I response to the the OP’s original gripe, the sale of this groupies wouldn’t have been jam and the shops running expenses wouldn’t have been non-applicable to it any more than they would for any other sale or customer. 

I’d disagree with this, I’m not really sure how you come to this conclusion regarding a one of high ticket price special order.
I worked in a LBS many years ago. General parts, repairs most bikes in stock had a price and we stuck to that. But if someone came in looking for something special we didn’t stock, a deal could be struck. The higher the price the more the boss was pleased, but he’d only be really unhappy if the customer left and bought it somewhere else.
My bosses son runs the business now. Don the owner and my boss, well the last I heard he was enjoying his retirement in Palm Springs.

I suspect given your demeanor on here, they saw an cunning opportunity to never have to deal with you again.

The Op’s demeanor seems fine to me and his point is valid.
Some of you guys including those who work in bike shops are missing the point.
A business has overheads and has to generate a specific % profit margin based on turnover to make a profit. What some seem to miss is that if you increase turnover “without” increasing costs your % profit margin can be lower but you might make a greater overall profit.
I reckon the Op’s experience perfectly illustrates this and the Lbs has missed out.

I’m against, not because I don’t think some people give their children to many sugary drinks ( adults can drink whatever they want, their choice) but because it won’t make a blind bit if difference. Figures I’ve hears are 6-8p on a normal can. Shops around me sell branded drinks for between 55-95p a can, cheap stuff as low as 25p. Prices go up all the time, so drinks go up a bit, they won’t be unaffordable.

My neighbour walks our dog and does most of our garden because he doesn’t like the mess I leave it in, he’s also much better at DIY than me so I let him get on with that as well. I figure as he doesn’t work it gives him something to do. Yesterday he wanted me to come over and help him move a table, WTF tipping point was on.

For a fire road climb or if I’m on the road I normally lock the fork and shock. I don’t do it because of any particular research or test findings, it’s just what I prefer

^^this.

At its most basic level women give birth men don’t.

In fact I don’t remember ever not having my passport checked when flying from UK to Europe.

This. Passport checked at Amsterdam, Prague, Venice and Alicante in the last 18mnths.

Read about it whilst catching up on stage 5 of the alps tour this morning. Feels totally unreal, a day ago he’s attacking up Bondone now he’s gone 🙁

R.I.P

“
My suspicion, given he was definitely lying, was he was also defrauding the public purse, but he may not have been.”

That’s the problem with trying to define absolutes of right and wrong.
There isn’t any, most things aren’t black or white but a constantly shifting shade of grey. I always try to avoid statments such as “rules are rules” or “the laws the law and must be obeyed” because in reality it’s never that simple.

 Those people will have lost their houses and be prevented from getting a mortgage in future.

Not necessarily true. My brother inlaw is self employed and exaggerated his income to get a mortgage. The problem came when the IR asked why he hadn’t declared this amount on his tax return. He came clean with them and they accepted his explanation, probably because it was so prevelant at the time. His mortgage provider weren’t bothered in the slightest. Payments were up to date, so in his case so they were happy to let him just carry on.

I dont care who did it, it is illegal and the law still stands. No one is above it and we should not turn a blind eye just because we support the party who did it.

I don’t think anyone is saying no offence has been committed, only the level of response that is needed to deal with it in a fair and proportional manner.
Largely the offence

The majority of the police complaints concern constituencies visited by the Tories’ RoadTrip2015 battlebuses – a campaign already tarnished by allegations of bullying and sexual harassment among young activists. It is alleged that the party registered RoadTrip’s transport and accommodation costs as national spending despite its use as part of individual MPs’ constituency campaigns Party spending on the latter is limited to £15,000, and the key contention in play is whether money spent locally should have been declared locally.

Proportional will probably be fines, warnings and reprimands.
Even though it might be interpreted as a fraud, it’s not bribes, ballot box stuffing misallocation of money for personal use. The sort of thing the general public (voters) consider fraud to be.
The only reason some are trying to make it into a shocking incident is to create political ammunition. I get this but I think it’s worth pointing out that most people don’t care what particular Conservative party budget pays for some clowns hotel bills, only that it isn’t being taken from their pockets.

@Op Do you have anything like this in your neck of the woods ?

Homepage

The essential bike maintenance course is £65 and covers all your issues. I’ve not done it being a spanner god, but I’ve heard it highly recommended.

Edit. Double post but it’s worth it for that link.

@Op Do you have anything like this in your neck of the woods ?

Homepage

The essential bike maintenance course is £65 and covers all your issues. I’ve not done it being a spanner god, but I’ve heard it highly recommended.

Agreed Jamba. But we should still jail the fraudsters and ban the party concerned from contesting those seats. Harsh punishment is the only sort they’ll listen to. A short sharp shock.
Make sense?

None at all really. If you try to put forward ridiculous over the top sanctions for what seems like an accounting cock up you just come across as hysterical and tend to loose all credibility 🙁
If you talk about fraud and jailing people the public assume your talking about people lining their own pockets. This isn’t the case here.
I completely understand political opponents of the Tories trying to make something of it though. I’m sure they would do the same, thats politic for you.

Article here giving insight into the election expenses “scandal”

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2017/03/70000-question-what-does-conservative-party-election-expenses-scandal%3famp

Most voters aren’t really concerned about who paid for the ridiculous battle bus. Central office will offer a sacrifice, pay the fines and it’ll all go away.

I’m pretty sure that people have good experiences too. I’ve had 2 bad experiences.

You must have had a sheltered life if a bit of gear adjustment is a “bad experience”.
Don’t take the ribing to heart though Op.
Learn to do these things and you’ll be laughing at yourself as well 😆

La Manga’s nice

http://lamangaclubresort.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwuOHHBRDmvsHs8PukyIQBEiQAlEMW0MURcM4qKUrN0tcR6_nz9n8n-S39u4z9YquqPml0W1MaAg-N8P8HAQ

But you really want to go to Benidorm don’t you ?

Slack all the spokes before you try bending is my tip.

if it gets new people into the sport then that can only be a good thing.

I’d be suprised if many people start of on a ebike and then move onto regular cycling. I’d have thought the normal progression was the other way round.

Does anyone actually think there is anyone in Liverpool around Ross Barclay’s age, and earning similar money, that isn’t a drug dealer?

It might be true, but it would be true of anywhere outside of London perhaps. Outside of professional sport there’s not many mid twenties people earning anything like their wages. A few businessmen or young banking high flies. For most the big money comes later in life.

I’ve told him to put dogshit through their **** bastard Tory **** doors. The absolute ****.

Good to see a well balanced opinion expressed in such an articulate manner.

.       Mr Mason was displaying lights on his bike, but these lights could have easily be lost to a driver’s sight in a busy London road in the dark where there are numerous other lights displayed.

This seems to be the crux of the aquittal. The driver consistently maintained she didn’t see Mr Mason, and the police agree that this could easily be the case. Or at least in the opinion of the reviewing officer. Add that no witnesses saw the actual “collision” I’d have been more suprised if a guilty verdict had been given.
The whole thing is very sad and difficult for the Mason family, they very much have my condolences .

laws can change

They certainly can, when the laws regarding ebikes were drafted I’m sure they had this in mind.

Not this.

You can take a learner-legal scooter and turn it mental too, that’s something that’s been around forever and tbh it’s just not that big a deal.

you can but it’s not done very often. Why ? because the roads are policed and there’s a fairly good chance you’ll be caught. Who’s going to police the trails and check for chiped ebikes, nobody that’s who.If illegal ebikes cause a problem we’re all going to be lumped into the one group.
I agree that the odd “hot” learner scooter isn’t a problem because their on the roads mixing with even faster vehicle’s, introducing chipped ebikes onto our trails is something new.

Not sure what your problem was ? The last bike I bought of ebay I didn’t know where the seller lived. It was “can I pick the bike up Saturday ” answer ” Yes, I’m not comfortable with people coming to my house can you meet me at my place of work”. I got that went down with cash job done. Even more so with MX bikes, no ebay punter is going to know where I keep those.

Eight fractures here 🙁 and never had surgery. In S.Wales after A/E you go to the fracture clinic and unless it’s horrendous they give 4/6 weeks to see if it’s healing before considering surgery.
For me its been turbo 2wks gentle road riding 3wks. Back on mtb at 4/5. Mx and hard riding by 6/7 wks.
The bone grating thing is normal and goes away after a week or two, well for me anyway. Good luck with healing the worst bit is boredom and frustration over not being able to ride.

If I’ve got my cycling gear on it’s a “ride”, if I’m wearing normal clothing it’s a journey, trip, commute ect.

What never goes away is the memory of the feeling you get. I gave up 15 years ago but can still remember the nice feeling I got.

I agree with this completely. I gave up cigarettes 30yrs ago, but never forgot the pleasure I got from smoking. As I got older I thought bollocks life is for living (possible irony I know) and now smoke a couple of nice cigars a week and absolutely love them. Fortunately I don’t have an addictive personality so their a treat not something I need or rely on.

I just find spd’s a bit more efficient. with flats I find myself constantly moving my feet about trying to get in a comfy position

Same for me, even cornering speedway style my foot goes straight back in the pedal instantly.
However after a lifetime of straps and cages then spd’s as soon as they came out, the steep tight downhill turns that seem to be bothering OP are the only thing I’d prefer flats for.

Get him a Ray Gun, I had one when I was six, pulling the trigger made it light up and sparks shot out of the end, it was brilliant :D. Added bonus his parents will ask you to never buy him another present, win win.

Somewhere in the Black mountains a few years ago.

Because he’s a plank !!!
Just watched it now, if I’d been Dungey Reed would be trying to find his bike in row Z.

I had this with a mondeo, it was indeed an injector fault 🙁

I’m profoundly death in my right ear so stereo with headphones is pretty pointless. I’ve had a couple of these and the sound is pretty good. At least I hear everything on the track.
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/XDU-Pathfinder-Single-Stereo-to-mono-Noise-Isolating-Earphone-Reinforced-Cord-/201686180467?hash=item2ef56ee273%3Ag%3ALp8AAOSwZJBX-ZFh&_trkparms=pageci%253Ac8505e73-160f-11e7-947e-74dbd180bb48%257Cparentrq%253A24654b3115b0a60ce28097cbffffb9a8%257Ciid%253A3

So yeah, I’m not sure about all the hatred expressed on this thread

It’s what drives internet forums, whether it’s hatred of Ed Sheeran or brexit, all the same thing.

Why are you hung up over what to wear ? It’s just a bicycle, your mtb gear will be fine, so would a pair of jeans and a t shirt if your comfortable in that.

They were very popular in their time. Sort of found the sweet spot of weight performance and handling compared to bigger bikes. Not sure I’d go for a non runner. The plain metal bearings in the engine liked regular oil changes, the carbs gum up if left standing for to long. Preferably youd want to hear it running at least. The mudguards rust really quickly as does all the chrome, bolts corrode into the alloy especially engine cases. Watch out for rust in the swinging arms. I’d look for a C2 model, silver, alloy wheels and twin discs up front.

Yeah – certainly you don’t. But my question is, what is a proportionate response? Throwing a bike at a windscreen certainly isn’t. So what else do cyclists do in these circumstances to make a point?

I don’t know, but personally I’d have just carried on my way to work. And regarding the sound some cheap dash cams don’t have it.

On any Sunday

Plus1 Best motor sport film ever made 😀

Had mine done 10yrs ago, best thing I ever did 😀