renewables…. yawn……

arguments are weak at best…. feebly technologies with v short lifespans for wind turbines, photovoltaics (sure the cells last but there performance falls off dramaticaly past yr 20 and then all the control infrastructure, inverters, fieldwiring etc falls to bit + becomes technologically obsolete….) to produce comparable outputs to large generating plant ever thermal or nuculear you have to have a difuse system with v high maintenance and lifecycle costs

they have a place in the mix (especially when they benefit from incentive schemes like RHI & FITs…..)

but they are not the magic cure that the green lobby claim

hubstripping website is work a read.

they recommend degrease + cleaning, I filtered out the degreaser for reuse and it was full of aluminium dust + dirt which would have stayed in the hub otherwise

i’ve been using ATF (not sure if it’s a good match)

degrease + rinse hub

dry for 1 day

soak in ATF for 1 day

working well for me , I’ve checked and repeated this process and the oil has been clean after 6 months use

TF are a great source of info on these.

try 155 in main & 55 in the ifp (i’m arround 15 stone…)to start with it’s a bit trial and error but stick with it… and don’t listen to all the old wives tales…..

getting the pressures make a huge difference to how they work and the threshold between being great and pant’s is v fine + or – 5 psi ime…..

downside to this shock is theres no manufacturer suport any more but TF have most spares (lthough not shafts for them altough mines been heavily worn for 2 year..happily I have a spare)

http://www.progressivesuspension.com/pdfs/5thelement/5thAirSetupGuide.pdf

have a look at iceland express, prices are good but with any budget airline the times + conections can be a problem…..

both directions have merit.

my fave is start in valley below Fordlas Fawr (on gryne fawr road)

climb up valley on bridle way on rightside of road tack allong valley side staying up above Tyhir

pickup Resi bridle way do rest of loop and head back to Draen then do the climb and descent via Fordlas.. (pick up a cheaky bit of foot path to the road)…..

prefer the other way as you can pickup an extra Descent past Fordlas Fawr

Toxicsoks.

Not as far as I’m concerned… your choice…sound like a good one to me :-)

The country’s been many forces, just IME sucessive governments have made a mess by focussing on there own electorate and failed to invest in the country in a way that benefits all…..

My coments about rural poverty is just about how a sector of society has been neglected.

almost every sector of the economy has had both good and bad times if you look bad far enough….

if you want to look back far enough they’re have been relatively good times in rural Herefordshire and well as bad.

my main comments have been about rural poverty which can be every bit as dreadful as urban poverty, but exasperated by isolation and the dilute level of services available (I’m not dismissing urban poverty but rural poverty gets overlooked…)

The whole of the Marches area suffers from a lack of political interest (hasn’t been much since Henry VII….), no infrastructure, historically a lack of tertiary education leading to a continual brain drain and poor local politicians…

no rural poverty hasn’t always existed..it has developed over time.. and has been exasperated by sucessive governments of the left and right who have no interest in areas of marginal influence in UK politics

the house price gaps are due to the economic divide, which I highlighted because lots of people have a rose tinted view of rural life….

The move to the country set is not a new thing it’s been happening for yrs….

as for infrastructure investment… look at the Hereford bypass and how many iterations it’s been through……it always falls to the bottom of the investment pile………..

Although it’s not helped by local politicians who have lacked vision and ambition for the past 50 yrs +…. theyre cosy reluctance to support industry has amplified the neglect of central government

you should be pleased most don’t know where it is……

I can sympathise wth the OPs point of view, however for me the major issue is rural poverty, which is a product of sucessive governments and their ‘metropolitan’focus…

the arrival of the ‘move to the country set’ just brings the inequalities to peoples attention, it’s alway happened … people arrive with cash and buy up a peice of the country and fence it off, these TV shows just highlight the process in action

Taxation, deregulation of services, lack of investment in infrastructure etc which are all designed about the south east and the major cities throughout the uk; have ill considered and significant impact upon the rural communities.

In rescent articles about the ‘north / south divide’ Herefordsire fit’s in the North based upon income, standard of living and most importently infrastructure (lack of)…..

12mm threaded bar, nut, big washers = less risk…….

suits the bike, running Talas 32 150’s suits the bike being lifted at the front by about 10 mm by the lower cup + I tend to run my forks with plenty of sag .

no clearance or handling problems tapered forks feel great….. prefer them to my 36’s…..

Rust Mac yes thats the one it’s fitted to my mk111 and the lower cup required shortening

nukeproof do some…. have a look on their website sold by hotlines / CRC

5 yr old 456 used heavily in all weathers… only rust on chainslap and areas where i’ve worn through the paint….

protected by a qucik spray of frame protector when new & over sprayed with a can of car laquer from halfords….. not pretty and a bit flacky after 5 yrs … but who cares it was only £125….

I assume you mean using this one?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=60616

I’ve used the Tapered version in my iron horse and had to cut down the cup ….v easy, just used a hacksaw and file took about 1/2 an hour…. most of the time spent measuring ;-)

Cane creek do some but…… my LBS has been pants…. ordered cups in Sept delivery delayed until mid nov…. so ordered the nuke proof from CRC £30 cheaper….. and has the Cane creek arrived….. nope..

save yourself the grief go for the nuke proof and either cut them down yourself … or find someone handy with a hacksaw

these guys are good

http://www.smbbearings.com/aboutus.htm

Swansea………. day at Afan…..night out on Wine st…… Eddies at Llangenith for all day breakfast

good day of trails….seedy night out….. recovery with fantastic views…. + you could go surfing if recovered sufficiently…..

I’ve been using auto transimssion oil (semi synthetic) seems to be fine
for tips on servicing hub gears have a look at the hubstripping forum http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/alfine-shimano/ the home of hub gear geeks…….

do a test run with your bike loaded up before taking it out in to the wilds as its likely to mess up the handling….

for a bar bag try Alpkits airlok xtra drybags as they’ve got loops which help in strapping under the bag (the 13 litre works particularly well..) the best bit is it’s £8……

http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16469&category_id=295

I’ve done a mixture of trips from 2 day’s to 2 weeks over the years and find that its worth trying to minimise the weight you carry in a rucksack / camel back

Huws, forgot to say best loading option is back wheel in 1st and use the rear two loading loops and a large webbing strap over the fork ends… for two of the bikes and one facing forward

Huws, no Xtrail pics, I’ve been using one for 5 yrs now and its still going fine at 150k nothing other than the usual consumables.

3 bike with rear wheels fit in with the 40/ part of the 60/40 folded no problem, have fitted 4 dismantled in the boot although thats a squeeze with 4 passengers :-)

only downside is the fuel economy will never be as good as a regular estate car + you’ll be the subject of criticism on this forum :-) although you hate the bike rack option, this is a great vehicle for carrying 4 big bikes on the rack without the negative effect of loading up most cars

Despite Tootall’s well meant comment there are a wide range of trails around Bath ridden by a diverse range of people ;-)

mainly the trails are XC orientated but there are a few trails which are a bid more challenging; for example pipehouse lane

theres a regular wednesday night group that head out from near the train station (Analogue andy is the man to contact)

Use a dremmel grind three slots into the bearing race (to make equal segments) and the sections should drop out; I’ve had lots of success with this……a skill developed as a serial specialized owner ;-(

listed as in stock at crc now

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=60615

anything but the X3, review of this have been dire…..

Not used the 91’s on the bike yet… but were nice and warm on my walk to and from the office in Sweden on wednesday (the outside temp was showing as – 18 …. at our office)

as above go for a size large as they come up small

might be worth adding some more info in the banner as some folks may not have heard of Sandman?

try relisting at 8 in the morning to catch the ofice based user + keep relisting for a week or two, most things tend to go on here just takes a while + some people only browse ocasionly

are you reall sure about the pressure…… I’m assuming your fork has a positive and negative chamber at the top of one leg as per the AM and corsa superlights?………because you can drop the travel on these models using the negative chamber…….I’ve seen 150mm forks brought into a shop which are acheiving only 100mm of travel as the negative chamber had been pressurised ar above the +ve chamber……

it’s worth checking this out before assuming it’s the ATA……. :wink:

start the set up again from scratch, ignore Marz pressure settings….

I’ve had more sucess by running similar forks AM 150 AL and corsa SL’s at lower than the recomended pressures.

1st thing carefully does it as I don’t think you can get replacement cartridges any more….

2 don’t push…….. pull…….. clamp up the steerer and bolt up the lowers 1st ( don’t do these bolts up fully0 and get someone to pull gently whilst you ease in the cartridge /bladder section…. make sure its someone you trust as you dont want to loose your finger tips

3 take your time……

on last thing just check youve let the pressure out of all the chambers 1st……

CG CountZero’s most important point is about the transport links, the further south you move the more limited the commute/job opportunities.
Chippenham / Swindon (clearly Bath is great but £££££) give you access to a wide range of work locations whilst if you choose somewhere like Frome which has many merits comuting to somewhere like Bristol would be ill advised.

my dell E340 fits for v short journey’s but the pack is too thin/ tall for it to be comfortable + it provides no protection

Waderider +1

[Until a nuclear power station has been fully decommissioned in the UK the cost of decommissioning is unknown]
Depends on your definition of fully decommissioned…….. What do you mean…….?
There are so many definitions passed around these kinds of arguments are irrelevant……
Just like all the comments about the historic volumes of waste produced and the current volumes being produced…… irrelevant.
The data for all these arguments is based upon the way these plants were designed, build and operated….. No one would design a new nuclear power plant in the same way… hence the volumes produced are dramatically smaller………

great concept let down by poor engineering, wouldn’t trust your neither regions to them….. they have a habit of failing particularly in cold weather

for problem installs… try using some thick washing machine liquid as its far thicker than washing up liquid it allows you to get enough pressure in to seat the tyre for the 1st time.

also try inflating the tyre on the rim with a tube 1st to get any kinks out if it’s been stored…..

for the more cautious….. Brant say’s that the Nukeproof 44 trad headset has a 20mm insert depth