Braindrain

@Sshredder: have a look at hydrostatic head, this is the waterproof rating of a fabric. Above a certain number, manufacturers are allowed to claim the fabric is waterproof, the higher the number the more 'waterproof' it is. Never buy an expensive bit of waterproof kit unless they divulge the HH - I don't see any HH rating for this jacket... It's true that there are many products these days that are just normal fabric treated with a waterproof coating, which will wear and wash off fairly quickly, maybe a year of frequent use or a couple of normal use. You can buy the stuff to spray on and re-'waterproof' the item when it wears off. A true waterproof fabric, as in one with decent HH, will not have this coating and should give many years of use, nothing lasts forever of course. Plus, even an item with good HH and breathability will not be breathable in saturated conditions, there just isn't anywhere for the moisture inside to escape to...

@Mike-Jay: why does everyone seem to trust farmers? Just because it's 'banned' ...

Step 16; take it to shop for service, mechanic tells you your bars are bent

I was hoping the vice-olympics were some kind of alternative event that might actually be worth watching.

@mtbcrosscountry-com: There are still 2 accelerations, you feel the force of the ground pushing back (newton's third law) and because this is a force, and acceleration is a required component of a force (newtons second law force = mass x acceleration) the accelerations must still exist. Perhaps consider that gravity itself is not a force, it's an acceleration, we experience the 'force' of gravity because we are a mass and an acceleration - gravity is acting upon us. In space for instance, we are still a mass, but there is no gravity/acceleration so there is no force. You need a mass and an acceleration to make a force. So rather than 'cancelling out' the forces, implying to you they are not there, it's probably better to think of them being equal to each other. As the forces of mass and acceleration are the same in opposite directions there is no net velocity.

@MumblesBarn: I'm totally with you mate, a blinkered perspective. Also, I'm no language expert, but I would say that English is mostly a difficult language to get correct pronouciations. There are so many homophones and homographs, 'sight words' as they call them nowadays that just don't follow any rules. They teach phonics in schools, but phonics do not work in the English language. Certainly in Swedish, the vast majority of word sounds follow 'rules', so you stand a very good chance of getting it right if you know the rules. I have a bilingual family, it seems to always be English pronouciations that cause the trouble... As for place names... I think most people will get these wrong: Lewes Wrotham Southwark And lets not forget Gillingham and Gillingham I'm sure there are so many more... How is it in Welsh? Do phonics work?

@wyorider: I believe the main influence on earlyish MTB design, steep angles, long stems and narrow bars was because of the road riders crossing over to compete in XC races, they wanted to be in a more familiar 'road' position. XC was the growth area and as we know, for some strange reason, bikes riden uphill, by the fittest and most skilled riders are obviously going to be the best bike for worse than average me who enjoys going down, so everything, including bike geo, was put into winning races. It's probably true to say the race aesthetic influenced the whole era of bike design, but the I think the reason was the roadies.

I thought there were some pretty fluid responses.

I'd rather see an overweight 50 year old dude in roady lycra who gives a smile and a 'hello' than see a skinny 24 year old dude in mtb race kit who gives a frown and an attitude.

@fracasnoxteam: without the British Overseas Territory of Morzine we would have fewer pro riders...