A lot of money is paid to the CEO of one of the most profitable companies in the world at present, which has vast reserves of cash sitting in the piggy bank. Why should this be an issue? Assuming he is doing a good job, Apple can pay him whatever they like.

You might want to build up a fund for ongoing maintenance and repairs which you are currently not liable for.

First time buyers exemption for SDLT ends on 24th March, so if you are thinking of spending more than £125,000, you can save a lot of money if you buy before then.

Buildings cover shouldn’t cost too much more than you currently pay for contents, but it will be a bit more. If you buy in a factored development (e.g modern flats etc), find out what the likely factors bills are, as they can be pricey if the building has lifts or other features which are expensive to maintain.

Leaving aside monthly costs, for one off purchase costs, don’t forget to factor in things like moving costs, costs involved in registering your title and the cost of applying for the mortgage (although normally most of the latter can be added to the mortgage if you are strapped for cash).

use a group law firm rather than independent for legal work i used connvencing direct all in cost £380 local lawyer wanted £1200

£1200 sounds like a fair price to me for the time involved in properly examining titles, dealing with issues, ensuring the contract is watertight and protects you etc. I can guarantee that for £380 the title will not have been properly examined, which is fine for the 90% of purchases where the title is fine, but for the remaining 10%…*

* may be slightly biased in this paragraph :wink:

Clearly written by an STWer, although there is an error, in that everybody knows that the STW car of choice is the Skoda Octavia rather than the Audi A4.

Any updates on Pentlands conditions, and/or the Water of Leith?

The last few days have been relatively dry and breezy, so I’m hoping that things might be just a little bit better than they have been.

That section of the Water of Leith by the tunnel was a right muddy mess last time I rode it. Any improvement this morning?

Not sure how I’d go about qualifying though.

You might be able to qualify based on residence or club membership? The British Cycling website will have the answer. That works for the Scottish Champs anyway, although the rules may be stricter for the UK champs.

I hear that there are video highlights or something on the BC website? Might have to have a gander at that later. I’d be interested to see that final corner tussle between Fieldy and Killeen.

I did see some of the US national champs on live stream. Does that count instead? Would be good to get the UK champs live streaming.

10 – Exeter
9 – Manchester
8 – London
7 – Cardiff
6 – Brighton/Hove
5 – Leeds
4 – Glasgow
3 – Sheffield
2 – Edinburgh
1 – Bristol

Um, those might be the best cities to live in the UK for mountain biking, but I suspect that there are better places to live for mountain biking if you don’t want to live in the city. Highlands, Lakes, Scottish Borders anyone?

It is normal to go slightly wider than you would for a road bike. I have 44cm bars on my CX bike, although would probably be 42cm or so on a true bike.

I use 31.8mm simply because it means I can swap stems around with my other bikes if I ever fancy it in future. No real difference for the average ride between 31.8, 26mm etc IMHO – go with what suits.

I have Ritchey WCS alu bars which are good value, especially if you can get them second hand. It is hard to tell what you will like, so maybe just pick up a secondhand pair of something and see how you get?

There is a discount code now instead. VIP10 I believe.

I’ve got Maxxis Raze on my CX bike. Reasonable all rounder for the money, although I’ll be swapping them for something a bit more capable in the mud for next season I think.

Just waterproof shorts (well splashproof really) and now Shimano winter boots for me.

I do plan on putting my vintage rear crud guard on the commuter bike once I can shim it to fit my 27.2mm seatpost (I’m thinking an old inner tube would shim it nicely, but I don’t tend to have many old tubes now that the bikes are mostly tubeless :roll:)

Might stick a downtube cruad guard on the commuter too, but I don’t bother with guards for the rest of the bikes – recreational riding normally involves a shower or at least a change of clothes at the end.

just renewing Jr’s now he’s turned 5. £40 for every five years.

Never seen Home Alone? £40 of savings right there.

Newish Pro 6 here. Shown in the photo in it’s original guise – a couple of very minor tweaks since then.

[/url]
Kinesis Crosslight Pro6[/url] by pixelmix[/url], on Flickr

Laptop FTW. Swapped our iMac for a laptop a few years ago so I could spend more time in the same room as Mrs Pixelmix (who does her work on the sofa, whilst I would be on the iMac in the spare room).

Haven’t missed the desktop at all. If you need a bigger screen, leave a second screen somewhere with wireless keyboard and mouse, and some speakers (I only bother with the speakers, not the rest).

I haven’t felt the need for a mouse as MacBook Pro trackpads are excellent.

Already on discs. First cross bike, and discs seemed liked a no brainer. Consisent power and good lever feel, they work on wet roads, save rim wear and most of all, they stopped my wheels jamming up in muddy cross races!

Friends of mine have used easyjet every year for biking in the alps with no problems.

Links all duly investigated and bookmarked!

A weekly photo does sound like a more sensible idea. When I tried daily in 2010, it did become a bit of a chore, so I gave up after a while. Hopefully working closer to home now will mean I get more of a chance to take a snap without it becoming a chore this year.

I’ll also need to accept that sometimes a camera phone shot of something routine without any real photographic merit will have to do.

I use AirFoil[/url] to stream spotify and various other apps to my Airport Express.

mud starting to crust

More of this please. Long overdue a good frost to firm up the Pentlands and make it rideable with causing erosion. Sadly the forecast is for well above freezing, so I’ll still be avoiding the Pentlands for the foreseeable future.

The Inbred would be heavier than the Malt 3 I reckon. A Scandal would be a closer alternative and can be had for similar money when on offer or secondhand. Lovely light frame for the money.

Kinesis XC3 would be a lovely frame I reckon, although cheapest price seems to be £220 from a quick google.

Mind you, if it works like the 7Stanes etc, it might still work if funds were ring fenced for path maintenance etc. Having glanced through the report, it seems that this is the intention, and people may therefore be prepared to pay. You don’t see lots of people parking on the verges and streets just outside the Innerleithen car park for example, so maybe my initial comment was too cynical. As Fraser says, I suspect it will affect few cyclists directly since most won’t drive to the Pentlands.

Good shout Druidh. Often handy to have an update on conditions etc. Goes without saying that it is muddy up there at the moment though. More frost needed – had some excellent crispy Boxing day rides in the past!

That parking idea seems ill thought through. As you say, people will just park on the verges round the corner from the car parks unless they are going to put signs along all of the verges and enforce parking there too. Certainly seems contrary to council policies on encouraging healthy living.

Edit:- what Stoner said

Thought about one of these myself recently. They look good in the plain yellow or red and are good value at £299. Nice job.

£20 or so will get your frame courier collected from your house with appropriate insurance.

I just used these[/url] guys last week to book a delivery of a full-sus frame in a bike frame box to Ireland for £21 with UPS.

Speaking of porter/stout, Dark Star Espresso Stout is pretty nice.

That does sound rather tasty – I’ve been meaning to try it for a while but have never seen it in a shop to allow me to impulse buy. :(

Those of you who think it is a gimmick have to admit that it works well since you are all on here talking about it. Free advertising. Having had some Sink the Bismarck previously, I would liken it to a whisky due to the strength.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin is more to my taste. Further down the strength scale, Tokyo* (20% or so I think) goes really nicely with sticky toffee pudding too. :)

Too many to keep count, but mostly pretty minor. Crashed twice in one lap of a race (first crash really puts you off!) and had a sore wrist from that for a good few months.

Did a classic over the bars at another race too as a slow chap waved me past then cut me up, forcing me into a ditch. No injuries from that one.

Singlespeed bike spat me off on the commute too when the chain popped off as I stamped down hard on the pedals. Cobbles hurt, but the bike came off worse than me on that one.

Cyclocross is good for fast unexpected dismounts when the front wheel gets stuck in the mud at races, but at least the landings are soft. :-)

No stitches or broken bones this year, so can’t complain.

Some of the Giant stuff is pretty good, but there are lots of different levels, so you need to make sure you’re not buying the cheap rubbish stuff. “Connect SL” is reasonably light for the money.

I was thinking about upgrading some of the Giant bits that came with my Anthem X2 and mid to upper level alu parts from Thomson, Easton etc would not be that much lighter than the stock Giant stuff.

Edit:- spookily beaten to it by seconds by the post above!

No quibbles with my eggies so fair. Developed a bit of play, so I sent them to 2pure and they replaced them with a brand new pair, no questions asked.

Used CB pedals for years, and the ones that have failed (older style Candys) have only ever been because the bearing has worn out and I haven’t replaced it in time. I think the redesign improves on that issue.

I haven’t used Shimano pedals, but having seen a friend unable to get his foot clipped in because of snow last weekend (much swearing ensued every time we stopped), I’m happy to stick with the mud and snow friendly Eggbeaters.

Anyway, to answer the OP’s question, Merlin have some Eggbeater 3s on at a good price (£55). They are OEM packaging and black rather than red or blue, but definitely Eggbeater 3s.

Amateurs. Sweet potato mash all the way. Nom nom.

Better than 10 years ago but worse than 6 months ago. Need to go on a skills course to sort out my head and improve my skills I reckon. Or maybe I just need to (i) grow some balls and (ii) do more mountain biking.

Never mind TJ – you can get the council to come in and sort your roof out for you.

:lol:

Stat Notice you say? I’m afraid that all of the council employees who were on ‘gardening leave’ have been blown out of their garden deckchairs and won’t be returning to work.

Endurance exerise leads to an increase in the BNP apparently. 8O

It’s not suprising that the heart changed shape for a period after the race – it is a muscle after all. The science in that article all seems a bit woolly “we think, maybe, possibly” type stuff.

I wonder if those who showed scarring had not built up their training gradually over a period of time, and damaged their heart for that reason.

Of the races I have done, 10 Under the Ben is the Daddy, in terms of best course (proper climbs and proper descents) but then I have only ever done it when it has been sunny.

Having done 10 Under the Ben last year, it is a great atmosphere and event, but I found the course at 10 @ Kirroughtree to be more fun.

I think Druidh meant – http://www.scotroutes.com/images/Bikes/Thrashiedean.kmz

Never had any hassle, although I only tend to ride there when it is dark and hence quiet. The path across the middle is fine, as is the radical road. I often get words of encouragement from walkers when huffing and puffing up the radical road in the early evening on the singlespeed.

Wife and I had a 2007 one for 3 years. Nippy round town and not a thing wrong with it after about 50,000 miles except a few new light bulbs (which are a pain to fit unless you have the fingers of a dwarf).

Lacked a bit of grunt on the motorway, but quick enough except when I had two bikes on the back.

I saw a chap with a pair of these the other night in Edinburgh (possibly got them from The Bike Chain). As a pedestrian, they seemed pretty visible from the front. I have often thought that small handlebar mounted lights (like the little knog ones etc) are useless from the side on drop bar bikes as they get obscured by the hoods, so this is a good idea.

The Charing Cross isn’t really a proper cross bike is it? I thought it was more of a commuter. That might be what you are after, but the Whyte Saxon Cross is the proper cross bike in the range (at an extra few hundred pounds).

I’m liking my Kinesis Pro6, but you’ll really struggle to build one for £1,000.