How so? It's just a teeny weeny little mudguard which stops crud flying up the steerer 🙄

Cheers – well they're micro bearings – the headset is a FSA Z (ACB) job. Can't seem to find a replacement online – part no. 160-6475 (bottom bearing cage and micro bearings).

I can get a whole new headset for about £25 but seems a bit of a waste as it's just the lower half which has gone – now use one of those Muckynutz mini-guards which should keep most of the crud out in future…

Thanks for that – unfortunately, it's a semi-integrated headset (Boardman Pro) so headset choice is limited.

And there's a third off all Carreras just now……

Yup – if it's on the net, it's (un)fair game. Still theft though, so email through an invoice with the choice of just removing them instantly?

Grand – lots of really useful info there, cheers to all!

Will likely be doing it with my wife so won't be aiming for any speed records… I guess the best way to do it is just to suck-it-and-see. If we come accross unrideable bits, we'll have the luxury of a few spare days so backtrcking and detours no problem.

The plan 'B' would be for me to ride it one way, meet the wife and dog at Cockburnspath and walk back the other direction.

coastkid – the train idea sounds good – I'll look into it. How many days did you take to do the whole thing and were you bivvying?

simonfbarnes – Member

and (due to a misdiagnosis) a lot of my oldest friends are somewhere on the autistic spectrum

I'm sorry but that makes no sense. It's not caused by diagnosis or contagious

Everyone is "somewhere" on the spectrum…

Well sorry for the scepticism but my photos don't go in any comps where the T&Cs aren't very clearly stated – maybe they are when you enter?

Just that I don't want to win a sticker sheet and then see my photo being used foreverandever free of charge…

"All is explained"… Actually, nothing is explained. Terms and conditions? Prize? Useage of media?

Penrod Pooch – Member
a gram of coke and a couple of jonnies

You don't want them splitting inside you, halfway from Mexico to the US 🙂

I always carry a fair selection of first aid stuff. It's more for the sake of reassuring the injured party than actually doing them any good – first rule of first aid – make the casualty as comfortable as possible.

If you can whip out a bag of tricks and murmur reassuringly whilst applying a dressing, they feel like they're in safe hands. Mission accomplished.

Larry's wife

😉

The danger with undertaking is (obviously), that a car will turn left without warning, either into a junction, or a house, garage etc.

Or the car you are undertaking has flashed a driver coming the other way to allow him to do the same….

mastiles – been there, done that, sort of…. Xmas at her folks, agreement in place to only spend £20 on each other – she opens her £20 present to polite exclamations from her folks, I open my £120 present and feel like a miserable, greedy git 🙁 Not helped by the fact that in the past, I traditionally spent an awful lot more than her on pressies.

OP – how about a nice wee compact camera to take on honeymoon? That was my engagement pressie to the wife (I got sweet FA!).

Just to go briefly almost back on topic, I ride an '08 (I think) Boardman Pro which gets serious abuse and still appears to be in one piece. It has neither "snapped", nor is it particularly "nonsey (sic)".

It gets ragged in only very slightly mincy fashion round 4X tracks, big BMX jumps and very, very rocky trails at high speed. I've swapped the stem, pedals, saddle, tyres and a few other non-crucial parts – so it's a bit beefier and heavier.

Bought a Halfords bike because my insurance made me do it but I'm very glad now that they did!

Aye – loads of great pics as always – here's a few of mine from last month in Sutherland.

Sorry for all the dog pics 🙂

herewith.

Initial post stolen from Irvin Welsh. Sentiment felt through reading the first few posts here.

I am on (N)icotene (R)eplacement (T)herapy (NRT) and am annoyed at the lack of milk of human kindness displayed hereforth. And yes, I have been drinking…

So many excellent photos here – Grum, that one with the keyboard reflected in the guy's sunglasses is superb, as is the kayak, long exposure shot.

Am I the only one to see the smiling dude in Sonik's shot?!

Was up there only one short month ago – but on foot. This write up reminds me of Sharki's odyssey, just in a different part of the world.

Loving the roaring fire – what more could a person ask for after a long day?

Pulled this monster off my dog after a holiday in NW Scotland…

That was the day after I pulled all these off;

The big one popped like a grape when I stood on it and spread a surprising amount of goo around… Nasty !

khani – Member

Anyone for a parkup one street down then egg-throw at window session?

hard boil them

In concrete.

Last time my wife's Punto had a leak, it was traced to the section of fuel pipe which runs inside the driver's side rear wheel arch, just below the filler cap (what an utterly mental place to put a fuel feed pipe!!).

She had run over a small piece of wood which flicked up and just nicked the pipe. It's well worth a look as it's such a vulnerable place for a pipe.

Truly glad the bike is back with its owner, but p1ssed off that they'll be out again tonight doing exactly the same thing to someone else's bike.

Why are the police so utterly disinterested in bike theft? Please don't point me at the one in one hundred cases where a bike is found and returned – speaking from personal experience – they just don't bother.

In this case, the guy was obviously a known thief – surely "a house full of bikes and parts" is enough to get a warrant and shut him down?!

Do we really have to start organising vigilante groups to get our property back?!

No worries – I asked the same question here ages ago and got all the answers except the right one (all from very well meaning folk, and mostly as I accidentally misled them!!). Glad to save your pal doing the same whole trial and error thing!

noncesense

31.8mm for my '08(?!) Boardman Pro….

I know this isn't very helpful, but why did you choose somewhere without 'leccy for your goat enterprise, and then set it all up without checking the figures out first?

Did you do a business plan?

Is it too late to move?

Three and a half!

Darlington jump track a month or so ago. My mate was off to Whistler to work for ticket2ride so we had a day out eating burgers and mostly being crap on the jumps.

I see – thanks. Yup, bike was the 'right' way up both times. The +ive chamber got me right in my right eye. Ooyah!

Or just less painful and much cheaper…. Jedi – are you near / coaching at GT for much longer?

Exactly as CK says – I often print panoramic shots 3 or 4 to a sheet and guillotine them – same principal… Mounting / framing costs a little more than standard sizes though.

My mate kept having this problem and when we had a good look, there was some really quite nasty sharp edges on the valve hole. So +2, TheBrick. 2 mins with a rat-tail file and it was sorted.

Oh me too please for the 2nd batch – email in profile. Also have no problem if you want to charge a wee bit more to cover your time.

Enjoyed that too! Could almost smell the wild garlic at the end there 🙂

OK – here's a couple of shots from Sunday's shoot – up and coming band My Other Life wanted some stuff for their press pack;

mboy – sorry, but for me, that takes the win. Most of the previous bikes have had a quirky or interesting quality (with a few exceptions) but that just plumbs the depths of fugliness.

It's the way it bulges out in unexpected places and bends in all the wrong places too.

And I say this as an ex owner of a Halfrauds GT i-Drive.

+1 for Peak Imaging – great service. Do my own B&W films though.

13thfloormonk – Member

I couldn't afford to finish too early in the day as I could only carrying one book and had to make it last!

Ha – I know that feeling. Used to rip out the pages already read in cheap novels and use them to start the evening campfire. Means the book gets smaller and lighter as the trip goes on 🙂

Excellent 😀 More of this kind of thing! Also looking forward to the next episode.