Mmm, not so sure, I class On One along with Pace and Whyte (God the PRST is awful isn’t it?!) :-)

I got some cheers (or was it jeers?) from some SPanish kids just for riding past them with full face and pads on

Although the charge just to pay – as Pigface mentions – is ver irritating!

I was flying back from Dublin once. Booked with Aer Lingus for many of the reasons people give here. I can’t remember the exact reason, but due to industrial action at Manchester, our flight was cancelled and it was the last of the evening. We had alreay boarded by this stage. Off the plance and off to the hotel for the evening, with several months passing before I got my money back of Aer Lingus.

Guess who still flew as scheduled? Yep, Ryanair

I can’t resist jumping back into this again. What I like about Lily Allen is the music. Not the lyrics, which are naff, not her voice (although I do find it quite endearing) and certainly not her personality. However the production is great. It reminds me of hip hop, where the producer is king and the artist incidental. Dr Dre? DJ Muggs? Anything they turned their hand to turned out great, regardless of who was actually rapping over the top.

I like bashing RyanAir as much as anyone, but have I missed something here? The story says that passengers with hold baggage can now check in online. Previously if I took my bike to Spain I had to book it online but then check in at the airport. Now I can check in online with my hold baggage/bike and not have to get to the airport so early. Great!

Other than for people with no PC, what is the big deal about not being able to check in at the airport?

lol at chakaping :lol:

Cheers, that was the point of this post…a bit of a giggle. Keep ’em coming ‘cos I’m having a bad day at work

does lily allen have any singing talent?

and of we go again. Yay!

If you are worried about what other people think, you are missing the point of owning a mountain bike!

I wondered how long it would take before someone would respond to my “bit of fun” OP with the “you’re not a real mountain biker if <insert as appropriate>” . :lol:

(or maybe Spongebob’s is a subtle troll)

crouch_potato, I think you’ll find that would be ATILITWT and not ALLEN as suggested

lol at Jimmy
Must remember that one

Or is it irony?

Anyway, there have been a number of threads on here about poor service and a snooty and cliquey manner at aforementioned shop. Not all LBS’s are friendly places that welcome you

I never was very good at getting sarcasm across :roll:

is everyone still on the IWH thread or are we all just old men on here who aren’t really sure what’s cool?

Ho hum, back to my Muddy Fox and fluorescent leggings

Maybe he went to JE James first :wink:

People dont just go out and buy records because they’re well marketed, they only buy records that they enjoy listening to

God Help Us. I thought that WAS the only reason we have so much rubbish in the charts

…and I’m still younger than Steve Peat (just)

This series got me back into Shameless. Excellent!

kimbers
I was grateful for you saying exactly what I was going to say to CoffeeKing until you ruined my argument by using Simon Cowell’s TV shows as your example of talent not equating to success. Like it or not, these shows have unearthed genuine talent, whether it is to your taste or not.

Leona Lewis is a great example of this. Her singing talent – like it or not she can sing – was natural and “discovered” by the X Factor. Her “star quality” was non-existent and has been manufactured by Cowell’s machine. She has sold millions of albums and is big in the State as well as here.

Success from little or no talent? I refer you to the pic of Milli Vanilli above and many others…

One would suggest that the acts that sell ONE or TWO singles after weeks of TV exposure and then vanish have average or below average talent.

coffeeking, have I misunderstood? It seems like you’ve mistaken talent for success. You’ve no argument from me that TV exposure helps sell records or that many such acts eventually disappear, but assuming we’re talking about SINGING talent then most of these TV “winners” are much more capable singers than average. Some can even – shock horror – write songs and play instruments.

…and to bring this back to Dylan, they can sing better than him :D

X-factor records are bought in their millions. Do the acts have above average talent?

Er, yes. Even if you’re not a fan I think it is difficult to ignore that Leona Lewis, that funny looking dude who sings Opera, Alexandra Burke (the last winner) and many others from X Factor/Britain’s Got Talent etc genuinely do have talent.

First album stood our from the crowd for me. Fun, catchy and still enjoyable today. Cue an influx of Lily Allen wannabies (Kate Nash anyone?)that means she no longer stands out as anything special. That and the fact her current single has the kind of lyrics any of us on here could better means she’s definitely gone downhill recently. Shame really, I always used to be able to ignore lyrical content.

Capital One gets my vote. The introductory offer was 4% but now it’s down to 1%. I put most of my spends on it and earn about £12 – £15 per month which gets added back onto my account at the end of the year. LOADS better than the many Airmiles I have accumulated and done nothing with

Can anyone recommend a tyre for street/debt collection use?

I normally use a soft bag (from Chain Reaction) but make sure I put the wheels in padded wheel bags as well. Take the mech, pedals and handlebars off and then wrap in bubble wrap and cardboard. First time I took the removeable bag handle off and the bag came back unscathed. Just got back from Spain and didn’t take the bag handle off…but the baggage handlers ripped them instead. simon_g has good advice that I might try next time.

Worth nothing that my friend had a large DHB bag lined with cardboard and bubble wrap and containing a Kona Dawg – not a super heavy bike by any stretch – but the all-in weight was 32kg. He didn’t have anything else other than knee and elbow pads in there. Watch out if you’re taking a big DH bike. We also encountered a jobsworth at East Midlands who quizzed us for 15 minutes on why our bike bags were so heavy, even though they were below the 35kg limit.

skillful

Just a thought that may be worth looking into. I’ve had problems with play in a Hope XC hub that I over-hauled. After much frustration it turned out to be the NEW bearings which were not made to the high tolerances required i.e. the play was in the bearing itself.

Must Be Tuesday. Totally under-rated and one of my fave bands. I’d rather they didn’t get too big though so *ssshhhh*

I second druidh. I’ve made plenty of half decent holiday movies with Windows Movie Maker. It’s free and very easy to use. I have it on XP and it DOESN’T come with a DVD authoring tool but I think with Vista it does. That’s essential if you want to burn to DVD for watching on a domestic player. Certainly what I’ve made with Movie Maker is better than half the guff I’ve seen on YouTube

I have carbon forks – albeit not Pace – and I love them. They don’t rattle though. I sometimes wake in a sweat worrying I’m one step closer to single speed

yes

Not even some SMALL pins?? I find flats without pins as useful as the proverbial chocolate teapot and more than a little nerve-wracking

I have Shimano and Hope brakes and never really understood why people need dedicated bleed kits when a shopping list much like BurnBob’s is more than adequate.

I do like uplink’s idea though…

allyharp, I know completely what you’re talking about

In answer to some of the observations above, I can confidently eliminate spokes and freehub since I can feel play in the axle with just the hub body bearings and axle fitted. The bearings were a tight fit in both their bearing seat and around the axle. I suppose it’s worth trying a new axle…

Changed all 4 bearings even tho’ the old ones were in pretty good nick, but I had play before and I’ve got play after. I noticed it before I even put the freehub back on to be honest. I’m fairly confident I fitted the bearings properly so I’m a bit stumped and can only think there is some wear somewhere else.

nickc

Anyone who can pick 5 songs and be happy to take just those 5 to a desert island isn’t a fan of music.

Who said you had to be happy about it?

I find it helps to put the “stuck on a desert island” element into the decision. I have LOADS of fave dance and hip hop music that I love listening too, but perhaps not on a desert island. Hardfloor’s Acperience 1 is prob my fave EVER bit of dance music, but oddly never entered the running in this

Anyone seen the video on STW from the Kona press launch, pointing out what’s new on the new seasons Dawg’s? Not a lot to be frank. And you know what, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Who wants to buy a bike that has a complete overhaul every season. Kona seem to make bikes that “just work” without being too fancy…

…at least until the “ladies’ bike” dropped top tube and Magic link of recent years!