Christ the BF sounds like a right muppet, you weren’t silly enough to have kids with him so go enjoy your freedom, and the sun.

Meh, non-problem, have fun!

Second the Smithsonians, amazing places, well worth getting your ‘inform me’ head on for.

Central DC is very much the custom built capital and everything’s very monumental and reverential. Great for a while but if you need a break from it check out Georgetown, nice part of the world for food, bars etc and and a bit more human. There are even a few decent bike shops there if memory serves.

Just be careful about going to far out, the outer suburbs are a bit ‘frisky’.

So long as they’re Italian and a suitably obnoxious colour you’ll be following ‘the rules’, everything else is just detail surely.

Just left M&S for exactly the same reason, Premium doubled overnight, warned them at length on the phone that the only reason most people go with them is thier (previously) excellent bike cover and that they were going to lose a lot of good customers over this.

When you ring up to cancel your policy be sure to tell them why, if enough people do then they may just realise they’re throwing the baby out with the bath water, I’d have happily stayed with them otherwise.

Now with NFU, their ‘at home’ cover is £5K per item so that’s the bikes sorted, ‘away’ cover is up to 1.5K, So I’ve had to name my road bike and full susser but even with that they were still half my new M&S premium. NFU also have local offices where you can walk in and talk to real people which I rather like.

Happy hunting.

Addiktion in St Albans are a big Cube dealer near to there. They record the BB number of every bike they sell so if you give them the model and the serial number they will be able to trace the owner if they sold it.

Bet that was a right laugh to make as well, good friday afternoon fodder.

They’re a very different band these days, the sheer fury of ‘Binge and Purge’ or the Passive Restraints 12″ wouldn’t sit so well, fair play, bands have to grow and there are plenty of groups out there ploughing a heavier furrow.

Their style shifted noticably for Elephant riders, the hardcore influences subsided considerably but damn they can still write a riff.

Beale Street is my least favourite, the rest are all gold IMO.

Hmm it’s a bit of a slow burner admitteedly but come on, Electric Worry!?

Santini Gel Intechs for the win, made in Italy, really comfy, fir beautifully and last for ages with one of the best pads out there.

At £99.99 they’re a nice compromise between cheapo Endura/DHB and silly money Castelli and Rapha.

I think the current versions are called the ‘tempo’ I have two pairs of the old ‘aria’ versions and they’re some of the best bits of riding clothing I’ve ever bought.

Agreed, cracking bikes and much under rated due to thier rather dated image that seems a bit stuck in the Era of Canadian Gnarcore, wallet chains and Limp Bizkit.

Had one of the old 100 mm jobbies, perfect for the vast majority of ‘U.K.’ riding. Only changed it because I fancied giving a fully rigid 29er a go.

Jonno in Kinetic is a lovely chap, just spoke to him this morning actually and they do have the Park BB30 tool in the workshop.

Yup, another return to form as has been the recent trend.

Blast Tyrant – Epic
Robot Hive/Exodus – Not so good,
Beale Street – Epic
Strange Cousins – Hmmmm, a bit of filler in there.
Earth Rocker – I’m tempted to say epic again although time will tell.

Of course everything up to and including Pure Rock Fury is beyond reproach, that goes without saying really.

Addiktion in St Albans have a good track record workshop wise, Lloydy there is my go to man for tasks I’m not sure of.

A bit closer to home Shorter Rochford in Potters Bar and Finchley have a good reputation amongst the grizzled roadie brigade, haven’t been there myself though. They specialize in high end road so should have all the kit for working on BB30 stuff.

Tried them when I was selling my old Alfa, they offered me £1,250, eventually sold it for £3,500.

Try them, but be sure to check Autotrader first to make sure you’re not being stiffed.

Madison now do Chariot, is this what you’re after?

http://www.madison.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?&catref=CHA0709

Again, not strictly ‘metal’ but probably the most tattoo friendly band logo of all time.

Judging by your choice of bike you’ll be looking for something relatively sturdy and, more importantly, stiff.

I’d therefore recommend going for something like the DT Swiss Tricons of Mavic Crossmax’s, the high tension builds on these make them noticeably less wangy in corners compared to the J-bend builds I’ve tried.

Of course, if you weigh 10 stone soaking wet this may not concern you but it’s worth considering when building up a 29er ‘trail’ bike that’s going to see some decent terrain.

I’m loving Cav’s feigned disinterest throughout the build up, he’s blatantly well up for it but would rather Sagan was the one everyone’s watching like a hawk.

Oooo good call thanks, this’ll keep me going until the 12″ gatefold arrives.

Saw them at Koko’s last month and the old fire is certainly still burning.

I have C3350, no headphone jack on mine but in every other respect it’s bang on, battery lasts for 2 weeks, gets very good signal and seems pretty indestructible. It does the ‘phone’ thing rather well.

Bit upset when the guy in Vodaphone showed me the torch function which I was very chuffed with only for him to tell me “Hmm usually it’s the older gentlemen who like that”

I was 31 at the time…

Most current 11-speeed tools are big workshop jobbies but Park have got a 11-speed trailside one coming out.

http://www.parktool.com/product/folding-chain-tool-with-peening-anvil-CT-6-3%5D

Ours went in the infant sling at ten days old, at six months he graduated to the baby supporter, we did some rides with the infant sling but very slow gentle ones, he’s a bit more robust now so we’ll be bashing round the fire roads come spring.

My wife can get more shopping in her City Select but the Chariot’s lighter and rolls better so I prefer to use it when we walk into town with him, the suspension seems to help him nod off too. It is wider than most strollers but that’s why it’s so stable and the big wheels make it much easier to push.

We have a Cougar 1, and we’re in St Albans, you’re welcome to come have a eyeball one weekend.

Chariot are in the middle of switching distributors at the moment which is why they’re a bit thin on the ground. They’ll soon be available through Madison though so your LBS should be able to make enquiries.

Dave Loughran’s the head honcho there, I don’t have any direct contact details but google may be able to help.

Good luck!

‘Roadie in denial’, please read my post again and point out where I said that bike shops are making a fortune? I can’t recall stating that.

I was merely attempting answer the opening question in order to explain the end consumer price differential between Canyon and Spesh.

I deliberately avoided any emotive rhetoric and tried to point out that Specialized’s ticket price vs Canyon isn’t just down to Specialized (or anyone for that matter) making inflated profits.

I’d suggest to you that Canyon are the exception who are undercutting Specialized and their ilk by selling direct

Rosebikes
Mafia bikes
Planet X
On-one
Cotic
Islabikes
Spin Cycles
Dialled Bikes
Pipedream

Canyon were one of the pioneers but they’re far from the exception.

And you accuse me of talking tosh?

*Boring but factual content warning*

In direct reply to the OP:

Simply put… exchange rates.

Pre 2008, the pound was artificially strong against the Dollar (2:1 at one point if I recall), far eastern bike factories almost all take dollars so bikes seemed comparatively cheap.

Since the financial crash the pound has corrected and as a result bikes now cost more in U.K. terms.

Brands like Canyon sell direct from a single German warehouse, cutting out the bike shop, that leaves you with minimal local support if you need something sorting sharpish but removes the 30-40% dealer margin from the final ticket price.

Whilst this model works for a forum dweller with a fairly decent home workshop it’s less suitable for the other 90% of the population who expect to pickup a bike ready to ride at to be able to take it back to the shop if the gears start jumping.

Specialized could easily match Canyon’s pricing by selling bikes direct online but to do so they would fatally undermine their well established dealer network who have done such a good job of getting them to where they are. They have to choose and they’ve chosen the traditional LBS route rather than chase the ‘how cheap can I get an XT groupset’ crowd.

I very much doubt that Specialized and co make percentage operating margins greater than Canyon’s They’re bigger but their way of getting their product to market is much more labour and capital intensive.

If price is your main focus, get a Canyon, if face to face service is more important, buy Specialized from your LBS, neither option is right or wrong just a matter of priorities.

I have an old Chrome backbone that’s so big my wife calls it ‘the parachute’ I use it for doing the weekly shop. the fact it’s waterproof, versatile, and tough as old boots would make it ideal for everyday commuting if you want a seriously big backpack.

Not ‘cheap’, but if you’re going to live out of this thing…

My version’s on clearance now too, so they’re not that extortionate: http://www.amazon.com/Chrome-Backbone-Messenger-Backpack-Stripe/dp/B003COC1NU

The current equivalent: http://www.chromebagsstore.com/bags/pro-series/warsaw—pro.html

.. But you can’t then convert the P&T into a bike trailer like you can with the Chariot.

You’re on here so I imagine that may appeal.

Your warranty lies solely with the shop you bought it from, they made the money out of you so it’s their job to sort you out, nobody else’s.

Distributors generally don’t like to deal direct as not having a trade account holder to deal with means they cannot charge or credit for any spares or work you may need and not having an account to attach claims to makes keeping track of returns much more difficult.

The fact that the shops generally filter out a significant proportion of the JRA crowd probably helps too.

I still have a battered PCS-1 I got for my birthday back when I was a teenager. 2 years ago it needed a new ‘head’ and jaw covers for the clamp, 14 year old stand, long out of production but spares were sent over from the States to my LBS no problem, try that with your Lidl special!

Another vote for Chrome here, get one of the ‘trad’ messenger bags that are still made in the states and your set, my Metropolis is 9 years old, I commuted with it every day for 6 of those and it’s still going strong.

Yeah they’re a bit of an ‘obvious’ choice and there are plenty about these days but they’re popular for a reason. Surely choosing something else just be part of a more select club is the very essence of hipsterism?

My shiny Park Tool INF-1 actually just arrived so my current pistol grip inflator with a Topeak brass presta chuck already fitted is going spare.

I was going to stick it on the bay but this could save me the faff £15(+postage) if you want it.

This is actually a pretty good point, I’ve been boycotting Amazon since their tax related widdle-taking came to light so I’ve been after a less corporate alternative that can offer more obscure music.

I’d love to just go to my local record shop, but there isn’t one, with any luck the end of HMV will see a few indies creeping back but I fear they may be too far gone now, sad times.

Annoying isn’t it, had one recently, sold a cassette stating clearly on the auction that UK P&P was a fiver.

The winning bidder then e-mailed me to haggle on the postage saying that he’d taken the time to work out that by by Royal mail 2nd class it should only be £2.20 and asked me to reinvoice him.

He then got all shirty when I (as politely as I could muster) suggested that if he didn’t like the £5 postage charge he maybe shouldn’t have bid.

*sigh*

I do wonder about this country, “20p burger made mostly of mechanically recovered meat (Ears, eyes, brains and ring pieces in other words)yum yum.”

“Horse meat? ergh! no thanks!”

*sigh*

Had horse steak the last time I was in Geneva, it was lovely.

We don’t do T.V. but Hatter Jr is rather partial to a bit of Gangnam Style.

Any man who doesn’t cr@p himself when his partner tells him the news is either a robot or a feckless idiot. You are obviously neither of these things, this is good.

There is no ‘perfect’ time to have kids but there are far less perfect ones than the situation you’re in, (Jail, heroin, knocked up someone else’s wife etc)

The way your brain re-plumbs itself over the next 9 months will be interesting, the way it will re-plumb itself over the 48 hours following the birth will knock you for six and give you a fierce resolve you never knew you had in you.

Children are only as restrictive as you let them be, ours was swaddled up and asleep on the table at Nandos at less than a week old, and out for very careful rides in the Chariot at 4 months and flew to America for my Wife’s best friend’s wedding at 7 months, you just need to be organised.

It was your rumpy pumpy that got you into this mess so MTFU, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be fine, you certainly won’t be bored and a year from now you’ll think it’s the best thing you ever did.

XL’s Birmingham Five Ways – sticky carpets, sweat dripping from the ceiling and going 5 shades of mental to Limp Bizkit til 4AM then walking back to uni halls as the sun came up.

The dodgy geezers in suits who’d got lost trying to get to the underworld gambling den upstairs added a certain variety too.

Happy days

Or these:

Elite VIP’s

I was firmly in the ‘screw that for a game of soldiers’ camp until I met my wife, who skillfully spent 5 years bringing me round to the idea.

Now we have our little wriggler, I usually get home a bit before my wife does with him and now he’s crawling she opens the door and puts him down so he can come and find me, the cackle of delight when he first catches sight of me is pure magic.

Yes it’s tiring, yes you don’t have as much ‘me time’ (but you certainly make the best of it!) but I can’t remember the last time I was actually bored.

Plenty of our fiends have no plans to be parents, that’s their call, each to their own. I know that had I decided to dig my heels in I would have regretted it, and probably lost a damn fine woman at the same time.

Newish dad here (11 months)

Cot wise just go on ebay and see what’s going 2nd hand, there’s always loads on there for a pittance if you’re willing to collect, we have a lovely wooden Cossatto that we got for about 50.

I’m 6 2″ and find most pushchairs are too low for me so when I’m the one doing the pushing we just just put the stroller wheel kit on our Chariot Cougar, It doesn’t hold as much luggage as a normal pram but if you’re more into yomping round the woods it works great as a rough stuff stroller.