just been confirmed he’s died, RIP :cry:

I hired Ed Oxley to do one on one training with me at Lee Quarry in March, was awesome day and I’m pleased I paid slightly more than I would to be part of a ‘class’ training course. I had specific elements I wanted to learn and Ed put them across flawlessly and being in an environment where we weren’t pushed for time to get everyone to ‘tick the box’ to say that a certain element/discipline/task had been completed.

I’d be interested in doing some again and if anyone is interested in sharing the cost of hiring Ed for the day then email me (address in my profile), it’s money well spent.

as someone who has spent many years selling technical construction products to the housebuilders I’d suggest the following:

Ascertain who manufactured the canopy, probably someone like canopies.co.uk and ask their technical dept to give you a technical installation manager. It was most definately fitted contrary to their instructions which makes the house builders liable.

Issue a small claims court for the cost of a new canopy and professional fitting and another £1500 for stress, hassle etc and you’ll sail through the courts.

I’ve had Persimmons to court twice for various issues and won on both occasions.

I’ve just bought a Cube Pelaton from and very impressed with it..

Spesh Camber or Boardman, nothing else at that budget

will be saturday/sunday, more likely to be saturday if that’s convenient?

Thanks guys, keep the suggestions coming, all noted and will be attempted 8)

THanks ver much NickyB, all of them, I live in Wigan and my partner and son live in Brighouse, we’ll do the lot!
anywhere I cold ride with him on a 29er full suss?!!

how North are you, sounds like you need to go to lee quarry to me.

Potcode OL12 0BB Futures Park, look up into the hills, follow the road and explore..

Some pointers chaps, when I did the video it was as the title suggests a ‘play around’. It was one of my first rides from crashing not even three weeks earlier and was carrying a cracked knee and two cracked ribs, so the fact I got up there in itself amazed me and secondly as I had heavy scabs on my knee I couldn’t wear pads, so some bits were a bit of a no no. I’ve not been riding more than 18 months so I’m not expecting people to be in awe of my work.

With regards to the dabbing comment, I had to dab as my foot unclipped half way down and I couldn’t get it back in and concentrate so hence the dab, but again no pads so I was taking my time

don’t lose your receipt, and bleed it…

switch it off and then back on again and then give up and buy a mac….

Yep I’ve had them from on one in the past, 203mm each end, very good VFM

it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission!

I’ve spent £13K on four bikes and loads of accessories in 5 months, she thinks half of them are insurance replacements and the other half are cheap ex demo’s
:lol:

In other news, we’ve not been getting on for months and I’ll be leaving soon anway so the ‘bothered pocket’ is well empty..

PGreen – Member
Love that Niner, and that price seems very reasonable! Special deal? also that Rumblefish looks alot better in the flesh than the pictures I’d seen on the Trek Website.

Yes they do, quite a big bike but it’s mega stable, rolls really well and is as fast as I want to go!

The Niner was a bit of a one off so yes a special.

Teetosugars – Member
Geordie Mick – Your bottle cage is on upside down..

Not now, deliberate mistake when I bought it!!

They now both have Hope brakes on them, X2’s on the Niner and M4’s on the Rumblefish 2

Love my Niner…..

click HERE for bigger detailed pic

Paid £1600 for it from Chevin’s, but if you can buy stateside then do so and save a fortune..

The only time I don’t ride it is when I’m riding my other 29 er… :lol:

I like steps to but twice now I’ve sh1t out of riding down them from the pike but just about everywhere else in the area :x

Maybe he wanted to feel like one of his sponsor’s customers and feel the shaft go right up his arrrse!!

You’re new round here aren’t you? :lol:

I’ve got a 305 too and when I bought it I wasn’t convinced I needed a GPS to ‘show me the way’ but now I’ve done a few routes by following others being guided I quite like the idea.

I too bought mine from handtec and it was only when I got the box in my hands I realised it was a reconditioned unit, still fully warrantied and unless it said so I would have never know, just check for any small print near the description on their website, an example HERE…

But to be fair in three months used four to five times per week it’s been faultless and would have another from them, good service too.

Love it….. great piece of engineerin with the seat binder bolt, I suppose clamping it further down the tube reduces stress on the bolt/clamp as there is equal tension either side of it….

I never knew it either, the I was doing a steady 70mph on A14 few year ago and got clocked by camera van
:roll:

Then later that day one of my colleagues in his Kombi got done too, it’s nothing to do with what your vehicle is used for, it’s how its classified, if it’s not car derived i.e. not a fiesta, corsa without seats and windows and has a GVW more than 2000Kgs it’s automatically classed a commercial. Just because it has windows and seats doesn’t de-classify it to a PLG, so either register it (if you’re buying new) as a PLG and pay huge road tax bills due to the filthy engine or be careful on dual carriageways. On a motorway you can do 70mph btw.

I did 60K in a year that Crafter and it was a 184ps with steptronic, averaged 15mpg and was it was blighted with the semi/auto box that Mercedes designed for the sprinter that had only been released six months before Mercedes canned it, dreadful piece of engineering. Even with the huge power and torque in 6th gear on a motorway the slightest touch of the pedal and it would drop into fifth at about 4200rpm and scream it’s knackers off, within days of getting it I used to just put it straight into manual and up/down shift, dreadful box. The van was a great van, really well built, loads of room and the T5130 I had before it felt really old and outdated. The leg room in T5 is dreadful, i’m 6ft and couldn’t get the seat far enough back without removing the bulk head. It also went through a litre of £15 oil every 900 miles, which VW said was acceptable, adds an extra fiver to every fill up.

Second chance around i’d buy a Renault, they may not have the kudos and coolness but newer ones are built as well, very quick and having the Nissan tie up means they have reliable and frugal engines. They can look just as nice, may not hold the value as well but don’t have the hideous cost price either.

Fancy a vito, think again, one of the most poorly built vans out there, look on VOSA’s recall website, there isn’t another vehicle out there with as many recalls as the vito’s and sprinter….

carry a spare ‘little’ wheel then :lol:

big_n_daft – Member
In March I hired beardy for the day and this happened:
http://www.vimeo.com/21931386
I suppose the real problem is beardy won’t train you if you turn up on a 29er, you would have made it on that!

I bought the Rumblefish 2 as a broken knee jerk reaction on the way home, he sent me a message on facebook and I told him the news and got a comment back saying throwing more money at it will work even on a freak bike!!

Going to do another course, that one was one on one, will do one of the weekend courses and he said I can take my freak bike if I want. The tide turns…

grass needs cutting..

Those handlebars……

Last november I bought this:

Loved it to pieces, great bike and awesome VFM, but I ride four times per week and wanted a hard tail for the longer distance rides and after careful consideration (about a 3 minute test ride) bought this in February:

Loved it to bits and just felt so fast. Went to Llandegla and my best effort round the black was 1:45 on the Cube and on the Niner 1:15. Upgraded the brakes to Hope X2’s.

In March I hired beardy for the day and this happened:

Afte that I was sitting with a bag of frozen peas on my knee when my mate rang me to tell me my LBS was giving some good deals on Trek and he was buying a rumblefish 1, so on my way home I made an emotional purchase and bought this:

29ers are without a shadow of a doubt so much better to ride, stable at speed, roll over things, don’t seem any harder to pedal and I call them a skill enhancer whilst others call them skills compensators. I’ve been riding 18 months now and would class my self as average, but confidence on it has shot up.

So the Cube’s up for sale and last week bought another 29er, a Cube Pelaton R**d bike :P

as a dog owner I really fail to see why people do this, why do the hard part which is to pick it up then hang it from a tree? I know some people hang it on a tree to retrieve it on the way back to save them carrying it but some have clearly been there for months as the bags have lost their colour.

At least the shoite degrades if left on the floor, it doesn’t in the bag…

The severe lack of litter/dog poo bins in many places doesn’t help but nevertheless it’s no excuse and if push comes to shove you take it home and put it in your own bin

The camera’s described as ‘bomb proof’ and it’s not far off! It’s encased in a clear case which is waterproof down to about 10m.

That crash was at the end of a long days training with the beard and I’d cleared that qualifier loads of times and that run was to be the last of the day. Resulted in cracked knee cap and two cracked ribs :cry:

In a ‘bad workman blames his tools shocker’ I made a major emotional purchase to buy a full suss 29er on the way home, complete with frozen peas on my knee….

I have a goPro 1080 and if I’d have done my homework first I would have bought the 960 which is nearly half the price. The quality on 1080 setting is brill but it narrows the field of vision to 127 degrees from 170 and has HUGE file sizes, so I use mine in 960 mode anyway! The quality of the gopro kit is second to none and recommend it. Factor in the £30 chest mount has the standard mounts are not the best, on your helmet where you lose the feel for the trail.

Both videos are on 960p, the first one using chest mount and second one was hung from the optional bar/post mount. I think uploading the second one to Youtube has degraded the quality, which is a shame as the weather was stunning.

One thing my gopro does is creak a hell of a lot, something I need to get to bottom of.

And yes I’m a tit for forgetting to put my knee pads on! :roll:

i’ve not seen it but i work for an NHS supplier and daily I’m left in awe of the inefficiencies, wastage, red tape, inability to make decisions.

Today alone:
Went to massive new hospital in Wakefield, I went to trust HQ to find out some contact details of the contacts I’d like to pursue and three women siting on one reception desk. I suggested the name of who I thought was my contact and asked for a phone number. After about five minutes of them shuffling about they couldn’t get me one. When I asked them for the switchboard number I was told ‘press 0’ :roll: When I asked for the number for dialling from outside the hospital they then took another five minutes and then used the web to look on their own website and give me an 0844 number

Another massive hospital in Salford, pull up to the barrier and they have staff leaning against the ticket machine and pressing the button for you and giving you the ticket through the window, total waste of manpower.

I could go on and on..

Your air con packing in may well be the problem. The air con is driven by an auxillary belt attached to all the other belts driven by the crank. Air con system is only lubricated by oil in the refrigerant, so if your refrigerant has gone then so has the lubrication and something my be dragging enough to put a little more load on your engine hence the drop in MPG, the motor tensions the belt to the main drive belt when on and it may be either too tight or just dragging, the other risk is if it’s too tight it may overload the drive belt and cause serious engine damage. I’ve had a 4.0ltr Jeep engine wrecked by this in the past, at the same time as the petrol strike too, bad times!

More modern cars’s air con systems aren’t belt driven any longer as belt driven pumps greatly affect MPG when they’re running.

Would you also complain that other people are paid more than you?

No and plenty are….

Of course, you could negociate your holiday up but by the sounds of it, they may want to limit yours because of the problems of coverage if you have more holiday to take.

That shouldn’t be the issue, i have two other colleagues to take up the slack like I do when they’re off.

Has anyone suggested joining a union yet

I work for a privately owned manufacturing company who tend to be the sort of organisations who don’t let the unions in and going off what friends who are in unions say I wouldn’t want to be in one.

Common sense…. :twisted:

it’s a scam where they claim to find a vrius and they then charge you something like £50 to remove it, I tell them I have a mac and I don’t catch a chill from the common people :lol:

I’ve got F29’s on my new Rumblefish 2 and they are very good, have REBA RLT’s on my Niner Air 9 which are drastically less stiff, albeit they have QR not axle but huge difference in flex.

I’d be more worried about the dangers of marriage to be honest :lol:

Some student test pilot ran into the back of me in October, I was turning right into a street and he tried to overtake me in his Mini. It did a good job of my avensis which was only three days out of the bodyshop after being hit from behind by someone on their phone.

The Police very quickly established that his dad was the policy holder and the son wasn’t main driver. Written off mini now not paid for (or the damage to my car and associated costs) and the dad now facing about a £15K bill. Not worth it.

Buy the kid a Volvo estate, something he’ll drive sensibly and with the garbage MPG it will deliver he’ll think twice before using the car unnecessarily thereby reducing his chances of an accident.

still s8tannorm – Member
Marketing ploy by who? … someone asked a question and people have answered it.

Well you were given a nice intro, almost like someone answered a genuine question, you then lined up someone to intro you and hey presto along comes the answer….

Depends on her original contract, if there is a clause that covers the employee to be flexible to moving with the premises/workload/business trends then they are within reason, although I suspect not. I don’t think it’s as clear cut as constructive dismissal either, a difficult one I’d say.

It may be the case they are hoping for natural wastage and by hanging in a bit longer she may get the redundancy notice. One way to bring that forward would be for her to formally ask the company for travelling costs on the grounds that the company never give her reasonable notice that they would change her working conditions. They’ll either cough up a pay rise (if they value her) or a redundancy notice may appear, which in itself is wrong but it pushes the balance a bit nearer to constructive dismissal/untenable.