F-Stop Junkie

I've said it before... By people getting a low rent ripped off copy rather than splashing just a few pounds (what, the same as 3 pints in a pub?) on a DVD, they're helping support a fellow trials rider. He'll make a few more quid, his video publisher will think making trials DVDs is a good thing so we'll get more trials DVDs, and we'll all benefit. Trials DVDs don't make $300m worldwide, they sell in much smaller numbers so sales are more important. Trials is a small sport that depends on revenues from products like this to support the riders who put their time and effort in, the specialist retailers who sell these DVDs and good sales to pursuade video people to make more trials videos. And you call yourself a trials rider... We live in an economy where money can be exchanged for goods and services. If you don't have it, then any number of retailers would be happy to help, I'm sure.

I've always ridden with a helmet, always. When I was younger, the day before an XC race I was mucking about in the park doing drop ins. Done it loads of times, but once I got it wrong. The last thing I remember is the backwheel coming up, and the front diving down, slowly crossing up, then my memory just fades out. The next thing I remember is sitting on the grass, my front wheel bent to 90 degrees, unable to focus my eyes on anything over about a foot away from my face, and with concussion. I went to hospital where they told me I'd pulled all the muscles in one shoulder, and of course my vision came back and the concussion went away. Where I'd been practising these drops was 'just' the park and onto grass. Nothing normally which would cause a problem, until you start dropping onto your head from 10ft up. My helmet had completely smashed across my temple, and it really brought home to me how much impact it had absorbed. From then on, down the BMX track, trials, XC, whatever, I've always worn a helmet. I would also advise that you don't buy mail order unless you know exactly what you want. You must try helmets on and take the one that fits the best. When I was working in a bike shop, I sent people to halfords if the ones we had weren't comfortable or didn't fit properly. You have to try on different brands, different sizes, and find one that's comfortable (otherwise you'll find excuses not to wear it), and a good, snug fit. A helmet should slop about on top of your head, but it shouldn't pinch anywhere either. Also, don't ride about with the straps undone. That's fine if you're standing around cooling off, but if you're riding with it like that, you may as well not bother. When you're buying a helmet, look for a blue SNELL sticker inside it. The SNELL Institute is an independent body which tests cycle helmets to a high standard. Only helmets which pass these tests get the sticker. Most of all, a helmet doesn't have to be expensive. It's nice to have an £80 Giro lid or somesuch, but there's no point buying the cheapest helmet you can find either. It's worth spending a little bit more (I'm sure Mum and Dad will help if you're a bit short of cash) to get a decent one. Also good brands tend to have crash replacement policies, in case the worst happens.

Been following the train wreck behind the scenes shorts Kevin's been posting throughout production, so really looking forward to it. Been avoiding as many spoilers and possible, and even dug out my Clerks X DVD to watch again. Only problem is that Empire are listing the release date as November

Well, seeing as the frame and fork are pretty much black anyway, can't you just imagine it?

Hmmm, I think racing is defined as any competitive activity. If someone wins or loses, then it's considered a race, just with least dabs instead of shortest time. As soon as the guy saw pictures of Mike at Back Cowm, that was it. Insurance is basically a game of 'how can I not pay you?' If you fall foul of some condition in the policy, you're screwed. It doesn't matter if it was declared or whatever, they've got you. I must say, I don't understand why this clause exists. I know that a lot of manufacturers don't cover the warrenty on their bikes if they're used for competition, but that's because they don't want riders claiming compensation for loss of earnings or whatever if their bike breaks during an important event. If the insurance policy covers accidental damage - and I spotted recently that my HSBC insurance *specifically* states that trials riding does not count as accidental damage - then the insurer could be liable for the same kind of costs. It's not difficult to imagine if a broken bike leads to a crash and you're off work for two months, and need private medical care (say physio) then a £200 broken frame could end up costing a few thousand.

Scandanavian flick, pioneered by rally drivers from the area, hence the name.

That wasn't a 'I've pulled' line, it was the guy from the Fast Show* who always gets the wrong end of the stick... *For the younger TF members, the Fast Show was a lot like Little Britain. But funny.

I'd say the best mod is Tom, closely followed by Onzaboymark. I'll get me coat...

I had a friend at Uni, insurance in his Dad's name I think, and registered to his Dad's address in a much better part of the world than where he was actually living. Made a claim, investigator came to his house at uni, and the investigator declared that he was the main driver, and his uni address was his main residence so his policy was invalid so no cash. When I've been on my parents policy, it's been with Direct Line. Big benefit is I have no no claims as such, but I get a discount on my own policy as I've been a named driver with them for seven years without a claim. Hence quote for 1.8 Focus was £275... There's no easy way to get insurance, it's almost luck depending on who has the best rates for your car/post code combo, and how many sales they need to rack up before the end of the week/month. One thing to keep in mind is that with insurance, it's not always the cost of the car they're considering, it's the cost of the potential claims if you lose it and drive into a bus queue... The truth is that young drivers make mistakes and therefore claims, and statistics show that they make more than other groups. I remember when I was 17/18 and there was a story of one girl at college who wrote off her car an hour after passing her test. The main thing I'd say is try lots of different insurers for quotes, but listen out for 'Our policy is underwritten by...'. You may find that Tesco - for example - have their policies underwritten by Norwich Union. When I was getting travel insurance one time, they said this and then I got a cheaper quote from Norwich Union direct! Same cover, lower cost.

Well that was interesting! Didn't see many trials folk, except for whoever went with the old school Vinco build. Very odd. Apparently the organisers moved away from the festival idea due to the riots that went on last year - or so I'm told - and with the inclusion of the LG thingy, they needed a bigger venue, hence the NEC. Next year they may hold two events. A 'show' at the NEC and a festival at Shepton Mallet or somewhere. Good event though I thought generally, lots of action and good access for photographers!

I was asking Giles the same when I saw him at the Festival of Speed. He confirmed there will be no public riding or competitions. It will only be MAD + Ot. NASS does seem to be slowly turning into The Bike Show, which is good seeing as they'll be running The Bike Show next year.... I don't see the point of going and camping now as it's at the NEC. I'll be interested to see what the show is like now!

Nope, but we can all speculate to our heart's contents! Kenny is not the first sportsman to lash out at a team or sponsor, but he's a very smart guy. He knows what he's doing. Like you say, the fun of the forums!

The 30D is only really an evolution of the 20D. I'd expect it to be relaunched at some point as the 40D with 10-12 megapixels, maybe an AF upgrade. The 5D is in the same space as the 10D three years ago, I expect the price to fall a bit, but then the buffer will increase and it'll just get lovlier.

It's upto Kenny at the end of the day. When any sportsman starts telling the world that the equipment and people supporting him arn't upto scratch (I'm thinking Jenson Button and Honda for example) then one of two things will happen. Hopefully they'll go "Right, we'll show him, we'll give him some great equipment, then we'll see what he says!" Sometimes they go "Screw him, thinks he's Mr Bigshot...." and then they join another team... I'm sure Kenny wrote that post very concious of the contents and the possible outcomes!

Word has it that it's a D70 upgrade to compete with the 30D. Expect Canon to drop the price of the 5D to the point I end up buying one, and launch a new 30D-level camera in the Autumn at Photokina. Or maybe a new 5D.

Don't worry about max aperture to begin with too much. Most budget lenses are the same. If you find you need more light, you can worry about that later. If you're shooting mostly outdoors then it won't be an issue. If you're shooting at night, you'll almost certainly be using a tripod, so again not crucial. If you're after a bit for of a focal length range, Sigma do a nice 17-125 (28-200 equiv) and Tamron even do an 18-200 (28-300 equiv). The rule of thumb for lenses is that *generally* the bigger the range of focal lengths covered, the worse the lens will perform. So a fixed lens with no zoom will perform better than a zoom lens with a small range of adjustment (say a 17-40) which will in turn perform better than one with a big range of adjustment (28-200). Sometimes though, it's just more convienient to have a slightly worse lens than carry around a big bag full of lenses.

Ah you got me. I dropped out of school when I was 15. I started a small company selling octogons, but massively over-estimated the market for geometric shapes. To make ends meet I was briefly a seeing eye dog, but then I got my big break when I discovered I could export paradigms to developing nations at big mark ups. Now I live on my yacht currently docked in the Cayman Islands, while posting shite on odd web forums with their resident mongs. Life is good.

Livers can conjugate verbs? Brilliant! My liver should retake my GSCE french exam...

Ah, but have you ever met Timmy Mallet?

This from the man who posted this: Lets look closely shall we? 1) Punctuation has completely vanished. Not suprisingly. 2) You have created the verb 'to bluetooth'. Please conjugate at will. 3) You have mis-used the word piratism and 4) You've added the name of a pseudo-religious group for no reason whatsoever. Now who exactly isn't making sense?

Personal insults. The last refuge of the dammed.

All none of it disturbed by one cock and his big words. Enjoy NMC gravy, you'll be here a while methinks...

Not when that post is read* by your potential customers... * Assuming people still bother to read your posts

That's quite a leap there Sir. If Norco were that keen to push trials into the public conciousness, don't you think they'd have given the DVD away themselves, and put a notice on the front asking people to spread it far and wide. However, they haven't done either of these things. In fact, they've put a notice on the front telling the world that the movie is copyrighted, and spreading free copies around the world is actually a bad thing. At the end of the day, people have put time and money into Manifesto, and it is their decision to sell it, it's not your value judgement to say if they were right or wrong. Also if you're acting for such a noble cause, why are you pushing it to the very people who are the intended purchasing audience, and not to the general public who might never see trials otherwise? All I can do is repeat what I've said before. Trials is a small sport that depends on revenues from products like this to support the riders who put their time and effort in, the specialist retailers who sell these DVDs and good sales to pursuade video people to make more trials videos. To use your analogy, you're taking money away from medical researchers and restricting the advances which could save lives and drive down costs. Medical science has the advantage of massive amounts of public money, grants, cheques from drug companies and charitable donations. Trials is about making the most of what we have, and supporting those who support the sport. By taking money away from them, you're hurting the sport. And you call yourself a trials rider. Cause he read it on a bridge?

Pete, on a serious note, who did you know at EBC?