Matthew62

I know....how do they keep coming up with it? *Oznoys business meeting* "Bonjour" "Bonjour" "What are Inspired doing at the moment"? "Oh really, does it look good?" "Oui" "Shall we get a comparatively-cheap, missing-the-point-sort-of-alternative-shitted-out-as-quickly-as-possible?" "Oui" "What if Dave Cleaver gets angry, you know how those Englishmen can be" "C'est la vie" "ohn, ohn, ohn"

Good on you. It wasn't harsh at all. Other than the worrying double use of 'obviously' there was nothing wrong. It sounded a touch like a wounded dog, I probably would have been a bit more forthright but the essence of what you said is perfectly acceptable and not at all aggressive, and certainly not damaging. Hopefully she'll have a good miserable couple of weeks now, however from what you've written she'll make it all about her and how "she's so f**ked up" so probably still won't consider how you feel. Some people are just that way inclined...

Ah good stuff, it's one hell of a bike. It's been very popular this year the AM275 - part of me wished i'd got one instead of the TR. I should say that the Mega womps the Five for downhill, it's basically a mini DH bike, but I'm surprised you say it climbs well as it isn't renowned for it's lightweight or climbing prowess, however the 650b wheels do help. The Mega has a fair bit more travel than the Five and is a good bit slacker so should rip on the downs compared to the Five, but as we discussed before the Five is pretty much the only pure (non-assisted) single pivot design on the market so you just can't rival it for how active the rear suspension is. It'll react to absolutely every bump. I've heard a few guys saying a coil shock can improve a Five further, something like a Cane Creek Double Barrel but I was never tempted personally. I'm glad he's enjoying his bike either way, they are a lot of bike for the money. Tell him to possibly consider a wheel upgrade and going tubeless in the future to drop a good amount of weight which should liven it up further, but that combination of the Pike fork and Monarch Plus rear shock is unbeatable at the moment. Yeah there's nothing like a bike you feel at home on to improve your riding. I'm looking at changing to a Lapierre Spicy as soon as possible which I think will improve my riding further. You can't beat that feeling of railing a berm and feeling the bike compress and woosh as your rail round. That's good going taking over 20 minutes off a loop. I'd definitely recommend a reverb. Other than my XTR brakes i'd say it's the product I just couldn't be without now. I rode some of the Innerleithen enduro and DH tracks yesterday as I've entered the Scottish enduro in a few weeks time.....god knows why - that stuff was steep, muddy, rooty and scary, well out of my depth I think.

FYI, there's a Nukeproof and Lapierre demo day at Cannock tomorrow. Lots of nice 2014 bikes to try out if you're interested.

I thought he created an exact cardboard graphic of the outline of the logos and meticulously pasted this on to the bike making two copies, once for the initial paint removal, then one for the respray. Actually, what the hell? My bike looks exactly the same.....and I don't remember any cardboard.

Looks to me like a frame that isn't intended to be a 29er with 29" wheels shoved in…which would account for the look. Could be wrong though.

I think it might just be a gravity dropper adjustable seat post rather than a suspension one. I hope so anyway.

Over your budget but it is brand new and makes for an amazing bike: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nukeproof-mega-am-frame-rockshox-monarch-2013/rp-prod81835 If not look for someone selling the original Mega (150mm) which was a beast of a bike, and arguably more on trend than their current offerings.

She's getting big, when does their coat go curly? Nae blue bags hanging form the estate that day then?

It started with tremolo and only got better from there. You really stepped it up on this one Mark in my opinion. The graphics were much slicker, the music choice spot on and the whole vibe was brilliant. I agree with Ross, it was nice to see Danny's riding on street, which I find much more interesting than a staged environment, but more than that it was cool to see all the Inspired riders together - something that has long been needed. Despite the issues you've mentioned it is one hell of a video that's been made!

Good choice man. I use the Der Guide for my single ring and it's faultless. I also use iXS pad (the Flows) and they're very good.

I was not expecting that! To be honest when I saw the pic I thought "they've sent him a Five". With your height the bigger wheels are probably a good thing. One thing i'd contest.....there sure is some places in the UK you could use the Alpine I hope you have an awesome time on it, for a 140 bike the Five is fairly bottomless, also the 32 is a much better fork than the 34on the Alpine so that's a plus!

Wheeeeeeeyyyyyyyy.

Cummmoooooooonnnn! Get it out.

It's some opening scene. The films received a lot of criticism, but hell, you can see why they acted they way they did, and it was some performance by Leo.

I like your videos set to Bjork tracks - it really seems to work well. Great riding as usual.

Whhhhaaaaaeeeetttttt? Tell them you want to collect it and smash her together yourself? Could be on it this weekend? There's nothing internal going on with your Alpine so will be a nice easy job.

The Excel is fairly far out from the madness so I would consider driving there. There's bound to be parking also. If you stay in Northampton you'd need to get the Midland Mainline to London Euston and get over to Zone 3 heading East which'll take a little while. I'd still possibly stay in Northampton on the Thursday but you're probably going to be quicker driving to the Excel from there, it'll be a lot cheaper that was as well. I can't remember off the top of my head what tube/DLR to get, but I've done it before so will check! Edit: Right, if you hate London then the train option will send you over the edge. If you got in to Euston from Northampton, you'd need to get on the Southbound Northern (London Bridge Line - easy to get the wrong one) to Bank. Then you need to change there to the DLR going east and get off at Custom House for ExCel. You'd need a Zones 1-3 travel card for this. As I mentioned, that's a bit shit, whereas if you drove you could just head to the bottom of the M1, switch on to the North Circular and bypass all of Central and get straight to the Excel. You wouldn't have to pay the congestion charge that way also.

You're not the first person to say that. I think it's due to how low the lid sits. Also sometimes people see the actual rim of the helmet rather than the peak. I've only ever noticed it climbing and never descending, however I don't notice it at all now.

They were a 160mm fork on the Five, but it was a 36 series fork so looked beefy. In reality they actually made the bike ride worse and a smaller travel would have been better. The Pike on my Nukeproof is only 10mm less and 1mm narrower but it's a much better fork that actually uses all of its travel (the 36 always had about 20mm it never used) so it feels a lot plusher.

Old: Vs New:

Ha, they are quite an acquired taste, more for you though I suppose. They're definitely not what you'd call mild.

Ah that's pretty good going. I was tempted to use a standard vermouth but it's not quote right. I've got quite a few "alcohol boutiques" near me but they only stocked Lillet Rouge the last time I was in....the travesty. There's a little French delicatessen around the corner that has it but they close by the time I get home from work.....I mean honestly, the things we have to endure. What's the most you've got through in one sitting?

Trust me I don't... but it doesn't stop me acknowledging these places exist, or passing by them on the way to somewhere decent. There's no shortage of decent places in my city so I do okay. I was more generalising what a lot of people seem to be in to and what I've experienced when I was a bit younger and lesser informed (and am not keen to repeat, ever, again). The last place I drank in, my girlfriends drink was served in a crystal martini glass set inside a bell jar that was full of smoke that had been produced by burning cloves..... a bit full on (i.e. poncy) I grant you but it's a far cry for a WKD blue and supermarket own brand vodka.