Microsoft products look great and even though I hate windows at the stupid prices of Apple it does make me wonder if a switch would be worthwhile.

Have you seen the price of the top of the range 15″ £2699 wtf!!!

You have to wonder what all the staff at Apple are doing. Is it really that difficult to update the Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, etc. They are years out of date now and Apple really seems to be losing it way with the hardware. Its all rather bizarre.

Giro I find are too round a shape for me. Try Specialized as they seem the best

I have learnt a ton over the years about cheap ecommerce backends and Shopify if not perfect by a long way but it is easy to use and well priced. Looked at most of the others and they either lack functionality, integration or are really hard to setup. My main advice is get a managed backend so you don’t have to worry about software updates and security. It is amazing how much security and fraud has gone nuts in the last few years and I wouldn’t be happy taking credit card payments with software sitting on my own servers. We are a tiny company but get probably 2 or 3 fraudulent orders a day. Luckily we have some software that helps identify these but a few still get through the net.

We use Stripe and no problems. If you want to setup a website quickly with all he eccomerce bells and whistle then use Shopify. It is the easiest by a long way and you can get something up and running in a day no problem. You can use Shopify Payments (powered through Stripe) as well as PayPal, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay really easily.

There are then tons of add ons to make shipping simpler. Happy to advise and point you in the right direction.

Get onto Royal Mail and get a business account setup as well. Check out Zenstores for shipping, saves a ton of time.

or these – https://www.flypedals.com

God we love to tit about at making decisions in this country. Personally think it’s a stupid idea to build another runway in the south east. Activity and people need to be moving out of the south east not more into it.

Now we have to endure all the news of the legal challenge, public enquiry, environmental audits, etc, etc. I bet the diggers won’t start work for another 10 years.

I bet the Queen isn’t happy that more planes will be flying over Windsor. It would be bloody brilliant if she kiboshed the idea.

Right so I still need to carry a tube and potentially a tyre repair kit. Hmm, whats the point of tubeless again?

I bought a 10 x10 shed for around £600 online (eBay), utter crap. Pay the money and get something decent would be my advice. However there is no reason why an internet shed shouldn’t be great quality.

Just ordered mine today in black so looking forward to delivery on Thursday / Friday

We have used Price Glass in Bristol for 2 houses and have always been great. The main thing unlike nearly every other company is that they will box in with wood on the inside and not horrible UPVC. Work has always been really good and prices are certainly competitive. When we get the back of our house double glazed I will certainly use them again. The first time around spoke to loads of companies and 90% seemed dodgy and gave the classic 50% managers discount if you sign up to today. Price Glass it was just a set price which was much lower than all the big companies.

Sash windows might look nice, but they are a pain and need constant maintenance. Get them out, nice new double glazing that will be tons warmer and more importantly fit and forget. Like to too short for draughty windows that need painting every couple of years.

I love it how the ministry of defence say that they are going to “man-marked every step of the way”. What do they think the Russians are going start doing, dropping bombs on London? Its just an excuse for our military to sabre rattle as well. Boys with their toys.

As others have said, what is our and the Americans beef with Russia. Its all before Syria and why can’t we just get on. Its not like we want to invade each other. I don’t really understand why the Russians hate the west and vice versa. Maybe we just need to send BoJo off to Russia for a drinking session with Putin in Siberia to see if they can chill things out and agree to be friends.

I would say it really is you get what you pay for. To get anything that is breathable and waterproof you need to spend big money. Even then you will always be damp as mountain biking as opposed to say walking, generates tons more heat and sweat.

Happy to spend £200 + on a walking jacket so why do I question that for a cycling jacket?

iPhones are terrible at managing storage and icloud is even worse. When I have icloud photo storage switched on with it managing space it still constantly says it is running out of space. Check storage allocation and it because there are too many photos and videos. But this is the specific media that iCloud photo storage is meant to be managing.

My advice, give up and buy a much larger iPhone, thats what I did.

There is a trend for buying several items, trying them then returning the unwanted ones so online retailers like Wiggle are victims of their own efficiency in making this easy and Wiggle have got a huge backlog of returned stuff just waiting to be processed.

I’ve just bought two dhb jackets and returned one. I don’t expect to get the refund for two or three weeks.

Don’t feel sorry for companies because of this. This is the mail order business, if they don’t like it then they can either improve there website and sizing so you are less likely to return things or get out of the business. Cycling clothes are especially ridiculous in their sizing. Normally wear a medium but for some Cinelli stuff it would be XXL. Of course the likes of Wiggle could always but some effort in and produce accurate size guides. I do find it odd that with all the EU regulations there isn’t something that covers clothes and shoes sizing.

Riding in Leigh Woods, Bristol many years ago. It was dusk and it all felt a bit creepy Anyway stopped to adjust something and then looked out across the woods and saw a man standing there staring at me. Fair to say I cr*pped it and pedalled bloody fast out of there. Later learned that there was a tramp living in the woods. However always feel a bit unsettled when riding there on my own on a quiet day.

Personally I would have another look at a CAAD12 as what you get for the money is much much better. I love mine and the feel is amazing, certainly wouldn’t swap it for a carbon model. The frame is bloody light and really comfortable, much more so than steel frames that I have had.

CAAD12 105 hydro disc for £1500 is a great price. Evans worked out the cheapest for me with their various discounts, club card pints etc.

Surprisingly picked up carbon c 5010 with the Pike and 1×11 gx1 build kit today. My first thought was god this is bloody heavy. Must have weighted the same as the Stumpjumper that is retail around half the price. I was really shocked and a bit confused.

Im not bothered about press fit BB’s as never had a problem with them, famous last words.

Just found a place I can do a test ride on a 5010 but feel a bit cheeky as I won’t be buying it from them. I guess I can chuck some servicing there way in the future. 5010 comes with Avid brakes so will no doubt need bleeding some time soon!!

Its the 2016 model which I believe have the longer top tube. But thanks for reminding me as I really should check that out.

Loads of reviews say the 5010 feels like it has more travel than 130mm and more like 140mm. I know a Bronson is more like a stumpjumber but i can’t get one with £1200 off the price.

I am more than happy to pay for content but lots of it is just not avalaible or is redicoulsly expensive. Often it is cheaper to buy the film from Amazon as a blue ray than rent it. With Kodi anything recent that is still in the cinemas is terrible quality and just not watchable. Normally a recording from someone in a cinema. Once it’s out on DVD for download then the quality is great apart from buffering issues.

If the films and programmes were avalaible at a reasonable price i.e. not £5 to rent an old film then I would drop Kodi. straight away.

With Royal Mail price is based on weight and size. If you can get your tiles in a large letter box then you will get the price down a fair bit. As you say with couriers, etc they work on weight and not size so much.

I would start off simple and offer a Royal Mail price. It might seem expensive but then again if people are asking for postal then I don’t think they will be surprised by a £3 charge. I wouldn’t soak up some of the cost at this stage until your business takes off more.

Can you get the packaging smaller and lighter. What is the product?

Well on a Royal Mail 48 on a business account you would be looking at £2.58

So the Hermes rate of £2.60 is pretty good as you will also have tracking I guess.

I did see a service a while ago that was £1 per parcel but you had to sign up to shipping 200 parcels a week. It was a fixed price irrelevant of if you only shipped 100 parcels.

Don’t always just look at price, also look to see what customers want. People trust Royal Mail and not companies like Hermes as much. Also as a small business you might find dropping parcels off at your local postoffice / sorting office easier than waiting for hermes to arrive.

To add this to this does anyone know how much a 2017 Stumpy Comp 29 weigh. The all version.

Also how about a 2017 Spesh Camber Comp 29

T130s looks good but seems to a bit of a heavy weight at 14.2kg according to their website
Orange Five, yes but for the money the spec is terrible.
Canyon Spectral is on the list but sizing might be a bit odd for me.

Bar the Canyon nothing seems to have beaten the Specialized Stumpjumper Comp for spec and price at £2300. In the shop the sizing felt right, but just need to get one out not the trail.

See I find 29er just to big even though I ride a L or XL frame. I have a 29er hardtail and just can’t get my head around 29er wheels on a trail bike.

Looks like I will stick with Shimano as the pricing is much much better. Sram just seems really expensive.

Right then it seems I need 11 speed shifters, 11 speed cassette and then the question of what changes do I need for my wheels / Freehub?

Yak, I have a thick and thin chain ring, its just the combinations of mech and shifter that I am interested in as they always worked in the past

Will a 10 speed mech work with a 9 speed shifter?

Alarms make no real difference especially if everyone else on the road has one. Burglars will always go for the easier option unless they are after something specific. Even then with an alarm everyone just ignores it. Your best bet is CCTV and then at least there is evidence the police can use to catch them. The local police usually know who all the local burglars are, they just need the evidence to arrest them. I would get a basic cheap alarm and then CCTV.

If you speak to an alarm person they always get you to buy internal sensors and not necessarily external ones or shock sensors. Once someone has broken in they normally cause so much damage that you have to claim on your insurance anyway and your premiums will be going up, so you really need to stop them even trying to break in.

Solicitors are all bloody useless so I don’t think it matters. Go with a recommendation wherever they are as opposed to local.

You can’t beat felt on sheds roofs!! Lets get a waterproof membrane and then hammer nails in it. The whole thing is a bloody stupid idea. I have just done a shed roof like you and to save money used felt. Oh and guess what even with loads of mastic, it still leaks.

When I have a bit more money its all coming off and I am going with the a rubber glued down roof. Twice the price but should be fit and forget

Who would have thought a bit of grey water would cause so much trouble. In reality most of our washing up is done in the campsite sinks so really just for washing hands, tooth brushing, etc. I think the collapsible bucket should work a treat.

Like the idea of using a collapsible bucket. Great idea

One day I wish my shed would burn down and all my tools backed so I have an excuse to buy a full Park tool kit.

Just bought a Park handlebar holder. Been meaning to get one for years as everytime I build a bike I curse at the bloody handle bars swinging around.

My brother has a cockerpoo that he has had for yr or so. Bloody brilliant dog, well behaved, doesn’t seem to want that much walking, happy to chill on the sofa, does not smell and best of all does not drop hair. Never really wanted a dog but am really considering a cockerpoo after spending time with my brothers. Seems a very well behaved dog and my brother has not had to professionally train it.