Orange Gringo / G2? That's a bit good for the pub. They build up into ace XC bikes!

I have the same box (Halfords 4 drawer). It's alright, but wait until they're on sale.

TBH there are so few bike tools that I'd just get the big plastic box + tote tray kind of box for bike specific bits.

Yep. I've got a selection of 25.4 stems, and if you look at any bars that come in both 25.4 and 31.8, the 25.4 is considerably lighter – 50g in a lot of cases. Makes it a bit of a no-brainer for me.

I don't really believe there's a great deal of flex in the steering system – my bars do seem to flex a little if you're deliberately compressing the forks with all your bodyweight, but I never need to pull on the bars at all hard to steer.

Now I see why you have such a reputation as a numpty. I've worked in the field, explained to you how things work, and you now post saying "That's not how it works, this is how it works [outlining a slightly different scenario with a different management company]".

I never said insurers insist on giving you carlos fandango hire cars. They'll give you a Tata Nano if they think they can get away with it. If you or your claims managment firm have a good reason for needing a better hire car, they can't turn you down. But insurers will write cars off if they can see that car hire costs are going to put the bill beyond their write off level.

The flipside is that they often offer average Joe Public rather less than book price when they write off, but the people who have an claims management firm behind them get full whack.

I've had concussion a couple of times, and never had it last more than a few days. Never had the vomiting, double vision, memory loss or blood from the ears though!

Good lord! Someone on a bicycle, on the TV, without a helmet?

The world might end!

Typically the enormous hire car charges are run up in no fault claims (ie, someone drives into the back of you, not your fault, all liability accepted by the other person and their insurer).

As it's not your fault, you're in a position to demand the moon on a stick, and everything is paid for by the other person's insurance. Generally you will employ someone like Helphire to demand the moon on a stick on your behalf. Doesn't matter if you're fully comp or TPFT.

I've never had a no fault claim, so I've no idea how it affects premiums, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

I had an Pellet rifle as a kid and loved it.

Same here. But, I was taught all the business about it being a potentially lethal weapon, never ever pointing it at things I didn't want dead etc. It also pretty obviously looked like an air rifle. And of course, it never left our land.

The thing that I really don't like about the airsoft guns is that they're decent replicas, and they're not quite real firearms. So the tendency is to show them off, shoot your mates in the arse and so on. It dramatically increases the chances of someone getting hurt – you could easily damage someone's sight with them, and you could easily have the armed squad out.

If I had kids, I'd personally be much happier with them having real airguns than airsoft.

Wikipedia suggests it's not legal outside of a proper "site" with insurance anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_issues_in_airsoft#United_Kingdom

True but unless the car is unusual (parts rare) thats not really going to be one of the main reasons?

Are you paraphrasing me there? It can happen. A fair percent of refinish work has to be redone, and you can have a comedy of errors situation. The bodyshop try to save a few quid and get it past the assessor, the assessor pulls tells them to refinish. Combine that with a part that needs to be ordered in, and that does happen with some parts even for run of the mill models from run of the mill manufacturers. Or even a bodyshop that's not getting through the work as quickly as they hoped.

It is far more common on the rarer cars, but it's not that uncommon on flashier stuff too – sometimes a Merc hire car will be demanded because the owner needs that for his job – director or whatever, and it racks up quickly.

Don't even think about it. I've heard of people shooting legitimately on private land, with "ordinary" guns having the police helicopter suddenly turn up.

A few lads with realistic looking assault rifles on public land is a recipe for disaster. Some are transparent or half painted orange, which helps, but there's nothing stopping a can of black paint being applied, and even without, it still has the silhouette of a real weapon. All it would take is one person walking past to phone it in on the basis of better safe than sorry and your lad would find himself surrounded by live weapons. Given the context, it's not unlikely that he could be swinging the thing about. Not a good idea. As far as I'm aware, it's pretty rare for the Police to get shot, because they're quick on the draw.

Does it matter if something's fake, if it's cheap and it works as well?

Programmable remotes are never that great. They just aren't. Every device will have a few odd buttons like "Picture Mode" or "Super duper setting" which can't be set to a standard button on a programmable remote.

The end result is, you end up with a user interface that you designed, and you probably aren't a user interface designer. Instead of a remote control designed by someone who had an inkling or two about what they're doing. Of course, if you buy cheap kit, the remote buttons are usually applied by shotgun, so you've got nothing to lose.

Personally, I'd use a PVR for freeview & recording, and get a programmeable remote, along with a DVD / 5.1 in system. I'd use the PVR remote for watching normal telly (which I assume will take up most of your remote control usage), and the programmeable one for everything else.

I'll be interested to see the reduction in peoples foreign travel when the Boeing Dreamliner & Airbus A350 XWB both enter service as they are basically big carbon tubes with carbon bits glued on each side.

It's very different to a carbon bike though. People don't put aeroplanes on top of each other in the back of their cars, crash and reuse them, or subject them to abrasion from branches and flying rocks.

The issue for carbon with me is that you cannot tell when something is on its way out – it seems like any damage to a carbon component could lead to sudden failure. Not my cup of tea at all.

A bit of a google suggests that you can hire the airsoft guns at some of the places that do it. That would be my choice. If I had a good replica of an M16 knocking about the house, and a teenage lad, I'd want to put it in a gun cabinet like a real firearm.

The basic guns are powered by electric motors, but they fling the BBs at an astonishing rate. The BBs are bright yellow plastic though, not metal.

Done properly it's harmless fun – lots of old factories etc. get rented out for it, with organised games, and it's as the poster above said, a bit like real life counterstrike.

The flipside is that airsoft guns are often VERY realistic replicas of real life firearms, and generally the meatier ones – MP5s, M14s, AK47s, Glocks etc. They should be fitted with Orange things on their muzzles to make them look like replicas, but I expect they get taken off pretty quickly.

This means there can be big problems if he's daft enough to walk around in public with one. I basically would view it as requiring the same level of responsibility as a .22 air rifle.

Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op's bags are made by Vaude, very similar, and cheaper.

Result!

Swarfega is by far the best stuff for getting grease off. I've even used it when I've had Red Dax in my hair!

VW have been doing it for years! It has the huge avantage of being doable to an entire assembled shell or part.

I'd be surprised if galvanised metal has gone completely from cars. I've not scratched anything under 10 years old to find out though.

Certainly for Golfs, the MK2 looks like it was e-coated, and the shells rarely rusted, the MK3 came along and was a bit worse for rust, and then later MK3 shells were apparently galvanised.

Normally the liners button or velcro in.

The chamois varies with the quality of the shorts. The most basic ones are just a pad of foam. The better ones are moulded, and then going on from that there's dual and triple density foams.

The moulded chamois is the minimum I'll go for – I think decathlon call it "sport". There's a big difference in how the shorts fit and move – the basic non-moulded chamois is fairly inflexible, whilst the moulded ones have fold lines moulded in so that they fit around the saddle and let you walk like you've not shat yourself.

They have "9" model shorts on sale for £15, which are better than the SIX ones you've linked to. Do they have them in your size?

California is a few miles north of Yarmouth. Last time I drove past, it looked a bit ropey. My biggest worry would be finding something to do and somewhere to eat!

Yarmouth itself is a confirmed dump.

TBH the places to go in Norfolk are Wells-next-the-sea, Blakeney and Mundesley. Cromer, Sheringham, Hunstanton & Yarmouth are all a bit poor.

Wells is the largest of the three, with a biggish holiday park (Pinewoods), and some decent pubs, restaurants, a crab shack, deli along with chippies and arcades. Blakeney is smaller and a bit classier, probably almost as many pubs as Wells, several restaurants that are in the better guides (Le Routier, Michelin etc.), but we're not talking Michelin starred! Mundesley is very small, but is a pleasant place.

There's also the Burnhams further up the coast, but I think the above three would be better options if you're looking for a holiday park type place rather than B&B, cottage or camping.

No pal. I suspect even if there are solicitors present, they may not chip in as unpaid advice can bite you in the arse.

For crying out loud, get a solicitor in. You can be divorced in such a way that you are divorced but still open to claims from the ex for your property.

I've had an Apollo stuck behind the hedge for a good 15 years. One of the seatstays has rusted through!

No car is galvanised throughout. You can't galvanise a shell once it's been constructed, you can only galvanise the metal that you press the panels out of. The problem is that the heat would cause things to warp, and knock the shell out of tolerance.

The end result is that the welds will always compromise the zinc layer, and inevitably fixings will pass through the body somewhere. That's why seam sealing and good priming is a big deal for car construction / insurance repairs. And why modern cars go to such lengths to avoid fixings through the body – everything held on by plastic plugs, or screws into plastic plugs.

Even with good seam sealing, you'll end up with problems all over the shop. Any enclosed section would be a prime candidate for premature rust – door bottoms would probably be the first sign, as water drains off the window, through the door and out of drain holes at the bottom. Any silt would hold water and you'd get rust.

If it's in the crack region, it's often caused by bumfluff – lint off clothes etc. works at the skin and upsets it.

Interesting to hear that. What are the jerseys like? 3 elasticated pockets? It's barely more than a pair of bibs from Decathlon.

Flood / Water damage is always written off by the insurer, on one of the proper categories that prevents it going back on the road. I was working at an assessor's during the Cumbria floodings, and the problem is that a) you do not know what's in the flood water (ie, health problems), and b) you can never clean the car up enough to be sure that no issues will appear from the result of flood damage (ie, water & silt in seams, dodgy electronics).

If a car's been water damaged and it's for sale, then it's almost certainly been taken outside the system.

Insurance repairs are meant to be as good as factory, with no further problems to surface (ie, rust).

I think it's ace. The old website was a pain in the neck to navigate, no option to list things by price, and I often missed the second page of things.

The potential for reduced dole payouts in the future.

Seriously, unless the guy has a firm job offer, he should sign on. You get through your savings at an astonishing rate when you're out of work, and there's no way to ever backdate dole.

Twas basically a load of bitching. If you wear team kit, you should go like an exocet missile. If you bimble about in it, people will go onto internet forums and talk about how foolish you looked.

I view bike weight as being worth keeping an eye on. Follow every flavour of the month and ignore weights and you can quickly end up with a a very heavy bike.

My weight saving endeavours tend to amount to seeing what stuff weighs before I buy it. I don't really bother buying extra light stuff for more £…

I suspect it's worth waiting until you need lights if you're buying from DealExtreme. LED technology is moving pretty fast, and as they ship worldwide, there may be less seasonality.

It would depend very much on the car. If it's old and ratty, then fitting a headlamp at book prices can write off the car.

If it's modern but unusual (a Skyline is a very good example), then you find two things – incredible parts prices from dealers, and wait times for parts to be shipped from the factory, leading to huge courtesy car bills. Again, these can easily write a car off – weeks of car hire at £50 a day, or worse if the driver insists on an "equivalent model".

I can remember finding a back bumper for one, in stock at an indie parts dealer for £400, compared to the far side of a grand from Nissan, plus shipping time from Japan. Made the difference between a repair and a write off.

I have no problem on cheap bits on nice frames or nice bits on cheap frames. As far as I'm concerned, if it works, it works.

I have some old Campag bits on my cheap and nasty Raleigh racer – they're not over the top expensive, all bought second hand, and a hell of a lot better than the worn out stuff that was replaced.

You have to remember that a lot of people have splashed the cash on a carbon frame with matching dura-ace or record, and need to reconcile that in their heads 😕 I do wonder if it comes from magazine reviews – you'll often see "This bike has a frame worthy of upgrades" or "This bike isn't worth upgrading", which works, so long as you're of the mind that you'll never change the frame – with the advent of fairly cheap frames, it's not that unlikely anymore.

Anyhow, to my mind, a good steel frame is still a top notch product. You can reckon on an old 531 or better frame with forks weighing in at around 5-6lbs, which is more than carbon, but it could well outlast you.

That weight seems to be fairly consistent by the way – even 1950s frames are about that.

I have a mate, and he wears a watch. I hate wearing a watch on the bike. Don't like them done up tight, and don't like that rattling around when you get bumped about.

Eh? What? Are you stupendously ahead of yourself or do you have an early hand in date?

Business, entrepreneur's strategies to be precise.

It shouldn't do, unless there's monitoring software on the PC. Or there's a proxy that can be checked.

Most banks, for example, will run two pieces of software operating on a Little John and Friar Tuck basis (google it) to monitor what you're up to.

Cheers, have just installed it. It looks like a work of complete genius.

The only downside is that I'm realising how many hours of panic I could have saved in the past!

S'not them either. It was someone with a new site, with a fairly blatant plug on here, within the last couple of months I would say.