stoffel – those really are hideous! Sorry.

They aren’t pretty, no. Awful 90’s plasticky things.But they do sound very good for what they are, and better than anything else for that money, and a lot more for twice and more. A 15+ year old design, which still consistently gets great reviews. Loadsof much more stylish stuff around, but if oyouwant decent sound quality, they can’t be beaten in my pionion.

Ace,only on STW could somebody asking for info on pots desend into an argument

True; we cou;d be discussing what’s going on in Palestine/Syria/Sudan etc, but this is a far better waste of energy.

DJ Fenton

Jesus Christ!

A friend went to see it ecently. He said it was shit

Yes.

Don’t wish to obey the laws? Move out of our society.

I wasn’t aware that society belonged to anyone, group or individual. Laws are often made without the consent of all society’s members. No law, no matter how rigourously enforced, is absolute. Mayny laws are wrong and marginalise/negatively impact/oppress innocent people. Laws should always be questioned and if necessary, disobeyed/challenged. Doing so may be deemed ‘unlawful’ by those with a vested interest in all people obeying them.

Would you make the same statment to a homosexual person in Saudi Arabia?

Spare rear mech hanger?

You can grow hemp plants perfectly legally*. It’s the ‘cultvating cannabis for use and/or sale’ bit that’s illegal.

*Well, it’s a bit complex, and you’d need a licence for the governemnt to do so, but basically, if you had a hemp/cannabs plant purely as a decorative house plant, and could prove no intent to cultivate it for the production of a controlled substnce, then it would be practically impossible to be prosecuted. Especially if it’s a male plant.

Is something up with the tensioning that’s causing others to break?

Probably. With a well built wheel, even a couple of broken spokes woun’dt cause major issues. I’d take he wheel in to a reputable wheel builder to have looked at.

Does the wood react with the coper thogh? Because oak definitely doen’t like any ferrous metals.

No idea what the law is. If its against the law then you bloody well have a moral obligation to report them, irrelevant of what others think. It would be a crime.

Comeo n, get a grip. Do you spend your life reporting every single ‘crim’ you witness?

I never knew normal people made their own knives.

‘Normal’ people don’t, they go n buy them ready made! 😆

Good to see some people who apreciate the importance of correct harpening of tools. I use a Japanese waterstone, and take my time sharpening my chisels. Somepeople think you need to spen loads on chisels, but I just use a set of cheap Silverline ones. They might not hold an edge for as long, but with careful and regular sharpening, they perform just as well.

**** me I’m glad I don’t have many of you lot for my neighbours. 🙄

Utter waste of money. Loads of other unbranded cast iron cookware for a fraction of the price. Great if you recieve them as presents, but I’d never pay what they cost in shops.

Lucky we’ve got you to define absolutely what is an isn’t acceptable.

I’m doing nothing of the sort. I just don’t personally see the point of going and buying something ‘bling’ off the shelf, just because you ‘can’. Where’s the funin that? Unless you’re just buying it to show off, then that’s a bit pathetic. If you spent £7k ona bike you ride every day, then fantastic. I know a guy who’s spent thousands on fishing gear, but he fishes every weekend, rain or shine, so fair enough.

people buy them because they want one, and they can afford it, so why not?

I can ‘afford’ it, but I just don’t see the point. A super expensive bike wouldn’t get ridden as much as my tattyold hybrid, so it would be a bit of a waste of money. Just because you can, doen’t necessarily mean you should. Nothing wrong with having nice things, but not all of us are so materialistic. One day I’ll get myself round to having a nice custom frame made, that’s about the only real indulgence I’d think worthwhile. Otherwis it’s a bit like just going and buying the latest top end BMW, when you could have bought a lovely old Lamborghini etc. Just because something’s expensive, doesn’t mean it’s ‘special’. And ‘special’ need not cost a fortune.

Oiling; make sure it’s clean and grese free by wiping with white spirit. Leave to dry. Give it a coat of linseed oil, but rub it in well, fill all the little cracks etc. Wipe off excess. Leave to dry. Then use very fine sandpaper, or what Ido, use an ld green wooly potscouring pad (old used clean ones are best) to gently rub it all over to remove any bubbles/flakes etc. Give it another coat. Repeat another 2-3 times, but leave it to dry for longer each coat. For alarger item, it will be 24 hours for first coat, 48 for second, and so on. This time of year you could just leave it for a couple of hours after the first coat on such a small item. You could give it a cople of coats of beeswax paste or similar once the oil has properly dried (in a week or so!) but dependig on the wood’s own texture, it might make it a bit slippery. Probably not worth it on a work tool.

Can you back this up? Not a slight – I’m genuinely interested.

Well, it’s based on empirical evidence, rather than ‘scientific’ tests, but the consensus is that older kit lasts longer, and newer stuff seems to wear out/break quite quicly . I have original M900 XTR mechs that have seen over 20 years use, yet newer M960- stuff seems not to have lasted that long at all before having worn out pivots etc. My XTR M950 shifters and rear mech are stll goingstrong,but I’ve known people who’ve had more recent kit wear out within 2-3 years. A pair of recent XT shifters (ca. 2010) laste me just 18 months before wearing out. And of course square taper v HT2 bbs. The later beingmeasured in terms of months of longevity, compared to possibly even decades for the former. Shimano et al don’t want you to keep your stuff runningfor 20+ years,they want you to buy new stuff every 2 or 3.

But does it perform better?

In ‘real world’ use; maybe for a short time, before it starts to wear out. Stuff like aheadset; maybe more conveneint for servicing. But a properly serviced old Cmapag/Dura Ace headset can and do run for decades. Many of us aren’t all that interested in thelatest shiny gadgets; we want our bikes to perform relaibly for a long time. A lot of current kit isn’t designed to do that.

Probably going to incoprorate it into a bike ride. Meet up with some friends, have a natter, watch it whizz past, then go and get something to eat/drink without being ‘ripped off’. Fortunately I don’t have to live inYorkshire. 😉

Indeed but you cannot expect people being asked to pay their weekly wage for a days work to not think it is a lot of money because it is.

The richest peole I know aren’t plumbers, electricians or crpenters. They work in finance, law and ‘media’. They live in big houses in affluent parts of London, have plenty of overseas holidays and drive nice cars etc. I dread to think whet their hourlry rates are. They still moan at how ‘expensive’ tradesmen are though. 😕

Some people seem rather bitter about the fact that some of us are self employed.

As well as obsessed with how much others earn. It’s so boring. As for the ‘self employed folk don’t declare all their earnings for tax’ rubbish; I serosly doubt that this kind of ‘tax fraud’ is in anywhere near the same league as Vodafone, Google, Amazon etc. And I bet many who moan about tradesmn doing ‘cah in hand’ jobs wold gladly take advantage of the cycle to work scheme to buy a bike/components they didn’t realy need.

do I wax it, oil it (I have some boiled linseed somewhere) or varnish it (Ronseal)?

Please don\’t varnish it! I hate varnish; it has it’s use on stuff that will get wet/used heavily, but it is a pain in the bum to use, and ruins the natural ‘feel’ of wood. Linseed oil is good. You’ve done a lovely job there, and so quickly too!

The Harmon Kardon soundsticks are pretty much the best computer speaker systemgoing, without going the whole DAc-Amp-Speakers hi-fi route. £100 from Currys/PC World at the moment. Excellent sound for the mony, real bargain.

There’s a fantastic fish n chip place down Maribrynong/Footscray way, but I can’tremeber what it’s caled.

I’ve noticed a steep increse in the cost of high-end components and bikes in the last 10 years, but the vast bulk of the cycle market is at the sub-£300 end, so this ‘hijacking’ only affects a very small minority. Yes, companies have ramped prices up, but that’s because affluent yet insecure men feel the need for expensive lifestyle products. Look at golf; you can pay over £1000 for a metal stick with a bit of wood on the end of it (and you need a set of 10 or more). Atleast bikes keep you fit and healthy.

Unfortunately, quality has suffered; even top-end componentry isn’t as well made/made form as good quality materials as previous kit. Manufacturers want you to keep spending, so they introduce new standards all the time, and market new ‘features’, but the kit itself isn’t all that good. Practicalyy all the bike mechanics I know say that newr stuff wears out/breaks more quickly, and needs replacing more often.

Yeah, don’t sit on the fence!
😆

Oh I see it’s a joke thread.

Should of glassed him.

Lovely stuff. Makes a change from the usual bickering on here. This thread reminds me that I must make a handle for the stanly hardpoint saws I buy; the supplied plastic ones are crap, and uncomfortable. I’ll make a handle, then just screw the blades into it each time Ibuy a new saw. Send the unused onesback to Stanley for recycling.

stoffle …. if an idiot buys a house with a room above a neighbours garage then what do they expect ?

No; the workshop is quit recent (it’s a shared basement area). But they were fine about me sorting it out (and all the other free jobs i’ve done for them), and I did warn them there would be a bit of noise. My wife can’t stand the woman, and has freely admitted she (my wife) must have accidentaly let the cat into the hallway (whereupon it then couldn’t get out and subsequently shat in the pram). But these are petty trifles. It’ll blow over.

not so long ago a black Mariah(sp) visited

Was this in the 1970s?

People laugh at Skoda, butthe 130rs was one of the most scuessful rally cars of all time. In fact, Skoda won their class int he British Rally Championship 17 consecutive times!

Does everyone stay at home when they have a tradesman in

Too **** right. Not cos I’m scard they’l nick stuff, more that they’ll lounge about and nit do the job propery. Always been preven wrong, fortunately.

C2W is atax dodge. Should b scrapped.

No why are you?

Pay the man and apreciate his work and remember you wouldn’t have got it done without him.

Amen.

Just about all the photographers I know had a working class upbringing,

It’s still a middle class profession. I know midle clss people who have gone on to train in plumbing, brikclaying, capentry etc. And they’ve become ‘working class’ becaise ofthe perception that such trdases arn’t middle classprofessions.

Jamie’s example is much, much better. And those shelves/boxes look like they’re doetailed. Nice.

The passive-agressive crap continues; she banged onthe floor with her foot, to indicate tht the music was too loud. Not come down and actually tell me there was an issue. Funny, because I was just about to finish anyway. I could here the brat screaming, so I imagine she’s probably sleep-depreived and depressed. Not my problem; she chose to have the brat. And suddently, we must all adapt our lifestyles to cater for her child. My wife is trying to get me to play nice, but i’d quitelike to see her move out. We’ve been here much longer than tthem, yet she thinks she can dictate the rules. Bollocks.

Now, where’s that cat? Here kitty kitty…

i wouldn’t pick photography as an example as it’s a bit of an odd one, it’s classless as there are all sorts who choose it as a career

It’s definitely a middle class profession though.

“But then, I suppose it comes down to how you actually earn the money. He earns it by directly applying a learned skill. I earn it by making sure companies don’t lose millions of pounds (and customers) due to fecked up IT projects.:”

But he has to ensure that the electrics are safe, so no-one gets kiled, and the buildings don’t catch fire. So quite a bit of responsibility. Nurses save lives, but bankers do deals which can lead to millions suffering hardship/famine/oppression. Etc. Quite simply, working class people aren’t ‘worth’ as much as those in higher classes.

It’ s interesting that people thnk that certain jobs/professions deserve higher remuneration than others.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/graphic-designer-midlands

We know several excellent photographers for around £300 per day.

Must admit I don’t know of many good creative photographers that will work for £300 a day…

The going rate in Leeds is around £600 to £800 a day. I also deal with a London-based photographer and he charges £1200 a day – but he is very good and choses who he wants to work with.

What’s the reasoning behind this? That certain professins go with certain classes, and therfore the higher the class, the higher the level of ‘deserved’ remuneration?