Easyjet broke my bike!

Oh yeah, the saddle is horrible- it says Massi on it-anyone heard of them?

Headset on a 2005 Colnago I picked up a few months ago was a Massi. Cheap plastic cups, roller bearings. Ran shit and kept tightening itself. Gave up trying to fettle it, instead I slapped in a 10 year old Chorus ahead headset, life is better again.

Bad luck with the frame, I hope you get it sorted while you're still there.

Yeah, if you're going to a tin-pot airport (see DJ's Italy thread), Ryanair can be competitive. I will still choose someone else though.

I have a problem handing over money to complete fucks.

Fair enough, I guess we aren't going to agree on this, so I don't want to derail this thread any more than I already have.

You like Ryanair. I don't. Neither of us are likely to change our opinions.

Now, to replaceable derailler hangers and why they are a good idea...

I like budget airlines by the way .. flown Ryanair a few times with a bike, no issues.

Oh, and BA cancelled a flight on us a few years back and put us up in the Miami Hilton. I also had a bag trashed on a BA / Iberia connecting flight. The bag was a £10 market job. A courier delivered me a new £100 holdall a couple of days later and I received a cheque to cover the lost Leatherman promptly too.

Jesus... no wonder they're nearly bankrupt! :s

Battered Airways
Despite being our flag carrier, BA hasn't had much good press of late. The rising price of crude oil reduced airline profits, helping BA to lose £50 million in the final quarter of 2009. Seven days of strikes are sure to have hit its profits in March, despite this upbeat profit outlook released on 29 March.
In total, these two strikes lopped as much as £45 million from BA's profits. Also, BA has two big staffing issues which simply won't go away:
First, its now-closed final-salary pension scheme is massively under-funded. Indeed, BA's pension deficit hit £3.7 billion in 2009, almost £1 billion more than BA's current market cap of £2.8 billion. Indeed, BA's pension deficit is proving a sticking point in its proposed merger with Spanish carrier Iberia. (Editor's note - BA has since announced preliminary terms of its planned merger with Iberia, forming a new company called International Airlines)

Second, BA's cabin crew are the most highly paid in the UK: reportedly, they are paid twice as much as their opposite numbers at Virgin Atlantic. BA is determined to tackle this overhead -- hence the two strikes by cabin crew last month. BA struck back by removing strikers' valuable travel benefits, which include one free flight a year and a 90% discount on other BA flights.
Alas, BA's executives then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot once again. On 25 March, BA awarded seven executives a package of share options worth £3 million. These options will vest in 2013 if BA meets certain performance targets. Not the greatest PR move you might say...

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2010/04/07/ba-vs-ryanair-the-latest-round.aspx

OK, picked fixed bike up from nervous looking welder- never a good sign! Story is he couldn't weld the shitty ally hanger onto the frame, so he made a extremely functional (replaceable) steel one- well impressed because he had to go out and and find a suitable sample. I paid the 100 euro, plus a small beer-money tip.

Very nice to be back on my bike, just as well I have it back as the only way back to London's famous London is by bike apparently. It's either that or steal a car....

Glad the bike got fix(i)ed :-)

Unless you're pedalling your way through France's fine vineyards ... you're probably stuck in the med enjoying the sun (like my Mum who's stuck in Italy, except that it's raining) ... and may have time to identify a South African delicacy that my friend ate when he was in SA for a few years as a kid. He doesn't know what it is called, and has failed miserable trying to google it ... it is, apparently, something like a doughnut stuffed with mince (of the savoury type I am assuming). Any thoughts?

Koeksisters ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vetkoek ?

Vetkoek (pronounced FET-cook) is a traditional Afrikaner pastry. It is dough deep-fried in cooking oil and either filled with cooked mince or spread with syrup or honey or jam. It is thought to have its origins in Oliebollen, which go back to the time of the migration period. It is similar in taste to Mexican Sopapillas [1].
A common Afrikaans dish is vetkoek (pronounced fet-cook) literally meaning "fat cake." The word "koek" refers to the fact that this dish was used as a dessert as well as a meal. It is similarly shaped to a doughnut (jam filled, no hole) and is made from flour, salt and yeast. It is dough rolled into a ball then deep fried. It is commonly eaten with butter or filled with jam or a more savory filling. In a traditional South African braai, or barbecue, vetkoek may be served alongside boerewors, (South African sausage). Koeksisters are made from a similar, but sweeter, dough but are braided in long strips then coated in a sticky sweet syrup.
The Black township version of the vetkoek is called magwenya by the locals living in the Gauteng province of South Africa. In the South African townships vetkoek/magwenya are fast selling food items since they are popular, cheap, and easy to eat on the go. Almost every fast food shop in the Black Gauteng townships that sell fish and chips also sell magwenya commonly served with a rectangular piece of snoek fish.

Cheers hippy ... now I'll have to think of something else for Sherrit to mull over ... ;)

I think that it is Vetkoek, as my mate mentioned that his Mum called it Fat Cake.

Sorry, I have a google habit. It's worse than smack although somewhat cheaper.

Hmmm, hungry even thinking about the food of my motherland.....

I'm sure you can rustle up some Spanish goodies over there? Mmm.. tapas..