Worth trawling the LFGSS and retro bike classifieds.

I`m using a DX 501B XPG which was about £15 mounted with a velcro lockbock type mount.Does the job well enough for me.
I`m a big fan of torches instead of the bike specific lights.Can be used as a stand alone torch,no dodgy connections or cables,to worry about,bateries are cheap,you can stick a spare in your pocket to increase run time,and if it dies its cheap to replace.

Horatio is that the steel version or the newer alu one?

Cant find the bikeradar review.There`s one for the Bokor from a while back but no Wanga. Anyone know where I can find one?
Also is the paint as bad as they say?

£1349 here.http://www.rutlandcycling.com/29415/Lapierre-Zesty-214-2011—Full-Suspension-Mountain-Bike.html?referrer=froogle1%3futm_source%3dgoogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=pid29415

Always surprised how some folk go to great lengths and expense to make their bike light then load up with everything except the kitchen sink.
I carry a tube,patch kit,lightweight mulititool,levers in a seat pack,bottle and pump on the bike,phone and a tenner in the back pocket
I really don`t like riding with a pack on my back,which is also a good way to lessen the chances of carrying too much kit!

I remember that stuff from my youth.Definitely a retro thing.Goes soggy when wet,dye tranfers on to hands and looks worn in no time.
Big fan of Fizik microtex.

I normally ride a Giant XTC 26er and I test rode a Giant XTC29er the other day.I was expecting much weirdness but I was surprised how normal it felt.Apart from the extra stabilty,and rolling speed it felt just right to me.

Remeber crazyt paving? Cut them into irregular shapes and crazy carpet your lounge…….

Go and have a wander around Woburn.Nice little town to spend a bit of time.

I ride from where I live all the time.Which is amazing beacuse I`m less than 3 miles from Luton airport!

Ive taught 3 kids to cycle this year,and Im sure how quickly they learn is more down to the individual kid than the bike.

My 4 year old loves riding and had been on a bike with stabilisers for 2 years.She asked me to remove her stabilisers and she just got on and rode.She was riding woodland singletrack within 2 weeks!

My 6 year old daughter took a little longer but with her it was just a confidence thing and she mastered it quite quickly.

Again no balance bike.

Last week I finally got my girlfreinds son riding after about 3 months of trying.He hadnt ridden a bike much before and is still not used to pedalling.He can balance just fine,but is still having problems doing so whilst pedalling.

In my expereince speed of learning is purely down to confidence.

How will the Lurcher differ from the Race? Will there be any more Scandal 26ers?

Whippets and carbon 456s are pretty much out of stock too

Can never understand how On One products go out of stock for so long?

Giant,regarded by some as as boring but I just seem to like their non showy,solid dependability.

Alfa Romeo for completely the opposite reasons to above!

Oh, and keep your advert in only one font, otherwise you will seem untrustworthy

Hmmm,posted that without changing
the font and some how the site seems to have changed it for me…..Strange.

I use here,ebay,local forums or bikeradar.

I have sold 3 bikes in the last 3 weeks.My sons bike I sold to a friend via a Facebook wall post,my Trek road bike via a local mtb clubs website,and an old steel road bike via lfgss forum classifieds.

It`s very much dependant on what you are selling and how quickly ou need the sale really.

Posting here gets lots of exposure but Id only use here after Id tried more local clubs forums first,because I generally dont want to be bothered with posting and I prefer payment in cash.Also everyone here is after a bargain so don`t expect to attract top dollar! :)

Ebay wants 10% in sellers fees and you have to be prepared to post if you want to maximise your price.Don`t do ebay unless you put a very good description and photos on there and have decent feedback if you want to get a good price.

I use ebay for buying,if the buyer is local and I can collect and they have little feedback precisely because the item attracts less bids……. ;)

Always worth a trawl through the wanted ads to see if anyone is looking for your specific bike too.

For a carbon road bike I`d probably try the bikeradar road section classifieds first.

Ive been using a MTE P7 torch for about 3 years with no issues what so ever.Batteries are cheap so you can afford to carry a spare,so run time is not an issue.

If you want a more focussed beam an XML T6 from DX will do the job very well.

Seal,at the Brit awards after show party in the early 90s.
Frank Bruno saying “I need a crap,I need a crap” was in the next stalls to me whilst taking a pre 10k race crap in Leighton Buzzard earlier this year…..

Whens the new Scandal coming? Id be in if there were a similar deal on a Scandal 29er.

I do actually get 40p a mile.Business mileage is small though because I work in London and generally commute by train so normally no more than 300 miles a month.

I`m a 40% tax payer.Company car would be an Insignia CDTi though I can trade down to an Astra if I want to lower the tax bill.

Some good points on CWI there, Edukator and Stumpy.

We sell render aswell as insulated render and we have revised our reccomendation for render thickness recently due to housebuilders and the BSI advice on weather resisatnce for full fill cavities in some areas ,penetration for the very reasons you suggest.

Having said that my parents house had CWI carried out by a reputable installer,and it made a significant difference and they expereinced no problems.

As always pros and cons but a bit of education helps determine whether its right for you and to avoid the pitfalls.

There is actually a map published by BRE showing which areas should not use full fill or have thicker render to improve weather resistance depending on the regularity of driven rain.So thats most of the west coast of Scotland then…..!

At the moment EWI does have some significant advantages over CWI or internal insulation,such as no need to move out whilst work is done,ability to achieve much lower u values,no condenstation,cold bridging risk/no temperature fluctuations through the wall,no reduction of interior space,to name but a few.However, yes there is a high capital cost (typically £60-80 per m2 as a very general ballpark)unless it is subsidised ,when used as a retrofit measure.

In most cases,it is being used on social housing where there are grants available,the client is looking to overcome other issues with internal condensation/cold briding as in a lot of post war prefab housing,or where the client is looking to remodel or facelift their house aswell as the insulation benefit.

If the existing walls have painted render or poor brickwork it is often cheaper to put a layer of insulation over and render them,than to pay the labour to remove the existing render and dub out/make good,if you were re-rendering anyway.

We are finding more and more EWI being used in new build where part L is ever more difficult to achieve and some builders are moving to single skin blockwork construction with external insulation as a means of achieving low u values.

Agree about the difference decent double glazing makes too.Incredible the difference living in a 100 year old terraced house with double glazing to one with draughty old sashes!

I bought some from helitape.Its very thick so protective but a PITA to get on smooothly,and is fairly visible once on.

Interesting replies chaps.

Hmmmm,maybe the 29er would be more adaptable.My mate uses rigid Scandal 29er his with slicks for commuting,puts a rack on for light touring,and even did a sportive on his.Woburn on the XTC was a little hairy,so maybe the CX may be a bit sketchy up there…..

Genesis Day one Alfine though,always liked the look of them but also seen good deals on 2011 Giant XTC 29ers.

That or get an On One frame bundle with wheels and forks and transfer my existing groupset over?

Argh,Choices,choices!

White dog poo…….
Did it really exist..?

I sell EWI and insulated render for a living.It`s expensive but the only solution for lots of older properties with solid single skin walls.(7m such properties in the UK.)
Insulating the wall externally removes the risk of cold bridging,keeps all of the building fabric warm,dew point moves to the outside of the wall so no condensation risk and you can add up to 200mm insulation if you want to bring your house up to Passivhaus standard.

Best considered if you want to reclad or remodel your exterior,particularly if you were considering re-rendering an older property anyway.

Its never going to be as cheap as cavity fill though ,as material costs are higher unless you are lucky and happen to be in a designated C.E.S.P. area and are eligible for masses of utility company funding.A small amount of funding is still abvailable in other parts of the country,though all of that may change in the next year or so when “green deal” arrives and these sorts of measures are likely to be more heavily incentivised and 0% pay as you save scheems come in.

Experience so far in most cases indicates heating savings of 30% though that depends obviously on existing level of insulation and construction and what the exact external wall insulation specification is.(We have done a house to CSH level 6 with a 0.12 u value.)

Also woth bearing in mind if you are considering taking up multiple measures such as EWI/CWI with solar/PV and or double glazing that these tend to ramp up available funding.

There are loads of scare stories about CWI but a succesful installation is mostly down to choosing the right material and correct installation.

I`d look at the National Insulation association website for approved installers.

The reason that insulation is cheap at the moment is that the utility companies stand to be heavily fined if they don`t reach their carbon reduction targets laid down by government hence they are throwing money at insulation by way of funding.

5ft 11 here with a 33 leg.I thought I had long legs relative to my height.
I always seem to be annoyingly between sizes except on my Giant Defy road bike which is an M/L and is about the only bike which has felt perfect.

Both my road and MTB shimano shoes have been a 46.

I use Squirt in summer and on the road bike,Finish line wet on the mtb which is tenacious but attracts dirt likshit to a blanket.

Though I do reckon chain life is probaly more about frequent cleaning and relubing than the lube quality itself in which case I should probably use cheap crap.

I`m 41 and separated from my wife after 1 years last year.

My relationship with my ex was over really in the 2 years before then so I felt quite ready to get back out there and start dating again.

I was expecting it to be really hard to meet women at my age,but I ended up having a succession of dates which came about through different means.

In one case it was an old school friend,another was a friend of friend,one was a random meet in a pub,and a couple via a dating site and so on.

My experience was if you go with a very set idea of your ideal partner you might be on a hiding to nothing.At this age most women are going to be divorced,have kids or some kind of “history”.

Finding someone compatible takes a bit of time,and the girl who I am currently in a relationship with came about through first having a friendship for a couple of months and getting to know each other,before it progressed to a fully fledged relationship.

My other expereince was that when you are dating at his age,and with previous relationships behind them women are very honest and upfront about what they want so don`t try to hide stuff.Above all just be yourself.

Velosolo might be worth a look.[/url]

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/7054332/

Early 90s (Reynolds 531ST) 24″ framed roadie bitza donated to me by a mate for free.Actually has a rare Campag Olympus mtb rear mech,old school cranks and Campag aero seatpin.Originally had flat carbon bars,a Nitto quill stem and Campag Olympus grip shifters!

(Sold those bits for £50 and split proceeds with mate.)

Must be the only bike running a Campag rear mech,Shimano cranks,Shimano cassette,SRAM chain and flat pedals!

Revived with a secondhand pair of wheels from a Spesh Allez (£25),a 7 speed cassette (£10),new bb £10),new chain (£8),3T bars from the Halfords bargain bin (cost £2) and a spare stem I had lying around.Actually rides really well depite the looks!

Recently bought my 6 year old daughter,a Carrera Luna 20″ bike off ebay for £50.Its about a year or so old and has one or 2 scratches but rides really well.Very similar spec to the Boys Blast.

Recently bought an as new Claud Butler 20″ trade in for my gfs 6 year old,for £40 and thats great too.

I wouldn`t worry about getting a big name brand for a kid tbh.In a year or 2 you will be trading up to a 24″ bike anyway.They tend to trash bikes too,so just make sure you get a light aluminium frame and decent components.I reckon the kids Carreras are every bit as good as the Spesh Hotrock.

Ridgebacks are very good.Though I`ve just picked up a really good Carrrera Luna on ebay for £50 for my middle daughter.
And currently looking at the Carrera Blast on offer for £210 in Halfords for my son.

Go for the S Max.

Can`t beat a proper people carrier for boot access.Extra height makes it a doddle to tick the bike in upright.Thats not something you can always do with an estate.

My Focus has P7s and is going to need new fronts soon.Currently at 3mm and 18k miles.

I have a 12-26 with a 53-39 on my Trek and whilst normally Ok for shortish rides,it was woefully inadequate on the 60 mile Chilterns sportive I did last week where there were long 20% gradients to climb.

I`d go for the 12-27 at least ,if unless you are a superemely fit,race whippet. :D

Definitley going for a compact chainset next time!

I put RF Deus risers on mine.Almost as light as carbon and a lot lighter.660mm and 210g.

I`m a single dad.Thankfully I have reasonably good relationship with the mother of my 3 kids,and I get them alterante weekends for 3 nights and one night mid week too.

Because of this I get to enjoy a brillaint realtionship with mine.All of my arrangements have beeen negotiated with my ex.
I was lucky not having to get solicotors involved.

I got some very good advice off the wikivorce website.

I don`t obsess about it too much,but my bike is much nicer to ride in its 24lb guise than it was when it was 28lbs.