Really conflicted about this series. Totally gripping, brilliantly acted and couldn’t help watching, but wondering at the same time whether the (presumed) murder of a small boy and the nature of the red herrings along the way made a fit subject for an entertainment programme.

The lead item on the following BBC news kind of put that into perspective….

I did think the Russian ending really cheapened it though in the interests of cashing in with another series. Much more powerful just to have left it on Baptiste’s final advice

MrSmith – Member

If someone can get a Reynolds Steve Goff bike for £350 and deliver it to me in the next 6 months I’ll send you £700 back.

I would send the bike back, who wants a stovepipe 525 frame that’s a wet noodle and weighs 21lb

Bit harsh that, I’ve had one custom frame and one frame refurbished by Steve and they been fine. Just because someone doesn’t have interesting facial hair and charge “I saw you coming” prices doesn’t mean they do a bad job. Cycling used to be a working class sport and there are people like Steve who’ll still be serving that market long after some framebuilders have returned to IT middle management or wherever they came from…

Yes I thought the badgers looked surprisingly chipper considering…

I’ve got a new unused Woodman D M/L frame still in its box that might suit

Like this- http://www.bikesonline.com/woodman-d-ml-2008-frame.htm

Ta

Thanks

no longer my best bike but didn’t want to part company this way…

I would definitely be in favour of 95% income tax over £100k. Hell, £50k even. I mean, how much money do people really need?

I would definitely be in favour of flat rate tax regardless of income. Hell 25% even. I mean how much money does the state really need?

2004 model has RS duke forks
2005 onwards 130-140 vanillas

probably won’t work on an MTB – “bb” is shorter and cranks won’t clear the chainstays

I’ve just done this and seems to work fine (with triple LX chainset though)

Black and white fairy tales from E Germany – very scary esp the Tinderbox. Someone reckoned the series was called the Singing Ringing Tree but I’m not sure.

And of course the Doubledeckers

Bearing in mind the financial trouble his industry have got the country, in Mr Pollock has some brass neck throwing a kid off a train for not paying his fare – I wonder how much tax his clients avoid paying?

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-14/europe/30514982_1_fare-blackrock-train

Seems to me from accounts so far that the conductor who held up the train in some bizarre form of collective punishment and the (according to my paper)investment banker who threw the university student off the train have both acted way more improperly and disproportionately compared to what it is claimed the kid did.

So its actually a case of burly investment banker (probably used to pushing people around) bullies young kid..I’d be anticipating a successful assault prosecution on this one.

Bought two Bike Fridays from the states this year – basically add on a third for VAT and import duty (and if i remember rightly thats on top of the item and shipping costs combined) – might be lower if its just a frame though.

I’ve worked out what going on. Even though £100 is advertised as the minimum order value the £50 can be redeemed against, I’m only getting a full £50 discount if I actually spend £150. Has anyone actually used the voucher code to get a £50 discount on an order value under £150?

My took a week to come (and then only after 3 e-mails)

Just tried to use it and it gave me £5.97 off my next £100+ order rather than the promised £50.

Is this part of CRC’s marketing plan to cut down their future customers? Just wondered as they are getting perilously close to losing my custom for good on this one…

My Bike Friday Pocket Sport is a lot lighter than the TSR I used to have(which is why I no longer have a TSR…)

With the TSR there is no getting away from the fact that it’s a steel full suspension frameset so you are going to pay a significant weight penalty.

I would guess my Pocket Sport to be about 20lbs. Its one of their cheaper framsets but it has got decent (ultegra/105) equipment on it.

You are supposed to use the matching Shimano 10 speed chain (and the MTB one at that – not a road chain).

I used an 11-36 cassette on a single ring set up last year and mistakenly bought a Shimano 105 chain and it ran terribly – improved a lot when I switched to the mtb chain but still not the smoothest quietest transmission – really odd if you backpedal too.

A Bike Friday would be ideal for what you want, more emphasis on ride quality than simplicty/speed of fold – I bought a Pocket Sport earlier this year and it’s so good to ride I use it as my main bike now. Can be built quite cost effectively into a light bike – in that respect beats the pashley moultons hands down.

One word of caution though from experince – as niche products hand built in the west, actually getting hold of a Bike Friday or a Moulton can be a frustrating experience requiring a degree of patience……

Bought a frame from CRC last week and added the £50 voucher code to my order – despite promise of “despatch” (surely it’s just an e-mailed promo code?)within 48 hours still no response from CRC – has anyone had a £50 voucher yet?

How to lose customers and alienate people!

So enfit and the others who hate my / elfs/ Ernies analysis two questions.

1) why has this happened?
2) how to prevent it happening again?

1) because the rule of law broke down when the police demonstrated that they were not prepared to stop it in its early stages – so a group of ignorant people with a self indulgent, self righteous, false sense of victimhood then realised that the police were no more prepared to stand up to them than their parents and teachers have been – they are doing it simply because they are being allowed to.

2) react with overwhelming police force and swift and punitive justice (including prosecution of parents)in the early stages.

This is incredible – total breakdown of civil society. Police have been so demoralised by liberal hadwringing over the years that they no longer undertsnd that their job is to protect the population and prevent criminality – I imagine the BNP will be picking up quite a few votes from this one when the backlash from the law abiding majority begins.

Two tips:

1 in your post you mention that you left one bead in place when you removed the inner tube – certainly with proper tubeless set ups you are supposed to have both beads down in the well of the rim before trying to inflate.

2. make sure the tyre is cool when fitting (seriously!) ie don’t do it in full sun. Working outside in full sun I just couldn’t get Maxxis UST tyres to inflate – tried later in the evening and went on no problem- I reckon that as they warm up they expand and are a marginally looser fit on the rim.

I thought about doing this a couple of years ago. With rising cost of TW frames I thought there was a niche for a sub-£600 UK-built Reynolds steel 29er frame (if you don’t believe it could be done, Bob Jacksons retail at around £400 for a UK built 631 road frame). I even had the money to finance it but gave up after getting zero interest from a variety of potential UK builders. I still think it’s a viable niche but got more of an insight into why, on top of the financial arguments, new brand start ups look outside the UK for a partner.

My rec would be a fanless ITX mini PC with a solid state drive running J River Media Centre and hooked up your choice of dac

from bitter experience I’ve learnt that it’s insane to accept paypal for an item of any real value – in reality it’s little different from an IOU -you release the goods without having cleared payment and then rely on the goodwill of the buyer to complete the transaction. Reputedly,in any dispute Paypal seem to take the side of the buyer and you could be left without the goods or the money.

At worst its a scammer’s dream come true, at best (in my experience)Ebay and Paypal are a fatal combination – an auction format geared to “winning” an item and hence temptatuions to overbid in the heat of the moment, follwed by a payment system that provides a lengthy period for the buyer to reconsider and try to renegotiate the price for spurious reasons – knowing you’ll probably agree to avoid having your money and goods trapped in a lengthy dispute.

Its a great way to buy though..!

Walter Benjamin said that architecture was basically a fascist art form – don’t think he had this house in mind though

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Galaxy described as “fun” – for that budget or less you could pick up the real thing rather than a far eastern copy in the way of a used 531 road or audax bike from a craftsman UK builder on e-bay. Bikes in that bracket usually get looked after so can make very cost effective buys especially if you don’t care about the latest groupset.

Tha said I am also a happy Genesis Equilibrium owner, frame and forks are £400.

Just bought two Bike Fridays – rides like a road bike, does fold but more of a packable bike – similar to an Airnimal but US handmade/custom made in steel.

Could also consider a Bernds?

1984 – reminded of it everytime I see a CCTV camera or a sports article in the red tops that's 4 times longer than the lead news story…

"I'm liking that" – what wrong with I like that ?
"Steed"
"Singletrack weapon" – its a bicycle ffs
'Tis or 'Twas – you are not a pirate
"Quiver" – unspeakable

Dropouts look nice but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of horizontal support (e.g bolts on a voodoo are spaced both vertically and horizontally)

I've worked in a semi-public sector role for over 20 years – I don't recall people going on about how well paid etc we were 20, 15 , 10 even 5 years ago.

Perhaps the current contrast has less to do with "idyllic" conditions in the public sector but rather the deteriorating working conditions in the private sector caused by a combination of incompetent management or simply naked profiteering, exploitation and lack of social responsibilty of companies who downsize, outsource, cut pension rates, casualise at the same time as making record profits.

You might also ask why the redundant face JS allowance of £65 quid a week while we are still giving aid to China or much more than that in weekly child benefit for the families of barristers, stock brokers, Government ministers etc.

Now is the very time we need strong unions and a socialist or at least socially responsible government to lead the country.

Dont know much about the science but back in 2004 did have one leg of my months old set of Rc31s shear completely through about one third of the way down – 9 stone rider doing moderate XC.

singlespeed is great, 27 speed is great, it's 1×9 I don't understand – 70% of the downside of gears with 30% of the advantages…

apart from a workshop staffed by properly trained and experinced mechanics, what does it for me are:

a bargain bucket and christmas sales where you can get real bargains you'd never see on the web (customers of Ralphies should know what i mean)

crazily underpriced s/h classic bikes

Niners are good but not exactly a bargain.

I justified buying an Air9 because you are getting a 3.1 lb scandium frame for similar money to the competition – but £850 for a Sir9 when you can get a Singular with fork for half the price or a Rock Lobster 853 26er for £299……

really impressed with my Air9 and carbon fork – quicker than anything I've owned before, comfy, a great fit and amazing on climbs – a big +ve difference over any 26er Ive owned.

But WAY too expensive in terms of material value …

Browning Electronic Accushift Shifting Technology (BEAST)

(bought 4 sets when they were selling them off at 10% of original rrp – tried one set and couldn't see how it was supposed to work, mixing close tolerances with bendy plastic bits

Not sure whether it counts as a motorbike but I used a Suzuki 650 Burgman for a 90 mile round trip commute for 2 years – ride though anything short of a torrential downpour without waterproofs, great luggage capacity, virtually zero day to day maintenance and auto transmission linked to reasonably gutsy motor really makes sense in heavy traffic.