Used Gore a few years ago and they were great – now use XTR on a different bike but with a continous cable run and have no problems. On a non continous run I might consider Gore again.

For me it’s down to preparation and deciding never to stop for anything other than a food grab or wee stop unless I really have to – in 24 hours I would try to have a few 5 min stops for warm food, clothes change etc. as well as the grabs

Came 19th on an SS doing solo this year, I could have got another lap in…..

Phew, I was 18th and you were closing in over the last few laps !!!!

I also had a helper for the first time at Mayhem this year – helped a lot. I had everything laid out and could just tell her what to hand to me depending on what I felt like. I would also tell her if I wanted anything different on the next lap – like warm soup or rolls. In between laps she made up drinks and put out gels etc. No problems with the food but also think I drank too much as I was using bottles instead of camelback !!!! Still, there’s always the Exposure 24 hour next year …

I found the woolie boolies to be a good fit, warm, didn’t bulk up in the shoe and good material but too short up the leg – OK in full length tights but I often wear 3/4’s. So went to Matalan and bought some wool walking socks (grey not red). Not top performance but cheap, warm and long – but bought some more the next year and they were a little shorter despite packaging etc. being the same !!!!

My brother went kayaking at the weekend. There was the instructor, himself and six women.

More googling bought up this site[/url] for the foam ones.

Tks all

if you’re in the audience and aren’t headbanging away

my days of headbanging at concerts are a long, long time ago so now I just jump up and down until middle age catches up with me and my legs get tired ….

I’ve tried the foam ones with varying success but the others seem a good price for what they provide.

wall = buildings cover. IMO if you own the house / have a mortgage then buildings cover is a good idea (if not demanded by your mortgage company) as the loss could be large in relation to the premium. Contents is more subjective.

Buildings or Contents

Buildings insurance covers the structure of the building, plus permanent “fixtures and fittings” such as baths, fitted kitchens etc. The test is – can it reasonably be removed and taken to another home? If it can, then it is part of the “contents” and it will not generally be covered by a buildings policy. Buildings policies usually include outbuildings – garages, garden sheds etc.

Both. Depends on what was damaged.

As said above. Can’t remember the details but the insurance industry has agreed to provide flood cover for most properties, but this is subject to the Government continuing to invest in flood risk management. I think that an insurance company will continue to provide cover for existing owners or for people buying the house. If insurance isn’t already in place then you might have a problem as companies don’t want to insure against a risk (in this case flooding) when the likelyhood of that risk happening again is very high. This agreement is in place till 2013.

Does the actual tyre width depend on the rim width to which it’s attached? ie a wider rim width will result in a wider tyre?

I’ve not fallen for the fashion police yet – I find that it’s not the width that counts but how it affects you … a narrower bars means I feel more comfortable thru narrow gaps. Run @ 680mm I think but it varies on each bike.

I thought it was a great idea but I think that the producers must have missed a lot due to the speed it went together. I like the idea of a prefabricated house built in a factory and then bolted together. Being able to remodel the interior is great as well. But, I think that his process needs to get a water tight shell asap and then add the interior fittings due to the weather – though this goes against the philosopy of each panel being finished inside and out.

IMO the best thing about the show was that it showed a British engineer having a dream, thinking differently, then designing and building it.

All good stuff but my take on it

Step 1 – insure the bikes and make sure that your locks etc. meet their minimum standards. Therefore you get paid if anything happens.

Step 2- look at your house / garden as zones. Look at stopping people at the outermost zones if possible. Security fencing round the house maybe a bit OTT but nice thorny hedge in places is good. You might have a solid gate but access via your neighbours property and then over the fence is easy….how can you stop that?

Step 3 onwards – spend as much as you want to so you sleep easy at night.

Oh, and remove power tools like angle grinders from the garage – at least make them bring the tools to steal the bikes rather than them using yours….

Set the room temperatures to what you want rather than heat the whole house up. In effect set up zones in the house so keep doors closed where you want different temperatures. Make sure all insulation is good – curtains, liners, any air gaps around doors / windows, loft – surprising how much difference it makes.

The boiler installer said to set the boiler temp to max for the radiators but I’m not sure if that was based on science or just what he was told. I think that a combi has to have a certain return temperature to be more efficient. It’s something I’ve intended to look into at some point ….

And a question ….. is it worthwhile balancing the radiators if you’ve got TRV’s? Or so long as the room with the room thermostat in heats up last is this OK?

Black …. ‘cos everyone knows that black makes you look slimmer 😀

Have a memory foam mattress though not a Tempur – everyone who’s slept on it says how comfortable it is. Though one friend prefers latex to memory foam (I kid you not).

Just got this link the other day – can’t remember if I bought mine via them so can’t say whether it’s a good deal or not but maybe worth a look … link

The essential Leonard Cohen Vol 1 & 2

Chain checker and replace chain throughout the year.

Keep an eye on CRC and Merlin for deals on chainsets.

Replace in spring with shiny new kit bought at less than RRP.

Sell old stuff on Ebay (I’m joking OK …..)

Don’t librarians have to have a degree? If so they’re one of Dave’s high earners………

Was happy when I downloaded a double cd of his – never listened to the end. Went to the fridge and got a bottle of wine to drown my sorrows …….

I had a boiler / tank system replaced with a combi in March this year. Live on my own and this summer I’ve used 20% of the gas compared to previous summers. Winter will be hard to compare as it’s related to the weather. But I don’t expect to save much – the radiators have to pump out the same amount of heat to warm the rooms up as before. Biggest difference will be the room thermostat – for a 16C setting, old one switched off at 18C, the new one at 16.5C. Again as live on my own no problem with water pressure and washing machine over night on Economy 7.

Despite the £400 bribe grant to replace the boiler I won’t save money. savings = less gas used. expense = interest on installation cost and annual service which I didn’t pay before. I decided to be proactive as the old boiler as the original was from circa 1980 and the casing was showing signs of warping plus getting any installers round here without paying extortionate prices is easier than getting STW to agree on the best bike (I got someone to travel).

New boilers are not as reliable as older ones. Older ones have very few parts that go wrong and if it’s a popular model there should be loads of spares around – you could always buy some in if you think they are going to run out.

IMO combis are good for small flats / houses. As said above if when they go wrong then you have nothing. With a tank you have a reserve of hot water and can use an immersion. i imagine new well insulated water tanks are very efficient – my old one with jacket type insulation kept water warm for 24 hours.

I’ve heard a lot of Trailquest riders are called Graham…..

IMO ceramic isn’t any better than stainless. BB quality is down to the seals.

Turbos …..

Found the turbo good though never used rollers.

So sorry to hear that.

He’d built 9 houses before and in his words hadn’t got any right. Well, better make that 10.

Bought genuine SKF bearings for Hope XC hub off these people on Ebay[/url]. Just watch out for postage charges.

Using mine at the moment as I’m injured and can’t ride on the road – use a HRM to stay in the zone I want to train. Hard work but I don’t have any “lost” time where I’m not in what ever zone I want. Road would be better in the right weather conditions and I’m sure a power meter would be even better additon though at a cost. IMO not very good if you just want to “pedal along” but very good if you set zones, targets and have limited time.

Tent sale on at Go Outdoors at the moment.

Locks thread

Been linked to before but you can while away your lunchbreak reading the many pages. Covers things like stopping your bike being stripped – pity that bikes can be high value, easy to steal, difficult to trace and can be quickly stripped and sold through a variety of channels.

Have read (but not actually looked into it in detail) that PIR sensors can give false alarms in a shed / garage environment due to them detecting changes in heat (not movement as people believe). Dual technology (PIR and microwave) are better as it only goes off if both are triggered. Though contacts on the door might be better.

You can beef up the hinges / padlock etc. on the shed using bolts which may slow them down a bit. See here for examples but all readily available

molgrips – I know the Almax chain (16mm) will be better than a 13mm chain re security but is it worth the extra in weight, useability and possible damage when fitting to the bikes? tks

My Sky dish drops out in bad weather.

And at the moment I can set the recorder to BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4, C5 – all thru a good old fashioned aerial or satelite. So over a weekend I can record from six channels. Once analogue turned off then I’ll be able to record from the one channel ….. satelite, which I have to preset so I can’t record BBC then ITV. Of course, maybe they want me to spend lots of money replacing stuff that works perfectly well. Digital = a step backwards for me.

Edit – just realised I’ve never recorded C5 so might not be able to !!!

Also to consider are the “free” PV systems that some companies are installing

Read the T&C’s carefully. It won’t save you much per year in electricity costs but usually you’ve signed a 25 year contract which passes to the next owner of your house. This might or might not put off potential buyers – could even be a selling feature.

Long thread on it including input from the company being discussed. Seems like an excellent business model and there’s lots of demand. Wish I’d thought of it 🙁

There’s an upper limit to the array size to get the highest FIT. Tesco are doing installations using a third party which will give you a baseline for costs – no point in paying higher IMO and you get Tesco club card points !!! You need an accredited installer to get the FIT so can’t DIY it. IMO if you’re staying in the house for 10+ years then it is worth considering.

PV panels

The Cycle Studio[/url] in Stratford.

Though if it’s standard spokes / rim then you s/be OK doing it yourself.

Having serviced Hope brakes in the past I now send the whole lot off to Hope for them to service. Think it’s good VFM.

Thanks all, a few to look at. Finding a decent local joiner will be the next difficult step !!!

Ex G/F got some off Optilab and while not stylish they worked. They said they used a modified equation to take into acount the wrap around of the lenses but no idea if that was marketing speak or fact. Worth a phone call IMO.

£2150 for Worcester Bosch 28i Junior earlier this year. Having used it I'd now go for next model up which gives control of both hot water and central heating temperatures rather than just central heating – on the 28i the hot water is "fixed" at 55C but this varies depending on the temperature of the water entering the house.

Blacks (& Millets) have sale on at the moment. Banshee 200 for £60. Code bRWqCh gets another 20% off to £48 but I don't know how long it'll last for, vague recollection it's valid till Sept 9th (still works 11.40 Wed)

Edit – see here[/url] for codes, valid till 30th Sept.