Any question answered...

I’d be surprised. Most counterfeit stuff comes from eBay or Amazon, not a legitimate vendor like Merlin.

arrived in a poly bag...instruction sheet inside labelled Shimano

When I were a lad, KMC-made chains bagged up to ship to OEMs to go on Shimano
-branded bikes had Shimano logos and part numbers stamped on the links, but these days supply chain disruption probably means they'll take whatever they can get

I've got one of these (generic picture). For camping. I know it works with a 16amp source, but will it also work with 10amp? Or will that be a 'normal' 3-pin socket?

1 Attachment

Where are you expecting to find 10A? Campsites will have either that blue plug there or occasionally on the continent a European mains socket (Schuko).

If the campsite blurb specifies 10A it's a warning their breaker will trip if you try to draw too much power (more than ~2500W), but the plug will be the same.

What is the closest range cassette I can use with a long cage mech?

I have a tourer with (I think) MTB gearing (possibly 3*9, it's not new) and I spend most of my commute in the big ring and bottom 3 at the back.

Thinking of swapping the cassette to a closer ratio (or swapping to a road double chainset is the alternative)

Yeah it's from the campsite blurb.
We won't be drawing much power. Kettle and a couple of mobile devices plugged in concurrently at maximum

Kettle

That's at least 10A / 2.2kW right there.

Ha, knew I’d missed something. It should be fine but if it really is rough I’ll send it back and get the better screen

What is the closest range cassette I can use with a long cage mech?

Which long cage? There's a lot of variations. The good news is that the first 4 of 5 sprockets won't make much difference, the shifting only really goes to shit if your big sprockets are way smaller than the RD wants. Back in 9-speed days I used an RD which wanted 32 or 34 as biggest sprocket and it was fine all the way across an 11-23 cassette, so there's that. And it was SRAM, Shimano RDs with a floating B pivot will be even more tolerant of out-of-spec cassettes.

It is Shimano Deore, but not sure on model number.
Has friction bar end shifters too, which probably helps.

I am getting an error when trying to download an image from my Google photos, could any of you check to see if you can download please (or is it just a problem on my PC)?

I get the following error:

This page isn’t workinglh3.google.com didn’t send any data.
ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE

No problem downloading for me. Was a recent photo.

Thanks for trying, something odd going on here, several websites playing up. Will reboot everything.

Anyone got the recent issue of the FT magazine there's an article on 10 foot the graff artist I want to read and see the photos maybe frame it up happy to pay postage.

I run a 28 on a XT long cage mech as I love the clutch even with a 2x up front.

What's the current brand/technology/capacity of choice for rechargeable AA and AAA?

Used to be Panasonic Eneloop or GP Recyko low self-discharge NiMh. Pre-Brexit / pre-Covid cost was around around £1.25 per 2100mAh AA if you bought 8 (bit more for Eneloops for basically the same thing). Now seems to be closer to £3 per AA for those. Is that price reflecting some kind of rarity value due to going out of production or is that just what rechargeable AAs cost now?

Current set of GP Recyko and GP Recyko Pro have lasted well over 10 years and some are well into their claimed 1000+ charges. They're not dead, I just need more of them and would like equally good quality batteries.

I recently bought some IKEA ones and Amazon Basics, both of which worked out cheaper than Eneloops. No idea how long they're likely to last though.

Edit: some people seem to say the IKEA LADDA is a rebranded Eneloop

I think it's only one variety. If the LADDA battery is marked "made in Japan" then it will be an Eneloop Pro.

My 1900mAh version say made in Japan. Not bad for £5 then

Help! My partner has to go to work in germany for a couple of months (she has a fellowship for up to five but we don’t want to be apart that long). Neither her home work or the place she has the fellowship want to help with a work visa but she is entitled to one. We hoped this meant she wouldn’t be using her 90day in 180 EU tourist allowance. She’s even rung the embassy and asked if with a german D visa (work) this is the case and if she’d be allowed to shuttle back and forth without losing the visa. They said they don’t answer questions??? Anyway advice welcome.

The best ready made picture mounts are the ones that have been used by professionals, and then modified for your needs. The reason why these are the best is because of the time and effort that goes into them.

You can't just buy a ready made picture mount and expect it to be good, if you want it to last you need to get one that has been used by professionals before. This is because they know how to make it strong enough for the use that you will put it through. If you want something that will last longer than a few days, then you will need to invest more money in it.

1 Attachment

@Velocio is there a preferred way to report spam accounts?

I was reversing a forklift at work.
A car pulled in, may have just been turning around, doesnt matter.
We collided.

Theres CCTV
Weve exchanged details
His insurance have called me already
My company is aware

The twist, i have no license.

Sorry, the question, have I lost my job?
Will I be fully liable?

Edit: First things first, are you ok?

IANAL (better get that in - but it's probably obvious from the below)

My approach would be not to speak to the insurance co and to get them to deal with the company only - direct everything through your company and supervisor. Don't volunteer any info to the insurance co. - but if you did when they contacted you, write it down - also write down a description of what happened now, just for yourself, before you forget details

Not for here (just in case) - but I am sure the insurance co will ask what has the company said? Who was duty manager? Did they ask you to operate the FLT knowing you didn't have a licence? etc, etc...

They should not have let you operate it without the appropriate docs (they will have policies, SOPs, etc.). The company may try to shift blame to you. But stand firm if they asked you, knowing that you didn't have the docs. They could equally well pay up to make it go away for this very reason.

Better qualified people will correct me, I'm sure.

.