We host a a couple of hives at the bottom of the garden. Idly looked out of the window one day with a cup of tea to see the air thick with bees – one hive had had enough and swarmed. Never saw them again. Quite surreal, esp as the neighbours in the gardens either side were completely oblivious to it…..

Give Saddleback a call?

http://saddleback.co.uk/?page_id=277

Just taken a bite out of my chair watching that….. 😯

Right up there with the classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A_h2AjJaMw

When I was younger I used to go to Culmstock Beacon and that was alright but can’t really remember that now.

Me too 🙂 Happy days….

Could I get away with some ‘cross tyres or should I mtfu and ride the skinnies?

Guy at work was in the same boat as you – went from some cross tyres initially as he swore that they would be grippier and more stable than road tyres. After a couple of weeks he asked for a go on my bike with 25mm Gatorskins as he felt the handling was a bit off. Safe to see he’s now seen the light.

I’ve been “BBQ-ing” with my chimnea this summer – came with a BBQ grate that swings in an out. Usually burn wood for an hour until the metal is hot and just embers in the bottom then start cooking. The hot metal kind of works like an oven as well, so cooks relatively quickly/evenly. Stays hot enough to cook for 6 just on the embers….. then load it up with more wood to ‘clean’ (burn the fat off the) grate and provide heat for the post-food-beer-drinking as the evening chills off. Lovely…..

I know what you mean about the pizza ovens though…. on the ‘to do’ list…

Looks pricey (although I’m sure the quality reflects that) – how about a cheaper non-waterproof bag with a waterproof cover?

Understood….

Had a look at the Cowon one – TBH it’s a bit too ‘fully featured’ for what I want. A bit more googling throws this up:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000IEQCCI/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FQ5F18&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1MP86G6DCJQMEWSMRYJX
which seems pretty much what I want in terms of features/price. Anyone used one?

Bump for the day shift……

I was aiming for ‘humorous’ rather than ‘condescending’, just need to recalibrate my thingometer

In every respect I think your original post was spot on! 😉

Google has provided me with results from Pure, Morphy Richards and Bush, but they either have woeful reviews or look like they were put together by a 3-year-old. Will investigate the Cowon. Cheers.

Crikey says; don’t put them on the top of the car if you are concerned about wind resistance. The best place is inside the car, the next best place is on the back of the car, the next best place is lying them flat on the car roof, the next is stood up on the roof.

If the only place you can transport them is on the roof, suck it up

Concise….check. Incisive…..check. Accurate….. check. Mildly condecending…..check.

All present and correct then – thread closed 😉

Didnt realise there was a specific shimano oil to top with either, let me know if you find a good alternative as id like to flush mine out (if I ever stop it skipping gears)..

Two things there:

– Shimano aren’t quoting a spec for the oil (annoyingly) so your guess is as good as anyone elses as to what works (or not)

– Mine was as rough as a bag of nails for the first ~300 miles or so, skipping/missing gears all over the shop, but since then it has been rock-solid.

I thought the Alfine 11 oil change was just to flush fresh stuff through? And you don’t have to take anything apart?

Indeed, hence my incredulity when I was quoted a price for the hub service….. it seems the oil/service kit still costs an arm and a leg. I’m going to ask for a breakdown of what was done/what it costs when mine goes for the service, just for interest.

The service interval is on the installation sheet that comes with the hub. As per link, mine’s in for its first oil change the week after next…..

I had 6 pretty big conifer type trees at the bottom of my garden that I needed to cut down borrowed his Bosch and it took about 45 mins to get through one of the smaller trunks (about 20cm across) I ended up using a bow saw to do the next.

If it’s not a case of the electric saw stalling, due to lack of power, then it’s just a case of a blunt chain, surely?

Right where is that chainsaw thread I started 6 months ago?, need a petrol one me thinks, gotta get through at least a tonne of logs, some up to 30cm diameter.

If you’re just logging (and, obviously near a power socket) then a decent electric will do. Got a Husky 321 for logging at home as it’s a lot cleaner, quiter and more than powerful enough. Also quiet a bit lighter, which makes a difference for continual pick it up/put it down faffing. Obv, petrol is the way forward down the woods…….

they aren’t either of those things though, they’re carbon.

True enough – (I think! 😉 my point was that the user doesn’t have enough info to make an informed/scientific decision on the life of the component regardless of the material, so unless the manufacturer has set a ‘recommended replacement interval’ then how can you khow if you should worry or not?

If they were steel, would you be worried about the fatigue life of the welds? If they were aluminium, would you be worried about the long term life of the bonding between the blades and crown?

Slight hijack – what’s that bike that Chris Boardman is riding when he does the piece-to-camera of the stage finishes on the ITV coverage? It’s de-badged and looks quite ‘aero-road’ – one from next years Boardman range?

EDIT: answered my own question – debadged AirTT-9.8 by the looks of it

Another BB7 user here (on 105 and Versa levers). As Al says, std cables are fine – for minimum maintenance go for full length outers (have yet to touch the brake cables on the 105 bike in 3 years…. last time they were changed was when the outer rusted through)

I guess a word with Trek would be the first thing to do – see if they have a crash-repalcement program if you’re out of warranty. Failing that, have a chat with these guys http://www.carboncyclerepairs.co.uk/ – see if a repair will be cheaper/as much/ more than buying crash replacement from Trek (if they do it!)

Another happy customer here…. 🙂

1 – It’s not hard, just take your time, keep light tension in the tape and if you start going wrong just unwrap a bit and do it again.

2 – Yes

HTH 🙂

I hear what you’re saying (I’m not a pannier fan either), but panniers will be the way to go – to carry all that kit around, both ways, everyday, will (quite literally) be a pain in the ar$e!

Actually talk to your supervisor/other members of your research group regularly about what you’re doing/what it means/what to do next – basically don’t disappear up your own ar$e on some dead-end avenue for months at time and regret the wasted time for the lack of a 5 min chat over a coffee.

Ta 🙂

Great puncture protection and grip

I’m a big Marathon Plus fan (well over a year/5000 glass-filled-commuting miles on a set now and not a single puncture), but they are heavy, a bit lifeless and the lack of grip in the wet take a bit of getting used to.

Yeah, I’m heading towards the twin disc Synology route set up as RAID…. despite the cost……

For people who want to invade insurance, I really don’t see what it adds.

Indeed – planes, bombs and guns will be of much more use than a piece of paper 🙂

Supplimentary for the home networking crowd – is that Belkin network USB hub I linked to up there ^^^^ going to play nicely with my existing Netgear router?

I’m liking the sound of the Synology device….. except for the price 😉

Hi Fourbanger – thinking back to Sturmey Archer bikes of my yooof they had oil ports, hence what got me wondering whether it could be done.

The 11-spd hub has the oil port, hence I was hoping the service would be a lot cheaper as the procedure sounds very simple on the instructions….. apparently not.

If you were feeling brave, you could try to fit the 8-spd gearing in an 11-spd shell? (NB – I can’t see this working in any way, shape or form!)

Why not build a media centre with a raid storage option (or purchase an off the shelf version)?

That would be far too easy (there are a few other issues as well…), just go with me on this 😉

Oh, and I’m liking the ‘RAID-lite’ capabilities of that Netgear NASDuo to make it even more fit and (sort of) forget.

It’s part of a larger plan:

Upstairs – Wifi router with 4 port switch and main PC wired to router, (though PC hardly ever on).

Downstairs – Laptop for surfing wirelssly….. plus a ‘Smart’ tv, Humax box, Blu-ray player and MP3 jukebox, all with network connectivity options that I haven’t scratched the surface of.

As the PC’s are hardly ever on, a NAS device connected to the router seems like the best way to go for central storage/sharing between these other devices, and to avoid running ethernet cables all over the shop, or having four seperate wireless dongles to connect the other bits to the network, I was thinking about something like this downstairs

to connect all the USB outputs of the AV kit to a central downstairs wireless hub so they can talk to the router -> NAS device.

I am actually slightly embarrassed to type this – SRP is £89.99

😯 – Jebus. I’ll just keep quiet then and hand over the cash for the service…..

Ah, Mister P – timely! 🙂 Can you give me a rough steer on the price of the 11-spd oil kit?

If I remember, I’ll ask when mine goes in…. but a) I probably won’t remember by the time the service comes round and b) the spanner monkey isn’t likely to know either if the power of google and STW hasn’t come up with the goods!

Yeah, 11 is oil lubed, not grease. One small screw on the hub body to open, drain oil, flush with 25 ml of oil, drain again, add another 25 ml and refit screw. Do this at the first 1000km and every 5000km thereafter.

Teej – (presume you’re talking about 8-spd, so…) no, just the 50 ml of oil, and oiling kit, needed to flush and re-lube the 11-speed hubs.