Easy enough to repair.

Useful things to have:
A powerlink (a special chain link that can be used to join a chain without needing any tools)
A chain tool (from any bike shop or online retailer) or, most multitools (tools to take with you on a ride for minor adjustments/repairs) include a chain tool some of which are good quality.
Some spare chain links

To fix:

If there are any twisted links, they’ll need to be removed using the chain tool.
Then add (if you have any*) enough spare links to make up for the damaged ones you have removed, again using the chain tool. You’ll need to end up with an undamaged inner link on one end of the chain. If you have a powerlink you’ll need an inner link at the other end too; if not, it needs to be an outer link.
Make sure the chain is threaded through both mechs correctly. Take some tension off by dropping the chain off the front chainring.
If using a powerlink, fit it. If not, use the chain tool again.
Ride off.

*If you don’t have any spare chain links you can usually get away with a missing link or so but you need to ensure you never shift into large/large.

Golden rules:
If the chain breaks a second time, replace it.
Do not expect a chain ‘repaired’ with pliers/hammers/rocks in the absence of a chain tool to last very long

Thanks all. Tried again as per Hope’s video, and it seems fine now.

Next up, bleeding some Maguras. Now they ARE a syringe at the caliper job, I believe.

OK, I’ll have another go later. It is annoying as this was a working, if not perfectly, brake and now it is useless. Probably my numptiness!

I’m bleeding them by:
1. Removing the reservior cap and its seal
2. Opening the bleed nipple a 1/4 turn
3. Squeezing the lever

…but oil drips out freely at #2 when (I think) it shouldn’t happen until #3

bump for the morning crowd. Or maybe no-one knows…

I’m quite happy, even as an ex-windsurfer, to see that go in favour of kitesurfing. Mostly because the sort of boards they race at the Olympics are utterly irrelevant to anything anyone would actually use these days.

Golf though…

An STW baby name? Has to be Robyn

That one at Hurley is pretty good. I’ve camped there even though I practically live in Windsor!

Put another way, if wooden bits of your house have been damp for ages, they will already have woodworm in. If your house is warm and dry, woodworm are not going to start eating your house.

Bringing in some logs won’t change anything.

Woodworm can’t survive in houses with modern heating. They need cool and damp conditions (your logs).

Just burn all your logs normally.

In Holland, everyone cycles, at least some of the time. Old, young, fat, thin, fit, unfit, rich, poor. And that makes a big difference in provision for cycling, and in driver’s expectation/behaviour.

It is, there, simply a way of travelling medium distances. Almost all bikes used are ‘rubbish’ in a sporting sense, but perfect for getting around and leaving somewhere while you are in the shops/bars/work.

But it is a cultural thing and that will not happen here in my lifetime.

I grew up in Holland. It was ace!

Auron, for example.

Or Isola 2000.

Get a lion to p*ss on the bed. Simples!

Bah. Beaten to it

I have a Buffalo Linkstation for exactly that purpose. It comes with some backup software that seems not to work on Windows 7. So I use Comodo, which is free.

But how much so they need to backup i.e. how much actual unique ‘data’ do they have? Would it all fit on dropbox etc.? For me there are a few important documents, and a lot of photos. The rest of the stuff on the PCs doesn’t actually need backing up (operating system, music, recorded TV).

They are fine for XC, even if your wheels leave the ground sometimes.

I’ve never had to touch the wheels I built, though they were re-rimmed rather than built from scratch. I stress-relieved by squeezing spokes together (and I greased the nipples first).

Hell no – take a photo as it is. Don’t forget to remind them that you’ve had to replace the wheels/cranks/anything else you can think of. And as muddy as possible!

Team PA. Not my own, sadly!

The PA posts again just to remind CFH that there are other rivals for her attention…

Sadly I’m out as I have to do taxi duties for my daughter all day.

Duh! That is obviously his PA posting. Surprised she didn’t bold the “buy a little something to keep the PA happy”.

Even Alfa said the SZ (Il mostro) was ugly. And it is. But also rather wonderful.

I used to have an older A6 quattro. While it was good in the snow it didn’t actually help because everyone else on the road has 2wd and are in your way.

I now have a current generation A6, but it is 2wd (because of the above). Mine has 18″ and is fine. I did test drive a 19″ and that was OK too, for me. The Bose sounds pretty good but I haven’t compared it to a non-Bose car. And yes, the S line ‘sports’ seats are wider than you’d think (and wider than me).

On reliability there is nothing much to report. Most of the common issues were fixed in the 2008 facelift.

Forgot to add that a bike will fit in the boot of the saloon with the wheels off.

Just ask your chosen agent for a lower rate. I did, they said yes and that meant I saved £1500 just for taking 30 seconds to ask one question.

I have a 2010. I quite like it. It will, surprise surprise, take pretty much the same kit as a standard Mule. I usually have a mountain morph pump, water/windproof, first aid kit and a couple of spare tubes in mine (and a heap of smaller stuff). I can get sandwiches in too, just.

It seems a lot less sweaty to me vs. my old standard mule, but I still sweat.

I’ve never noticed a raincover!

I can still make it, and can still help with guiding/sweeping.

I’m in. Can guide or sweep if necessary, but not at fast group pace…

I just sent a single red rose. It made the chief bridesmaid cry. My wife still has the rose and we’ve been married 19 years.

Hi, what kind of bike do you ride?

Do you need some help getting links to work in this forum?

CB 17 as well. I’d buy another. Not that I think I’ll ever need to.

If you are doing the fitting, also consider http://www.discountkitchenfactory.co.uk . The quality, for the money, is amazing. I just replaced the doors, and the odd cabinet, rather than the whole kitchen though.

Also based on 20 years ago, but still should be good…

By law, all beaches are public. This means that although staying somewhere else, you can rock up at Sandy Lane in a tatty rented mini moke, amble through reception, and plonk yourself on the beach in front.

As above, public transport is a good alternative to car hire or taxi. There is official public transport which is fine, and there are also reggae buses which are cheaper, more crowded, and … louder. I know which I prefer.

Hurricane season. Well, it is a risk. But most years, and most weeks in even the worst years, Barbados is not hit by a hurricane. However, it is likely that it will rain sometimes. When it does, the sky really does fall in. 20 minutes after is stops there is no sign it ever rained.

Food. As almost everything has to be imported, self-catering is expensive and a pain. As above, much better to use the local restaurants.

It is quite possible to find ‘deserted’ beaches, if you have transport. If someone appears and offers you a fresh coconut, he’ll want paying. Agree the price first.

It is a very chilled place.

Black Hope 20mm Pro II, black Mavic 717, ACI DB spokes comes up as £108 at Merlin (for just the front). Is that too much?

I am 383rd in line to the throne.

I am also distantly related to Osama bin Laden

I got my last few from CRC. They were hard to find on the website IIRC

Although putting ‘spokes’ into their search box turns them up pretty easily.

17.99 for 36 DT comps. That’s pretty good!

Not as apt as it used to be, but from time to time it is bang on…

Don’t delete comments!

Turn off screen updating while you do the heavy lifting (and turn it on again afterwards).

Yes.

Rolled my mother’s car. Broke the steering wheel and rear-view mirror with my head. Came to upside down thinking ‘well this is remarkably comfortable considering!’. Thought I’d better get out, but I suspected that the door wouldn’t open so tried to get out through the driver’s door window. Couldn’t, so got out through the passenger door window instead.

Once I’d recovered my senses it became obvious that I couldn’t get out the drivers door window was because it was only about 2″ high.

No one hurt except me. Phew!

DS spokes are always tighter*… because they do indeed need to move the rim towards the tight (drive) side, so as to leave room at the hub for the cassette.

Tighter is good, to a point, which is why the most common spoke breakages are rear non-drive side.

* except possibly for 150mm hubs, or some SS-specific hubs, or with some rims that have offset spoke holes.

Sometime around ’87 or ’88. It would have been the North Downs starting from the then bike hire shop in Westcott.

I could show you around. I usually start from the lookout and actually know the Crowthorne side least.

I am an axe murderer though.

I’m using a full suss on the turbo and nothing disastrous has happened yet.

But it would make more sense to buy a second hand heap especially.

Someone will have a 1 1/4″ steerer fork hoarded in their shed. However, you’ll struggle to find 1 1/4″ headsets anywhere (do you have a whole headset?).

Reducers exist(ed) but may be hard to find at ratbike prices.

I’m still riding a 1 1/4″ bike but I’m down to my last headset and that won’t survive many more wet rides.