Blimin eck, that looks really nasty and I hope your recovering ok there.

I blame Thatcher.

I rode along there on that day, thankfully I didn't come across it. Unbelievably stupid thing to do though. Hopefully it's just kids and not someone with a grudge against people on bikes round there, although I'm sure that the local Jack Russell's are trained to chase bikes. little feckers.

Nice looking watch you have there. Looks like your man done a nice job cleaning it up too.

Japanese Knotweed is yer answer! Might need a bit of trimming every now and then!! The Victorians loved it. Jobs a good un. :evil:

I was reading about these schemes recently and some of them are very attractive indeed. Look into the T & C's and if it looks good then you're onto a good thing. Kier by any chance?

That looks blimin great!Nice one.

The good dr?

I think that there is quite a large market for top of the range, expensive bikes with a chequered history out there.
Many people are not in a position to buy a £2~3k push bike but WANT one. They wouldn't think twice about buying a £2~3k bike from a "bloke in the local" for £100 or less, no questions asked. These types simply don't see buying a dodgy bike as a crime, as far as they're concerned they didn't steal it, the previous owner was probably insured and has been paid out by the insurance company and the insurance company can afford to pay out for it, cos that's what you pay insurance for, so who loses? They will grind any i.d. off and give the bike a quick paint job so the bike will be unrecognisable, even to it's old owner.
The thief gets £100 for 1 or 2 hours effort and that will pay for a big night out on the town, so he is happy. Chances of the scrote getting caught are minimal and if he does what are the penalties?
I don't think we will ever change this mentality.
The car industry solved the problem of car stereo's being stolen by making the stereo's fit their own particular model. No point in stealing a £2k car stereo from a nice modern car as it wont fit in your average scrotes Astra/Corsa/Saxo etc.
The bike industry and us owners have to address the problem. Make the bikes traceable, chip them like we do dogs maybe? Make it harder to steal them. I'm not sure what the real solution is but it's not going to go away any time soon.

Check to see if you have got any travel insurance with your bank account/credit card or buildings/contents insurance. You might be covered for trekking at altitude on that policy and if you aren't, then you can top it up with a phone call to the insurance provider.

I have enthusiastically enjoyed biscuits for many years and in my experience Fox's brand are top of the tree. My current fave is the Fox's Chunkie range and the White Chocolate Chunkie is a serious heavyweight in the biscuit world. Nothing comes close. nom nom nom….

Should bellfield face the death penalty?

I firmly believe that he should not face the death penalty. As a civilized country we have no place for the death penalty within our judicial process. As a civilized country I believe that we do not have the right to judge whether we take another persons life because we are then putting ourselves on the same level as the person we are condemning. Take away their privileges and take away the comfort we afford to them. Life should mean life, especially in bellfields case.

However, if the victim was a member of my family or a close friend I think that I would not rest until I had confronted and dealt with the person that had committed the crime against my loved one. Hypocritical, maybe but I have thought long and hard about this and I would accept the repercussions of my actions. Maybe if I find myself in that situation I may not think this way as I have never been in that situation. Even more so, hopefully I will never ever be in that kind of situation.

Mmmmm, I had a couple of holes in the side wall of my Nev's recently.In fact I was sitting in the kitchen late one night reading quietly and all of a sudden I heard air hissing out of somewhere. Traced it back to the bike and the rear tyre had a hole in the side wall with air escaping, about a day and a half after I last rode it. I wouldn't of thought anything of it until I read this, anyway threw a load more sealant in and holes sorted.

Oooooo,a STW Purbeck ride.

I wouldn't mind tagging along if nobody objects. Rode the Purbecks last weekend and bloody rear shifter gave up on me after about 3 miles, so this could be a chance to give them another bash.

The real question we need to ask ourselves is what tyres for STELLAR REALIGNMENT?

Serious weakness for KFC Zinger Tower Burgers, esp with beer. Mmmmmmmmm

We tried a ride out of Wilton in Wiltshire yesterday and it was really really tough because of the mud. Totally clagged our bikes up so much that you had to scrape the mud off your bike with your hand to continue riding. Try to stay away from chalk if you can and that's not easy round that way or you might struggle to put a good ride together. Oh for some sunshine. Good luck.

Isle of Purbeck.
Stunning coastline.
Great pubs.
Fossil hunting and swimming on the beaches.
Fantastic cottages available.
Tank museum and monkey world.
Coastal path to explore.
Poole just across the water for a day out.
plus loads more (I do like I of P BTW)

Brick Lane market, good food round here too.

I blame Thatcher!!! :lol:

I was so close to getting a white mojo recently… but after giving it a lot of thought I went for the naked carbon.
I decided that for my type of riding (and I'm not changing that cos of a new bike) the bike would get covered in little scuffs and scratches that would be highlighted by the local mud round here when it covered the frame and that would annoy me as new bikes aint cheap. The naked carbon looks more tool like which I like and doesn't show every little blemish. White bikes do look very nice though.

If Carlsberg made countries…….

I hope that the Euro doesn't crash and I don't think the Euro it will as I'm sure that the Greek economy is only a small percentage of the Eurozone, so therefore Greece's problems can't have too much impact on the Euro.

I think that Spain is more of a concern for the ECB with it's bigger economy but maybe the ECB would like to see the Euro devalue a bit so Europe's exports are a bit cheaper for those outside the Eurozone. I wouldn't mind betting that our government hopes it doesn't crash as our products are cheaper in comparision to the Eurozone's due to the strong Euro. As a side thought do you think the our government are trying to engineer a cheap pound to draw in investment and drive exports? A cheap Euro would help the holiday spending money but little else, IMO.

There's some great beaches around Auckland. Hot Water Beach is quite ace for a day out, not sure if you can still dig holes at low tide though.
Coromandel is good to visit. Jeez, I need to go and visit again, damn these NZ posts, they could cost me a lot of money!

Doesn't matter what you ride so long as you enjoy it, plenty of time to upgrade in the future if you feel the need. What did you get anyway?

Went out today, yesterday and Friday. New bike so I am wanting to get out and play as much as possible. Legs were rather tired today though!

Angeldust, with comments like that, no wonder people throw eggs at you. :roll:

"I drive a Jag……"

Nuff said!

Oi DrRSwank, whats up with people who drive vans? Trakkies, you might have a point! :lol:

1/ Heinz 57

2/ Newfoundland

3/ Huntaway

Have you caught any of them yet? If so any obese mates you have, just slip a couple of the little feckers (live of course)in their spaghetti bolognese and watch them wolf the spag bog down and hey presto – no more dieting required for your chubby mates!! They'll be thanking you!!

Definitely worms.Is the rumbling from the bottom of your stomach? You should inspect your own faeces very closely at the earlist opportunity and pray that the slippery buggars haven't deposited worm eggs in your bedding and undercrackers! Dodgy water source could be where you picked em up.

Devils Punch Bowl/Haslemere area has some good riding and not so busy as Surrey Hills.

Thanks for the wheel info Mark. Can't wait. STW bike shop of 2010 – lets wait till the end of the 6 nations.

Can I ask you with whom or how you have insured it, as M & S, Aviva etc aren't keen to insure me? My email is in my profile if you prefer to use that.

Top bike and your build is looking good. What are your thoughts on it so far?I built mine up last week just in time for the weekend and I am very impressed so far.

Hire a taxi and get him to show you round. Agree a price per day, including gas, sit back and let the driver do all the work. This worked well for me and I was there for the same length of time as you.

Cheers chaps, Headset and BB are installed and build is going well.

Brack, very nice idea cos I like the beaches in West Auckland but I would guess that the cost of living once there is quite high.

Air – Moon Safari