34 and just bought my first (proper) hardtail – new soul! Loving it so far, just seems to make local riding more fun!

I’m with mackem, I wouldn’t define that as rich, but comfortable enough.

Ps I don’t know where you live, but 60k wouldn’t get you a 6 bed detached and a pcp on a 5 series around here!

Edit no, but 110k would! Doh!

i had wondered about buying a hack bike from halfords or something just for the seat, but its just sheer space for storing bikes!

Thanks for the replies guys, userremoved, did the instructions say it was bad because of the balance or in case of damage to the bike?

I had a half hours ride with this setup yesterday with my son in and the balance is… Different, but not insurmountable.

Weight wise, I’m 14 stone, so I think 90 kg? My son is 15kg I think, the seat maybe 3,so total around 110-115 kg.

How does the weeride fit then? Is that a better option? Is it easy to take on and off?

Right, had a play and I can’t see how the clamp could fit to the seattube as the front mech bits are all in the way!

So, here’s my setup, perhaps Cy might comment if he’s about? Obviously not going to do any bonkers stuff on this, just gives me an excuse to take my son out and have a ride too! Only downside I can see so far is my fat thighs rub a little on the clamp so might have to pedal a bit like john Wayne! Oh and yes, seat is pretty high, I’ve moved it right in close to the frame to reduce the force the seat will put through the seat post.

However.. Reply from cotic themselves

The shop staff were correct, it’s not good to use those kind of clamps on the seat tube as it’s only 0.6mm thick in the middle. The top 110mm of seatube is sleaved down to accept a 31.6mm seatpost, but lower down the seattube the seat post won’t touch the sides so it won’t offer any kind of reinforcement. Clamping it to the seatpost itself might not be a problem, but the seat will be quite high and potentially make the

Right, been out for a first ride with the seat clamped to the seat post. I ran the post well inside the frame, well beyond the welds and no problems. Seat is pretty high so balance is a bit of an issue though.

Comments above make me think I might be ok to run it on the seat tube though. It comes with rubber liners so won’t mark the paintwork. I don’t think any adjustments will be needed to the clamp, looks like it’ll be fine.

Just need to bite the bullet and….

We got a hand me down tommee tippee one, no video but it did come with the sensor mat. Found it pretty useful as it can be difficult to hear crying when downstairs or with the TV on.

The sensor mat was useful as an aid to relaxing – I didn’t feel the need to check on our son as regularly as e had a little flashing light that went on and off with his breathing. Did lead to some leaping out of bed though once he managed to roll out of range!

From memory, or at least for the states I visited (and yes we looked at the gun shops and asked) you can’t simply walk in and get any gun without any checks, that’s utter drivel.

If I remember correctly you need several forms of ID, the gun shop is required to do a criminal records check, and there’s something like a 2 week cooling off period, so that if you’re planning on buying a gun in anger to top someone, you have time to calm down before you get it.

Yep, took the accidental damage option and cover outside the house, covers my watch and wedding ring too as they’re both under the named item value limit.

I will join in when mine arrives on Monday!

that’ll depend on the publisher. I buy quite a lot of Black Library stuff (yes, geek) and they won’t allow amazon to sell their e books, but you can buy the actual physical books.

Gutted about it as amazon is far far far cheaper for e books than their official site – i can’t see how you can justify the same price (or sometimes significantly more!) for both a paper copy and an e book. Charge me a fair price by all means, but you can’t tell me its the same!

if you use calibre you can manage your books much like itunes manages your music. I’ve got loads of books on my PC which were bought online then transferred to my kindle.

good point on the leverage Tony, but thanks Scamper – sounds like it might be ok. I’ve bought a new seat post specifically for the frame so it won’t need a shim or anything, and i’m shortish for the frame i think at 5’10 so should be able to keep plenty of post in the seat tube.

Might give Cy an email too though i think.

i’ve gone with Tomtom for years now, only problem i’ve had with being buggy was after i repeatedly dropped the thing! The new one i got for xmas is superb, intuitive to use, good mapping and good instructions. i think they do an option for lifetime updates of maps now too, but i imagine its not cheap.

Bonus also for me is i can create and upload all of our sites as POI’s which makes planning far easier than hunting down postcodes.

I admit though, the new updating software is a bit poo…

quick update, thanks to all who advised on Keen, after much dithering over the price i invested – really pleased with them! Significantly more comfortable than any previous sandals, no rubbing and no heel pain even when i walk all day in them!

cheers all!

I bought a Nerve am in 2010 after much dithering. The bike itself is great, although i did have some problems with both it and the service. Initially had a creak in the frame, which a mechanic friend identified as due to cracks in the headset. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing they agreed to replace the frame, sent it off to Germany and they sent it back. Sadly on the return they broke the rear mech, leaving it hanging loose off the frame. Again, after much to-ing and fro-ing they agreed to replace it, but took 3 weeks to supply a replacement – claiming SRAM had none of them in stock that month.
As i said, the bike is great, and you can have issues with any bike, but i found it frustrating that literally no one will answer the phone in the UK office, even well into open hours. Also, the initial reaction to any dispute seemed to be “its your fault”. I still have the bike, still love it, but it has soured my opinion of Canyon.

Isn’t it the same as with e books, they’re effectively a rental? Didn’t Bruce Willis have this argument, wanting to give all of his iTunes purchases to his kids and apple claimed breach of terms? Therefore if apple goes pop then so do your purchases?

Please don’t dress up as furry animals, start drinking in the airport lounge at 8:30 in the morning, get on the plane drunk and make everyone else’s journey utterly unpleasant, then infest the streets of someone else’s city with your vulgar presence and stupid antics for two or three days.

Not that I have ever seen such a thing happen. And not that I’m bitter, or anything.

that wasn’t the other week in Bristol airport and then Barcelona was it?!? That may have been us…. :oops:

looks sweeeeet! Was absolutely certain i wanted the orange until i saw that green again!

Can i just ask – whats the idea with the self-algamating tape? Is it better than the ‘normal’ protector you buy?

Thanks Dave, a lot clearer now! Back to the for sale forums!

And the inbred is not suitable for 140mm forks, right? So i need to make sure it’s a 456?

Cheers seavers,they’re revelation 140’s with a bolt through maxle.

The frame is an old steel wanga, I think it’s supposed to run up to 120mm?

Or should I just wait and upgrade to a soul frame which I believe suits a 140mm fork?

Wasn’t meant to cause offence, I just really don’t like any of their music! Living in Liverpool and having their brilliance rammed down your throat constantly didn’t help.

I suspect you’d all be in creases at the state of my ‘eclectic’ music collection, but each to their own!

Something I’m truly thankful for! :lol:

It makes you realise how important Lennon was.

No, the Beatles were bloody awful too!

Hi, if you’ve only got the UK maps you’ll need to buy another map pack. I’m not sure if you can just buy Spain so it might have to be western Europe. Its 50 quid on their website.
If you’ve already got the maps then an update is 44 quid, but you get 4 updates over 12 months.

+1 I’ve only used them for online but service has been excellent, both in terms of speed and helpfulness

I’ve had an am 6 for just over a year now. Had a few problems which I’ve raised on the forum here. Initially creaking due to cracks in head tube. Frame was replaced although they challenged the evidence of the cracks. When they sent the bike back they’d broken the rear mech, which they replaced (eventually). Then creaking started up again and they refused to offer replacement. Eventually I found the cause – a loose mech hanger! :oops:

Anyway, Germany customer service is very good. English one is awful. They don’t answer the phone, don’t reply to emails and generally suck.

yeah that looks pretty close. Video quality looks ok considering fairly poor lighting conditions.

yeah, i thought the specs were some way off. I was hoping i might find a video on youtube of someone at least using one, as there’s nothing on the website.

Its especially tempting as i’ve seen it for half price at £45! But we tried one of those little ones off deal extreme and whilst the video was ok, it gave me a stonking headache!

I use this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-Start-25-Europe-countries/dp/B004W1GQEC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360963847&sr=8-1

Do about 40-45000 miles a year and it’s great. Fast, easy to update, you can create and add points of interest, do itineraries, and the new bit that shows correct lane to be in for the next part of your journey is very useful in particularly complicated junctions.

lived in birmingham in a listed building above paradise circus with secondary glazing. It worked, in that the traffic noise was reduced a lot – but it was still pretty noticeable, particularly on a saturday night! It will help, but don’t be under any illusions that it will completely block the noise. If you have any difficulty sleeping with a noisy environment, its a no.

As above too – when it got hot we had to just buy and use a fan – opening the window was lovely but you had no chance of sleeping!

@justatheory no, you don’t need to be recent graduate, I qualified and then messed about, doing recruitment, teaching and working in pubs before I applied for ours.

They are competitive, but there still seem to be lots about, even in the current economic climate.

If you got a 2:1 or above I’d have a look at some grad schemes. My company offer a really flexible 2 year scheme which I joined with an unrelated degree in psychology. They let me choose the departments in wanted experience in and once I got set they’ve supported me for qualifications and training for the last 9 years!

Qualifications or experience?

Ps if it’s any other kind of cake I’m with the others – there is no upper limit.

No no no. Lemon drizzle cake is an abomination. Lemon and desserts don’t mix, aside from the notable pancakes exception. And lemon in a cake…? What? What? Just say no.

Thanks gears, good advice. The fitter was recommended by the supplier, but recently fitted my sister’s bathroom to very high standard. Finish was very good and no snags one year in. We’ve also seen evidence from previous bathrooms which look excellent.
Totally agree on mates rates, previous house had our bathroom done which took 3 months! The quote gives the impression its a fixed price but I plan to confirm this prior to starting. The quote details pretty much every item, including strip out and install, and notes exceptional items such as supply of light fittings, disposal of waste.