I actually got my van Nicholas frame indirectly through Al. Lasting memory will always be of his amazing Alladin’s cave of a workshop.

Sounds good, will have a look. Do they do archetype and miche builds? Will give them a call tomorrow.

Oh well, I asked whether they could drop their price and unfortunately they couldn’t budge at all. Their argument is that you’re getting something with a guarantee and the advice about fitting etc. That’s fair enough I guess if that’s their business model that’s up to them and to be fair they seem to be doing ok out of it. It’s obviously not worth their time and effort. I’ll buy online and get them to remove the crank for me and save myself about £80. Sorted.

I work in Dundee and studied here too. I like it a lot and don’t plan to move any time soon.

If you like dining out and shopping it perhaps isn’t the greatest but then Edinburgh and Glasgow are only an hour away on the train.

If you don’t want to live in Dundee then there are lots of nice satellite villages that are a half hour cycle commute. I live just across the Tay in Fife and have a great commute over the Tay bridge. The weather is better than most places in Scotland too – considerably more sun generally.

There is loads of scenic road cycling around the b roads in Fife and around the Tay with plenty of challenging climbs and long drawn out flats depending on what you like. In terms of mountain biking there are bits and pieces of natural trail within 30 mins – the Sidlaws, Kinnoull Hill and Pitmedden being the best of those. Within less than a couple of hours you can be at Comrie Croft, Laggan, Glentress and Innerleithen. It’s only slightly further to Glencoe or Fort William if you’re into downhill but there are some pretty good courses that are more local such as Falkland and Dunkeld (both good but too scary for me most of the time).

A lot of Scots from Glasgow or Edinburgh sometimes turn their nose up at Dundee but it’s a city undergoing a lot of change at the moment. The new V & A museum is about to begin construction and will be a huge boost for the city. It is being constructed as part of a complete overhaul of the city’s waterfront.

If the job pays a decent wage then I think you’re onto a winner. House prices in Dundee are not too bad at all and I reckon it can offer a pretty nice lifestyle too.

Hora I’ve no issues with fitting/removing everything on the bike although I’m pretty bad for forgetting to maintain things along the way. It’s the outlay for campag specific tools that has put me off this single task. It’d cost me about over £80 just for the tools to remove the cranks and then I’d never use them again as I wouldn’t go back to campag again.

Ok so say I buy the groupset online which I must admit I’m more inclined to do, I’m left with the issue of removing the campag crank arms. I’m not going to buy the tools because they’re extortionate and I’m not going to do a bodged removal because I need to sell the cranks and don’t want to damage them. Here I do need the local bile shop but they’re going to think I’m a total **** for buying elsewhere and getting them to just do that bit. How much should I expect to pay for that? <£30? It’s not difficult but I appreciate there is the 10 minutes to do it and the outlay on their tools to recover plus overheads etc.

Rocketman – you would pay 10% over internet prices or you would expect them to accept 10% over internet prices?

It would have been £450 to include fitting.

Njee20 that’s what I’ll do. I’m just trying to figure out what’s reasonable.

Having taken it all apart I can see that the shifter appears to be well lubricated as do the cables and there is no unusual resistance or sticking on these parts at all. There’s no dragging at the bb either. I’m 99% sure there’s no reason why the hanger would be out of line but you’re right I’d need to get someone with the proper tool to check it to be absolutely sure.

For those reasons I’m going to assume it’s the obvious culprits of worn chain and cassette.

Still deciding whether to go for 105 or not. It seems to get rave reviews and I’d be surprised if it operates any worse than Athena but then there are the aesthetics and weight to think about too. In saying that though I compromised on weight when I went for a titanium frame so I’m probably not too concerned about that side of things. Heart says change the worn athena parts (it really says change it all for Super Record), brain and bank account say 105, wife says tiagra (not going to happen).

No but I’m aware this would need changing too. I’d be thinking of selling my Zonda’s and getting something else instead with a Shimano freeub.

Agreed, I do like the aesthetics of Athena but I’d hate to spend money upgrading the drivetrain just to find that it hasn’t fixed the problem and I need to replace the shifter too.

I changed all the cable inner and outers and they run completely smooth.

The LBS didn’t even look at the rear mech hanger. It’s non replaceable titanium and looks true enough and I’ve no reason to think it might have been bent in a crash etc.

I wasn’t entirely convinced by their explanation of it being down to chain wear I must admit but to be honest if I was a bike mechanic and someone walked in with a chain, cassette and chainring that are clearly very worn complaining that shifting wasn’t right, I wouldn’t want to suggest any hidden problems until the obvious ones had been addressed. Whether they are the cause of the shifting problem or not they do need sorted.

A 105 groupset is £295 whereas a chain(27), cassette,(72) and big ring(100) totals around £200. Assuming I could sell the good parts of the Athena groupset for £100 I’d come out about even. I’d have a new if somewhat less desirable groupset that would work well and not cost quite as much to replace parts when necessary. I’d also be able to change the BB myself when necessary with tools I already own.

LBS have had a brief look and concluded that having changed the inner and outer cables it has to be down to wear of the chain and cassette which means an outlay of a lot of dosh. They did say that they reckoned it had all done pretty well for the 10k or so that it had done but that I should have changed my chain more regularly to prolong the inevitable (I knew that but stupidly ignored it).

Pricing up some options to go 105 now and will see if it’s worth selling the athena shifters, cranks, brakes and derailleurs on ebay as they’re actually all in really good condition. Here’s hoping it’ll go someway to contributing to the cost of 105.

Well we’ll see what the lbs say.

I know what you mean about aesthetics but that’s not my primary concern, I need to get from A to B without any hassle and do that even on a horrible winters day.

Athena just feels like it’s falling apart on me and it’s expensive to replace parts and to get tools for compared to shimano. It irritates me that I can’t remove the chainset to replace the bb without enormous expense and the fact that the shifter levers no longer sit in line with the brake levers.

If I’m honest when I bought Athena it was at a bargain price but it was beyond what I actually need and now the cost of replacing worn parts is disproportionate to my actual requirements from a groupset.

Not the cable outer unfortunately. Cables all pull smoothly and have no kinks whatsoever.

It looks like my shifters aren’t the ones with the warranty issue either.

Will take it to lbs for a diagnosis tomorrow but considering I need new chain, cassette and chainring I’ve got it in the back of my mind to just ditch the campagnolo and get some 2014 105 instead.

Will see what the lbs say first.

Thanks for the advice. I’ve not changed the cable outer but may have done previously, I can’t remember. Anyway I’m going to give that a go first before exploring any other avenues.

I did find out that there is a known issue with early models of which mine is one where a plastic bushing in the shifter wears out. There seems to be a warranty process for having this fixed though so that’ll be the next course of action if the cable outer doesn’t make any difference.

Ok so I had a bit of a look at how this can be done with wix but there still seems to be a fair bit of work involved.

I can upload a csv by adding a Shopify app. I have an excel spreadsheet that can be saved as csv but is not in the correct style for shopify which would mean I’d have to edit the 7k files in the excel document first.

Do different e commerce sites have different ways of importing csv files. Perhaps my excel spreadsheet was designed for use on a specific one?

Thanks that’s all really useful. I’ve never used an e commerce template before and am not sure how it would fit with wix. Will have a look tomorrow.

What’s wrong with a stag horn priest? Not weighted correctly, not easily cleaned?

I like that Jota180. Had to google what it actually was but it’s quite a nice thing as killing implements go and will last him all his days.

They’re not big on drinking unfortunately and I’m not sure they’re fly fishing connoisseurs as they just use it as an excuse to get outdoors and pass some pleasant time at the loch.

I’m sure the gesture and thought will probably be appreciated as much as the quality/value of the gift. Whatever I get needs to be useful and not too gimicky.

No comment on whether in general it’s a good idea or not but I have to warn you that the crossmark is not a great all round tyre. I have them and they’re pretty useless on anything that isn’t completely dry and hard packed. They’re almost as bad as nobby nics in that way.

I do have to agree with the comment above. If you’ve not got room for an x-king then you’ve probably not got room for anything that’s not going to be a severe compromise on grip for all year round / all trail riding.

Not too much use I know but tyres are expensive things these days so getting ones that rob you of confidence on the bike can be a real waste of money.

Does the high roller not come up a bit smaller than it’s stated width? Might still have problems with the profile though.

Here’s mine. I’ve since put flow rims, 2.4 maxxis ardent/advantage and a chainguide.

I’m just using the standard x fusion shock. It’s not something that i’d ever change as I don’t think the standard of my riding justifies the expense. I find the lockout useful and the shock feels good to me throughout it’s travel.

I’ve never weighed a bike and have no means to do so. I’ve a steel Orange R8 hardtail with a mix of xt and xtr so needless to say it weighs a fair bit more than that. The stability and predictability that the weight brings on the downhills makes up for the fact that the hills can be hard work. I’ve found that as I’ve gotten used to it the extra weight hasn’t really had any affect other than to make me fitter.

I’ve had one for about 4 months now and love it. I have a steel hard tail that I use for flat xc stuff but four anything else I use the bolt. Mine is built with slx 1×9 and brakes along with flow rims and sektor coil fork.

Sounds like the perfect frame for what you want. With the lock out activated you can winch up most climbs but be aware that you can’t run a front mech so single ring is obligatory.

Being fit add and strong is definitely beneficial to get the most out of it as it is a little heavier than some depending on how you build it. That said, it is well balanced and assuredly composed on downhill sections. I don’t push it to anywhere near it’s limitations but I can’t see how you’d ever break it.

I have been using it for all my rides lately as I don’t mind about a slow painful uphill but if I was bothered about keeping up with my mates on an xc route the bolt probably wouldn’t be the bike to do it on.

Should have mentioned that I previously went down the ebay route and bought very cheap – around £3 each. Great initially but they lasted for a shorter time than the halogens so false economy in the end.

I’ve just replaced all of the ones on the ground floor of my house with these. They’re a Which Magazine ‘Best Buy’and I’ve found them to be perfect. I’d say they’re brighter than the 50w halogens that they replaced and have a nicer tone of light too.

http://theledspecialist.co.uk/index.php/integral-led-gu10-5-5w-non-dimmable-3000k.html

Thanks for the responses. All very useful.

I hadn’t even realised you could save emails in to project folders in that way. That helps a lot but it’d be good if we could mirror the projects folders that are set up on Outlook in an email folder on the server. Is there any automatic way to make the filing done in outlook happen on the server at the same time?

You could just take the valve core out and inject some stans sealant into your innertube.

I had a spell about a month ago when the weather and roads got much worse when I had quite a few punctures due to thorns and rubbish on the roads along with launching into pitch dark potholes etc. I’ve since put stans in and the problem seems to have been solved. Probably just down to pure luck really but it’s a bit of extra protection. It’s not the time of year for fixing punctures in the great outdoors. :-)

Have ended up going for the Moon Crescent which seemed like a good deal from wiggle. I’ll team that up with a few of the tiny Aldi ones I have.

Would get mudguards but can’t afford them given that I use different bikes throughout the week so don’t want to buy three sets.

Will see how it goes but I might tape it up just to make sure there is absolutely no chance of any water getting in. That or just stop cycling in this monsoon weather :-)

I’ve got some endura bib longs as well as a couple of pairs of padded shorts from when I began biking. I’m 6’4” with a 34” waist so I’ll check what size my kit is when I get home and let you know.

You might want to consider going for something a bit more comfortable if it’s for road use. It was always decent kit for a few hours on a mtb but if it’s for road use and a lot of hours in the saddle then I have decided that santini bibs are the way to go (I’m size 3xl). The comfort difference is huge and they last for ages. You can probably buy them for a similar price if you’re willing to possibly go for some odd team colours or last years design.

Not knocking endura, I still buy their mtb gear and wear the stuff I bought 10 years ago but just think for long days in the saddle there are better value options.

Sorry to hijack this a bit but I’d be interested to know if the PS4 has all the same abilities that the PS3 did in terms of watching Netflix, Iplayer etc?

I’d say my PS3 is used for this type of thing 90% of the time so I’d hate to ‘upgrade’ and find that these features weren’t there or weren’t as good.

Better?

I think automation and factory forming houses in modules is a good idea but the level of investment required is so huge that there isn’t a method that is particularly cheap at the moment. Whereas with cars generally everyone wants a similar thing ie. something with 4 wheels that’ll fit around 4 people and a dog in, with houses the variation can be much more significant and costly. Equally all cars are designed for standard roads whereas there is a huge variation in site locations and conditions. Our willingness to pay for good design and construction is completely different here also. Many people are willing to pay £50k for an Audi/BMW because it’s supposedly better designed/value than the equivalent Ford but then buy a poorly constructed Barratt noddy house with no design input whatsoever.

I’m sure we’ll get there in the end but by that time we’ll be 3D printing houses rather than constructing them manually. :-)

I think Irish building regs being slightly more lenient in terms of thermal efficiency, DDA compliance and a few other things in comparison to Scotland probably helped in keeping the costs down slightly too.

I’d be pretty skeptical about containers being the answer to low cost housing. The only way to keep costs down is to do as little altering of the containers as possible and that would mean meeting space standards for low cost housing would be a problem. I do think creating modules off site is a good idea though.

Well I was right about 2 things – there is no way it cost 130k and it took about 2 hours to watch due to the ps3 crashing. :-)

I thought what he did was really nice in the end though. How I wish my family had an idylic site that I could build my house on for free.

Going to watch it tonight. Sounds good but I’m very dubious about his costs. I’ve just finished a container office building and if you discount luxury £30,000 kitchens and baths etc. the square metre rate wasn’t close to that.

I think cheers_drive has probably hit the nail on the head though. There are probably cheaper and more efficient ways of doing it, but where’s the fun in that. There is a certain amount of weight to the recycling argument too I guess.

Looking forward to watching it intermitently tonight as 4OD crashes at every ad break on the PS3 :roll:

Right then looks like I’d better get it trued in that case :-)

Received the Rab Generator in the post today. It’s perfect for what I need. The length is just right in body and arms so I’m very pleased. Thanks for all the advice.

No worries. I found one for £95 but only in red. Happy to live with the colour at that price.