I had elusive creaking problems and eventually traced it to the seatpost area (aluminium frame with aluminium seatpost). It would creak even when out the saddle!

Fixed by using that Pace RC007[/url] grease with the wee bits in it. It also allows the clamp work without it being super tight. Good stuff.

I’m much happier in a field full of sheep

That’s a laugh. Once upon a time, Mrs Fruitbat was chased by a sheep near Pitlochry.
We entered a field with some sheep (and some lambs) and I thought they looked a bit upset so I veered off our route, expecting Mrs Fruitbat to follow.
To my dismay and eventual amusement she chose to continue and found herself being chased by, presumably, a mother sheep. The only thing that seemed to persuade the sheep to retreat was her falling off her bike on a muddy slope.
It was her first outing with SPDs which she blamed for her fall :lol:

The MacDonald Cardrona hotel is good – about 1 mile towards Inners from GT. It’s a bit expensive though. We stayed there at Easter and used Tesco vouchers to pay for some of the stay.
Restaurant is expensive too – we ate in the Tontine Hotel in Peebles, very good.

This thread is useless without kaesae’s input.

Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
Emerson Lake and Palmer – Trilogy
Vivian Stanshall – Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
John Field – Nocturnes Nos 1 – 15 (Pietro Spada, Piano)
Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick
John Cooper Clarke – Snap, Crackle [&] Bop
Sir John Betjeman – Banana Blush
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
Genesis – Selling England by the Pound
Bob Dylan – Hard Rain

Not really a top ten but I have been known to listen to them in excess!

Oral sex – once you get over the smell, you’ve got it licked :oops:

+1 What dicky said.

I reckon that in any racing situation (on a bike) you should be disqualified if you get off and walk.

Vivian Stanshall

One of my most amusing memories of caravaning was when I overtook 5 cars at once going up the hill out of Kincardine (on Forth).

As advised above my car, an Alfa GTV6, had adequate power for embarrassing the non towing fraternity.

Me and Mrs Fruitbat like Yair Hill forest. Start and finish at the car park here – 73/438348 and head in an anti-clockwise direction. Lovely scenery, although it's only fire roads and not very demanding!

Q. How do you know if an engineer (substitute other geeksters here as required) is an extrovert?

A. When he speaks to you he/she will be looking at your shoes.

Here you are:

http://www.petracycles.co.uk/axle-removal-tool-p-12803.html

I also enjoy the tinkering aspects of life and have shamelessly plagiarized fivespot (thank you old boy) and modified the cups on our 3 bikes. In my case I turned the bearings round so that the open side faces the plastic inner tube and the sealed side faces the outer plastic shield. In this way the open side of the bearing can receive the greasy goodness where it's needed.
I also drilled holes in the BB shell and sealed up the rear facing seatpost slots with silicone mastic.
I got the grease fittings shipped over from America BTW.

I've had two 156 saloons and they were great. I used a tow bar mounted rack for the bikes. I now use roof mounted methods.
I've run Alfas for years so I'm rather biased. In fact the whole Fruitbat family rather likes the Alfa breed. Mind you I do all my own work on them otherwise I'd be bankrupt.
Here's the current fleet:

This is a smashing thread. Here's my Record 36. Ive mounted it on a plate so that it can swivel.

Maybe we could have a new thread featuring specialist tools such as bearing pullers, soldering irons, Stilsons etc.?

If you get bored there, hop on the train to Coatbridge and experience The Time Capsule. 2nd only in the UK to Alton Towers for family fun and stabbings.

Blimey I didn't know Alton Towers was that bad!

I'm rather surprised that Denny has not been mentioned yet.

Thank **** I live in Scotland

Aye me too!

Workshop with storage solutions? How about this :lol:

Didn't you know, fruitbats like to hoard things :-)

Here's my extravaganza

I'm probably what would be classed as an XC rider. Once I was cycling (on a road mind) and I fell off the bike. I broke my collar bone and cracked my helmet. Had I not been wearing a helmet I might have cracked my head.

I've got 3 – noisy but nice!

I prefer Fenwicks FS1

Here's my 17.5" 2007 model – absolutely smashing. Son of fruitbat has a 19.5" and Mrs. fruitbat has a 17.5" GS one

My Fiat Bravo has it too. I'm fed up with folk telling me I've only got one fog light working!

It also has another very annoying feature – If you're driving vigorously and you do a bit of heavy braking the hazard warning lights start to flash. It's very distracting and can really break one's concentration.

Two examples of EU tomfoolery.

A friend of mine (who works in IT, nuff said) thought a Mammogram was like a Kissogram where the lady showed the recipient her 'assets'. :D

There are not enough GFs on this thread – here's two more:

His

Hers

One more for the Bravo. I've got a 2008 T-Jet 150 Sport and it's rather good. I've just had the gear cables replaced due to water ingress. Tyre wear may be a bit of an issue for some but I mainly use it on B-roads (esp. the B818 Denny to Fintry Road), with little motorway use, so the front wheels are rarely straight ahead.
It's got the 17" wheels. Luckily it's a Motability car so they cough up for the tyres!

Well I get 23 MPG in my Alfa 166. And I get 31 MPG in my Fiat Bravo 150 T-Jet.
Reckon I could better these figures if I did a bit more motorway driving though :wink:

Another old youngster here – 54, Engineering (Mechanical) Manager for a manufacturing company.

Fivespot – can you reveal where you got the Zerk fittings?