Heatsink

From what I've seen in various vids Danny is currently the most innovative rider on the scene. Great stuff! Steve

Amazing riding from Nick! You can now also see the vid streaming live on the link below: http://www.heatsinkbikes.com/?p=team Steve

The important thing is to make sure you think of all the key household bills. Making estimates of these in advance is the best you can do. You can find out typical rental costs by looking around in your area, estate agents/rental agencies. Here are some figures from my experience, based on living around here in Cambridgeshire which is quite expensive. Monthly example with some approx figures for illustration: 2 Bed flat = £650 pm (per month) Council Tax = £1000 per year (don't have to pay this if in education) Gas Bill = £20 Electricity Bill = £20 Telephone Bill = £20 Water Bill = £20 On top of this you'll have to buy all your own food which may have been bought by your parents before! You're doing well if you spend less that £60 a week on food to feed two. If you live in a shared house with others then the cost could be cheaper since often the bills and rent are combined into a fixed price for simplicity. But then you've got to live with people that you may not get on with, steal your food etc. If you're honest with yourself about all the bills then you can make informed decisions. To be honest I'd assume that you'll find it hard to cover all the bills on your apprenticeship salaries, and look at the figures closely. When I was younger I'd rather not have the financial worries and commitments and instead focus on education and having fun! One rather important thing is to consider the effect on your relationship of having so many financial things to have to work through together. This is a real test for a relationship especially when money is tight! Steve P.S. Forgot to add that there's the real possibility that the standard of living you could afford may not be anywhere near what you're used to with parents. Maybe only the grotty flats are affordable! I'd have a look in the local paper at what's on offer and why not go and visit the offered properties to get an idea of the sort of place you'd be living.

+ Baby oil is a mineral oil too. I was going to establish the viscosity (how "thick" fluids are) of a few popular choices but didn't find time. Experiments can be done with long perspex tubes and ball bearings! Tap water in the bathroom sink for the convenience and ease of avoiding bubbles in the system (the final sealing bolts can be done up underwater) Steve

The police have got much more important things to do than lay the law down on us, unless you give them good reason. The key to being able to continue riding has got to be to avoid coming onto the radar of people who might exert their power to scupper your fun. Plus when you do, try and part ways in a fashion that will minimise clamp downs. Surely you'd expect that taking a wall down will put you firmly in their sights. If your polite and apologetic and listen to them then they are more likely to help, rude and they'll be gunning for you in future wondering which wall will be next! Steve

Extra points for being biofuel powered! It's going to be interesting as the alternative fuels start to become more mainstream. I wouldn't turn down any of these cars as a replacement for the Laguna What about the Zonda?

It's a striking car! Not so much of a fan of the wheel arch styling from some of the angles. These are interesting too: http://www.wiesmann-auto-sport.de/ Posted before I'm sure. Steve

Here's an update: Our car came back from the garage yesterday with the following bill, slightly cheaper than expected: Diagnostic check £40 O2 sensor £71.25 Fuel £10 (new) Contaminated fuel £12 (disposal / Storage of sample?) Labour £69 VAT at 17.5% Total = £237.65 The roving reporter that I am, tonight I spoke to the manager of Cambourne Morrisons about the contaminated fuel issue. Here are some bullet points from what he told me (some of his claims to be substantiated) Trading standards until now didn't test for silicon in petrol, hence the earlier claims that petrol had passed all tests.He won't fill up at Tescos because he knows of 3 local garages where they haven't cleaned out the tanks but instead have poured petrol over the top.Morrisons head office is dealing direct with customers regarding car repair claims and our local store will forward claims.To claim they require receipts for work done and petrol (bank account print outs are ok)He has had no assurances from Head office that they will sort this out.I found this press release from Greenergy, the supplier of Tescos and Morrisons petrol in the South East. Released on the 2nd of March at 9pm. Seems a clear admission of contaminated petrol being supplied. (PDF file) http://www.greenergy.com/home/Fuel_quality..._02.03.2007.pdf The evidence is clear, and although Morrisons haven't handled it well I have no doubt I'll be getting my repairs paid for soon (or at some point before the end of the year) and any one else in a similar position should too Steve

It's not possible to use the standard 5 or 4 position M8 fine thread bolt configuration because with the 18t sprocket smaller than the 22t one, these bolts would hit the chain and infact there would be no material on the sprockets to even have the holes. To be able to fit the bolts inbetween the chain's new position (outer edge) and the recess for the lockring (inner edge) & these be strong enough, 4 things have to happen: Smaller PCD (diameter the bolts sit on).Smaller bolts.Sufficient thread area for strength compared to the usual configuration (remember the bolts are smaller now which affects this) taking into account a necessary increase in thread area due to the increased tangential force as a result of the PCD reduction (Torque = tangential force x radial distance).The new number of bolts has to be divisable into 18 exactly so that the bolt heads sit beneath sprocket teeth for max material around the hole.After working through this little challenge, I discovered the best mounting arrangement needed the 9 bolts, of the new size and thread length. Sorry there wasn't a quick answer! I hope you like the bash when I can reveal all Steve

Nicely summarised Max Thanks for not posting photos yet. I'd like to unveil these officially when the final product is available. They're being machined at the moment. Mike's been testing his bashring since the middle of Dec '06 and taken it around the UK to various rides where it's had alot of exposure and been ridden hard. Lots of positive feedback which is great Can't wait to reveal the full product features list and photos to illustrate. It could be in under a week now. Steve

[quote name='Prawny Baby' date='Mar 12 2007, 11:09 AM' post='1201758' ...this whole fuel thing seems decidedly odd to me!

These strange sounding diameters are a result of metrification (sp) of old inch sizes which were solely used: 25.4mm = 1 inch 28.6mm = 1 1/8 inch 31.8mm = 1 1/4 inch That there exist 3 different sizes is definately one of those essential things to know. Write the sizes on your toolbox for future reference maybe? Steve

I don't have any receipts but the petrol purchases will all be on the bank statements Tescos seem to be very keen to right any wrongs, see below: http://www.tesco.com/petrol/ Morrisons aren't so forthcoming, neither giving actual details on the problem experienced (just that fuel has been replaced) or pledging any support, see below: http://www.morrisons.co.uk/2016.asp

Just unleaded I believe. I suspect the local garage may be overcharging at £300, thinking the bills will be footed by Morrisons. Work involves siphoning out the petrol and changing the sensor. Garage seem clued up on gathering evidence such as holding onto the petrol for analysis. I definately don't have any time to attempt any work like this myself. Plenty more info on the web about this case in some regions of the UK, with initial denials of contamination to Tescos saying on their site that they've traced the source of the bad batch and pledging to pay for repairs. Morrisons and Tescos are supplied by the same company and Cambridgeshire is one of the regions with this issue. Then again the issue could be unrelated to any genuine petrol problems, but the anecdotal evidence is strong. Morrison's have shown themselves not to lag behind Tescos in how they're reacting to claims. Tescos to their credit seem to be going all out to sort problems out whilst Morrisons are still in denial.

Following an engine management light appearing on the dashboard, we heard from the local garage that the oxygen sensor in one of our cars needs to be replaced and we're looking at a bill of near £300. This is one that we fill up at Morrisons (not my favourite beasty 2.0L '95 Laguna) The local garage has already had 20 identical issues, and everywhere I look the Supermarkets are denying that there was any contamination, although Tescos has taken out full page adverts in the national press and promising to pay for repairs. Anyone else had any probs possibily linked with this recent "Contaminated Petrol" issue? Steve

200% of the amount of children you have - that sounds alot more! I'll be out again in around 10 years time when they've got bikes

Seems like there's a resurgence in the Cambs riding scene, just at a time that I've got my hands full, the baby making machine that I am! Have fun, Steve

On the topic of Aus trials shops, here's another one selling decent wares! http://www.expressivebikes.com/ Steve

Hi, Dominik has made this vid with from his latest venture; performing his Trials demos in clubs around Upper Austria! This vid is from his 2nd performance at a club in Linz. The lighting isn't the best, but you can get a real taste of the atmosphere. Probabily more appreciative than the average demo audience! Definately worth a look especially since the video is streaming in realtime so if you've got an ok internet connection then there's no downloading delays. http://www.heatsinkbikes.com/?p=team (Scroll to 2nd vid down) Steve P.S. Eye of the Tiger ***

It is! It's a finer pitch than the normal M10 bolt. Here's a quick alternative bolt set up you could try if you need to hang something off the hanger. Nut on the inside of the mech hanger, length to suit what you need to bolt through, and put washers on the outside to ensure there's not an excess of protruding thread after the nut since it may interfere with the cassette. Steve

I wondered what had happened to that frame! Alot of attention to detail there with the component choice and polishing The individual Edd Potts modified bash is really striking! Lovely photos by Rob too. A beast indeed, and one that is going to eclipse all my own builds! Steve

Hi Mike, Thanks for welcoming my query and for highlighting the time period issue on manufacturers warrenties which may vary. I appreciate that in addition the exclusions can vary and also the actual implimentation since there is some subjectivity involved. The clearer info the better! I think it's a good thing that you've chosen to explain warrent claim disputes in the past on TF, to bring clarity to it. It can sometimes be a prickly issue, so the clearer that a fair warrenty can be explained the better. It's a great support for riders to know that if their parts are defective they will have it sorted out without quibble, but of course there are always people who may try and abuse this. I know that we're all guilty of wanting something for nothing! I.e. that free replacement component after the first one naturally died a death after being completely abused! Steve

My rather cheeky question is surely the impressive sounding "Lifetime Warrenty" replacement/repair support in the warrenty is common to all goods you'd buy from a reputable manufacturer? I don't hesitate to replace parts that similarly fail due to materials/workmanship issues so I guess I've just been missing a trick in not adding "Lifetime warrenty" to the product description! When riders read that then they may believe it's worth paying more for, like it's a duty of care inexcess of normal. It could be that your precise warrenty is more generous though I conceed. I would expect that if I had a failure of an FSA headset which qualified for the poor materials/workmanship then they would replace it, although they haven't added the tag of "Lifetime warrenty" to their product description. Their missed marketing opportunity maybe? I wasn't sure if I should make this point since I'm also selling bike components, but hopefully it's ok! Clarifying warrenty support in general for riders is a good idea. I've no plans to sell rival headsets Steve

Didn't NTL buy Virginmedia so they could grow and simultaneously rebrand? We struggled with their customer service for ages, and it's no surprise that NTL regularily feature on Watchdog. When we had NTL the TV service wasn't very good, but the internet was reliable. Been having the connecting/disconnecting issue with BT recently, although after a few weeks it seems to have cleared itself up.

For me it was the trials articles in MBUK and the now defunct Mountain Bike Action (I might have the name wrong, but back then MBUK had a rival!). It was around 1998. I was blown away by the photos and how tos from Martyn Ashton and the Tongue brothers. I was doing regular XC riding and bike commuting every day to Uni, so soon I was out in the road following the tutorials on the basics like track standing. Some friends and I were desperately trying to string together more than 3 out of control back hops on our XC bikes! I kept practising all the basic moves for the next few years on the same XC bike inbetween riding in the hills around Bath. I think it annoyed my fellow riders a bit as I hopped around on the back wheel unannounced fully clipped in! It was only when I left the Uni for my first job that the new area curbed my XC riding and I bought a more trials orientated bike, although it doesn't seem very trials orientated by todays standard. Rather it was a Dual Slalom bike with long chain stays and BB drop, but the all important stand over height was there. Only started trying pedal hops and sidehops once I had the new bike and progress was slow! 5 years on and although I've improved since then I still have so much unfulfilled potential, so when I get some time again then there's plenty of riding for me left to be had Steve