normal. I cut down the post.

My 2005 Sworks stumpy is annodised. It has factory fitted helecopter tape, no problems so far.
Got to be less of a problem than cable rub.

Since when was two grand for any bike "silly cheap"? It might be a decent reduction from RRP, but £2k is still buy you a huge selection of top end full sus bikes.

scavenger and claymores is a good combination.
You can really set yourself up to snipe and set two claymores to cover your back. If you set a third then the first self destructs.

Right, will give M16 a try out!!

Oh and cold blooded is the best perk of all.

My PS3 user name is yeti_leeds_uk

I find sniper rifles are rubbish.
Current favourite is the SCAR with heart beat sensor.
I also like the P90 SMG for fast paced assault games.

I am trying to like the LSW for longer ranged assault, coupled with stopping power its quite lethal with a huge clip

Component wise, middleburn cranks and hope hubs seem to hold value.
Will SRAM XX become a future classic?
Whats the equivalent of the excuisite CNC machined brakes that I drooled over in 1994?

I have a slighytly knackered XT rear mech in Leeds if that any good?

stumpy, please do mail. Address is in my profile.

Now, is that the MKII Lynskey with the strut on the rear triangle, or do you mean the MKIII which is now built in the far east?

Mines still hung up as an unbuilt frame. Look at it often and its a thing of beauty (18" and blast flame graphics).
Think I might get to build it up this year.
Thinking Thors and XT. Want it nice an light.

zokes, exactly!

oh… and it's not 100% status. I genuinely would like us to be a less car centered society. But it isn't and to take part in UK society it really helps to have a car (again factor in for me that there is often 4 of us to get from A to B). More cycle lanes, cheap and effective public transport would be great, but its mainly crap.
You are delusioned if you think that everyone can live without a car without being very selective about where they live and how they live.

TJ, yes I have chosen a lifestyle. Why? well to be honest in this country in my part of the world the alternative is non-workable.
It would take me 2h each way to work instead of 40minutes (or 1h23 when I cycle!) and taking the kids to my mums would take 2h as well instead of 15mins in the car.

If you live outside a city centre and have dependants then large areas of the UK (most of it) are crap for using public transport unless you are very time rich/cash poor. You really don't need to be well off for the equation to rule out public transport.

Best sell some more piccys then!
;=)

TandemJeremy, what you need to take into account is the "cost per additional mile" once you accept that you own a car.
My car insurance is fixed unless I do over 15,000 miles. So is VED and MOT. Servicing is also 15k or 12 months. So you see that the cost per extra mile is less than you expect.
Now of course you have to cost up the "car free life" versus the "with car life". Owning a car is an expensive club to join, but once you are in it the extra cost per mile is less than you calculate.

That said, I genuinley crave a society that enables me to share access to my expensive metal box sat on my drive and enable cheap public transport as an alternative. In 2010 it isn't there.

Let me give you an example. We live in Leeds. 300m from the nearest train station that goes straight to Meadowhell shopping centre in Sheffield. for the four of us (2 adults 2 kids) it was approx £15 return on the train and is approx a 50 minute journey. In a car it is 30 mins and costs £7 in petrol (at todays costs). I really want to use public transport. But in most of this country its crap and expensive.

TandemJeremy, I share your utopian view of a society less dependant on us all having metal boxes dedicated to our own transportation.
However where we are in 2010 is a little different.
Like many on here, I could not do my job, or do what my family needs without a car. Once you own a car (lets ignore the 3 year lease with prohivitive extra milage charges cos most folk don't have them) the cost per mile is really only petrol/diesel and 1/20,000'th of the cost of 4 tyres/brakes. Parking is rarely an expense at most destinations.

So lets not bicker on this. We both share a view of utopia, just that some of us campaign while needing to make the best of the current system (with a family to transport) and others live close to work and don't have dependants.

vrapan, ~I agree with you. I crave for a society with minimal sole occupancy cars. Where the cars are communal and computer driven and are like a taxi hive. The cars will automatically stick to speed limits and will have sensors to detect pedestrians and cyclists.
People will naturally want to share them (imagine a car share facebook group) and will only share with those that they want to.
The future of transport is exciting.
We need to get through the current mess of massive amounts of cars with only one occupant.

TJ, thats sounds unbelievable. Source please?

Also I tend to buy a car 3-5 years old and keep em till they die.
I am really nervous of buying 10 year old cars cos at that age you have to ask why someone is selling.
By buying 3-5 year old cars you are buying from affluent middle class idiots who believe that cars start to fall appart after 3 years.

We are being weened off the destructive stuff.

very easy to administrate internally. Also means that the bike shop gets the full cost of the bike.

If then engine and gearbox are fine (ie not burning oil and returning decent MPG) then fix it.
I have a 1998 Volvo with 159,000 miles on it.
I need to do some suspension work on it when the weather improves. However the only thing that would make me get rid of it is engine, gear box, clutch or crash.
Everything else is not a big deal to sort.

I use a cooks blow torch (like for creme bulee) for those type of jobs.

Best, or most economical. Can't have both.

Pay off in full if you leave.

Bathstore has some nice stuff.

Euro crash would suit me fine, both professionally and personally.

Get a fenix l2D from lighthound.com or fenix store

congrats.

embers is the best I have had.
Washes better than smartwool.

Flash, I sort of get it.
I mean a DeLorean is a crap car, but collectable.
A 1930's Bugatti is, and always will be a work of engineering beauty.
To me the test is the amount of human craftman ship that went into the item. I can understand completley a 1992 DOGS BOLLOX frame, but old shifter and old forks are mass produced items that have been refined and improved by later mass produced items.
In the same way why the hell would I want an original 2001 Ipod?

In my head stuff is split into craft/artisan (for bike this included welding and CNC) and mass produced consumable items.

Should add, I only ask because the PUSHED fox septune on my 2005 FSR S-works looks the same as every other fox shock. Are the 2010 ones better?

Has fox shock technology progressed much in the last few years?
Clearly the current ones are hugely better than they were 10 years ago, but what year(s?) have been the quantum leap years in performance?

10 year old bike bits? so 50% of original price and then 10 % depreciation for each year from there.

Seriously though, I "get" stuff like cook bros cranks, cook bros stem and even the ibis bow ti frame, but to me old forks are old forks. They are not like classic cars, they are like 486 DXII pc's for £1000 when I can get a quad core PC for £300 now…why would you?

Take Ton up on this offer, he knows leeds well!
I would be out too, but my son has Brigshaw Highschool "Oliver" production all of next week. Sadly no riding next week, but shed loads of ferrying urchins and family ;-(

Head out of leeds along the canal eastwards. Do a loop around leeds country park near Rothwell/woodlesford. Take the route through Temple Newsham on the way back. If its dry (which it won't be) I would head up through meanwood towards Otley.

ton, if you fancy a run out give me a shout.

facom allen keys are the best I own, and I have several sets.
Bondhus make good allen keys too.
For other stuff halfords pro range is good.