fionap – if you go by that measure, might as well use a halfords 100 quid special to race on, no real differnece with a bit of mud…

Not exactly the same thing. I was going to do a classic ‘recommend what you have’ on the SDG Allure (£50-ish, ti rails etc) but when I checked it was actually 285g. I’ve never considered it to be a “heavy” saddle but then I don’t do serious racing and I’ve never even considered putting my bike on the scales.

I’ve ridden with a Ladle and found it good, whereas I just can’t get on with any of the Spesh lady saddles.

SDG and Fizik both do some options for about £50 (in sale on wiggle) that weigh low 200s. Surely for XC racing and training the additional weight will quickly be insignificant compared to the mud stuck to the bike?

My great aunt had her mother’s maiden name for a middle name (Ellis), as that was quite a prestigious family and I guess they didn’t want to lose the connection entirely. I’ve always thought that’s quite a nice way of coming up with a middle name with significance to it.

You could download a free 30 day trial and do loads of online videos etc?
http://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/revit-family/free-trial

If it’s just you on your own using it you might as well have a look at Revit LT as it should be a bit lighter and you won’t miss the sharing functions:
http://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/revit-lt/free-trial

Halfords had the Gore Gore-tex one on cheap, haven’t tried it but it looks more fitted.

Test-drove one a while back and the steering was horribly twitchy. But others have said it shouldn’t have been like that, so maybe it was a fault or something. Apart from that it was really good. Honda appear to have some pretty good deals on them at the moment.

Re. calendar – why are Cube the only sponsor who insisted on putting a giant logo on their photo? Bastards.
Also, has anyone considered there might be a market for a higher-quality calendar without the large ads, with bigger photos such as those which adorn the front covers every month?

I’m sick of no one filling up the water filter so yesterday I went & brought a Brita filter tap, I thought I may as well buy a new kettle whilst I was at it & I picked up a Russell Hobs 75% quieter jobbie, all I can say is wow, how the heck did I manage to live with the noise of the old one for so long? It sounded like a jet fighter taking off in comparison!

I was intrigued by this so googled it – it’ll have to wait till I’m not renting, but if anyone else is looking:
http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/brita-torlan-3-way-mono-mixer-filter-kitchen-tap-chrome

Looks like an excellent deal, £137 installed.

Very tempted to get a sprocker in the next few months. My parents have a springer-collie and he seems to have a bit of the ‘springer rage’ problem – he’ll flip between being super-soppy and affectionate to growling and grumpy, sometimes all at once. Also can’t be let off the lead very often because he vanishes off hunting – there don’t have to be any animals in sight, he’ll go and find them – and can’t be motivated to come back with food/treats/toys/shouting/anything – it’s like a red mist descends and he can’t hear anything else, until he knackers himself out.
I haven’t heard of sprockers having any of these issues. Perhaps hadn’t realised they’re as much work as some of these comments suggest, however.

Funny this thread should appear – I’ve been looking on ebay this morning for something I can tie up and leave outside the shops/gym. It’s amazing the things that come up when you search for a “bike” for less then £50 within a certain distance. About half of them appear to be nicked and the rest are canal jobs.

I’ve got Virgin media cable broadband – some days it’s perfect, other days or at certain times it slows down to what is effectively dial-up speed, when I can’t even load google. Had no internet or phone at all the other morning so I phoned them up only to find out they were doing “maintenance”, with no prior warning. Had a proper moan and got £6 off a month for 12mo.

I parked in the Brook Street car park earlier this year for NIN at the Arena. Arrived at about 6.30pm and there were lots of spaces. No trouble getting out after.

I can’t believe that nobody suggested crisps.

They could get in even more shit if they’ve disturbed the bats, which sounds inevitable. No wonder he wants his mate to fix it.

Based on your list, Patrick Rothfuss should be a good bet. Start with The Name of the Wind.

Does anyone have any views on 123reg? I’ve got a domain with them and now need to set up a small business website, probably based on WordPress. The domain/email has been ok but their website is truly horrible to use, which is why I’m hesitant.

Just lost over an hour to that http://gypsybytrade.wordpress.com/ blog!

Hoping to do a two-week tour next June with my partner, was thinking something comparatively straightforward like gradually heading down to Italy down the France-Germany border but after reading that blog and some of the posts here, it seems a bit tame…

Yup that’s what I did, it still made it painful, then when I tried to move it I just kept grabbing the edge and changing the size…

You need to make it an “object” it will then become a separate entity within the model.

It’s all about the ‘outliner’ tool – start using groups and components.

The Pro version works exactly the same as the free version, just with a few more functions. If you can’t stand the navigation or the basic principles then you’re not going to like Pro either.

Fwiw I find it’s a useful addition to ‘proper’ CAD, used for initial architectural mass modelling and ‘sketching’ – still drawn relatively accurately and to scale, but I wouldn’t use it for presentation drawings of any sort.

Get house
Think of what work you want done
Get architect/designer in to see if it’s possible
Get builders to quote on that work – choose builder here
Get planning permission if needed
Start work…

Is this right?

If, say, I needed a garage rebuilt, would I need a designer for that?
Or can I start to get builder quotes in straight away for stuff like that?

Roughly right. It’s not an entirely linear process.
I’d say:
– get house
– live in house for a bit to work out what you need – might well be different to your first impressions
– if it’s a replacement garage/porch etc, go straight to builders for quotes etc. Most garages can be built under your ‘permitted rights’, but check on http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/. (also check that the permitted rights have not been restricted by any previous work on the house – search on your local council’s planning site for any previous applications.)

– If it’s an extension, have an initial chat with an architect etc to find out if it’s feasible or if they have any better suggestions. They will be able to confirm if you need planning permission (again have a look at the link above).
– Appoint architect etc to draw up plans for submission to LPA for planning permission if required / or for builders to quote from if it falls under ‘permitted development’ (a lot of builders will want measured drawings and basic specs before they will quote)
– Choose whether to go down ‘full plans’ or ‘building notice’ route for Building Regulations approval – one is done in advance, one is checked as you go along – generally not much difference in price, so it typically comes down to the size of the job (larger to be done in advance for lower risk).
– Appoint structural engineer to do calculations as required for building control.
– Appoint building control inspector – you’ve got a choice of Local Authority or Independent Approved Inspectors, in my experience the latter are cheaper and more flexible.
– Get quotes from builders either from planning drawings (probably not enough detail for a larger project) or from BR/construction drawings.
– Appoint builder
– Live through a bit of mess for a while
– Get it signed off by building control
– Move in
– Have a cup of tea.

You can also get Quantity Surveyors involved if you want really detailed costings. I’ve got a £220k extension on site in Devon where the client wanted fixed price detailed quotes from the bidding contractors, so he appointed a QS to cost up the scheme before hand so he had something to compare against. Depending on the scale of the job, you can also get stuck in to what choice of contract etc – architect should be able to advise on this if required.

Would these not be quite simple for nasty people to break into? We need something for the back garden but were thinking ground anchor etc in a very secure enclosure is the only way to go…and that’s not really an option when renting.

He might need calculations by a competent engineer to get building control to sign off the project. Sometimes, if the inspector has a proposal put to them (which your mate could try and put together from the aforementioned eurocodes) they will confirm if they’re happy with it and sign it off that way instead. They may also give some advice on what they want to see for the foundations. Those beams are fairly large spans, they’ll probably be deeper than he expects.

Best option as twistedpencil says: pay an engineer to do it.

http://scarletmist.com/ is a good site for getting tickets for sold-out stuff. It’s very ‘anti-tout’. They let a limited number of people sign-up for alerts for a particular gig, so you get an email when somebody puts one up for sale. I’ve bought/sold tickets on there a number of times without any hassle.

Solution: don’t take a change of clothing into work. Sit there in sodden, stinking dirty bike gear and see how that goes down in the office.

Will be a support act again at their Kristmas Krankenhaus @ the Haunt in december

You have just made my day! Thank you.

Very sad.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/familys-tribute-to-cyclist-killed-in-hitandrun-on-country-road-in-surrey-9850281.html

I was at Kendal too, awesome gig. Made me forget about the pain in my knee from crocking it climbing Helvellyn earlier in the day.

Now looking forward to the Kristmas Krankenhaus and the rescheduled Barbican date in January…yep I’m a little bit addicted to this band.

Evans have got some Sealskinz on half price at the moment: http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/clothing/socks/f/sealskinz#!

Allergic rhinitis…most perfumes are intolerable, but especially floral ones. Walking through the front of any department store is painful.

Hmmm. I bought some Lynx shower gel recently because it was reduced in Tesco and I got twice the amount I normally get for about a quid.
My wife reckons it smells really nice. Is she secretly plotting to divorce me based on my shower gel choice?

Definitely. 😉

Or maybe the shower gels don’t smell as bad as the ‘deodorants’.

Leave a gap, ideally 50mm clear if you’ve got room. If you don’t then moisture will track straight across and could make things worse.

From the inside:
plasterboard (on studs?)
vapour barrier
insulation
cavity
outer leaf (are you sure the pebbledash is just on to wood?)

You need to try and lap/seal the vapour barrier with something…problem is you probably haven’t got one in the rest of the wall. How old is the house and what is it made of?

Condensation on the window is probably indicative of too much moisture within the room – don’t expect it to go away just by tackling this little piece of wall.

Leaving your toiletries is stage 1 of moving in together. Perhaps she just thought it was bit soon.

That, I reckon.

Comments re. Lynx and 13 year olds – also spot on.

Reliability seemed pretty poor to me – last winter I had to go and pick him up from Gatwick at least half a dozen times because the line was shut further down (typically due to flooding at Preston Park or similar).

I went to primary school in Cornwall and it was standard then for the RNLI or someone to come in every year and teach all the kids about rip currents and beach safety flags – I think this is still the case down there.

Hove = more for your money, if you’re renting. Lived in a flat on one of the roads leading down to Hove Lawns until 6mo ago and it was lovely. My partner tried commuting on Southern trains to Victoria for 6 months but it was absolutely shit, hence giving in and moving to London. Not a week went by when it wasn’t severely delayed for some reason or other, in both directions. Extremely overcrowded and overpriced. If you want a seat you either have to go in before 6am or get the train from its starting point and be first on – ok for some of the Brighton trains but not if you’re getting on at Hove / Shoreham etc.
Went back down to Brighton yesterday for a day out and it’s a lovely place to live. I used to think it was full of south-eastern ****, but now having been in London, it seems really relaxed and friendly.

Remember there’s a fair bit of crossover between cyclists and walkers, and even horse-riders. I do all three, lots of walking, fairly regular biking and very occasional horse riding. It’s impractical to suggest a single rule suits every occasion – priority should depend on location / speed / gradient etc. If only everybody was polite and considerate…

Gay beer.

Emirates cable car is really good – the views are as good as the Eye and it’s much cheaper. From the Tower (Tower Gateway station) you can get the DLR to Royal Victoria where the cable car starts, then get the Jubilee line from North Greenwich to wherever you want to go after.

Someone’s nicked the motor off the top of your compressor!

And your fire extinguisher…looks suspicious. Lovely bike though.

Yeah, not arguing with that.
Stop-gap job > sitting at home.
But also:
Relevant work experience > soul-destroying stop-gap job.

And there’s nothing to say he won’t be aiming at higher-end companies at some point – his degree and uni wouldn’t hold him back.