The endless screaming on all the “Talent” shows on a Saturday night.
I’m not even watching it and feel like putting my boot through the telly.
Yes,and celebrities.Wheeled out to plug a film,book or boring tv series where they visit somewhere really exciting like a sandwich shop in Bradford.

Put a condition in the lease that the flat roof is not to be used as a balcony.
If they do use it and possibly damage it at least you would have the lease conditions in your favour.Getting money for repairs would be another matter.

My wifes an avid watcher of it.She’s constantly advising the contestant which boxes to pick and when to go for the “deal”.
Once i’d accepted the deal with 70K in my pocket i wouldn’t give a toss about whats in the other boxes.

You’ll have to take the top cap off on the damping side to replace the fluid.
A small amount of fluid goes into the bottom of each leg to lubricate the stanchion bushings.
After a ride turn the bike upside down so that this fluid can run down and coat the bushings.

Shame ?.They seem to be proud of how many ASBO’s they’ve got.
Seen the pics of the looting in London during the riots ?
The low life were even proud of nicking a bag of Basmati !
I could never stoop to their level.Trackie bottoms do nothing for me !

Yes,move to a better area.The problem is the scum seem to be able to afford to run a car on their social security handouts so can now travel to blight other areas once they have trashed their own.
These people have no respect at all for anyone else or the living environment.
But what “role models” do they have?
Foul mouthed multi millionaire footballers,obnoxious so called celebrities, and the greedy institutions which now run our economy.

Go back to Shimano.
Easier to assemble and disassemble.
Marginal difference in weight and i can feel no difference in stiffness.
The Race Face BB’s are rubbish(or at least the bearings are).
The assembly of the cranks means the crank arm is wound onto the bearing and putting pressure on it.Too little and theres movement,too much and the bearing has a short life.
I’ve used both on my bike for the last 4 years but got sick of the constant fiddling with the Raceface to try and take play out.

Done a lot of road biking in the Pyrenees but no mtb’ing.
From what i’ve seen the best biking would be in the central and eastern Pyrenees,and as one contributor put it Ax les Thermes looks a good spot.
I ‘ve also found the weather to be better the further east you go,after moving on from the Basque region after a week of dismal weather in the summer.
You could also look around areas like Luz St Saveur which is very touristy but should have plenty of info.

My wife won’t walk anywhere.Its got to be the car everytime,everywhere.
I think its an excuse to go shopping as if she goes to the doctors down the road the car comes back full of assorted carrier bags containing stuff we don’t need.
I was working away and took the car for a week and within a couple of days she had a hire car delivered and was out every day in it spending a fortune on petrol.
She sees the car as something that someone else pays for and maintains and cleans.

The one in Bristol is supposed to have some Italian sprinter called Chipolata riding in it.

I have a good running thread on the road cc forum about this subject.
Pennine Etape £61.One other near to me £51.
I’ve just seen one today for Bristol at £100.
Sticking to the Sunday club runs myself as these prices are far too high for me,and for people in my club when i mentioned it to them.
I’d rather spend the money on some gear for me or the bike.

I’ve been using Seek out Cycles dvd’s with my turbo trainer.
Just an intensity level to ride to but the rides through the rockies make the hour pass pretty quickly.

I paid £150 for all the ridge tiles recementing and some pointing at either end of the buiding on a long commercial property.
If it hadn’t have been high up i would have done it myself.

The ferry ,Dover -Calais should always be cheaper than the tunnel,and by some margin.The Dover ferries are always cheaper during the night,and the roads quieter on each side of the channel.
Michelin have an online service that will plan you a route telling you the distance and toll charges if any(the tolls towing a caravan are horrendous).
Depending on the time of year it may be worth getting an ACSI discount card.You can use this off season,generally not July/August,but it can give you quite good savings.
Its not a difficult drive from Calais,just Rouen to negotiate,and now there is a new Autoroute down to Le Mans(again extortionately priced).

I’ve done a lot of road riding in the Pyrenees and its been fantastic.
The weather is better the further East you go,Basque area was damp and miserable in Summer.Loads of Cols to do with a great atmosphere because of all the other cyclists on them.
Been looking at Bourg D’oisans this year and 2 weeks in a mobile home about £600.Its also less of a drive than the Pyrenees.
Wouldn’t bother with a tour company as its not like mountainbiking as you only need a decent road map.

Have you put the rubber plug back into the bleed port ?
If you haven’t then you will need to bleed it from the caliper back to the cylinder and replace the plug when the master cyclinder is full and free of air.I swivel the master cyclinder so it is upright on the bars so that the the bleed tube can semi fill with fluid then pull it off and put the plug back in quick.

Don,another Spanish friend has been on the sick for at least 10 years and is only in his mid thirties.He has 2 houses,a new car this year,and regularly goes biking.His wife doesn’t work and his condition is never reviewed.On sick for life.
My wife,not a Spanish national,worked in Spain but when she finished her social security card expired 2 years from her finishing.

I’ve known Spanish cyclists who were badly injured by poor Spanish driving.Its usually elderly Spanish who have never taken a test(either driving or eyesight).
There should be less accidents in Spain because the roads do not have as much traffic on them.
For me the main roads in Portugal were really dangerous and i avoided them at all costs.
My Spanish neighbours complain all the time about the government,pensions,immigrants etc.
Younger Spanish friends seem to be quite happy to be on the dole or on sick,and most work in bars for cash.
A neighbour in his thirties has not worked for 3 years and last year bought a new Golf at 27,000 euros.This is his going out car as he also has a small Opel.His mother complains that his social money makes it difficult for him to run 2 cars.He has no intention of ever looking for a job.

A friend of mine rented out his council house while he went and lived with his son.He got caught but kept the house.
He’s now put his name down in a different borough for a council flat. hoping to rent it out when he goes out to Spain in the new year.
The rental income will more than the cover the rent he has to pay in Spain.

My next door neighbour has a Passat estate diesel as a company car.
He said its the worst car that the companies had and so far its had over £8000’s worth of various repairs including a full engine rebuild.
The fancy handbrake is a continuing problem.
He had a Mondeo before that which never gave trouble but was heavy on tyres.

If your chimney is straight enough and wide enough you can put the metal flue straight up the chimney so leaking smoke shouldn’t be a problem.
I have one in a house in Spain and the first part of the flue is exposed,and gets very hot,before going through the ceiling.
Some people even leave it exposed on the first floor.
Buy the best woodburner you can afford.Stay away from cheap pressed steel ones and go for one which is cast and as heavy as possible.

Any road cycling clubs nearby ?
It’ll encourage you to get out and they’ll know plenty of different routes.

This thread really applies to independant shops in general , not just bike shops.
Government and local council policy in the past 3 decades has totally changed the look of our high streets and the romantic notion of resurecting them is dead and buried unless online retailers and these bland sheds known as superstores face higher taxation,however it is levied.
After being in retail for about 20 years nothing at the moment would tempt me back to renting a high street shop.

How much is the red diesel ?
The kerosene is about 60p a litre and if you go to the depot they’ll fill your containers .

I’ve lived in Southern Spain for about 11 years in a mountain area .
My road bike has a triple but i rarely used the small ring.
A 50/34 should be no problem if you’re reasonably fit but as has been commented climbs are long.
The climb from the nearest town from me,Alhama de Murcia,up over the Sierra Espuna is about 11 miles.Not much gear changing and a fantastic road that rivals anything in the Pyrenees or Alps.

We had a clothing retail business for many years and the sales were always excellent for us.
The profit margin was actually higher than pre-christmas as your sale stuff is bought in well before christmas at a big discount from suppliers.People just see a sale ticket,assume it must be a bargain ,instead of thinking is it still value for money.

I thought the Oranges were all sold out.
Bought a Cube Agree Pro from CRC ,mostly Ultegra,FSA bits,Mavic wheels,£980.I think the carbon one is about £300 more.
As for the Orange,its for the mtb’ers that have already bought their overpriced mountain bikes.

I put shortish 120’s on a 06 bike.
Did it because the front end never gave any feel or confidence with longer travel.120’s felt better but just too short and flexy for where i was riding.Sold the bike as i believe the angles were wrong with too much weight over rear end.

Most turbo trainers will accomodate a road bike or mtb wheel size.
I’ve just bought a Tacx and had to fit the included brackets to bring the rollers close enough for a mtb wheel.
Just don’t use a big nobbly tyre.
It is insanely boring though so dvd’s or downloads to watch really are a must unless you have a will of iron.

Are we really surprised that someone would act like this.
The public are sick to the back teeth of these type of parasites that blight society.
Are we a civilised country? I see plenty of people that would be more suited to be housed in a pig sty.
People take action because the law and the courts fail them.

There are a suprising number of ex pats with mortgages out there.
A few years ago getting a mortgage was painfully easy.No proof of income required and you could borrow 120% of the value.
People used the 100% to buy the property and the rest on a new Mercedes.Theres an enormous amount of German cars on Spanish roads,great for the German economy.
Its still easy to get a 100% mortgage on certain properties as the banks have lots of properties on their books and would prefer to take what really is rental income.
The catch with some Spanish mortgages is that if you default and its repossessed then the bank will come at you for the amount of the full term interest.This is being challenged in court by Spanish nationals.If you’re British you just clear off.

I’ve lived in Spain for the past 11 years and moved back to the UK this year.It is marginally cheaper to live in Spain but the pounds weakness to the euro in the past few years has narrowed the gap.
In Spain you always wondered where the money came from for all the infrastructure as tax evasion is a way of life out there. A lot of ex pat businesses never register because of the high social security costs and just work cash in hand.Even the solicitor who dealt with our house purchase wanted cash to avoid paying tax.
The Spanish still use pesetas to value things,especially houses,and the poorer ones don’t want the euro.
The biggest problem at the moment is not being able to sell your house if you want to move back to the UK.
I’m really glad this country never adopted the single currency.

We had a large retail clothing shop up until 2000,and then sold the business.We’d had the business for about 23 years ,did very well,and employed people.
As soon as out of town shopping centres were up and running our Saturday trade was halved.Sunday openings on the run up to Christmas became a waste of time and you could tell the writing was on the wall.
Shops in the area became services,estate agents,building societies,hairdressers and sandwich shops.
The business rates were an absolute killer.Why were we paying the same square footage for a village as a unit in a shopping centre.
Government policy on shopping centres and local councils total disregard for small businesses completely changed our high street.
I don’t see a way back as the retail giants have overwhelming power,and have only to mention job creation to get planning permission.
Our shop is now a pharmacy and i do miss dealing with customers and genuinely helping them ,but i think we got out at the right time.

“Assault” seems to be claimed nowadays even if you just touch somebody.
The lad provoked this and could have have walked away when he was ejected from the train.But no ! He wouldn’t leave it alone and got pushed over .So what.Happens every Saturday night in town centres.
If you’re prepared to be foul mouthed and abusive then someone at some point will shut you up.

I used an IFA for about 15 years but became very disappointed with the service.I do believe i was pointed to investments that paid the highest commission and when i complained about the disappointing returns i was told “thats how the stock market goes”.
Changed to a financial adviser from my bank,HSBC.Totally different and more professional approach.I was given a choice of investments,not just HSBC based ones,and the service i received was excellent.I know someone will probably post abouts HSBC’s recent miselling case.

We’ve just moved back to the UK after having 11 years in Spain.
All i see on the tv are people complaining all the time and very little of the positive things that are here in the UK.
My wifes used both the Spanish and UK NHS systems and its far better here in the UK.With the number of people it deals with there will always be complaints but i have far more confidence in it here.
Yes,tax here is high,but if the Spanish were made to pay all taxes that are due then prices would rise enormously.The amount of tax evasion compared to the UK is massive.
Younger Spanish that i speak to are quite happy being on the dole/sick as the payments seem quite generous,and you can always pick casual cash jobs up(no tax man on your back).
At the moment,and years to come,it is difficult here,but going on and on about the negatives just drags the country down.
For me theres just one thing.The weather.Can’t change it so got to get on with it.

Just who is going to be managing these “compulsory “pensions.
If you have no choice that the money is deducted from your wage then on retirement you should be given a GUARANTEED figure.Otherwise your money will go down a black hole of commissions, costs and stock market falls.

Got a variety of personal pensions with investment firms.
Wish i hadn’t bothered.Only advantage at the time was the tax benefit,but with the way the stock markets gone growth has been negligible.Should’ve bought a couple of cheap houses in the early nineties instead.

My wife had a knee replacement about 2 years ago.As we lived abroad it was done privately but the aftercare was very poor.
My wife took very little notice of the advice she was given after the op with regards to excercise and what to avoid,and she’s paying the price now.We have just been to see a specialist here in the UK and he said the aftercare is more important than the operation itself.
My wife will have to have ongoing treatment to try and rectify the damage she did after the op.
Listen to the experts.

Beers £1.50 a pint in a pub near me.Not sure if Sam Smiths is any good ,but the pub keeps busy.