Mr Do! In the arcade.

Out of interest, why did you get the plate taken out? How was the operation/recovery after the plate removal operation?

I can’t sleep on mine but not sure if that’s worth another operation.

They didn’t know until they opened me up which type of plate they were going to fit. One type stayed in, the other they take out and no choice in the matter. Luckily I had the type which they take out as I hated it. I could feel it all the time, it just felt horrible. Also everybody I know who has a plate somewhere in their body suffers with it from the cold and damp.

Luckily I recovered really quickly but I was very fit at the time which no doubt helped a lot. I ran my first mountain marathon within six weeks of the first operation and I recovered quicker from the second operation. I was operated on in the morning and drove home in the evening. Although I only did that as I didn’t have much choice in the matter.

I can’t speak for your break but all I would say is if your not happy get a second or third opinion. My collar bone break was visable through a t-shirt but I was told to go away and come back in six weeks by one so called specialist. If I had done that I would have been left with a limited range of movement and disfigured. I went back to the same hospital twice and was treated as a time waster then I went to my doctor who reffered me to a different specialist.

He made some not too good noises, asked why it had taken two weeks to see him, told me never to go back to that hospital and operated on me that day. I could hear his raised voice in the background demanding that I was fitted in that day as it had been two weeks from the break.

I had a plate put in and removed a few months later. It taught me some valuable lessons.

My asthma symptoms eased significantly when I cut out wheat & dairy from my diet.

+1.

my dad drives tankers for a living (not petrol/oil) the week before last he worked 69 hours and drew just over £550 after deductions .I know he looked happy with that but i would rather earn less and spend more time with my family , which is why I’m a postie !

I’m not sure how he managed this legally as you can only work 56 hours (then you have to make the 2 hours extra back from the following week) a week as a hgv driver.

You can’t work loads of overtime as your hours are limited by tacho laws. Any other hours such as loading/cleaning lorry etc or part time jobs must also be added to your weekly total. You have set daily and end of week hours of rest as well.

As a previous poster mentioned driving petrol tankers is a closed job only for family and close friends.

It might seem like an easy job sat on your backside all day but there is more to it than that. Motoring laws are complex and can vary depending on who stops you (vosa or police) and the fines can be huge which are payable by the driver not the company.

If they can earn 35-45k doing it, good for them. It’s not like petrol companies make big profits!

Should be in full swing at the moment, so how loud is it?

Edit: To slow!

To keep my hair in place, of course.

Hair, on your head, whats that?

Looks like a scratch. The way it is split with two close lines together in a fork, a crack is unlikely to look like that. Also, after all that time if it was a crack that size it would have opened up.

Unfortunately the only way to be 100% sure is to have it tested which wouldn’t be cheap.

Burls72.
I like a drink now and again.
So I’m interested in your comment.
Is what you’ve posted born of personal experience ?.
Just askling like.

Yes it is. From when I was at my heaviest weight to the lightest, I lost 7 stone. I’ve put 1 to 1.5 stone (don’t have scales) back on because at 6’6″ 13 stone isn’t a good look!

The op is having between 5 and 7 beers a week which is a lot of calories which can easily be lost. I’ve also found that any alcohol intake slows weight loss down. I think i’m correct in saying that the body uses the alcohol calories first so any useful food you’ve digested is stored as fat and your running on empty calories. It also gives you a bloated look.

I’ve always thought they get an awful stand in deliberately. That way you’ll be glad when they get back. They have to justify their huge pay packets somehow!

Any alcohol intake? If so cut it out completely and eat nothing processed.

It could be a very small hole which doesn’t have a stream of bubbles when in the water. I’ve had it before, a very slight hole which a bubble forms on but takes a while to fully escape. A thorn only slightly coming through the tyre could be causing the problem.

Your best bet is to do it yourself, if you have a lot of spare time and have or can find the space to do it. The welding skill needed to do that type of repair isn’t that high. All you would need is someone to show you the basics and practice on test pieces until you get it right.

The vans are so popular that anything you could imagine needs doing will be covered in detail in a thread somewhere or another. You can buy a new welder for £200-£250 and £20-30 for a grinder and your away. It’s a shame we are at different ends of the country otherwise if you wanted to do it yourself I could show you what to do.

Architrave switch
25 x yellow insulated ring crimp terminals 8mm hole
Splashproof inline standard size 40amp blade fuse holder

I know how to live!

When I was young and ignorant I used to think you were stupid if you were living on the streets. Now i’m older and having been homeless but due to luck not on the streets on more than one occassion i’ve realised that it can happen to us all, all to quickly and easily.

I hope you find a home soon (if thats what you want). Good pictures by the way.

I’m the same, 40 this year. When I was younger I didn’t get the whole ’40’ thing. I just thought it was another year whats the big deal? Now i’m nearly there I so get it!

Thats a great photo of the garden covered in snow. It’s an impressive garden, the up keep must be a full time job!

I was really pleased with mine until I started commuting on it. Couldn’t stop the thing creaking, forever chasing one noise after another. I’m sure it’s not cracked anywhere, from what I can gather they are just more prone to it.

I posted about my chris king bb creaking and somebody else said they had several bikes with the chris king bb’s and the only one which made any noise was the one on a titanium frame.

It was a custom frame, I wouldn’t buy one again, i’d go for steel.

Reminds me of the strada 130 abarth I had tuned to 150bhp. Which at the time which I have just realised is 20 years ago!!! was a very quick car. Sounded great, looked great, loved it, that cool scorpion badge. Italians know how to style a car.

Jumping straight to helicoiling before eliminating that as an option is a mistake.

+1. Last resort.

If the screw is highly loaded e.g preloaded and is screwed into a material of lower strength than the screw then a detailed assessment of the joint must be carried out to ensure that thread stripping will not occur.. Unfortunately the option of increasing the depth of the tapped hole is of limited value as it has been established that there is no advantage if having a thread engagement in excess of the nominal screw diameter. The problem is that the load taken by the screw is not evenly distributed. The majority of the load is taked by the first thread and very little of the load is taken by the fourth thread onwards.

The preferred options are to design the joint to based on the use of suitably rated nuts or ensure the screw and parent metalof the female thread,have similar mechanical strengths.

When the design is based on highly loaded /high strength screws fastened into threaded holes in components with lower strengths then it may be necessary to use thread inserts.

Types of Thread Inserts

Helical Wire Inserts (Heli-Coil)

The helical wire inserts inserts, generally identified by the tradename Heli-coil, are made from diamond shaped wire formed into coils. They are screwed into tapped holes such that the resulting internal profile of the coil is that of the desired female thread. The tapped hole is created using a special tap . The insert is over-sized so that it anchors itself into the hole. Some have tangs to enable convenient install but some do not. Special tools are required to install the inserts. When the insert includes a tang , it is snapped off after installation. The insert can be configured to provide a thread locking duty.

The resulting female threads are strong because the flexibility of the insert provides an even distribution of loads throughout the length of thread engagement. This flexibility also compensates for variation in the formed thread allowing each coil to carry its share of the load. The limitation on length of a convenional thread are overcome with this component and the load can be distributed over thread lengths far in excess of that in a tapped hole with no insert.

The heli-coil internal profile is hard and polished dramatically reducing thread wear.

I’ll admit i’m no engineer but from my understanding the above applies when you are designing something from new. It’s designed to withstand x pressure then it’s multiplied by the relevant safety factor, times 3,4,5, etc. Fox have already designed the fork material, the thread design and the size of the bolt required. Say for example the bolt is 40mm long, the first 6mm (because it is a 6mm bolt) gives the majority of the strength to the joint. If that first 6mm is missing the next 6mm will give the same strength ratio because it is the first 6mm. It’s no different than a say having a 10mm recess for a locating dowl.

Helicoil is the right and permanent answer. Retapping will not work if the thread has been ripped out, longer bolt will only get a bite in the bottom of the hole. %mm you say MTQG – I want a lot more thread than that holding my brakes on.

helicoil is permanent and stronger than the original thread

It’s hard to say without seeing it but my understanding from the op’s description is that he has just gone in on the wrong angle at the start of the threads. If thats all it is then clean the threads up, new bolt and it will be fine especially if it’s 160mm and go up a rotor size as MTQG suggested. If the bolt had been done up to tight and stripped the threads then yes i’d agree a helicoil is the only option.

I’d be interested in peoples opinions on this as well because i’ve been wondering them same over a potential future build. It would be for a more am build and I wondered how a square taper crankset would hold up with the rougher stuff?

What type of build/travel is it?

Fair enough I should have said borrow a final stage tap or plug tap. It still doesn’t change the fact that the threads should have a tap run tnrough them. Cleaning the threads by running a tap through does no harm but can save no end of trouble.

I’d borrow a tap and run it through the threads first and use a new bolt.

From the sounds of it you might be able to save the threads by running a tap though them. I say this without offence but i’d ask a friend with more mechanical knowledge than you to do it. If they can’t be saved fitting a heli-coil would be beyond your mechanical skills. Sorry not trying to be horrible just trying to save you knackering up your forks.

I was thinking salt as well. You mention that your drinking lots of water generally and more the day before and just before a ride. You need the right balance of water and salt, perhaps your water intake is too high?

Have I missed a post along the way or is that just an assumption?

The whiplash claim is obviously false. You can’t get whiplash at that speed, especially when hit by someone reversing into the front of your car. In other countries you can’t even claim for whiplash under a certain speed which is well above walking speed.

I would be very careful concerning you and her working for the same company especially if you are in the senior position. Imagine how that could be played out if if she wanted to. The accident wasn’t her fault, your a man using your senior position in work to harass an older, ill, frail lady. I’d report the e-mail to hr at work pointing out that it was out of work, nothing to do with work and as such it is completely unprofessional to approach you in that way.

It might seem a bit ott but you already know she is dishonest enough to put in one false claim. Better to protect yourself.

Nah. I’ve had 3 disputes as seller, won them all (worth about a grand all in). You need to be absolutely in the right, you need to be able to prove it, and you need to be willing to jump through the million hoops they demand, but this whole “buyer always wins” is just a myth

(I actually found it harder on some occasions to bring a succesful claim as buyer)

Thats good to know as my experience has been the complete opposite. Items sent by courier with proof of a signature at the end and they still refunded.

**** me sideways, rrp £8.95 for a washer!!!!!

I prefer it to paypal. Wasn’t there a scam a while back where people were just claiming items hadn’t been delivered and paypal was automatically taking the side of the buyer and forcing a refund through?

Happens all the time on ebay even if you send it by recorded delivery. Ebay always side with the buyer if they file a dispute, I’ve had it happen ro me a couple of times. I won’t sell anything of value on there again.

Titantium frames seem to squeak more than other materials. I’m always sorting out creaks, drives me mad!!! I’d strip, clean and grease the seatpost, seatpost clamp and seat as thats where most of mine seem to come from.

Have you looked at the bongtrager range? Good prices and tubless ready versions (tlr). I’ve bought an xr3 for the back and xr4 for the front. Can’t comment on performance thought as I haven’t used them yet.

Neither. The temperature sensor switch is for the temperature guage in the car. The thermostat opens up the rest of the cooling system when the engine gets up to temperature. The switch on the side you are shorting out is the cooling fan switch. When the water in the radiator gets to a certain temperature it turns the fan on.

If you don’t know when the thermostat was last changed i’d change that at the same time as well. They don’t cost a lot and if they are faulty can cause a lot of expense. Remember to top up the radiator and bleed it.

I try, but it is hard. So much of the british diet is carb and dairy based. I followed the ‘Eat For Your Blood Type’ diet for 6-8 months and because I was type o it was basically high protein with hardly any carbs or dairy. Although it was hard and expensive I did feel a lot better for it. It also helped with my asthma and mild eczema.

I’ve found that if your any type of diet it basically means not eating anything processed which is time consuming and boring. No donuts, chocolate, toffe popcorn, ice cream, cakes, sucks!!!

It’s the same with the new price of bikes. £3-4K is about the average for a good full sus but you can buy a new car for £5-6K. You can buy a good scooter for £1.5K. When you think of all the parts in a motorbike or car and compare them to a mountain bike it’s a rip off. Road bikes are even worse!

I’m with TJ, some of you need a serious reality check. You have no idea how financially hard life can be for some people. You might not have a lot of disposable income but that is not the same as having no money. If I earned anywhere near £40k a year it would be like winning the lottery.

It was some time ago but a friend drove into a wall, knocking it down. He left the scene without telling anybody and a neighbour reported him. He got 6 points for failing to report an accident. IIRC you have 24 hours to report an accident to the police.

Report it to the police, automatic 6 points for failing to report an accident. People like that deserve it, why should you lose out because they are a ****.