Most stuff is timing belts these days??

What engine – pretty sure the 1.8 tdci in the S Max is a belt, and I think that unit is pretty widespread across the Ford range

That's doing a pretty good impression of my garage!!!

But I bet you know where everything is!

Knowing where stuff is is one thing – getting to it is defined as an "expedition" and needs appropriate planning, preparation and skilful execution

Some serious OCD cases there – although the Alfa owner is excused…

Here's mine..

The deterrant force as it stands represents a cost that we cannot afford.

The Lib Dems are not advocating unilateral nuclear disarmament, merely that we cannot justify the cost of replacing the current system. If at some stage the economy picks up and as a Nation we can justify spending money on a class of submarines with no other task than lurking in the ocean depths, then so be it.

The use of attack submarines with cruise misiles offers a level of deterrance more appropriate to current world issues.

The argument about losing our military industrial capacity hardly holds true. Nobody is suggesting not having nuclear powered subs in the Navy – sub construction would not cease. We haven't built an aircraft carrier since WW2, but that isn't stopping us designing and building a new class of carriers for the 21st century..

It has always p!ssed me off that we are alone (as it seems to me) in using the phrase "hung parliament". Our collective political mentality is as outdated as our first past the post voting system.

Everywhere else (in Europe – can't count the US as a Democracy) seems to do pretty well with coalition governments working together to deliver consensus based policies for the good of everyone. Far more mature and grown up way of doing business.

My lad must have long legs – 137 and 58…

…I'd better check those measurements!

Sputnik – Thanks, very useful seeing the 20 and 24 side by side. The Spesh does look a lovely bike.

Trigger shifters too? Most kids bikes seem to have grip shift, but both of ours struggle with wrist strength to get the bigger cogs.

ETA – What age did your son go to the 24 and then to the small xtc? My lad is 10 in July as well

Da Bom

??

Oh, and Debbie Harry – although of course, not a weird crush

… and our first year English teacher (early 20s at the time), who used to wear floaty white cotton blouses, with widely spaced butons and lacy white bras 😉

Get a 26" disc frame and put 24" wheels on it?

Wouldn't have thought there was enoughdifference between 24 and 26 to make it worth looking at 24s in the first place.

My thoughts exactly – he can ride my wifes medium Canondale hardtail ok on fire road, but would be risking ending the family name on any singletrack. I was thinking about a small on-one, or similar.

We've also seen the Felts on t'interweb. Look very nice, as do the Cube kids bikes.

I knew some niche monkey would come up with 29….. He isn't going t be that big for 8-10 years!!

Failing finding a small 26" frame to fit, can anyone recommend a "proper" mtb in the 24" wheel bracket.

Most of the ones we have seen have been heavy hoop iron rubbish – more likely to discourage a kid from getting into mtb'ing than to reward progress…

At our senior school there was a poster of a famous Russian (Soviet) gymnast – fit in every sense! The poster was on the corridor wall going to the chaning rooms…would be banned in these PC times for inappropriate leotard / crotch content

I went for Irony …no one can be both literate and that stupid

Fairy muff – I must confess that I had blown my fuses before getting that far 😳

He's right of course, Thatcher did unite the whole country in hatred of her…
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Still haven't worked out who kept voting for the b!tch – ballet fixing conspiracy, or another example of democracy not being for the hard of thinking

Does anyone here have a problem with Thatcher having made a quid or two given that her governments discouraged greed and united our society?

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What **** planet are you on

What bothers me more is the increased VED. I can live with lowish mpg but not £400+ a year tax.

What's the threshold for the high VED rate?

No takers – this thread could be Friday come early 😀

i've been to berlin…..

RAF?
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Retired?

Anarchy in the UK
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.Full volume
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as you answer the door – timed for "I am an antichrist".
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. and smile, manically.
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. Gauranteed not to receive a repeat visit

oh, and Re the OP

Hilary Swank

WTF is Private Pyle?

For the records (and swear filters….)

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Did your parents have any children that lived?
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, Yes, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: I bet they regret that? You're so ugly you can be a modern art master piece! What's your name fat buddy?
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, Leonard Lawrence, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Lawrence? Lawrence what… of Arabia?
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: That name sounds like royalty. Are you royalty?
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Do you suck dicks?
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Bullshit. I bet you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: I don't like the name Lawrence, only faggots and sailors are called Lawrence. From now on you're Gomer Pyle.
Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, Yes, sir.

Put…. down…. the F'KIN gun….

???

Pyle – didn't know they stacked sh!t that high

You are all viewing this as trail centre ghetto riders.

Sometimes I park at Afan or Glyncorrwg and pay. Season tickets are available, but I haven't had one for several years because I didn't use it enough. I frequently park at other parts in the Afan valley and don't pay…

… not because I'm a cheapskate – more to do with the route I plan to take. If you're relatively local you'll probably ride a wider selection of routes than visitors – the forest then becomes a larger and more diverse set of recreational activities 😀

Stress relief required??

Das Boot

Scirocco is a very strange looking car. Looks lovely from some angles (and those are the ones used in photos), but IRL it looks really ugly from any rear / three quarter view – IMO of course.

Offroad – 60.4 miles / 5:23:25. S Wales valleys, Brecon Beacons Gap & return

Highest (offroad) speed – 43.6mph. Skyline

All sound from our TV is routed via a Panasonic DVD / surround sound system.

This was via a menu setting on the TV – just set sound to external AV. Sky box and DVD / surround sound are connected to TV using SCART. PS3 via HDMI. All seems to work well.

Staying with mining in west Cornwall –

Crowns Engine House, Botallack. Better known than Levant, but an impressive location.

Levant Mine, Cornwall

Most of the workings are under the sea bed – and reputedly the miners would follow the lodes upwards until they could here the pebbles rolling around on the sea bed above their heads….!!

This might sound like an anachronistic fariy story – but the sea did breach into the Levant workings, through a known area of weakness that had been worked to close below the sea bed.

Amazingly the hole in the sea bed was located and sealed in the early 1960s, using a combination of divers, pioneering civil / mining engineering and big pumps!

The work allowed Geevor mine to pump out and re-open Levant. I worked on the site in the early 90s when Geevor was closing – fascinating bit of history / engineering and not well known outside of mining engineering circles.

More info here…Levant Breach

Sadly Levant is also known for one of Cornwall's worst mining disasters (and not due to the sea coming in!!). 31 men died when the man engine collapsed throwing the men down the shaft

I expected this to get half a dozen replies!!!

OK – much of it heated debate about the pros and cons about iphone ownership, but all useful.

So for the users – can I plug any USB card reader into the phone to transfer files (assuming a standard to micro USB adapter?

Anyone got an email for these muppets – all contact details have been removed from their site 👿

Trying to clarify their somewhat contradictory (or missing) advice on baggage allowances

a small peregrine

Ehhh – I wouldnt have said a Peregrine was a particularly small bird…

… Merlin perhaps?

It would be a lot of tarmac, I guess.

Mt Edgcumbe estate probably wont want you cycling through there patch – at least not beyond Barn Pool / the Folly. Cawsand – Penlee – Rame – Cliff Road could be good, but TBH I've only ever walked along these bits (fancied a crack at the CG station to St Michaels Chapel – but it wouldn't do to go over the cliff at Western Gears).

Freathy – Tregantle along the cliff road is nice for views of Whitsand Bay, but is, err, road. More road from Tregantle to Portwrinkle, because of the Tregantle ranges….

Alfa's diesel appears to be slower and less economical than the VAG offerings?

Quite possibly – the 1.9D in the GT is a Euro IV compliant engine. 170bhp, 58mpg combined.

Peugeot haven't made a decent drivers car since the 205 / 309 series GTi's

Alfa GT or Brera.

Always had a soft spot for the GT – stylish and practical size. Red GT cloverleaf diesel…?

The TT is very nice, but like many German cars, a little anodyne?? There's precision, but no passion. Scirroco is just plain ugly from some angles – rear three quarter view

iTrialMap 3D looks interesting

It's a total gimmick.

In that it doesn't work well – or in that it's not a "useful" app?

Surely wanting to know where, how long and how fast is a suitable amusing / interesting gimmick…

… in the same way as a bike computer provides similar info – of little use to say navigation, but interesting to see what you've done?

Looks to me like they wanted a high profile "name" to launch their safety campaign – probably had all the local cops outside the track with orders to make sure they pulled someone famous.

Note: He didn't get done for speeding – just lost some rear traction pulling away, in a powerful RWD MB, in the wet….

Only news here is the launch of the Melbourne safety campaign

iTrialMap 3D looks interesting, and may sway me! A few colleagues have also recommended this. It also has the resort(s) that i'm off to and can pre-load maps

Ok – so the initial Q was tongue in cheek! I like the look of the apple, and the ones I've seen in use look reasonably functional. Heard good things about the HTC Hero as well. Don't have any desires towards a Blackberry…

Unlimited internet (3g) is free. Well, it is on O2, anyway….

That's as maybe for the UK – but timing wise, I was thinking of upgrading before a short spring skiing break, and I'm guessing that outside of the hotel wifi area it could get expensive.