I should probably add that I’m from North Shields, to add context.

When pubs in Shields have Eggs Benedict on a brunch menu, you know it’s trying to move on. Still, the Ridges will always keep the place grounded.

If you like Italian food, go to Lo Spuntino on Blossom St. The closest to a genuine Neapolitan family-run restaurant I ever found in the UK.

Just sew the bottom seam. It just means the bottom 5mm isn’t perfectly waterproof and it will get wet there anyway.

Stoner in ‘overengineering something the rest of the world finds simple’ shocker.

Get some rope / webbing and put it around the outside of the tyre. Pull it tight and that should help reduce the volume enough to push the beads out first. That worked a treat for me.

Tbh it would cost a small fortune to insulate it.

It will cost a larger fortune to heat it. At least seal up the cracks and gaps and reduce the air flow to save you heating your neighbourhood instead of the garage.

Good one.

So thinner, wider pedals, better replaceable pins, shoes designed for the job. You don’t think they go some way to improving things?

Both. You can learn a lot going back to flats, especially since the pedal and shoe technology have moved on a lot in recent years.

Other than it sounding as if he’s doing things in the wrong order, perfectly fine.
A good friend of mine is part of a strictly controlled and licensed wildlife management team on MoD land. He has a beat that he is responsible for, he has a certain number of a certain age and gender that he can take during the season. He grallochs them, takes them home and either sells on to a licensed game dealer (butcher) or hangs them in the meat locker in the corner of his garage. A week or so later he then skins and butchers the carcasses, turning that lovely meat into lovely food or freezer content.
If we butchered with the garage door open, his neighbours were a bit perturbed but there’s nothing wrong in it.

I’m pretty ashamed of the place!

All the reasons seem to be about you and you’ve raised nothing but negatives for the kids so far. What do you want for your kids? Do you actually want them to do better?

As far as progress goes – most places feel like that when you live there. Do you think progress moves quicker in a more rural location?

Schooling should be better

Well have you researched it? What are pass marks like? Where do the kids go after school?

What are the schools like out there? Would your kids get the education they need to get out of Aberdeenshire? What would the move give them if you’ve already said it would trash their activities.

KHS have been doing what they do for a long time now. Just because they aren’t big in the UK doesn’t mean they were of their time or have vanished.
http://khsbicycles.com/%5B/url%5D

Probably a stronger brand and company than they were then.

How much more driving would you have to do in order to move? How close would the kids friends live? How many miles would you have to drive for their activities, their education? How many more miles to get the shopping etc?
It’s a nice idea and we looked at similar living ideas. We decided that we wanted more time to do what we wanted and less time spent driving around to do those things.
Also – it would seem that you have the most invested in this idea and the rest of your family would stand to lose the most.

This’ll help you get around Northants if you decide to make the trip.

http://www.jackstephens.co/?p=25

It’s the only sort of non-bike shopping a chap should do!

This is the same bloke who had enough of chasing new stuff isn’t it?

It’s a good starting point to work from . Get the saddle positioned to a fairly neutral fore and aft position then tweak it to see what suits.

You really need to use something like firebricks for the actual floor of the oven. Making anything too monolithic will only increase the chance of it cracking. Use something designed for heat.

I do think we should always be forging ahead (ahem), concentrating our main effort into developing new materials

or get better at using what we already have around us in new and clever ways?

For example, making houses out of straw bales could reduce cost and energy consumption.

I’m not knowingly trolling.

It’s a bit like bullying then. It isn’t how you perceive it. It’s how others perceive it.
Your trolling always seemed a bit more subtle, but I’m not working so hard to spot it these days.

If you lack the imagination to make something else out of a kit of whatever licence driven lego blocks you’ve got, that’s your problem. Don’t tar everyone else with the same brush

I’ve got a 5 year old daughter and I’ve been trying not to buy the ‘set piece’ Lego kits they sell. Even going to a Lego store is an onslaught of one trick ‘build this branded thing’ boxes. They also contain far more smaller specific pieces than they ever did. Even the teachers at my daughters pre-school agree.

This licence-chasing has ruined Lego as a good kids toy. I loved Lego and played with it for the majority of my childhood. Modern Lego has no imagination left in it (cartoon characters, specific kits to build specific items, TINY blocks) and is no longer the big mixed box of imagination-driven fun.

It sounds as if a few people on here couldn’t go to the gym because their big bag of personal issues wouldn’t fit in the locker.

Squirrel poop. Lots of it.
Bats. About 40 of the wee pooping and breeding monsters.
Far less insulation than intended, largely due to squirrels.

When we asked what the alcohol was the proprietor would be very evasive

He was being like that for tourist effect. I lived in Naples for a couple of years and used to make my own limoncello. 96% alcohol, lemons and a sugar syrup. The alcohol was available in most supermarkets for about 7 Euro a l.

and closure of A66 was normal for a good few days every winter when I grew up alongside it

which was quite a while ago and hasn’t been normal for a long time since. I bet you sound like your dad did when you were a kid!

Couple that with 24hr news and you have a swathe of crap coverage just to fill the space.

Bramble whisky. Blackberries, some sugar, cheap whisky. It ends up like a very rounded port and makes you warm inside then makes you fall over a bit.

Neilson. Regardless of it being the single worst mountain bike guiding experience of my entire life I’d suggest you look at them. Stuff for each of you all in one place.

I’d also suggest something like learning to scuba dive for you and the kids while wifey does her lounging around thing.

If you really want to get tea-geeky, Imperial Tea and Coffee takes some beating. I used to shop there when I lived in Lincs. They do good ranges for sample packs if you want to try a few different ones.
http://www.imperialteas.co.uk/%5B/url%5D

I couldn’t ride bikes without them. Even the biggest frame sizes have seen reducing steerer tubes in the frame to cope with longer forks. It doesn’t really help at the taller end of things, so I need spacers.

Drac – you need the proper water for Ringtons to work. My folks brought some down from Tyneside when I was living in Lincolnshire and the tea was awful when made there.
It doesn’t travel well.

How many tenement buildings do you know with inter dwelling insulation?

None, but I wouldn’t think it was someone elses fault that my flat was cold. If you had insulation in there it might be a bit quieter as well. Just a thought for future improvements!

Secondly have you ever painted fresh plaster on a ceiling? If you have you will know that you need to heavily water down the paint and it becomes particularly messy.

Yes I have and yes I know that. Having that knowledge means I would use drop cloths, plastic and tape to cover the places I didn’t want to drip paint.

I think it would be unreasonable for them to expect you to lug a laptop home every night if you were working in the office the next day.
In my last office we had small lockers that could take a small bag of sports kit and a laptop with ease. With some judicious crafty daytime clothes hanging it was possible to cycle commute and have a secure laptop.

So hora let me get this straight.

Dumbass. Taking notice of what hora said about a bike was a schoolboy error.

So you haven’t got insulation above your property and have been relying on his efforts to keep you warm?
You said you’d paint your own ceiling and made a mess of it, splattering the walls, so you’re angry at your own ineptitude?

I get that the work and cracked ceiling are annoying, but you can’t pin your shortfalls on the neighbour.

The US website only has details for the CC frame only and the C is a lower spec build. $1000 difference on a complete bike:

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/nomad

Get some 100% recycled plastic in their lives:

http://www.solwayrecycling.co.uk/recycled-shop/pig-poultry/hen-houses

Far easier to clean etc.

Perfect for short fat men. Nobody else unfortunately.

How heavy are you?

I’m 2″ taller than you and have weighed anything from 240-260lbs. I’ve ridden 29ers in varying degrees of feckless lardcore since 2006. I’ve never trashed a wheel and would have Rebas again in a heartbeat. I loved the Halo rims I had built into my 1st 29er wheels and I’ve not damaged a pair of Flows in 5 years of abusing them on a hard-ridden Turner Sultan.
Stop fretting.

You people celebrating the end of Page 3 really sound like you have some major hang ups in life. If you don’t like page 3 , don’t buy the Sun – simple

Can’t. Tell. If. Trolling. Or. Actually. Thinks. This.
Aaarrghhhh

I look forward to someone hacking the wireless tech and making a large sprint finish in the Tour de France even more interesting!