Basically I am not happy with any of these claims on my deposit. I can back up some of my side of the story but as noted above do not have comprehensive photos prior to moving in. I am worried about any dispute being a bit he said she said.

My feeling is that the new tenants face the same challenges and condition of the property as I did with my arrival. I was perhaps naïve to accept the condition of the flat as that of a 10-15 year old flat with multiple previous occupants. It would also appear that the new tenants were more forceful in ensuring the concerns were addressed by withholding the first month rent and this has caused the landlord a considerable loss. The landlord is now looking to recover some of these costs at my expense which is deeply unfair an inappropriate on my part.

Do I:
a) Reply to the lanlord and ask him to be a bit more reasonable and see if we can work it out?
b) Put a claim in straight away to the DPS away all the explanation and evidence I can find?
c) Wee in his shoes? :D (This always used to be the satndard STW response)

b) seems like the best option but any help or advice you may be able to offer for situations like this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

PS I split all of this up to look a little less overwhelming!

This came as quite a shock to me and my responses to the above claims would be:

1) The main boiler did not work prior to tenancy. Trying to use the main boiler tripped the fuse causing loss of electricity to the flat. This was also raised with the landlord upon him visiting at the start of the tenancy and I was told that the previous tenants managed to survive so I would too. I was also told to try and contact the previous tenants to work out how to live with the boiler. In the end I just used the smaller, quick heating immersion heater for showers/ washing up/ etc. There is also good evidence of several old pumps, electrical boards and scorch marks around the main boiler electrical switch where it looks like it has caught on fire at some stage! This is how everything was when I moved in.

2) Similar story for the heaters. Heaters did not work at start of tenancy. This was raised with the landlord upon the same visit at the start of the tenancy and I was told again that the previous tenants managed to survive so I would too. Heating from then on was provided by me by electric heaters (i.e. I as the tenant did my best to maintain heat in the flat despite the landlord refusing to fix the storage heaters).

3) I cleaned thoroughly when leaving and have photos to back this up. The flat was unoccupied to 6 weeks after my tenancy ended so may explain any dust but it seems like an odd complaint. The sofas were marked when I moved in and I just accepted this as the condition of a 10-15 year old flat. Unfortunately I don’t think I have photos of the settee from when I moved in.

4) The blinds were marked when I moved in but again I don’t think I took photos of this. The marks are minor so I did not take issue with it. The curtains did collect about 5cm of mould to the inner lining (facing the window) due perhaps in part to wear and tear and perhaps in part due to the inadequate heating situation. This is the only claim I accept occurred during my tenancy.

5) Gesture of good will… hmmmm… :/

Apologies all. Only been in Bath a couple of weeks so my knowledge is limited.

From what little I have gathered around Bath I think the Cheeky Trails code will almost always apply :wink:

I asked the same thing not too long ago :)

Bath MTB?

Browns Folley has some pretty technical riding to make a 1-1.5 ride out of the centre of Bath. That would be a good start. Do you have GPS I could send a map to?

There are lots of other nice sections around by the looks of it just more road to link it all up than I was used to in South Wales ;)

Your best bet is to get in touch with Dave who replied to my previous topic. They have a group ride on Wednesday evenings and would more than likely be happy to show you around.

DanW

Wow! Can’t believe I have never come across that before. Another reason to keep checking everything regularly!

What’s the deal with all this CK talk? Fingers crossed it is just Mojo’s lame excuse for failures rather than an actual cause :wink:

Still a good deal of porky things to get it even lower but good job for now :D

Shouldn’t be a problem as far as I am aware.

I think all companies use the same thickness rotor (1.6mm???) with the exception of some Hayes brakes which use a thicker rotor (1.84mm???)

Someone will probably correct me on this though

They are very good in my opinion. Not just “for the price”, but good regardless. I use them off road and a little on the roads to the trails.

I have found cars come to a complete stop as they approach you as they are rather bright to say the least. I think I prefer cars to need to think a little about passing you although I’m sure the drivers disagree :D You might soon become very unpopular if the lights are exclusively for road use :?

These old tyres have nothing to do with the new ones bar the name! Isn’t it time for an afternoon nap? :D

I have the Ibex and Canis. Both fantastic tyres and I would rate them above equivalent Maxxis and Schwalbe offerings.

You can read some thoughts on the Canis here

The same things follow through to the Ibex, mainly the quality of the rubber compound meaning grip is fantastic and rolling resistance small enough to not notice it :D I used the Ibex when the trails were a mix of hardpack and mud. They are good in the mud or on trail centre style trails in the middle of winter (i.e. wet rocks and roots but not deep mud) but for properly deep mud I’d go for a dedicated mud tyre.

Try them, you won’t be disappointed!

Bonty Mud-X all the way!

Name, DOB, and some contact details can’t do any harm.

Might not directly influence treatment but hopefully delays the time loved ones are panicking for.

Can’t do any harm and look discreet, I am happy I got one if only for peace of mind.

Thank you very much for sending the files on! :D

Pace- dead, now DT Swiss
DT Swiss- Generally avoided due to stories of short lifespan but may well be good. No-one knows as no-one seems to buy them :D

Do some trigonometry if you want to have the same hand to saddle distance while swapping stem length/ bar width :D

Hi Ade,

Would you be able to send over a .gpx file of this route to me too? I have been thinking of a ride like this for some time but am a little lost for where best t go.

sk8erdj50[at]hotmail[dot]com if that is ok?

Many thanks, Daniel

If you believe the interweb then Speedplay are the work of the devil…

On a more practical note why would you want the amount of float Speedplay pedals offer? It doesn’t make biomechanical sense and doesn’t lead to happier knees if the rest of your bike is set up properly (which seems to be the main selling point of them)

Use Sheldon Brown’s gear calculator to work out exactly what combinations you would actually need in the real world, see if the spread is possible with a double and then see if that suits your riding

More than about 6 degrees float is a poor substitute for a good bike fit in my opinion but your experiences may vary :D

I was convinced I needed a lot of float to have comfortable knees but when I rode with instrumented Look Keo’s I found I was only using 0.5 degrees float!

On topic, I have found I like the feel of the way Look Keos float (i.e. non-centering) and the choice of different cleats means you get the amount you feel most comfortable with.

Sore knees like to be warm! :D Knee warmers, 3/4 bib tights and the like all help on the bike but make you look a bit daft in town :D Maybe get a knee “support” may help you keep warm in these situations.

theroadwarrior- if you drain all of the fluid out of the air chamber by depressing the air valve and compressing the forks does anything then need to be topped up again besides the normal lubrication fluid as you would with a dust wiper/ seal service?

Head over to the Sirhowy Valley too if you are already riding a lot around Rudry and Machen.

el_tell, from Cardiff you can get a train to Taffs Well, Caerphilly or Crosskeys for the start of some fantastic rides. As above, I’d really recommend going out with the guys from Castle Bikes Caerphilly on a Saturday morning

Buy a Tacx as you first thought. I find it perfect on the MTB with a Tacx bottle. They are about £6 on Ribble Cycles at the moment, super light, look better than a conventional cage in my opinion and just work without any fuss. Highly recommended. Or buy a King cage if you insist on spending more money :D

There are apparently some nice DH style trails on the Taff Trail side of the Craig Yr Alt but it requires a push up as there isn’t really a nice climb. I explored it a while back and concluded it wasn’t worth the effort :)

Have you descend the Garth from the Taffs Well side? Quite a challenge first time for a noob like me.

I used to be stuck riding the same areas you mention but there is so much more out there.

I would suggest meeting up with a Saturday morning beginners ride with Castle Bikes of Caerphilly. They are super friendly and opened my eyes to exactly what is in the area. Give it a go!

The new evidence with braces seems to be that they work by actually allowing certain muscles to be innactive and essentially get lazy. They are a mechanical support for what your muscles should be supporting. As far as I am aware in most cases the role of the brace can be provided with thorough rehab/ physiotherapy exercises without important muscles wasting away and forgetting their job more long term. Of course others may argue but I’d get a second opinion regardless.

I have never heard of the oil in the air chamber problem but it seems to be the cause of my limited travel. How does the lubrication fluid work its way in to the air chamber???? Whenever I do a seal and wiper service I do notice that there appears to be less lubrication fluid in the air side- I guess now I know where it has been going!

I always expect anything to do with bikes to be “fun” and “interesting” to sort :D

njee20 there are plenty of custom ww routes such as your chainring and they are actually available aftermarket on CRC/ direct from FSA. FSA do seem to like short term unusual BCD’s it has to be said!

The crank BCD is 95mm so fits a 29T minimum either in the inner or outer position. No worries there.

Thanks for the extra tips brakes. Having it in the outer position even if the chainline is less ideal looking by eye makes sense.

I have ordered an e-thirteen seat tube mounted chain guide so hopefully this should work smoothly with the ring in the outer position.

Thanks!

Good point on checking the suspension effect on chain length!

Hadn’t thought of that!

I’ll be using a small 30T or thereabouts to start with as I need the climbing ability but not so much the top end speed on the tight and twisty trails near me- I think I have the clearance.

After that is is just a case of trying both and judging by eye which chainline looks best?

Is there an ideal amount in between the two extremes?

A bit more of a “do it by eye” approach then for 1×9?

Is there an optimal range for a rear mech to work in? Is there any advantage tp the chain being towards the slacker end or tighter end of the spectrum?

The fibula’s role is largely to contribute to ankle motion but I would be skeptical of any study assessing weight bearing of the fibula- main thing is the tibia is the main weight bearing bone.

No-one can properly advise you as fractures/ people are often not straight forward even if they appear so. I broke my fibula and tibia with nice clean breaks and had 3 months in a full leg cast yet my GF’s grandmother smashed her arm to bits and was fine in 2 weeks (bad examples but you get the point!)

Standard advice with anything like this is to take it easy. You have more chance of doing harm by trying to rush things than of losing a huge amount of fitness/ muscle mass with a few weeks off.

Expect to be weak/ sore/ miserable for a few weeks after the boot is off and most likely be pleasantly surprised when that is not the case :)

Remember also that when a doctor mentions “getting back to activities or sport” their definition of this isn’t as demanding as you would probably hope for. Most people want to sit at their desk at work comfortably not crank out the miles in the middle of nowhere :) Take it easy and be patient! Don’t be disappointed if it is still sore after a year or so as kjrogers says.

Best of luck and heal well!

Really attack the all around lower limb rehab exercises too. A good physio should point you in the right direction but sadly they are hard to find! If not then you may well get into bad habits and aggravate the knee more (even off the bike). May I ask what is up with your knee gordi?

It seems that if the speed/ cadence sensor is detected by the unit then it only detects movement when the wheel spins rather than when the gps actually detects you move. If you carry you bike for example and the wheel doesn’t spin then no movement is recorded. Therefore it seems most likely that the magnet on the wheel is not meeting the speed/ cadence sensor properly. Pressing the little white button on the sensor and then spinning the wheel should cause the white button to light up with each wheel spin for a few seconds. If this doesn’t happen then they are not properly aligned.

Simply adjust the levers to be closer to the bars? Lever travel would remain the same but the bite point would be closer to the bars. If you want more dead lever travel then all you could really try is a little less fluid in the system but I don’t think this is a good idea. Most people tend to like less dead lever travel and Formula is one of the few companies who produce brakes good at this. I don’t think they are designed to have dead lever travel or pull close to the bars even with less fluid in. In fact the short lever travel is something of a selling point

As Bez says the general rule is spinning at a higher cadence basically tests your cardiovascular system more (more likely to be out of breath), while travelling at the same speed with a lower cadence tires your muscles more (more likely to have sore legs). This is an oversimplification but gives you the rough idea.

On a MTB a cadence of 90-100rpm may not be practical up a steep hill with a loose surface as the wheels would tend to spin out but on the road I’d tend to aim for 90-100rpm.

As for why you were slower than the other guy… he probably rides more than you :D

Front mechs from SRAM and Shimano use the same cable pull ratio, it’s just the rear mechs that differ- was this your concern Njee?

As Njee says, no issue with the crank. No issue with anything else either

My all round full susser weighs less than that :wink: