That is possibly the most overpriced second hand bike I have ever seen.

Chapaking you can write it all off as an expense as long as you are prepared to offer the same opportunity to any of your employees who might be interested.

You can buy company bikes under the terms of the scheme as long as they are used 50% for commuting. You can buy bikes to any value. The scheme cannot discriminate between employees, everyone must be entitled to the same deal. You are under no obligation to make any wage deductions in respect of the bike.

If you want people to take you seriously you can't go wearing heavy clothes. A full body wax and a thin layer of spraypaint is just as effective.

So, Shimano cranks don't have an inherent design flaw, and it hasn't been discovered on this very website?

😆

Cumbria's own The Witch And The Robot

Thanks for clearing that up Dave, bummer about the 29er not coming in black any more. At least I can quit waiting/faffing anyway.

Ken I think its five working days although by the sound of it they may end up impounded by the fashion police, what are you putting them onto?!

Say it ain't so Duggie, say it ain't so!

I know its daft but I really wanted a black'un. Could this be some kind of ruse to shift the remaining stock? Why would they suddenly go mad with the colour choices on the steel frames and then stop offering choices in the Scandal?

Dunno, I have been waiting for a black scandal. They got a load of forks in but no frames.

They were making a real effort last summer, there was something going on with accommodation & lift pass/activity deals for families. It might be worth looking into before you book anything as things like the pool can be pricey over a fortnight.

There is another thread about this from the summer, you might want to dig it up.

Accountancy – You can theoretically do it all home study. Your current company may well encourage you to do so. Unfortunately a lot of job specs these days specify a minimum degree. This is when you can get trapped in a firm, earning a lot less than you are worth.

There may be some snobbery with regard to the actual University you have been to, but grades are the most important thing. If you get into Uni and roll out the other side with a solid 2.1 or 1st, employers will not care what you did at A Level. Some courses offer more exemptions than others when it comes to professional qualifications so bear that in mind when picking a uni. It might not seem important, but when you have an extra 3 exams to sit whilst working full time you will kick yourself for it. You will need to work in a "proper" accountancy job for 3 or 4 years minimum before the wages really start to kick up.

I fitted a LOT of messing around into my qualification – 3 years at uni playing a lot of sport and travelling in the breaks, a year home studying to finish all the professional exams, then 3 years working winters as an accountant in a ski resort and travelling in the summers. Whilst you are unlikely to be a professional sportsman it is still possible to train nearly as much as one.

Engineering – Interesting job. A lot of mates at uni did it. Hard work at times getting qualified and you can end up becoming specialized and having to move around for work.

With both you can branch out on your own once you have a bit of experience.

Slight hijack, dab what sort of bike/running insoles would you recommend?

6'3", 18" 456 is great craic but my back starts hurting after 2 or 3 hours.

Nicks you are on the right track going with a boot fitter. There will be very little difference in the performance of a set of 08/09 boots with this season's stuff, so try and get some of last season's stock and spend the difference on the insoles. The other thing to consider is that if you go to a boot fitter in London you will have to pay for any adjustments when you are out in the Alps, wheras a local shop will make any small changes you might need once you have used them.

I can actully feel my knees straightening out after a couple of days in the Superfeet ski boots. I really need to get some for my other shoes!

Any kind of calculations based on retail price tend to lead to heartache.

Anything carbon is hard to sell second hand.

Anything slightly out of the ordinary is hard to sell second hand.

Its a beautiful bike but I think you would be much better splitting it. I know its more hassle but there are a lot of very nice parts there that have plenty of value second hand and the frame is probably dragging them down a bit, cos its not everyone's cup of tea.

I got some ridiculous offers on an XL Meta 5. Once I split it I got more money for the parts than I was being offered for the full bike. The frame was harder to shift but in the end I got a few quid for it.

I've the SLX. I've clipped enough rocks to leave the pedals pretty mangled but the cranks are still spot-on. They have a stiffer axle/spindle/whatever than the SLX triples. You can buy a nice Gamut bashguard and stick it on there for a total of £120 quid or so, which is pretty good value.

Seatbelt buzzer
Keys in Ignition buzzer
Stupid buttons that lock doors/boot independent of one-another, what is wrong with lock and unlock?

To be fair, you have done well to put together such a random build, on a bike that was available in a better spec off the shelf, for £1000, less than a year ago. I like the green QR though.

I'd say at least £550. To be honest you would be best splitting it and working out what you want for the individual parts.

Thanks lads!

I am not a big fan of layback seatposts. I want a fast, light, comfortable mile muncher. Sounds like the 21" would probably do the trick.

Hardtails, probably a 29er but it'll be an off-the-peg Scandal or something for a grand.

For a full sus you could try and find a cheap Specialized in XL, I'm 6'3" and I ride a Large, the XL is clearly for freaks.

I suppose its up to them what they do, but it really puts me off using them.

They opened up their ski section the other day and there are absolutely no decent launch offers.

Women drivers…

We have the Angelcare one, recommended by a friend and recommended on again to another friend, out of the 3 I don't think anyone has had false alarms. It has a read-out where you can see when they are moving and it mutes completely unless they are making noise, so you aren't sitting listening to static all evening.

The way I see it you are buying peace of mind for your wife, and (especially with twins) the chance to get some well-deserved kip. My wife is a worrier in any case and we had some minor complications with ours which made it that bit worse. No matter how logical you are about it, she will sleep better with the monitors.

Foxyrider its all very well to say thats life but if its something that most of the users on the forum disagree with then it shouldn't be happening.

If people want to post below ads thats fair enough, its a quick solution and it doesn't involve any extra work for the moderators. It also gives people like Clarky there a chance to respond.

If everybody is being open and honest then it shouldn't be a problem. If they're hiding something and they get called on it they deserve what they get.

Turning stuff over in Classifieds is pretty lame in my opinion. Same for snapping up something that you are never going to use and bunging it on eBay.

This place should be different from eBay. There are no fees, the board is here for people to engage in discussion, share their knowledge, and improve everybody's enjoyment of riding their bike.

Given the advice that I have picked up/given here I would like to be able to sell stuff in the classifieds knowing that it is going to somebody who contributes to the forum, will use the item, and appreciate a bargain. Occasionally I would like to see something that I want or need, at a bargain price, that hasn't been snapped up by some loser so they can make money off it.

Make your money elsewhere.

Bungalistic I know what you mean but it'd be useful if they made a bit more of a critique out of the trail bike reviews as well. Its more useful to find out about some of the characteristics of the bike and the main differences with its rivals. Given who they are aiming the magazine at you would expect all Dirt's reviews to be based on what's the most fun to ride rather than the more pragmatic reviews you get elsewhere.

Every trail bike Dirt reviews is the greatest thing since sliced bread. They take a top of the range trail bike, shorten the stem, run 50% sag, and never fail to enjoy themselves.

The Meta debate is getting a bit tired, some break, some don't, Commencal and Madison are doing their best with the warranty to protect their deserved reputation for designing great bikes. And they have moved factories for 2010.

Finbar you have to remember that most people care very little about whether you are "actually training" or not, all they see is a person who takes themselves too seriously.

Or how about a catapult firing balls of human excrement?

This thread has gone beyond all acceptable levels of normality, I am away to the gym.

Hora there are more than enough bell-ends on both sides to keep this discussion going round in circles forever. I was out walking with my family and dog last weekend on a busy stretch of canal with groups of people walking in either direction. There was a guy going along the cycle lane, ringing his bell at every group he came to and insisting that they vacate the cycle lane to allow him past. He could have just weaved in and out of the groups of people and smiled at them, or he could have used the little singletrack trail off the main path, but he was determined that he was going to get every last pedestrian out of that cycle lane. Some people just have a very small-minded approach to outdoor recreation.

Keith, whilst I applaud your ingenuity, explicit examples of how to make the most of the scheme are best kept away from public forums.

The fact is, the legislation as it is written is very open-ended. Its possible to spend a significant amount of money on a wide range of bicycles, parts and accessories, and stay within the terms of the scheme.

Circumventing explicit regulations is understandable, but being seen to do so undermines the scheme as a whole.

First off, if the shop have been invoiced for something that hasn't even been delivered, they are mugs.

Secondly, you can put just about anything through the Cycle to Work scheme as long as you have an understanding employer. If you read the criteria for what is eligible, it can be applied to pretty much any piece of kit you like. Most of the restrictions, like the £1000 limit, are imposed by the scheme providers or money lending restrictions.

Email sent

Thats HotLines wwaswas.

Fair play to whoever turned their bright idea into a big pile of Canadian dollars.

Funny, I saw an ambulance parked in a cycle lane this morning while they tried to load an old lady. The sign that was sticking out of her ass kept catching in the doors. Anyway, they'll be going nowhere because I slashed the tyres.

Stun guns are maybe a bridge too far. Plus you need to get up close to use one. I don't know how you are going to get a dog in a headlock, and I don't know why you'd want to give one the was already attached to you by its teeth an electric shock?

If you mean a taser, are you going to just whip it out and take a potshot whilst riding along, or are you going to dismount, adopt your firing pose and give a clear warning? Something along the lines of "Excuse me madam, you might be enjoying a relaxing walk but your dog has just wandered into the patch of my bicycle and as such must prepare to face the consequences" would probably do it.

In the spirit of the forum, you should probably cobble together a home made gun design with enough juice to bring down a rhino. Mount one to your helmet and one to your bars, preferably with some kind of DIY device bodged from old bike bits and zip ties. Patrol your local woods immolating small animals and taking pictures of the results.

I'd be interested in a group buy

There have been a lot of threads along these lines, my list is down to the three Gaz mentioned plus the Ibis Mojo. There are fans for them all but the Turner seems to get very little criticism, wheras most of the others seem to be subject to some sort of griping.

I demoed a 575 at Dalby and thought it was a very nice bike.