Ha, IA, my logic is infallible! 😛

And spend a bit of time with a file getting ends of the outers nice and square.

And spend a bit of time with a file getting ends of the outers nice and square.

Not in your area so can’t recommend a suitable solicitor.

The more you can agree yourself the better, obviously. In my case I didn’t need the solicitor too much after the first freebie 1 hour consultation.

Ironically, my best mate got royally screwed over by his ex-wifes solicitor so he recommended them, and he was right! My ex used a ‘family friend’ who diddled her pretty well so she got done over twice, which was a shame. 😆

Don’t know if times have changed but solitor got me an agreement that my ex wouldn’t go after pensions etc. after the divorce, I wasn’t aware things like that could happen, so I suppose that’s where they earn their cash.

And really, don’t get the solicitors involved fighting over that favourite teapot, otherwise it does become a very expensive bit of china. You’ll have to walk away from a couple of things but it’s probably for the best.

Good luck fella. Never a good period in your life. Not much to say apart from the old ‘keep your chin up’ kind of stuff, does get better as time passes and the memories fade a bit.

We dragged a mates girlfriend round the proper C2C route in two days. It’s more of a pacing thing, and picking the right times to have the snack breaks.

Long days, but if you can ride a bike for a few miles then I think it’s do-able.

In terms of ‘hiding’ the fees in with the new mortage, it’d probably depend how much equity you’ve got in your old house.

If, for assumptions only and rounding numbers up etc, you could sell your house for £150k and you owe £100k, and you’re buying a £200k house there’s nothing stopping you just using £40k of your equity and getting a new £160k mortgage out and splashing out on a new bike paying fees etc with the rest of the £10k…

Your equity is yours to spend as you wish, there are no rules that require you to spend it on your new house. Indeed it’s worth considering if you might need a new boiler/extension/furniture.

But bear in mind, alll you’re doing though is transferring those costs into a long mortgage period. My sister was just about to remortgage to buy a new car when I pointed out she’d be paying for it for 25 years.

Done a lot of work with targetted advertising, sometimes ‘targetting’ is a pretty blunt instrument – some person did A, then B then C – you’ve done A and B so might want to do C even though you’ve never wanted to visit Goole ever (option C).

The line has to be drawn somewhere. But only too often these days people don’t draw a line…

I blame Photoshop for the demise of peoples ability to draw a line. 😛

I realy enjoyed (well, enjoyed isn’t the word for Donaldson books) the Gap Cycle set of books by Steven Donaldson. Brutal in some places though.

Worked for a big Gov dept that signed a contract that allowed a big IT company to have ‘up to 250’ programmers on site. There was work for approx 10 developers, and the other 240 were brought in and basically told to pretend to work…

We were in a similar position to the OP a while ago and just went to the local solicitor. Like people say, there were a few eyeopeners that we didn’t even think of.

I can’t remember all the gotchas, but it’s worth thinking about what happens if one of you passes away – who gets the your share of the house etc. – not a major issue until your child ‘inherits’ his/her share – potential for wanting to sell it to feed their drug habits, or losing some though a dodgy divorce etc., or simply wanting to kick out your other half. Obviously that’s all melodrama but there is potential.

My Northwind GTXs were okay in Autumn, and workable all through the winter.

Failing that, how about a set of overshoes?

If the dogs head is above the handlebars it probably needs its seat to be pushed back a bit

😆

Depending on your frame then clearance can get tight with big-ish 700c tyres. I could probably have squeezed some 32c ones into my commuter which is set up with 700c wheels but I went for mudguards instead. As peolpe have already mentioned smaller diameter 700c tyres come up about same as 26″ with chunky tyres anyway.

Got for it!

Apple are flogging Apple TVs on their website for £79 including a £25 iTunes voucher which seems a decent deal.

Also possibly implies a newer version is coming out soon maybe? Shame they can’t be plugged directly into a standard stereo amp for music as it’s only HDMI output by the looks of it.

Depends how fast you want to ride. I can quite happily pootle along spinning 34/11 up to 21+mph – I don’t feel the need to really hammer along much more than that so having a 46/48/50 or 52 big chainring isn’t really that much of a difference – it’d be a rare day when the terrain/wind would allow the joys of a big chainring/small cog chase.

Downhill I just spin out a bit quicker than the roadies, but I get into a better tuck earlier and can keep up anyways.

In theory the wider spread of a CX block gives you a couple of ‘gaps’ in the ratios but as a first road bike I think things like that would just cloud the issue rather than being major concerns. If I was a cat 1 racer then, yes, stuff like that would worry me.

If you’re thinking of winter miles, consider if the bike can fit mudguards – that’ll make a serious difference to your chances of getting out when it’s cold and wet.

With slick road tyres fitted to my CX bike I can keep up with the full on road bikes no problem. Sure, the ‘geometry’ is slightly more laid back but that really doesn’t matter unless you’re some kind of elite rider, makes not one difference in a straight line.

I got a large slab of acrylic from a very nice eBay seller who flame polished the sides for me and it was only a couple of quid. Rubber/sorbathane feet of your choice and it was basically the same as what many sites were selling for £100.

Have a look at Cult Pens website, they’ve got a good selection of decent ones.

And £120 versions too

Thinking about it a bit more I still don’t quite get why manufactureres still make “Standard” 130 BCD and “Compact” 110 BCD cranks, why not just make 110 BCD only and a wider variety of Rings in 2 tooth increments from 34 – 54 to fit that, so egotists can run 54/42 and wimps can run 50/34….

The new Shimano (and IIRC Campag) cranks are ‘110’ and you just pick the bigger or sdmaller chainrings.

In the past it was though that big 110BCD chainrings weren’t that stiff hence the larger 130BCD crank arms. In the current trend for big chunky crank specific rings they can be built a bit more burly and it’s not an issue so there can be one crank size can rule them all.

Of course, Shimano have chosen to make a 4 arm offset version of 110BCD as a new ‘satndard’ but thats a different conversation.

Quite: not all triples are standard, so you too are lacking in expertese.

Not at all – if you actually expertly ready my post I said

Middle chainring on a standard triple won’t go lower than a 38

so I’m technically correct 😉

And this is why you shouldn’t ask advice from ‘experts’ on a forum:

Buy the triple and just remove the granny ring. 39/50 should be OK.

If you struggle either add the granny or change middle cog for a 34.

Middle chainring on a standard triple won’t go lower than a 38…

My pal I go out with every Sunday on the training rides is still on an old 1953 Hetchins Curly that he’s used for the past 20 years since discovering it stashed at his father-in-laws allotment.

Always gets a double take from the old codgers out on their lastest CF machines!

Was discussing tagging with the copper who lives over the road. From his “WTF are you talking about” look I’m guessing the local station might be lucky to have a scanner, let alone anyone actually using it.

Well that could be the case, but in the case of UKIP, its to do with natural tory voters using UKIP to protest against a tory party that isn’t anti-EU enough. You only need to look at how many councils the torys had control over, but now have no overall control due to UKIP splitting their vote.

Nah, it’s Labour voters who would never ever vote Conservative (especially in the North).

The ex-Con UKIP voters will go back to Cons come the GE as they won’t want Lab in. The ex-Lab UKIP voters might stay with UKIP, and that will be Eds downfall. Then the knives will be out for him, if not beforehand.

Would these interest rates apply to savings as well? Could I put all my money into a building society up north?

Nah, you want to put the savings in the same places as the expensive mortgage rate.

Or invest in the cheap property available in the North thus pushing up prices there.

I think we’re all forgetting DB will be calling the shots, not Froome or Wiggins. I would suspect even if the Wiggo fan boys got their wish that Brad was 2 mins up after the first couple of stages that the team car would sort that out, not man vs man on the road – that would be a sure fire way of neither winning – sticking to ‘the plan’ is Skys strongest point (or possibly it’s weakest, if the plan is just blast as hard as possible).

Obviously this isn’t going to happen now.

it would have been great (however insanely unlikely) to see him take the win from under Froome’s nose.

And probably the reason he isn’t going…

I’ve found a few brands where the pad wasn’t in the right place for me etc

I’ve been trying to find a new set of shorts – evey pair I’ve tried on has the pad waaaay to forward, my sit bones on some aren’t actually on the pad (one pair of Enduras felt like I’d got them on back to front). My old Assos were fine, caouldn’t wear the new ones. Same for Sugoi etc. etc. – Pearl the next ones to tick off the list to try.

Has anyone else noticed that the pads seem to be further forward these days?

Check out Spa Cycles – they do their own brand triple cranks that have a 110 outer/middle and 74 inner for £25 – that’ll do down to 24t – works fine on my winter hack, plus with square taper bbs you get a chance to play with chainlines by varying the axle length if you need to.

Anyone use ol’ fashioned Gunk engine degreaser?

Was reading a good article by someone on t’interweb about their hubs, though to be fair it probably covers most hubs – the ‘lighter’ ones use smaller bearings which don’t last as long.

I’ve got some Ambrosio branded Novatechs – fairly decent cheapish hubs. Don’t think they are the best sealed in the world but mine drag me through the NE winter weather without a glitch. Replaced the rear bearings this winter for some decent SKF ones, but the wheels do seem a bit ‘dry’ still so I suspect the freehub bearings are on their way out too, but par for the course.

Though I’ve snapped two spokes in the rear wheel in the past season (Rowland built so not my DIY effort) and I’m wondering if it’s the hub flanges. Would probably go for DT 350 hubs next time but don’t think thats a real reflection on the Novatechs, just me having a random illogical worry about the spoke snappage.

Or a spare credit card? Maybe Mastercard if you’ve already got Visa. Then just keep if for emergencies…

Bonus points in my opinion!

Showing my age slightly, but I went into a mock English exam many moons ago with my new fangled Casio calculator watch and had a grumpy old teacher scrawl “using calculator” all over the exam paper… 🙄

Bank transfer is okay if you’re happy it’s Canyon sending you the details. Bank Transfer is a lot bigger in Germany than in the UK so they might not have even thought it might be a srange request.

Don’t underestimate the work it might be to keep your social media appearance up to all these customers.

My concern with your post is that it could represent a view that UKIPs support comes from the right/far right and thus for the left leaning UKIP is not a threat electorally. I believe their is far more diverse.

I’d say there’s a fair chance that the right-leaning UKIP ‘protest’ voters will flock back to the Conservatives come a General Election to avoid the probablility of Labour getting in, whilst the left-leaning ones will stick with UKIP and not drop back to the Labour fold.

UKIP getting 30% of the vote in Sunderland without ever having a candidate before must be scaring the proverbial out of Labour, if its true what the BBC are reporting.

I turned up and just wrote “SPOILED” across the whole ballot paper. You could easily have done the same.

Really, with that quote you think you’ve got the moral highground against someone who didn’t vote? 😯

the other supermarkets will have to follow suit unless they want to be branded uncaring…

Erm, didn’t bigger Tescos remove all the sweets etc. about 20 years ago?