Bloodynora, yes, I have emailed CEO of BT (about 5 + years ago). For a problem fixed very quickly. Usually story of multiple instructions and requests being cocked up. I worked for a company managing a shopping centre and BT lines were pretty essential for a number of reasons, as thus are to most people.

Did not feel very professional at the time, but looking back, I have spent enough hours on the phone to the. Trying to get stuff sorted.

As above, planning advice needed regarding change of use. Also, if it is really pretty/architecturally significant, it may be listed which would be a pain.

On top of the above I would be very sure to have some form of contaminated land survey completed, as if you are the property owner I believe you could be liable.

I always fancied the idea of a trendy east London lent house loft conversion type set up, but sadly I need had the wallet.

What mupperwrangler said, but with one slight addition:

do the victory dance naked, explain you still got it and then indicate to your good lady what a sex machine you are, (and how you are ready to get jiggy with it right there).

I regularly try such subtle antics with Mrs G, which 99 times out of 100 does not work, but one occasion out of 100 leads to the no pants dance.

I rode round Tahoe quite a bit, but have not had any other California experiences on a bike. While I was there I did look at Donnieville, but did not get out there. Looks awesome, although they had 8ft of snow on the top – in July.

Recommendations – definitely by the Tahoe trail guide map is really good. Google it for proper name. Trails I remember as bein some of the best I have ridden, in terms of combination of riding, views, fit birds on fancy bikes. Flume Trail is a must, if only for the views.

Also, get onto mtbr forums and look up the southcalifornia and northcalifornia threads. I have posted questions before and generally people have been very helpful, with the heart warming offers to show you trails etc.

Just looked them up (think there was also a recent magazine article about the island. Loved the video on their website.

What a cool job…

good call Schrick – I think that there is biking there too.

Try some Acoustic Energy Aego speakers, for about £130. Supposed to be excellent:

Acoustic Energy bad ass little speakers with subwoofer

Count Zero – currently have mine linked to a TV (big Bravia has apple tv, mac mini an older Panasonic). Have tried to set up a wireless system, but find airport express very unreliable.

I live in the South East and occasionally have to commute 40 miles each way. Unfortunately those 40 miles are up the A3, north bound on M25 and then into Slough. 1hr if I leave at 6:15 am – any later (even 10 minutes), then the commute increases in length and my stress levels rise. On the way home it is a complete lottery and has been up to just under 2 hours plenty of times.

I am lucky in that I don’t have to do it that often, due to traveling with work. A full week in the office is a pain from the travel point of view. I have a child in childcare 2 days a week and my wife works 4 days, so it all needs some planning if I am in the office, as commuting can be unreliable.

My dream is to be able to ride to work, (mainly so I can loose a piece of this lardy arse), but every job I have had requires either train/car travel time.

I totally understand the desire to live away from a city/particular place of employment, so I can only advise that you try and alleviate it by getting as much as possible from this wish list:

1. an automatic (if traffic is ever bad)
2. fuel efficient car – if my journey was shorter I would seriously consider electric, as closet eco hippy
3. DAB radio – makes journeys more interesting
4. seeing if there is any flexibility in the work day hours

The George. Not a b&b, more of a lovely old coaching inn. Not for those who are short of a penny.

Winsdor Great Park. Think it is off the A30, just off the M25/M3.

Northwind, fair point and I am sure some improved technique would help. I have been spoilt by tyres that did not need to be wrestled on previously. I might look at investing in a better tyre lever too, as I bent three fitting the tyres.

I don’t mind though, the wheels feel much better after one ride.

Merlin have an offer on Hope Hoops at the moment. You. Can get 10% off when you buy them . I have just got a set of hope built stans rimmmed wheels. They do Mavic options too. Total about £300.

Smallish Homes[/url]

There are a few companies doing this in the USA too. Seems to be an alternative way of living, which I admit would work better in a climate where you can actually spend more time out doors.

Would be cool to build your own house though.

A life free supply of happy meals.

Frosty, I think the headset is ok, but new crown race will be required. I was only thinking of going for a tapered model as the bike had the ability to put one in. My fork currently sits with a step down adapter.

Forks

The ones I was looking at are above. They are solo air RLT model revs. I think I am trying to cover all bases at once, i.e. 15mm axle, tapered steerer, slightly better fork all in one go, but it still seems like a lot of cash.

I had thought about changing the lowers, but again it would mean a non-tapered fork and the prices of fork lowers seemed expensive when I was looking on ebay.

Having said that, I could try and upgrade the wheels only and run them with QR for a short while, before changing the fork.

Cycling with bears trying to have a bite out of your arse[/url]

The above looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately I have lost a lot of fitness and become the overweight mountain biker I never wanted to be.

One for 2015 me thinks…

I think Howies make jackets for circa £40 that should do it for biking. They are supposed to be quite good: Jacket for uber trendy types and possibly the rest of us

I have an old Howies jacket that I think was overpriced at £130. I was young and trying too hard then, but I think at that price you can’t go too far wrong.

ridhog, would definitely give it a go. When my first c guide broke, Leisure Lakes offered me another one for half price, (said it was my fault basically), but would not support any warranty claim (or couldn’t be bothered for £30-£35 ish).

So £45 later I recon anything with some zip ties and a bit of flexibility will do as good a job and leave money for something useful. Plastic (used in zip ties and garden hose etc) will probably resist the vibration better (or at least stand up to my incompetent riding a bit better).

I have the same issue (BB with no proper spacers to mount a guide).

I am on my second Bionicon C guide and I don’t rate them. First one fell apart riding the South Downs Way. Perhaps the slightly dusty field was too extreme for it?

Second one has just bent wide open, so the plastic chain guide fell out, riding (slowly) round QE2 park yesterday. Look on Strava and you can see how slow I really am.

Not too impressed. Great concept, but not sure about quality. I would like to see a bit more bodge tastic efforts – I think MBUK or some mag showed how you could cut a piece of hose and use that as a guide, attached upside down to the frame.

What jruk said. High rollers and hr2 fine for most things. Draggy, but now worse than a trailraker and will grip well. New 2.4 massive though, so check it fits your frame/ fork.

If you want slightly easier rolling, you could always combine with a cross mark or ardent rear tyre.

Took them inside in tiny formula one rooms. 3 people, 3 bike’s and if you farted too hard you would inflate your tyre. Still, we were doing London to Paris and were more interested in the Red wine at night.

On holiday, In rural areas, leave on the top of the car.

Downtown Paris, backed van against a wall and has 15 plus bikes in the back. Some took their bikes into a hotel room, but the hotel wasn’t happy to let them all in.

I have a set of Maxxis Zenith folders, on sale in the for sale forum for £25.

The tyres roll very well and are not too uncomfortable, but I just don’t use them enough to make it worth storing them. Were used for London to Brighton and a few local rides.

Worth looking at whether you/your son is fussed about any grip in the wet – a number of models I would really trust in the dry only, including the Zenith.

Does your other half mind? Maybe you don’t like the car/poor selection of girly music and are going to extreme measures to get rid. Which is probably fair enough.

Great video, very well edited and nice mix of stuff.

Love New Zealand, but didn’t do all the cool stuff you guys did.

Beats being in the office!

Bump? Anyone riding the gnar in Stratford?

Have a pair on my full suspension bike. Do just fine. Can be had for £130 for a pair these days off Merlin/CRC.

Lee Valley Park regional authority. Very impressed that you can get 8km of trails in Stratford, very close to the centre of London. (I have not ridden these, so would be interested to hear from anyone who has – will post seperate thread). Although there are other types of cycling available, it is great that kids can try out mountain biking at all, instead of just going shopping/checking their iphone:

Lee Valley MTB booking link

All in all it is great that we are encouraging the new generations to do something positive and if it involves cycling, that is even better.

Monkey, are there any disadvantages to getting a wider rim, (apart from a small weight penalty), rather than going for an Arch?

Thanks. Is it worth waiting until the normal j bend spokes are in stock and buying the wider wheels? They are not hugely heavier.

Thanks go. We also have limited floor space and I am looking to hide away everything as much as possible.

Has anyone got any experience of these:

Radius 90 Mointor Audio

While I am not defending any export/import of illegal goods, a large part of the Mexican economy depends upon the trade of narcotics. The paradox is that whilst there has recently been a huge amount of violence associated with the trade, there are many farmers/middlemen who make some money by growing crops they shouldn’t be involved with. I am sure the same is true of part of the Afghan economy.

Unfortunately I think we in the west have a huge amount of responsibility on our shoulders – by purchasing illegal goods, we create the demand for them.

No easy answers and I think the ‘Drugs War’ that has been, and is being fought, can never be won. Interesting experiment in Colorado at the moment, with their recent change of state laws.

Interested in this as I have a 9 year old deck with some rot in the supporting joists. Seems a really pain to replace, for an unskilled carpenter like me anyway.

Have treated with deck stain, but for first 5 years of house being built I think little was done ( by previous owners). Do I need to install air bricks to help ventilate void under deck area – live in a wet climate near some hills/trees, so things don’t dry out quickly.

VW up (or variant from seat/Skoda), smart car, panda would all be on my list. They can all fit bike racks of some description and if I did not have a wife and child, I would be commuting in something like that.

Thanks Grum, useful tips. Would a back pack (with camera bag inside) act as a good intermediate environment?) I don’t have any silica gel, but wonder if this is something that can be got from Dixon at the airport?

Working today and probably no time tomorrow to go to the shops before Sunday am flight.

Thanks both, is there anything I can do to protect/guard against this? I think the cold air/warm inside/cold air again might not have helped.

TLC – very little (compared to our MTBs). She tends to use it as her weekend cracking out the miles/fitness bike, as well as longer trips (London to Paris etc).

I have usually been fairly middle of the road when it comes to replacing parts on all our bikes, so lower end Shimano/SRAM as required and nothing posh on the cheaper bikes at all.

EDIT: We have a nipper now, so will not be looking to do any massive rides on it. Want to keep it for the bike seat and local riding though.

Thanks, I have seen the light (or at least the potential savings).

Wheels seem cheap on ebay, as do tyres, brake blocks and ball bearings, so it looks like the way to go. I am not that fussed about spending a fortune on it, so am happy to spend some time with some wire wool and some grease to try and revive the headset and bearings.

Gear and brake cables I am also happy to replace.

Looks like a late spring project.