Basically wife fainted after a c section and her shoulder touched a radiator. Nurse was there and they say she only touched it for a couple of seconds, but she has a large severe burn over her shoulder. 6 months later it is still very visible and certainly isn’t fading. I don’t know about you but I have never before heard of radiators that are so hot they burn within a couple of seconds. Basically some one in facilities wasn’t doing their job and radiators in places like hospitals should be checked regularly and more often than not covered.

We are in Bristol and don’t necessarily want to sue the NHS but want to be in a position that if things get worse and my wife decides she wants something like plastic surgery to hide the scarring then she is in a position to have it carried out. Basically they screwed up and have never offered any way forward or advice/help. Burn scars may take years bto heal but don’t want an upset wife in 2/3 years and it is then to late to do anything about it. Agree accidents happen but this was negligence by the facilities contractors. They are the experts and are in the wrong so should at least offer a way forward to resolve things

We have been burgled a couple of times and my view is that once they start kicking the door or window in then they will probably get in or damage things so much that you have to claim on insurance, premiums go up and all in all it costs you a bloody fortune for years to come. We put up a security camera to try and deter people and looking at getting an infrared beam alarm. Basically if they come up to near the back of the house and break the beam then the alarm goes off and is so bloody loud they can’t stay in the area. I know you can get commercial versions just need to find a cheaper domestic version

Not just that why is Kashima so bloody expensive. I think its only a coating like anodisation, you could get them gold platted for £30

Of course they are OEM and not in boxes, with instructions, etc. How else do you think CRC, Merlin, Wiggle get there prices so low compared to your local bike shop. Shame about the description being wrong and to be fair I do think they should mark them as OEM but you get what you pay for. If a price is to good to be true then it usually is. Then again you still get cracking almost identical kit for a uber cheap price. I think it also helps to get around import duties as I seem to remember whole bikes are cheaper than parts.

Cool I will give this ago

Also found http://www.vipbox.tv which seems to stream every channel

Tried lots of cheap and cheerful hydration packs and they are always crap, uncomfortable, fall apart, bite valves are useless and leak. I know they cost loads more but Camelbacks just have the quality, last for ages and get the job down. They also just always seem to fit and you don’t get they annoying bit digging in like competitors, I include big names like Deuter and Salomon.

However not to spoil the fun, that is a bloody good bargain

Might be worth waiting for the Amazon tablet that is due out August/September. Tablets are really all about the end to end experience and the others on the market so far have found it really hard to also compete with Apple on price, weight and battery life. Amazon tablet might be able to compete as they have a whole ecosystem behind the scenes to push and manage content and apps. You only have to look at the Kindle 3G to see a well thought out simple device. I still find it amazing that I can download a magazine to the Kindle on a beach in Greece and it costs me nothing network wise. You buy the mag or book and Amazon just deal with the rest of getting it to you and all the cost involved. No need to log onto networks, find wifi, have separate data package etc. I think if they can bring this type of thing to the tablet market then they might be onto an iPad killer.

ARM announced last week that their sales figures for chips were predicted to be down as loads of manufactures are putting tablets releases on hold or scaling back production as they just cant work out a way to compete with Apple yet. I think they have realised its not just the hardware specs.

Until they can work out a better complete ecosystem and experience for the bog standard non IT consumer then I think they will struggle with Apple.

I would get an iPad or wait for the Amazon tablet and see what they is like.

Can anyone recommend anything?

Have a search on the internet there are loads of programs but it looks like they all cost

http://www.reincubate.com/labs/iphone-backup-extractor-how-extract-files-iphone-backup-windows/#http://s.reincubate.com/res/i/labs/iphonebe/3_wizard.png

I would try getting hold of another iphone and reimage. Then use the free program from Carphone Warehouse called MY Hub to back up all your contacts. You can then use it to load contacts onto your replacement phone.

I had a problem where my wife’s iPhone wouldn’t sync with iTunes as it wanted to blank the iPhone first. Used My Hub to get contacts off and then back on after a fresh iTunes sync.

Wix.com would be alright but it generates a flash website so not compatible with iPhones, iPads, etc. All depends on what you are selling. For us as we sell iPad accessories this was a no no.

Moonfruit is another flash website builder that is easy to use

My advice would be go with something really easy as you will learn so much and have so many ideas when you design it that you will want to to change it in the future anyway. If your business is successful then before you know it it will be the back end administration of sales that you will be more interested in as this is where loads of time is taken up. We are looking at a redesign so that we can get a e-commerce back end that deals with shipping labels, invoices, notification email, etc

Why not try somewhere like All Bar One on Corn St for food, pretty large table, easy going and beer is really good. Late night music wise it all depends on what you like, loads of students in Bristol so lots of clubs are shit holes but it all depends on what you like.

If you want something quick and easy then use Paypal and just add buttons and cart onto web pages. We started off this way just using iWeb on the mac. Very quick and easy to get something up and running. Other options are things like Shopify but you have to pay a monthly fee as well as a transaction fee. Drop me an email and I can give some advice as I have gone through this in the last year or two.

Also look at
Magento
Vollusion
Big cartel

Got nowt even though applied for the MTBing, now they are saying there are MTB tickets available, whats that about. I now have to reapply even though they have all my details. Why didn’t they just give me some in the first round!

Personally I prefer shorter courses so you do lots of quick laps and and have mainly single track and not grass and fire road riding to get the distance up. For me MM is a bit to long but I can see a lot of people love that. I’m not into 50km – 100km rides as they seem dull to me as there is always loads of road or bridleways but some people just love long distances. Closet roadies if you ask me! ;-)

I think that’s why the Bikefest in Bristol always does well as you can really get the stop watch out, save a minute or two per lap and can get just one more in before the end. With MM one slow lap and it kills that off as there is too much time to make up.

I think MM should be around 45 min for the average team

Normally you can’t online but you should be able to do it over the phone. You can with HSBC and First Direct. Charges are anywhere from £10 to £20. You will need the IBAN and SWIFT numberss

Forgot to say I would have one for £9. Perfect for summer beach holiday and for putting the car keys in whilst surfing.

Would prefer a proper waterproof case not just a waterproof bag but I guess it wouldnt be £9.

Mr Agreeable, new area for development sounds exciting, where might that be? Always wondered why over the years no trails have been built to the south side of the lower quarry trail. Lovely bit of tapered hill side with loads of natural bomb holes, drop offs etc. A meandering cross hill trail, Afan esk, would be cool.

New trails actually look like they will be quite technical at high speed once they have bedded in and gone a bit back to nature. Give it a year and I think they will be sweet, right at our door and no need for the bridge toll for some cool riding!

At the end of the day AC has become f*cked over the years just simply because of the amount of riders. The quarry trail used to be sweat single track trail instead of the diveted mudfess it was, even with all the sterling work of the trail building group. Not only was AC generally crap to ride it was looking a bloody mess which must have just wound up the AC authorities. We now have a whole bunch of cash and a brand new trail that might not be to everyones liking but doesn’t half sort out the long term issues (drainage, mud). Leigh Woods is in an even worse state and looks terrible (granted them chopping a whole load of trees down hasn’t helped). Mountain biking is meant to be about getting one with nature not wrecking the place. Hopefully the new trail in LW will divert people off the old trails and let them repair.

My view is that mountain biking in AC and LW is not possible long term wise with such large numbers of riders without these new types of trail getting built. I think riders that remember the old days with lovely narrow single track just have to take off the rose tinted glasses and realise that its no more and AC was just trashed. I also have a massive respect for everyone that has organised these developments as even if you don’t like the trail style at least they are getting off their arses and doing something about it.

Great show well done guys for organising, really enjoyed it and great to see such craftsmanship.

To be fair I have never bought any Superstar parts but god the mention of Dave Hinde got me ready to kick off. I thought I had forgotten about that crock. Really can’t believe he is still in business.

Warranty and mountain bikes is always a dodgy area as there are just to many ways to knacker a part. Can’t think of any time in the last 15 years of building a bikes when I have ever warrantied a failed part, maybe I should and not assumed it was just bad luck.

Talking about warranties is there not a European law that says manufacturers have to warranty a product for the expected life of the product and not just say 12 months. Love to see how that would apply with mountain bikes.

Guys, why don’t we cut Superstar some slack. Is it not great new that a british company is trying to do something new and expanding. Granted the first bikes might be a bit hit and miss but I bet so were the first Orange and Pace frames. I think good on them for giving it a go and opening up the bike market and showing all the big companies how much they are ripping us off by. Near enough everything is made in the far east now so not worried about quality, who says the design teams in Taiwan aren’t the brains behind many of the suspensions designs anyway.

If you have published it first check if you can view the website from your mobile me account. This works then there is a problem with your domain name. If you can’t see anything then you have a publishing problem. I do things slightly differently as I don’t have a mobile me account so publish the website locally and then FTP up to my web storage.

We’ve been burgled a few times so insurance is hard to get at a cheap price. I have bikes on a separate policy with Evans and Home with Tesco. Renewal all in this year was going to be £1200. Moved home insurance to Ageas through a broker called Fresh insurance and swapped from Evans insurance to Cycleguard (all done by the same company). All in for both £650, so just under half of my renewal. Still very high when M&S was £280 but then rejected us because of the claims.

If you insure your bikes separately be careful as some companies only cover you if the bikes are locked in the home or in a brick garage i.e your not covered if they are in a shed

I’m 6’2″ and running a large. It is a bit to small for me and had to put a longer stem on but the XL is like a farm gate. I would try them as the sizing is a bit odd compared t say a trek/specialised. I also found by putting a longer stem on the handling improved and geometry felt better.

My Scott Genius carbon creaks like a bugger all the time near the headset and especially when hard braking to a stop. Played with lots of things and no luck. Probably needs the headset removing and resiting. I wonder if this is just a problem with carbon frames

Who is more likely to sell of the nations forests, the government or the royals. As mountain bikers and lovers of the countryside I think the royals are much more likely to want to save the forests than the government. I reckon they are on our side and its good to have someone at least try to keep the government in check. If you ask me they should speak their minds more, like Charlie, fair doos for having a view and how long has he been banging on about the environment? Might have a point….

Mine has had a wooshing sound from new and continued after being serviced by Pace. Might be worth giving your service centre a ring as they should be able to confirm if it is normal or not. Mine only happens on the trail and you cant really replicate in the garage.

How about one of these

http://www.thegyrobike.com/Default.asp

Genius idea but a tad expensive at £70 for just a wheel

Websites where your username can’t just be your email address so you have to think up some weird username you never remember. Passwords that have to be some complicated alpha numeric with capitals. It’s a bike shop login in not your online bank. Just makes using the site such a pain as each time you have to go through the hasslel of requesting and changing yourl password.

Just integrate google to do the search as it then finds miss spellings, abbreviations.
Show me all the search findings on one long page, not loads of pages with 10 products on each.
Think about product categories better and allow the ability to get to a product from more than one way. Especially important for spares and odds and sods.

It’s not so difficult to make the website resilient enough to handle all the traffic but it will cost you. Bandwidth, processing and space pricing goes up exponentially so whats the point in paying £100,000’s for computing power that is only needed for a few days when a site first goes live. We would all then be slaging them off for wasting money. Cloud computing can be up and down scaled quickly but the companies that provide it are not stupid and charge a fortune if you want the capacity and especially if you want it quickly. To be honest it is just a fact of life at the moment and especially when a new service goes live and demand is going to spike for a few days. Even the likes of Apple and Microsoft have problems like this when they release new software updates. When Apple released FaceTime for the Mac the webpage didn’t work for days.

Use http://www.99designs.com Worked for me and cheap and quick way to get loads of ideas

I use all 3. Bit of a faff to setup at least the way I could get it to work. Works a treat now and makes sure my MAC, iPhone and iPad are all synced. Couldn’t get iCal to work so just use Google for the calendar when on the MAC.

If Mobile Me wasn’t a rip off it would make life a lot easier

I too pondered this a year ago as there didn’t seem to be much difference apart from price. I plumped for BB5 and generally have been disappointed as there isn’t much stopping power. However I don’t know if this is because of the BB5s or if it’s my setup. I agree with TandemJeremy that the BB5s are a faff to setup as only one pad works.

If I was buying again then I would look at the Shimano Deore disks you can get and that are bikes like the Genesis Croix De Fer as Shimano never make anything that is poor. Avid can be a bit hit or miss.

I also found it quit hard to find the road specific BB5s and had to order from a local IBS and therefore paid a packet.

Sorry that doesn’t really answer your question

Went to the Peak District recently and what a stunning place. Only problem is that it is so far from the sea. Every village we went through I thought I could live in.

I lived in Wales for a number of years and absolutely love it. People are just so much more friendly than the english. Recently headed over to the area around Brechfa and thought that was a lovely place to live.

Weather wise Wales is cool, just rains a little bit more than the southwest but not that much.

I have an Omega Seamaster and a Panerai which I am very happy with but I have to say that premium watches are a bit of a con. When I was buying the Panerai earlier this year and searching around I found out from a number of jewellers that the mechanisms for watches such as Omega, TAG, Panerai and nearly every other make are all made in a couple of factories in Switzerland and are not made by the aforementioned brands. I was actually quite gutted about his as I always though that by buying an Omega you are getting all their knowledge and craftsmanship.

To be honest a £30 Swatch watch is probably just as reliable as a Omega and doesn’t need a service every few years but once you have a premium watch there is a funny type of addiction that overtakes you. You also become a real watch snob!

As someone who has worked in software development for years, my advice would be to write each detail down in a spec and go over it time and time again to get all the detail described. This will take time but will save you a fortune if your employing someone to develop the site. Remember rework costs you money so try and get it right first time.

Have a look at Elance to recruit a web developer. This website hooks you up with people around the world and often hourly rates are loads cheaper than UK developers. I have used it a lot and found it really helpful to find freelance staff. There are also loads of people that can use web templates to develop a website for you cheaper than one created from scratch.

Unless your web developer is really skilled employ a graphic designer to design the look and style of the site so that it really jumps out.

Good Luck

Certainly never been a Tory supporter but the cuts seem quite fair to me. God knows how we have got into a situation where state spending has doubled in 10 years and thats not including the bank bailout. Where is all this money going!! There seems to be far to much waste and people living off the state. There needs to be a wholesale review of what we actually think the states responsibility is. What makes me really sick is that because there are so many people scrounging off the state in all manner of ways, the people that really need the money (child carers, soldiers with their legs blown off, handicap people, cancer suffers, proper asylum seekers) don’t get what they need. Its a bloody disgrace. Why are we paying for people to get more on benefits than the average family earns, bloody madness. Your life and lifestyle is your responsibility and not the states. The state should only help out people that have had a shitty stick of luck thrown at them and should be the last line of support, not the first as is now the case.

I have been to police auctions a number of times and always surprised by the number of quality bikes that obviously haven’t either been marked or recorded stolen as the police cant find the owner so sell the bike on. How many of you out there have your bikes on Immobilise website and have a tracker fitted. To be fair I think cyclists are their own worst enemy as many of us make little effort apart from using a big lock to stop our bikes getting nicked and then recovered.

It also doesn’t help that shops and manufactures have absolutely no reason to help to cut crime as if they did they would just be shooting themselves in the foot. It would be interesting to know how big the market is for shops replacing stolen bikes. If they did care then they would record the frame numbers of every bike and upload it with the customer details to the police property register. If every bike shop did this then all the recovered bikes could be easily returned to their owner.