Quite a broad brief there TBH Alex. Do you want hardtail or full sus? (I’m guessing fully rigid is not your thing). I’m not too good with full sus, but i’m sure someone will be along shortly to give you some ideas. If its a hardtail you’re after, I like the Genesis range. Do you want steel or aluminium? I have a Latitude, great all-rounder, comfy all day bike, but quick on single tracks, climbs and descends well. It seems to take all the abuse I throw at it, but i’m not rad to the max! You may want something a bit burlier depending on how hard a beating you want it to take. A friend of mine has the Orange Crush. its quite a lot beefier, a bit heavier, nice bike though – he thoroughly enjoys it. Test ride as many as you can.

Has anyone got any experience of these? They seem to get mixed reviews – great looks, poor fixings….
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/curana-c-lite-mtb-55-60mm-mudguards/

What if the Hockey Cokey IS what it’s all about?

Wow, they’re not as frightening as I thought they’d be. All fully comp I assume?
So which is winning, head or heart?!

So go on then, what have you been quoted for the insurance on either the Bimmer or the Audi?
Having seen the sort of capers you and your missus get up to (oo-er!), I would have thought the Audi is by far and away the best option out of the above cars. However, I do understand the attraction of a 3l straight 6!Have you thought of the Subraru Foresters? 2l turbo boxer engine, good 4×4, estate, solid and reliable?

Nay, purely because from your previous posts it sounds like you wanted a wagon of some sort. Wait until a tourer comes up.

Like you I often quite enjoy a bottle or two in an evening. Nothing helps me un-wind after a days work like hearing a bottle being capped! I also felt the need to cut back a bit, mainly to ensure that I had at least 3 days straight off the beers. I’ve found that (cold) Becks blue is actually pretty nice. I know this doesn’t really answer the OP, but I thought I’d throw it in there!

Cheers Z1p, You’re of course right about looks and mudguards! Perhaps I should of said the least offensive, functional mud-guards! Needs must though – yesterdays commute involved torrential rain, hail and glorious sunshine! Cheers for the links, some good options there.

F£$k me! That’s amazing! So what about us mere mortals, anyone know what they can generate?

So peak power over a Kw – that’s pretty impressive, just over 1hp, or 0.5 2cv! I wonder what Hoy can generate?

I regularly jump red lights when I consider it safe to do so. I slow down to a stately 5-10mph to do so, or am pulling away having given way to a pedestrian crossing. I know that by the letter of the law this is wrong, but will continue to do so. There are certain junctions that I encounter where I wouldn’t dream of it.

I don’t think twice about jumping on my bike after several pints, which is still an offence (if i’m staggering whilst walking I tend to walk with the bike, using it for support!). It wouldn’t surprise me if I break the speed limit on my bike pretty regularly too (easily done in 20 zones). I walk my bike on footpaths/pavements, sometimes i’ll ride (when connecting one piece of badly designed cycle path to another). I’ve also been known to ride at night without a front light (not regularly, but its happened, always in well lit areas and wearing hi-viz). There is even one small roundabout that the right turn off is very tight and off camber, if its clear I’ll occasionally go the wrong way around it.

I know all of this is ‘wrong’ and against the letter of the law, but based on my own risk assessment of the situations consider it safe to do, if I cause an accident, or some blame can be attributed to my actions then I will accept responsibility. Any of the anti RLJ’s done any of the above? I don’t see how the above are any different.

+1 for the p2’s – when I was looking for some 26″ canti versions recently the only ones I could find were 700c disks…..

Hi Plum,
Where are you based? I’ve used Ventrolla before in Oxford, was by-and-large happy with their work, although I think their survey/quote could have been more thorough…There is Oxford Sash Windows as well. Not used them as of yet, but seemed very good also.
HTH
Matt

A friend of mine had a Citreon C5. That was a hateful piece of crap – to change the headlight bulbs it took the two of us two hours (and he’s a sparkie). We had to remove the battery and airbox (i think) among other things. What always astounds me is that the french insist that you carry a full spare set of bulbs in your car, then design cars that are impossible to change the bulbs on at the roadside!

I thought about entering this, but the rules are pretty vague. The winner will be the solution that takes longest to steal. Presumably that means that the bike has to be locked/attached to something, so that rules out any deterrents (charged prongs poking up through the saddle and all!), anything that disables the bike, but doesn’t attach it to anything can just be loaded into the back of a van, so takes no time to steal. Shame, as I think the big heavy lock market/bike cabinets etc is pretty well catered for, but genuinely innovative deterrents (such as remotely operating QR’s) have a place in the market and should be explored.Especially annoying as I have 3 storming ideas for bike security, but none of them ‘stop’ the bike being stolen, just make it more difficult for the tea leafs!

Whatever gives you the best cable routing. If you run RH front brake then the 135deg pipe is probably best off there. I got hold of 2 90deg pipes as I run a LH front so this gives a much better, smoother route. I’ve never come across a situation where a 135deg pipe is needed on the rear. HTH.

Thrown a rather expensive engagement ring into the sea…….

Thinking about it, I did notice that the rear hub is beginning to get a little sticky, might treat it to some new bearings next year!

Hope hubs. got mine 16 years ago, covered countless miles in all conditions. Never been serviced, still loud and proud on the commuter. Fantastic pieces of engineering brilliance.

Love my cat, he’s a big softy though and loves being picked up. A good friend of mine told me one of the funniest cat stories i’ve ever heard though.

Him and his missus were up in bed ‘between the sheets’, the crown jewels flapping up and down all over the place. Unbeknown to them their 1yr old cat had snuck into the bedroom and was in a playful mood. The first thing the missus knew about it was when my mate tensed and screamed – she thought he was experiencing a particularly powerful climax. Sure enough the cat had attacked his bollox, teeth and claws being deployed to full potential!

Cats, don’t you just love them!

I’ve always thought that a lift company called Schindler’s is just wrong.
http://www.schindlerlifts.co.uk

Dig a hole under the slab approx 5mm smaller than the slab itself and about 150mm deep. Make sure you are around to watch the slab end car fall through the hole beneath. Cue evil laugh. Then instantly regret it as you have to help push car out of hole.

Matttzzzzz – Sounds great fun! Great looking dog and keeps you on yer toes! As previous post, don’t want to rush into anything, so going to mull it over. Will post pics if and when……Cheers.

Anagallis – Thank you for your lengthy reply, much appreciated. That is one fine rough bitch you have there!

The current owner tells me that she is very obedient, loving and loyal. She is only 9 months old, so still a pup really.

Since my earlier posts I have contacted the owner. He assures me that when he was first bringing her up there were cats around, so she is used to them….i’m sure with time and training we could be confident that they could be left alone together. The next biggest concern regarding the cat is whether he (HobNob) will resent having his home taken over by a larger animal, but I guess he’ll get used to it.

I have asked about her daily routine, and it sounds much like what I could offer her – morning/evening walks, possibly some lunchtime attention, days on her own, but some days not. So I feel happier about that side now.

Looking at the pics of her (I haven’t met her yet) I’d say she looks to be a pretty much straight Golden Collie/Whippet cross, although it is difficult to tell. She likes playing fetch though!

Think i’m going to mull this over for a couple of days…… Thanks again.

Bimbler – your feeling guilty about giving him too much exercise? I didn’t realise you could give any form of collie too much!

HobNob – strangely enough my cat is called HobNob, although i’m not so sure he is going to be as enthusiastic about a whippet as you are! Am yet to discuss the possibility of bringing a dog into the office with the powers that be…

Shorty – Not wrong!

V8ninety – when you put it like that i’m clearly letting myself in for a tough time!

Bimbler – Barney’s very sweet looking! Hope you continue to have fun with him. How much exercise are you giving him at the moment? Does he get left at home much?

LapSteel – When I was a growing up we had a collie that loved to run – he’d chase the neighbours cars at 30mph, his favourite game was trying to bite the front of the front wheels! No idea how he didn’t get hit! His second favourite game was chasing the horses in the fields, he’d run up behind them and give their tails a little tug before bolting off, again, no idea how he never got hurt!

Mike – The whippet ‘loving’ the cat is what I’m really worried about!
Anagallis – Thanks for the link, will read that over lunch and look forward to your longer reply as and when.
IHN – As I understand it Whippets don’t need much exercise, so was hoping this might rub off on the collie…..could be wishful thinking!

I bought one of their seat tube mounted chain guides for my 1×9 rigid commuter/pub bike. I’m not normally ham fisted with tightening bolts up, but when I fitted the guide I heard a crack. Sure enough the collar at the hinge mechanism had failed. I emailed Superstar about it, explained what had happened and that I couldn’t be sure if it was me over tightening, or a fault in the product. I sent it back to them for inspection, they sent a new one. Can’t ask for more than that really.

I’d say there is an option 4 – rent reduction of say (for sake of argument) £10PM * BUT * pass the responsibility of paying all bills on to the tenants. That way you could engineer it such that the reduction is what the rates were last year (before the rise in prices). You are morally in the clear as any increase is down to the big bad energy companies.

a11y – I run mine with a Superstar XCR st chain device as I found with a std chainring I was dropping the chain quite regularly. I intended to use the front mech, but the adjuster screws had seized!

Cheers Dave, I’ll keep an eye out for a 36T ring

Sorry for the hi-jack, but I am in the process of building my commuter/town/pub bike with a 1×9 set up. Currently running a std 32 ring on the front but often find myself spinning out, so want to increase to a 34 or 36T. presumably there are chainring makers dedicated for 1×9 set ups that don’t have the ‘pick-ups’ needed for triples? Don’t need anything heavy duty, just a chainring…..suggestions?

The Oxford Tube and X90 are fantastic. The X90 is marginally quicker due to less stops and a more direct route into London (first stop Baker Street). The Ox Tube runs more frequently late in the night/morning for late night shenanigans. It also stops at Shepard’s bush. They’re both about £15 for a day return.

There are several types of std 2 up 2 down terrace houses – some basic floor plans would be of help. Friends of mine have looked inot similar options in the past, but once drawn have found that the upstairs layout becomes very inefficient due to the amount of corridor you need to gain access to each room. The position of the stairs usually governs what is and isn’t feasible. Also need to consider position of existing windows, ventilation etc.

As mentioned above, getting the waste out will be your biggest problem and may involve more intrusive work to the ground floor than you had bargained for. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done though. Water supply should be easier to achieve, but still needs to be thought through.

Is an attic conversion not do-able?

Hi Sue, strictly speaking a ‘sort of separate’ flat would need planning permission and to conform to current building regs. this is likely to involve upgrading the buildings fabric for thermal, acoustic and fire performances. That coupled with adding a new kitchen may end up not being cost effective?

As for lodgers – I was once a rented a room with a live in land lady and all I can say is that you need to be very clear from the beginning about what you expect – renting a room and lodging have very different connotations! It didn’t end well.

What wwaswas said. Also, try upping the cadence if you haven’t already, spinning is more efficient and less labour intensive. It’ll feel weird to begin with, but you’ll soon get used to it.

Darkie?