I'm off to Vancouver, in that Canada in a few months time. It has "Socialised healthcare". Bummer for me.

I'm so sorry for you. It's a Conservative government and the Liberals are in opposition.

sorry, it was her choice.

BTW mavisto, do you think Diana should have worn her seatbelt ?

No,it should be her choice.

And to all of you dyed in the wool socialists. Here is a list of socialist countries.

Socialist CLICKY

Please emmigrate to one of them and see how you get on. I'll see you in a fortnight!!

I need change and I don't mean just a change from the previous bunch of loosers. PR, coalitions, hell, lets go back to a full blown monarchy. Anything had got to be better than this. If something doesn't change we are really going to be in trouble for generations to come.

I don't support the Tories or Labour or the Lib Dems. I don't support any of them because I think for myself and not on the basis of some old ideology that has no place in a 21 century world.

And pray tell, what type of govt has been interfering in your private business? Do you consider nulabour "socialist"?

I didn't say interfering, I said intervening. For example, Taxing alcohol heavily to stop binge drinking. This has the effect of punishing the many for the actions of the few. It also means that the nice country pubs have to close because ordinary people that enjoy a quiet pint can't afford to drink in them.

Also, speed cameras. Attempt at mass control rather than actually catching the dangerous drivers.

I aslo think the compulsory wearing of seatbelts is an infringement of human rights. I should have the choice of going through the windscreen if I want to.

Oh and Nulabour are Thatcherite

Is that the freedom to be selfish and materialistic?

If that is a freedom that you want to subcribe to, then yes!

I see you had quite a sale going a few weeks ago!

Hadn't realised until tonight but I agree with Winston Churchill. I am totally sick of major government intervention in everything I do.

a socialist policy is abhorrent to the British ideas of freedom. Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the object worship of the state. It will prescribe for every one where they are to work, what they are to work at, where they may go and what they may say. Socialism is an attack on the right to breathe freely. No socialist system can be established without a political police. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance.

Quote from Wiki.

For orthodox Marxists, socialism is the lower stage of communism based on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work" while upper stage communism is based on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need".

The political blindness shown by some of the posters on this forum is truely disturbing. Oblivious to the good their percieved opposition has done and completely blinkered to the damage their own party has done.

Do I sound as if I learnt my politics at university ffs ?

No

The people who are paid to dig the roads and to shovel crap might be a bit annoyed about that.

They will need teaching and supervising. Why not pay them to do that?

Stoner – Member

According to my Irish neighbours, it costs that much for a Guinness in Dublin.

Plus all the Norwegans I knew got pissed on home brew before they went to the pub.

As the Prison Governors Association are suggesting we stop short term jail sentences. How about getting all the petty criminals to 'dig roads and shovel crap' as community service. They might even learn as skill while they're at it.

oddjob – Member

I think you might be looking at a different list. Norway made the news yesterday as the 'Best place to live', I assume because it happened recently.

I've been looking a the indeces for the national income equality (the Gini coefficient) in an attempt to find out more about a measure of the standard of living. It's a list from 2005, but Denmark comes right at the top (if there is a top) i.e. there is a smaller gap between what the highest and lowest earners are paid. Norway was also quite high on the list as is Sweden. The UK is quite a long way down.

Do you feel that Denmark is a 'fairer' society?

oddjob – Member

If the taxes are so high, why does it still have one of the highest standards of living in the world?

I notice that Denmark is 16th on the list and Sweden 7th. How does taxation differ between the countries?

How strange that the best place to live in the world (Norway which I love) has managed to become the best place to live in the world by mostly coalition governments since WWII

All the parties in this country say it won't work.

I think I'm going to look for a job in Norway.

They guy who ran the first Thatto Cycles about 20 years ago was the best wheel builder I ever used.

He was so good at it, I believe he went and started a business building spoked bike and classic car wheels.

Can anyone confirm this or tell me what happened to him?

I got a full set made by Outdoor World in Warrington about 10 years ago. They've lasted much longer than the originals, but it was a cheap tent anyway.

No idea if they still do that sort of thing.

Ordered on 21/09/09 just gone to shipped today. Two full weeks to shipping. Not good, but you order from DX and you have to be prepared for it.

uplink – Member

I'm truly amazed that the general public believe a word the politicians say

They don't

Perhaps you are right, they believe what is written in the Sun.

Frustrated Lib voter mavisto?

Actually no. Totally disillusioned voter in reality.

I really want something new and not the usual verbal diarrhoea that is being spouted at the moment.

I'm truly amazed that the general public believe a word the politicians say. All they do is tell people what they want to hear so they will vote for them. It has nothing to do with solving the problems of the country. I hate to say it, but the last person that actually stood by what they believed and not what would get them another 5 years in a very cushy job was Margaret Thatcher and I can never forgive her for destroying the manufacturing base of the country. It's no wonder it's taking the UK longer to get out of the recession, we don't make anything that we can sell abroad. Where is our GDP supposed to come from, the Banks?

The majority of the posts so far, seem to support what I feared the most. That the average member of the British public is a non thinking Sun reader who doesn't really give a sh!t about anyone but themselves.

I really did think that they were the minority in this country.

How sad is that?

Politicians love people like you. You don't question, you just moan. You probably don't vote either!

Edit- just checked again and it seems to have changed to 'packing' woohoo!

Me too, double woohoo!

If the cable guides are there, you can use these things CLICKY

And I use these on my carbon forks CLICKY

There is also these CLICKY

I have one of these Holders

And one of these Torches

Very happy using this combo as a helmet light.

Breaking Away

Although I'm still not sure why the Russian riders had bushy beards. That's the stupid Americans for you!

CC

As the old saying goes, 'you can't put the genie back in the bottle!'

I also think globalisation has gone too far but at what point do you call a halt.

I don't know if you have kids, but I'm sure you have succumbed to the McD's and Coca Cola's of this world. I personally think the Americans have done much more damage than China.

In this messed up world, who's economy do we support?

Do you drive a BMW? Should we be supporting a company that drove the Nazi war machine? I know that is extreme, but where do we stop?

It's like politics in the UK, we know they are all a bunch of leeches who are systematically destroying the country I love. I am certain that we cannot go on with the political system that exists today, but I cannot change that on my own. So for the moment, while there is nothing for me do do but go along with a corrupt system, I will.

I will also buy from China, because I don't earn enough money not to.

Captain_Crash – Member

From your last post Captain, does that mean you don't buy anything made in China?

I think you better have a look on some of your labels and tags, you might be unpleasantly surprised!!!!

Shandy – Member

A mate has the Ay-Ups and he loves them. He brought them into the pub for me to drool over. The finish is lovely and with the large battery packs of the MTB set I think you get about 6 hours.

Once again though, it's a lot of money for a set of lights.

Captain_Crash – Member

I would love to be able to afford one of Trouties 'Close Encounters' jobs, but not everyone has £250 for a bike light.

Sometimes a light like this really is good enough, especially if it gets us all riding at night during the winter and maybe next year we can buy a Trouty special.

And I wouldn't dream of buying a named brand light now, because I now realise how much mark up there must be on the lights they make.

DX are now doing a headlamp version too.

DX Headlamp

I always take mine to the local hospital.

I've spent a long time in waiting rooms over the years and I was sick of reading women's magazines.

If you are happy doing mail order, Lands End http://www.landsend.co.uk do a free hemming service up to 36"

Jeans and other trousers too.

It's called 'professionalism'.

As an atheist I don't quote many things from the Bible, but one that seems to be holding true is;

"The love of money is the root of all evil" and by the way, the quote is correct.

And for all those people that think Tom Simpson was 'cheating', he wasn't. Unfortunately amphetamines and alcohol were widely used on the tour in those days and everyone knew about it. What Tom Simpson did might have been wrong but it was not illegal.

It was a pub in Penmaenmawr in North Wales.

April 1977, two weeks before my 16th birthday. 0.35p a pint.

Would love one of Trout's but when I'm not sure how much night riding I'm going to do, I think it might have be the DX to begin with.

At the moment, I also spend more time on the road, so Trout's 'Close Encounters' set-up, might just be overkill.

Ribble have NEVER had a reputation for giving any level of customer service

They did in the 80's when it was a proper bike shop that made their own frames.

I'm always disappointed when I go in the shop for something having seen in on the website and they don't have one.

Whatever you do, don't expect the bike to be delivered when they say it will be. I've had 3 friends buy Ribble bikes, and although they are great bikes, the minimum delay was a month. One guy had to wait 3 and in the end he went to the warehouse to pick it up.

One for the Ladies (if you're into that sort of thing)

And No, I wouldn't say it was a girls name to his face!

I remember an article in Cycling Weekly in the 80's about Ian Cammish (time trial God)who would cycle 40 miles to work in the morning and then take the long route on the way home.

No wonder he was so f'in fast. Still is by the sounds of it and he's over 50.