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I haven't used the flared drops on my new bike at all yet. I'm going to try raising the bars (from slammed position), and see if they offer something like that.

The Apex 1 shifter, or the flared bars, or the combination of the two, has lead to me accidentally up-shifting a few times. The position of the lever and the lightness of the action is the cause, but I suppose you can get used to it.

Got my green Vitus and I'm loving it, but I need to go tubeless ASAP because the WTB Crossboss tyre is so tight on the WTB rim that it would be a nightmare to change a tube at the roadside.

I love a farm gate, just ordered the same.

Looks nice, what size is that?

I saw a Ribble CGR Al last week used in a road bike (hill climb!) setup and it looked great

In the long term, sea-level rise induced migration away from flood plains into the hills

Can anyone recommend me a good pair of light summer bib shorts like dhb aeron labs ultralight, but which don't come low on the abdomen, or have detailing down there? All jerseys are short on me.

I only seem to manage 160+ cadence if I'm running fast, under 4 mins/km. Anything less and I'm in the 150s. I have long legs though.

I don't know if it's really relevant to me (or anyone), but this table suggests that a 190cm person running at 4:21/km has an ideal stride length of 145cm. That does imply quite a low cadence, doesn't it? I'm 193cm, and looking at the data from a run at around that speed, my stride was 143cm, cadence only 155

I love salted gherkins, but I'm fed up with Kilner jars. These massive Russian jars with crimp-on lids look convenient:

I got a good oven-spring with 30% rye. A much shorter proving time seems to have helped. I also dropped the hydration from 75% to 70% - unwisely changing two variables at once, I don't know exactly how much this contributed to the better shape

Yeah I have a 32 x 15 cm basket. Maybe a cloth helps it form a skin on the underside to keep it in shape?

I'm going to try and usethis shaping technique.

25% wholemeal rye @ 75% hydration. I'm pleased with the crumb on this one. Any tips to achieve a rounder shape? It's a batard btw. I guess I need to try pre-shaping, but there seems to be a difficult balance between shaping effectively and not damaging the internal structure.

I put my new trail shoes through their paces (thanks @Brum) and did my longest ever run, 26k, over rolling hills and through woods. I got a half-marathon PB (1:39), so a faster time is there for the taking if I feel like doing it on the road.

Most of my running is along arterial roads at night. I enjoy it (so long as there is little traffic), but I don't often feel the motivation to stay out for longer than an hour in that environment. I'm still seeing improvements, though, and hopefully closing in on a sub-40 10k.

Here's the result. This one's lovely, but I guess I'd like to be able to make a rounder batard. Shorter second proof or better shaping needed I think. Or maybe reduce starter to 20%

That makes 71% hydration (assuming your starter is 100%) - same as my white sourdough. It came out well, but I suspect it over-proofed, because it flopped quite a lot as it came out of the basket. This time I'm going to try white flour, 75% hydration, 30% starter, baskets in the fridge overnight.

What proportion of starter to flour do people here use? I just read this recipe recommending 50%. I have used 40% so far, but my last one (white) over-proofed, so I was going to try and slow it down by reducing it to 30%.

Maybe it's because my starter is new that it fluctuates a lot in activity.

Am I right in thinking that if I replace rye flour with white, the dough will be a bit less sticky at the same hydration?

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I've done some sourdough. I had a go a few years ago, but this is the first time I have got a good result. I used 10/3/3 ratio white/rye/brown flour. I think 65% hydration - I found it OK to handle.

I felt like I didn't pre-shape the long one properly, and that probably caused the splitting at the side.

Next time I think I'll use white flour, but keep the recipe the same otherwise.

I have the stem it came with, but I don't think that could be it. I think snottyotter is right, it only works with steerers with thick enough walls

They're definitely thinner (2mm) than some I've seen. Hopefully that won't be a problem with a plug design where the top part doesn't expand

Yes I'll just get another one. I would hardly feel happy with this thing even if I got it installed.

Can anyone tell me how this Specialized steerer expander plug is supposed to work?

The flange at the top is part of the expanding sheath, and when I expand the plug in the steerer, it then sticks out beyond the edges of the top of the steerer tube, to the extent that a spacer no longer fits over it.

The instructions show it being installed without any spacer above the stem. It seems like even if I was doing that, the flange would dig into the walls of the stem clamp and prevent the stem being pressed down properly.

Does anyone have a clue?

I suppose the temperature continued to rise after I'd begun cooking, without me noticing, so when I turned up the heat a little, it pushed it much too far.

In the future I might not bother coating the meat and just add a roux later. Many people seem to say flour-coating is just a 'convenient' way to achieve the same thing.

Thanks @ChasnotRobert they were great. Better texture = better, butterier taste

Tonight I made these Czech dumplings (houskový knedlík) to go with goulash. It's fluffy boiled bread. This is the recipe, 1/2 quantity made loads (twice what's show in the picture). Great winter food, light and hearty at the same time. I actually let it rise before forming the 'loaves', which the recipe doesn't.