I applied, my wife applied and my father in law applied. So far none of our accounts/credit cards have been debited. The sessions, I selected were weekday mornings (On the basis that more people would apply for evenings and weekends).

It sounds like the London 2012 organisers asked FIFA ticket to organise the ticket ballot 😉

Where is it reported, officially, that payment will be taken by the 31st May?

Not all but most payments should have been debited by the close of play yesterday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13592886

I’m a huge fan of Endura but in my opinion their baabaa’s don’t come close to Icebreaker. I have not used the cycling specfic range but I have used Icebreaker baselayers for about 7 years. Can’t recommend them highly enough.

Icebreaker do a small range of cycling specific items.

http://www.icebreaker.com/site/catalog/combined.html?type=gt_man

I did the 80km route and glad i got to ride that lovely first bit of singletrack twice, it was fab!!

TVT should have also have offered a 60km route (2 loops of the 30km route). I guess a lot of riders (who didn’t feel up to 80km) would have grabbed the chance to ride through Collingbourne Woods again.

The flowing singletrack through Collingbourne Woods was excellent. It just seemed to go on and on and on……

The weather was hit and miss. One minute lovely sunshine and a total downpour the next. It started raining whilst I was in Collingbourne and by the time I started to ride through Coldridge Wood my rear Maxxis Aspen started to struggle (I really should have looked at the weather forecast before I left home).

It was lovely and sunny riding up to Combe Hill/Walbury Hill but by the time I got to the top it felt like torrential rain with the strong wind. It was so bad I had to ride past the 2nd water stop.

Anyway fininhed the 50km in about 3 hours 15 minutes and the burger at the end was lovely!

I do a lot of riding around the Cliddesden area, so it will be interesting to see what route TVT decide for October.

I don’t know if they still own them but Manchester Audi used to have both AUD 1 and AUD 11. The dealer is owned by Jardine Motors who also own Abridge Loughton and Harlow (Volkswagen dealers). I can’t remember which VW site it was, but they owned the registration number VW 1.

Barons BMW/Mini (Farnborough and Hindhind) own BUY 1 and BUY 2

I placed two separate orders with Wiggle last Sunday. Both parcels turned up on Tuesday morning.

“If you know about bikes you know the below is high spec even for a bike as high quality as an Orange.” – As anybody who knows about bikes wouldn’t pay £3K, I’m guessing that he is hoping a naive person will buy the bike.

“Manitou 4 way coil (£250)” – Although he paid £56 on ebay
“MRP Mini Me chain device – £90” – Again from ebay and he paid £50
“full red jagwire outer on the gear cable – £30” – ebay again and £11.99

Webuyanycar.com gave misleading valuations, OFT says

WBAC is an interesting business model. They spotted a gap in the market that offers convenience. They take the car off you very quickly and you don’t have the hassle of selling it privately but you pay for the service. Unfortunately it is the elderly and vulnerable, who are the ones that are most likely to use the service.

Looking at the guide prices (CAP and Glasses) the car is worth £6500-£6800 for a private sale. However your neighbour has room to negotiate and could probably still get £6000 as a minimum privately.

I also find it strange that they charge the seller an administration fee for buying their car! WTF? A bit like me buying something off ebay and charging the seller a fee! I can hear WBAC’s tills ringing.

FWIW – WBAC will offer something like £4700 for the car. If she is happy to accept this, you might as well buy it off her and then sell it to your local Skoda dealer for £5500-£6000.

In late 1999 after riding a rigid Carreva Vulcan for a year, I bought my 1st proper mountain bike, an Orange Evo2. From memory the bike was a 19″ (or 20″) and after a couple of months, I realised that it was just too big for me (I’m 5’8″). I bought the bike from Maclaines in Basingstoke and I still can’t believe that they didn’t advise me that it was too big! After spending £900 on it, I didn’t really have a choice and I rode it for 5 years (This was before I had discovered ebay). I loved the spec and colour but the bike was so uncomfortable to ride and my back and shoulders really suffered.

One day I may buy a smaller EVO2, just to see how they were supposed to ride!

my 16″ golden delicious piglet frame will be arriving today

pics later

Once you have it built, it would be good to have some ride feedback?

Pretty sure it is a 2000 model. In 1999 the FSR XC decals had 3 stripes running through them (See below)

tankbeut –
Heres an update if anyone want to know.

Police have said its uneconomical to try and arrest this guy due to the man hours and paperwork needed to set him up and make an arrest. personally i thought a crime was a crime, but hey.

FFS – I would complain to the Superintendent or even the Chief Constable if necessary. As others have said, if you have proof, there is no reason why they shouldn’t follow it up. This isn’t some wild accusation.

If all else fails, tell them that the suspect is likely to be doing 38 in a 30. If which case they will probably be there in a flash. Well, we all know that they love the easy revenue raising targets. Obviously solving a crime just doesn’t generate any revenue.

Although I suspect if you go round to the scrotes at the end of the auction and use threating/menacing behaviour, you will probably get arrested! Even though that won’t generate revenue.

The service/satisfaction levels very from one Halfords to another.

My local store is 1 mile away, so I tend to go there for small/convenient purchases. However on so many occassions they don’t have what I want in stock, so they are not convenient after all! In the last six months, I have popped in for bearings, a star fangled nut, cone spanners, grease, lube, brake pads, a bottom bracket. On each occassion they didn’t have what I wanted in stock. They seem to run a very small stock quota. Yesterday was the rare times that I popped in and they had what I wanted in stock (Puncture repair patches).

In February a friend of mine, decided to purchase a Boardman FS bike. He is just a recreational rider, so not that knowledgable about bikes and he asked me to go along with him. They let him test ride around on it in the car park. The service was okay but he had to reserve the bike online to get the discount. He did this from his phone whilst in store. He arranged to go back the next day to pick the bike up and they told him that they would set it up while he waited. I told him that as he wasn’t getting a stock pump with the bike that the Reba’s and shock would need to be set to his weight by the shop. He turned up the next day and the bike was ready! When he questioned them about the fork and shock settings, he was told that they were all done. At no point did they ever ask him what his weight was! FWIW – He only weighs 9 stone and they were both set for a heavier rider. Anyway they handed over the bike and he parted with his cash. At no point did they explain about any of the parts on the bike or the operation of those parts. All they tried to do was sell him a service package. When he got it home, he also realised that the stem and forks weren’t aligned.

He was happy with the service he received whilst looking at the bike but he wasn’t happy with the service he received at the hand over. It was a bit like “We’ve got your cash, so there’s your bike”

Caesers Camp has lots of variety. Lots of fire roads, hilly in places, with some hidden sections of singletrack. Just explore the place.

From Caesers Camp, you can also cross over Bourley Road (I think this area is the Rushmoor Arena). It is a flatter area with lots of sandy fireroads but an area worth exploring.

From Fleet, Swinley is probably only a 20 minute drive.

Join the Tunnel Hill Trolls forum. Plenty of people who will ride the area you live in. http://tunnelhilltrolls.get-forum.net/login

On the 16th April, UK Cycling Events have an organised MTB ride in the New Forest

http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/new-forest-spring-mtb-cyclocross-ride/

Depending on where you live in Hampshire, you may not be far away from certain areas.

1) Swinley Forest – A large, busy riding area near Bracknell, Berkshire.
2) Caesers Camp – in between Aldershot and Fleet
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/47816930
http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/trails-around-the-world/europe-trails/trails-europe-united-kingdom/trail/PRD_167216_4539crx.aspx
3) The Hampshire trail maps (posted in a previous comment) are good but make sure you take an OS map, as their maps are hand drawn. I tend to ride the ones in the Basingstoke/Alton area (Basingstoke, Oxdrove, Cheesefoot Head, Abbotstone Down, Ellisfield, Candovers) http://www3.hants.gov.uk/cycling/cycling-maps-leaflets.htm
4) Queen Elizabeth Country Park – Near Waterlooville/Petersfield
5) New Forest – Various byways and bridleways to explore
6) Surrey Hills – May be a little too far, but a large riding area near Dorking.
7) Black Wood – Inbetween Winchester, Andover and Basingstoke. Fairly small wood with a 12 mile singletrack loop (with some fireroads). Although it is under used, so over time the leaves can cover the trail. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/see-micheldever-and-black-wood.pdf/$FILE/see-micheldever-and-black-wood.pdf
8 ) Tunnel Hill and Porridge Pot Hill – Inbetween Mytchett and Deepcut – Google Tunnel Hill Trolls for more info.

Whenever my wife is looking for new staff, she always asks for a hand written cover letter. Not to check the applicants hand writing but to check if they can follow simple instructions. Even with the hand written cover letter request, around 70% of the CV’s she receives have typed letters! Needless to say those applicants are not invited for an interview.

As far as she is concerned, it is a quick way of eliminating unsuitable applicants, who can’t follow simple instructions.

Basically if the bike shop get you on 0% they make more money as they dont have to discount the bike. I’ve never known a LBS offer 0% and give you a discount at the same time.
By signing up to 0% I wouldnt be surprised if the bike shop get a small commission off the finance company. The finance company hope that you fail to make all your payments on time so that they can sting you a masssive penalty charge or interest rate at the end of the agreement.

As LimboJimbo has already mentioned the LBS pay the finance company a subsidy.

Although a 0% package is just that to the buyer, the LBS is the one paying the interest. So rather than a straight discount, the LBS offer 0%. It seems to have more value than a discount, which is why LBS’s offer it.

For example: You buy a £2000 bike on 0% over 12 months. The finance company are a lending business and want a return on their loan. In this example they want 10% interest back. So over 12 months the interest charge should be £200. When the finance company pay the LBS, they pay them the amount less the expected interest charge (The subsidy). The LBS receives £1800 from the finance company. Over the next year the finance company get £2000 back from the buyer. So they make £200.

Edited bit: The same applies if you buy a used car or a DFS sofa on 0%. The retailer still pays the finance company a subsidy.

In most new car cases this is similar but the vehicle manufacturer (ie Ford) rather than the retailer, will pay the manufacturer finance company (ie Ford Credit) the finance subsidy.

Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch!

My daughter was 4 last November and we bought her the Hotrock for Christmas 2009 (When she was 3). She didn’t seem to get it and last September I bought her a cheap (and heavy) balance bike. This seemed to do the trick and 4 weeks ago I got the Hotrock out of hibernation (without the stabilisers) and she was riding it within minutes. The advice I would give to anyone is, get a balance bike first! The only negative about her riding is that the Hotrock looks too small for her now! Lets hope I can get it to last until November/December.

I always state in my item descriptions that “Payment must be made via Paypal, within 24 hours of the end of the auction. If payment is not received within this time the item will be relisted and negative feedback will be left”.

Since I’ve done this, I’ve never has a payment problem. Although I’ve probably just jinxed myself! 😉

I decided to ride at Black Wood this morning and the 12 mile trail loop is now clearly visible thanks to the motorbikes that were there last weekend. The trail is easy to follow, as you just have to follow the motorbike tracks and it is mostly singletrack with a couple of fireroad sections. The ground is a bit draggy in places, as the soil is loose from the where the motorbikes have turned it over but overall the trail is nice to ride.

If vehicles come up behind me, I will either pull over (if safe to do so) or ride up to the next passing bay. TBH I just don’t want the vehicles behind me, as the drivers can be unpredictable (Well I feel they are unpredictable).

The biggest issue I have, is when a vehicle is coming towards me and the next passing bay is say 20 metres away. Most vehicles will pull into the passing place and wait until I am there, but occasionally the vehicles don’t wait and are then heading straight towards me. It’s a battle I won’t win, so I have to pull over and rest against hedgerow etc. Although in these instances, I will leave it until the last possible moment before pulling over, whilst gesticulating with my hands! You know the signal. The international shakey hand symbol. 😉

Not bike related but a couple of years ago, I was driving the car down a country lane and I could see a tractor coming towards me. I pulling over in the passing bay and the idiot in the car behind thought I was letting him through and sailed past. Seconds later he realised, why I had pulled over and decided to reverse back but rather than reversing past me, he decided that he wanted me to reverse, so he could fit in the passing bay in front of me. I stayed put and eventually he realised that he would have to reverse past me. Once the tractor had gone past, I was very tempted (I didn’t) to drive at 10 mph for the next couple of miles!

Sale of Goods Act:
*Wherever goods are bought they must “conform to contract”. This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality.

*If goods do not “conform to contract” at the time of sale, purchasers can request their money back “within a reasonable time”. (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances)

So send the goods back to CRC, asking for a refund and any postage costs that you will incur. Send a letter similar to the one below and attach a copy of your screen print. You never know CRC may do something as a gesture of goodwill!

Dear CRC

On (date) I ordered a (item), which I received on (date). I have discovered that the (item) is not as described: See the attached screen print.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 makes it an implied term of the contract that goods be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. As you are in breach of contract I am rejecting the (item) and request that you refund the sum paid to you of (£).

I also require you to confirm whether you will arrange for the (item) to be collected or will reimburse me for the cost of returning it.

I look forward to hearing from you in the next seven days.

Yours sincerely

If you are on a “contract” there is no charge to unlock the iphone. If you are a “pay as you go” customer, there is an unlocking charge (£15 I think).

My O2 iphone contract is up on the 5th April, so I phoned them last week and asked them to unlock my iphone. I wanted this done before the contract ended, just in case they then decided to charge me! The process was straight forward. I had to provide them with the IMEI number (Although they must have a record of this?). 48 hours later I received a text with further instructions. I had to insert a non O2 sim card and then sync the iphone with itunes. Once I had finished the sync the iphone was unlocked. I tested the vodafone sim card and all was working fine.

A poster on the BikeRadar forum claims he has had an email from Brant confirming this.

The topic heading is “Ragley mmmm Bop or On-One 456?”

Mmmbop was discontinued 🙁 Didn’t sell well til they put the big discounts on. Blue Pig is still around though.

There is a new mmmbop coming out. It’ll cost £249 and the rear brake caliper will be on the seatstay, not the chainstay. The new colours are still tbc.

Where have you seen this confimred please? I thought the Troof was the ‘replacement’

I emailed the designer and owner of Ragley, Brant Richards. The Troof is definitely not the replacement for the mmmbop. It’s slacker, heavier, and optimised for 150-170mm forks, instead of 130-150mm forks.

Until I see official confirmation or an announcement, rather than forum speculation, I’ll take it that the mmmbop is no more!

After all if there was to be a replacement, surely it would be mentioned somewhere on their website?

Latest planning application
http://planningapplications.winchester.gov.uk/PlanningWeb/Results.aspx?ID=10/03109/FUL&tab=0

For the 1st time this year, I was out in Black Wood this morning. I noticed the 60 chalet planning notice as I went in. Fingers crossed it gets refused.

The southern section of the trail was okay and it was easy to find and follow. Most of the other sections are still covered in leaves and I would often loose the trail. The leaves just seem to sap your energy so quickly.

Once the enduro motorbikes have been through there later this month, that will make the trails easier to find again. We just need to get more people to ride there more often (myself included), so that the trails stay visable!

Black Wood is 5 miles from my front door, so I should make more effort to go there, rather than always going to Swinley or Caesers Camp!

It was a bit of a mudfest. Mind it had rained overnight and there was continuous rain or drizzle most of the morning. There is lots of new sand from the recent maintenence, especially Tank Traps, Seagull Run and Watson’s Wander and these runs were busy. The 1st part of the Whole Nine yards was very muddy.

cinnamon_girl
Pack spare brake pads just in case.

Plus 1

I fitted new Superstar pads (front and rear) only 250 miles ago (5 weeks). I went to Swinley this morning and unfortunately by the time I got back to the car they were toast. Swinley finished them off in no time.

By 2011, I think he means “Stolen in 2011”

wwaswas
you only really have to look at how the people who are holding it up are dressed…

LOL – I hadn’t noticed that.

Quote from the listing “the onnly problem with the bike is it has a slight buckle in the back wheel!”

In other words “In the process of stealing the bike, I damaged the rear wheel against a kerb at high speed.”

Everybody has a built in “rulebook” and everybody’s “rulebook” is different. Personally if I spend more than £500 on one item, I always ask what discount they will give me for buying there and then. The truth is I am going to buy the said product, so it doesn’t matter if I get a discount or not. I have gotten discounts on furniture, technology, bikes, holidays etc. However I don’t always get a discount but that doesn’t stop me asking. If you don’t ask you don’t get. I never ask for a discount unless I am going to buy there and then! What really amazes me though, is when I ask for a discount, I either get one or I don’t but no retailer ever offers me an alternative……….

As somebody as already mentioned retailers need to think like business people. When somebody spends a £1000 on a bike, rather than give them £100 discount, offer them a £100’s worth of accessories. The customer still feels like they are getting a deal (and saving a £100) but there are 2 benefits to the retailer
a) The retailer is giving away accessories worth £100 that only cost them say £70. So the retailer is making £30 more profit than they would have done had they just given 10% discount.
b) The retailer is supplying more accessories, which means they are buying more accessories from the distributor and therefore at some stage they may be able to negotiate a bigger discount from the said supplier/distributor. Imagine if you gave a helmet away with each bike purchase. How many would you shift in a year?

The other question that retailers need to ask themselves is “Why is the customer here, if as they claim, they can get a better deal online or at another lbs?” If the deal down the road was so good, why is the customer standing infront of you? Qualify the customers, their needs and what they want to achieve. Don’t be afraid to ask the customer questions. Does the customer need the product now? Does the other retailer have the part in stock?

Asking the right questions, will also allow you to give the customer good feedback and good customer service.

This thread has cheered me up a little bit (In a twisted sort of way). I’ve now been unemployed for 15 months. Getting 1 or 2 interviews (and 2nd or 3rd interviews) a months but no offers. On Monday this week I had a 2nd interview and found out today that it was a close run decision and I was their 2nd choice (As if that is any consellation! – Lets hope the 1st choice turns down the role 😉 )
Anyway, it’s nice to know that there are others in the same boat, as sometimes it feels like it is just me, who can’t get a job.

CRC have realised. Now £899

If I want to pay the policy monthly, the £385:50 goes up to paying a total of £523:70 – a £138:20 charge for paying monthly, or put another way, 36% extra

I now have them down as being loan sharks as well now! Who can work out the APR on that? deposit of £54:80 and 10 payments (over 1 year, with a ‘payment holiday’ month) of £46:89

On the basis that you are paying £54.80 upfront, the amount you are “borrowing” is £330.70. You would pay back £468.90 (10 payments of £46.89) which would give you an APR of 123%

As Ho Hum mentioned if HR are involved in the interview, there will probably be 5 or 6 competency based questions.

The best way to answer competency based questions is by using the “STAR” technique. By sticking to this method of answer you will be able to keep your response to the point and structure your answer effectively.

You will have to prepare, so look at the job description and have a guess at what sort of questions ie Give me an example when you used cost based analysis? or Give me an example where you have successfully negotiated?

Your answer should incorporate the following elements:

S – Situation – I was tasked to lead a project, when my previous employer decided to set up a new department.
T – Task – Describe what the particular task was – My responsibility was to ensure that the project was completed on time and on budget.
A – Action – Describe what you did – I negotiated with various stakeholders and I worked on sourcing alternative suppliers.
R – Result – Describe what the result was – The project was completed on time and came in a little under budget.

Add as much detail as is needed within each section. A couple of hours preparing and thinking about the questions they are likely to ask, really will help you. There is nothing worse than having to recall a situation to a question, when you haven’t prepared. Don’t use the same example for each question.

For more information on competency based questions, search in google.

Good Luck.

From the day I was born my parents, family & friends always called me by my second name, so I decided to drop the unused first name.

I changed my name online with The Legal Deed Poll service. It was very straight forward and I ordered extra copies of the “Legal Copy”. That way I didn’t have to send the original document to all the companies in the post. It also meant that if companies didnt send the copies of the legal copy back it didn’t really matter. There were one or two issues where companies didn’t change all of their databases, for example some letters/statements etc might be to addressed to the correct name but the salutation was still in my previous name. These small issues were normally sorted out on the phone. The only problem I had was with O2. When I login to my account it is still in my previous name. They insist that they have updated all of their databases, even after I have sent them screen dumps to prove that they haven’t.

These issues are small in comparison to the issues I had before I changed my name. As I had always been called by middle name, I sometimes wouldn’t hear calls for me by my first name (ie at the Doctors, Dentist etc). I always had issues with work email addresses, as IT departments would issue an address with my first name and I would then spend weeks or months trying to get them changed to my known name! I once turned up at the airport to discover my friend had booked the ticket in my known name, rather than my first name. Of course the only way the airline would change the ticket to match my passport was by paying a surcharge. In the end changing my name was the only option!