I've seen dented frames described as VGC…

but we digress.

You admit you hadn't touched it in 18 months

Sorry if I was unclear. I had it on my 29er during that time, which as my 3'rd bike got little use, but was used at least twice a month during that time. I split the bike maybe a month before selling the wheel – which had been working faultlessly for me. You are right to say that I maybe should not have described the wheel as VGC without giving it a rebuild, but aside from this the whole wheel was spotless, and a true as anything. Surely if I had rebuilt the hub prior to sale I would have sold it as such. It is true that VGC is very ambiguous though.

The bike shop has told him that the hub is fubar'd due to "the shell casing is now stuck on the inside of the hub.They cannot be removed which has rendered the hub useless."

I assume that he means the bearing shell. Would a bit of a soak in penetrating spray free it?

It is a Surly (sealed bearing) fixed/free hub, laced on to a DRC ST19 700c rim using Sapiam spokes. Sold for £50 (inc. £11 next day courier so £39 for wheel)

My laptop had one of the listed cards at the time so can only really comment on that. Yes it did work.

I think its is more to do with cards that have been tested to work. It is a way of guaranteeing that it will work. Every week a company will bring out another card and it would be hard for SW to keep up. Suck it and see, or go the tried and tested route – its up to you. Sorry, thats not really that helpful.

Cheers – i will see if I can try out some of the above.

Cheers,

not uber local, but ride in the peak about once a month. Will pop in next time i'm around.

Good to know that someone is using them as the seem really good!

no one then?

Avon Skin-so-soft

I enjoy riding up and down the edge of the Plain, just go explore the bridal paths up and down the edge, then scoot around the Imber Perimeter Path to the woods above Erlestoke, east of Westbury and have a play on the DH tracks and the other trails in the woods. This is the home of the Set2Rise 12hr enduro.

I like caddy's but dont get a new one if it under 3K and the older ones arn't very fuel efficient, especially the Tdi's.

For the money I would say a Combo. Or, as said above the expert/scudo is a great size van. can be found cheap too as they are 'neither here nor there' for most people.

Ok, cheers for checking – top service!

I can't for the life of me remember a name, but I am sure there is a place on the West Wilts trading estate in Westbury that has been recommended as being cheap and/or bike friendly.

Fresh straws, Rasps for jam.

On full brightness its acceptable to view messages and see who your dialling etc, not much cop for anything else.

Cheers for the input guys, these are to go with a fairly basic Marantz amp or an early 80's Technics one that I have just purchased. I have a set of Eltax Monitor 3's that I bought from RicherSounds a few years ago but have never been that impressed. But they were dirt cheap.

I have toying with the idea of just sticking with the Eltax jobbies, but seeing as I spend at least an hour a day listening to them I figure I can justify the cost.

I think so…. but maybe wrong.

helpful, i know.

We had a similar issue, although we did not know what had died. Smell, followed by flies. lots of flies. everywhere.

Good luck.

NBT, fair enough. It's good that you are coming at this from the opposite angle that most people do – big is not always better! On the whole, with a stove smaller than the Stockton 5 (which is smaller in the flesh than it looks in the catalogue), can be a pain to live with. Having to cut logs to be extra small which also means you will need to refuel it much more often. The Kw rating given by manufactures are produced under lab conditions burning optimum fuel. You are right to say it is bad to run a big stove slowly – this results in greater tar build up in the flue, not a good thing. However under normal use a '5kw' stove will be putting out anything from 2-5+ kw depending on fuel.

Multifuel should be thought of as 'either/or'.

To burn wood efficiently you need to burn it on a bed of ash with the combustion air coming from above, coal on the other hand, need an ash-free environment so air can get to the fuel from below. So if you want to burn wood you leave the ash in (only skimming the top layer out when it gets too full, but if your burning coal (and smokeless fuels) you need to clear out the ash daily.

The size of stove depends on so many other factors than just room size.

Insulation, double glazing, draughts, curtains, how many doors, how many external walls, thickness of walls, quality of fuel used, personal warmth preference! To name just a few.

No worries,

We hardly ever sell a stove smaller than the 5, most rooms can get away with a 5kw stove fine. The major issue is the need to provide a permanent free-air supply for stoves over 5kw, in other words – a hole in the wall/floor. The Stockton 5 is rated at 4.9kw so gets around this rule nicely.

Why the need for a tiny stove? does it need to fit in an existing chamber?

That Pitch is SLACK!

Anyone got experience of Stockton stoves?

Stovax is the manufacturer and Stockton is the range. The number denoting the size and therefore the model.

The 3 is tiny. Really hard to get a bit of wood in. Even the 4 is too small for all but the most demanding applications. The 5 is a good small stove… if it fits! Stovax are a massive company and make decent-enough stoves. Very acceptable!

I have a Paul Chain Keeper – Its ace and far more discreet, and cheaper.

nice bit of machined alloy to boot!

A whole round of 'Wyfe of Bath" from the Frome Cheese Show.

I work (well for the next few days at least) for a Fireplace/stove shop.

Our best sellers, and ones that I would recommend are either Morso or (Chesneys – we have had a few quality issues but mainly excellent), or the Euroheat Harmony if you have deep pockets (around about £2k for the 33 model). As said about, many stove now are Defra approved to burn wood in a smoke controlled zone.

Make sure you get a reputable fitter or shop to do the work – there are SO MANY cowboys around, even HETAS approved ones, if you fancy a bit of light reading, get your hands on Document J of the building regs. It would be advisable to check whether the installation work includes back-filling of the chimney with leca or vermiculite to further insulate the flue liner, and also if the liner is properly fixed at the top with a new pot fitted rather than just using a hanger to support the liner in an existing pot. These are signs of a good installer if they will be done.

Edited for spelling and grammer.

No not massively so,

I tend to bath mine about one a week – it helps them go to the loo!

You could spend a lot of time adjusting this and that but I like to keep the tort calm and only adjust things if it is obvious that it is distressing the poor creature.

In the early days it is time consuming getting the set up correct – invest in a probe thermometer (only about £5) so that you can accurately set up the temps. Across the table these should be about 10 degrees difference depending on your breed. I have the end of the table under the heatlamp around 32 degrees and the other end is room temp. This gives the tort enough of a gradient to thermoregulate,

Each different breed of tort has different requirements, for example the Horsfield is a keen digger so needs deep substrate and a keen climber so sides of the enclosure need to be high. What ever tort you get it is unlikely to be suitable for a vivarium, despite what the petshop might say – these are far too humid environments and do not give the temperature gradient needed for thermoregulation.

Try and by from a dedicated breeder in the UK. I was told that something like 70% of all Horsfield (Russian) torts sold in the UK were wild caught – something I am truly against.

We have recently been given an estimated 2 year old Horsfield Tort from a family who could not long care for it.

We have set it up in a tortoise table as large as possible (ours is 4ft x 2ft x 9") and filled with 5" of 50/50 playsand and topsoil mix.

A heat lamp is needed (cold blooded animals) and a strong UVB flouresent tube is needed if you are keeping them inside.

When the wether is warm and sunny (+20 degrees C) we mov the table out side and he loves it. The UVB is needed for healthy shell development.

We mainly feed this young-un on dandelion leaves daily sprinkled with limestone flour (calcium needed for shells) once a week.

Depending on the breed the care can be slightly different.

At a guess, PU stands for polyurethane and should be the clear ones.

I have the black one and find them to be really good. I never thought that I could be impressed so much with a bit of stick on leather! They are very discreet and the logo on mine is embossed rather than coloured so it just looks like a matte black patch. Stick like s**t to a blanket too.

Find an image on the internet, right click, copy image location, then in the 'post' form click the IMG button and paste the copied link. voila!

Might be worth a look:

Amdro[/url]

Look at the Wild Country range of tents (budget brand of Terra Nova). They have a factory outlet online that could be the source of a bargain

UKC?

Yeah I am not bothered by 'cool' or speed this time, I just want a workhourse. Insurance is a big factor because all my NCB's are on vans and insurers do not want to transfer to a car. Bascially I am a new driver in their eyes. Bugger. That rules out A4's and the like – they would be a good shout otherwise.

I am interested to know about Rover and how parts and the like are available now they are a defunct company?

What Rovers had Honda engines? Like the sound of that!

Thanks Tron.

Can you get a bike, wheels off in the back of a Ka?

Gee Atherton has already won hasn't he?!?? 😉

Nice one!

I have some silicone spray from halfords for lubing the door seals on my mini – will this do the trick?