..and there’s no other person to currently job share with and this won’t be looked at or addressed until the next recruitment round. HR and payrole have said that it would be very easy to have a 60% contract that could be reduced to 50% at any time and that what is being suggested is very irregular. But they can only do what management tell them.

And thanks for suggesting we’re greedy. That’s completely what we are. Would you do work that you weren’t appropriately paid for? It’s not as if child protection is easy or acceptably paid as it is. It’s no wonder that 2-3 members of staff are off with stress at any one time and that staff turnover is so great.

Unfortunately, the way that my wife has been treated over the last 4 years at the council, this is just another layer of crap to add to the rest.

I understand all that and we’re considering whether 50% will work. Although they’re not suggesting that 60% doesn’t work, just that they “may” find it more difficult to recruit for another small contract at a later date. Although whether this is impacted on by my wife is unclear as she’s currently doing a case load that, although is less than full time staff, is already greater than the council target for 100% staff.

The question I have is can you have what are, to all intents and purposes, contracted hours (she MUST attend the extra half day a week, it’s not optional whether she turns up), yet not pay her sick leave, or contribute to holiday for those hours?

We’ve been asking clarification on the payment / contractual position from them since about 2 months before she returned to work. The story keeps changing. She still doesn’t have a change to her contract in writing and all this stuff about the 10% has also been verbal. She’s now been back at work for 2 weeks.

TBH, it’s to be expected from a council department that seems to be managed through bullying and fear rather than team work and cooperation. Needless to say we’re looking at other employment options once she’s covered her maternity pay.

After a bit of thinking and looking through the spares box, I think I can pull together enough of a donor bike to xtracycle a reasonable hardtail. So soon will put that plan in motion. Cheers for all the feedback, advice and experience folks.

Still mulling options over; still interested in both trailer and xtracycle options but the main reason I started all the extra searching was the removal of pannier capacity with a rear child seat. The steco pakaf mee pannier rack extension looks like it solves the problem. Anyone with experience?

Although I think a trailer is the best option for all weather carrying, there really is no space at the nursery (almost none for pushchairs as it is), so it would sit in the street. Have to have a bit more of a think, but may go the xtracycle conversion on the Kaff insead and accept that the wee one will get a bit wet occasionally on the 3 miles home. At least it will mainly be off-road.

We checked again with the nursery this morning – definitely nowhere indoors or on the site for a trailer. Would have to lock it up on the street, which I’m less than happy about.

So… xtracyle the kaffenback, or a Yuba Mundo or Kona Ute?

Those with trailers, where do you leave them during the day. I doubt I’ll be able to bring it indoors at either the nursery or work, so it’ll have to sit outside all day 3 days a week whatever the weather. Won’t the fabric deteriorate pretty quickly? What are they like waterproofing wise – especially if left out all day; does the seat end up soaking for the return journey?

A papoose whilst riding – sounds like an interesting combination!

445 is same as 100mmish forks sagged, IIRC.

Conversely to MSP, I had 420mm (80mm corrected) Salsa cromotos on my pipedream and they felt great.

Got to have a Cotic Bfe in there. My new frame’s just arrived and looking forward to building it up. NS Surge also gets good reviews.

I think the weight for an alu frame is more alarming. That’s almost as much as most steel frames. There must be a lot of metal in there.

Just finished sending the Blue Pig X frame back to CRC. It was in a state from what appeared to be a previous owner?! and the quality control issues to do with the deformed seat tube were still clearly present. Even if they had another in my size I wouldn’t trust it; shame as the geometry seems spot on for what I want. Enjoy.

Loads at CRC – Various Kore ones look a bargain, or some Azonic bars are also in budget and 800mm wide.

whatever it is, it’s very low. Needed about 15mm extra spacers when I fitted it.

You just can’t help yourself can you Rik…. ;-)

Talking of Cannondale – would a small Prophet fit her? I have a frame sitting in the shed that I’ve been meaning to get sold for a while now.

I struggled to fit my Tubus rack until i got the Tubus rack extenders so that the rack tubes didn’t foul the chunky seat stay ends.

The 44IESS still appears to be in stock at CRC.

my thread on the frame here

I assume everything is ok with yours? Not happy with the condition mine arrived in at all.

I feel my pipedream sirius mk1 sits somewhere in between the soul and bfe in terms of liveliness. Perhaps a mkII or a Scion?

Mine just arrived and the QC issues are definitely still there. Seat tube reamed off centre and head tube damaged.

piemann… actually 18bikes have been trying to get ST to change their listing for months now. There isn’t a ST premier 10% discount, just specific offers each month. Not 18’s fault that the wrong details are printed every issue.

Most of the trails in the peak district we rode today were in fine condition – reckon it’d be worth a go.

The final straw for us was the phone conversation I had where it was agreed they’d refund some penalty charges as they’d sent warning emails to the wrong email address, so i had no way of dealing with it before we incurred the penalty.

The next day I got an email to say… despite what we agreed yesterday, actually we’re not going to refund the penalties, sorry.

Ordered Virgin media the same day – yet to be installed, though, so may end up being painful as well.

Osprey escapist of some form or other – amazing packs. I recently did a ride with loads of work related stuff in my escapist 25; it should have felt heavy and cumbersome compared to usual, but I hardly noticed it.

Shouldn’t you have painted the walls first?!

Get a PET adjustable bottle cage for proper touring. Lasted 9000km (still in very good nick) and securely held probably 20 different soft drinks bottles in that time.

I thought that with the newer BST designs (crest, arch EX etc) rim tape is all you need. It’s less clear cut with the older BST rims such as the flow. Some get away with tape only but heavier harder riders seem to be more likely to need rim strips.

The only time I’ve had rapid air loss on my crests tubeless was when I pinch flatted the front tyre on a rocky corner with probably far too low air pressure.

more info on the 18bikes news pages too.

Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan & Ethiopia – touring, though. Although Sudan was pretty much like mountain biking for the first 400km through the desert. Feels like a long time ago now.

yep, get well soon fella.

Ridden 150ish miles in daylight hours, on african roads, in african heat with full panniers, so anything’s possible.

great vid.. hadn’t realised you were that bad, Simon. Doesn’t sound clever.

I agree with druidh on the fit thing except that my last pair of salomons (apparently the same model as the previous pair) didn’t fit anywhere near as well, so it does pay to try shoes on every time.

..and some very good advice from Peterfile.

I would also add, try boots on at the end of the day. Your feet are hotter, bigger and a bit more sensitive than when you first got up. Just like they’ll be when you’re 4 hours into a decent walk. This will ensure you’re giving your feet enough room and will also highlight minor fit issues much more easily.

Also, most shops now let you take home and try for a few days in the house and still be able to return them (check they do this before you rely on it) and it’s a good way to make sure the fit really is as good as you made yourself believe in the shop.

The snicket is rideable (apart from the entrance steps), then you can cross the rail bridge, steep climb past the graveyard, skirt the top of the tip (there is a path, I’ve ridden it in the last year), out onto the top of parkwood and then descend by the ski village into neeps end and shalesmoor.

It’s not very direct (never said it was) – I’d probably ride the neeps end back roads instead for day to day commuting.

jackthedog we use a trail we call “back edge” not sure if it’s the same. Finishes in Fox Hill/wadsley and is rather fun.

podge, you’re always such a misery guts ;-)

podge, there’s an entrance to parkwood by the railway bridge over herries road south, about 500m from the end of claywheels. The plan is that it’ll all be connected when the tip is fully filled in, so it’s traffic free all the way.

Depends on what projects I’ve got in my practice and what time of year it is at the university. Split between being employed and self employed means I’m pretty flexible (with both), but can have points when the hours are silly, but other times I can have lots of free time. It’s good for the bank balance (as much as small architecture work can be) with work at the moment, but not so great for free time.

all year round – as long as you’ve ok lights and you’re happy riding in the dark it’s pretty smooth all the way through. A very nice commute, I reckon. Eventually (some years away, though) you’ll be able to pop out of Beeley woods, put in a quiet half mile on Claywheels lane and then cross over onto the new XC track on parkwood springs which’ll get you to Shalesmoor almost traffic free.