Forum Replies Created
-
Readers’ Rides: Jon’s Smokestone Bow-Ti
-
robdobFree Member
Original BB on my 1994 Kona Kilauea removed recently during a restoration, new LH cup to make it look pretty but reinstalled and still running like new.
Full bike
robdobFree MemberMost of you are wrong – the EA deal with waste issues and 99% of the time burning trade waste is illegal. It’s environmental law which the police often aren’t 100% aware of so EA is best to start off with. We work with the police often but generally we don’t need them there as EA officers are fully warranted.
robdobFree MemberI am an environment officer in the EA. You need to call our hotline number as above ASAP. There will be someone on standby to come and take action if required.
Don’t wait to call as we have to get there as they are actually burning something, not 2 hours later.
Also call fire brigade if it looks large or out of control. Police aren’t really the people to call unless its arson!
robdobFree MemberI bought a Park PCS9 for £50 from Go Outdoors when they has a 50% off everything sale. You can get them for £75 I think.
It takes a few more seconds to clamp the bike than a PCS10 but I absolutely love it. Holds a 33lb Spesh pitch from the seatpost no problem on a very uneven cellar floor.Buy cheap, buy twice.
robdobFree MemberI don’t revisit a lot of threads as I don’t get any notification there has been a reply like other sites do. Anyway he probably didn’t think he had to come on here and defend himself being as he was only trying to help others.
robdobFree MemberI just got my 1994 Kona Kilauea back after 16 years of it being used by someone else. The paint was shot on the frame, it needed a whole new repaint, drivetrain (mechs were ok), basically a full restoration.
However the original Shimano cartridge BB was still in there, smooth, tight and was refitted and is still in use now, 19 years after it was first installed.
Don’t tell me there has been ANY advances in BB technology!robdobFree MemberI don’t think it matters really if it was free or not. Nice work Evans.
robdobFree MemberKnowing at first hand On-One’s inability to make a hardtail that is properly designed/finished/painted I would consider it suicide to buy full-sus bikes made by them. 🙂
robdobFree MemberI just so happen to have this:
Barrie Clarkes 1991 Team Raleigh Dynatech frameset.
robdobFree MemberWell it seems like it’s finally resolved. An offer of £2500 has been made to me which I think is very fair, so I’ve accepted. I can now buy some new parts for the bike and get out on it!
Just goes to show that you don’t need to involve solicitors for minor things like this – I kept patient and tried to see their point of view about why things were taking the length of time that they did. I kept a diary of my injuries and all the receipts I collected, as well as all the phone calls and professional advice. Rang up every weekly too – I did become more firm in my conversations recently but not abusive or shouty.
And the advice I listened to was professionals involved in the business who I know personally – an insurance investigator and a solicitor.
Just hope another bloomin’ Audi driver doesn’t have it in for me again (for a third time!!)
robdobFree MemberI watched Vertigo too, blimey that’s weird. Good weird though.
robdobFree MemberPlus the tablet means I can read magazines, which you can’t really do effectively on the phone.
Can you not read normal magazines? Like, the paper kind?? Odd.
robdobFree MemberNot going to get an iPad, despite being an avid iPhone user. Can’t see the point, I have tried a few types too, Apple, Android etc.
I was talking about this to my wife last night – I think some people buy things like that and the stuff they can do gives them more to do. I can imagine that if you use one for work then it’s pretty useful (a friend of mine is a computer animator and it’s pretty much essential for him in so many ways).
My iPhone does pretty much anything I need to be done on the internet so I don’t need another device letting me do new tasks better and easier that I was never doing in the first place……. 😉
robdobFree MemberThread resurrection for update:
Just got off the phone from the other insurance company and they have agreed to pay for the damages (well I think that’s what they said). I’ve just sent off details of all the financial stuff and scans of all the receipts I’ve collected plus the diary of the pain/recovery that I had to go through.Patient phoning every week has paid off hopefully, no need to get the legal profession involved…….. yet 😉
robdobFree MemberYes I’ll be there with some cheaper pocket money stuff, mostly retro stuff. I’ve got a load of tyres, got some skinwalls, some nice 26″ slicks, 700c x25c tyres, black wall Psycho’s, P2’s, velocity stem, Deore/Mavic wheels, GT Forks, cheap flat bars and some lovely NOS Roox bars too.
I want to sell everything I have brought down so will be selling much cheaper than normal, so get in there quickly!
Got a nice Look Mi90 frame too.
robdobFree MemberShimano cup and cone hubs, serviced regularly, will probably outlast most other hubs.
Over on Retrobike people still use Shimano M900, M730, Deore DX hubs that have been going for 15-20yrs plus with no problems. If you ride very regularly regrease every 3 months at the most, which costs a couple of pounds for the bearings (at the most) and 20mins work.
But then again you need some mechanical skill to look after them (although not much), most people who shun them wouldn’t know which end of a hammer to hold even if you showed them. :rollseyes:
robdobFree MemberI work for the EA and have been asked to help out with this flood event over Christmas (I don’t do flood stuff but the guys who do need help from operational officers). There will be people working 24/7 over the next few days in the incident rooms and outside day and night trying their best to keep the channels clear for the water to flow.
Nice to see those flood defences doing their job above. 🙂
Take notice of the warnings guys, they really mean it. There is no way I would go anywhere near flood water, knowing what’s in it……
robdobFree MemberStill not been paid out for damage to bike yet. Still pursuing direct with his insurance. This is the best option at the moment. I have spoken to 3 fiends of mine, one in legal practice, one ex traffic police and one insurance investigator! There’s no point in me setting my own solicitor onto them until the insurers got back the report from their own investigation (assess car, interview with driver) as until they’ve assessed their side of the story no approach is going to be faster than another.
FWIW they’ve been quite good IMHO and seemed to be reasonable. They have said they’ll send me a cheque for the bike as soon as the report arrives if it turns out their driver is at fault. I know how the report is written after speaking to my insurance investigator friend. He also said they are crazy busy at the moment and the timeframe I’ve been waiting is typical at the moment for my sort of case, so I don’t think they are dragging their heels.
I did contact Audi UK though as I wasn’t hearing anything about the case for a while and the insurance company were saying they couldn’t get in contact with the driver (works for Audi). I thought they might be able to look into it. The conversation I had with the nice lady at Audi after she had spoken to the manager of the person who hit me was VERY amusing and I think I might have ruffled a few feathers!!
Hoping it will be resolved soon. Costs for them are racking up quite a bit with public transport/medical/fuel bills mounting up as my bike is out of action.robdobFree Memberrobdob – Member
Me riding my 1992 GT Tequesta in 1992
Wonderful people at Retrobike found me a rusty pile of cack standing outside a cash converters in Bradford which I spent £40 on and then spent a few months restoring it to this to replicate that bike:
Rode wonderfully!Where are you from then? 1st pic looks scarily like Southwell Minster school!
Got it in one!
robdobFree MemberMe riding my 1992 GT Tequesta in 1992
Wonderful people at Retrobike found me a rusty pile of cack standing outside a cash converters in Bradford which I spent £40 on and then spent a few months restoring it to this to replicate that bike:
Rode wonderfully!
robdobFree MemberI have to say that the story about what happens when retailers are sold to venture capitalists is very true. I used to work for Hombase, and Sainsburys sold us off to pay for their own store expansion plans as they could get a lot of money for us as we had always done well in the marketplace.
A few months after the sale we noticed that there was a lot of “stack em high, sell em cheap” offers coming in, stuff that didn’t really fit in what we normally did. It was a struggle to get any work on the stores done and staff levels dropped.
Thankfully they lost their nerve about making a huge profit and sold us to Home Retail group – who own/is Argos. Being owned by a retailing group is much better as they understand what needs to be done to keep sales high and customers coming in.
I eventually left but I will still be buying a kitchen from them next year.
Homebase did ok when the banks went pop as they own a lot of their estate and don’t owe much money. A lot of the big chains who opened stores rapidly are in a lot of debt.
We knew MFI were going to go to the wall a year before they did as we looked at their stores and offers and saw they were desperate. I tried warning people off them, especially when it came to buying a kitchen or bathroom off them but no-one believes you when you have a Homebase shirt on! They did eventually and a lot of people lost a lot of money they had paid upfront.
My wife also works in retail and we often walk into shops and think “this place won’t be here long”. We just get that feeling because of the state of the store, or maybe it’s the stock they have in, or stock levels. Most people wouldn’t notice.
robdobFree MemberThe eldest one was bought a Ramones T-shirt by his g/f last week,he was so proud to show it off & said what do you think of this then ? I looked at it & said,that’s great,it’s from the 1980 tour….He looked at me gobsmacked & asked how do YOU know that ? I replied (rather smuggly),coz I bought the very same one when I went to see them at B’ham Odeon,when I was 14 …..
I love that!
robdobFree MemberDidn’t realise it had changed recently, will go and get a copy to try it then!
Bought one a year or two ago and was well miffed that an article was cut short because you had to get the rest of it online and you had to be a premium subscriber or something. If you want to provide extra for more money that’s ok but to rub it in my face that I only got half the interview was a bit annoying. Do they still do that?
robdobFree MemberUsed to buy it many years ago.
I am a little afraid to say this, as I got banned from this site last time I said it, but IMHO its not a very good magazine.
robdobFree MemberPlease remember I said West Yorshire – Bristol/Brighton/Cambridge/Liverpool are not much use to me!
robdobFree MemberAs long as I get the money it is…
I must say that Sowerby Bros Cycles in Mirfield have been excellent. Bought a bike from them a couple of years back and they have always been great to deal with. They give me a little discount on stuff in the shop now (never asked for), don’t mind me chatting for a bit too. The advice I’ve heard them give all the customers is spot on, from families to near pro cyclists. Did me a professional quote for nothing so I will be spending a lot of money with them when the cheque comes in – not just buying it all off the net!
robdobFree MemberNot Sofa Sofa whatever you do, utter crap and won’t warranty clearly faulty goods, avoid at all costs
Will avoid – thanks.
robdobFree MemberLike the Art Deco place! But it’s other end of England to us so not easy to try them out. 🙁
robdobFree MemberI worked in retail a long time so I am very aware of the pricing techniques of the big retail sheds!
Don’t want a leather sofa, neither of us like them.
Not looked at Next but of imagine they’d be quite expensive, and maybe not our style. I’ll take a look though.
robdobFree MemberQuote sent off to insurance company – check!
Taking prescribed Codeine tablets – check!
Feeling a little loopy now? CHECK!robdobFree MemberThanks – going to docs tomorrow as very painful today.
Got bike and quote back from bike shop – £800!!!!!!
robdobFree MemberContacted the other persons insurance yesterday – they said that I should email a scan of the quote to them and they will issue a cheque for that amount. The personal injury claim will come later.
They sounded pretty good so no reason to doubt this will happen at the moment.
Neck, shoulders and right arm still painful, going to go back to the doctors later this week.
robdobFree MemberI’ve just bought a NOS Bullet bros chain tensioner and it works better than my Blackspire Stinger chain device! So I’m going back to triple rings and keeping the BB tensioner on.
Lots of new things work better, but not all!
Blazin-saddles – care to let me know how much you want for that lot? Email me on rcatkin@gmail.com. 🙂
robdobFree Member!!!!!!!!!!
The speed he left the track was just WRONG.
!!!!!!!!!!
robdobFree MemberBike has been dropped off at the bike shop. As it was almost new (200 miles riding) it was easy to see what was damaged. Tiagra shifters, Kinesis DC07 Forks, FSA k-wing bars, Shimano 105 pedals and Selle Italia Flite saddle.
robdobFree MemberAs far as borrowing bits is concerned to fix my bike – thanks’ – but not worried about that yet as it’ll be a week or two before I get back on the bike anyway. I have quite specific requirements so it’d be hard to get something that suits anyway.
And an aside – if you’ve ever fitted drop bars/shifters/tape you’ll know that it’s something you don’t want to do more times than is strictly necessary!! 😉
Thanks for the help everyone so far – I will let you know how I get on.