Ah, I thought you would remove the handle and then bolt it on the end of the installed axle

I’d considered that, was thinking there wasn’t much surface area on the axle with the handle removed either, but actually the right washer would fix that wouldn’t it.

@tthew it is one of those, yes. I was wondering if, with flat washers against the curved handle (rather than the flat dropout) there would be sufficient surface contact area to make a strong connection?

Cheers. Good shout on Risca, being fairly local.

FoD I should check in with as well. It seems a bit sensitive in places.

Well that settles that then! Nice one folks

Cheers all. Not overthinking it, could just be bad luck as you say, but if it happens to others it may be something everyone should think about when setting up a bike. If the shifter is set up badly then your thumb could be sat in that gap 100% of the time you have your hand positioned to use the brake levers, as it turns out mine was I think. This differs to my spokes and frame triangle in that I don’t generally ride along with a leg stuck through them.

I am interested and messaged Stuart, but no reply! Fair play if you got them already :)

Nice one! thank you.

Ah great, that settles that then. Yes the sale price is what triggered this post.

After my initial rant I’m surprised nobody suggested steel toecap wellies! cheers all.

Thanks all. I think you’ve convinced me to dismantle the other wheel and reuse my existing DT350, rather than become the owner of 2 posh hubs, one of which will probably just sit in the shed unused. Result :-)

What spacing, what freehub and holes/spokes, does it need be new?

142×12 6-bolt 32h shimano 10/11spd. If not new then very good condition? (I don’t think it’s worth building a wheel up on something that’s going to break)

Thank you but we don’t need annual (apart from my austrian alpine club this year)

how are your feet sitting on flats – you’ll have marks on the soles

looking at the soles, 20-30 degrees out, even with my 8 degree tilt :D

Thanks all for the comments. Yes, I am known to NHS podiatry and have been known to surprise them with how weird my feet are! I have also, at their good direction, been stretching my glutes and everything else for ~12 years now.

For those suggesting less rotation for one reason or another, I wonder if my mtb setup would clarify things: flat pedals, tilted orthotics in the shoes (I forget the exact tilt maybe 8 degrees), 20mm pedal extenders, and that just about gets me to the point where my heels don’t rub the cranks when climbing. I’m willing to consider I should have less rotation with a clipped pedal if any of you stand by that assessment knowing those numbers.

@mert when you mention shims I take it you mean the ones that tilt the cleat, I haven’t seen any that rotate it?

It would take more than filing unfortunately, the lip seems to only have one side to it so you’d need to widen the entire tube below that point :-(

In the end I didn’t have a large enough blind puller so I resorted to a dremel. Wee bit of damage to the plastic shell in the process so we’ll see how long it lasts.

Feeling a bit silly though because having done the cutting I realized that during my initial bashing with a drift, I’d shifted the bearings enough that – once I’d removed the inner dust seal from the stuck outer race – I could have got a screwdriver behind them from the same side all along. Doh! Live and learn. :D

PF30 I think – it’s a spesh?

If I knock the shells out does that mean new BB? what’s the sensible choice?

Cheers guys, I should have added, are there any vans I’m not considering that I should be?

For others trying to replace the seal I found an o-ring size 16mm internal diameter to be right. I ordered 1mm cross section though it’s a bit on the thin side – for the next person to try this, 1.5mm or maybe even more may be preferable. You can get 5 o-rings on ebay for under £2.

Sorry trail of destruction I need bigger :-)

What’s budget? That’s my question in general really. My own budget is anything up to 1k cycle scheme limit but ideally a lot lot less if it’s not going to be rubbish.

Trailer is for child rather than luggage, and as child gets heavier I suspect low gears will be wanted which most gravel bikes seem to lack? Also gravel seems to mean flat bars?

Definitely want rack and mud guards for commute but for the right bike they could be added after.

Ha, I RTFM. It’s blue threadlocker. thanks!

with osmo – just the woodstain or also their base coat underneath? (blimey like you say – not cheap though!)

and is a second coat of something needed to protect from UV?

Do we think water based treatment is as good as oil these days then? the chaps who built the shed were pretty adamant it should be oil/solvent treated but maybe they’re just being old school?

Found it! there was indeed a screw. So rounded off I thought it was just a hole – but it turned :)

Mrs sideshow’s top tube slopes down at 30 degrees to the horizontal, does that match your hybrid?

Dolittle (at only 2.7x the price!) appears to have more seat tilt adjustment so experience here isn’t quite relevant to the oxford one.

Hmm well cheers all, you got me thinking I should add more stuff (that currently needs doing) to the job to get better value.

by god martymac what tyres do you put on your car? I reckon you could layer up a 155/80R16 from racing ralphs for that price o_O

@thorpie which year of reba?

tbh I’d rather buy one I don’t have to fettle (the plastic is snapped on the old one anyway)

Ok I reread the policy. Turns out whoever I spoke to on the phone was a bit clueless, because I have to be away for 45 days for the home to be ‘unoccupied’. ;)

Still the following exclusions apply under buildings (not liability)

Loss or damage caused:
*By oil escaping from pipes in garages and outbuildings
*By oil escaping from external pipes that are above ground or pipes that have not been properly lagged

So as the house has an installation with an external pipe above ground I’d better hope no leak from that damages our own house…

(If you think any of this is unlikely: my uncle once had local crims with a grudge against him break into the house and cut his oil pipe indoors. Place wasn’t habitable for a year and god knows what cleanup cost.)

I’m going to call bollocks on this one

Wordings change every few months but mine says:

EXCEPTIONS
11) Oil escaping from:
*Any fixed central heating oil tank
*Any domestic heating appliance
While your home is unfurnished or unoccupied.

(this is under contents, where the 3rd party liability cover lives)

I rang them up to confirm whether holiday counts as unoccupied in this context and they confirmed I’m not covered for oil leaks while on holiday.

It’s not a new tank btw. If you were installing a new system nowadays you would use a bunded one in a different location, but building regs don’t act retrospectively.

^^^ exactly! Hence recommending we all check with our insurers if they’ll cover this without daft exclusions like being on holiday…

…and if somebody finds their insurer does cover this stuff please post up here so I can switch :)

What is a “location that doesn’t need bunding’?

I think regs only require bunding if within a certain distance of watercourse, or located where the guy on the truck can’t see the tank when he turns the tap on.

Bunded – no, it’s an old one that came with the house. The engineer reckons it’s in good nick and not in a location that requires bunding, though would replace with bunded if we were getting a new one.

Anyway leaks can occur from pipes as well as the tank.

You lot thinking 10% is achievable are overly optimistic IMO, especially as the stated sum is nearly 30x the ISA limit so you’ve got tax to deduct…

FTSE total returns have averaged 7% pa since I started putting savings away in a tracker in 2003

I think they’ll decrease further as well: the days of the 12% long term average ended in the 1980s. Check out OECD growth forecasts and consider how we’re running up against planetary resource limits (hint: under the circumstances, slowed economic growth is a good thing!).

Although in general I agree with the tracker and low management fees philosophy, I have put money into RIT Capital Partners as well, as arguably a family business might incentivise long term rather than short termist management (which of course is where most managed funds fall down. Not my theory btw, my actuary friends’ idea). RIT has averaged 2% above the FTSE since I bought in 2012, and I believe right now they’re hedging against Brexit risk with a big chunk of emerging markets.

^^^ I have one a lot like that and remove it while driving because it flaps like hell. It’s more for protection from rain when parked, and sort of security: someone needs to visibly interfere with it just to scope out whether the bikes are worth nicking so possibly its a minor deterrent, though possibly not much of one (I lack the criminal mind to judge)

But that’s on a T4. I see similar covers on the back of giant fiamma vans and they don’t flap, they get sucked up against the rear. So it depends on your aerodynamics.

The lighter dhr2 is 50g lighter than the butcher grid we all think is flimsy… Could be suitable weight for ht though. Does it roll faster and clear better than hr2 then?

Well aware the sidewalls are thinner (and the tyres 100g lighter) than the old butcher grid. As it happens the latter is what I ordered, and the new version is what arrived, so not suitable for intended purpose of putting on the gnarpoon :( for which I’ll be getting a dhr2 instead :)

The shop has offered to sort it out though I’m wondering whether to keep them as winter rear for the hardtail. While the sidewall is disappointing compared to the old butcher I can’t imagine it’s much different to the high roller exo which weighs the same? hence the questions about rolling resistance and mud; do I faff around sending them back and order a high roller for the hardtail, or keep em?