I quite like my Duster. Its certainly not the lightest frame, but it rides well.

Onza – look on Autotrader at owner reviews. Honest John also is also worth a look

Kia = 7 year warranty. We nearly bought a Ceed the other week, but my mrs is short and couldn’t use the clutch without banging her knees on the steering column. Very good specs for the money though.

We then looked at Astra’s and a Focus. Bought the Focus in the end.

How many miles do you do a year? Do you definitely need a diesel?

+1 I was going to say that.

Used car trade is virtually dead at the moment. I saw an 09 Vaux Astra with 14 miles on it last week for £7k.

Steel will be fine. As long as it fits you and you’re happy with it, it doesn’t really matter what its made off.

ps decent race wheels (+tyres/tubs) will benefit you far more than a fancy frame.

pps it’s your fitness that counts not what your bike frame is made of.

Here are some between £200 and £300 that are meant to be good

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V £300/320

Samsung ex 1 £300

Olympus xz 1 £315

Canon powershot s95 £290/300

Two cheaper options – approx £200/220

Canon PowerShot SX220

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10

We stayed here Day one[/url] and here Day two[/url]

Leave the car at Offas Dyke visitor centre

Day one – The first place was in an excellent setting (nice farm, drying room with washer – we stayed in the bunkhouse)-the only thing that let it down was (we think) the owners had just had a good row and were a little miserable. Saying that the wife did transfer some luggage for us, as a taxi had let us down on day two. They also had some pigs (they make strange noise when you scratch their backs) and let us wash the bikes with their hose.

Day two – just a basic rural welsh pub – had pool table and dart board -owners friendly -room a little basic, but overall ok. We put our bikes in their garage.

When you finish in Mach go to the pizza place (under the arch near the T junction) Pizza’s were very good, as was the accompanying cool lager.

The climbing on the first morning is tough (steep/ grassy). The afternoon is much easier. Stop at the village shop for lunch. Day two is long so set off fairly early. Day three was tougher than I expected. Get ready for longs climbs and good views. Take some comfy shorts.

Ps I bought the maps off IMBA (they are based on very old maps), but re made them with OS getamap and laminated them. Its worth checking junctions fairly well. If you can read a map you don’t need a GPS.

You could try Rockshox Recon Gold RLs. They are available for £190 -200 new. Aletrnatively you can get Rebas for about £250-270.

My Rockshox recon SLs are over 2 years old and still going strong. They’ve managed lots of XC stuff including Trans Cambrian, Kielder 100 etc.

How about a magnetic sheet at the bottom of the box to hold them in place – not sure if this would be strong enough but it would save you faffing about cutting holes in foam etc.

edit; just checked on eBay for magnetic strip and there’s loads

Just play with the margins to fit more text in. Obviously make it nice and clear to read. Good luck

I used to use a 42 and a 12-27 cassette. I didn’t use a guide/ keeper.

Stripping excess card from between christmas cards (they were bulk printed on very large sheets that had been partly perforated). Luckily I only needed to do it for two weeks to top my holiday spending money up.

Twas very dull, it knackered your hands & back and the pay was bobbins.

If you need to get at the back of the dent most car door trims are very easy to take off. I worked for Autoglass one summer and was suprised how easy it is to remove the trim. You will then have access to the back of the dent to push it out.

If you have a traditional window winder (as opposed to electric windows) these just pull off. Some door handles may be screwed on – if this is the case you normally have to lever a small cover off to get at the screws. Once the handle/ winder are off you can normally just prise the trim off.

Montane featherlite and breathable in the same sentence – not in my experience. I got rid of mine after wearing it 4 times. It was terrible.
Unless you get a jacket that is heavily discounted, you won’t get a breathable jacket for 25 quid.

You could do one of the Spud Riley routes
Route – two options

You could always nip to the Llama farm at Ringinglow – 1.5 miles from Sheffield – near Houndkirk/Roman road (alpaca farm mainly but it doesn’t sound as good).

Graves park is good for a wander round. There’s also pitch and putt and a city farm there too.

Heeley city farm – not been, but mean’t to be good.

This place is great East & West[/url] -plastic tables etc but food is fantastic.

Antiques/ junk shops down near to Heeley baths are worth wandering round.

Netheredge/ Sharrowvale market – need to check dates. Not sure when next ones are.

Forge dam – walk/ bike up the Porter valley from Endcliffe park (follow the blue peak district cycle signs).

One of my favorite places is Graves art gallery (above the library very close to the Crucible/ millenium galleries) Weston park museum is also worth a visit too.

You don’t need to use a spacer on the non drive side if its a very small amount of thread showing.

dow corning is quite good

Basic turbo and a cheap HRM.

Interval sessions, hill reps and some sprint sessions from Jan-Feb through to start of racing season. Just build these into your commute if you are short on time. I was in a club and our coach gave me a basic plan to follow.

Use a HRM too & don’t try to ride hard all the time. Its all about quality rather than quantity.

Do a recovery ride the day after you race – i found this really useful (fairly high cadence + low HR).

Also when racing, concentrate alot on bunch position, stay near the front and watch the stronger riders. Its alot easier being near the front, than hanging on and chasing out of corners at the back.

Good luck.

Just go for a poo. It’s far more cost effective (and or lose some weight generally).

Just clean it. i think my duster is made of scaffold (its not that lightweight) so should last a very long time before it rusts through.

When it does go rusty i’m just getting it resprayed

56 will be a bit big/ long for your height. I’d suggest something a 52 or perhaps 54.

The longest training ride i did was 6 hours (very hilly 50 mile Dark Peak route); and i managed to finish. You can do it!

Set off steady, eat and drink regularly and you’ll be fine.

Put some nice stuff in your drop bag too – esp savoury stuff. Oh and some clean socks; I found these were a nice bonus half way round.

Good luck

2 is bearable, but it could do with being simplified.

Think clean and simple. A good logo should also work in multiple colours.

Currently using UN54 BB with no problems. About £13 to 16 at the moment.
Obviously if you want to spend more you could go for royce or phil wood etc.

orbit xl2 here too. I clean the bearings with a cloth every 8 or so months and smear a bit of grease on it.
2 years so far. Cost £20.

Ksyrium elites are very good. Mine are 8 years old and still going strong. They’ve done plenty of road races, cyclo cross (incl 3 peaks) helvellyn triathlon and lots of general riding.
ps I haven’t ever serviced them.

When they wear out i’ll either buy another set or get some hope mono 3’s on mavic open pro cd

You lot wanna get upgrading – everyone knows that the the future is square taper 😀

Weebly[/url]

I’ve used this before and found it quite easy to use

Another vote for the granit here

Mavic Ksyrium elites – mine are about 7 years old and are probably the best bike purchase i’ve made over the years.

much cheaper

Got a nice smile off Jessica Ennis in Eccy woods two weeks ago. She was out walking a dog.

Get a miele. We had a cylinder model with a bag (in a rented house); it it was far far better than our Dyson (now at the tip).

Primo PDF

I use this at work and it’s pretty good

My back went before xmas. I went to 3 physio sessions and did exercises twice a day for 2 months. I was back on the bike and running about 3.5 weeks. Since getting better i’ve been to a yoga beginners class once a week and it has helped no end (just watch out for ladies f@rting – it can be a bit of a shock to the system 😯 )

If you sit at a desk all day I would suggest getting a good chair – they may cost a bit, but are well worth it in the long run – we got a Herman Miller Mirra of eBay for about £200 (if your feeling flush you could go for the Aeron) – its really comfy and very adjustable.

DT swiss

According to DT swiss its 540mm

Voodoo Marasa
I’ve just bought a Marasa for commuting and a bit of light touring. Its been out twice so far and rides pretty nicely. I did strip it and rebuild it before riding it – the bottom bracket had been fitted dry, which wasn’t great.

Other than that it rides well (it’s much quicker than my old rigid steel kona cindercone with slicks on).

this is better than i hate god 8)