its the side on shot in the ad that is the best bit, absolutely cringeworthy. could’nt find a pic of it though.

the most brilliant thing about that couple was that they not only got the main build labour for free, but that they also convinced these people to pay them for the pleasure of working on the house.

the crazy rise in bike parts prices; everything i generally replace each year (xt chainsets, x9 mech/shifers, discs etc) has pretty much doubled.

just been pricing some ultegra sti, i’m shocked! last set i bought 18mths ago was just over 100quid, and the going rate was 125.

jeez its an expensive sport now!!!

to much fanfare prices dropped, only those who have to sell have done so the rest waiting to see if they can weather the storm hence quite limited supply at present (in many areas). pretty soon many of these will start having to think about cutting their losses and sell after all. there will be better bargains yet and cash will be king.

set myself up yesterday, i’m with talktalk (shite and slow connection though for me).

like you, wanted to maintain the base unit and have a wireless network (to access internet and share files) for the laptop.

presumably you have a talktalk modem, so you just need a wireless router. i bought a belkin g+ (39quid from currys, but argos have same one for 29quid so with currys 110% price match cost 28quid).

simply plug modem into router, router into computer, run a little software and off you go. the wireless also works without main computer being on which i did’t realise it would do.

thats the good bit, the bad is that i’ve spend at least 3 hours today trying to figure out why the desktop keeps going into ‘working offline’ mode and when i try to reconnect it just offers me a dialup modem option. i’l fiddle for a bit, and with no reason it’ll start agin. the compuuter just does’nt want to find my ethernet connection it would seem as all the while my modem/router are working fine.

the vital thing is when flushing to put the lid down, otherwise a mushroom cloud of water vapour carrying specks of faeces, pee and all manner of assorted nasty things spreads out and sttles on your bathroom stuff. saw it on a how clean is your house show, have never flushed lidless since.

its very easy, i did mine in dec and at the same time reduced the travel to 100mm.

if you need it i have the guide that tells/shows you how to do it, happy to email it over.

not a 17 screen but i,ve just bought an acer 5735 (3gb/250gb, vista premium, 2ghz 6400 2 core duo) from dixons for about 370quid.

its 429 on the website, got a price match as comet do a 5735 for 389 (but lower spec), extra 2.5% disacount and bout through topcasback so got an extra 3.5% back plus 1% cb on my credit card.

Sky=Worst company in the world Fact

you’ve never dealt with talktalk then!

imho…

1. don’t waste your money on seo, but is your site sufficiently search engine freindly?

2. ebay; an utter pain in the “ss but by far the highest viewed ecommerce site. get a presecence with some product but use it not so much for sales as a marketing tool to drive traffic to your site, and by offering excellent service, maybe a little on-going promotional sweetener i.e. % discount for a direct sale, you should get excellent repeat sales. be warned though, it is very labour intensive.

Marlin are doing a decent deal on X0 or X9 shifters and rear mech

just a shame they added well over 40quid to the price in the last month or so, and have doubled it from 07.

the name of guy gibson’s (him of dambusters fame) dog for one.

i tried all manner of www forum advice methods, then bought a park tool guide and have never looked back.

do a search on ebay for canon eos 400d, you can get a body and 2 lenses, new with guarantee, for under 400quid. can’t remember the sellers name, but you will find it as a buy it now.

Honda plastics used to (and maybe still do?) cost more in weight than gold!

i got a brand new original honda sp1 screen for 99p on ebay the other day.

there were some intense around awhile back, can’t remember the shop that had them though.

anyone?

i have that too and i used my real name. i kjust dont get fb

ok, you can all laugh at me. i support chelsea and portsmouth.

what a day!!!

cheers all.

i’ve had two different modems and always the same prob. i’ve actually been with talktalk for a few years and always had issues (at one stage it could take over an hour to connect in the evenings, went on for months like that, then one day was fine again), but moved house last april so on a new contract that i’ll have to pay to sever hence the deliberation.

Mine had been working fine until yesterday morning when the light was on and didn’t switch off

i’ve got the same problem, but have gone through 2 units in 6 months, was going to post a thread to see if anyone could ‘shed light’ (scuse the intentional pun) on the matter.

i have 2 lights, the one that keeps going wrong (occasionally stays on all the time when activated, or does’nt work at all) is wired from the first light that is fine. was’nt sure if it was the wiring that was causing the prob.

12/27 with a 36/50 on the cx with road tyres, 11/32 with 26/36/48 on my other cx bike – very very rarely use the granny ring.

also have a bike i use as a shopper with panniers etc, thats cobbled together with an 11/34 and 32/42/52 and gets me up anything when fully loaded.

cheers, that’ll save me a few quid.

be very wary buying on-line, even though the savings look immense. i bought one in the summer and to say it was a flimsy, poorly made, wafer thin (i could pull the planks off with my little finger) is an understament to say the least. i won’t name/shame the company as fair enough they were good and refunded my cash without question when i complained, but i for one will buy stuff i can actually see beforehand in the future.

zafira are good, but a smaller mpv. if you really want space look to the bigger varieties.

i had a sharan, that at the time was built in the same factory as the galaxy and alhambra. very nice car to drive but had loads of problems, the biggest being air con that i threw over 1k at but still did’nt work for more than a few months.

then bought a 4 yr old kia sedona. you get a lot of car for your cash, the slide doors are a godsend, but the build quality is appalling and its a pig to drive. also had loads of probs, some major (air con), but as it was from a kia dealer had warranty. i don’t like kia at all.

not sure what i’ll buy next, they all seem to cause problems. that aside, i look for completely removable rear seats, captain seats, fold down tables for the kids, arm rests and most imp of all cup holders.

seems to me like her ‘collegues’ used the situation to get her sacked.

i went round the houses on this subject a few summers back when i needed a new chainset, always rode 175 but the best deal i could find was on a 170mm chainset.

after extensive googling and forum posting, the consensus weighed to the side that i would’nt notice the difference. the reality, however, was that i did’nt get on with them. they spinned up to fast for me, i like a slow winching cadence. sold them after the summer and ride 175 on all my bikes now.

i thought it was a good idea going for a drive in the snow last night, ended up sliding into a ditch. not very clever then!

as a slightly alternative suggestion, buy a 2nd hand unit and see if you like it before spending on a new unit. i paid about 50quid for an etrex legend with bikemount, cable etc.

my experience with it so far is pretty good, but i’m still getting to grips with it. i’m not that techy but found loading/uploading routes very simple and the online mapping superb(i use tracklogs).

on the trail following the gps is good although i did do a route the other day copied from an old mag that had a mistake (a turn to follow a track where there was’nt one), had to revert to the os map to get back on track as the gps was trying to send me all over the place (i could see on the map i needed to follow the road to the left for about 1/2mile to rejoin the trail further along the route but the gps wanted me to go right at the road. not sure why).

its to use for cutting up logs for fuel not felling. i’ve been using an electric one but its not up to the job for larger logs – anything over a stick really!

i worked with a treesurgeon for a while many years ago as a lacky, used husqvarna then. non of thats safety stuff though, shorts and sunnies.

simon & patrick sp6 mahogany, martin dx something travel guitar and deering banjo.

have only been tinkering with guitars for a few years, but currently struck in a rut and it pains me that i can’t find the time or motivation to climb out.

i hav’nt seen any deals on tracers, but some one off bargains on spyders, 5.5 and 6.6 if you look about.

more regular deals seem to be at north west mountain bike centre.

don’t you mean “my grating southern tones” ?

maybe, although i was born in the north.

i bought some ‘better’ scart leads a few years back when we got a dvd player. they were 20quid down to a tenner i think from argos. there was a marked difference between those and the cheap standard ones supplied.

whether there would be a diffrence again between those and even more expensive ones i don’t know.

The South is a different country to The North.

you said it mate! i can’t believe how much i stand out when i open my mouth ‘up north’ with my soft southern tones, may as well wear a bright red badge with ‘not from ere’.

So, you will need to look a lot further than the registered title to be sure about what land is in fact within your title.

sorry to hijack the thread a little, but downsman is there any chance you could you elaborate on this a little and possibly suggest what means are available beyond the registered title to try and establish a boundary?

i have a light boundary issue myself and whilst amicable i would be interested to know if its possible myself to exactly find the correct ‘line in the sand’.

many thanks

maps of any sort, unfortunately, mean nothing as far as establishing boundaries. a rough guide yes in that they could show features that you could use, but exact in terms of measuring off no.

you can get someone out from the land registry (i think) that will determine the exact bounday but your neighbours will be notified beforehand.

the other issue you could have is the carpark. if this comes under highway authority the you may well own the land but highyways have an unarguable right over it.

sad to say but if you get into a bunfight it will be eye wateringly expensive.

intense m3; could’nt in the slightest justify buying one but certainly a nice bit of kit.

spesh s-works roubaix: complete overkill for the road riding i do but even so its only the price tag that i can’t justify, still gutted that the bike shop that had those amazing deals before xmas only had a complete (with sram rival for 1250!!!) in the size below i need.

[quote}trying Haggis tonight for the first time[/quote]

wish i was, i love Haggis! suggested it to the wife earlier and was met with disdain.

but i’ll partake of a wee dram of knockandoo all the same.

if you like dogtown and the z-boys check out ‘skateboard kings’ the world in action documentary about the scene from 1978. its on youtube.

there is a uk skate docu called ‘rolling back the years’ that is a bit longwinded but fascinating to see the uk skateparks of the 70’s in their heyday.

also on a skate vein, ‘the man who sould the world’: the steve rocco story is very good. it gives a great incite into the way skating changed in the late 80’s/90’s.

surfing: yes riding giants is very good, i also like dana brown’s ‘step into liquid’. it showcases some aspects of surfing not normally seen such as the guy who vowed to surf every single day for 28yrs thinking it was a luner year, and guys in the gulf of texas riding supertanker wakes.

for a classic uk documentary, dennis mitchell’s ‘quentin crisp’ documentary is probaly my favourite. beutifully shot and quentin is a classic sound-bite a second. you can watch it on you tube.

I wonder what people choose to spend their money on.

saving the ass of all those f”ckers who borrowed more than they could ever afford, and the asses of all those f@ckers who lent them the cash in the first place, it would seem by the way interest rates have been destroyed.

of course i don’t have a choice in that outlay!