I’m in Yorkshire.

I wouldn’t actually be converting the cellar myself, we don’t need the extra space. I’d be using it for a bike workshop and it’s fine as it is. The seller is basing his price on next door which has had it converted. I wouldn’t be putting a conservatory on either!!

We are only borrowing around £100k with around £60k deposit so LTV isn’t such a big issue really.

If anyone else has any ideas please let me know!

Thanks all.

Cellar is dry (probably helped as its half not a cellar if you know what I mean, like a lower ground floor) but tanking would be necessary I think.

I still have no idea why people buy sub standard crap from this company.

At least in the past they were a bit lame but sorted you out in the end, now they just don’t give a crap, would sell you anything they had no matter how badly made then lie about it afterwards.

Additionally, if they can’t get a simple thing like a seat tube made the right size, how do you know the hidden stuff is any good? I just couldn’t trust it.

“Me being a bit of a presenter means I’ve got the idea for a cheap and cheerful ring (couple of hundred)”

A couple of hundred? YOWSERS!

My wife’s engagement ring, which she still wears, cost £18, we’ve been happily married 14 years now.

Rusty Spannner – I would love it if the MTB bubble burst. I started riding BMX in the mid nineties after the 80’s BMX bubble HAD burst – although I didn’t know it at the time BMX was really dead, a lot of the big manufacturers had given up and there was no money in the sport. So riders started to ride how they wanted, where they wanted and had to develop and make a lot of their own parts. This was good as it wasn’t the manufacturers dictating to you what to buy – maybe 27.5 is a good example of this!

Paul Components?

I just fitted these to my touring bike….

Paul Components Dura Ace bar end shifter converters – I now have 9sp thumb shifter and wow they are nice to use. :)

If I was loaded up anywhere near the Alps I’d want as low a gear as possible! I’d go 22/34/44 with a 11-32 cassette.

@RNP that’s true, I’ve got a “proper” Volvo, it’s done 180k miles and it is well known that for a B230 engine that’s “just run in nicely” ;)

And it’s rear wheel drive! Woohoo!

I read a report of a similar test and IIRC the drag over a decent ride length was equivalent to about 100 calories of energy or something – it was likened to needing to eat one more biscuit for the ride. So not noticeable!

Dynamo systems. My rear B+M rear light is as light, probably lighter than a LED light as it has no batteries. And it’s a brake light too and very bright and easily spotted (has to pass very strict German lighting standards). I have the same front light as Peterpoddy and it’s by no means heavy. Same with the Exposure hub. Once it’s all installed you never notice it’s there. You cannot feel any resistance whatsoever. If you say you can while riding im afraid you’re lying or imagining it, simples.

After using my pretty much identical setup to Peters for a while I want to install a similar system to all my bikes I ride on the road. I wouldn’t have a battery LED light now if I could afford a dynamo system for all my bikes.

“Very tidy! There’s nothing wrong with touring on a hybrid.”

It’s not a hybrid. It’s a touring bike. Hence the name, Tour De Fer.

They might have planning but you can’t just use waste soil from anywhere to change the profile of the land. Only certain amounts are allowed and it has to pass certain criteria. Report to EA just in case so they can check.

Ransos – council will only be concerned about human health or planning issues, report to EA first is best bet.

Report it to the Environment Agency pronto, it might be illegal.

Would be worth checking their public registers first (online) if you know the approx post code, see if there has been any waste exemptions registered (low risk waste activities that are free to register but a lot are abused).

Peter – I actually have 3 of those bells now but I’ve not used any of them to my shame.

My TDF is lovely, just a bike you can get on and ride anywhere.

Rusty Spanner – I think you’re thinking about my brother (Peterpoddy). :)

I texted him a few days ago and he said he hasn’t got his frame yet, the date keeps being put back constantly by Genesis.

+1 for the PDW grips. I got some only because I could buy gold ones and I got them in a a clearance sale for £9. However they are fantastic!! The metal bit on the inboard section really helps with shifting/dropper controls and you don’t miss the extra bit of grip that’s gone. I normally like chunky grips but these are slimmer and I think they are still good.

I will buy more for the full RRP if I ever need some more.

As someone who brings cases to court AND I’ve been a juror as well I can say that you don’t see the other side of the action as a juror and there’s a lot of things that happen around cases that are vital and do delay things but can seem frustrating.
Every experience of court rooms I’ve had now makes me glad to be in this country and have our legal/judicial system. No it’s not 100% perfect every time but it really is as good as it’s likely to get (maybe could be a bit more efficient but I mean how they use the law).
People who think judges are bumbling fools like you see portrayed in TV sometimes need to go and see a court case, the judges really are quite amazing at how they bring the hearing together and are very good with juries too.

Have DeKerf been smoking crack?

Did he ask you to check it out beforehand?
Did he appear to be angling for your approval of the place when he told you about it?

If both are no I wouldn’t say a thing. He won’t know you’ve checked it out so nothing to worry about. You didn’t know yourself!

Well everyone does it its just you can’t talk about it.

Like a rubbish version of Fight Club. ;)

CFH – I have a feeling you would approve of the fully appointed luxury interior too. :)

The original spec list for the car that I have when it was ordered says it has “ruffled leather”.

Raaaather!!

At least with the Mondeo it’ll be distinctive, brilliant cars you don’t see as much of as you used to unlike the ubiquitous Audi/BMW crowd.

“I have a BMW Touring. I can get lots of stuff in the back”

No you can’t.

You can in my estate though. Which is a proper one, not one of your namby pamby lifestyle “sport wagons”.

My glove box is bigger than the boot in a 3 series touring. ;)

My experience with normal estate agents when trying to buy a house further reinforced my determination never to use a traditional one ever again!

There is one in particular I am going to go the sellers house and let them know how their EA behaved with us as it was shockingly bad.

Who wants grip on the snow anyway? It’s less fun. :)

PS Whilst looking for houses I’ve came across this one… seems like a fairly pleasant conservatory!

I don’t mind a conservatory like that – if you think about it its a good way of getting another room on the house quite cheaply that will be filled with light. You get quite a lot of conservatories like that in W Yorks, the garden may be very small but it’s nice to feel like your outside. The house you showed looks quite dark with small windows so it might be a nice addition.

Check in my history – I used House Network, they’ve been going for a long time. I used them and they were amazing, couldn’t fault them.

Make sure it’s had a stage 0 mod – basically do all the service items. Make sure tyres are in good nick, inflated ok, suspension all works as it should. Engine – oil and filter, plugs, HT leads, air and petrol filters. Check the forums to see if anything else is a common problem in your particular car that might make it run roughly/badly. Change coolant for fresh stuff. Check for oil or fluid leaks, if it’s an auto change the box fluid if needed. Make sure all the lines and hoses are in good nick. Check for signs of HG failure. Compression test to make sure that’s ok. Check injectors are running ok. Make sure battery is in good health.

All the above you can do yourself. Then go and get a remap with someone who does it PROPERLY. NOT just a one size fits all but a custom map that takes into account the age and spec of the car. This will make it use fuel more efficiently if you don’t use the extra power they often bring when done. I can recommend someone in West Yorks if you are round here.

And last of all enjoy it! It’s a fun car, don’t worry too much about MPG. Drive carefully when you just want to get somewhere, floor it when you want some fun.

EDIT my new car does 16mpg around town but it’s awesome! RWD and petrol -heaven!

I’ve never understood black components. Bare aliminium always looks great and can be made new again with a few minutes polishing if you want to. Black anodised or painted stuff always look cack after a few rides. You would have thought they would consider what the components are being used for and not give them such a shoddy coating if they want them to be black.

And why paint something which won’t rust in the first place? Yeah paint steel but why bother with alloy?

“Scissor Sisters version of Comfortably Numb is awesome!”

No, just no.

“Please don’t go changing the fly and fit of those already ordered because some chubsters want them a bit floppier”

I wonder if you’d say that to my face…..

The reason why we would like decent size trousers is that YOU CANT BUY THEM. Everything is skinny fit nowadays so it’s ok for people like you to go and buy a whole range of clothes. If you’ve got proper muscles (I used to be a sprinter) then nothing fits. I can’t buy any jeans, and I mean ANY at all right now as nothing fits. My wife got me some jeans yesterday which were straight fit and were 2″ too big on the waist but I can’t get them over my thighs.

So if anyone comes along and says they can make us something to fit then we are going to be a lot keener than the skinny sticks like you, ok princess? ;)

I’d love to try a Kindle but all the books I want to read don’t seem to be available to download (old sci-fi stuff).

For any book lover please make a trip to Hay-on-Wye one day – oh. My. Word. I spent a day there but could spend a week and many hundreds of pounds on proper books!

Or you can just use the easily set up privacy option in Strava.

I never got the same experience in the USA as has been mentioned above. In San Francisco and the places around it there were plenty of people walking around and it would have been more difficult to drive it a lot of cases. In New York I don’t think many people drive for obvious reasons and I reckon there’s probably less car ownership per head in Manhattan than in London.

Even in Las Vegas there were plenty of provisions for walking around, we just chose one car park and walked from it which it seems a lot of people do. You have to be careful not to walk too far in one direction though as it takes ages to walk anywhere in LV due to the amount of people there and the waiting times at the intersections.

When you get out in the sticks it’s a bit different, but as everything is spread out so much more than in the UK you can understand why people drive so much. Over there they never really had the village around a well thing which gradually expands like in the UK. The places tend to be very linear and so you can get main streets that are miles long, not as easy to get around like our compact towns. There isn’t as much premium on space, coupled with the fact that a lot of housing is spread out for miles.

Mind you, in my 3 trips to the USA I never saw the mass obese epidemic thing everyone talks about. I am sure it’s a problem but maybe not in the areas I went to.

I still go on YouTube and watch bits of Standard Style Cats. Got me into flatland that one.

I never got hold of the Dorkin series, would love a set.

Bensales +1

I am assuming the same peopl don’t iron their clothes, or ever decorate a house, or comb their hair. Or wear clothes that match.