1) You don’t need threadlock. I would personally not recommend it at all, except in specific exotic cases. I use engine oil (what ever is in my garage at the time), but linseed should be fine too.

2) Don’t use pliers!! Chances are they will damage the spoke.

3) With new spokes you need to put some pressure with your thumb near the elbow of the spoke. This straightens out the spoke prior to tensioning. It sounds like your spokes straightened a bit and then unwound. Spokes tend to twist a bit as you do the final tightening. Masking tape is used so you can see when the nipple is turning on the spoke vs the spoke itself turning.

4) Spokes need detensioning several times as you build the wheel. Otherwise everything goes ping, ping, ting, tong the moment you ride them.

I really recommend Roger Musens eBook. Its £9 well spent. I was trained by an excellent wheel builder and had been building wheels for 16 years before I came across it. I still learnt loads of useful tips.

I’m really happy with my Nukeproof Generators. A good (and quieter) alternative to Hope hubs. I’m running the TR rims and haven’t managed to ding them. Not too bad price wise either.

Hadn’t though of that. I could just get a spare brush head for garage work!

I can feel dirt – at the gum line. My normal toothbrush can’t get in there

Insecurity.

People feel more secure in a car than they do out of it. Hence all the road rage, but not person rage. Bigger car makes people (and in particular mums, but plenty of men too) more secure.

Personally I much prefer a lower car with less weight. Better handling and performance. I would consider a suv if I found one that was better (and the same price) than the estate/hatchback version. So far I haven’t.

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

My colleague has the Brabus version. It’s had three engines since he owned it. One replaced under warranty. Two he’s had to pay himself because they blew up in Belgium and Mercedes UK refused to honour the warranty. He’s had numerous other faults too. I paid £10k for it plus £15k in repairs. Bizarly, and despite other owners reporting the same issues, he still hasn’t got rid of it.
A friend has the normal roadster. He likes driving it and the MPG is good, but it has been far from reliable.

They don’t make sense to me.

What about a MR2?

London is essentially a different market to the rest of England. What dosn’t work in England might be doable in London. I’ve not seen the option you’re looking for on the high street. But there are 1000’s of mortgages out there and most aren’t on the high street.
It sounds like you need to speak to a mortgage broker. We paid £300 for an independant broker and saved £5k so the maths works. A good one will know the options. Don’t go to Foxtons!

Nilfisk it is.
And don’t get me started on ants… 1 man war against them for the last 3 years

I’m looking at the low end. Just need to turn my patio from green to beige. Looks like it’s 2-1 Nilfisk. Anyone else?

@Drac – why superior?

About 3-4 weeks. Week 2 is the hard one. The itch…….

First beard is always a bit scruffy. Give it 3 months. Shave and regrow.

Trimming you cheeks and neck line will smarten it up while its growing. The europeans call in designer stubble.

If you get decent rust free doors then I would expect to pay £200 – 500 for the paint job. Avoid any BS about needing to blow over adjacent panels. Just t-cut the older panels to bring them up shiney again.

I got a cowboy job done on a wing of my old focus for £125. I regreted it as it went rusty after 2 months. He messed up the prep. Doors in less than perfect condition will need more work = more money. Allow 2 – 3 hours labour to fit door and transfer door cards etc.

£450 plus insurance hit sounds cheaper. But depends where you live/how old etc.

In the end I got a wing off ebay the same colour and a couple of cans of spray from Halfords to touch up some scratches. £40 all in. Looked as new. I can spray well though. It does take practice though.

Are we sure he’s dead? I mean, I saw him crushed by concrete, shot by a tank and cut in half. 5 minutes later he was back from the dead. Could this be his best trick to date?!

Always enjoyed his shows. RIP.

Auto headlights
Auto rain sensing wipers
Climate control
Traction control
ESP
zero tax rate
Keyless entry
Keyless start

Bear in mind how much of that you actually need. Then consider if any of it goes wrong it will likely cost a small fortune. Toyota reliability is unfortunately offset by the price of parts.
Presumably you would be driving in the city where parking is an issue? If not then something a little bigger is probably more sensensible

Nicely built. Didn’t realise Genesis had started doing flat bar versions. I’ve been thinking of a flatbar road type bike for a while. I was set on a Cotic Roadrat. Not too many frames out there long enough to take a flatbar without feeling too upright (like my Charge Filter).

£400 for the frame is a lot though, especially compared to the £350 for the roadrat?

Thursday shirts. That was it!
Plus a few I’ve not heard of before.
Thanks everyone.

Copper slip (grease) stops the pad seizing against the piston. Reduces or stops vibration. Standard procedure on cars and motorbikes.

Raised by Wolves. (Sitcom)
Steve Backshall extreme mountain thing. But not if don’t like heights, clostraphobia or massive bugs.

just because someone is dead for a particular reason, doesn’t mean you should forget the person they were when they were alive, and only remember the reason they died.

A really valuable point. (and much better put than me!)

Agree.
If it was rememberance Sunday then fair point. But at the moment it’s a piece of rock – get over it.

I spent much of the ages of 17-18 going sideways in an XR2i round the war memomrial in my home town. That didn’t make the papers.

No to cork tiles. Its not the 80’s! (Sorry)
Cannot remove the ply as the boards run under walls. It took me two days with a circular saw and multitool just getting access to wiring elsewhere.

Bathroom laminate sounds like an option. Does anyone have any experience of this in terms of water resistance?

Still waiting.
It infuriates me that I have to plug my laptop in every few hours. Why have they not come of a way of sending electricity by magic?!

Starch the collar and cuffs on your shirt. Avoid shirts that crease too easily. There are plenty of high quality low iron shirts. Ted Baker are worth a look for shirts.

Make sure hankerchief is starched, ironed and matches the tie.
Assuming the suit fits you properly then it’s the details that make one look scruffy. Suit fashon also changes annoyingly often. You might look smart at home, but then you go out and spot someone in a brand new suit. Subconciously you think you look scruffy.

The smartest looking people tend not to wear suits….

Have you tried a different wheel to confirm its the spokes? I’ve seen wheels withh creaky spokes, but normally the spokes are so loose it’s obvious.

Are you on a mobile by any chance? I had this problem with my phone and a blue light filter app. I paused the app and hey presto I ould login.

Why not make a handle? A bit of steel bar, drill out most of the waste, then use a needle file to remove the rest. A few squids and an hours work.

Hamax Siesta.

Drivers behind can see I have a child on my bike. Didn’t appreciate the wedgy I got the other day though when my daughter grabbed hold of my boxers elastic!

Alternatively, could you file a flat on the opposite side? Then use a open ended spanner.

If filing is not an option then stilsons might work. Probably neeed a small pair though and they might chew up the rod.

What tool out of interest?

Looks like the most cost effective solution, without compromising on safety would be the Altera bars at £125. They work with my existing Thule carriers. Plus I can eBay my Thule bars to recoup some cost.

Just cannot justify the cost of a towbar setup.

£200 plus the £300 for the carrier….

IMO avoid anything with a glass roof. The kids get bored of it after a couple of days. Then you just have a potential expensive repair bill sitting over your head. They aren’t covered by windscreen insurance. Only takes a stone chip and you need a new roof. £1000 plus depending on car or take the hit on your no claims bonus. Either way there is no good reason to have one.

Honda Jazz makes sense in terms of being a good car. Magic rear seats make it very practical indeed.

Fiesta is better to drive though. Check them carefully for rust though. Dealer told my brother that they’d been coming out of the factory with rust!
Seat Ibiza is also very good to drive – netter than the polo.

I’ve been debating the towbar option. But I’ve already got roof carriers and the bars. Cannot afford the towbar carrier.
Plus for far less money I could just buy Altera bars

We got a Mamas & Papas Solo. Works well offroad and around town. Plenty of luggage space. We walk to Tesco every other day so nice not to have to carry the shopping. Goes in a MK1 Focus no problem. We paid about £325 new with car seat adapters. Not too bad if it does both our kids.

After 9 months we got an umbrella type buggy. Takes up less space in the hallway.

@andypandy85
I would suggest also looking at an apprenticeship if you are looking at paying tuition fees. In my field (Marine Biology) a BSc. will get you a job at pretty much apprenticeship level. The difference being you get paid (a pitance) rather than having scary amounts of debt to pay off. A good enrionmental science company will often pay for promising employees to do a degree/masters/PhD at a later date.

I’ve got a BSc. and and MSc. It cost me £9k in fees plus 4.5 hrs living costs (MSc was funded by EU). The fees would now cost £18k+ With the numbers I paid it just about works out. With todays numbers I wouldn’t do it. You’ll never get rich doing environmental science. But you also need to be careful to make sure you don’t get poor!

I would recommend Mendeley for referencing. It’s brilliant! I also recommend teaching yourself to read on screen rather than printing out papers and highlighting. With Mendeley you can highlight the PDF. You don’t then lose the paper on the floor at 2am.

I also recommend staying well away from Endnote. It will ruin you life by crashing at 3am the day of your deadline. Then Endnote demand £200 for the latest version to fix the problem. Especially true if you’re on Office 365. Endnote seems to always be behind the current version of Word

Other than that an undergrad is about discipline. If you go out and get wrecked in the student bars every night you’ll get a carp result. Get organised and do the work an you’ll get a good mark.

I was thinking Soul too, although I’m not sure about tyre clearance.
That said the Latutude is £100 cheaper and looks awesome. Not sure about Mjölnir chromoly. I only heard of it a year ago. Does anyone know if it’s any good?

Bump!

+1 for the Easton Haven. It’s a work of art.

I’m now tempted to go down the private sale route. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone with a spare car. Or even a second car.

I know loads of people like the civic. We’re just not getting on with it. I don’t trust the glass roof to carry any more than one bike on it for example. Its going. Oddly ever other car I’ve had has been a Ford.