Out of that choice i’d go WTB hubs.
I’d rather have sealed roller bearing hubs than the XT cup and cone any day.

AFIK if you are a UK resident then tax is payable on foreign earnings once the money enters this country.So i assume going into a UK account is entering the country.
If you are out of the country for more than 9 months every year then you would be non resident and liable to pay tax in the country where you are living.I think there may be some countries that are the exception such as Qatar.
If you’re paying tax in the foreign country you shouldn’t need to pay it here.

I have some WTB Laser disc lite on a Giant Reign.

The wheels are about 4 years old and have had some seriously hard use in Southern Spain.

No broken spokes and very little spoke tweaking to do.

The hubs have run perfectly and are far easier to service than Hopes.

The only niggle is that the bearings come with play in them.
Thinking they were worn i bought some enduro ones,more expensive due to the size,and found that the new bearings also had play in them.
My rear hub had a nut to compress the bearing but it doesn’t take the play out.Newer hubs may have this play sorted out as users on American forums didn’t have this issue.They are similar to American Classic hubs.
I’d readily have another set of these wheels as they have been light and strong.

This seems really confusing.
I’m flying with Easyjet in a couple of weeks time to Geneva.

Booked a bike and bag into the hold.Looking at the website the total weight is now limited to 32kg for both bags,with 10kg limit for the hand luggage,making 42kg in total.

As i booked some months ago does the new limit apply ?

Camping Ascou la Forge,outside Ax les Thermes.
The best sanitary facilities of any site i’ve been to in France,and i’ve been to a lot.
Dutch couple specialise in outdoor activities and they have a large room full of information on the area.No problems with dogs and footpaths from the site take you down to the town of Ax or over to other valleys.

If you’ve got a car the best area is the Sierra Espuna outside Alhama de Murcia.Its the best riding in the Murcia region.
The village of El Berro is a good starting point,or the Centro Interpretacion in the park.
Saturday mornings see plenty of mountainbikers about and the cafe Fuente del Hilo is a meeting spot around noon.
There are sometimes rides out from the campsite in El Berro and if you’ve got an Orange you’d fit right in.

I’ve had a caravan for over 12 years but have now decided to sell it.
Usually i go abroad with it but with the extra diesel,ferry and toll costs its now just not worth it.Going out of season there are good prices on mobile homes, with companies including ferry crossings.
My caravan is lightweight and i get 30 to 35 at the most so with a big double axle and car to match its going to be nearer 20 or less.
If you are just going to use it a few weeks a year its not worth it,and it will depreciate,but not as much as a car.
If you are still thinking of buying look privately first.Dealer margins are high and privately you usually get all the extras thrown in.
German vans tend to be well built but heavy,and not as popular with secondhand buyers.
Big caravans,especially twin axles, look better value than smaller lighter ones because less people have vehicles able to tow them comfortably.
Go to a caravan club site and see couples with massive caravans and 4 wheel drives.I wouldn’t join the Caravan Club as its a “my caravans bigger,longer,heavier,newer than yours” meeting point.

Look on autotrader of owners reviews for the diesel Zafira.
Reliablity and cost of running looks terrible.

I’ve had these sort of things in the past due to renting out property.
E-mails with the words solicitor,court,you’ll be sued and my friends a barrister.Solicitors will write a letter to you whether they believe their client or not.Same with debt collection agencies.
Never needed a solicitor yet.
If you think the work is not up to standard,and can prove it, send a letter to the builder saying its small claims court time if he doesn’t come back and resolve it.I always had the small claims court paperwork ready to put in with an inflated amount for the claim.
It failed only once because i was dealing with an alcoholic who’s brain was pickled and lived in a different state of reality.

Stayed at a campsite outside Orgiva a few years ago.Thought it was a bit of a dump really.Scruffy hippies and battered old Transits everywhere.
Had a mountain bike with me but never rode it as the terrain looked very unappealing.
As i was living in Spain at the time i compared it to my area and Orgive just didn’t do it for me.

If you say have a French registered car then the insurance has to be issued by a France based insurance company.This would cost you more than the UK equivalent.
The car could not be MOT’d or taxed in this country.
To my cost no claims earned abroad cannot be used in the UK so my 9 years counts for nothing here.

Along with our neighbours we go out picking up litter from the roadsides in our local area.
The amount we collect each week is enormous.We pick up that much that its impossible to carry all the bin bags back so we ask people on the route if they’ll put it in their rubbish.
A McDonalds,KFC and one of those rip off coffee places have opened up in the nearby town and a high percentage of the litter is from the first two.
A guy from the cleansing dept says it is now taking four times the time to clean around the drive through areas compared to before they were opened.
I wish the bosses of these places could see just what some of their customers are doing with the waste.
The people who do this can’t be educated not to,so just cut off the supply.Eat in only with no drive throughs and turn back the years with refundable deposits on all drinks containers.

Look at the tyreshopper website.
I think its run by National Tyres and they have a large selection and the lowest prices i’ve seen including mobile fitters.
The internet price is not available if you call in at a branch,so you have to pay in advance and book a branch and fitting time.

We got a new summerhouse a few weeks ago and gave it a couple of coats of Ronseal.Did the decking as well and the garden fencing.
Three days later it rained.The Ronseal rinsed off the summerhouse completely.I do mean completely.Not a trace it had ever been done.
We’ve sent a sample to Ronseal to be tested.
Next door neighbour uses Sikkens,very expensive and i'[m not sure if they do it in colours.

I’ve rented property out for over 20 years,both residential and commercial.
You have 3 choices.
Do it all yourself.Advertise,vetting procedure,download lease agreement from the internet,lodge the deposit with the govt scheme.
Just use an agent to initially let it then you take over.
Let the agent do everything,pay the upfront fee and monthly commission.

I’ve used a mixture.Agents have got me a higher rent and have been able to advertise the properties better.
The lease agreements are pretty worthless if the tenant wrecks the place and moves out.Going through the courts to try and claim is pointless so you just write it off.
Some tenants believe the landlord is there for their every need.
I’ve been phoned up because a light bulb had blown,someone living around the back had a barking dog,and one tenant who’s daughter couldn’t find a parking space outside the flat.
Overall i’d use an agent as you are at arms length from the tenant.
My agent was really lax over utility readings which took months to sort out so thats something i’d double check wihen tenants are moving in and out.

A simple way of levelling out the playing field of VAT on food would have been to remove it altogether regardless of the temperature or where its eaten.
But the Chancellors view of “fairness” is to increase VAT.
How about increasing the tax on “luxury” food and drink.
Champagne,Foie Gras,Caviar as a starters.

BRITISH BULLDOGS !

Thats if anyones old enough to remember it !

An Orange full suspension prototype of which only 2 were produced.
Meant to supercede the 5 but never put into production.
Great bike but the frame cracked after 18 months and it wasn’t viable to repair.

Cycling plus had a £1000 bike a test a month or so ago.
The highest rated was the Giant Defy 1,closely followed by the aluminium Boardman Team.
If you fancied Italian then the Cinelli Experience with Campag Veloce
came close to the Giant and Boardman.

Had one of the gels today on my regular 50 mile road ride.
Felt ok up to then but tired severely in the last 10 miles with increasing discomfort in my stomach.The warm gel tasted foul as well.
Not really sure if i’m going to give them another try.

Blocked fuel filter ?

When the term ” racist” is used we all imagine a shaven headed tattooed foul mouthed white male carrying a flag of the cross of St George.
Are the middle aged couple who want to move out of an area with high immigrant population racist?
Or what about the school that i used to go to.99% Asian now.The people who don’t want their child to go there,are they racist?
We just immediately castigate people for making decisions based on experience and put them in the politically correct box marked “racist”.
We don’t bother to find out why or how these opinions are formed as truth and correctness will never be compatible.

I’ve been going out with the road club nearly every Sunday since Christmas.
There is always the cafe stop on the way around and i’ve been amazed at the prices that are being charged.
£6 for a boiled ham sandwich.2 small slices of bread with a bit of ham and 6 crisps on the side.
Whats happened to the good old transport cafe that was a bit rough around the edges but you got plenty to eat at a reasonable price.
Its all foreign sounding sandwiches and Italian designer coffee where the customers are out in their Sunday best after looking at plants for their herbacious border at the nearby garden centre.
A friend in a local motorcycle club said that they have the same views on the local cafes.

Had a 2006 Orange 5 with bolt through 150 heavy forks.
I’ve ridden the same routes as people on patriots with no problem.
The Manitou standard rear shock is dire and really restricts the bike.
The climbing ability was really poor because of the poor shock and the angles didn’t suit me.I would say the bike specced like this was more suitable to downhill than normal trail riding(who needs 5 to 6 inch for trail centres?).
Changed the 5 for a Reign and felt it was a much better bike overall with Fox 32’s,and would easily have been better with a stronger fork.

Brother in law went into a lbs recently and got measured up for a Giant urban bike.£700 in the bike shop and he went away and bought it online for £450.Doubt if the bike shop could have matched that and its quite a bit of a saving.

Friends are going in a few weeks time.
8.5k for 7 people and 2 of them are kids.Not a cheap weeks holiday.

Who’s had 6 to 8% growth in their private pension in the last 12 years?
Save the money and probably put it in an ISA.
I’m like binners.Stopped paying years ago and if i had have kept putting money in it would lost ground.
Don’t bother about the tax incentives as it doesn’t help you if ultimately you lose money.
On retirement,depending on the amount,you will have to source an annuity.The rates could be as they are now,very low.

We registered with the telephone preference scheme.
It has cut down the number of calls but not stopped it completely.
The last PPI call gave me their details so i registered a complaint on the TPS website about the company.
Whether it does any good i’m not sure.

Me and the wife pick the litter in the roadsides near to our house.
The amount we collect is astonishing.We have that much that we can’t carry it back so ask people living nearby if we can stick it in their bin.
A McDonalds with a drive thru has opened in the last 12 months and a big proportion is from there(about 5 mile away).
Really its everything thrown from vehicles,even the local bus drivers clean the buses out and throw it on the tarmac.
A guy from the local council told me its now taking up to 4 times to clean certain roads due to the big takeaway companies opening up on retail parks.

I disliked Julia Bradbury as a presenter before this latest effort and this hasn’t changed my mind.She should take up politics as she’s so insincere and false.

If i paid 13% of my wage into a private pension i would be lucky to see a quarter of the pension paid to the police.And what about the lump sum?
There isn’t a pension pot of money,public sector pensions are paid for out of tax revenue.
How many years do you have to be in the police to qualify for full pension and lump sum?
A lot of officers collect this then get jobs afterwards,meaning one less job in the private sector.
We have a massive gap between public and private sector pensions and i believe this has to be addressed.Not by reducing public sector pensions but looking at the way investment and insurance companies work in the private sector.

I’m up North and neighbours,friends etc have never mentioned the Olympics.
I don’t think its being jealous,but i believe they see it as another event for the South-East that has very little impact on our area.
Maybe the attitude will change once it starts,but if you mention the cost to anybody the first response is to highlight local issues.

The Police have some of the highest pension provision in the public sector.
Perhaps if they agreed to a slight reduction in the pension and lump sum payoffs on the condition that the government used that money to increase police numbers.
Thats increase police numbers,not buy luxury cars to patrol in.

I’ve got private pensions with various companies and have held them for over 20 years.No way would i add to them.
Growth has been pretty poor and all this talk of tax advantages means nothing if it doesn’t grow.
I wish now that i had put myself and my wifes contributions into property.A good possibility for capital growth year on year if you’ve bought well and also for income in letting.A big bonus is that this is in my control and decision making,good or bad.
The only IFA i have trusted is the one from my bank.She looked at funds chosen by my previous IFA and told me the funds were poor performers and showed me a comparisons table to show performances.
To get a reasonable pension the contributions would need to be substantial at present and on retirement you will be gambling on the stock market having steadily risen and a good annuity rate being available.Look at present rates and the stock market performance of the past 10 years before you make a judgement.

Listening to the left wing party in Greece that may ultimately be the decision maker they are going to break the austerity agreements agreed within the eurozone.
A German government spokesman said that if Greece does not adhere to the austerity package then they will receive no more money.
It looks like Greece will re-negotiate the agreement and if Germany wants to keep the eurozone together it will have to back down.
This will give a green light to other highly indebted nations to follow Greece.
Is the Euro going to be a disaster?Nobody knows.
Greece has got political instability and it could follow that social unrest is next.

Out with a small group with the club yesterday we did 70 miles at a rough average of 15 mph.Hilly route in the north pennines with more than one 1 in 5 climb.
The other guys in the group were on compacts and unbelievably a fixed single speed.I was on a triple and was off the back on every climb.
The bottom line was that they had stronger legs than me and had been riding a road bike for far more years.
I know in the short time i’ve had the road bike that my strength has increased but to keep it going i’ll have to put the hard work in.
The ride really made me think about the gearing i was using and how to improve my leg strength.

Usually get up just in time to watch Jeremy Kyle in the afternoon and have a laugh at my relatives on the show.Change into my trackie bottoms,with matching hoodie, and walk the Rotweiler down to the offy for the cheap cider deals.
Back to the estate and big sisters kept the bed warm,so its back in ready for a night of “The only way is Essex” and some of that Keith Lemon crap.Roll on tomorrow!

Exactly the same problem on my flat barred road bike.
The outer 2 fingers on each hand go numb and take days to get the feeling back.The bike has a carbon fork,or so it says,but the chatter through it is really bad.
My Cube racing bike has an Easton carbon fork and the vibration is loads less and the numbness doesn’t happen.
If you go the carbon fork route get something thats good quality as i think the one that i have is just carbon wrapped.

Drive down to the Sierra Espuna,south of Mula.
The village of EL Berro is off the C3315 Pliego to Alhama road and its the best place to start your riding.
There is a small campsite there with a big car park opposite.
The cafe opposite the parking,Espuna bar,is excellent for tapas with a really friendly owner.
The riding is great,and there is usually rides from the campsite on Tues,Thurs and Sat mornings at 10.
Orange test prototypes there,with a strong connection to the village.
No lifts so you will have to be fit,and routes vary from wide fire trails to virtually full on downhill stuff.
On Saturdays between 11 and 1 the Cafe at Fuente del Hilo in the park is usually full of bikers,road and mtb.
Just down the road from the cafe is the info centre with maps in the car park which can be used by walkers and bikers(no problem riding on established paths).The pena apartada route has a long fireroad climb with a fantastic descent.Ride it opposite direction to the board.
The Espuna is mountain biking in mountains on a far bigger scale to any UK trail centres.

The best reviews would be where the reviewer actually rides the bike (and not just around the car park).