Ordered 2 new rotors from them at 1pm yesterday and they were waiting on my desk for me this morning.

Yep, might be. Someone else is supposed to be showing me the Mendip trails this weekend, but if that falls through I’d be up for joining you.

My wedding gift from my wife

I did it as my BB is quite low & I kept getting stuck on logs (or at least the bike did – I generally went OTB). The only time I really used the 44t was on the road to & from a ride, so I’ve not missed it off road, although I did increase the middle ring to 34t. Replaced the outer with an E-thirteen bash.

If you don’t use the outer on decents, then go for it. Just remember to adjust the limit screw on your front mech.

I was really apprehensive about doing my speach in advance of the wedding as I’m not great at public speaking, but on the day it was fine.

Bear in mind that as the groom there’s no real pressure on you – you aren’t required to be funny (that’s the best man’s job) and no-one is willing you to fail. Thank the people you need to (bridesmaids, ushers, best man, parents & inlaws) & then say something endearing about your new wife. It’ll be over before you know it, much like the whole day!

Much to my horror, my wife reads the Mail online all the time; apparently only to look at the celebrity stuff. I see loads of girls at work doing the same at lunch time. It’s like a daily Heat magazine.

They’ve also got vacuous self-absorbed hacks like Liz Jones spouting drivel guaranteed to get liberal bloggers’ backs up that drive traffic to the site to read the offending articles.

Any links to maps of any sorts?

One of the best things about the RM delays with the last issue’s delivery is that 63 is going to arrive just as I’m finishing reading 62. Every cloud & all that.

It is brilliant. Some of the best TV I’ve seen for ages.

Quite a lot of nudity & violence. I made the mistake of watching it on the train, only to be prompted for tickets by the conductor at the first (of many) “full frontal” moments. Quite embarrassing.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=why+do+aussies+call+the+british+poms%3F

blue cheese is generally very tasty. Blue cream cheese; not so appealing.

Did it smell? Did you smell the cheese, you mother?

do those complaining about the reliability of the pro2 bearings have any opinion on the difference the introduction of SS bearings to the pro2 evo will make?

I find taking the tension out of the chain by holding the dérailleur slack with your foot helps. Move the chain so the links make a “Z” shape, with the powerlink vertical. Squeeze the links together with thumb & forefinger of one hand and with the other push up one side with your forefinger and down on the other with your thumb.

First time I tried it must’ve taken me half an hour (and much swearing). Gets easier with practice!

And mine’s just arrived.

Triple chainset & BB – not retail packaged, but bubble-wrapped in a plastic bag, so it looks like OEM stuff. Not that it bothers me for a £50 saving over Merlin’s prices.

Had an email earlier today to say mine’s been dispatched.

Prices started going up the day after this thread was posted

oh. my. god.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/which-cassettes-are-ok-to-use-with-hope-hubs

A weasel or stoat (not sure which) with a not-quite-dead rabbit. Didn’t realise how much noise rabbits make when they’re about to die.

Will keep an eye out. Any pics?

Contact http://www.stolenbristolbikes.com & get it added up.

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k413/a10120/slx-crankset-fc-m660-48t.html

Is there any reason I couldn’t replace the outer with the e-thirteen bash on my current chainset for a 26/36 front set up? For €80 I’d be mad not to…

That as well flatfish. This time next year though, it might not be such an issue!

Barcelona and Berlin are my favourites, although Berlin is so big that you’ll have to use public transport at some point if you want to see all of it. Barcelona is likely to be a bit warmer.

Merlin only offer the white flows which I think are out of stock and have been for some time. I emailled them before xmas and they said they were having issues with their supplier and couldn’t confirm when stock would arrive. Which is annoying, because they’ve got 10% off if you order 5 items (front & rear wheel & 3 shimano chain pins came to just under £300 IIRC).

18 Bikes sell custom hope/flow builds with free rim tape, sealant and valves, using the pro2 evo hubs (when they’ve got stock). And they’ll throw in 15mm or 20mm hub adaptors too, all for £330. 10% off for STW premier users.

It depends on the level of the CRB check and there are 3 different kinds.

Level 1 shows unspent convictions/cautions (although cautions are now spent as soon as issued).
Level 2 shows all convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings, spent or unspent.
The super-enhanced CRB check will have the same along with details of any contact you’ve had with the police, whether charged or not. This one is reserved for people applying for jobs with children & vunerable adults though.

the bowl of rice trick worked for a phone of mine that fell in the loo, but not one that went through the wash (it was on whilst in the wash, which was probably what killed it). Removing the battery is key, and I think that’s pretty difficult with ipods, isn’t it?

Pate, you only need the bit that starts “http” and ends “.jpg”. What you’ve done is copy the html code from flickr. Under the “share this” tab, you should check the “BBCode” box & just copy and paste the text, rather than using the “IMG” tags on here.

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/flickr.com

rondo – I’d be more likely to brown off the meat and do all the prep the previous evening so that I only have to place it in the cooker and turn it on in the morning. Nothing wrong with that?

I generally cook enough for a couple of nights and seem to remember some food hygiene rule that reheating food twice is bad. Might be wrong, but its no problem to brown the meat and sweat the veg in the morning. Just smells a bit odd for that time of day.

Brisket or a whole chicken or lamb shank cooked all day in stock with whatever veg you care to throw in is fantastic. And the stock makes a great gravy.

Casserole, chilli and spag bol are all great too. Its a little weird having the house smell of meat first thing in the morning when you brown it off, but definitely worth it.

bolle contours

I’ve had mine over a year (using them everyday) and haven’t scratched them. But then I’m quite careful with stuff.

You’ll have to pay stamp duty on trades greater than £1000

‘fraid that’s not the case for most stocks – if a stock is liable to stamp you have to pay it, regardless of the value of the trade.

The only time you’ll avoid stamp on trades <£1k is if they’re settled on a residual basis rather than via CREST. And most UK stocks go through CREST.

You basically decide ‘I want to make 50% profit on this investment and I can afford to lose 15% on this investment’.

A lot of online brokers offer a stop-loss service for just this purpose. Set your upper & lower limits & the position will close out automatically for you. I use it for spread betting, but not standard equities.

Every now & again I’d get e-mail offers asking whether I wanted to take advantage of a special chance to buy shares in ‘crackpot technologies’ before everyone else.
Generally if you then tracked that share it would start trading, perhaps rise briefly before plummeting without a trace.

Pump & dump. Classic scammer activity.

@ the OP – sounds like your friends are investing in AIM-listed stocks, and most likely natural resources-focused ones. There’s been a plethora of them doing quite well recently – Rockhopper, Xcite Energy, Desire (although it’s been up and down heavily), Victoria Oil & Gas and Beowulf to name a few. And on that evidence it’s easy to be drawn in to what seems like “easy” money, but these are incredibly volatile stocks and you need to be prepared to lose all your money if the speculation ramping up the prices doesn’t come true when the company issues an official statement. “Shares can fall as well as rise and you may get less back than you invested” is is every uk stockbroker’s T&Cs somewhere.

If your risk appetite is such that you’re happy at the possibility of losing everything invested for the propect of triple digit percentage gains, then go for it. The message boards of http://www.lse.co.uk can be a source of inspiration aswell as those on iii, although you have to work out which posters are ramping up the share price for their gain (see pump & dump above) and which are giving real insight.

Personally, the majority of my portfolio is made up of “safer” mutual funds, with the odd speculative £1k in dodgy AIM stocks when I see an opportunity.

Looks like this is the bottom of the drop off

Actually Panasonics are better than Sony in the Which tests. They come out with better technology whereas Sony are now more of a ‘follow’ company. My Panasonic (bought initially off a Which recommendation) has LED backlighting, USB hard drive connection, Freesat and Freeview HD and DLNA connection.

I think I must have a similar one as you and can’t recommend it highly enough. Connect up a USB HDD & it records TV (or allows you to pause live TV). Plays divx files and music from a USB drive (or laptop via DLNA). Picture quality is brilliant with the LED backlit contrast. Built-in freesat HD & freeview HD mean less wires, which keeps the wife happy.

xbox for gaming (controller is loads better than sony’s) and PS3 for internet TV (although this will be available via freeview HD next year), blu-ray, HDD recording (with playTV), & media storage and streaming. I’m considering getting a PS3 for its non-gaming “all-in-one-box” functions. The lack of multiple boxes & the associated wires will keep the wife happy.

The xbox may be cheaper initially, but you do have to pay for online gaming, you have to pay for the wireless dongle, pay for replacement cables if you want to run it through a surround sound system. All that is free with the PS3.

82mb has to be fibre optic. How much does it cost a month? Or are you at work?

O2 broadband ADSL2+ 15mb package, although I’m in a city and not too far from the exchange. If you’re in the sticks and can get it, cable is the best way to go.

I’m supposed to be travelling to Liverpool for xmas (I live in Bristol). In the wife’s (RWD) MX5. If the road conditions are remotely bad by xmas eve, I won’t be going anywhere!

I assume the aim is to stop people blatantly taking the p**s and having a new £1000 bike every year. In order to qualify for the tax benefits and not get hit with a large final settlement, you must now lease the bike for 3 or 4 years.