On one are doing a pretty good package deal on some frames at moment – for £199 you can get a 29er Inbred frame, headset, stem, bars, seat post, clamp and saddle.

On One Parkwoods are decent value for money too

I’ve just acquired a green helmet – there were 4 mediums left on the shelves in the Charlton store.

Tell them to just pull their curtains – sounds to me that they’ll just find something else to moan about anyway if you in some way resolve this issue for them. I had neighbours like this (I expect yours are retired old busybodies too?) who moaned about everything we ever did, in the end I just found it easier to ignore them rather than to succumb to their various whines – they didn’t like the colour of our shed and badgered the mrs so much I re-painted it a different shade of brown to shut them up , they also wanted me to check the old bloke wasn’t having an afternoon nap or his wife didn’t have a headache before I mowed the lawn etc etc they thought they owned the street as they’d lived there the longest and tried to bully everyone in it.

Genesis annoyingly always seem to do the colour I like best on the cheapest bike in the range rather than on the spec I actually want (the red CDF10 and the blue High Latitude are both nicer looking bikes than the next models up) I was looking at the High Latitude 20, it’s a decent enough spec for the money but the dull grey puts me off (and it looks worse in the flesh than it does in photos)- I am now contemplating getting the green frame and building it up with a deore groupset and a mix of new, secondhand and bits and bobs I have lying around.

Terrible band but hilarious autobiography – Motley Crue – “The Dirt”

Do you mean the Stratford Westfield?

There is an Evans near Canary Wharf, Decathlon at Canada Water and there is a Giant store near Crossharbour DLR

Contemplating getting the CDF 10, as components spec is fine for my needs and will get upgraded when I wear it out (and the red is nicer looking than the white CDF20) however I noticed that the frame is not Reynolds 725 steel like the CDF 20 & 30 and is “Genesis Mjolnir Seamless DB Cr-Mo” – how does that compare? Does the cheaper model feel dead in comparison? Worth shelling out more for the 20 model?

I actually said I hadn’t bought a new bike ” from a shop ” in 10 years, in the last year I reckon I have spent over £500 in the branch of Evans I am contemplating buying a bike in for a bike build, services and various bits and bobs.

It is actually quite difficult to be recognised as semi-regular customer in this shop as it is a busy London branch which appears to have a high staff turnover

The last time I bought a new bike in a shop, without asking I got offered a helmet and D Lock so I was enquiring whether this was the norm. I don’t want to spend a grand on a bike and later find out that if I’d asked I might have got a few extras thrown in (which would incentivise me to not just buy the bike but to use the shop more often too)

Interesttingly I have had two emails from people in bike shops on the back of this thread – 1 offering me the bike I mentioned with a discount, and another suggesting I call them to speak to them. I have politely declined both offers as neither shop are near me, and I actually want to buy from a local, get it set up by a pro as I am a bit clueless about road bikes. I’m willing to pay more for that, but I’m sure there is some room for negotiation on RRP.

Unfortunately my company don’t offer C2W, I’d more happily pay full whack if I had a decent friendly independent LBS, but Evans is the most convenient for me to get to and I would think that due to economies of scale, they could offer a better deal than most, whether that be on price, throwing in accessories, free servicing, loyalty discounts etc hence my initial post. I’m not trying to bankrupt a shop FFS just shopping around for the best deal I can get on a new bike, if I can get a better deal than they are advertising it will probably result in them selling me a bike and getting my repeat custom, but at full price of £1k I could probably get a better specced bike from one of the online manufacturers.

The re-sale value for DVDs and CDs is dreadful these days, and Music Magpie will give you very little. For the amount of effort involved selling them yourself you are probably better off giving majority to charity and selling any rare ones via Ebay, Amazon or Discogs for Cds. Alternatively do a car boot sale. Last few 2nd hand DVDs I’ve bought via Amazon sellers, the p&p was more than DVD price (34p + £1.28 p&p)

Have done Elveden and Longleat and preferred Longleat – more to see and do in the vicinity too (Longleat Safari park is excellent) Prices are ridiculous but CP are an easy option with a young family compared to going abroad, and you can go self catering to cut down costs.

Mate took his family to Bluestone in Pembrokeshire, which is similar but was cheaper than Centre Parcs and in their opinion, better.

Yes, my cheapest and oldest is the only bike I regularly ride (a 2004 hardrock) – have an Enduro that I have rarely used so that is going to be cannibalised for parts for a Steel hardtail, also have a Pompino so may just leave the hardrock at my mum’s who lives 250 miles away so I have a bike there when we stay to force me to use other 2 more.

No idea of age of this one but nearly bought it for a cheap commuter in s colour that would put majority of urchins off nicking. Assume it’s a recent model?

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/kona-cindercone-mountain-bike/1053455843

was thinking just yesterday, why are approx 90% of seatposts on Mountain bikes black? I’m currently looking at building a new bike, and have decided I want a plain silver one, as I don’t want an anodised black one (or any other colour) again as they just gets badly scratched up when the post is adjusted.

KEXP – Seattle based radio station – their website also has hundreds of live sessions by bands they have had in the studio – http://kexp.org/live/default.aspx

So…. If you were all buying a new hardtail this year, would you opt for a 650B or a 26″ ?

if you are into buying cds/vinyl I highly recommend a trip to Amoeba Music in Haight Ashbury near the entrance to Golden Gate Park (and just around the corner from Charlie Manson’s old house. Fantastic records shop in a converted bowling alley – quite often have bands doing free live in-stores gigs.

Usual stuff – Alcatraz, Cable Cars, Golden Gate bridge – there is also an old WW2 submarine near Fisherman’s Wharf you can go in which I really enjoyed. Loads of great bars and restaurants.

Yosemite is fantastic but you would need a few days there, and think it was about 3.5 hour drive from SF.

If you hire a car you can take Highway 1 down the coast – goes all way to LA but Big Sur, Monterey and Santa Cruz all worth a look.

any budget limitations?

am I right in thinking that most parts will be compatable – so only expense I will probably be looking at parts wise is new cables?