STW Serendipity strikes again! I’ve newly installed 11 speed on my old bike, and have an idea the hanger’s just out of whack enough to throw off a couple of gears. My question is – how tf do you use one of these? I presume it’s more high-tech than “use tool to see it’s out of whack, use big spanner to bend it slightly straighter”? Tbf, that generally worked fine for 3×9, but I appreciate more sprockets means more accuracy required…

mrhoppyFull Member
Free shaunthesheeps nut photos.

I would not google that…

crazy-legsFull Member
I got 2 episodes into Kaos (which was very well reviewed) but just didn’t gel with it at all. Binned that off.

Whereas I’m now 6 episodes in and absolutely gripped! Very much horses for courses though – it’s quite “clever” (as in, it thinks it is), so I can see why it’s not for everyone.

Wolfs is a great weekend film for watching with the OH, solid 7/10 all round. Which, frankly, is getting harder to find these days on streaming platforms!

I’ve finally found on my Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue again, it’s time to sell it. Is the consensus here that ebay’s still the best place to sell? Any advice/ guidance/ things to bear in mind?

It’s been a while since I sold owt on ebay, and nothing as serious as a ‘proper’ watch.

TheLittlestHoboFree Member
Value is in…….£1000

I think i will try ebay and put it at £1500 reserve.

How did you get on with selling yours btw Hobo; did you get what you’d hoped for? How was the process of sending it off to ebay’s assessor etc?

Kryton57Full Member
Talking of cheap fun, whilst bored at home with man flu I rediscovered MN straps:

Question: how well do you find they hold the weight of the watch in place? I’m not a NATO fan mainly because I hate the way the watch rattles around on my wrist and feels unbalanced; figure MN should be better, but you might need to have it pretty tight on the wrist to keep everything in place?

Sounds like you’ve made solid choices all round – another happy Deco user here.

If your Virgin modem doesn’t offer you the option of “Router Mode” in the admin page, you probably need to ring up Virgin support and tell them. I believe it’s something about enabling IPv4; usually takes a couple of minutes, once you get through to support

I just picked up some Patagonia Point Peak Trail trousers, under £100 if you shop around. Seem well-made, fairly stretchy, not too heavy, and a good step up from shorts without being full-on heavy duty like some of the Fjallraven trousers I’ve seen

I’m actually going through this right now myself. 4.5 year old kid, senior family member been ill for quite some time and recently passed. We also had a beloved family dog die quite suddenly last year, had a heart attack when the kid was around. It’s been an interesting process.

First up, the kid realised that the dog wasn’t coming back. She subsequently started telling me (a few days later) that the dog had died – I think she’d gone into school and been talking about it and they’d been explaining about it. She didn’t seem too upset, really, just very matter of fact.

Then with the family member, she’s understood for quite some time that they’ve not been well, and need a chair, and so on. And has been talking a bit about when they die, and so on. Tbh, she’s been talking about when I die, which is a little disconcerting – but clearly it’s quite matter of fact to her, and she has a different way of processing it.

I’ve avoided immersing her in the rest of the family’s grieving process, and she won’t go to the funeral, because I don’t want her to have to take on all that; but in terms of the dying part, she’s actuallty kinda OK with it. I don’t really understand it myself but I’m very happy that she’s taking it all on board OK

Right, finished S4 of the Boys and by god it’s awful. The pacing is all over the shop, the writing is just horrendous, the storylines abysmal (Hughie’s last few episodes are just… what?!) and the gore is used to make up for it all, it seems. S5 will have to be something special to get me to watch it.

Bad Monkey wasn’t gripping me, but episode 3 is a bit of a gamechanger, definitely has me more interested now.

Still trying to persuade the OH to try more of Sherwood (“oh but it’s depressing” says the woman who loved Happy Valley). And apparently Presumed Innocent (Apple TV) is good?

Beef, eggs and salt. Extremely nutrient dense. Try it for 6 weeks and see how good you feel.

I’m guessing most of those 6 weeks are spent on the toilet?

Monash University. They also have a really detailed app (paid for, but seemingly worth it) that breaks out foodstuffs: not just “tomatoes”, but “beef tomatoes”, “salad tomatoes” and “cherry tomatoes”.

And not just red/ yellow/ green as a scale, but if you eat one handful you’ll be orange on these things, if you eat one spoon you’ll be green for most things etc.

I’ve watched the first couple of episodes, mainly on being a big Carl Hiaasen fan in the past.

It’s pretty decent, but I’ve not yet got hooked tbh – not feeling like I simply have to watch the rest of it. Does it improve on that?

Might be the lighting, but it looks like the chain’s about to come off the chainring.

Oh, and the chainring might be about to come off the bike…

It’s hard to talk about this topic without upsetting people.

It is. I think it’s the proselytising that some (not all) people do – “I don’t do this and you mustn’t either” gets folks riled up, particularly with something that’s probably an established part of people’s lifestyles from which they feel a benefit

HazeFull Member
Well that was worth the phonecall to the pub, they asked me to email the details in and they’ll get it cancelled…fingers crossed!

Hurrah! Stuff like this reminds me that the world isn’t entirely populated by ****s! :)

The puritans will stay puritanical I suppose.

Honestly, as someone above mentioned, a good curry usually wrecks my sleep. And sugar in large quantities leaves me more hungover than a couple of beers.

Re recovery – although the most damage is done in the first two hours approx. of recovery, alchohol inhibits human growth hormone and is prioritised – on the basis of a removal of a poison from the body – over carb and protein absorption and sysnthesis.   Therefore the aforementioned turbo session above will be less effective than it could have been.  If you’re serious about training for performance, abstain so as not to waste / compromise your efforts.

This is a really interesting point though. Sure you may feel like you’re working faster/ more intensely, and you may even be faster/ more intense, but your recovery could be hampered by alcohol

Then I had kids and didn’t have the time or energy to drink.

…and if you hated hangovers before kids…

I think a more interesting question (to me, anyway – the reason I clicked into this thread) is alcohol’s effect on your sporting performance. Obviously, get battered to the point that you’re hanging out your arse, your sporting performance will probably suffer.

But I know from my own self that a couple of beers the night before leads to slightly better running speed the next day – whether it’s the carbs, the fact that everything hurts anyway so I just push on through, or simply the self-flagellation of wanting to burn off the beer. So what’s the impact there: presumably it’s only for short distances, probably a personal effect, and so on?

Edit: short version is, alcohol is a poison and there is no safe limit of consumption,

I’ve been thinking on this the last couple of weeks because it annoyed me. The scientific basis will be that there is no amount of alcohol that is safe for the entire population. But as with everything, YMMV; and one has to look rather more holistically.

If you have chronic stress and one glass of red wine every couple of days helps you relax, unwind and get to sleep, the net benefit to you personally may not be overall negative, taking into account the long-term effects of stress, sleep deprivation etc on diet, the immune system, mental wellbeing. But it’s not possible to recommend one glass of red wine to every adult because their situations – tolerance, complicating factors etc – are all unique.

So yeah, only drink in moderation, but if it helps you manage other factors, don’t beat yourself up about it. If nothing else, there is no safe limit of beating yourself up about it.

Welp, after looking through Charles Tyrwhitt on my PC I then got a Charles Tyrwhitt ad on Instagram offering 3 shirts for €99, delivered. Too good to pass up!

I’ve literally just been looking at these. Family say the Uniqlo shirts are good; Charles Tyrwhitt has always been a go to for me, although if anything it offers too many options (I have no idea how long my arms are). And the multibuys are class.

This winds me tf up. Most of the volume of plastic produced in our house week to week is food packaging produced by… Tesco! 4 tomatoes in a huge plastic tray and plastic wrapper, for example; 2 courgettes prepackaged for no earthly reason in a mountain of plastic.

And similarly – they had a (not much-used) plastic recycling bin just inside the main doors to which I took my plastic food packaging every week; last week it had been removed with no sign of why or where it had gone.

In Ireland the bottle/ can recycling is interesting – it seems the rules are if you as a retailer sell items in alu cans or plastic bottles you have to either install a machine that takes them back, or you have to get an exemption. Frankly there should be a legal requirement to do the same for plastic, or large fines for retailers that don’t.

The man I used to be, before the three separate cancer diagnosis, the five major operations, the radiotherapy, the lifelong drug treatment, leaving behind a body that is well f***** before its time.

Jesus, that sounds like a rough time. And, given the way the brain works, I can see that being tougher to get a handle on than missing someone else, you know? Sending hugs/ manly beers

My dad, died this week. But it’s been coming a long time, as he’s gradually slipped further from who he used to be. So I guess I miss what he was, before the last few years, when I didn’t really appreciate it.

And a really good friend died yesterday by euthanasia. He was in Canada, larger than life bear of a Saffer. Could cook well, did pottery, built furniture, made stuff just because he had random pieces. Saw him in March, but before that not since COVID; he had cancer and it took him away, but I just remember the big guy as he was, and I miss that more than anything.

Inasmuch as I understand the question, I have a similar issue. Not sure what it is, but inserting the hose to the reservoir is a b*st*rd, needs proper force to get it in. Pushing the release button does help a bit, but I figure it’s just tolerances etc?

DickBartonFull Member
I really like the idea of them, never ridden one but I’d like a shot…

Same here. Back in 2003 I was looking at Cannondale F800(?) with Lefty at around £1k. Went for a Kona hardtail instead in the end and never scrated the Lefty itch, partly because after adapters (Project321 etc) it was getting a bit pricey.

There’s a roadie I follow who does the Pan Celtic race and other long distance stuff, rides a Laverack Ti frame with a Lefty fork, and it looks absolutely lush

He said, get this into your sweet head
There ain’t nothing in the woodshed
Except maybe some wood…

Although mine has not one but two ancient lawnmowers. Weird since the place had no grass when I moved in

You might want to turn that watering can around before someone trips on the spout.

hehehe.. will do!

And thanks STR, will double check that; pretty sure it’s right, but always worth a final check.

The indexing adjustment in that manual is confusing af; something about ‘the chain should be just about ready to shift 2-3 when the shifter lever is released’. For now the indexing works pretty well with the bike in the stand (apart from 10th/ 40T when going down the cassette), but will take it out for a fettle and tweak

+1 for Rebel Ridge. I’d seen a 5* newspaper review of it so spotted it – the title does it no favours, but it’s solid thoughtful action beat em up.

Just finished S2 of Mayor of Kingstown, need a bit of a breather after that. Bad Monkey next I reckon!

Started Sherwood S1, I thought it was very good, great writing; the OH isn’t so sure.

Has anyone looked at Stags on Paramount? Also got great reviews, but after 1 episode I’m not totally sure.

Thanks everyone for the feedback; I’ve finally had time to get back to working on the bike. Everyone who said it needs a chain, have a gold star. Measured up the chain (wrap big sprocket and chainring + 4 links), added quick link, threaded through mech. Cable length was fine; screwed the B-limit screw most of the way in and voila.

Indexing is pretty much spot on with the exception of running down the cassette (ie to higher gears) I can’t get it to drop into the second largest sprocket – all the others are fine. A bit of finetuning and it should be good to go. Also in shot (but out of focus) is the new just-fitted Ascent II dropper too

Dumb question but how quickly do you need it? Because Black Friday should see some sales to bring more options into your budget.

I’d add a vote for Asus laptops; they’re actually not badly built, not too expensive and have a number of different lines at different pricepoints (TUF may be the level you’re looking at).

Also Lenovo Legion laptops are well built, decently specced and often approaching your budget in the sales.

Cue a line of people telling you that 10 and 11 speed are cheaper and just as good! :-)

Hello! I was going to query the whole 12speed HG thing, but sounds like it can be done. I wasn’t aware of that when I looked at my old 26″ hardtail, so just went for 1×11. 11-46T range and a pretty wide selection of parts available cheapish, including XT shifters, derailleurs and cassettes from XT level down to Deore.

So In short, follow the compensation links on Ryanair website. If they owe you money they’ll pay pretty quick. If they don’t you won’t get anything.

Yeah, that’s been my experience too. We shall see I guess.

I’d heard it was back. Read the book earlier this year – it’s properly windy in book form, so I’m keen to see how it shapes up on screen

I’ve seen good reviews of it, added it to the list. Had a dreadful thought last night that it could be like The Good Place – which also got 5 star reviews but was mostly pretty meh with some (too rare) moments of hilarity (S2 E3 or thereabouts was the high point)

sniffFree Member
Try and find out when the original flight actually landed. This is how the delay compensation is worked out, if it’s applicable.

Original flight was due to land 1325 in Dublin. It eventually landed at 0030 (the following morning), as they had to get a plane over there, so well past 5 hours.

Ahh, interesting you’re asking about checking in. I had indeed checked in and gone through security at LBA; the flight was 2 hours delayed by the time the plane was diverted, so I’d been hanging around at the gate for a while. But I wondered about the jumping the gun part too; I’d’ve been even later if I’d waited for them to get their backsides in gear, but appreciate they might say there’s a clear order to things…

What is a light, affordable, mechanical watch I could look at for riding with in all weathers? My Stowa Verus is on the cusp of being too heavy on a NATO (admittedly on a gravel bike). As is my Archimedes Pilot on a bund.

Didn’t you also ask this 2 years/ 75 pages ago Chipps? ;)

Glad the STW hivemind could be helpful though!

Funnily enough I’m halfway through doing the exact same thing – also to an old much loved 26″ TI hardtail. 11 speed (Shimano, smallest cog 11T) will fit an HG hub. RS8s are direct mount, right, so not sure about chainrings?

My previous specs were XT M770 3×9, LX rear mech, XT shifters L&R, Hope Pro 2 wheels.

New (currently in build) specs are:

– Sunrace 34T 104BCD Narrow/wide chainring to fit the existing XT spider. £20 or so. Sunrace 11-46 11 speed cassette to fit the existing HG hub. c£40

– RH XT M8000 11 speed shifter c£40. XT M8000 short cage rear mech £35

– 11spd chain £20.

All from bike-discount; you could definitely save money with Deore for the cassette, mech and chain.

LittlestHobo, let us know how you get on. I have a couple I’m planning to sell in the medium term (Oris 10-day ProPilot, Tudor Heritage Chrono) and no clue how to go about it. Reddit/ TZ-UK etc all seem to be fairly closed to newcomers; Chrono24 is a bit tough to read for selling; so it does seem to come down to ebay.