It cost us about 600 quid when we got connected; There’s a fixed price if you are within 20 metres of the main gas supply (I seem to remember – though this was four years ago now) – we were just on the limit.

The hardest thing we had was getting anyone to admit the pipe existed that we were then connected to !

For those who have mounted their TV on the wall and routed cables under the plaster, what cables have you put in place?

I cheated – it’s on a stud wall; so there’s a whopping big void you can get your hand in and run whatever cables you fancy :)

tbh I thought the biggest upgrade I did in terms of enjoyment from watching films was to put in a decent speaker system. Although moving to a detached house where I was no longer worried about the volume level was a close 2nd :)

@cynical-al

Ok; since you asked – imo it’s too low down for extended viewing, the wires are visible and untidy and it overlaps that attractive fireplace (not sarcasm; I like a nice fireplace) whether it’s folded out or folded in.

As to why mine is high up and in the center of the wall ? Because we like to watch films at a comfortable viewing height and with good quality surround sound. TV’s are ugly; yes – but if you want a good experience when you are actually using one I think you should put it where it performs best.

I’d say the same about yours…

Oh yes … ? I can take crticism; let’s hear it :)

@cynical-al – I’m sure you love it and all; but it’s not doing the ‘hang it on the wall’ bunch of us any credibility at all !

Here’s mine (in the interest of balance)

No visible wires anywhere; though I must apologise for the fake tree in the corner….

imo one of the best things about flat screen TV’s is that they can go on the wall; Assuming (as has been noted) that the screen is appropriately sized for the room and that it’s done properly (i.e. concealed cables; wall mounted speakers to match etc).

In our living room this has the additional benefit that the ‘media unit’ now doubles as emergency seating (assuming the TV is off)

martinxyz – Member
The whyte preston an all-time great bike design?

You have to be joking?
If you ride along on said bicycle approx 5mph.. and compress the suspension with body weight you can actually bring the bike to a hault.On the return.. it actually brings the bike back up to speed. Try it,then try it on any other suspension design! We found this out a few years ago and wondered what this would do on steep techy trails. I never want to find out.

Interesting I have 3 of them and have ridden 1000s of km on them and have never found this

I’m with Ade on this one; I’m had two over the last 9 years or so and have never experienced this phenomenon either.

I know the limit of travel was limited by bar clearance on the upper front linkage; I’ve often wondered if this could have been improved with an ‘M’ shaped bar (ish) to create a ‘pocket’ for it to swing into.

@oldgit – you seem to have had almost the exact opposite experience as me – I used to ride as you suggest ~50 – 70cm away from the kerb – sadly for me; a bus decided to squeeze past as we were approaching a traffic island then moved across as the road narrowed; he was still only half way past having clearly misjudged my speed. 6 months of painful dental surgery later and I now sport a nice set of implants instead of my own front teeth.

I will now take up a more prominent (I guess primary; though I’ve not read that book / used the terminology before) whenever I feel that to allow cars to pass / squeeze by would put myself at risk – since adopting that approach; I’ve had the odd confrontation with people who seem to think I’ve no right to take up any space – but no one has driven into me or forced me off the road.

I’m sure others have similar experiences; and I’m sure others have had bad experiences by adopting a wider road position – but I thought I would at least explain my reasoning (do I get extra marks for showing my working out ? :D)

I’m with TJ on this one – I’d be riding either two abreast or with a large enough gap between myself and the kerb to either prevent cars overtaking or squeezing by and forcing me into the kerb. A number of incidents whilst commuting where car drivers have attempted to squeeze past and taken evasive action whilst alongside (think flecha / hoogerland in the tdf but at slower speed) have made me realise it’s far better to take a pro-active road position than to allow yourself to be treated as a 2nd class citizen on the road.

Panasonic plasma; 8 years old; still got an ace picture. Finding it hard to justify upgrading to be honest !

This morning 750ml (2 cups) of coffee and it reckons that is a 2lb increase.

Well considering 453ml of water weighs 1lb that would seem about right …

We’ve just done a hybrid of this; we installed the hearth stone first (black limestone) then as were laying the floor realised that due to the profile it would look awful; so reinstalled the hearth stone with enough space underneath to float the floor under it (the floor doesn’t support the stone at all)

In the previous house we had an engineered floor up to a slate hearth (already in place) and used some aluminium angle to make a finished edge. It looked ok; but nowhere near as ‘finished’ as the new one.

Steve

I’ve got an I-beam post going spare; came with my whyte and I never got on with it – have now swapped for a std post and a charge spoon. I think it’s a 27.2 – it’s free to a good home.

the 3rd party spotify plugin is by Triode; it’s available through the list of recommended 3rd party plugins once you’ve installed the software. Works fine; I use it on my SB3 (classic) as it doesn’t support the official spotify plugin – also means I can sync spotify streams across all of my SB devices (I seem to remember the official one won’t do this)

Is it just me; or do the forks on the one in that gumtree add look like someone’s had the lowers off and put them back on the wrong way round ?

GPS or not; I was thinking a few routes to look at might be handy like this delightful (!) 10k run

:)

I’ve got quite a few GPS logs from running / riding round there; send me a PM if interested (that applies to anyone of course ! :) – A good running loop incorporating Little Roseberry + Captain Cooks Monument and various biking loops in and around Guisborough woods / roseberry topping Captain Cooks

Steve

Just find a localish marin dealer; they’ve probably got a box full under the till somewhere…

dropbox is another good shout – the biggest problems tend to be policy ones – things like allowing web access to e-mail servers and rules on external media. I’m currently circumventing that by using a virtual machine that’s been built by the IT guys so I’m running a ‘work build’ at both locations; just on my own hardware at home.

I used to have this problem; my solution was to move everything I need for work onto an external drive and simply carry that to / from the office. Much easier to stick in a bag and it’s not like you’ll actually be working on the move is it ? :)

I often ‘travel short’ – had no idea I wasn’t allowed ! Ride to local station; pay for return ticket; change at mainline station + lock bike up; on return journey depart at mainline station and ride home – it saves the 50 min wait for the next train and it’s only an hours ride. …

http://www.tec7.co.uk/Television/Plasma/Panasonic+TXP42S20+FVHD+Plasma_TX-P42S20B/3054.aspx

and £50 to spare too :)

Buy a decent pan – Try Bourgeat non stick alu ones from Alliance Online; they are 15-20 quid depending on size and are by far the best frying pans we’ve ever had :)

Biketraks in Gt. Ayton; emergency wheel build as I was going away on Saturday morning; dropped off the wheel at closing time on Friday and picked it up when they opened on Saturday morning…
Hope – I submitted an enquiry on the website as I thought the wear rate was a bit fast for sintered pads; 10 mins later someone had phoned me up and arranged to send out a new set FoC..

You’ll be lucky to find anything even vaguely hilly within an hour of york; let alone inside an hours round trip. I’d head out north on the roadbike and construct a loop in the country lanes in the ‘V’ created by the A19 to Thirsk and the A64 to Scarborough.

as far as I can remember; they are a std mono mini caliper; with posher levers and lightweight floating rotors … can you not just drop out the old pads and take a look and compare ?

Hmm – bagginess could well be an issue – if they are a bit slack it sounds like the perfect opportunity to buy some newer/better tyres :)

I fancy a bash at this; planning on going ghetto on X338 rims with Mythos XC tyres … will I die ? :D

Ignore the Magpie cafe – overpriced and over busy – Mister Chips across the other side of the river is where it’s at :)

For coastal walks you could either start at the Abbey and head east on the Cleveland way; or if you have a car with you you could drive to Sandsend and follow the cleveland way the opposite direction; looping back towards Lythe.

I’d avoid guisborough until it dries out a bit – I attempted to have a ride through there last night and riding conditions are on a par with what you’d expect late november rather than mid august !

alfabus; I did what you are doing 18 months ago(ish) – Initially I went with an umbrella company to test the water and make sure I was happy with my decision before committing to my own ltd company (which I’m currently in the process of setting up)

Be careful with your choice of accountant; I’ve seen first hand examples of people being let down by their accountant/firm and having to find signifcant volumes of cash to pay unexpected tax bills ….

IRC Mythos XC 1.95’s every ride. I keep telling myself I should move with the times but I fear change … ;)

I concur with muppetWrangler; so that’s two of us – I’ve got two pairs from when they were first released still going strong; one on my mtb; one on my road bike.

Of course; karma dictates that one will fall apart on the next ride and lacerate my calf due to such a claim…

I’ve got a park IB-2 and the remains of an ancient cool-tool for chain splitting and spannering purposes

What’s the budget ??

+1 for Islabikes; had the young ‘un out on his beinn 20 last night; though the poor lad had his first OOTB experience and some gravel rash ….

No idea :) – tbh I’ve given up on the whole phone-tracking thing and switched over to a GPS watch instead; saves carrying a seperate HRM.

My Tracks works fine without 3g; I’ve used it regularly in parts of the North York Moors where there’s no chance of getting a signal; let alone a 3g one …

We went in May; got the two park tickets – you could go in and out with those all day if you wanted to. Didn’t think the food was too overpriced; but then we were only there for a day.