Well after over two weeks negotiating I have put it in the hands of the solicitors now, company has been reasonable on a number of things but on the legal technicalities it now needs a professional to iron them out.

I feel its a bit like walking a tightrope to try and get the best deal for yourself whilst avoiding going down the legal/ court route. Whilst of course not getting paid!!!

Revs, great forks.

Core 50 definitely!

I have had one from new and if you can get it for that price I would snap it up. You will not be dissappointed with it.

Well I was in the same quandry a few months ago and actually bought the Core 50 in the spring through the bike to work scheme.

I have to say its an absolutely cracking bike, I think its about 26lbs so it is a light hardtail for the money.

Is a great alrounder and a good spec for the money. Where it absolutely excels is on swoopy flowy type trails wether trail centre or man made. It changes direction very quickly and I can only decribe it as “zingy” if that makes sense.

I find the geometry just right for an all rounder, not too slack that its flapping around on climbs, but not too steep to make it nervous on the descents.

If you want a light weight allrounder that climbs and descends well you will not be disappointed. The forks are very good for my heavy weight physique and I find them precise on the descents.

The one thing I did not like were the OE mountain kings, they roll very well but have terrible grip so they were changed early one, and I find the saddle a bit uncomfortable so that was recently swapped for a WTB one.

Great bike, buy it!!

As said above not that good in mud with any depth to it, i would think if you prefer their rolling resistance characteristics vs minions, HR’s etc then you could leave the rear one on and as said above go for the grippier advantage/ HR/ minion up front.

I was out in the lakes yesterday with ardents front and rear, it was a briliant sunny day but the trails were very wet. The Ardents were perfectly fine, that said there was not much mud but plenty wet rock.

A respiratory specialist nurse friend of hours sees a lot of chronic users of cannabis as patients.

She is no doubt that it has a very damaging effect on lungs, it may be agrued that it could be the Tobacco causing the damage, but she is very insistent that within her department that it is recognised that it is the cannabis doing the damage.

I was wondering what ride to do this week to get back to fitness, you’ve motivated me to get back up to Ae, cheers :)

Well I never, just got confirmation they are writing it off!! A small silver lining in a big dark cloud of severance :)

I have rev u-turns on mine and find when they are on the longest travel that the front end is a bit “flappy” on the climbs so I would say either 120 to 130 forks or U-turns imo.

Well I always wear a helmet and so do my kids, I have seen it personally save my skull a couple of times and seen it help my sons head from being cracked. It makes a lot of sense to me for sure.

That said I didnt start wearing a helmet until late twenties.

About 15 yrs ago I also was first at the scene where a car pulled out and a cyclist ploughed into the side of it. But it was dark, rider had no lights and was full of drink. The blood running out of his head and down the street was not the best end to a friday night that he, or I, had had and I am sure that a helmet would have at least stopped the deep cuts and reduced the impact damage to his head. He was knocked right out, the car wind screen shattered and an impressive V dented in the roof.

He lived and recovered after a while in hospital, that does not prove that a helmet is not worth wearing.

From what I have personally seen and witnessed if you have one wear it, if you dont wear one it is up to you but it does leave your noggin more exposed when something does happen.

We had to get my neighbours one turned of last winter when he had a burst pipe. I could not get it to budge with the key that I had but it was quite old and had a lot of flex. Another neighbour turned up with a beefy newer key and when we put some muscle behind it we were able to shut it off.

Perhaps your issue could be with the tool you are using and giving it plenty to shut it off?? (no double entedre intended).

Wot Surf Mat said.

Nice one, well done. Glad to hear you have joined the maxxis rank and file :wink:

Aye its a b***er right enough, I only took the scheme on because I saw it as a neat way to get a good deal on a bike and it looks like I wil be paying full price anyway :|

Hmmm, its not a mutual parting of the ways shall we say and it has already been mentioned, HR person said verbally she would write it off but when I am pressing them for a written conformation of their verbal intent they have been remarkably quiet. Suspect they are planning to deduct it from final settlement.

That said I am seeing legal folks on Tuesday and that will certainly be included in any settlement now that I know the official stand on it.

Cheers

S

Hope the hand holds up John….

I didnt know there was such a thing as Fe3O4??

anybody?

Are there any advisory bodies, training courses etc on finance, grants, business planning etc. that folks know about?

As the OP thanks for all the comments and discussion above it makes for interesting reading.

Having been on both sides of the fence with compromise agreements I see the advantages and disadvantages of them for both parties.

If done fairly and “generously” by the company the employee can get a decent pay off to walk out of what can be a difficult and non-enjoyable working environment. Then get a break whilst looking for their next job. The company then gets a clean efficient break from that employee. Both parties then move on.

Done badly they can be a poor excuse for getting someone out the door with minimum fuss and expense to the company. If said company plays the strong hand they can often get away with much less payment than they ought to.

It depends a lot on the seniority of the position, the company, and the business they operate within.

Anyway I hope I am entering into the former, I will let you know how it goes in broad terms since confidentiallity is a big part of said agreeements as said above.

I will wait and see what this assesor says and take it from there, I reckon it can be repaired/ patched up up for 400 – 500 quid. As said above the car is worth more to us from a functionality persepctive than market value.

What Drian said + shine on you crazy diamond

Bambi is mashed Im afraid, killed instantly I would say from the damage and the blood sprayed across the road into the verge, some animals have dragged it away/ eaten it already 8O

Never had a claim before, wrong side of 40, and protected no claims bonus so about as low a risk as there is in that respect.

I honestly dont have the time for major repairs (a Zafira) at the moment otherwise i would patch it up. We also do a fair mileage in the car so it does need fixed properly, or at least robustly.

Its a pain in the butt so it is. :|

Lets all kick the fatties, why not eh!

As for a drain on the NHS lets extend that arguement to being a smoker, drinker, motorcyclists, sports injuries, old folk, etc.

basset fauve[/url]

We just got an 8 month old Basset Fauve de Bretagne.

We have two kids with reasonable sized garden.

He has an excellent nature in the house, very friendly, and playful with the kids. After a short time with him he is responding to training well.

He is a hound so you do need to be aware when walking him that he reacts to a lot of smells and can get distracted easily. He is also modest in size.

How "Northern" is "Northern"?

I'm quite heavy (about 15st),

I dream of the day i could be as light as 15st :wink:

Im in the 18st+ category and I find i can ride with 40 – 45psi ok with occasional pinch flats. Line choice is improtant but more important IMO is tyre choice and trying to relax and absorb the bumps. Maxxis HR's, Ardent, Advantage, minions rarely pinch flat with me, but recently I got a new bike and the OE mountain kings pinched flat nearly every ride and occasionally twice a ride.

I recently did a skills course and Clive was a keen advocate of keeping the your heels relatively low so that your legs and ankles can absorb the vibration and knocks.

Interesting to hear that the clamps or fixings for roof rails can fail, I had never heard of or thought that that could happen? I might pack an extra strap to secure the roof mounted bike to the roof rail for good measure.

As said above I am certain you cannot take the difference.

But I am sure there are some options with some lenders to include purchase price plus improvements into the mortgage.

Alternatively get a bank loan to make the improvements.

Good luck John, lend you a fast aluminium hardtail if you like? :wink:

As a different suggestion how about a Schnauzer?

http://www.schnauzerclub.co.uk/

As said above a working dog like a spaniel/ collie, although great dogs, is going to be a tie to you unless you can really give them lots of excersize.

Genesis Altitude, Dialled Bikes Alpine.

For that money he should consider the Genesis Core 50, Its not steel but I just got one and think its an absolutely ace as an all rounder, and I have a Prince Albert 853.

How about a DB Alpine?

We had a set of project e-mails going back and forward copying everyone and their brother trying to sort out price, timelines, contracts etc. It got ridiculous and very time wasting, so one hour long teleconference with all the aprties sortd out all the issues.

E-mails a great tool but can be time wasting and damaging used in the wrong way.

I am going to use it much less going forward.

Do people actually go through a thought process during crashing about how to land and when to unclip?

If so I'm impressed, normally I am off before I know it and have somehow managed to unclip during the process. Thats usually post the brief "oh f*** this is going to hurt" moment.:)

thanks folks just did what hot fiat said. Hopefully it will be off for the night as a test run.

I wouldnt assume the 11% as being representive.

Market surveys are only as good as how they are conducted, to get a true reflection of the cross profile then you need a strict protocol wrt questions asked and who you ask.

Och awa in bile yer heid wee a' they do goodie good survays.

Aw they blidy doacturs ken F all onywy.

Whars ma can o' speshul 'n wallaces peh :wink:

Make it collection only!

its me thats buying

You do realise how unikely it is that Scotland will qualify for a tournament in the next five years right ?

Oh I dont know – curling, bowling, Monty in the golf?? :D