i’ve had filter machines from breville / tefal and also mega cheap ones from argos, all the same imho.

I actually like filter machine coffee, providing it hasnt been sitting in the jug for hours. Like the op says, if you just want no mess hassle free coffee in a mrning, filter machines are great, and even if it doesnt taste like the best coffee in the world its still 1000x betther than instant!

until i saw muppetwranglers picture i never realised they were all slightly different :oops:

my ultegra road pedals have been trouble free for 3 years, cleats not wearing too badly either as well.

i can keep them in my garage if you want, i’m in Bowness. What time are you wanting to pick them up on sunday as i’ll probably be going out for a ride 9.30 or 10 ish.

PM me and i’ll give you my mobile number.

mine failed its last MOT on emissions (it was smoking quite a bit on acceleration) so they poured some Forte diesel cleaner in the tank and told me to drive it quite hard on a few longer journeys for a week. Smoke was massively reduced and it passed.

this stuff:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=forte+diesel&_dmd=2&_frs=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m359

theres quite a few on this site:

retrobike

anyone able to burn this onto a dvd for me? I cant get ITV4 where i live :(

you can keep your Norm Abrams and Bob Vilas….

the real king of diy has to be Tim the Toolman Taylor from Home improvement, so break out those Binford tools :-)
(although they actually based Al Borland in the show on Norm Abram!)

http://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z4e15ce7ez3z1ed3az656ez706466z46zd3ffeca54ee4a2e27ba9ac0a3e8e3a54b44da2bb/ttips/Office_Automation_Products/Facsimile_Machine/KX/F2700EW/726266/Bf2700eg.pdf

I think the ‘g’ means german, but thats the manual for the KXF 2700e which is in English. Any use?

try a sonicare, they have a 28day ‘try it’ guarantee so if you dont like it or dont think its any better than your normal brush you can get your money back.

http://www.philips.co.uk/c/about_sonicare/140699/cat/

I’m a dentist, and if i didnt have one (admittedly it was a free one!) i’d buy a sonicare :mrgreen:

edit – its actually 90 day money back gurantee now that you’ll like it.

your not doing what i did a few years ago are you…..

had the same problems, and turns out it was down to me being stupid and using car shampoo to wash my new bike with. Yep car shapmoo with added wax :oops: Although in my defence the label had fallen of the bottle so didnt know this at first!

i think that just means that the site has used up its ‘free allowance’ of OS data for the day, so should be ok again tomorrow.

‘Wheres the path’ http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm
also suffers from this sometimes towards the end of the day.

Get in there earlier :lol:

^^

Yeah i expect the OP has probably long gone from this thread, probably out doing something much more constructive like riding or actually climbing :mrgreen:

it really makes sod all difference what people use as long as:

-Its a recognised device
-The belayer knows how to use it correctly and has experience with it
-The climber is happy being belayed by that belayer on it.

Personally i always use a grigri for sport climbing or at the wall as i find it a bit more ‘relaxing’ to use for a full day of climbing, and its much better than a standard plate type device if the climber is working a route and having lots of rests.
For trad i’ll use an ATC XP as i tend to climb on skinny doubles.

Theres always going to be climbers arguing the pro’s and cons of each device, but as long as both partners are happy with the set up theres no point worrying / arguing about it.

Same goes for abbing, ive abbed on grigris and ATC’s, as long as you have tried the device in a controlled situation and know how it feeds through on the ab theres no problem. I nearly always back up with a prussic though as it means you can take you hands off to sort out rope tangles, and it makes things feel less intimidating on free hanging abs (well to me it does)

ant- when you say tie a knot in the belayers side of the rope would you do a rough measure of rope length in your hands to make sure it was long enough for the climb but short enough to be effective when tying the not if the belayer failed to act?

just tie it a couple of feet from the end. Its only to stop the end going through the gri gri if the height of the route is more than half your rope length. (some guides have the route length printed in them, but not all, and beware, some of the rockfax guides (popular with us lot as they are in english) have incorrect route lenghts in them.

Also note that in europe, 60m ropes are often assumed as standard, and in some areas 70, or 80m ropes are now being used a lot. Usually though, for routes requiring a 70 or 80m rope, there will be an intermediate lower off so you can still do the route on a 60m rope, you just have to lower off twice. But definately get a 60m rope at least. If you dont have a rope yet, and are keen on sport climbing, i’d probably get a 70m anyway as new routes are often upto 35m now (Kalymnos especially)

So.. knot in end
check route length
60m rope minimum these days
ideally get a 70, especially if you ever want to go to kalymnos. And you will want to go to Kalymnos!!!!

always always always tie in a knot in the end of the rope at the belayers end – it is very easy to misjudge pitch length and a 60m rope on a 35m route will prove fatal

God yeah forgot that one, and i have first hand experience of it happening. Was being lowered on route just under 40m high with only a 60m rope. There was an intermediate lower off i was aiming for, and literally as i grabbed the chain of this lower off the end of the rope went through the grigri 8O So yeah, always always tie a knot in the end!

Also useful to carry a couple of maillons with you on routes, or old screwgates, in case you have cant reach the belay and have to lower off a bolt on the route, or for if the ones on the lower off look exceptionally worn.

Thanks guys great info, helpful when paired with my other readings! yep a sling sounds like a great idea as the scariest bit sounds like the threading!

Threading is relatively simple, but how you do it can depend on the type of lower off.

Heres what i do:

1) clip into lower off with cows tail or a couple of extenders
2)if someone else is going to lead the route – just clip 2 draws into the lower off, snap gates are fine, just oppose the gates, or use screwgates if you feel the need, then just lower off these. If no one else is doing the route then…
3)DONT UNTIE YET!
3a) If you know you definately you have at least a couple metres of spare rope and the lower off is large enough to get a bight of rope through (eg a ring on a chain, or large staples (not bolt hangers!), ), then pass a bight through the lower off, tie a fig 8 in it and clip into a screw gate on your harness belay loop. Then untie your original fig 8 knot and pull the free end through. The rope should now go up from the bottom, through lower off and to your fig 8 on a bight clipped to harness. You’ll have quite a long tail but dont worry, then just lower off.

3b) if you havent got much spare rope, or cant pass a bight through the lower off,eg if its small staples, or a maillon then..
Pull up a bit of rope and tie an overhand on a bight and clip this anywhere on your harness, gear loop is ok, this stage is to prevent you losing the rope if you drop it at the next stage!
Make sure you are happy with cows tail, etc. Untie fig 8 you tied at the bottom, then pass the end through the the lower off and retie into harness with fig 8 as normal. If you drop the rope at this point the bit you clipped in to your harness before stops you losing the rope. Once tied in with the fig 8, untie the overhand you clipped to the harness and lower off.

other things:
Always check lower off is ok. If its bolt hangers connected by a chain then i always check the bolts are tight (if you climb a lot you’ll find a fair few that have loose bolt heads. Just tighten them up by hand if neccesary).
Also check any maillons are done up, most are glued shut when the lower off is originally placed.

never thread directly through bolt hangers (ie not staples), it’ll trash your rope as the are too sharp.

If the lower off is 2 anchors connected by a chain, make sure you thread the chain correctly, usually theres a ring in the middle of it. NEVER JUST PASS THE ROPE BEHIND THE CHAIN – if one bolt fails and you do this the rope will pull out of the lower off. Always take a few seconds to assess the lower off (and the bit you are threading the rope through) and ask ‘what will happen if either of the bolts fail’

Dead easy once you’ve done it a few times! Apologies if you already knew all of this :oops:

useful info and pics here…
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=265
http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=2008
http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=2766

AFAIK some via ferrata kit can be re-set. These ones have the rope passing through a metal ‘braking’ device, eg Petzl Zyper. (not 100% certain about this though)

If it has any part of it designed to reduce the fall arresting force by ripping stitching, then these aren’t re-settable, so i guess you just take extra care on the rest of the route or retreat off somehow :lol:

Needlesports has a bit of info on their site.

http://www.needlesports.com/catalogue/content.aspx?con_id=d7376987-c60a-437e-a15a-9c9e00a6a466

http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Rock-Climbing-Equipment/Via-Ferrata

^ what matt says, i’ve had big falls on non wire gates loads of times and never had a problem.

Only times (twice) i’ve seen any probs with quickdraws is where it unclipped in a fall due to the gate being on the wrong side – i mean eg where the route moves up and slightly left and you clip the draw with the (lower) gate being on the left as well. If you do this it can unclip if you fall, so usually best to have the gate oppisite to the lateral direction the climb goes. If that makes sense :D And as matt says above thats user error not design.

is it discolouring where the knots in the wood are? If it is then try rubbing it back and put knotting compound over the affected areas.

looks like new wireless printer it is then if they are that cheap! Plus mine needs new inks at the moment as well so will save a few quid there.

Doesnt seem very ‘green’ though :?

have you adjusted the little lever (bite point adjuster i think)?

Other thing that happened with mine was one of the lever piston seals went so although the brakes worked you could slowly pull them right back to the bars if you held the brakes on. (fluid was leaking back past the seal into the reservoir or something). Anyway needed new lever seals and works fine now.

ask lovingly in your LBS for a tiny bit (mine gave me some in a ziplock bag).

or get a tube of Finish line fibre grip from Wiggle / CRC(its about 8 quid though, but will last forever)

road pedals and cleats feel way more secure (imho!), If i’ve been on the road bike a lot then swap to the mountain bike, it takes me a while to get used to how ‘sloppy’ SPD’s feel.

As mentioned before though if you think you’ll do any walking, just use SPD’s. I might stick mine on the road bike for the fred whitton in case i have to walk up Hardknott at the end!

i’m liking the look of the defy as well.

Are things like appointments / tasks on the homescreen possible – is this a phone feature on smartphones or do you download apps to do this?

same with switching on / off bluetooth, wifi etc – can you do it quickly from the homescreen (again not sure if you download apps for this or if its a phone feature! I’m a bit clueless with smartphones at the moment)

cheers

head up over kirkstone and then you could go:

Down the struggle to Ambleside, then explore the langdales, coniston or roads around grizedale.

Or down towards windermere from the top of the pass (nice descent), then turn off towards ings before you get to the roundabout at the bottom of the pass. After ings theres a combined cycletrack / pavement which leads to stavely then you can turn R in staveley and head towards crook and explore a lot of the little roads around there (underbarrow, crosthwaite, levens, strawberry bank etc etc).

Lots of nice roads to explore but i’d avoid:
Ambleside – windermere road
A592 Windermere to Newby bridge
591 windermere to kendal
590 at the bottom end of the lakes.

plenty of options for long / short rides with big passes or short steep climbs. Whatever takes your fancy really!

the wheelbase ‘tour de staveley’ is a nice route:
http://www.wheelbase.co.uk/le-tour-de-staveley/

or finish line fibre grip:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Lubricants-Oils-Degreasers-Finish-Line-Fibre-Grip-Carbon-Fibre-Assembly-Gel/FINILUBE364

or ask your LBS mechanic for a tiny bit

or if you’re in the Lakes, ride over to mine and i’ll give you some free…

Or give me your address and i’ll squeeze some out of my tube into a plastic pouch and post it to you!

watch out with wireless ones and powerful LED lights, my wireless Cateye wont work with my night riding lights.

its threads like these that make this forum so special :lol:

yeah normal tyres n tubes works fine (well it does on my mavic 819’s)

i wondered if it was mould too, but i copied off Soma-rich, its his fault!

yeah thats what i would think, then she can check and add detail to these before its sprued and the final casting mold made.

what are they casting?

Probably using the lost wax technique.

i’m guessing they’ve carved the item in clay or similar, made a mold around this, and then cast up some wax versions of the item which will then be used to make a casting of the final item in metal. They’re probably going to check and if necessary add detail to the wax castings before they are then used to make a metal casting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost-wax_casting

as mentioned above get a cheapy mesh one for under a tenner or so from any builders place or safety equipment supplier.

Nice and breathable, and highly visible as easily demonstrated by watching any roadworks crew at night :-)

Both the cheapy ones i have are a lot more reflective than some of the kit sold as hi viz bikewear, and having a mesh vest type one means you can easily use it over a waterproof / windproof / t shirt as temp or weather changes over the year.

Obviously not quite as high viz if you use a rucksack when riding, but if its mainly for road riding at night and not commuting it shouldnt be a problem

ianB, what was wrong with the panther mobile?!!

An icon from saturday afternoons in the 70’s… and that intro was awesome, what 7 yr old kid didnt want a car like that!

mains lead probably fell out the back of the NPL transmitter clock again. Either that or they unplugged it to put the kettle on instead.

Pretty sure they’re Gipiemme gimp wheels.

corrected that for you :-)

topeak micro saddlebag

micro aero

and pockets

i just took my 14yr old rab jacket to the local dry cleaners. Asked them if they could do down jackets and they said yeah they get a lot in. They put it through a special delicate wash and dry, cost £6.50 and restored to as good as new :-)

if you cant make it region 0 and only have 5 changes you could change it to aussie mode and use DVD shrink to copy the dvd’s with no region code on the copy.

edit – except you might not be able to use DVD shrink cos its a mac. Bound to be similar software though.