Ali C

yeah, pretty versatile bike really

It's the general opinion of most riders to have the softer tyre in the front to get the most cornering grip and the harder tyre in the rear for less drag when pedalling and for it to last longer. I agree with this.

Interesting fact #1 Stan Shaw used to be a fruit booter and somehow fails to see that it is exceedingly homosexual in every possible way.

worst...things...ever!!

I also enjoyed it, it brought back lots of memories, I practically spent all of my teen years in some kind of quarry either competing or just having a good ride. I am happy with my win in Expert, I would have liked to have ridden Elite, but I don't think I could have got out of any of those sections, they would have been hard even in my full on competition riding like I used to be! Cap was entertaining! Thanks to Barbara and co for all the effort in organising these events!

ride with someone better than you, you'll pick up little tips and techniques just from watching. If that's not possible, then try and ride as much as you can (which you seem to be doing) and try long lines rather than single moves, you'll get fitter and you'll learn how to conserve energy as well as the most efficient techniques.

They're cheap because they're simple. The actual bearings are still good quality, so as long as you don't run it super loose and cane the races it should last for ages.

how do you not blink?

ah ok, just thought of a new technique, I'll report back tomorrow.

I tried the technique the opticians showed me where I pull my top lid open with one hand and the bottom with the other while the contact is on my index finger of the hand holding the bottom lid. This just doesn't open my eye big enough to fit the contact in though. I get a much bigger area to work with if I just pull my bottom lid, but then I can't overcome my blink reflex and keep on knocking it off my finger.

tried putting my contacts in again this morning......I failed. It's not like I can almost get them in either, I can't get anywhere near, I really don't know how I managed it in the opticians, soooooo frustrating!

Classic Watson!

try this way..... wrap the chain around the sprocket as normal, but make the chain miss one tooth out (make the chain make a small triangle shape). Put the cog with chain in a vice and now when you turn the wheel the kink in the chain will not allow it to spin and not waste the clamping force of the vice. You'll probably need two people to turn the wheel, having the tyre inflated will help loads too. When working at Tartybikes this system never failed.

with hot hot water

milky water, should be some pretty toxic fumes coming off and perhaps bubbling a little if you used hot water.

any old take-away tins? Maybe the area on the dropouts where the paint/anodising has been worn off. You'll know if it is working because it will fizz and stuff.

just pour it in there, sod measuring it tried really hot water? Try on some other alloy thing to make sure it is actually working, it could be your frame is painted.

if it's anodised then yeah, caustic soda is the one to go for. Add the caustic soda to some warm/hot water (the hotter the water, the more powerful it is). I think a toothbrush works well for frames and doesn't melt like paint brushes do. try scrubbing a bit of the frame first, leave it on then wipe off with cold water, this will give you an idea how fast it will work, then go from there really. The frame will look pretty dark at first, but if you wipe it down afterwards and maybe use some autosol that will get it up to a shinier finish.

I have been bouldering a couple of times in the last week, I really enjoy it! I am not amazing, I seem to be around the V4-5 level but I find the grading really hard to understand, I can do a blue route really easily on one wall, but the one next to it I can't even begin to do. I plan on going more often.

another vote for a decent Samsung.

backhops are always a last resort with me haha

it depends how you ride the bike. If all you ever do is backhop then lower is better, if you like to roll stuff then a higher front end is better. sadly comp riders tend to just backhop everything these days rather than ride the bike, so they tend to have a lower front end.

after at least a 2 year break from comps, I have decided to enter this one. Looking forward to it.

they are all usable for trials, Dominik Raab uses front and rear XT brakes on his 26" (with 160mm rotors too I think!).

I wear some I found in specsavers, cost £120 and was buy one get one free, so I got two pairs for that price (good job really as one broke the other day). I am pretty short sighted, but I HATE wearing glasses, I only ever use them for driving. I tried contacts, but I HATE getting them in. I wish I liked them more as I hate not being able to see when out riding.