Car now back in carpark again, so it's definitely in use. Judging by where it is then they've gotta work a shift pattern (it's up top end of carpark like last night) so that implies telesales staff so I can give them benefit of doubt re. skint this month.

A polite note on the windscreen when I cycle past (presuming a valid tax disk of course…) then I shall let good karma happen….

I won't get ripped off?

Well, it won't stop people taking your money and then not sending anything, IIRC their 'buyer protection' only works with eBay auctions (happy to be told I'm wrong though!).

Or pick up a pair of cheapo v-brake pads and use the washers out of them…

Think if you can be bothered you'll get more if you split it, and probably sell quicker.

They'd be a limited market I'd say for a full grouppo, but someone somewhere will want/need an XTR rear mech, someone else a chainset etc. etc.

And if you want top dollar eBay will still probably get you the best price sold seperately. I bought off eBay a part groupset (SLX shifters, front, cassette,chain and XTR rear) for something stupid like £40, sold everything bar the shifters and made a profit!

Okay, to clear clear it's not parked up, it was parked – it wasn't there this morning so it's definitely in use.

Carpark is shared with the telesales side of the company so I can get the fact they may be hard up and waiting payday at end of month.

If it's around later when I go home I'll pop a nice note on it just to let them know. Give them the benefit of the doubt in a nice helpful manner. They may well have just brought the car in yesterday with the sole intention of going to tyre place.

Still bald next month may be a different matter. Several people have noticed them even in my team so can't believe something won't be said.

Campag seem to be forcing you to buy factory built wheels – they aren't really making many hubs on there own these days unless you want Record.

Personally I like handbuilts but I've used pre built too and they are fine. Pinged a couple of spokes in some factory wheels once due to rushing to chuck bike in back of car so I could help mate who'd had an accident – LBS sourced and fitted new ones in days.

I'm with TimS on this one – after regular trips to docs I ended up (luckily) with a locum who actually knew about skin conditions.

She basically said get some plain aqueous cream and pile it on (had it all over face though not serious). She even said 'wash' with it. I looked a fool with white cream all over for about 10 mins then it all absorbed in.

Kept repeating and kept moist for a while until skin healed. Never had a problem since.

Oh, and if you ever get on hands, use the cream (and/or steroid cream) at night and put some plastic gloves on – like the ones you get in petrol station to keep diesel off you. Works a treat.

Doc also said you've got to be using a lot of steroid cream before you really have to start worrying about thinning the skin, if that was your concern.

nickc – unless the guy does donuts every day for fun (always wondered what those strange black marks in the carpark were…) then there is no way he was 'just' legal last year.

Uplink – would you be the first to complain that nobody had said anything as he slid 2 ton of metal gracefully into the side of you whilst you were riding your bike?

Well, the most obvious thing I'm not sure anyone has posted is that you'll not appear in their list of friends, so it'll kinda be obviously however you do it….

'Send' the parcel to the winner. In two weeks he'll get back to you and say it hasn't turned up.

Then apologise profusely and say you'll refund him/her.

And have enough sense to hang on a good while before putting it on again. Don't relist it – the seller may get (helpfullyu) informed you've relisted and get a bit shirty.

Or you could accept that you were never going to get £250 for it like you wanted and £100ish was fair market value. Just 'cos it's old and has a USA flag on it don't make it valuable….

In your situation I'd go for Shimano (maybe just cheap M540s) – easier to pull your feet out and that might be useful if you've been used to flats and just stepping down as and when required.

Times have a less instinctive release that you do learn (got Atac ROCs on my CX bike and SPDs on my mtb).

Then if the clipless bug sticks consider an upgrade/change to Times.

Trekster – yes, you're right in your assumptions.

The 'USB' bit refers to the name of the 'plug' that the memory connects to. Sort of modern day PC equivalent of a 3-pin plug.

The 'flash' part is the actual memory on the card.

You can get them for pennies especially if you only need a small capacity one, but it's worth spending a couple more pennies for a decent brand. It's not unknown for them to got kapput which can be annoying if you're now sitting at home trying to get to the work you've brought home (ironically on a USB memory stick with a logo of you own compny on – cheapskates!).

Skillwill – when you first try bib shorts on standing up it'll feel like the 'braces' are far too short and they are too small for you.

Try either getting into the 'cycling' position or trying them on the bike quickly – you'll find hunched over they suddenly make a lot more sense.

and youd have to cut the hoses and re-bleed to sort that.

Nah, just undo the two hoses carefully from the levers and swap them over. Certainly no cutting involved.

Try GreenBee – they use Axa to underwrite their insurance, and that was what M&S used until a little while ago – it looks pretty much the same as the M&S offering to me and it was over £350 cheaper.

Then next year go back to M&S and remarkably as a 'new' customer you'll be given a lovely low price to entice you in.

Repeat above until too old to care.

Bit worried about where it states "the scheme will initially concentrate on cyclists" – maybe it should start with the big heavy machinery that gets slung around our roads first, I imagine cars kill more cyclists than the other way round….

"Purposely stopping in ACLs" – that might be tricky to prove!

CaptainFH – watching the Euro champs this morning, it has to be said a lot of the decathletes were fairly foxy.

Oh and don't fogret Parcel Force 'handling fee' of a tenner just to send you a letter saying they've got a parcel for you to collect (and pay fees for)….

Also, if it does look like they're going to go for a song, can I end the auction or not go through with the sale??

The last few seconds of the auction are where it will rocket. Honest, I've had stuff on at pennies with 30 seconds to go then the red mist descends and all the sniping bids come in and price will go mental.

Technically once you've sold them you've entered an agreement to sell them even if it is for 99p. The worst you'll get is negative feedback, though of course you could 'send' them and have it mysteriously lost in the post and refund the winning bidder…..

Doa kind of Tour de France thing and start chalking messages on the road she cycles on.

Maybe things like "I know where you live" or "I'm behind you" are maybe not your starting point though…

+1 for Harrison beds.

They even do mattresses with soft one side for petite Mrs Breathe and a firmer side for lardier me.

You are allowed if they are sweating like badgers and obviously trying hard.

If they are out pootling on a recovery ride then it is acceptable to pass them with the customary nod.

User-removed speaks the truth.

Check charges for posting abroad – it might not seem much but then insuring things for, say, £250 suddenly puts a whole new kerching onto postal costs.

Need b@lls of steel but got for £1 start and no reserve.

Not sure about free shipping, if you're looking at something like £250 then a couple of quid p&p ain't gonna put off serious punters. And eBay don't take into account postage charge when they work out you fees.

Always worth putting a buy-it-now on as well when starting the auction. Especially if you decide on £50 start price. Be warned though, as soon as people start bidding then the b-i-n price disappears (annoyingly IMO).

Probably about the same build as you – I've got a 60cm Kona that fits me fine. Think some of the bikes don't come much bigger than 60cm, depends what budget you've got.

Standover isn't as much of an issue with road bikes, you're less likely to have step off it quickly, chuck it around etc.

Let 5 psi out of the tyres of your Stifee – that'll be about as much extra 'compliance' as you'll get out of a titanium hardtail.

Considered a suspension post? That might take the sting out of things.

Hold on people – nobody has yet pointed out that MotoGP in Sennas period was soooo much better than F1. The world is going to end……..

Worked out all the other monthly costs?

TV licence – £12 pm
Water
Council Tax
Insurance
Phone
Broadband etc.

Reckon £200 would do you for food.

Go for it.

But would always buy a house/flat and expect something to be not quite right. New builds at least you should expect everything to work (make sure you get the guarantees etc. from the builder), but have a little bit of cash because they'll be something you've alway overloook. Like a dining table, or a TV, of just daft things like a kettle/microwave.

You're a fool if you think a heavy bike is better in any situation.

Ssssh, don't mention that to Andy Schleck who just lost the TdF by the number of seconds he lost when he didn't bother making his bike slightly heavier by putting a chain device on it…..

Hell, just chuck everything on from the MTB.

When you see people "representing themselves" you've gotta wonder how many no-win no-fee ambulance chasers turned her down as a lost cause beforehand.

As road triple is something like 30/40/50 and the trekking/mtb version is close (ish) at 26/36/48 I'd say try a cheapo mtb front mech with your road chainset first.

Yes, it will no doubt offend half STW and probably not be 100% perfect shifting but it's probably your cheapest option to start.

If your dads gonna just bomb round in one chainring then it's probably a nobrainer.

I've ran double mechs on a compact when it specifically said it wouldn't work and I'd die horribly and to be honest it's pretty good so I've just extended the logic a little here….

Nice of him/her to give their postcode in the description in case you want to pop round to, erm, checkout the bike….

The only time you'll notice it is the first time you try to pop it up over a pavement. It's just habit to piush down on the suspension to pop it onto the kerb, and obviously you don't get that preload with rigids.

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Greenbee Insurance seem to be doing a similar deal to M&S (think they are underwritten by AXA like M&S used to be).

Worth checking them out if M&S keep hiking up the premiums. GreenBee quoted me £300 less this year for pretty much the same cover so probably bounce between those to keep costs down.

I had separate bike insurance a while back, it was a pain, they kept 'upgrading' my insurance level, I needed trackers in all the bikes etc. etc so it just got a PITA eventually.

Done the same as RestlessNative – it nicer kit on it. Flys along on some 24c tyres. Mudguards on during the winter.

Really can't see how having a 2lb lighter bike makes you suddenly a cycling god. Certainly when theres 180lbs of rider on top.

If you consider £1000 on C2W is about, say, £500 then I'd got for some nice wheels and maybe spend the rest on a few choice upgrades – bars/stem, forks maybe.

Next door neighbour knows David and was visiting him in hospital. Davids twin brother walked out just as he was going in and he said it really freaked him out.

Hope the guy inspires people and makes people think. These types of people are true heroes.

To be fair I find the three main C4 news guys pretty aggressive with their interview tactics, often rude and always "superior".

Was quite a giggle seeing Snow get some of his own medicine for a while. Pity he didn't have the nerve to just say the interview was terminated, it did start turning into car-crash TV after the first couple of minutes.

Well, if it drives the BP price down anymore I'm sure he'll try. After all the yanks have just allowed US company Exxon to consider a takeover bid for BP. Coincidence?

Well, head angle would be a bi steeper but do-able I'd say.

Though if you're on the lookout for a road fork why not just go for the equivalent CX fork?