I don't think I'm up to anything this weekend - be nice to head down to Battersea. Can we meet at Waterloo?

This is true... I do hurt. But who told you? Nice job Rob, especially for a first edit. I'm useless at editing! However, when you get home, I'll help you kick out a full resolution version with the correct aspect ratio

Both Tall_Rob and I run 200mm Hope Trials 2007 on the rear of a Simtra ST-1, and if you ask anyone else who has tried our bikes, the brakes lock plenty, with all the modulation you need. Some people suggest they see my brake slipping when riding with me, but realistically I have the weakest fingers in the world (partly due to nearly 10 years riding), and I know when I've not made a trick, so not to bother pulling the brake hard However, Scopse has a valid point, the BB7's really do lock like sticking a stick through your spokes - I have heard of them "exploding" though. There is also the issue of reliablity. Cable brakes will deteriorate over time, there is no denying that. It's less noticeable on a front brake, but on a rear brake, especially a stock, you'll notice it. My hope is the same now as it is when I bought it. From an absolute point of view, I cannot give an opinion on a BB7 as I have never run one. However, I CAN give an opinion on the Hope Mono Trials as I have done for a lengthy period, and I wouldn't be running one if it wasn't good enough to hold my 13 st 8 and robs 15st+.

You've ruined the illusion!

I don't think many people would consider me old!

I'm 23! I started late 14, early 15.

It was a pre-reefer mission frame. The trialstar IIRC. It was basically a standard aluminium frame with disc mount. I was running a 160mm Hope DH4. It might have been an Enduro 4 - or that could have been an upgrade at a later point....

That's rich coming from you FP! You expect me to give you step by step instructions every time I mention something to you

Totally!

There are a lot of tactics involved in competition trials - it's not just about one off moves. Choosing the best route and knowing when to use your dab is vital. If there is a 50/50 chance that you won't make that move and get a 5 by falling backwards - why risk it? Take a 1 and finish on a lower score. If you're worried about looking stupid in front of people, then yeah, comp trials might not be for you. If your the king of the street, you might find yourself at the bottom of the scoreboard, with onlookers watching. But most people seem to find a way to cope with it

That's what most people that actually TRY a rear disc say, instead of talking **** Changed to rear disc in late 99 early 2000 I think

Come of it. You know what we're all interested in really