Any question answered...

Right, missed that

I think it was on special offer from somewhere, have been more than happy with my Samsung. If the Brother had not been on offer I would probably/ most likely have bought another Samsung.
Its OK for the money, I only print the occasional page so speed etc etc are a non issue. Was easy to set up the wireless connection via WPS.

Cheers for the feedback!

Has nobody replied? Use a free service such as clearscore to see where you sit. Ideally you need access to your full information as found on Equifax ( https://www.equifax.co.uk ) and CIFAS.

From experience in a particular financial insitution, there are a number of reasons you can be declined, one is not giving all the information, but more often than not it is a CIFAS load against you. Generally CIFAS is used for when you are a fraudster or defaulted on a loan, phone bill, anything. Some companies are notorious for loading against people just for being late paying their phone bill.

TL:DR even if you find out your info, it might not make sense. You may need to try a different provider. Don’t try to apply for too many too quickly in succession or this will ring alarm bells on each successive application.

Second question for today:

I have a 1" aluminium steerer with some corrosion - at least that's what I think it was. It was roughly around the dust cap of the headset, some white substance that came off quite easily - my guess is a buildup of salt from sweat and some aluminium oxide (?). In any case, after cleaning that powder off, the surface seemed a bit pitted, and I took a screwdriver to it to scrape off any other stuff on the surface. It now looks like in the pictures - it doesn't seem to go deep at all and it looks to only be damage on the surface, but... is it still safe to use?

(It was a bit difficult to capture it with the smartphone camera, but I tried my best)

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is it still safe to use?

Yes thanks, that's why I'm asking. From the looks of it, there is no reason to believe it is structurally weakened though, as the strength of a pipe usually does not depend on the outer 0.1mm.

the strength of a pipe usually does not depend on the outer 0.1mm

Oh, but it does. The fatigue strength of a pipe subject to bending critically depends on the surface quality of the first few tens of microns from the OD, specifically the tip radius of any groove or pit in that surface. You have pits right where the bending stress is highest, and while they look innocuous to the naked eye, the bottoms of those seemingly rounded divots will on closer inspection prove to be a veritable mountain range of sharp peaks and v-shaped valleys where chloride corrosion has preferentially followed grain boundaries.

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Thanks, that's much more useful. So you think I should bin the forks?

It's annoying as I've been soft approved for it.
Anyway, I'll apply later. But not too late as I need to move money.

you think I should bin the forks?

I would, unless there is enough to use after you've cut them off below the damaged area.

Nope. Bollocks.

Any clue where (beyond this forum and ebay obviously) I'd have a chance of finding a 1" carbon fork? They seem to be rather rare these days... is there a secret recipe to finding some somewhere that you happen to know of?

somewhere that you happen to know of?

Oddly, I was looking just yesterday.
https://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=7&menu=1000%2C4%2C21&__qf_form-filter=&pgc%5B6%5D=40&pgc%5B1666%5D=1667&pgc%5B11296%5D%5B11297%5D=1

or

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/frames-forks-c6/rigid-forks-c51/minimal-carbon-fork-p13722

FFS I always forget about bike24! I checked most of the UK sites I know of and couldn't find anything reasonable, thanks a lot.

EDIT: oh, Triton is a new one, didn't know about them. Cheers.

If you’ve not already done so, sign up for the money saving expert credit check thing, which will pre-approve you for stuff based on the info you give it. The wording is something like ‘you are 100% guaranteed to get this card as long as the info you submit to the supplier matches the info on MSE’.

Yeah.
I signed up AFTER bthe mistkar will look at today

Bit random, but I need a piece of lino roughly 2.5m x 4m for as little as possible. Any ideas? Must be in or near London and SE area. Will collect.

there was some straight 1" carbon ones on aliexpress recently - check the Orient thread

https://www.gumtree.com/p/carpets-flooring/vinyl-lino-grey-wood-effect-2m-x-4m-collection-only/1325503783

Thanks, yeah there are some by Hylix etc., but as always with Orient Express carbon, I'm not entirely sure whether I might not be better off using the one I have now rather than that...

Why is the paperback edition of "Brief Answers to the Big Questions" way more expensive than the hardcover version? It's not just on Amazon, it's everywhere
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Answers-Questions-Stephen-Hawking-author/dp/1984887262/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1547033209&sr=8-1

I would absolutely trust new Chinese carbon over 20 year old corroded forks

They're not quite 20 years old... and honestly I would not. Hylix maybe, as there is at least a name attached to it, but some complete no-brand ones, no thanks.

Why? The likelihood is that your forks were made in China anyway. A brand name makes things better?

Yes. Because brands generally provide warranties and worry about reputation. No-name products have neither of that. That's why I recently bought Light Bicycle rims rather than just clicking on some no-name carbon rims on Aliexpress.

There's been cases of 'carbon' stuff not even being properly carbon. I'm not risking that.