Bought a hp laptop from them about 6 months ago. On the display between the laptops was a sign saying “free Microsoft office with this computer” but with nothing obvious saying which one. Asked sales assistant and was told that it was indeed the laptop I was looking at. Brilliant I thought, saves a bit of cash. Anyway, got home to find no office on the computer or installation CD, website code etc so pop back in to ask for the software. Was told by the same assistant that the computer I bought didn’t have the free software, it was the one on the other side of the sign…raging. I then asked why I was told otherwise…..in a cocky voice he says “the person you asked must not have known what he was talking about”.
I then said ” funny that, it was you that told me”. I was then accused of lying because he would never have said such a thing. I was a bawhair from punching the little scrote.
luckily I discovered Libre Office which is free and does all the basics I require.
I’ll now buy online rather than use them, at least I can research with real life reviews and not have some assistant lie out their teeth to me.
for the sake of saying sorry and offering a decent discount on the software or God forbid free software they lost a future customer. Probably don’t care!!

Get one with incline adjustment as you should really be running at a 1% incline to replicate running on a flat road. Top speed should be at least 18kph so that sprints can be done. You get ones that aren’t motorised,they use your leg / foot movement to drive the belt ( cheap ones), don’t go there, they are awful.
heart rate measurement can be useful as can one with different programmes although it has recently been proven that the “fat burning zone” is a lot of rubbish.
if I were you I’d go to a fitness equipment showroom and have a go on a few as you want quite a sturdy one, they get quite a battering and also to see how quiet they are in operation, machine noise and running impact noise.
I prefer them to indoor cycling as you can easily beast yourself but outdoor running is more interesting. Good for a quick workout though.

just got an automatic email from them, 2 bottles of the 750ml UBS is currently £15.98 instead of £19.96

I use the (now discontinued) scottoiler system on my commuting bikes and it works great. Used to fill it with the Active Fluid until the FS365 came out. I had initially emailed them asking if they sold bigger bottles of the active fluid than the 250ml and was advised to use the FS365 as it was the same stuff. Then when they released the UBS in large bottles I used that instead because a tenner for 750ml seems pretty good value when a tiny bottle of finish line is about 4 or 5 quid.
My experience of it is that it seems to lube the chain well and last ages between applications (i apply using the scottoiler system only about twice every 15 or 20 miles and even then its only through habbit, the chain isn’t dry or raspy).
Before I used the scottoiler if the bike was stored away for a few weeks the chain would inevitably have a wee spot of rust on it even if lubed but the scottoiler seems to prevent this, the UBS being the best so far.
I contacted scottoiler about spares when i needed them and enquired why the oiler system was no longer available. Apparently they are working on a new one that doesn’t require the squeezy squid thing as people didn’t like having to remember to press it and thought it was a faff – it really isn’t, much less hasstle than manually lubing the chain.)
The UBS keeps the chain clean, rust free and easy to clean, no build up of black gunk. I’d advise using a small bottle for application and just putting it on the links of the chain as spraying it will just use more than required.
If they introduce a new oiler system then I would recommend it to anyone that commutes regularly. Just my 2p.

p.s.
old oiler does look a bit rubbish with the tubes etc but hopefully the new model will work on this.

I use the moon shield, 60 lumens, good light spread that lights up the road behind you, usb chargeable and does at least 4 hours flashing. Great light and can be picked up for £25ish if you look around online.

Great ape,
Same with the fire service, not so much Scottish more like a branch of Strathclyde,everyone is undergoing changes and cuts except them it seems.

Agree with bruneep about the fire service in Scotland. You used to very rarely hear of people leaving, now they are leaving in droves. There’s only so many 0% pay rises people can put up with, especially with the pension increases, currently about 13% set to be close to 15%. The enthusiasm for the job is rock bottom right now.

I had the same problem once. Turned out a thermal fuse at the back of the oven (outside) had gone,fitted new one and it worked fine again.

I meant more that it’s good for a base to explore from. Compared to playa del ingles it’s unspoilt. The main problem with mogan etc is that despite them being lovely places, we visit them a couple of times each time we go, you would quickly run out of things to do as they are very small and quite isolated. That’s why we stay in maspalomas or playa. They have the business to keep you occupied but the quiet unspoilt places are only a bus trip away.

Maspalomas is best suited for what you want. Nice complexes with apartments and bungalows etc but only a 4/5 Euro taxi trip to playa del ingles for the night life, lots of retaurants, busy beaches etc.. maspalomas also has its own beach front (faro) which has some posh restaurants,hotels and bars…Really nice place to walk around at night. From maspalomas /playa you can get buses to the capital las Palmas in the north or peurto Rico, Puerto De mogan, anfi complex etc in the south. Wife and I have been about 8 times. Love the place but 3 kids have seriously curtailed foreign holidays so we are missing the place badly. I plan on retiring there if I ever get to retire that is!!

Hi Ben.
I was pressing the button. At one point it was the only way to get the rest of the data on the computer, to record a wee 20s ride, big button press to store it and then plug it in. Not even that works now. Shame cause it was ideal apart from that. Backlight set to go on at certain times etc..
Hopefully the replacement will work.

Spoon.
I knew it wouldn’t get fantastic mpg but the fact it is a good 10mpg lower than claimed is what annoyed me.

Tony,
My petrol isn’t economical for any length of journey. Tap the accelerator and watch the mpg plummet!!

Speaking as a 1.6 petrol 180bhp ecoboost engine grand c max owner I’d echo above and say don’t expect particularly good mpg figures from the petrol. The official figures for my car were 45ish mpg and I drive carefully and am lucky to get 33 without doddling at 56mph on the motorway. Doing 70mph seriously destroys mpg. I’m sure I heard that in the USA owners of the ecoboost engines there were compensated because the theoretical and real life mpg figures were so far apart. To be honest I’d not buy a petrol Ford again due to the fact it certainly doesn’t feel like 180bhp, economy is craps and I feel a wee bit deceived by the ecoboost marketing, no better than a normal engine as far as I can tell. Lovely car inside though.

The slx ones have ceramic pistons too. I think they are anyway as they are white.

I’ve just bought a pair of slx brakes. Quality is top notch. The only difference I can see is the adjustment and the finish, xt and xtr are more shiny. The slx still look ok though.
I got 2 brakes with 160mm rotors for £125 from merlin. The post mount to IS mounting hardware was only a tenner from superstar.

Looking at the web I see that you can get a cane creek italian headset that is 41mm OD with 35×45 angles. If I bought the entire headset that should fit ok shouldn’t it as the 35 degree angle refers to the inside of the bearing which touches the headset as opposed to the frame?

Hi trailrat,
Yeah, when I looked on the web it said the campag standard was 45×45 and 41.8 which I confirmed with commencal. When I was looking however I saw the 41mm one mentioned which was what caused me to question what I was doing. I just hope these bearings dont turn into hens teeth in the future!!
And yes, got a digital caliper coming in the post, have always needed one and now I have the excuse.
As soon as commencal mentioned foecing the bearings in I thought something didnt sound right. I can understand them needing a wee bit of persuasion for a nice fit but pressing them in seems off!
Thanks