Damn! Here’s me thinking of a particular ex-girlfriend. 🙁

Northwave get my vote. I recommend going up a size on your regular size. Wear thicker socks in them. Don’t do them up too tight.
Wear an ankle gaiter over them to stop water getting in thru the hole where you got / ankle is.

That said… Go to a real bike shop and get fitted. Don’t trust STW on this or risk an online purchase. Either take your own thick socks or use those that the shop has. Take your time and use the sales assistant. Don’t be embarassed about this in a very British way. Ask for different sizes, and different makes. It’s your money and they’re getting paid to do this. This is a really personal thing. You’re gonna spend a chunk of cash on this. Get it right!

Overshoes are rubbish. It took me three sets and roughly £75 to realise this. Proper winter boots are one of your best buys if you ride throughout the year.

Yeah. I have a farcebook account set up. Not by me. Probably one of my farcebook loving mates knowing my email address.
Every week I get several ‘friend requests’ in my inbox. Some from my mates (regular repeaters) some from folk I know thru work, others are complete strangers.
All get ignored and deleted.

FtD and Monkey are both fully rideable in wet weather. Nothing too difficult on either. Give it a go.

A really vigorous w@nk can burn up to 300 calories.

Didn’t stop me getting chucked out of weight-watchers though.

Get off the bike and walk past the icy bit?

Seems a bit common sense I know, but if you are expecting the icy patch then walking around it has to be better than taking a pearler and breaking an arm.

Ronnie Pickering.
Who?

Ronnie ****** Pickering

Surely that’s just to show us your shiny bits? Wiggle it about. It’ll come off.

Shiny though!

Big hit of scotch.
Get sharpest scissors.
Cut into edge of toenail where pain occurs.
Rip out the last bit that’s attached. (Pliers may be needed at this stage.)
Get another big hit of scotch.

Make sure to take photos and post on STW.

Molgrips.
Yow goo dowun the rowud, oop tha bonk an then yow goo dowun the cut.

Black Country Navigator sorted. Black Country Translator. Hmm that’ll take some time.

You are going to build a jump track whilst you have it aren’t you?

My local LBS didn’t stock the white outer cable I was after, but did phone another local bike shop to see if they did. The other shop did and sold it by the foot.

Get a kit from eBay or Amazon.

Beautiful thing!

Malvern Rider. 🙂 I’m nicking that one.

@ tthew. Do you remember the old New Street Station? Oooh! That was grim, the 1960s concrete grimness that most folk associate with Birmingham.

No bar inside? Who wants a pint in New St Station when the Wellington is a 5 min walk away?

Bike stands – Got to admit I wasn’t looking, but thinking about it I believe you are right. Planners probably knew all bikes were being nicked from riders on local canal towpaths.

Splendid write up. Glad to hear nothing serious.

Dog sh!t. Damn that’s nasty!

Oh, the new capacitor cost me £1.30. Was Maplins mind you, so quite spendy. Just wanted the telly fixed.

What Somafunk said.

Some people believe the Earth is flat.
Some people believe NASA faked the moon landings.
Some people believe in God.
Some people believe Elvis is still alive.
Some people believe in the existence of extra terrestrials.
Some people believe extra terrestrials built the pyramids.
Some people believe Elvis is alive because of extra terrestrial technology.

I’m bloody glad I put my faith in the tin foil lining of my bike helmet. It shields me from government / alien / GCHQ / NSA brainwave manipulation technology that turns non tinfoil hat wearing people into duped zombies / Daily Mail readers.

How odd! Complete contrast to the friendly folk at the Ladybower Inn who let me fill my drink bladder, even though I’d bought nowt and cheekily just dropped in and asked. Was a hot day mind you.

North / South divide? Northern / Southern hospitality divide?

Steps back to admire the beautiful can of worms freshly opened.

Can’t believe the bad press Brum gets. There’s been a helluva lot of improvement over recent years. New station is pretty cool. You couldn’t pay me enough to live in London. Hateful place.

No, I don’t live in Birmingham, I go there a lot with work.

Favourite brummie / Black Country accent jokes.

What’s the difference between a Buffalo and a Bison?
Yow carn wash your onds in a Buffalo.

What do you call a Chinese man halfway between Halesowen and Stourbridge?
Yu min Lie.

I’ll get me coat.

Give it a go. It is a lot easier than you think. What have you got to lose?

Mine’s a 7-8 y.o. 40″ 40EM something or other. 13 screws hold the back cover on. The first thing you see in the middle is the PSU. 8 screws remove that. Flip it over, the blown cap(s) will have a swollen appearance to the top. Flip back over and de-solder. You will find identifying marks. Google / eBay these. For Evans sake, your local Maplin will probably have them (mine did, and a helpful chap who knew what I was going to use them for. This fix really is that common!)
Get them thar caps home. You will notice the legs are longer than the one(s) you removed. This is a good thing. Slide the legs into the holes in the PSU board, make sure to observe polarity. For my Samsung there is a ring printed on the circuit board (really normal, helps assembly ops) There is a thick edge to one side of the ring. This corresponds to the polarity stripe on the capacitor. If in doubt compare to other caps installed on the board. Bend the legs – now that extra length makes sense. Solder the cap into place and trim the excess legs.

Refitting is the reversal of removal.

@boxelder 🙂
Thinking of bramblydrams. Got away with mentioning mulled whisky in a bivvying thread. Never heard of bramble whisky. Do plenty of other flavoured spirits (make a mean cherry brandy – no giggling at the back – made with sharp cherries).

Looking forward to ideas coming in.

Pours a beer, pulls up a beanbag.

MTB Batteries. Not got one of his lights but he did fix my Trout Lumenator so can vouch for his service.

That’s easy – Northern Lights! 🙂
Aurora Borealis do some really pretty ones. Not sure how many lumens tho.

Northern dark is certainly different to your southern dark. Its just, well, darker frankly.

and science doesn’t seek anything.

Oh dear! Oh dear, Oh dear! The whole point of science from its very earliest days is to seek knowledge.

American Government \ Military making the Internet available, initially to the scientific community and subsequently to the world at large.

PMSL / Spat G&T out at that one laddie!

CERN made what you now know as the internet available.

Expecting DARPANET / ARPANET / FOIL HAT WEARERS along any moment

Read history Boy! If you cannot read history suggest Wikithingy Tim Berners-Lee, CERN internet development. Fer Firks sake – stuff done at CERN is shared – that’s one of it’s principles – That’s interesting. Let’s tell folks.

Oh wait – it was made from reverse-engineered alien technology kept in hanger XX { not allowed to tell} and we never went to the moon. Phew glad my foil hat is on.

What DannyH said. But with Pooh in my shorts for real!

This far in and finally a mention of RISC. Sadly no mention of all the British-designed ARM chips which make our modern e-world possible.

Google Acorn Electronics or Acorn RISC Machine.

Those of you old enough / been reading the obsolete computer thread might remember BBC Micro & Acorn Electrons.

Oh for our British pluck and ‘cottage industries’.

Pissed off my Dad didn’t buy the Acorn shares he was offered in ooooh 1985-6. Instead went of to Honeywell. What would that be worth today? Like early shares in Msoft or Apple.

Glad my Dad is still about after a fairly big heart scare last year.

^^ Brilliant^^

I genuinely salute you sir! I have no hat to take off. I have removed my earphones instead.

Thank you. Really, really thank you.

Yep, Kona, Fairy tales and all that. I did point out that there was a lot of common sense on Halal & Kosher food practices. There was some good that came about as a result of those practices.

Please, please point out the specific Sura in the Koran that dictates the women must wear the Niqab. Surely that’s a good argument for men deciding what religion should dictate the rest of the populace should do?

I for one am a BIG fan of Niqabs and Burqas. As a European chap who spent my *ahem* formative years in Iran I am glad my male lustful desires were not inflamed.

There’s a Creationist Museum in Utah that has an exhibit showing primitive Man hunting & killing Dinosaurs. Whoah – Proof if any…

@mtb fix – reminds of “Christmas Turkey and all the trimmings for £20. That’s why Moms go to Iceland. “A 20 year old bouncing up and down on your cock for £20. That’s why Dads go to Thailand”

Yep Vulcan Salute and walk it across the fingers. Scarily folks – I can do it with my toes too. Walk ’em right across.

Mrs IronNigel hates it. Hates it when I pick things up from the floor with my feet too.

Ho-hum.

Kimbers – Its just that that sort of thing that boils the piss in my bladder!

Not your response, please don’t think that. It’s the fact that goes with it. “It persists in the complete absence of proof”

AAaaaaaaahhhh!!

In the absence of proof, science seeks that proof. Without proof, anything is merely a theory.

Wanna really good laugh – Wirral / Cheshire

Not just orange tans. There’s the ‘Scouse-Brow’

Moderate examples given above!

Oh – Bring lights – it’ll be proper dark up there.

See lights threads.

0/10 for effort.
Is there any good cycling West of Sheffield?

Really? You have to ask on this forum?

Get a map, get a guidebook, get an ounce of common sense. West of Sheffield. As a mountain biker think about that…

…How long did it take you to come up with the idea that YES YES YES you have to bring a bike with you.

Fule! Still 0/10 trolling factor.