Please can someone just tell me what to buy?

So at the moment…

Front 203mm hope disc on post mount lyric
Rear 183mm hope disc. Frame is is mount, but then I’ve got mount b on which converts it to post mount.

Is there something I need to measure?

Sorry rocky I’m still confused. If I buy the wrong size, can I make it right with adaptors? Or do I just change the rotor size?

The whole thing for me Sandwich is a complete pain in the arse. I’ve done nothing but I’m £800 down and have no means of pressuring to get my flat fixed. Joke really. If I can be of any help – chat on the phone etc just drop me a message.

About to leave one company and join another. The last time I was quite active on here I was in exactly the same position.

Brassneck – it was the bi-polar tendencies. I’m either 100% or not at all.

mansonsoul – yep, as I was typing it I was thinking scandanavia. I’ve been to Finland, it was very clean. Perhaps you’re right :)

My next step I think btw is citizens advice

Just had a similar situation…

I own a flat. Freeholder of the building dug out the foundations to put a new property in the basement. My flat has cracks in every lounge wall. Here’s what I learnt:

1. I spent £300 getting a structural survey done which confirmed the cracks were a result of the works. Worth doing for piece of mind.

2. I spent £500 on legal letters that he ignored. However he has since said he will “put right” all works. There is no timeframe for him to do this. Waste of time.

3. He should have issued a party wall notice before commencing the works. this would have given us chance to appeal. He didn’t. This is a legal requirement although council have since told me more and more people don’t bother. Read up on party wall notice.

4. I could have taken him to court to get his works stopped as he’d failed to issue this notice but it would have cost £3k approx to take it to court. I had the money but it was allocated for my wedding so I didn’t because…

5. You only get monies refunded if they are found liable and they go over £5k.

Current situation is we still have cracks. He said he will fix them but has no timeframe to do it. The report I had done suggests plaster needs knocking off but unless I go legal he can just fill the cracks. Whole things a mess really.

I contacted insurers but once they knew the report said no serious structural issues, just slippage they weren’t interested.

Feel free to correct me mansonsoul, where else you thinking?

ohnohesback – yeah, agreed, but surely it’s like doping… once they’ve all been caught a new breed will come through who won’t do it. We live in hope.

Here’s my twopeneth… not based on any particular facts or readings but just the views of a 38 year old northener.

Although Labour promised an end to it, we still live in a boom and bust culture. We’re currently going through bust and having had 10 years of boom this will level things out. There are lots of unhappy people at the moment. Truthfully I don’t know how some people are surviving. Me & the Mrs earn pretty good wages, one mortgage, no kids or fancy cars or holidays (although we have got married this year – wasn’t fancy) and we have nothing left at the end of the month to save.

I would say the UK is the most develop country on earth with our approach to health, multiculturalism, politics etc so if anyone will lead the way it will probably be us. However I our swing between centre right and centre left political parties mean we end up with (over a 20 year period) a land that sits completely in the centre ground. This means that in the main the public gets what the public wants so no, there will be no political reform.

The closest we got was the Lib Dems at the last election, but they’ve gone and f~cked it by jumping in with the Tories…

I do think the changing world we live in – media, twitter etc will lead to a more transparent political world in the future though.

I think I’m roughly a couple of years ahead of you, a bit younger but with similar experience.

Firstly, +1 for getting a HR monitor. I started running regularly about 2 years ago and it really helped me. I used to run in bursts and then I’d blow up. Using the HR helped me control my pace, I used to try and keep my HR between 150 & 160, then as I got fitter I could do 5 mins around 170 but I knew if I topped 180 I would blow up. It’s also good for “making a game” out of a traditionally boring exercise.

For the first year of getting fit I trained for 24hr solos and completed a couple. I lost no weight and in fact the heaviest I’ve ever been was the day before the Kielder 100 (I made it to the 60 mile mark). I was just exercising without looking at my diet and doing the old trick of “I’m killing myself exercising so can probably eat whatever I want”.

This year I’ve not got out on the bike much at all but I run probably on average twice a week… anywhere between 4 miles & 8 miles each time. We’ve really looked at our diet and I’ve dropped 2 stone since Jan. Really interested to see what happens when I get back on the bike in the next few weeks and to see how I do on a 5hr ride :)

Just typed all that and then saw Funkrodent had done pretty much the same. Oh well, that’s 2 of us :)

Duggan, firstly best of luck… secondly I gave this advice to someone recently and they got the job… might not work for you – don’t know your industry but here goes.

We are in a recession (pretty much). It’s tough out there and there is tremendous competition for jobs. All of your competition for the job will be preparing in the same way, thinking about the same questions – weaknesses etc. Forget that, it’s stock stuff. What about looking at what you can do for them? Could you bring them or help them get a new client? Is there a new service that you could help them develop that would grow the business? Is there a way that you think they might be able to save costs? The person who goes in with a bunch of new ideas – even if they’ve thought of them before will be remembered and will stand out. If you can get them taliking about ways you can help develop the business / push the business forward they will not be interested in the stock questions and you’ll shine.

Hope that helps…

175mm ones are 5mm longer

Thanks guys. I have one of the Xl 224s but unfortunately I cracked it and there are no more. I’ve done a full analysis of all the large / Xl dh bikes out there and there isn’t much in it although the vp free may be larger. Layback? Well I find I use the saddle to grip with my legs sometimes and I’d rather have my weight as far back as possible. One of the things about riding a smaller bike is that you’re on it rather than in it and I used to find myself going over the bars quite a lot. Not too bad nowadays (touch wood).

Trust me, if I could buy a bigger frame I would… They just don’t make em very big. Xl v10 is a few mm more reach, but not much, not £2k more. Will post some pics later

Cheers guys. Really excited for tomorrow now.

mk1fan/molgrips/DaveRambo/cvilla you all speak a lot of sense, and don’t let anyone tell you different :)

See you on the other side.

XL Orange 225. One of only a handful ever produced in this size.

Yeah, that’s the frustrating thing, however I don’t think he’s earnt much more than me since I’ve been here.

When I joined I thought “wow these guys must be good, they lead the way in what they do”. My opinion now is that they were good at delivering for the public sector but outside of that market they’re clueless.

Yeah, I think I’m with you Stoner. I watched a key person leave this company at Xmas – been here for 10 years and never rewarded with a directorship. They’ve replaced him with 2 people, neither of which can cover off his work and so everyone else has had to pick up the pace. Just had a chat with him and he said I should go as they’ll just use you for all they can.

I ran my own business for a decade in the 90’s. It did OK but I question if I want all the stress again. I get married on Friday and I’m not sure if I’ve got it in me at the moment to start from scratch. I’ve worked pretty much solidly for the last 6 months and it’s been hard. Barely been out on the bike or done anything that’s enjoyable and that gets me down.

Jeremy, the majority are my customers that came with me from previous employers. They moved with me before as I’m the one with the ideas. I hope they’d do it again.

It’s good for companies to be seen to change agencies as it makes it look like they’re keeping things fresh. The main obstacle for them is risk. If the key contact moves it’s a much smaller risk.

In all honesty, soon to be wife is bloody brilliant, she spends very little. Previous wife was a living nightmare. £700 handbags, £3k holidays, came from a well off family, it was a bloody nightmare trying to keep up. Always remember her hairdresser saying “I feel for your husband trying to keep you in the manor to which you have become accustomed”.

Technically speaking, no there is nothing wrong with the wheelset.

However… on the rear I’m currently running a really old (pre Pro II Hope hub) on an even older Mavic rim. This is the only 150mm spaced rear wheel I own so it ain’t gonna last forever and once the wedding is out of the way I’m gonna ride a lot of DH for the rest of the year (2 x Fort Bill trips already booked). Current wheel would be a good spare.

The front wheel is a Mavic 721 on a Hope Pro II which I’ve borrowed off another wheelset. The rear is 135mm spaced and gathering dust whilst the front is getting battered. Got this wheelset earmarked for my trail bike.

So, there is logic there!

It has just dawned on me that I’ve never ever saved any money. Ever. I’ve always borrowed and paid it back. Think this is why there’s some psychological barrier.

That’s not to say I’m not good at paying it back, I am. I’m 38 and only got 18 years left on the mortgage (was a 30 year mortgage when I took it out 5 years ago) although that is likely to increase when we move. I suppose that equity is the closest I’ve ever got. Only got one year to go on the car loan and that’s it, everything else is paid for.

In other news, someone has just emailed me with some second hand Deemax… I shall discuss it with the OH tonight. If I have some good work news tomorrow I think it will be OK to get them. If not, then I won’t.

Ah, right, I see Dave. Missus has been pushing for a joint account for a while, might give it a whirl.

Thanks for the tips y’all

Peter, no cash in the bank to cover foreseeable problems, however substantial credit limits from previous borrowing (used O/D and credit card to secure deposit for mortgage) that could be used if required.

Been trying to be debt free (other than mortgage + car) for a number of years and now I’m there I’m sat here thinking “is this it?”

Woody, I thought that was the safe middle ground. A 2nd hand pair would effectively be a “foot in both camps” :)

Thanks for the advice Dave. One question. Does that approach make you happy? I mean, (and I know this is a bit selfish) if I spend the money I’ll have some new wheels. If I don’t, well it will probably get spent on some new carpets. The wheels would make me happier.

Are you saving for something in particular?

Does anyone actually get a buzz out of saving money? I think my dad does.

cynic-al – that is the bloody question isn’t it. On one shoulder we have the devil saying Deemax, on the other a little angel saying savings.

2 years ago I would have bought the wheels by now. Then had a day of regretting it, then a few weeks of pride looking at the wheels. Supposed to be getting some money saved in preparation for a house move. I don’t think I can do a whole year of saving though, it will break me.

Yeah, that’ll be the one. It looks great, just not sure if they will take it to production!

In October I bought a Morewood Makulu frame… selling a complete Scandal 29er to go some way toward funding my DH habit. That was the last rash thing I did. Since then, I’ve bought very little. Why? Because I’ve started discussing it with the missus and everytime I discuss it we realise I don’t need whatever it is I want to buy.

It’s hard but I’ve rid myself of all debt and paid for a wedding :)

I’m 6′ 6″ and I have an Xl 575. Only bike that’s ever truly fit me properly. Never seen a large, all depends if you like bigger or smaller bikes

Fair play Jeremy, I won’t be doing this forever and I’m in a position whereby I can kind of choose the projects I work on.

I guess that’s part of the connundrum though… I can’t have my job and work a 40 hour week, it’s just not feasible.

You can love your job as much as you like but it will never love you back.

It might not love you back but it can give you an incredible buzz. In the last 2 weeks I’ve produced some massive events… I might have had a hand in this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9269542/Police-Federation-humiliates-Theresa-May-by-forcing-her-to-make-speech-in-front-of-criminal-banner.html

I wish I’d had more of a hand in this ;)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2146051/Kim-Kardashian-goes-ultra-glam-tight-demure-dress-drags-beau-Kanye-Awards-ceremony-London-skips-red-carpet.html

There was a march through central London attended by 35,000 coppers that I was also involved with.

Apart from the second one (I was ill) the others gave me a massive buzz.

Hora, I’m not helped by the fact I live in a flat. A lovely white and cream flat. Bike repairs take place in the spare room. I’m sure you can understand what a ballache this is. The only things I haven’t done in there are sticking a headset in and building a wheel :)

Excellent. I’m in Mossley, quite near to Chioago Powder Coating, so do I just ask them to blast it and not respray. Do I then need to polish it in some way?

It’s an Orange 225 that I’ve had re-welded and I’m thinking of building up again.

This thread has just had me in tears. It’s not all laziness @cookeaa.

I wake up at 6am on a Monday morning and I go to work. I get home around 8pm, we have some tea, wash the pots and then go to bed. Repeat through to Friday night. By which point I’m knackered and I have 3 options:

1. Spend a good chunk of Saturday servicing bike instead of cleaning flat, house work, food shopping, doing things the OH wants to do -attending weddings, going out for dinner that kind of thing.

2. Throw some money at it and get someone else to do it

3. Don’t ride on Sunday so I have time to fix it

I would say I do either of those on a 33% split roughly depending on what needs doing etc.

Derek, if you’re gonna add up all the little bits and compare against CRC mate then it does seem expensive, but when you compare it to the monthly mortgage payment it doesn’t seem too bad. Bike shop has to make money from somewhere.

Could someone explain the process for doing this? I’ve got a frame I might like to have a go at it with