Fair point (I do the same actually)

They’d have a hard job giving you anything more than a verbal warning if that. If I was you, I’d swallow my pride, apologise to the person and leave it at that.

5wt AND 15wt depending on the RS fork

Most oil will work but IIRC some oils do swell seals which can lead to fast wear.

Unless you’re in a big rush, you could order it from CRC – the standec stuff is good.

Are the Kiwi team wearing their chokers?

:mrgreen:

For bike to work, you (usually) have to buy at RRP so any suggestions above that are discounted won’t be any use unfortunately…

Lower bars : more control

Define “control”

lower bars will tend to put more weight on the front wheel which in turn means more grip. For some that may equate to more control, for others it won’t.

21.22316%

I only buy off the peg for bike to work where I have to (well, pretty much have to)

“I’m not talking who’s to blame just by not wearing one you have to accept the increased risk of injury. “

You don’t actually. I always wear a helmet and I believe that in the majority of situations that it does reduce the risk of me suffering a head injury. Several bits of research support my view.

That said, I accept that there’s also research out there that contradicts my view and while I don’t agree, it’s possible that they are right and therefore, you can’t really PROVE categorically (or even on balance of probability) that a helmet reduces the risk of injury.

We use them loads – no probs.

Revolutions are no less durable than competitions in my experience (unless you’re sticking sticks/chains into your spokes) – they’re just more hassle to build with.

AndyP – spent too long on the road? ;)

FWIW, I have the front end on my road bike fairly low but on an mtb, it’s a totally different set of requirements, hence why the bars are only a bit below the bars. Low bars on an mtb is fine for XC racing but for what most people do, not ideal (IMO and based on ‘average’ – some people will always want/prefer different setups)

I graduated in ’98 with a mech eng degree which I’ve never used in anger (I work in IT now)

Despite really enjoying the engineering side of engineering, I got really fed up with the course (4 year, masters course) towards the end as I felt that it just becaume a maths degree. While I did enjoy maths at school (I did maths and further maths), I didn’t want to do a degree in it…

Can’t say that I regret not getting into engineering as a profession though.

Canis – it’s hard to say about 28 spokes – depends on the rest of the wheel and how it was built.

The spoke breaking after riding over a stone was only it finally snapping – the damage was already done before hand and it would have gone eventually anyway.

A trailer would put more load on the back wheel so would make any problems happen faster.

It’s almost certainly due to the spoke(s) being too loose (now or in the past). Unfortunately this means early failure of the spokes and even retensioning the wheel doesn’t always solve it for long as several spokes may have been damaged and you’ll gradually have more spokes break (basically, loose spokes flex more and therefore fatigue quicker.

The best solution is to rebuild the wheel and replace all the spokes. Otherwise, learn how to replace spokes one at a time (and carry some with you if you’re likely to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere!)

It will depend a lot on the bike – top tube length (the more forward you are, the more you’ll feel like you’ll be pitched over the bars), seat tube angle, etc.

Also, it will depend a lot on the length your legs – I’m 6’5″ with 35″ inside leg but other mates who are the same height have 37″ inside leg meaning that they’re sat about 2″ higher from the ground than me, with a corresponding need to raise the bars to get a similar position to me.

One thing that I’ve found really good is long (5″ forks) which raise the front end up so that you’re starting from a higher point before adding any headset spacers.

Also, bars can have up to 2″ rise so if you’re using fairly flat risers (or flats!) then you can easily raise them this way.

Some pics of my bikes to give you some idea of my setup.

GT Peace

853 SS inbred (20″)

19″ Rocky Mountain Element (actually a bit short for me – it was a bargain – so it has more layback and a longer stem than I might otherwise use)

A 20″ slidy dropout inbred with 5″ Fox fork

Large (19″) Pace RC303 (which has the same length top tube as I’d normally go for)

I also had a 20″ On-one 456 which was set up much the same as the other On-ones above

I’d suggest getting a USB/serial convertor which makes it a lot more flexible and also makes it easy to chaneg the COM port. You can actually get cables for the garmins that have a built in USB/serial convertor.

FWIW, I’m a lot more trusting of a verified paypal user – while it doesn’t prove that an account’s not been hacked, it does at least prove that the address associated with it is valid.

Yeah, it reminded me of an old style sturmey archer which did exactly that – take a run up to a hill, preselect the lower gear then just as you hit the hill, back off and it auto shifts…

Like a pre-selector.

Still, fun it might be but I do prefer the way that a normal geared bike shifts but clearly Alfine has other advantages to make it a potential good solution for winter/hassle free riding.

How’s that front wheel going?

Anyway, as above, Argos will do the disc mount (you may well want a slotted one though if it’s for a SS with a horizontal dropout) and then get it painted at ABC in Nailsea (5 miles from Bristol) who are cheaper than Argos and actually have a tougher finish (assuming you don’t want a complex colour scheme). Drop me an email if you want their details.

18! With uni, etc, I suggest more than that :)

yeah, i did like like that :)

for once, tj speaks sense!

“just wonder how so many people can ride sexy expensive bikes and let them make horrid crunching noises from the drivechain when its only a short fiddle to get them spot on”

Amen to that brother!

We used Easyjet loads and tend to book early (like as soon as the flights are released). I’ve never seen the flights get cheaper than when they’re first available.

“Companies are supposed to identify the positions at risk (all three account managers in this case), then notify the staff and do a “consultation”, employees get scored against the jobs and then somebody is selected for redundancy.”

Ditto – unless they could show that your wife’s role was fundamentally tied into the two projects (ie specialist knowledge, different skills, markets, etc.) that were lost or a key change in the company’s strategic direction, they cannot only consider your wife’s role for redundancy – they have to consider the other two as well.

Your wife can legally ask to see the scoring (assuming that it wasn’t only her considered) of herself against the company’s criteria too.

(we’re going through the redundancy proces too – as a manager I’ve been briefed on what is and isn’t allowed so I hope I am right!)

Olly – thanks for posting exactly the comment I was waiting for. I’m well aware of how to shift and when, thanks and I think that my mechanical sympathy is well up there. 99.999% of the time I shift in a textbook manner. The fact is that admit it or not, we all c0ck up sometimes and find ourselves in too high a gear. On a geared bike, while not ideal, I don’t actually find that it’s much of an issue shifting under heavy load – it’s noisier and doesn’t feel as smooth but a properly adjusted bike shouldn’t skip, slip, etc. – it’s just not something that’s great for the life of your drivetrain.

I totally accept that you’d get used to Alfine’s particular traits fairly quickly but it’s in the situations at the margins where it will always be an issue. Like I said, I still reckon that it’s something that I might get for my winter/all round bike but my experience has tempered my expectation somewhat having originally read comments like those in the bikeradar review.

Just one more thing, when reading up on Alfine, the weights quoted (1.6kg IIRC) sounded pretty high and I expected that the bike would feel very rear-end heavy. Suprisingly, when picking up the bike, it didn’t feel particularly rear weighted, even though the bike is a fairly light rigid commuter. Doing a few bunny hops didn’t feel particularly unusual either.

“….however if you try to shift under heavy load using a deraileur system they can skip quite badly “

They can do but IME only if you try to shift a whole load of gears in one go – shifting one gear only never seems to be an issue, even if it does feel/sound a bit rough.

That certainly wasn’t how this one worked…

Another guy here also has an Alfine-equipped bike and he commented that his was the same…

Specially for Brant in his new Ulster-based role

HOW TO SPEAK NORN IRON
A

Afeard – scared
Ah – I or me, ie Ah don’t feel well
Aminal -common mispronounciation of Animal
Amptinat? -I most definitely am.
Ar$ehole -calling someone a rectum
Aye -meaning “yes”

B

Balleex -“b0ll0cks” Thats balleex – Used in context when disagreeing with someone
Bake -someones face
Baltic – quite cold
Banjaxed – ‘broke’
Bate -beat, I bate her up so ah did
Bate The Wife – bottle of cider
Beef -male sexual organ ie “Ah slipped her the beef lawst nite”
Beezer – Very good, Thats Beezer
Beg -wafer thin plastic vessel; good for carrying shopping :also oul’ beg” when referring to an elderly female
Blurt -Slang for female genetalia
Boggen – dirty, unclean
Boulin’ -messing about
Bout Ye -“Hello”
Brave – large
Brew – weekly benefit

C

Cameracorder -grannies use of the word “camcorder”
Cheeser -like Beezer, meaning “very good” or “exellent”
Chicken -child slang for “afraid”
Chinks -popular Chinese food Take Aways
Childer -children
Cracker -not something you put cheese on, means beezer
Creamed -tired
C.O- carry out ‘r ye goin fer a C.O’

D

Dander -a walk, ie I’m goin fer a dander
Dawg -canine, dog
Digikil -common mis-prounciation of “Digital”
Drawers -underwear
Dour -a door
Duncher -Cap
D.L.A – derry living allowince
E

Earlee-er -before the present
Eejit -derived from “Idiot”, means “Idiot”
Eff Aaf – F*ck Off

F

FaakAaf – Excuse me my good man, kindly vacate the premises
Faaler -father
Fally – follow
Fillum -a movie or film
Fingy -someone whose name you can’t remember
Frig -polite word for “F*ck”, also used: Flip
Flour – a floor
Fut – foot

G

Gat -slang, You’re a wee gat or get
Geg -fun, “Ats a geg”
Getawaydaf*ck -go away now
Givuz -give me
Glass -Half-Pint
Goes -replaces the word “Said” ie And I goes: What? Are you slabberin’?” And then she goes,Yip.”
Gutties -training shoes

H

Happy Days – that’s good
Hardly -meaning “Thats not true” ie Hardly now. Hardly.
Hectic – See Mad
Heel -not to be confused with the back of your foot, means end of a loaf
Heerzme – “And then I said…”
Hippy – someone who likes Bon Jovi
Houl On -please wait

J

Job -activity usually carried out under the cover of night
Joken -joking

K

Kudn’t -couldn’t ie Ah kudn’t do that…

L

Lairdindeyit -please do start eating (or drinking) see also
“wiredintillit”
Leenantarsapees -Famous Italian landmark
Lifted – arrested can also be called ‘scooped
Lingo -language

M

Mad – See Hectic
Mairshen -Emersion Heater
Magic -not tricks, but another word meaning great or good
Majassif – large
Mawn -a man, male
Meat Wagon -RUC Landrovers
Melt -no actual meaning, used as: “I’ll knock your melt in”
Messages – weekly shopping
Milly -name given to teenage females. See also: Steek
Moooooooooooo- (Chris Scott copyright: use when your head is melted).
Moufy**** – rather outspoken person
Monkeyed- drunk ‘I was f****** monkeyed last nite
Mucker -a friend or mate
Muller -Mother or “Ma”

N

Nek it – drink that drink in one
Nice One -that was good
Norman -bullying term for someone with no friends
Norwegain – Another Gin please
Now Yer Sucken Deezel -that’s a good way of going about that

O

Offees -alchohol retailer
Oi -a yelp for someones attention ie Oi! You! C’mere!”
Oxters -Armpits

P

Pat – container in which food is boiled
Prably -maybe, its likely
Passion -heavy rain in Ballymena
Parfil – strong
Peeler -a police officer
Piece-sandwich
Pot – short for Patrick
Pssskety -common misprounciation of “Spaghetti”
Pump – to urinate
Purdie -countryside slang for Potato

Q
Quim -slang for female genetalia

R

Ragin’ -angry, Ahm bloody ragin’ so ah am.
>> >>>Ration -you’d be doing this if you were trying to get to somewhere
in a hurry, in Ballymena
Rare -not to be confused with “scarce”, means crap

S

Samitch -mispronunciation of “Sandwhich”
Scundered – embarrassed
Sebm -seven [7]
Shap -shop
Shar -a shower
Sicken’ Ye – would annoy you
Skinned Ye! – Haha my good friend, I do believe I won that particular game by a significant margin
skint- have no money ‘im f****** skint cant go out man’
Slabber -someone who makes bad comments about you behind your back or to your face
Spoofen – lying
Spide – see Steek
Spoon -someone with a low IQ
Steek -male with bad dress and hair sense
Stroked – stolen / ripped off

T

Ta -Thank You
Tarl – a towel
Theee -the number three
Theee Leet – 3 litre bottle of cider
Till -replaces the word “to” ie Goin till the shap”
Tube -see: Spoon
Two Leet – 2 litre bottle of cider

U
Undurstawnd -understand ie Do ye undurstawnd me?

V
Vaka -Vodka

W

Wain- a young child
Weaker -yet another word for “brilliant”
Welt -male genitals
Wee -put in front of words such as “drink”, “dander”, and basically anything
Wick -not exactly brilliant
Willik – nose
Wiredintillit -“Got wiredintillit earlee-er”
Windie -a window
Windielickurs -horrid term for the mentally disadvantage
Windie Still -a window sill
Wheelie bin – a bin
Wooden One -not a clever person

X
X-Acktlee-exactly

Y

Yermaa -an insult said when nothing else can be thought of
Yeegittin? -Are you being served?
Yip -yes
Yousens – When addressing more than one person

I’d hope that someone like brant will be used for his bike designing skills rather than his big mouth but who knows…

I actually enjoy Cwmcarn more at night – the climbs don’t seem so long for some reason and the DHs are brilliant :)

It’ll be fun at the moment in the snow. As to whether you should go on your own, well that’s really up to you. There’s a tiny risk that you’ll crash and then freeze and die but then chances are that won’t happen. Decide for yourself if the risk’s worth it (FWIW, I probably wouldn’t but I have done similar in the past – must be getting old :) )

Publicly ridiculing his customers like he did recently at O-O

Link please ;)

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

I already have and use a 3g phone (I started this thread with it!) but even with the gmail app, it’s not practical for writing proper emails or even just adding attachments, web links, etc.

Is there anything that allows you to run in background on the home pc rather than just controlling the desktop – the home computer is a media computer (ie it’s our tv too) so I wouldn’t be able to do much with it if my wife’s home watching ‘Finding Nemo’ with our son :)

£10 for our one regardless of the bike’s original value…

I went to one of the top 20 schools in the country (then and now) and we didn’t do much in the last week…

Kids also went off on holidays during term time sometimes (not the norm but it did happen). I don’t recall any correlation between the kids that did that and their exam results or more importantly their lives now :)

I’m constantly amazed at how black and white people think the world is :)

4 bikes – Full susser, SS mtb, CX, road.

All get ridden regularly except the road bike which only comes out if the roads are dry – I ride the CX with road tyres if it’s damp.

if you don’t mind hauling it up the climbs, it’ll be fun downhill but it’s a bit overkill really, imo of course.