You could try hex plus allen keys. seen them demonstrated at the bike show for this sort of thing.

They’ll definitely have spares made in advance, the medals aren’t actually made from the material as their name suggests…

well

Only they silver medal could be called silver. the gold is made from silver with about 5% gold. Bronze is a copper/zinc alloy

I have the 700c/29 version on a pickenflick. I hadn’t heard of them either. i’ve only been using the these last few weeks but have no concerns. At that price i think they are a good buy (i’d ignore the original rrp).

here is the recipe i used for a hoegaargen clone. the thread is unfortunate at 21 pages, but find the time its an interesting read.

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=38303

I bought the Massive brewery kit as a complete beginner. i’ve now just completed 5 brews, but i’ve been upgrading the kit also.

the 10litres pot is a bit small (but i will continue to use it now that i want to experiment a bit). I ended up buying a bigger pot from themaltmiller. i’ve made a nice mash-tun from a cheap cooler from tesco.

^in terms of cost, its been a bit of an expensive hobby due to the upgrades, but i recently spent £40 on grain & ingredients, and i expect easily to get about 240lites of beer frmm this grain.

I’ve done a few IPA’s, 2 batches of hoegaarden (brilliant cause it only takes a week from brew to drinking) have a nice porter in bottles and i’ve created a hoppy porter in FV atm.

really enjoying it, it is hard work, i probably spend 5hrs on a brew on one day

look at http://www.swrve.co.uk. their softshell trousers are exactly what you require. i revert to these for the winter commute as the are office friendly. flexible enough for cycling. you might need a strap on the right leg as mine do get oily from the chainset.

I’ve been commuting daily for the last ten months (after i wnet through a period where i wimped out too often). my main motivation is the alternative forms of transport. i work bang in the centre of glasgow, so that rules out cars or m/bike, and i hate the train or bus.
Relying on public transport can be a pain, and it also means if i decide to leave i can do it any time i wish, so its a lot more flexible.

I ordered a pickenflick on the 22nd, (the website stated 5-7days for build). got an email to say bike would be built on the 28th, got an email on the 28th to say it would be sent out the next day. got a phone call on the 29th to say it was dispatched on next day delivery and it was delivered the next day.

Happy customer here.

i use one of these which is great for both bikes and motorbikes, enough pressure to remove dirt but not get into bearings

this

@lotto
large frameset in classifieds if you look at my other postings

dragon,

i guess its a bike like riding a hard tail on the road, its not the most fun, and is generally slower than a road bike….but, i regularly encounter some very bad surfaces on some of my routes and there are lots of bridleways which are not much fun on my road bike (in particular the tyres are unsuitable). after a winter of commuting on my road bike i think a ‘cross’ bike might be a good addition and there is clearly lots of others on here who think likewise.

anyway i’m off to speak to Shand.

This type of bike is on my shopping list too.

i like the look of the new on-one pickenflick although its lack of mudguard mounts is a big negative. Cdf 931 is an option but if i’m spending that kind of money, i’ll go for a Shand Stoater.

My experience is that when scanned into Autocad it is merely an image and not editable attributes that you get (although there are a lot more software packages now to convert text documents from scanned text)
Not sure on the cost of redrawing in Autocad, but you do get a free 30day trial on Autocad these days if you want to redraw it and have the experience to use it.

this isnt a recommendation for a particular camera, but i’ve had good deals from canon outlet on ebay. worth a look.

I’ve built a clay oven in the past from simply digging out the clay below the soil in the garden and mixing with sand.
some tips.

Make sure you site it in a good location, i sited mine too close to the house so when firing up i was conscious to not annoy the neighbours with smoke (which meant alot of times not using it when i could). i have a new plan to build it further away.

‘Sharp sand’ at your local building merchant isn’t sharp sand but now tends to be a ‘building sand’, basically its for cement (which i think is what sharp sand was used for in the past). I found when building my first go that this sand has a lot of small pebble type aggregates in it and isn’t fit for this purpose.

Certainly my early pompino will always be kept as it is just such a great winter/commuter.

Regret selling the first edition of the Giant TCR. The anodised lime greem/purple one with the carbon wheels. expect that to be quite collectable sometime.

surprised to see the on-one 853inbred listed here. i have one of these too it doesn’t get used much as i dont off-road much, but i thought these couldn’t be given away (which is why i still have it)

I have a similar log splitter to that one, and its ok, but only for those logs that split easily with an axe.

Those grenade wedges are well worth having, they are great for splitting those stubborn logs

DCR Wheels do, i bought a pair built into road wheels a few months back.
Hubs seem good quality for the money. only annoyance is they are 132.5oln and not had th time to research if these can be stepped down to 130oln.

DCR build wasn’t the best tbh, i had to re-tension the rear after a few months, and the front is due soon.

I’m sure there will be some around Viareggio if you look. Lucca has a big cycle community and Garfagnana is ‘just’ over the hill (about an hour) and you will find these guys. have seen good reviews.
In Viareggio you have the Alpi Apuane nearby and i’d be very surprised that there was no tour companies here.

I use autoeurope a lot

They are pretty much brookers but recently seem to be tied in to thrifty hire co.

One of the benefits to using them is that the quote will be the final price, in the past when i have used avis or hertz there is always an additional charge long after i have returned home. Usually some kind of airport return or some other surcharge

Err, if any of you have any mint Flites they want to sell on please let me know!

[/quote]

I have two NOS flites that i’m about to advertise here later today. one carbonio like that posted by Kuco and a Flite Titanium Genuine Gel

Keep a look out in classiifeds

Its worth pointing out that although most still go with offers over. the price advertised is usually set below the valuation to entice folk.
Get the home report and use the valuation to decide how much you wish to offer.

I would second mashiehoods link, i haven’t used them but garfagnana is a superb region region in Tuscany. probably better than the trad tuscany as its more mountainous. i’m just back from 3weeks there and its good cycling.

Camera Obscura is good, just outside the castle entrance

I’ve started to use threadlock on my bottom brackets recently after having an issue with one BB in particular. If you look at what threadlock offers its perfect for BB.
There is an article online, i think by pinarello, which explains the benefits.

Of Course, its a stunning place to cycle. definetely take your bike. you see a lot more by bike and i find you encounter some of the less well troden tourist destinations.
On or Off Road?
Where abouts in Tuscany are you going to?

In the main Tuscany is hilly, lots of nice rolling hillside and plenty of hilltop towns to cycle through. and there are plenty of local cyclists. go out on a sunday morning and its like a local sportive. there are plenty

North of Lucca, you head into garfagnana where it becomes more mountainous with plenty of nice road climbs, but a lots of off-road routes too.

I’m biased though, i have a house in garfagnana, i fell in love with the place when i first cycled through.

Do you want to try a lens then, where are you based? i'll be busy sunday, but i might be out tomorrow with my camera. if your out and about i could meet you.

is your email in your profile real?

Looked at a couple of your plank of wood shots. Have you considered Depth of field. Can be adjusted by changing your aperture. Sorry if you have already tried this.
i looked at "50mm, 1/125th, autofocused" – foreground all seems to be in focus but distant objects aren't
and "50mm AF" – the wood is in focus, but fore/background out of focus

try the same shots on aperture mode 'AV'take one about f5 and another f22 and compare them

is the camera place aj johnstone or is it somewhere else. aj johnstone are approved canon service centre.

There is a feature in this 1/4 EOS Magazine (canon users mag) which explains how to test the focus of a lens. Not sure it will solve your problem, but i can maybe send you a copy. if it helps, i'm also in glasgow.