…WBAC is likely to be a better offer than you’ll get from the dealership unless your current car is one that they’d take into stock and retail themselves…

This couldn’t be any more different than my experience. Last couple of times I’ve changed cars, WBAC offered quite a bit less – like around 20% to 25% less – than the dealer offered me as a trade-in. And worth noting that in each case, the car I was buying was fairly heavily discounted too, so it’s not like they were flattering me with a good trade-in but overcharging me on the sale

No longer mine unfortunately…

Indeed you could, but my reply was in response to the OP, who was asking about buying new components and whether it was worth spending the extra on XT over SLX

A medium will probably do it, I think long cage mechs are only required for double and triple setups these days. To work it out, you’ll need to know the “capacity” of the mech, and the cassette you’re planning to use. Subtract the smallest sprocket from the largest (e.g. 40-11=29), if this is lower than the capacity of the mech, then you’re all good. You should probably also check that the biggest sprocket is smaller than the “max sprocket” too, of course… Worth noting that the numbers published by Shimano tend to be a little conservative.

Right now, 11spd SLX is shiny and new, and if you’re buying online from the usual suspects, the discounts aren’t really worth it IMHO – the price difference between XT and SLX isn’t huge. I’d be leaning towards XT for the minimal price difference. This may change over the coming months.

The exception to this is cranks – as the chainrings have an exciting new tooth profile (see this article here). The 1x SLX crank has launched with the new tooth profile, and whilst it is now available for XT, there’s going to be a whole bunch of existing stock of XT floating around – so you might get the new style chainring or you may not. Right now, I’d be tempted to go for SLX cranks, but this is also likely to change over the coming months.

…clock and date on the display reset themselves…

…suggests to me that the starter motor is struggling to turn the motor over and drawing all the power your battery can muster. Possibly hydrolock? If using a jump lead to provide a good earth doesn’t sort it, consider getting a compression test done to check your head gasket isn’t knackered.

Did you fit one bulb or a pair? If only one bulb changed to a 130% brighter type, then the tester may have decided that the light from the bulbs is a different colour (“brighter” usually means “wavelength your eye is more sensitive to”). This is legitimate reason for a failure. If you fitted a pair, then probably an aim issue. Or a scamming main stealer.

Speshpaul has it – you’re right on model year changeover, so they’re up to their eyes in new kit. They’ve probably also been running down stock of last years’ model, so may also be struggling to find the right frame in the right colour in the right size

For an “easy” option that doesn’t require any local knowledge and is pretty easy to navigate, you could do worse than the Diggle Jiggle.
http://cycling.tfgm.com/Pages/maps/Diggle-Jiggle.pdf
I’d probably start it somewhere at the southern end of the loop, mostly because that’s pretty much where I live. It was all running fast last night.

…or even just retain ownership and let the employee use it for X amount of years…

“My” cyclocross bike was provided by my employer back in 2009. At end of term, was offered options of fair market value final payment, give it back or keep using it. I’ve kept using it, though it’s still a company asset and my employer could ask for it back at any time. I don’t suppose they will. TBH, I expect they’ve probably forgotten that they own it. Under the HMRC valuations, it should have depreciated to zero/negligible by now, so on the one hand it would be nice to take ownership. On the other hand, I’m not sure I want to bring it up with our team of HR “professionals”

Of course I could change to a higher gearing and do the flat segments I suppose…..

If only someone would devise a mechanism that allowed you to change between a number of different gear ratios :wink:

For HMRC’s valuations, see here:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim21667a

If you’re seriously thinking about setting up and administering the scheme yourself, this might be useful reading:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/11305/cycle-to-work-guidance.pdf

…insufferable pedantic bike-nerd…

Speaking of which… Can anyone enlighten me as to WTF is going on with Shimano numbering lately? R3500 Sora to be replaced by R3000 Sora? :|

For a straightforward estate where the deceased left a will, the executor(s) are happy to act as such (and if more than one executor, are in agreement about things) and no-one wants to contest anything in the will, then I gather around 6 weeks is fairly typical for application for a grant of probate to issue of a grant of probate if the application has been submitted by a solicitor. There can be quite a lot of groundwork required to get to this stage though.

…The executors can market the house before probate, and do all the searches etc, but contracts cannot be exchanged until probate is granted…

So, not in a position to sell then…?

And this is why I always want people to clarify which model they mean, as current (as in newest latest 3000 version) Sora is the same shape and underbar routed!

:oops: sorry amedias :oops:

Back in the early 90’s, I had a similar dilemma, and was torn between a late 50’s Fender Jazzmaster or a brand new Rickenbacker 330. Well… I went for the player, the one I’d be most likely to use, the one I wouldn’t be terrified of dinging and devaluing, the one that really didn’t have a far eastern budget “copy”/”tribute”/”reproduction” option available. I don’t play it so much these days – hell, I don’t play any of the guitars so much these days – but when I do, that Rickenbacker is still one hell of a guitar.

…New Gibsons are really nicely made…

8O Seriously? And I say this as someone who owns a couple of Les Pauls from the last 10 years or so…

I do find myself a little confused here – has probate been granted yet? From my own experience, probate can be a long-winded affair, and in any case, if the executor(s) have not been granted probate, they do not have any right to administer the estate. Until a grant of probate is obtained, they don’t control the assets of the estate, in which case they really aren’t in a position to sell, surely?

Having taken a look at the Law Society TA6 specimen PIF[/url] with a view to selling my late parents house in the (hopefully) none-too-distant future, there is plenty on there that I could only answer “Don’t know” to. I would consider myself to be pretty close to both my parents, but it’s a 16 page form asking an awful lot of questions about an awful lot of stuff.

As noted above, the lever shape on the more recent 105 is nicer than you tend to get at Sora level, and routing cables under the tape is so much neater. Speaking of which, you appear to have forgotten to allow for fresh bar tape in your sums :wink:

http://www.landofmudandglory.co.uk/

+1 for lockring tool in vice and doing the bus driver thing

Just cancelled here too

I’m not a drummer, but I’m led to believe it is the dominant foot rather than the dominant hand that determines which way round to set a kit up. Whilst it may not be natural or intuitive, it’s possible to play either cross handed or open handed. Playing cross legged doesn’t work very well tho

…Invisiframe use proper 3M stuff…

…if you want glossy tape. If you want matte/satin tape, it’s another supplier (XPEL) as 3M discontinued the matte/satin stuff. Seems like pretty good stuff tho, and definitely +1 for ease of application of an Invisiframe kit rather than messing around cutting bits of tape yourself. As you say, not cheap but saved me a couple of additional hours chopping up bits of tape

There is a 10% + 2mph threshold, in order to prevent people from having to obsessively stare at their speedoes so they can pay more attention to the road.

That’s the ACPO guideline, but it really is only a rule of thumb and is not universally applied by all forces. I gather Wales takes a zero tolerance stance on speeding, so 41 in a 40 zone is enough to get your collar felt.

…VERY durable…chip in anyway…

I see what you did there… :wink:

Didn’t realise that they do a 4wd version of the yeti…

Hadn’t realised 4wd was a requirement – going on an earlier comment that…

If the mondeo was a few inches higher and an estate then that would have been perfect.

…I thought you were just after a bit more ground clearance than a Mondeo rather than something with proper offroad capability. Anyway, moving on.

…but it looks quite good. Looks like it might not be as long as an octavia though?

Can confirm that a Yeti it’s not as long in the load area as an Octavia, but that’s true of most things this side of a van. However, a Yeti is considerably taller in the back, meaning bikes can travel upright with the front wheel off. No need to whip the seatpost out, I don’t even need to drop the saddle on mine. Possibly worth noting that getting a flat floor in a current model Octavia is a bit more involved as you need to either remove seats or sacrifice a bit more height by fitting a false floor in the boot area (there is a Skoda accessory for this). Of course, this may not be something that matters to you.

Skoda Yeti? If you’re looking for something with a little more ground clearance than the Mondeo rather than proper off road capability, a 2wd Yeti might be worth a look. Bikes travel upright with the front wheel off in the back of my 2l diesel.

Am liking the look of the Saccades – don’t suppose you happen to know if it has a name other than “public bench coating”?

As an occasional technical interviewer, we are actively discouraged from discussing employee benefits and contractual matters at interview.

As for the changes to process systems/software change thing, it depends… They could have been willfully misleading you, but it could be that the person interviewing wasn’t party of all the discussions and so wasn’t aware that the proposal had been canned…?

Newer cars tend to have more safety features. Yes, air bags and whatnot are expensive to replace, but it’s probably less expensive than paying out on a personal injury claim…

Newer cars also tend to have better security than older cars did, so less likely to get nicked

I could be wrong, but having…

inspected the damage to the girls car (a ratty old Mini) and offered to get it repaired at my cost

…kinda implies that you had accepted responsibility?

Disappointed – came here expecting Scottish indie music from my yoof :|

Bargain Flows from Merlin + black rattlecan from Halfords (using 10% BC discount on the paint, natch) :wink:

Why would you pay CGT on an inheritance ?

You don’t pay CGT but the estate is liable for IHT subject to the thresholds and exemptions

Not in all cases… The statements above are correct if assets are sold by the estate and the proceeds of sale are passed to a beneficiary (or distributed between a number of beneficiaries), but… If assets are transferred to a beneficiary and then sold by the beneficiary, then the beneficiary becomes liable for any capital gain on growth between date of death and date of sale of the asset. So sometimes a beneficiary can end up with a capital gains liability from an inheritance.

RaceFace cranks and BB? I spent a while worrying about this before fitting an Aeffect crank to my Beargrease. Can’t remember what I did in the end, but neither I, my cranks, my BB or my frame have died (yet).

When you can download Approved Codes of Practice for free from the HSE, there really is no excuse for this kind of thing. Link to a free download of Safe Use of Lifting Equipment below:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l113.pdf

A poo museum on the Isle of Sh*te?

One point to note on weight – if I spent a weekend riding my old OOF with steel forks, my shoulders would spend most of Monday reminding me about it. Since changing to an aluminium Beargrease with a carbon fork (and a lighter front wheel/tyre combo), I get much less grief from my shoulders. I think this is probably more because it’s easier to pop the front end over stuff rather than the fabled “twang” you’re supposed to get with carbon forks

In principle, it *might* work, but there’s a little bit more to it than just “pushing a bit of fluid”. You need to know how much fluid you’re pushing and/or how much fluid you need to push. Push too much fluid – you’ll overpressurise the system and hopefully just blow a few seals. Push not enough fluid – you won’t operate the system.