>If cycle manufacturers put a 12 month warranty on their bikes, then why don't they face all BB shells to avoid the inevitable warranty claims for failed BBs?

I'd guess added cost of manufacture vs the cost of a possible warranty claim – of all bikes bought I'd guess a lot don't get ridden enough in the first year for any failures to show up, and of the rest I suspect many just replace the BB and don't think about claiming under the warranty

(fwiw, the older 'dales I have/had certainly had the bb's faced – not sure 'bout the headtube – and my '03 sworks enduro had bb, headtube, disc mounts all faced)

Sticking my engineering hat on (ok, electronics, but engaging brain at any rate) – a few possible reasons I can think of that might require them to be faced (assumes the threads each side are correctly on-axis, which you'd kinda hope there are):

if there's a large misalignment, the external bb cup's only going to contact at one point – I don't think it should wind itself out 'cos of the thread direction (not to mention the cranks holding it in), but as a result the thing might wander in the threads (I think someone on the forum's had a knackered frame from something like this)

if there's small misalignment, the bearing shell might seat ok 'cos of a little slop in the threads, but the bearings would be running a little off-line and possibly bind a little, or not spread the load so effectively.

Same thing should apply with headsets.

Certainly wouldn't have been much of an issue in the days of loose/caged ball bearings (rather than cartidge bearings) 'cos you had to sort out the tension/feel by hand. Might be why CK insist in facing headtubes – assuming their bearings are closer toleranced (I've no idea if there are, mind) then it's more critical, the slacker the tolerances in the bearing then the more it'll tolerate a slop frame fit (but equally may not spread the load across the bearings as well, so would wear faster I'd expect).

Any mechanical/bearing engineers in the house with an informed opinion ?

>Headsets do tend to come loose more often if you don't run a SFN

If that's the case you're not tightening up the stem bolts enough.

>A favourite of the sorts that like to change their frames paint to save weight 8O.

Or possibly :
a) you don't have a spare one to hand when assembling a bike
b) someone's nicked it.

Perhaps compare cage length to a more recent one that you can find the specs for ?

>My point was that, on average, it takes the least votes to elect a Labour MP, a few more to elect a Tory MP, and a LOT more to elect a Lib Dem MP. Go and do the sums, and you'll find that I'm right.

I don't need to, I'm quite aware of the fact.

The point is *still* that the current system no longer reflects the votes cast.

>Sorry, but we're back to basic errors of arithmetic. The average number of seats for Labour / Lib Dem per million votes is ~ 20.45.

I don't give a toss – I'm just repeating the earlier posters figures back at him to demonstrate it's a nonsensical argument.

Edit – from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/
as a proportiuon of the votes cast (thereby ignoring those that couldn't be arsed)
C: 36.1 %
L: 29.0%
LD: 23%

So that's a more stark comparison – 52% of the votes cast were *not* for the tories, whereas 36.1% were.

30 seats per million votes, whilst the Tories got 28.7 and Liberals only got 9.3

So that's 39.3 seats per million *against* the tories, vs 28.7 for.

People get far too hung up on FPTP – as as been previously said, it only benefits the part that gets a significant minority of the vote. That may have been useful for two party politics but the reality – as illustrated by polls/votes – is that it's not clearcut, and the *are* 3 parties with significant support, and it's about time the voting system changed to reflect that.

As for LB holding up everyone to ransom, that's a rather facile argument. Compare and contrast to the fact that the actual result with FPTP is decided in a bunch of marginals of something like 100,000 votes. That's what holds the election process up to ransom.

As TJ wrote, there's lots of way of doing PR.
One criticism against is always re your 'local elected representative'.
That's generally a load of bobbins, most people either vote
*for* a party or leader
*against* a party or leader.

– unless there's some pressing local issue – so it's rather a moot point.
The same argument's used the other way round – eg 'we didn't elect Gordon Brown'. Well, *alledgedly* you're voting for you local representative, not the leader.

edit – one point in favour of some type of PR could well be – depending on how it's done – it may make boundary changes completely irrelevant, which are currently open to much fiddling by all concerned.

>I take it people agree that a minority government is useless ?

No, mainly those that have something to lose from it.
Or too dim to realise that it can work otherwise.

There *are* 'poor' examples of coalition governments, but IMO they just reflect the diversity of the population they represent (or to put it another way, they get the government they deserve).

If the bunch of twunts in the uk realise that they have to work together, so much the better – surely Parliament's there to act on a balance of opinions, rather than toeing the party line all the time.

Whichever political party's in power, the BBC get criticised by them, and the opposition, for not being balanced wrt that party's views.

Kinda indicates that the BBC, as an organisation, does a reasonable job of being even-handed IMO.

>Make sure you claim big for injuries and recuperation
>And don't feel bad about claiming,

In this case, that sounds fair enough. But bear in mind anyone taking the p*ss and claiming for injury when there is none just helps increase everyone's insurance – it's personal injury claims that have bumped up the cost of insurance over the last few years.

Hope yer soon sorted !

>150m to stop when going down a hill with both brakes full on

Funny, ISTR the same thing on that Wales trip we did a few years back, and that was a different bike 😉

They're the same, one brake noodle's 90 degrees and the other's a bit tighter – just depends on the cable routing. eg I guess you might use the tighter one if your front brake were on the front of the fork and the front brake lever was on the lhs of the bars.

I don't quite understand the eat<>drink thing either.

If I skip breakfast, bowl of porridge when I get to work (typically std Scotts oats, add boiling water, stir while it thickens, microwave ~ 1min. None of this single-portion 'microwaveable' crap !) Mebbe with a banana sliced into it.

If I have breakfast at home first, small bowl of Quaker Oat crunch or Waitrose equiv with some milk – lob in microwave for 45 secs, add some tinned fruit. Takes a couple of minutes and doesn't give me heartburn unlike porridge or other cereal/fruit at that time.
Plus a cuppa, of course 😉

Worth a try ?

>Surrey CC are notoriously crap at road repair.

They've been doing some (temporary?) repairs in our Close recently (Walton-On-Thames). I suspect it has nothing to do with having one or two local Conservative Elmbridge councillors in the road, otherwise I'd have thought it might have got done sooner 😉 But there's some bloody awful potholes elsewhere that I'd have thought really ought to have been patched first, there's one pretty much across the nearside lane at Walton Bridge. The winter weather's no excuse, it was bad enough last summer.

I could be cynical and wonder if an election in the offing has anything to do with it…

Hope yer soon sorted, looks like it could have been a lot worse 🙁

>recumbent riding the local bmx pump track

There are few that are intended to be off-road friendly:
Mad Max Evo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh47ubjZFLE&feature=related
Azub
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uVpw2QYupQ

There's also a bmx-stylee trike – the KMX – a couple of kids a few doors away have one each. P'raps he's on one of those ?

Somewhere on youtube there's some footage of German guys doing a 4x course on Hase Kettweisels, which is another trike (but higher, one wheel at the front, two at the back, aka delta, rather than tadpole)

>A lot of folk that ride recumbents (in so much as there are such people!) think that the WTF is that? factor means that they get a bit more attention than a normal rider wth every visiblity aid going. I could buy that.

As a recumbent rider, I *can* vouch for the fact that that's true, certainly in assorted traffic conditions in N Surrey/edge of London.
Flags ? – jury's out on whether they help, but I'd rather not carry one – I have to put up with ever more prats shouting out of car windows (Clios are the new Nova?) than on a normal bike, giving 'em something to grab hold off strikes me as a bad idea !

Ah, just reread the above – he's got a trike. Mine's fairly low but a 2 wheeler – seat's about 14 inches off the floor, so my head's at driver level (good for giving 'em the evil eye when they start doing a stupid overtake. Trikes are good fun – human powered karts – but I'd be wary of using one in busy traffic – which is why I settled on mine.
Must admit I'd be more inclined to try a flag on a trike.

That said, there was an old fellow used to live nearby – popped off at about 99 after 30ish years of cycling (ill health, not under a truck !) – and he had several trikes, tho' he probably was out on them outside peak commute times.

>I'm with the 'roadie's neck' and shoulder crowd

Ditto. Can't ride a road bike any more (think I posted in that earlier thread)

>I've mixed feelings about thanking drivers,

Occasionally, as I do sometimes in a car according to circumstances (IYKWIM)

>I don't agree with moving in to the middle of a lane to try and prevent an accident. You restrict the view of the road ahead for the car driver behind you,

Ah, you'll be the one being peeling off the road at some point. If you can't see past a bike – or indeed a car – perhaps some tuition on safe overtakes/road positioning (IAM etc) would help. Apart from anything else, moving over/taking the lane gives you room to go somewhere if someone *does* cut you up.

On the subject of the IAM – the relevant handbooks are 'Roadcraft' and 'Motorcycle Roadcraft'. I believe there's also a 'Bicycle Roadcraft' where it covers 'taking the lane' – have a search on 'vehicular cycling'.

Had some silly tart* do the same crap overtake trick twice this morning – both times as I'd moved out to go past something. First – a long line of parked cars, where I was most of the way out but I actually needed to move out further to miss a manhole cover/crap road repair. Second time was a parked Police car, with a pedestrian reservation *not* that far in of it. Dunno which bit of the road she thought I was intending to occupy…

*I'm not being discriminatory, if it'd been a bloke I'd have written stupid pr*ck.

Excuse typos, here's the possibly contentious bits from that pdf:

10.6 UKIP would consult on the desirability of minimum third party liability insurance cover for cyclists – a simple annual flat rate registration 'Cycledisc', stuck to the bicycle frame, to cover damage to cars and others, which are currently unprotected. The Cycledisc should also carry clear identification details, which will help counter bicycle theft, and deter dangerous cyclist behaviour. We support provision of cycle parking at reasonable charges

I don't have *that* much of an issue with 3rd party insurance – and of this year I've got some with the CTC – but I've never hit anyone in 33 (?) yrs of cycling on the roads, so it's a bit pointless IMO.
And in any case, there's nothing to stop a driver suing you for damages – insurance just makes it easier to recoupe repair costs.
Sounds like the usual 'we've got to have insurance, so have you' rubbish you get from some drivers…at least they didn't suggest road tax !

10.8 Cycling on safe cycle routes, lanes, tracks and trails should be actively encouraged, particularly as a leisure pursuit. UKIP believes off road dedicated lanes are preferable to a confusing maze of cycle lanes on unsuitable or dangerous roads, which is problematic for cyclist as well as other road users.

Depends how you read it. Already some roads, whilst useable, are almost off-limits (A3 in surrey for example). Bit of bummer when they're the direct route they want to withdraw – which could be the other way of reading it. ('cycles as mode of transport shocker')

10.9 Local authorities should be given additional powers to enforce a 'cyclists dismount' or 'no cycling' regulation where there are safety concerns – such as busy roundabouts, junctions or bus lanes, or where the road would be too narrowed by cycle lanes and cause unacceptable delays to traffic.

Words fail me. Open to far too much interpretation/abuse IMO.
'Delays to traffic'…perhaps ban 50% of cars from the road then ? FFS…

One criticism that the big (ok, 2) parties level at PR is that your not voting for your local representative. But that argument's a little disingenuous, since people *generally* vote for the party (or have the possible dilemma, as in molgrips case, that you *do* have a good local MP whose party alignment is at odds with your preferred party voting intent)

>Does that mean we get minority parties like Greens and BNP getting seats?

Well that *does* reflect the makeup of views within the country, whether you like it or not (And as a potential Green voter, so I'd be more than happy to see some different views in Westminster..)

Probably worth defragmenting the drive, tho' I'd be surprised if it would make *that* much difference.

If it's only whilst you're running firefox, you could try Chrome or IE and see if there's much difference – tho' lots of firefox tabs/windows really won't help.

Otherwise – +1 for a fresh windows install I suspect..

BTW – your virus checker might not help, we run McAfee at work and it's an absolute hog at times (but it shouldn't be all the time)

>some didn't even stay through out the first date (throwing back a pint, excusing themselves for a bathroom break, and legging it)

That's a bit rude.
Probably say more about the blokes she's been matched up with than anything else. Well, unless she goes along with a bridalwear catalogue, of course !

FWIW, my OH reckoned if she wound up single she'd start going to comedy clubs – they inevitably do the 'put your hand up if you're single' thing at some point, I'm sure it's to help out 😉
Not to mention someone's got to have a decent sense of humour to be there..

I've got one mate who did try online dating for a fair while – ironically he met his GF/partner when she joined his climbing club.
Does she have any hobbies/interests (or have enough interst in anything worth cultivating?)

>not sure what the first few comments were all about, I'll put it down to harmless, juvenile humour that I'm just not getting.

1,2,3 = countdown to getting a ticking off
classifieds = it belongs there, you're attempting to make money off the posting

Perhaps if you think about thus site's url and the magazine title 'Singletrackworld' it might be a little obvious why a commercial posting like this is being a *little* silly – a) you're a potential competitor and b) it's a bit cheeky without coughing up some money for the privilege.

There certainly *is* a 2 week policy re breast cancer, but I don't know if it's across the board – I'm sure someone on the forum will have some reliable information rather than a bunch of idle speculation.

>More concerning

It'd be a bloody sight more concerning if that *is* Tory policy…then again, I'm not sure I'd expect you to admit that….

My partner had a scare a few years ago – turned out there was nothing to worry about – but was seen within about a week, which was just as well 'cos I was crapping myself far more than she was.

All rather different to how long it took my mother to get treatment, 20-odds years ago (wound up with a mastectomy).

Whilst I have no particular allegiance to either the tory or labour parties, an independant report's summarised that the NHS is in a far better state now than it was in 97 (?)..which is interesting given how many times I've heard the old tory story of what an outstanding economy they'd passed over to labour. If it was that outstanding perhaps they should have put some money in the nhs, public tranport, etc (Fragmented rail network, anyone ?)

you could try drilling two holes on the post, putting a large bolt/bar thru' and putting that in the vice – it'll stop the post twisting.
Otherwise – Sheldon Brown…

>they are the same weight

Yeah, I've been pretty much the same weight since my mid 20s (almost 47 now) – though I *have* been a bit more careful about what I eat since I was 30 – it seems like 30 and 40 are the points at which you might start loading on the lard if you're not careful – seems to be the case with some blokes.

I started going to the gym (weights/CV stuff) when I was about 35 (I think), when I realised I was looking a bit ropier than I liked in shorts/no shirt. Just shuffled the weight around to where it looked a little better 😉
Hit 40 fitter and stronger than I'd ever been..then picked up assorted injuries which messing up doing weights work 🙁 Also spent a few years feeling generally knackered before/after a house move a while back, but managed to haul my arse in the gym more regularly over the last 6 months. The one thing I *have* been doing religiously over the last 8 years is Pilates, which has kinda kept a fair amount of muscle tone even when I wasn't doing much else.

I'm now back commuting on the bike, which helps quite a bit – I can tell when I've not been doing much CV work or eating too much crap, 'cos the simple measurement is a tape measure around bellybutton level.

And with that…time to get on the bike for a 13 mile ride back home via the gym 🙂

>I'm really struggling with that statement. Please tell me you (and your car) don't drive as that is written ?

I seem to recall that TINAS is the same guy that posted on here that 'recumbents are dangerous'.
Well, obviously they are when they have to share the road with him :p

Like Convert, my knees give me a bit of trouble – I can tell if my seatpost's slipped much more than about 5mm, any more than 10-20mm and they'll start clicking – so I keep my seat pretty high. But I can still get my backside off the back of the saddle (flite), or even behind it – it just needs a little more planning to do so. I might drop it on a long descent, but not if I was gonna be sitting down to pedal

I've got one on my '03 enduro – the replaceable dropout/frame design is so crap that if the replaceable dropout goes, it takes part of the frame with it 😮

He's not bad at getting himself banned elsewhere…

>http://www.mtbrider.com/mtbr/showthread.php?t=24299

Is it 'cos i is metal?

“BEARD ON BEARD”: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’S JUSTIN FOLEY… ABOUT HIS BEARD

http://www.freewebs.com/honoringdimebag/dimebag2.jpg

http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/21-best-beards-in-metal/

(I think the most I've seen in one place was at a Hammerfall gig – the viking metal end of things..)

Tsk, SFB…never heard of rock chicks ?
😉

>not sure why you'd want a beard that long, mine gets annoying at 1cm long!

Not sure why you'd want one that short :p

FWIW I had a goatee of that sort of length for years, about 5 years back I thought I'd do the job properly…still a goatee, just a long one, 'cos I hate not being able to wash most of my face. In any case, it reached kinda Osama-length after about 6 months, which is about as long as it gets.

It's certainly a source of amusement for my OH – she looks/sounds quite posh whilst I look like a band roadie…so I lend her some street cred at metal gigs ('wtf's she doing here..ah, she's with him..'), vice versa anywhere more 'respectable'.
She's also noticed that it tends to leave little children a little dumbstruck 😉

>Which gyms devised this "non-scientific" method I wonder?

They didn't – see halfway down the page for where it came from (assuming some degree of accuracy of course..)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate

I don't think I know *anyone* that's changed the locks on a place they've bought !
I guess it depends on what the previous ownership was…

+1 for the Norbar SL0 (0-20Nm)

I've managed without one for 20-odd years, but I got mine 'cos I was particularly concerned that I didn't strip the ally pivot bolts on my Enduro.

>I've never seen one used in a shop

And I suspect most bike mechanics have stripped/overtorqued a bolt at *some* point – they just get more practice at not repeating the error 😉

It used to be the case that you'd get a reply from an agency when you sent yer CV. I suspect that in this era of email there's a lot of scattergun CV sending, even if it makes it through any CV filters I wouldn't expect a reply. Could always try phoning 'em tho'

>I'm not sure why

Possibly because – in addition to all the other reasons mentioned – it's simply **** ill-mannered.

Why do you want to cover it in heatshrink? – just a colour change ?

I think it tends to stiffen up when shrunk, so between the bars and frame or around a suspsion linkage it might not be a good idea

Problem with 1) is that unless you've got some way to pay off the loan, you never actually wind up with a house at the end of it, just the notional profit despite the fact that you've been paying a loan for all that time (if you run to completion).

You could split it between interest-only and repayment tho' – a mate's done that with his place, couldn't afford to do the whole thing with repayment so has split it 50-50.

I bought some XTR (parallel-push) V's not long after they came out, and the pad material at the time was infamous for a) wearing quickly b) wearing yer rims quickly. After the first long ride I did, it was pretty obvious by the amount of shiny rim material in the mud around the brakes. Replaced almost immediately by some kool-stops

>Also I lay with my elbow tucked in underneath me on my lefthand side.

I think that's partly what set mine of on the lhs – plus a long period of leaning on my elbow whilst trying to debug someone else's s/w !
I woke one night with a numb arm, took several days to get near-normal sensation back in my hand – it's now the same as the rhs side, which must have come on over a period of years. Gets worse occasionally according to how I sleep, but after a day or two returns to the original slightly numbed state. The first few fingers have the same problem tho' – after the inital lhs issue, I had a bunch of tests done, specialist concluded it was a bit of both ulnar nerve compression and carpal tunnel (probably not helped by leaning in handlebars), and suggested I didn't do whatever set it off 😮

Probably unrelated, I also have some neck trouble which prevents me riding a road bike – too low, muscles go into spasm – whereas an mtb is just about ok. So in an effort to help both, I now ride a recumbent on-road. It's also increased the size of the bike collection, 'cos I've lost a road bike and gained two recumbents 😉

>Jones H-Bar

Ah, wondered what those were..they'd probably help with tennis elbow too – which I also get from time-to time, hence the fashion faux-pas of bar-ends on risers on one bike.

>Also highly recommend Motorhead for an ace live experience

With earplugs. Admittedly I haven't seen em since the late 80's but they really were *too* loud every time.

Last Metallica album's the best for a long time. Saw 'em at the O2 last tour – in the round – had a standing ticket, so was about 15 ft from the stage. Good show, tho' the sound quality left a lot to be desired