I used to know most of this, knowledge must have dribbled out of my ears with age 🙁

As far as I remember, some years the LE was a lighter frame (thinner walled), other years it was the same frame but with better kit, XTR?

I think they were all pretty much 6061, the dogs nads ones were USA made tubes and factory assembled in the US – they had a double ping pong paddle sticker on the seat tube.

Others were US made tubing and assembled somewhere else that was cheaper labour than the GT factory. Might have the US Made sticker but not the paddles sticker.

You can tell the year by the frame number on the drop out – first 4 digits give month and year (can’t remember which way round without checking mine at home).

The cheaper Avalanche was the 7000 series version of the Zaskar for a few years, it had a rounded end to the top tube rather than the flat of the Zaskar – handy way to tell if some dodgy EBay seller has resprayed an Avalanche and stuck Zaskar decals on it.

Most of that is probably right but I’ll admit to poor memory on the exact details.

Mines a July 1998, it’s an odd metallic blue I’ve not seen many of. Would have loved a ball burnished though. Still a brilliant bike to ride. Only the frame is original now – works well with 100mm Recon Silvers.

Slow mates

Occasionally wondered if I can rent myself out as a slow rider, I might get a bit better and everyone else gets an excuse to stop 🙂

Fox Flux without the visor for road.

As I broke the visor taking it off the Flux I bought an Urge something or other in a sale for off-road use.

Occasionally watch it but it does have a certain hint of middle class smugness about it that feels wrong.

You can just imagine the entire audience getting passively irate at something really unimportant and blaming it on the poor or immigration 🙂

Nature gave us a digestive system in order to deal with chewed up food. Something just seems so wrong about blending everything to drink.

It used to be that the sarcastic comment was, use a helmet when out on a bike as drinking your dinner through a straw is unpleasant 🙂

Why do you need a success story is my first thought, sounds like you’re still convinced there’s something wrong?

Put down the internet, stop doing too much and give yourself time to recover. Good sleep habits and good diet. If you’re no better in a reasonable amount of time, see your GP.

Never experienced CFS, I do know what a complete lack of energy is like for other medical reasons and it’s certainly more than feeling a bit tired.

If it’s any use, the first advice given to me by my GP and practice nurse was to avoid the internet, at best it will scare you to death.

Trying flats at the moment.

No knee problems, got duff circulation in my feet and I found clipless were giving me numb spots on longer rides. Tried some of those M33 shoes linked above thinking lace up shoes may be better than the ratchet strap things I had been using, they were better but not brilliant so have been trying my 510s with some old Wellgo B050.

So far it’s been better, the pins on the pedals are perfect for road use, they were in the spares box as they weren’t grippy enough for off road.

I’m slow enough that I don’t really care about the difference between flats and SPD 🙂

Vale of York, I can do a 30 mile road ride and barely go over 100ft of climbing. The only real inclines are the bridges over railway lines.

I often consider a move to where there are hills, I might cry for the first few months but I should soon get fitter 🙂

Interview on Radio 4 earlier this week, Liverpool Care Pathway should no longer be used and if you see LCP on a patients notes, challenge the hospital. There’s a new individual care plan approved by NICE or whatever they’re called today.

Not in the health system myself but the person being interviewed was clear about it no longer being used, they were pushed about hospitals definitely no longer using it and were non-committal, as they could not guarantee everyone knew yet.

Here’s the link to the NICE website

http://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/new-guidelines-to-improve-care-for-people-at-the-end-of-life

Yes the ADSL light stays on, but the genie states no internet and nothing works/connects to the web.

At this point I have disconnected all other devices, so its only the above connected.

Yep, that sounds like two DHCP sources, follow Brassneck’s advice. DHCP is sometimes a separate menu option, but normally just a ticky box to turn it off.

HP from PC World, pretty good deals recently.

There’s the cheap range they were selling off in the Black Friday sales, plastic but OK. Around £299 mark. Older generation i5s or so.

The really good one is the aluminium cased options for £399. Look a similar spec but the processors are a newer generation. If you can stretch the build quality on those is really nice.

Lenovo are OK alternatives if you can get a deal, MSi do some good, cheap gaming laptops, a bit plastic but better than paying over the odds for Alienware guff.

I’d avoid Dell and Toshiba as I’ve had nothing but quality control issues and cases falling to bits after a year, Sony are a bit over rated too.

When you say disconnect – it that a laptop losing internet and the router ADSL light stays on? If the ADSL is dropping it’s more likely a duff cable or duff router causing a noisy and unstable signal.

If it’s just the laptop, I would check that the secondary router has all ADSL settings turned off and the WiFi setups as Access Point if possible, make sure only one of the routers is giving out DHCP and that gateway IP addresses are correct.

Sure. Reflectives have their uses; I use them myself. But I’m not saying the OP shouldn’t get reflectives, I’m just trying to understand the thought process that results in a desire for reflectives as a response to a situation where I can’t see how reflectives would have helped. (I know we don’t know the details, but roundabouts function in a certain way and traffic around them flows in a specific manner.) Not really criticising, just academically curious.

I get what you mean now, interesting article too.

I can only go from my experience that reflectives work, I also know how difficult it is to see dark objects in the midst of other bright light sources.

Increasing your visibility is easily done and it doesn’t have to cost much. You’ll always get the odd knob who who probably shouldn’t have a driving licence but at least you can help the more sensible drivers see you and minimise the risk.

Likewise, had one for over a year as my local roads and tracks bike. Love it, I’d leave the drops on it too, it was my first drop bar bike since I was a kid so the STI levers were a whole new thing. Got used to it pretty quick, took off the cross levers after a couple of months.

Only thing I changed was the saddle and I’ve taken off the integrated mudguard and used a set of Ragley Cable Guides from CRC in the three bolt holes the guard attached to.

But, again: what scenario involves someone being (a) on a roundabout, (b) backlit by headlights and (c) directly in the headlamp beams of the driver who is about to hit them? I don’t think there is one.

(I apologise for taking things off on an irritating tangent, and I’m not arguing that reflective gear is useless, but I’m always curious as to these sorts of thought processes…)

Always interesting to work out for our own safety. My own driving is mostly on poorly lit country lanes where the light levels can vary, cyclists really do become completely invisible unless they are well lit up. They’re not back lit by oncoming lights either, most car headlights are too bright for that and just make the bits of the road that are unlit even darker. It’s worse with those stupid Xenon lamps.

OP did say it was a busy and dark roundabout, difficult one to judge without interviewing the driver 🙂 I just know from driving and riding on dark and busy roads that I’d always go for plenty of reflective just to be sure. I even use the reflective spoke wraps, they look daft but your wheels show up really well.

If it’s Outlook you could create a PST file on a USB stick and copy your mailbox to it. That shouldn’t be too easily traced, if you were allowed a local home printer you could print off the relevant mails. Work printers may be setup to track usage. Forwarding mails to home could be traced via Exchange.

Same with personal stuff move it to USB, in theory files moved would still be on the files system after deleting, even after the recycle bin the OS just flags the file as deleted – it’s still there and recoverable for a while. If you really want to cover your arse and you were allowed some personal use of the laptop. Ask for a witnessed meeting where you can identify and remove the personal files before signing back the laptop.

(I work in IT not legal so the above may be technically OK but not the best advice for the legal side!)

One of the reasons I religiously try and stick to keeping work and home separate when it comes to phones and laptops 🙁

Unlit cyclist in dark clothing without any reflective gear soon becomes invisible in the face of the oncoming headlights of other cars.

Reflective gear and good lights is pretty much essential rather than assuming you’re safe. Occasionally considered stopping and suggesting that to the commuter on the country lanes near me, who I’ve only just seen thanks to the tiny patch of Scotchlite on the back of his shoes.

Questioned that myself, been there for various “mates” over the years. Helped, listened, given up time and effort, finally when I get something long term and become the one that needs a shoulder to lean on… tumbleweed passes or vague sympathetic noises.

I’m still in touch with a few and see them regularly and will support them to some extent, but I don’t get as involved as I once did as I realise I’d just be wasting too much time I need to spend looking after me now.

Sorry for your loss, enjoy friendship for what it is, I suspect that the really close friendships are rarer than we all think.

Oooo, bandwagon thread to jump on!

Looking at something myself. Currently running 32T + 11\36 cassette on a Banshee Spitfire, without going into long winded health stuff I’ve not ridden much this year and I’m finding I’m struggling with the lowest gear.

My old Hardtail is 2×9 with 26T granny and 36T on the cassette and that’s been easier to ride.

I’d considered going 2×10 on the Banshee but it’s just so much faf and starts to get expensive as it’s practically a complete drive train replacement as its nearly all 1×10 Zee.

Figured I could drop to a 30T NW, get a 42T sprocket for the back. did some of the dull calculations on gear ratios and that should get me to something closer to matching the lowest gears on both bikes.

I’d guess I’d probably have to swap out the Zee Mech for a medium cage, it’s the FR Zee but not sure if it would cope with a 42T sprocket. Cheaper than a complete new drive train and I do prefer the simplicity of 1x something.

I could just use the HT but I miss riding the Banshee and it’s likely to be a long recovery.

… then I’ll add that it’s more than a little discomfort. Further, that a worst case has to include not driving or riding my bike, with the resultant loss of fitness and interest at the start of the winter. The fitness seems to me to be important, post AF and a TIA, and is both slow and difficult to regain.

As I said, depends on why your GP thinks you’re in a risk category. Catching flu after AF and TIA might be more serious than the side effects of the jab.

Not an anti-vaxer either, the only thing I’ve given up taking is statins and only under supervision of the GP practice.

Plus for every 1000th flu jab a GP gives, one Daily Mail writer loses a finger…

DrP

Where do I sign up for my 1000 next year? 🙂

Damn, looking through and thinking we’ve had every joke apart from emissions and sadly beaten to that too.

How about a sticker that says, “I’m a unique Audi driver, I think golf is a sh!t sport” 🙂

Depends what your risk factor is.

I’d rather have a little discomfort from a flu jab than burden an A&E department due to catching flu, not eating, throwing up etc and then having to get sorted all the associated knock on effects of out of control diabetes.

Pretty much why I ended up with a Zaskar, never could ride it like Hans Rey though. Forward to 3 minutes or so for showing off new rim brake blocks then testing them on a ski slope.

I’d be asking the gym to refund it in the first instance. Just cancelling DDs can be a bad idea from a credit rating perspective.

Might have to look that one up, changed my life insurance recently and the advice of the old company was to cancel the DD and it would all sort itself out.

Changing car finance too, I was advised to cancel the DD to stop the next payment going out after paying off the old finance as part of a swap.

Never looked at credit rating to see if it had an effect. Curious now.

Sure, the tinfoil helps prevents people from believing that SPDs are better than flats too so it’s all good.

Managed to forget Transcendence, cheers for the reminder I wasted a small portion of my life 🙂

Babadook is one I really regret – utter sh!te. Terrible acting and a horrible mixed bag of dubious plots lines made it neither a psychological or a real horror film. Not even worth making the disc into a coaster as people would realise you had it.

Just don’t drink and go for a walk by the river – not a good success rate for that sort of thing recently.

Brigantes on Micklegate used to be a decent place but it’s a few years since I was there. If your musical taste is of the goth persuasion there’s a night on at the Fulford Arms I’ll be off to.

Daftvader, I’d hope an anaaestetic would make you lethargic to the point of sleeping 🙂

Get the flu jab every year now, never had any reactions or problems other than a sore arm for a day or two, this year’s did seem a little worse for being sore. Perhaps it’s the strains included or maybe we should all put on tinfoil hats and pop over to the chemtrails thread.

So let me get this right, you completed a form online and bypassed the ticky box saying I want a SIM Number, you didn’t think to even look up what a SIM number was before blundering onto the Next Button?
Zen could have advised that a SIM reference is applied to the line move order and cannot be added afterwards. If they knew about Simultaneous Provision then they should know the details of the process.

The engineering charge could be that the line was with another provider, even if you have Openreach sockets. If the line in the Exchange has been an LLU with someone else, then it’s a new connection and you get charged – activating an existing line is free (or was last time I had to do it).

The engineer may have supped tea and only made a few test calls at your house, he was in the exchange patching in your line on time which is why you got dial tone. They normally call ahead if a mobile number is given at the time of order. You can always question the charge, do you have the original number and whether the provider was BT from the previous occupants?

BT Openreach and BT Retail are pretty much separate, I worked for a WLR3 provider and although working with Openreach was occasionally frustrating, there was no hint that there was some dodgy advantage for BT Retail. Occasionally I was amazed that the phone network worked at all the way it has been patched and upgraded over the years.

I recently got an Action Sports cheapo waterproof job from Hellfrauds.

It’s supposed to be compatible with side air bags, looks OK if a bit thin. Not convinced it will keep water of the seats if you’re driving home with a wet arse.

I find Bradford horrible, hate going there, hate driving there, but I feel that way about any large city.

I’ve known plenty of people who like Bradford, been to the University a few times for gigs and it’s as run down as umpteen other student areas I’ve been in.

I’ve known a few people who have done game design courses and they’re all doing fairly well. One guy I knew a few years ago is now living in Finland working for Gameloft and passed my earning potential about 3 years after he graduated.
It’s probably still enough of a niche market that if it’s something you’re good at and can be flexible about work location after the course, then four years in a sh!t hole down will be a fairly small price to pay.

Friend above did his course in Middlesbrough – which made Bradford look good.

Browser plugins are rapidly becoming obsolete as they can open up browsers to security risks.

You should really be using Garmin Express, it works on Windows 10, I have it syncing my Edge 510 and Vivofit II without any problems.

https://connect.garmin.com/en-US/start

So glad I don’t have the M1\M62 commute to Leeds anymore.

On a morning, Junction 44 used to be my pet hate, lane one stops for the exit and lane two starts pulling into lane three rather than drive next to stationary traffic, there would be this bizarre situation where the outside lane is crawling and the middle lane is empty.

It got worse as you’d could be driving happily in the empty lane two until Mr Audi pulls out without looking and overtakes a few cars, then stops and waits for someone to let him back in lane one.

Coming home it was the slip road queues and Mr Audi again using the hard shoulder to undertake traffic. Often enough that plod occasionally parked at the top of the slip road and flagged all the Mr Audis over.

Sounds iffy, almost like the start of one of the scams where you are tricked into giving away your bank details to the “Police Officer” so they can “secure” your account.

Might be worth reporting it to the Police, it can help with stats if there is a known problem in the area.

Not techy, but go over the Wharfe and there are lots of Bridleways to the north, round Wighill and up towards Tockwith.

Heading out east of Tadcaster there’s a nice farmtrack loop near Towton that’s my local winter, can’t be arsed driving anywhere route.

There are a few routes out between Wetherby and Harrogate.

As mentioned above, dig out an OS Map and string together a few bridleways.

Flamboyant, eccentric – only one choice:

Sod social convention see them off how they wanted. Death’s pretty much the only guaranteed event in your life so why make it something miserable.

Get some of that reflective spray stuff and spray a cock n balls on the back of the van.

Invisible until they’re driving home in the dark and providing amusement for the vehicle following.

(I can’t be the only one who thought of amusing things to do with reflective spray other than make your bike more visible?)

Perfectly normal……

For a cat…..

With Cat Aids 🙂

Not that I’m jealous as my usual 120ish/79ish is so borderline the nurse shakes a bottle of Ramipril at me when I go to the docs.

Make that GP appointment.

Sounds like me 4 or 5 years ago and I ended up with a diabetes diagnosis. I’d left it a while as I didn’t feel too bad, was in a stressy job and wasn’t overweight or had lost loads of weight rapidly. Thought it was just the stress.

Suspect I was running around with stupidly high blood sugar for 3 or four years before diagnosis – fasting levels were around 15 and I was between 25 and 30 after meals. You don’t die (well not immediately anyway) and the symptoms creep up slowly so you get used to them.

Problem is, the longer you leave it the worse it gets. I have mild nerve damage – numb feet and sense of temperature is a bit screwed. I have to go to York Hospital once a month to get injections in my eyeballs and I have bad problems keeping energy levels up when riding a bike.

Wouldn’t want to wish it on anyone so it’s really worth ruling it out or dealing with it if it is diabetes.

Good luck.