Ditto – looking for a set myself, in the utterly reliable format of 32h/32h.
Thats what i’d recommend going for, with standard butted SS spokes.

My rear Aksium also creaks although I am a lump. I love the simplicity of tweaking a ‘standard’ built wheel.

yeah, poor fella looks like he’s melting.

Im wondering how many links to BB I may have missed!

I think we are going to take on the BB catalogue again on the strength of BCS.

24mth 0% interest offers are fantastic – IF – you make regular payments and either finish paying by end of term – OR – transfer the remaining balance to a new 0% offer.

I’ve recently been offered as low as 1.9% fee for the latter. Its a really cheap way to spread the costs. Trouble is, I stick the £500 unexpected car bills on the CC and end up forcing myself to take the latter option.

If you can source a frame with 853 main tubes, you’ll love the extra weight saving and general sorted feel.

Just had to comment on what is turning into another classic series. In fact, its just brilliant TV.
The writing is so good, and I think i’m routing for Jimmy more than possibly any other character before.

The fact you are already aware of the fate that will eventually befall him takes nothing away from the build up of suspense.

The natural conclusion is for her to catch you in bed in an uncomprimsing position with GoldMember, a packet of revels and a curly-wurly.

And for you to say ”this is exactly what it looks like”

Good luck

A Marathon satisfies. Wait, that’snickers now init

Man I thought I Posted the craziest shit

Sorry to lower the tone, but What about gingers? Or those ginger curious?..

If you wear them the wrong way round then it sounds like Corbyn and Cameron are having an agreeable conversation

Girls can’t ride bikes silly

they’re exciting posters

I had BX2’s, excellent for the money but not without issue when compared to pricier speakers, slightly lacking in real depth and soundstage – at least compared to the Neat Mystique’s I replaced them with (for which im eventually planning on going larger still).

There’s a visitor centre down the road which contains a small local mining museum.
They also have a few posters to look at.

maltesers?

I havent dug down to see to what extent the drainage has been provided for but the lower tiers each have a couple of drainage holes within the first course of bricks.

I have no bitumen or other coating at the moment, just bare red brick work, or bare grey blockwork (mostly brick).

I had considered floating timber clad panelling as it would be the easiest solution, however long story short, the slopes of the garden and huge hill behind our house robs a lot of natural light from the rear of the house.
By opening up the lower tier and rendering white im hoping to bounce some more reflective light into the house.

another perspective?

10 year old relationship going a bit stale.. gold merchant rocks up and offers a finger of fudge..

Gift horse?

how much for the Dittons per chance?

Calculated risk. If he was wrong, it would’ve cost him £50. If he was right (and us lot usually are), he pays peanuts for a brilliant N+1.

That’s a better deal if it does come with the wheels mentioned above.

I’m holding out for Dune Calibre pricing for the incoming large version. Spent months going over the competition and VFM wise, the Calibre takes the crown. Frameset and upgradability wise.

Rose Tusker is well worth a look too, but I couldn’t get on with the extra wide seat stays as they clashed my manly calves

He may have stolen my company, but man alive that demo works frame is a thing of beauty

If I were to take the first tentative steps into frame building, then I would probably follow a similar approach.

The devil is in the detail.

Actually, I like that. ‘Devil Bikes – its in the detail’..

BAGSIE!

I really like my Escapade but I run Alfine. I’d love to have a custom steel frame made around similar geometry but incorporate tidier rear drop outs.

Back to OP quandry – it boils down to whether or not you think £1500 over the course of your life time / your bikes life time is an amount of money that you can bear to part with. Most sane people would likely suggest the potential marginal gains are not worth parting with one thousand five hundred pounds (keep saying it out loud) – One Thousand Five Hundred Pounds.
Cyclists are by and large not sane people.

Once you have the itch its extraordinarily difficult to lose it.

The bigger aperture is simply much easier to flop my bulk in and out of. I hear you re car parks and the longer doors – but I’ve been living with my 3 door Megane for last 5 years which I think has the longest doors ever produced, I’ve never not been able to get out of the car on the strength of them.
Also with a new car, I’m likely to be parking it at remote parking spaces wherever possible in order to help prevent other muppets parking too close.

3 door is a compromise I suppose, but the fact I’d have to pay more to make my car look uglier means it’s a compromise I’m happy to accept

I’ve gone 3 door – IMO it looks cleaner and I rarely need to use the back seats, plus I appreciate the much bigger door aperture.

I’d have loved to go for the DSG as it sounds excellent – but was already stretching my budget and its an expensive option, so manual for me.

Thanks for the input geolog – thats bang on where I wanted the economy to be – good to know.

Cheers. Yeah, I was initially put off by what I read about real world mpg. Honest John reckons on 47mpg , I think a genuine 50 should therefore be achievable with my commute. Plus a few extra horses on tap should I ever fancy the scenic route

Don’t forget the increased road tax for the gti, plus pricier tyres and insurance. When you add all the costs over the course of a year, or three years lease in my case, it’s not exactly pocket change.

I was all set for the R-Line but changed my mind at the 11th hour when the dealer said he’d had a GT as a company car and loved it with the added grunt. I honestly don’t think he was trying to up sell but either way – it worked! I prefer the rear bumper on the GT but prefer the front bumper on the R-Line. GT comes with cruise which is a bonus but loses parking sensors which I’m not too fussed about. Re seats, im not a fan of the blue TBH, I much prefer the R-Lines, but I went for the blue paint which at least ties the colours together. They are really comfy however, and the alcantara feels a bit special. Black head lining is a really nice touch too.

I did the deal based on walking in off the street and asking politely if they’d entertain matching drivethedeal pricing (screen shot on mobile phone). Seems to work with about 50% of dealers, although in this case I happened to recognise the guy as he’d already sent me an offer on another model via carwow.

I don’t get the car for at least another 10 weeks (!) but I’ll be sure to update you then if you’re still in the market!.
GTi would be lovely, but reality is a warm hatch suits me much better. Especially on the pocket.

Mind you, things have moved on since my 205 /R5GTT days, the GT will be quicker than all my old school hot hatches on paper, and will cost me about 1/10th to insure. The only genuine benefit I can think of about getting older.

Not sure about GTi, but the GT residual value was at least £1500 better than all the other marques I tested. Seems the VW badge and high spec goes in its favour

I prefer the classic mix.

But in reality, whilst on holiday somewhere scorching hot – there is no more satisfying thirst quencher* than an ice cold Cola. Preferably from a glass bottle.
Foreign Fanta perhaps running a close second. The British stuff is not the same formula.

Without Coca-Cola how would I dissolve all my unwanted teeth in a glass?

I love how its being refered to as fizzy pop and a fad. Im partial to a bit of carbonation from time to time. Tantilises the tongue.

* Ok, water maybe.

‘Maultway North’ just off A30. Pretty secure parking, nice warm up/down ride to and from.

Theres a side road right near the American Golf center on the A30 – I used to park there and ride in, nice singletrack for less than 10 mins and you hit Labyrinth straight away.
Winning.

Shweet. Bring back steel road bikes I say.

*Love* my Kapu

if hitting a rebar (reinforced steel?) , can/should I simply turn off hammer action and use rotary function to get through it?

although my Makita handheld has been a great reliable pal for years now

I also need to ‘chisel’ out a trench of floor screed in order for my plumber to lay central heating pipework under floor level.

Would a good SDS with chisel action be the tool for the job?

I notice the 5kg Titan is at Screwfix for 50 notes, tempted to grab one after work

So what’s the minimum rating I should go for on an SDS drill for general house projects. Bearing in mind if I re-invest I want it to go through anything I come across

maybe I need to invest in a mofo big SDS drill..

Yes, its an SDS albeit a cheapo one. I’ve used it to go into lintels in the past with not too much effort.
And yes im working the bit, it seems at about 30-40mm depth into these blocks im occasionaly hitting something hard – a pebble perhaps. The drill then stops making progress and I have to really press hard, at which point I can feel the bit give up after maybe 10secs.

lolling at honourablegeorge

I don’t understand why you lot aren’t acknowledging this miracle