I’ve just added an oxidrive kit to my kaffenback, and I’m fat.
[waits for forum to implode]
Ulcerative Colitis, kids and a knackered knee which has had 2 ops on in the last 5 years has severely limited my ability to ride my bike, bimbiling round slowly with the kids was fine but ‘proper’ rides we’re out.
Now I can ride with friends and keep up, I’m still a sweaty mess at the end of the ride but my knee hasn’t exploded on the hills. Hopefully over time as fitness and strength improve I’ll be able to turn the assistance down and possibly refit the standard wheel eventually.
Without the conversion the bike would have sat unused in the garage and I’d just be getting fatter and depressed.

Its fairly obvious that you think a 20″ wheel will be too big, without seeing your girls sitting on the bikes you are buying no one can say for sure if you’re right.
Personally I think its a waste of money buying new 16″ wheel bikes that will be outgrown by next year, I would either look for a smaller 20″, every manufacturer sizes their bikes slightly differently, or get good used 16″ for this summer then new bikes once they’ve grown an inch.
I’ve refused to give bikes as birthday or Xmas presents because of the chance of being between sizes, the girls get new bikes when they grow out of their old ones.
If you’re anywhere near Leicester you’re welcome to come and try our 16 and 20 bikes for size with no pressure of a shop telling you the one in stock is the right size :) (I spent 15 years selling bikes, and often told parents to wait a few months rather than make a sale on the day)

two pics taken about 3 months apart, 1st one is the first ride without stabilisers on a 16″ Hotrock, the saddle is on the max mark.
[/url]IMG_20150118_115900 by mike_gee32[/url], on Flickr[/img]
the second was taken this week and Emily is on a 20″ Hotrock and we rode about 7 miles, she was 6 2 weeks ago.

[/url]DSC_0090 by mike_gee32[/url], on Flickr[/img]

At 6 I would have thought a 16″ wheel bike is going to almost be outgrown although if they aren’t really confident riders a 20 might be a bit hard to handle when not riding.
Our youngest turned 6 a couple of weeks ago and is now riding a 20″ specialized Hotrock, her legs could do with being half an inch longer (or the crossbar half an inch lower) for standover but we went for a 5 mile ride earlier in the week and she kept up fine.

We’ve got a purple/lilac 16″ hotrock in fantastic condition which is now surplus to requirements. It’s going on the classifieds later in the week once I’ve taken some pics. It really is like new other than slightly grubby grips and would be under your budget if you changed your mind on new :)

edit: lots of other posts while I was typing this one, I see why you don’t want 2nd hand with twins :) I’d definitely look at 20″ wheels if you’ve got to buy two, step through style frames are probably better if the sizing is marginal as they will be able to step forwards off the saddle and comfortably stand flat footed.

Refurb with a 12 month warranty here

Wysiwyg,
I’ve got a good condition eos 20d I’ve been hanging onto as a backup for far too long, has kit 18-55mm lens and genuine battery grip, possibly an 80-200 usm lens as well, should still have the boxes for most of it. email in profile if it’s of interest.

I’ve just remembered, I’ve a 1986 Muddy Fox Courier in the cellar that needs restoration…
Anyone fancy it for a project?

My first proper mountain bike, very interested – will send an email tomorrow :)

I’ve one that is 15 or so years old on the camper and agree, it’s only really suitable for road or retro xc whippet bikes!
I bought a third bike kit for it last year and they have changed the profile of the rail and fitted much longer straps – I can easily secure fully inflated 26″ smorgasboards on this rail whereas I have to almost fully deflate the tyre to use the original rails and even then the straps only do up a couple of clicks.

Could be worth replacing the rails?

I used cellunlocker.net to unlock mine, cost £20 and I had the code the next day.
Great phone so far :)

google location history might help if you can sign in to your google account from another device

I nearly got one instead of the nest but at the time there was quite a big price difference, the biggest difference is that the wave can control the modulation of the flame depending on demand which should increase efficiency.
I’ve also not managed to get the nest working with geolocation yet, its google now integration isn’t very good imho

My almost 8 year old daughter is exactly the same, can sit for half an hour and only write a few words but will write loads when the subject engages her. Think she will be getting a poo sandwich for pudding now :lol:

ours went a bit loopy after an update a while ago, solved by rebooting – press the nest until it turns off (takes about a minute) wait 30 seconds then press until it starts.

That’s lovely, shame it’s broken :cry:

I’d guess a transistor has gone in the output module, I’ve got similar vintage rotel pre/power amps which have done something similar.

Service manuals are available here and here so you should be able to get it fixed. I’d try a tv repair place or maybe if you know anyone doing electronics at college.

Good luck :)

That looks promising :-)

It turned up yesterday but I doubt I’ll have time to play with it this weekend, hopefully I’ll finally get round to finishing the mamecab I started almost a decade ago :oops:

Ordered mine at 2pm, showing stock and expecting delivery today, just had an email saying I won’t get it until 21 Feb :(
At least there’s a chance retropie will be working by then :)

I’ve got a medium Kaffenback2 with mary bars, cross tyres guards and a rack and am in NW Leicestershire as well if you want to see just how heavy they are :) email in profile

I might have a new boxed pair hiding somewhere in the garage. Bought for my cx bike so it would match the mtb but it got stolen before I had a chance to change them.
After a second knee op the consultant advised me to stop using clipless pedals and I’m pretty sure I never did anything with them, can’t remember the exact model as it was a few years ago but I can try to find them if you’re interested :)

I’ll email you one i received yesterday:)

Get the agreement secured on the house as a charge, then she will be unable to sell without paying you and if she defaults you may be able to force the house to be sold to repay you. IANAL

Cheers, I’ll get some 35mm ones then – I guess it’s the earlier frame design that takes 45mm ones.

What size tyres are you running?

hic. Belarus here as well :oops:

Big box waiting for me when I got home tonight :)

Thanks Richie, will make a donation in the morning :)

It’s a shame you’re so far away, I’ve got an 89 mx5 sat on ramps on the drive which I’ll probably end up breaking. Had new suspension, adl discs and pads all round, 4 new michelin tyres and some other bits for the MOT in May, I had the cambelt and waterpump done at the same time and less than 500 miles later the crank pulley span and the engine is scrap, I sourced another but a string of injuries stopped me swapping it and now I’ve got something wrong with my hands and can’t grip with any force.

Lovely gesture, ygm

I’ve got one of theseand its been pretty good, a little inconsistent when set fine enough for espresso but really good at coarser grinds.

I had one on my anthem – horrible nasty razor blade to my bum, gave it to a mate who happily rides all dayers on it.
Not very helpful sorry.
I do find charge spoons comfy though which he doesn’t, if that helps at all.

Nexus 5 and giffgaff sim? £270ish from amazon

I was recommended a peerless one by a relative who fits them for a living, expensive at £350 but I was needing to support a 40kg plasma TV 600mm out from the wall.
It’s very very solid though, passed the 100kg bloke swinging from the end test well and the movement is silky smooth.

Cat Aids?

These seem to be popular with the mx5 crowd, they are available cheaper elsewhere but you need to watch out for fakes

Glynwoods have been very good for us.

Rust. Rust. And more rust*
Have a look at the club 80-90 wiki, used to have a good checklist for buying.

* body rusts from the inside seams out, be wary of any van with filled seams. Look at the front to rear Waterhoses early vans have metal ones which rust, later ones are plastic but the ends can deteriorate and leak. 1.6,non turbo diesels are very very very slow. Windscreen often leaks and rots beneath the seal. Condensation trapped inside by insulation causes the bottom of the silks to rot out.

Buy on body condition only, everything mechanical can be sorted easily rust repairs can get complicated and expensive quickly

These guys[/url] are just down the road from me, seem ok for price and were happy to sell small quantities

Yatse is a great android remote for xbmc, there are several squeezebox controllers and mpd remotes on Google play to control it all from

If you want videos as well then raspbmc or openelec are very good, if its just music then I’d look at some of the squeezebox style distros.
I’m in the process of setting up a second pi just to handle music through a DAC into the stereo as I don’t find xbmc that friendly searching music. Still not decided on an os but will try volumio once the DAC is here later in the week.

My almost finished workbench, a record 52 1/2 woodwork vice, a no3 and a no36 in need of a bit of tlc. It needs new jaws but cost me nothing :)

You won’t die if you don’t have sedation, but I pretty much guarantee if you need another one you’ll choose sedation!
I’ve had 3 intrusive cameras, 2 from below 1 from above, the two colonoscopys weren’t too bad, bit uncomfortable but nothing unbearable (fentanyl helped with the second one), had the throat spray for the endoscopy and I’m not sure it made a blind bit of difference, a bit painful going in and the sensation of the tube in your throat is not something I want to experience concious again. The nurse was quite impressed I’d managed to crack the mouth guard though. Definitely take some strepsils or similar as your throat will be sore afterwards.
It is over in about 5 mins though,

Good luck whatever you choose.

I’ll try again!

I rescued this from the scrap man last week

[/url]1951 Humber as found by mike_gee32[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Looks to have been really well looked after, a quick clean. Some cheap north road bars fitted upside down and a new front inner tube and it now looks like this

[/url]1951 Humber after a clean by mike_gee32[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Bars need tweaking and trimming and some proper brake levers.

I rescued this from the scrapman last week

Looks to have been really well looked after, a quick clean. Some cheap north road bars fitted upside down and a new front inner tube and it now looks like this

Bars need tweaking and trimming and some proper brake levers.

Edit: can’t get the pics to work from my phone, will update when I’m near a pc