Cheers for all the responses folks….

Two fireplaces in now, what was effectively  one big open room, caused havoc with draw.

Whilst not exactly the same, might be a similar issue. Stove is in open plan area at back of house with multiple areas open to each other (kitchen/living/upstairs hall/downstairs hall).

are you sure the flue is installed correctly with regard to number of bends, angles etc so that you’re getting the correct temp differential to enable proper draw.

Its a 5 year-old install, straight flue all the way.

It sounds like when you open the door there is a bigger draw from one of the other flues or even an open staircase. I would try blocking the other redundant chimneys first.

Only one is redundant and its blocked already. The other is not used at the same time as the stove although it does have a plate i can close to block the flue. After reading this i did just that and it may have helped (not sure with all the other variables that affect these things like wind direction/speed/air temp etc.

Is the flue a big old stone one in a cold chimney breast or is it square section built into a brick gable or is it clay rings in a modern house or is it lined with a flexible SS liner?

Its a Stovax flue system in a new extension of the house. Solid flue, no bends at all, top of flue in line with top of house.

are you burning a strong fire or are you one of those people that gets the flames up then shuts it in to make the wood last longer ?

Always a strong fire. I let it go through a full cycle i.e. only orange embers left, before opening door.

You should only open the door when its gone through a burn cycle, there would be no smoke. i suggest maybe reading the instructions.

Most stove problems are caused by user error, damp wood, incorrect lighting procedure, putting too large logs on, i could go on but i’ve retired now and am no longer qualified to give advice.

Just as well. I couldn’t take being patronised like that! 😉

I don’t see why you’ve got an external supply when you’ve also got two open fires/flues – I’d  disconnect that and see what happens.

Agreed – its overkill. As neilnevill says, its 54mm² per kW over 5kW i believe so we only need < 150mm² – i reckon the seal (or lack of) around our front door takes most of that!

We always burn the driest of wood, have a good strong fire (whole thing glows orange/glass and walls are completely clear), it only creates very little ash and what it does produce is usually very fine. We leave the ash in place as should be done with woodburners and only clear it every now and then when it gets too much.

We don’t get visible smoke into the room, just a smell of smoke for a short while after opening/closing the door.

My money is on the house layout being too open plan, causing trouble with air flow. I’ll see if i can sort by closing doors etc.

Ta much people!

If you have the cash….[/url]

Ta much folks. Good mix of answers there so I’m none the wiser! Will make a decision based on planned roadworks and traffic reports tomorrow.

D’oh! Heading near to Leeds Airport but forgot to write that in my rush to post original question!

Don’t tell them, but don’t pull a sickie either. Take a day off on holiday.

If its just lowers / aircan then try Stirling Bike Doctor if you don’t do that sort of thing yourself (I don’t). Excellent service and his attention to detail is great.

I’m of the opinion that they don’t poke your eyes out and cut off your tongue** when you get married / partnered etc. so they are still there to be used.

** Use of said eyes followed by tongue on the OPs original subject may lead to loss of said eyes and tongue depending on what the other half thinks of it!

The key thing you have to remember is that being in top running shape will allow you to cycle pretty much anything. You may not be in absolutely top bike shape but you will get round. However being in top bike shape won’t help you at all to get round the marathon.

+1
I only started running around 3 months ago and found that even getting up to running 10km in a decent time took a long time in comparison to what i was hoping for given i thought i was fit due to my cycling.
In contrast, i’ve done very little cycling since apart from my regular commute. Got back out for the local Sunday group ride yesterday (which admittedly isn’t a “big” ride) after a trip up Glen Tilt on Saturday and found both absolutely fine.

Rubber mallet, soft grip vice and some patience was the order of the day. Not 100% straight but all gears now working and two good outings at the weekend with no ill effects. I’ll buy a new cassette when it (if it ever) breaks! 😀

Edit to remove double post…

It’s only one sprocket of ten or so…
Presumably the others are OK to use?

Unfortunately it’s fouling the chain when I use the 3rd largest sprocket too. Took it into the workshop at work and managed to improve the situation but still slightly bent….

+1 for pivot bolts me thinks. My two mates both have Capras and one has the creak….

I went the whole hog and got a Garmin Fenix 5 after i killed my Edge 520 and got fed up draining my phone too quickly using the GPS.

Its absolutely brilliant (and so it should be given the price of the damn thing). Tracks all my rides, runs and the odd golf game as well a tracking sleep/steps etc. Loads of data for the serious geek (suits me). And waterproof too.

Also has a tracking function so you can upload gpx’s and follow them (although there is no built-in mapping on the fenix 5 – you need to go to the 5X for that but that is more expensive again and is HUGE). There are however 3rd party apps you can upload which will give you a decent mapping function.

Killer function for me is the battery lasts ages. Up to two weeks if not using GPS and up to 3 days using GPS.

Looks great. We’re heading out last weekend in May… Can’t wait!

Tried cornerstone. No better than Gillette. Then tried Boldking – they are waaaaay better*!

*They are way better if like me you only shave once or twice a week. The blades are further apart and this means they don’t cut each hair more than once at the same time (check out their video) and it a much more comfortable shave. The pullig used to cause me to get loads of ingrowing hairs but not since i moved to Boldking.

No issue putting a car up for sale if it has finance on it. Its only illegal if you don’t tell any eventual buyer prior to transaction.

I’ve just been in a similar position. Try Pistonheads for selling privately. Try drivethedeal for selling to a dealer. Think its about £30 and if you don’t get an offer within a certain range you get your money back.

You can also just take it to A.N. Other dealer and see if they are interested. If its a desirable car / or just a well spec’d car then they probably will be.

When i sold the car, i sold it back to the dealer who paid off the finance (minus the small amount i owed over and above what the car was worth which i paid directlt to the finaince company).

[/url]2017-04-08_09-22-50 by graeme.lees[/url], on Flickr[/img]
This time with a link that works!

This is the garden in question – bit of a mess as I’ve been away with work and kids have been running riot! Mrs Chief not impressed at the idea of losing grass so compromise would be to go around the poly tunnel.
Loads of good ideas here. Didn’t realise how many people have done it already.

Measuring where to cut the steerer tube on a set of forks without the stem fitted then cutting it to that length.

Pre bonded steerer tubes thankfully.
I wasn’t so lucky. Eedjit.
Also, took bleed port screw off rear brake and couldn’t understand why front brakes would accept new fluid from the syringe.

So, turns out i have the right set-up afterall. I emailed Stan at Absolute Black and he says that the spacers are meant to sit proud of the spider. Doesn’t look great IMHO but then again, a triple spider running a single chainring doesn’t look great anyway – can’t polish a turd!

Cheers all. otsdr – that is the conclusion I’ve reached too. Managed a bodge yesterday (large washers that covered the holes and luckily the T25 torx screws were long enough) that let me get out for a ride.

Bit frustrated as the AbsoluteBlack websits says, “Compatability – All cranks with 4x 104BCD interface. That means Shimano XT….”. Shame it only means newer versions…. unless they do indeed do spacers to suit this issue that I’m not aware of.

Verdict after using with the bodge – I loved the oval chainring. Felt weird for all of 5 minutes then just felt right. When climbing on loose(ish – too wet to be properly loose) climbs, there is much less wheel spin as the power transfer to the wheels is more even. Climbing very steep hills feels easier on the legs.

joebristol – I’ve got an 11-42t cassette. Was previously running a triple, so largest ratio with 30t is about 7% less than it previously was, so jumping to a 32t might be a step to far for the type of riding i do. Although, cost of new cranks (if i can’t get washers to suit) might mean i just man up and go for 32t….

Bump…

Try LUZCAR. Price you see is price you pay, any driver, full excess waiver, any number of car seats etc. Used them before and booked to use them again this summer after checking recent reviews that show they are still as good as ever.

Cheers all. Approach shoes are my fall back option, just wanted to check i was heading in the right direction. Unfortunately the Evans offer doesn’t extend to her size…

Cheers for the replies folks. Been quoted £380 inc. VAT fitted – this is for swan neck detachable with 13-pin electrics and required PCT bypass.
Just trying to nail down the exact car I’m leasing and will press go!

My mate has been vegan for a few years now and although i haven’t taken the plunge fully (I’m not even vegetarian) I’ve tasted some of his recipes and they are very good indeed. As someone who used to get upset if there was no meat on my plate this is high praise indeed! He’s on facebook and twitter and instagram as Plantsbefood. Worth checking out – even if its only to find meals you would all like rather than having to make two separate meals.

Plantsbefood[/url]

We flew to Nice and were picked up by Just Ride Finale in their shuttle bus in Sept 16. Best weekend biking I’ve ever had.

Louise is a top guide and can tailor riding to whatever you want it to be – good mix of pedalling or uplift served runs available.

We’ll be going back! (not this year mind you…. Sierra Nevada with Ciclo Montana this year).

=VLOOKUP(B8,A1:F6,C8+1,FALSE)

Where:
cell b8 is your “cell 1”
cell c8 is your “cell 2”
A1:F6 is your table with 5×5 options and the headings for each column and row which relate to the cell 1 and cell 2 choices.

The grandparents bought my eldest a bike with stabilisers without my knowledge (rather than a balance bike which i’d have bought) but didn’t have the heart to tell them to swap it so we persevered. She got off the stabilisers aged 5 and a half. Tbh she could have done it earlier but she just wasn’t interested in it.

My youngest then refused to ride a balance bike as he thought it was better to have a “big-boy” bike with stabilisers. His balance is very good in general so when he had just turned 4 we tried without the stabilisers but he was having none of it. Eventually (after 6 months or so) i persuaded him to take the pedals and cranks off and use it as a balance bike and within the hour he was coasting down hills with his feet up off the ground completely with no help whatsoever from me. Took him to a flat bit of ground and put the pedals and cranks on and off he went with a single push.

Next day he was riding the pump track at Cunningar Loop in Glasgow unaided! 😀

I agree with mark90 – watching biking videos definitely keeps the interest up when you are at the almost pedalling stage….

Seems to be general agreement – my initial question was posed due to the fact that any time i’ve nearly completed the task I’ve bailed out at the fear of impending doom.

Totally agree about the can’t pee whilst swimming thing too. I’ve been asked in the past why i’ve let myself sink after falling in when windsurfing/waterskiing and made up some excuse about having a rest…..

The anti-expensive car sentiment on here is just the same as the anti-expensive bike sentiment. Totally unjustified.
Someone has to pay for these expensive items so that the research costs for the new technology in them can be recouped by the firms, in turn allowing the technology to trickle down to the less expensive end of the market. You are *mostly* all driving cars / riding bikes that benefit from this trickle down effect so stop whinging when someone says they have a fancy bike/car. Small mindedness at its best!

Cheers gobuchul. That was my plan really, just wanted someone else to agree!

I’ve got floorstanding speakers via the amp and would like to have sound via these too.

I bought one after getting 3 bikes nicked from my garage (which was away at the bottom of the garden) so i could have them near the house in a more secure/bright location. Someone tried to break into the house via a door that is 3m from the shed but didn’t try to break into the shed (or maybe couldn’t). Not very scientific but reassuring (from a bike security point of view at least). As it happens, the scrote got caught and sent down for that and circa 20 other burglaries / attempted burglaries. Result! I digress…

Our 6 bike version holds 3 MTBs, 1 road bike, 1 hybrid, 3 childrens bikes, 4 scooters and all our cushions for the garden furniture when its not in use as well as a few others bits and bobs.

You can always jump on the train from the city centre to Milngavie… Doesn’t take long.

As for Cathkin, plenty of folk riding up there when the weather is good so lone-riding shouldn’t be an issue.

Cheers for the input folks – picked it up on Saturday. Going to get it back to as close as original as i can and have a bit of fun on it.

Hijack – I’m of stocky build and looking for 35″ waist with 30″ leg jeans for people with larger thighs… Can anyone recommend any brand that may suit?

What’s the difference between light and hard?
You can sleep with a light on.

When selling our first marital home (a 1st floor tenement flat in Glasgow) about 1km from a river that had previously flooded a viewer asked us if we’d ever had problems with flooding in the flat…. on the fist floor… If we did i think even Noah would’ve been in trouble!
Same guy then genuinely asked if the hall cupboard was big enough to fit a dinghy in… 🙄

So it turns out after a 3rd phone call to RBS home insurance that I am fully covered after all. Shame I couldn’t get that info the first time I called!
Whilst I had someone decent on the phone I also managed to get a 10% discount on the renewal price which was already cheaper than last year. Result!
Thanks again to those who helped.