Any reason why it needs to be off-the-peg? At the price of many ti frames that don't have all you want you could well find a custom one that can be built to your complete spec.

And I think KMC do a missing link for Campag chains.

DezB – Islabike sell very well on eBay after they've been used. Certainly not a 'throwaway' bike. Knowing you'd probably get £70-80 on eBay for it makes a £150 not quite that expensive.

I'd go straight to 11 speed. The Centaur 10 speed I've got has a really woolly click to the shift, 11 Athena I've tried is much snappier.

BB cups can be fitted with a Shimano external bb tool. You'll need a Torq key (T25 or T30, can't remember) to fit the ergo levers, ideally a screwdriver type one, not a L-shape as its easier.

And an extra long 10mm allen key to bolt the cranks together as its in the middle of the bb, not at one end.

Everything else is pretty standard allen key stuff.

Think the bank holiday last week has put a bit of a spanner in timings.

I've had a couple of deliveries that I missed and got the red card for.

That was a week ago and they've no gone missing in the RM system somewhere which isn't too promising.

They've got a crazy system up here – postie doesn't go back to office once he/she has finished their round – they just dump all undelivered parcels back at local post office, they get collected and then go BACK to major sorting office, get sorted again, get delivered to local sorting office, get sorted again and land back on the posties rack days later.

But its progress…..

Have a look at Islabikes. They have a range for most ages, and proper nice bikes.

Normally road and mtb frames are 68mm shell, so mtb cransk should fit in that respect.

I've been using the old method of just entering max bid early on in the bidding and hoping for the best.

Almost guaranteed to get you beaten up to your highest bid.

I sell a lot on eBay. People always put bids in, if they get the green tick they'll stop bidding. If the get the "outbid" statement they'll have another go with an extra quid, then another, then another. Then someone else takes over, tries their hand again and again. It'll hit (or get close) to your max bid very quickly.

Look at the other things the person has sold – has this mysterious late bidder tried his hand at many of them? I'd suggest you might have been unlucky but if they've had a go at a couple of things but not won them then I'd have a word with eBay.

How old was she?

There is a famous incident in the Tour a long time ago when the guy had to be pulled out of a ravine with inner tubes/tyres strung together from his team mate but that was in the days when you carried your own tyres strapped around your shoulders like real men….

Chainsets are pretty generic – SRAM, Truvativ, Stronglight, Campagnolo etc. etc. will all work with a Shimano drivetrain.

You don't need a specific double front mech, to be honest I'm sure if you've a 9 speed one knocking around it'd probably work though obviously not to 100% efficiency.

Can't see why the SLX one wouldn't work either.

Yep, it's length of whole post, not to minimum insertion mark.

I'd say the frame is maybe a touch too small for you if you need 350mm of post sticking out!

James May sounded pretty hacked off with the whole Stig thing last night on Radio 2. He's just released a new book and was obviously booked in to various programmes to plug it just as the whole Stig thing blows up.

By that reasoning, road bikes should have even larger wheels

before the UCI decided it was pushing the rules a little too much…..

I know two sisters who are from a pretty well off family. Both get fairly spoilt each Christmas. One accepts the presents, knows how lucky she is and has her head screwed on. The other one took a complete hissy fit a couple of years ago because daddy bought her the 'wrong' £800 stereo. Depends on the person.

I think if you're old enough to appreciate the cost then you're not too bad. If it starts too early then that's when you're in trouble.

Next doors little kid has everything, dozens of Barbies, electric 2-seater car blah blah. She doesn't look after anything as she knows she'll just get a new one bought for her.

Does it really matter? It was just a random racing driver who bombed round the figure of eight track in fast cars. You'd be pretty naive to think it's always been the same person.

So it wasn't Michael Schumacher after all?

I'm gutted….

Good point Clubber, and in the old days all chainsets didn't come with bbs anyway. When you think you've found that 'bargain' chainset adding on the cost of the specific bb for it still comes as a shock sometimes!

If you can see one a Campag Veloce/Centaur CT square taper compact will be a straight replacement for your current Daytona – probably a couple on eBay.

Despite what Campag state I've never had any problems running a 'normal' front mech with a compact chainset, just need to move the front mech doen seat post a little if you were running 52t outer and now on the smaller 50t of a compact..

If you go for a different maker – Stronglight, Shimano etc. then you'll prob need a new bottom bracket.

Don't get caught out when comparing prices of the new two piece external bb chainsets – mtb ones seem to come with b/bs, road ones seem to come without so that'll add £25+ onto price.

I'd personally go for a Smart 1/2 Superwatt jobbie – the Flare looks nice and I like the rubber mounting gubbins but £85 pushes it way outta my league for commute lights

At a guess probably a combo of more weight over the front and the tyre hitting obstacles and stalling (very slightly) rather than rolling over them with the longer travel.

Write stuff down. You'll forget something and huff the mother-in-law or something for not thanking her for producing a lovely daughter.

List out a vast long list of how clever/beautiful/stunning/thoughtful your new wife is, then struggle slightly and say you can't read her writing very well….

I think karma gets cancelled if you brag about it on forums.

I thought it only got cancelled if I copped a feel of her after saving the fair lady?

Yes, it'll take something like 14 days if he doesn't reply to the non-paying complaint but you'll get fees etc. back.

You can try using second chance but like others above I rarely take it up as a buyer it as often sounds like dodgy bidding practices. Maybe worth a shot though, you'll onyl lose a pund.

Surely as probably all of us have strayed over the speed limit at some point in time we should all "morally" put our collective hands up and wander straight down to the nearest cop shop? Or does the moral argument only come in to it if you've actually been caught?

I'd be surprised if you could do much re Small Claims Court. Imagine if you could do it for house gazumping!

Ultimately you've not lost anything (apart from a bargain cycle trailer). At least the money is back in your bank, there's been worse happened on here.

LBS gave me a handful of those reducers for nowt.

Bashguard and jump stop for me too on XC.

And yes, a short cage should cover you – only got 22t difference to cover, long cage needs to handle 44t difference (11-34 rear and 22-44 front)

Would it not be 28.6mm?

Yes, you'll need to go up 20mm to the bigger rotor – you'll not get a 160mm adaptor that'll fit for your combo alas.

I went into the garage the other day after filling up with petrol. It was £1.17 a gallon, but I offered them £1.10. They refused. Don't know why…

But seriously, most likely it's what Drac said. Or maybe the 'shop' is close but their warehouse is a long way away. Maybe they don't handle cash at the warehouse, too many scallies working for them doing 'cash deals' for themselves with company property.

Plenty of reasons really.

Check out a Kona Smoke.

They've got them on eBay for £190, it comes with full length mudguards.

Spec isn't massively brilliant but I'm probably getting one as a winter commute.

Update: 12 hours after being quoted 28th October for next appointment I was left a voicemail.

Apparently I've been 'selected' for a government scheme aimed at reducing waiting times, and I was given a choice of a couple of slots in a fortnights time, which is a result.

Of course the cynical voice inside me says surely those slots (note plural so couldn't have just been a cancellation) were available the day before when I booked but then if they'd offered me the earlier slot initially they wouldn't have been able to 'reduce' my waiting time and thus not achieving their targets.

Isn't target-driven performance wonderful?

On the cancellation list so hopefully a bit sooner.

That is quite spooky that magically the right hand side ads are now showing me an advert for "high quality dental care in Hungary"…

I'd be surprised if a LBS would agree to build a bike up for you based on cheapest individual prices you've found on 20 different websites.

Profit margins are different beasts when you are selling 1000 chainsets a year from a warehouse on an industrial estate, and 20 in a shop with higher rents, staff to pay etc. etc.

Any reason for the custom build route?

You might find a LBS that'll sell you last years model discounted for the £1000 that'll be pretty decent. Especially if it sounds like you're just walking in with the companies credit card.

Shall we bring up the study that showed cars gave more space when overtaking non-helmet wearing cyclists?

Was that the study where the guy wore a wig to pretend to be female or something like that and cars gave him an even bigger space?

If that's the case, maybe blonde wigs should be made compulsory….?

I'd say you'd get away with a 47 but I think 48 would be a bit too big.

Worth buying to check size – cost you £5 as return postage ?

There certainly has been disquiet from the board over the handling of the dispute as Walshes intransigence has cost the company millions.

There are plenty of suggestions the only reason Walsh got the job was to handle the unions. He is an ex-union rep himself for pilots so he knows the score. He'll get a nice payoff when he succeeds in sorting out the cabin crew.

Fairly sure it's just the pretty box you'll miss.

Possibly the cheaper models may have some 'tweaks' to hit a bike makers price point, but I've never come across spare parts for their brakes that are dependant on OEM/retail.

Even cheaper just to leave the current forks on…. :P

Presumably current forks are fairly short travel – should be able to do a straight swap for rigids as non-suss forks are normally shorter. Just make sure you pick up the correct steerer diameter, presumably 1 & 1/8" on your Trek. Kona make 1" versions of P2s as well which won't fit!

Looking subjectively at it, then its just buyer beware, the light wasn't on when you sold it to him (was it?) so you weren't to know. I'd say he doesn't have a leg to stand on unless you sold him a warranty with it.

I think the half price offer is more than generous. Certainly ask him to get a couple of more quotes (even just to get some value for your money…).

Never again will I sell cars to friends. One tried to barter down the agreed price when I turned up at his house with the keys/documents, another complained to me after a year that some electricals had gone wrong (after he'd lent it to another friend who has a long history of breaking everything he ever touches, yet still my fault apparently).