Thanks Ceepers, that’s actually really helpful. The plug 3 has Sora and is reported to have heavy wheels so I guess it would be a similar weight.

If I got one it would be used for commuting on roads and light off road cycle paths with longer road rides thrown in at weekends. I used to do this on a hybrid but it was a bit too small for me, so I bought the triban, which is faster on the road, but no use on gravel cycle paths etc.

*Apologies for the hijack.

Fubar, how are you finding the plug. This could be perfect for what I want. Can I ask how it rides, what is the sizing like and does it feel too heavy? I’m not sure which size to go for at 165cm, and the triban 3 road bike it would be replacing isn’t that light at about 10.4 KGs.

We used it on our collie and it did seem to work well. We now use Riaflex canine joint plus, which is more expensive, but my wife insists is better.

If I were you I would try Yumove first as it is cheaper.

I also grew up in Oakham, but left in 2004 to go to uni and haven’t felt the need to move back.

As has been said it is a really nice area, and the Grainstore is a great pub, however I would recommend staying in Stamford if you can. My parents live in Oakham, and my brother in Stamford and when I visit I stay in Stamford as it is nicer than Oakham IMHO. It’s only 11 miles from Oakham, borders on Rutland and has more to see and do.

Thanks again gonzy, that’s cheap enough for me!

Cool, cheers gonzy. I may go 10 speed this summer :-)

Without wanting to hijack the thread is it possible to use an 8 speed triple chainset with a 10 speed chain?

My hardtail is 8 speed, and I already have some SLX 10 speed shifters, would I just need a 10 speed cassette, chain and rear mech?

I know Rutland cycles has been mentioned, but they have a demo day tomorrow. Its less than an hour and a half from Shefield, and they are only asking £10 deposit to try the bikes.

It is short notice but worth considering if you are free tomorrow.

Cool, thanks. I may end up giving it a go as some people have had them without trouble. If I do go for it I will have to keep checking the BB.

Hmmm, mixed reviews. It might be worth a punt at the price then. How do people find the shifting compared to shimano chainsets?

When logging in I get an error with code 085.

There’s not much love for the GPX bottom brackets then. As the BB seems to be a common weak point, and they’re more expensive than the Shimano BBs the Tiagra triple is making more sense now. I’ll probably go with a 105 BB though. Thanks again.

Thanks for the responses. I agree that the Elita does look nicer than the Tiagra and 105, the low weight and price are tempting, but BigBlackShed’s experience is off putting! I think Shimano may be the way to go for me.

We have a JBL flip and would recommend it too.

I wanted a bluetooth speaker for the kitchen when cooking, or for when I am working on bikes or cars, and initially only wanted to spend £30. I spent ages reading reviews and most were people stating how loud they were, or that they kept dropping connections. Not many mentioned sound quality. I listened to a few in HMV and to be honest most sounded pretty bad.

In the end I decided to up the budget to get one with consistently good reviews for reliability and sound quality, so got the JBL Flip for £50 from Currys around new year. It has been faultless and sounds pretty good, although not bassy at all. we also considered this Sony
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-SRSBTM8B-CEK-Portable-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B009WNN7XI
which has very good reviews, but we preferred the portability of the JBL. I’ve not heard the Sony though, it might sound better.

The Merlin Malt R is fantastic value for money. I looked at one last year when I was considering buying a Ridley from them. The Ridley didn’t fit me too well, and I didn’t try a Malt R as it was slightly over my budget at the time at £600, and had an even longer ETT length than the Ridley that was too large for me.

I’ve also tried the red Triban 3, and the Triban 5. I ended up buying the Triban 3 as it was my first road bike, and I wasn’t sure if I would like it. As someone else said the wheels on the Triban 3 have a poor reputation, but I thought the wheels fitted to the 5 were the same? This may put you off, but the warranty from Decathlon is first rate so they will replace parts for you should you need it.

The Triban 5 was definitely nicer to ride, but I figured by the time I had replaced the wheels I could have bought a better bike from the start, so bought the 3 with the intention of replacing the wheels when the hubs fail.

If I were you I would strongly consider the Malt R, here’s a link to the geometry for it
http://www.merlincycles.com/resources/files/Merlin%20Geometry.pdf

It has a better groupset, and is 10 speed so much more future proof. If you end up replacing the wheels on a Triban 5 it would have cost you more than the Malt R, and it will have a lower spec group set.

Like many others on here suggest, the Moto G. I got the 8gb one for £89 from Tesco (£10 discount for 1st Tesco Direct purchase), then paid £2.03 for an unlock code from eBay. Less than 20 minutes later my new phone was happily working with my giffgaff sim.

For the money you will struggle to beat it, and in the 2 months I have had it it has impressed me.

Thanks OP, an extra buff is always good :)

Bianchi Camaleonte. It’s their hybrid series, and is Italian for chameleon, it is a descriptive name but I always read it as camel toe!

It’s a good looking frame though.

I bought a Decathlon Triban 3 around 6 months ago and have to agree that for the money (it was a bargain at £300, it’s a steal at 250) it is great value. It will take mudguards or 25c tires (limited clearance for both), and the shifters are not as good as better groupsets but they are reliable and the guarantee from Decathlon is excellent. I have changed the saddle, brake pads, stem and fitted full length guards and it is comfortable and quick enough round the potholed lanes of Lancs. None of those changes were essential.

It’s not the best bike but it is great for the cash, and the triban 5 has a better groupset and is only £429. They hold their value fairly well and are easy to sell on too. If you have a Decathlon near you it’s worth taking a look.

I am currently running a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 50i’s dating from around 1998. I picked them up around 6 years ago off eBay and they are still going strong. They are too big for our front room really though.

They are driven by a Cambridge Audio amp and a Marantz CD player, which sounds pretty good to our ears, not amazing, but good enough for casual listening. Also running the PC through an old A&R Cambridge (Arcam) amp and tuner with some Eltax Monitor 3’s in the spare room/office. This setup can be had on eBay for not much and sounds reasonable too.

28 and together 12 years, but only married this year.

We normally stop at the inlaws and visit my family in the afternoon. This year the inlaws moved so we can only see one set of parents on Christmas. We are at the inlaws for Christmas, ours for boxing day, then of to my parents on the 27th. All being well we can fit in a visit to the grandparents too.

Christmas is about family, and covering loads of miles in the car whilst most people are drinking. Merry Christmas!

If you want to buy new and can get over to Blackburn, Reidys has a huge selection of guitars and some amps if you want to get a feel for different models. You should be able to play a few and get a feel for what works for you.

I’ve been with giffgaff for over 2 years and have only noticed the service being unavailable 2 or 3 times in that period. As others have said the customer service is based on the forum, but they do post about network outages etc online.

They are cheap, and the service is mostly reliable. The most annoying thing for me is sometimes the top up service is down. It’s usually up again within an hour though. Overall I would recommend them.

I’ve got a Bianchi hybrid that has an MTB triple, with 28, 38 and 48 tooth rings. Coupled with a 32 tooth cassette I have never found myself running out of gears, and the roads here aren’t exactly flat.

The big ring and top gear is quick enough for commuting and general road riding, and the gearing seems sensible. Hybrids cover a wide spectrum, there’s usually one to suit your needs if you look hard enough.

Does the Kona have the Sora shifters with the thumb levers that can only be operated from the hoods? I am also interested in it, but that would be a deal breaker for me.

I received the same email yesterday, and a dispatch email today :-)

Thanks O.P.