Yes!!

I can’t belive they didn’t quadruple check with you the length you wanted. Especially as they were cutting two pairs!

I would have measured them before leaving the shop too (assuming I would have let a LBS undertake this risky job).

Good luck getting it sorted.

Ukrainian vodka rocks!

smiffkin – Member

Oh my God, Mrs Malta ate all the pies

😆 😆

Yeah, but she can sing, or is just that she was in juxtaposition to that Moldovan row.

OMG, I am being drawn into this shockingly rubbish competition! – I must be getting old!

Arguably anyone who is liable to lock the front wheel up shouldn’t have even gotten through their CBT!

Agreed!

Moldova is even worse!!

by all means seek out and enjoy the music you like – but moaning about talentless “pop” musicians just makes you sound rather old and tedious

Age is irrelevant, I have been seeking out alternatives to “pop” music since I was in my early teens! It is all about free thinking, being inquisitive and taking the trouble over something you care about.

I’d say most people listen to what they are fed, are accepting of it and are too lazy because music doesn’t really float their boat.

You go with the hype my friend!

I will continue to seek out great artists.

Russia’s effort is shockinkly bad!

There is some documentation on the SRAM website.

Why do you want to dismantle your forks before they require maintenance??

There are many folk out there that can put on a performance when they are being tested. Happens all the time in car tests too.

….and then there are people who natuarally get it right 99% of the time who have an affinity with their machines and the terrain they cover. Testing isn’t foolproof and it takes years to become trully good at roadcraft. Some numpties will never be good at this regardless of how much experience they gain.

Both M-C and a friend of ours were taught on DAS courses, by different instructors with different firms, NOT TO USE THEIR FRONT BRAKES. To me this is borderline criminally negligent, and was a lazy way of making sure they didnt lock up the front and drop the bike.

NOT on my course they didn’t!

I did a DAS a year ago, but had ridden a 250cc on L plates back in the 70’s for 2 years. Before that I had an FS1E. 😳

I did a one day CBT course on a silly little 125cc (you have to do Compulsory Basic Training). That was so easy, but some struggled. Only THE most inept would find this difficult.

You then do a computer based test at a DVLA centre. This test comprises of multi-choice questions and then a hazard perception. For an experienced motorist and a few days swatting up on the latest version of the Highway Code, it’s a doddle.

Armed with a current driving license, CBT pass certificate and your computer based assement pass certificate, only then you can take a DAS.

It’s one more day on the numpty 125cc then you move up to a 500cc. It’s two days of road craft being shadowed by an instructor principally on known test routes. You will ride with no more than one other candidate – that’s the law. On the the last day you take the test.

If you have ridden a bike before you could take a shorter course, but it helps to get as much tuition as possible whatever your experience (time to unlearn bad habits).

Luckily I passed first time with only a few minor errors (most people get a few and this is allowed). I would not say the test was easy and there is quite a lot to take in. The examiners are stringent and one serious error and you’ll fail. My mate had 3 goes at it and I would not describe him as being a bad rider at all! A serious error includes putting a foot down on a slow manouvre turn or using a mirror in favour of a lifesaver check over your shoulder, an indicator not cancelled after a manouvre.

It took me two days to get back in the swing of it, but even then it still required a lot of concentration. I see many bikers not doing things they should do to stay safe, stuff that would be an instant fail if they were on a test. You can get away with being slack in your attention when driving a car, but do this on a bike and soon you will either be hurt or dead.

The whole experience set me back £700. Worth every penny!

Your main aim is not to save time or money, but to come away a safe rider who will live a lot longer!

It would seen that nobody other than cyclists take bicycle theft that seriously.

I think you need a bombproof, axe weilding numptyproof storage solution!

If they are due back in three months, why not rig something up to lock ’em in until the law arrive?

BTW I was down Swindon way last weekend. Did the Ridgeway and some other places. Awesome!

I agree wholeheartedly! I used to use Pandora.com and came across a lot of obsure, but brilliant artists! This resulted in me buying a lot of music I liked because Pandora ran a smart application that would profile types of music by its musical content. So you got to hear a lot of stuff that you liked, not what they wanted to you to hear. If you didn’t like a particular track, you could vote it out and then it would never get played again. You could have up to twenty profiles, or genres and Pandora learned over time what you were most liky to enjoy. When playing a particular track, there were links to the remainder of the contributing album as well as links to buy the music from Amazon, or iTunes. I aquired many CD’s for silly money – this service was awesome!

The record industry then bullied Pandora over licensing issues, forcing them to withdraw their service from all countries but the US. The irony was that Pandora encouraged me to buy much more media – thus helping record these producers! The record industries loss then.

There was no illegal file sharing, the industry just didn’t like loosing their grip on what got sold. Arrogant bbxxxxxs!

The music industry have their own agenda to stock retailers shelves with what they want us to buy, to promote a particular artist etc. Open internet networks that promote the little guy and the fledgling superstars of tomorrow totally mess up the industry’s business model and potentially decimate their margins.

So we will continue to get fed a pile of cxxp. Some artists definitely deserve the recognition they get, but i’m sure there are many many more excellent people who are passed up in favour of a few priviledged, attractive looking kids who are pretty talentless!

Let us hope that the internet is the saviour of real music. If you know of any music democratising web sites similar to Pandora. please let me know. I haven’t bought any music for ages!

Yep, battery life is an issue with all mobile devices. The 5800 battery is impressive, but when it runs low, you can always switch in a backup battery. I know that Viewranger will pick up where it left off, but Sports Tracker would need to be restarted.

Viewranger can be bought with your own selection of mapping starting from a fairly insignificant £20. You download their map chooser app. onto your PC an highlight on the grid the sections of mapping you want. There is meter that tells you when you are getting close to a price threshold. You can select 1:25k or the cheaper lower res. 1:50k.

£1.50 tiny compact bell mounted facing downwards next to the shifter bracket, rung at 50 yards behind walker. They know instantly what is aproaching when they hear this. Invariably they stand to one side. You slow right down and thank them. No sudden panics from them thinking they are going to get hit by crazy out of control cyclist when they hear squaeling brakes. No abusive comments from them, or subsequent spreading of negative gossip about selfish wreckless yobs on bikes!

We cyclists need to make it patently clear that we are respectful of all other interest groups. So set an example every time so you don’t give the narrow minded few the ammunition to shoot us down!

Only 4 years to go! Don’t cash it in.

A bit like Murray Walker and F1, he’s an institution. But I only watched Eurovison last year for the first time since the 1970’s.

Right, PUB!

Who thought at my age that I would be riding any kind of bike, let alone offroad on challenging terrain. Our parents generation did next to buxxer all exercise and became old before their time. These days, forty somethings are like slightly wrinkly twenty year olds. The Mid life crisis is for when we get to middle age.

if you turn off the assisted gps setting it uses much less battery as it doesnt keep trying to go online and just uses the built in gps. it takes longer for an initial location but lasts way longer

I don’t use assisted GPS on my Nokia 5800 either. Maybe that is why I can go out for several hours and not end up with a flat battery.

Useful these forums sometimes!

I investigated the possibility of becoming an HIPS inspector. I have a friend who uses someone already qualified and he put me on to her. She told me she gets £80 and at the time was getting on average 3 surveys a week. The most she had ever done in a week was 10 and this was just once. She has over 20 years experience with the local property businesses and has many contacts. She told me that she knew of many other inspectors who had quit good jobs on the false promises of the training companies and nonsense newspaper articles saying that an inspector could expect to earn at least £50k. She told me that competition for work meant that guys were doing surveys for as little as £50!

The training company literature I received stated that the going rate was around £130 and the course would cost £3k and take 3 months. Speaking with someone who had been through this experience, the reality was that it would have cost nearer to £5k.

My view is that HIPS are purely a waste of money, foisted on us by politicians who were supposed to be making it easier and quicker to buy and sell a property. The opposite effect is true and since the law came into force, vendors have even been put off marketing their properties.

What should have happened is estate agents should have been forced into making energy rating assesments when they survey the properties they are going to market. They could then charge for this service after the sale has been agreed.

Local searches are pointless until the time a sale is agreed as things constantly change. As purchaser I would not take one bit of notice of information supplied by people not instructed by myself.

I wouldn’t pay more than £100 for a HIP.

BigButSlimmerBloke – Member

ok, so, just for a laugh, i’ve checked the prices for a Glasgow prestwick – Belfast return flight.
Out – £3.00
back – £0.00

Extra charges
£1.00 on the return flight – total price £4.00, with no extras, ie web check in and no text messages.

What exactly do you expect for £4.00, topless steardesses serving chilled pina coladas?

stillt – I don’t think they will stop carrying bikes, as long as they can charge you for it, they’ll do it.

NO taxes then??

Oh and I hate the blue plastic seats on Ryanair planes!

My mate said today that Ryanair was successful because they are so cheap. But I have flown BA several times recently because they were the cheapest carrier. BA don’t sting you for bike or ski carriage and have a fair policy on other baggage, checking in etc. They may have been caned for bad service in the past and still aren’t perfect, but at least they aren’t run by such an overtly arrogant person like Ryanair’s cheif executive! If something goes wrong with your flight, BA make some semblance of an effort to rectify the situatuion. Ryanair seem to prefer sticking two fingers up at customers. On BBC watchdog, O’Leary reckoned his firm were entirely reasonable in the bad treatment of their customers – and, ladies and gents, there lies the problem!!!

cynic-al – Member

How should I describe it then? in full and sumptious sexy detail! 😆 😆

Map my tracks[/url]

May work with iPhone. I know it works with a Blackberry.

cynic-al – Member

old news! – very poorly described!

If you like a particular bike and it is suited to your intended use and is within budget, then it’s cool. If you are worried about what other people think, you are missing the point of owning a mountain bike!

geetee1972 – Member

I thought there was a VERY rigorous process for declaring some body as dead i.e. not ever going to come back to life rather than having a very slim chance of coming back to life; I think the term is ‘brain stem death’. I’m sure you have to get a couple of doctors to agree (is it at least three so there is less chance of collusion?) on the results of all the tests they do.

In a busy hospital and with doctors who are exhausted, can you always be sure they will make the right decision?(even if there are three doctors on the case). Have you ever had to work for more than 24 hours and still make important decisions? I have and I can tell you it is very difficult. Several days of this in a row leads to misjudgemnt and mistakes. In my experience, being extremely tired is far worse than being blind drunk!

I don’t trust the way hospitals are run these days – administrators do not undertsand the pressures because they have never been “at the coal face”. Staffing shortages are acute!

My father died in hospital. A doctor came up to see us after he passed away and assured us catagorically that he hadn’t suffered because he was completely out of it. Well the doctor last saw him 6 hours before he died. Being there for all this time, I can catagorically state that he did suffer and was very distressed. The quality of service was shameful for the 4 days he was in there and there were serious shortages of nurses. I witnessed patients begging for a nurse to tend them. People laying in their own mess for hours. Only two of the nurses seemed to give a damn and there were a catalogue of failings that I shan’t bore you with. It was a frightening experience. I only wish we had taken my father home to die!

There have been plenty of other cases reported in the media regarding geriatric care and I can confirm that these issues are very real!

In my own experience and listening to the opinions of a number of people in the medical profession including my father and sister, I would be pretty doubtful that doctors would always make the right decisions.

samuri – Member

seems daft not to really. Once you’ve stiffed it, it’s just a bag of meat, why would you care what happens to it? Rip the useful bits out of me and chuck the rest in a cat food factory, I couldn’t care less.

Samuri makes it seem like an easy choice, but he is not considering the feelings of the people he leaves behind who love him! I think the subject needs a family discussion so all are prepared if this most vile day ever comes!

I have witnesses the body of a dear loved one lying on a mortuary trolley after a nasty accident. For a moment, whilst staring in shock, I considered whether or not she had donated any of her organs (I had no idea whether she carried a donor card, we never discussed it, but she was in the medical profession).

The nature of the accident meant that she was due an autopsy soon after we saw her for the last time. The thought of anyone chopping her about or using saws and stuff on her was a deeply sickening prospect. I didn’t want anyone to even touch her! Any chance of rational thought was out the window at the time.

I understand there are desperate people who need all sorts of organs, and fortunately, not being next of kin, it was not me who had to make any decisions with regard to this matter.

If you are dead, I think it is the right thing to donate your organs.

What really bothers me is if you are on life support and the doctors are keen to switch you off off and harvest your organs because they think the odds of you surviving are very very slim, or worse. You hear of cases where people wake up after very long periods of being in a coma or in a CVS etc. I think in this situation, it’s a really tough one to call. I would want to be given my best chance if a reasonable recovery was remotely possible. The question is; How do you know what the outcome will be if you terminate someone’s life?

There is a great deal of pressure on hospitals to keep beds clear and save money. If you have an organ donor card, in this worst case scenario, the pressure to switch off is increased.

In regard of this, I certainly do not agree with opt out organ donation!

I always used to go biking in the Alps for 4-5 days for around £350 (for 9 years). This was until last year where the cost escalated to £550. This was because I let my mate book some scabby, yet expensive hotel in Chamonix. I can’t blame him entirely though: a breakfast in the hotel was 11 Euros and was pretty lean. Elsewhere coffee and croissant cost 6-7 Euros, whereas before we had been to a place doing a full monty for 5-6 Euros. Add the weak pound and ripoff beer prices, we decided we would take a year off from Europe!! Oh and basic pizza like a Marguerita had rocketted from around 8-9 Euros to 12-13. No thanks!!

The best accomodation is a self-catering apartment IMO. Try Piere et Vacances. September will be cheaper than July which is when we normally go. We tried September in the early days but switched to July because we thought the weather would be warmer.

Honey or icing sugar is good for infected wounds I believe. Can’t do much harm!

In my case it was 100% effective. No more sore throats with a raging temperature. Even after the experience I would still go through with it again. I’d just make sure I picked a surgeon who wasn’t hamfisted!

Sorry, this is going to put you off, but you should have them out.

I had mine out a few years ago. I’m sure the surgeon screwed up because i had severe pain in just one tiny part of my throat for 14 days. The rest seemed to clear up within a week and wasn’t too bad. Couldn’t eat or drink anything except very diluted Ribena. Seriously, I could not manage water on it’s own without intense pain. It was impossible and have never experienced anything like it before or since. I Couldn’t sleep, lost a lot of weight and went through a lot of diamorphine (taken orally and which did nothing much except make me feel drowsy). Afterwards I found that I lost my sense of taste to an extent. The diamorphine and the lack of food intake left me badly constipated and when I started eating again it was extremely uncomfortable until the doc showed up and…..

I also had my sinuses drilled out and a polyp removed. The pain of the tonsilectomy completely obliterated any sense of pain and discomfort caused by this proceedure, so there was an upside.

Pain and discomfort rating was a definite 10 out of 10

I can now handle a Chicken Tikka Phal whereas before a Madras was right on my threshold of tolerance. My mates think I am crazy coz the hot sauce I have now is like paint stripper. It’s called Spontaneous Combustion and is made with chitpotle and habanero peppers. MMMMMM

You sound like you need to escape to the country!

Try a steam clean first. If this fails, get a Dremmel and spend hours raking it all out.

When you regrout, or get the old grout clean, finish with a mould inhibitor.

I’m sorry that you have been dealt this blow! I understand the feelings of job insecurity having been in an industry that always seemed to be shrinking. I was laid off once in the late 80’s when the parent company I worked for went into chapter 11, even though our country unit was booming. The experience has left me with an enduring feeling that no job will ever be totally secure!

Hard as it may seem, try and be yourself and carry on doing you job as best as before.

Get your CV up to date though!

Is the market for people with your skills flat, or are there opportunities out there? Can you start your own consultancy? It all comes down to whether you have a network of people who can put work your way. Explore other avenues open to you. Consider all you have to offer, not just the skills of your current role.

Network with people and search, apply for jobs online. Don’t expect the latter to yield a great deal however. Focus on your network! If you have a lot of technical skills/certification, make sure these are clearly listed in your CV.

The good news is that you have had some warning of impending doom and there is a possibility that you might retain your job anyway (but don’t bank on this). There is nothing worse than the “clear your desk” experience! Whilst your employer is seeming to play fair by informing you now, the result of this will be to make everyone uptight. Keep your feelings to yourself and don’t confide in anyone.

Good luck mate!

Walking in the Lakes!

Nice bike! Good job!

From a design point of view, i’d loose the all the red bits! The headset and chainstay protectors make it look untidy too. When money comes available swap these bits, but fit a black adhesive chainstay protector and also an airshock to get the weight down. Some nice components on there and the yellow is a big improvement over the pink!

If you like your ride, why buy a new bike? It’s the beginning of a new era of “mend and make do” and what you have done is really cool. We have been throwing good stuff away due to a crazy over consumption habit we have formed over the past couple of decades. The problem is one of compatibility – manufacturers have a hait of making it quite difficult to switch bits around.

I’m about to start my 3rd rebuild. It’s great fun searching out bits and getting a bike together. The worst job is stripping a frame ready for refinishing, but for me, the day I wheel the finished article out is more satisfying than when I got a new bike.