Any question answered...

It will give you AIDS.

Would advise different fork.

I bought them with a debit card, but I have made a claim through Barclays having hit a brick wall with the company I ordered them through - never want to use them again...

But I was just thrown by the wording in the letter from Barclays. Why have they given me the money back, potentially just to take it away again? I'm hoping to leave Barclays soon anyway and head somewhere more ethical.

You purchased the tickets by credit card?

If so, Barclays have equal liability as the retailed under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Should the retailer fail to provide the goods / services that you paid for, it is often easier to get your money back from the credit card company, rather than the retailer. (The credit card company will likely go after the retailer themselves, with a much bigger stick, to recoup their loss.)

Most credit card companies will have a standard process for this, with form letters and "investigations".

As the consumer, your best bet for the moment is to stick by your guns and don't let the bank fob you off with excuses from the retailer.

Your last resort is the courts, but it's unlikely to get that far.

Another question: good cafe or pub near Oval cricket ground that I can meet up with a mate at tomorrow and sit outside with my bike?

pub - Canton's Arm (between Vauxhall and Stockwell), 10 minutes walk from Vauxhall station, really nice pubs with great food (toastie for a cheap small meal).

cafe - Casa Madeira ,2 minutes walk from Vauxhall Station, make fantastic custard tart, and fish cake too.

     - Cable Cafe 5 minutes walk from Oval tube station, typical hipster coffee place, same owner as Scooterwork.

This is AFAIK.

Fish cake? What are you trying to do to me, Scoble?

I think I'll try your non-fishy recommendation.

relative newcomer the Brown Derby (top end of Clapham Rd near the tube) always has a crowd. no tables outside but you can sort of perch.

don't know if it's the Cable Cafe ed refers to, but there's a new cafe on Brixton Rd by the bus-stops closest to Oval tube, which is really nice and has a couple of small cafe tables outside on the pavement, not really ideal for sitting with bike but ok.

the White Bear theatre pub on Kennington Park Rd further north towards Kennington has a proper outside front bit, but is a bit further for your friend to walk. Round the corner is the bike-friendly Prince of Wales in Cleaver Square.

there are a few pubs and cafes near Kennington Cross but I'm not familiar with them. Il Due Amici looks nice though.

Who would you guys recommend for a wheel build like that?

I'd recommend you Sparky. With a bit of guidance, a few hours and some beer, you could build wheels that you'd never worry about again.

I don't know about that. I built the front wheel on my Fuji and it's OK, but the professionally built rear is tighter.

Don't know if it's the Cable Cafe ed refers to, but there's a new cafe on Brixton Rd by the bus-stops closest to Oval tube, which is really nice and has a couple of small cafe tables outside on the pavement, not really ideal for sitting with bike but ok.

Them's the badger.

Also Brunswick House 5 minutes walk from Vauxhall Station is a great cafe to leave your bike outside while having a lovely cuppa and pastry,

sparky

to build a wheel well just takes patience and not trying to adjust anything too violently

as long as you understand the mechanics of it, and ideally if you have a tensionmeter for the spokes you should be able to do a good job

however good wheelbuilders have had a lot of practice so tend to do it faster and get good results quickly, the same can generally be achieved by us mortals but a lot more slowly

another thing good wheelbuilders can do is understand how to do more esoteric wheelbuilds, eg wheels for very specific purposes

but if you are just looking for a fairly simple 3 cross or similar you should be able to do it yourself

I'd just rather not. I'll fix anything else on the bike, but when a good wheel build costs not-a-lot and gets much better results, why not get someone else to do it? I don't have enough spare time to ride my bike, let alone perfect the art of wheelbuilding.

Another question: good cafe or pub near Oval cricket ground that I can meet up with a mate at tomorrow and sit outside with my bike?

Cafes on Bonnington square are good.

sparky, great point

similar to why i have not yet bothered to learn about bleeding hydraulic disc brakes, one of those things that looks really messy, potentially troublesome and possibly time consuming

Bleeding brakes is a doddle, unless they're Hayes. Still quite easy but a bit annoying.

got a langster 2012, the alu one not steel. wheels are pretty shit so i need some advice on what to upgrade to.... (:

I would love to be able to build decent wheels, just like I'd love to be able to braze my own frames, rebuild an engine, have a shed that I can tinker in all day instead of going to work, etc, etc...

One day.

i need to trim the hoses on my hope v twins

i watched the hope video and it all looked far too easy

How easy is it to turn a rear caliper into a front caliper? These are Campagnolo Veloce D Skeleton calipers. Thanks :)

Sometimes you can get away with a long tube nut, depending on the fork recess depth. Otherwise it's a case of swapping out the centre bolt, which is more trouble than it's worth on Veloce or other cheap brakes. Also, the Veloce Skeleton Ds are differential design calipers, so a rear is a poor brake for use on the front.

Thanks mdcc, good info as ever.

Avid's are dicks to bleed too.

I would like a rear rack for my Raleigh town bike, the one I have at the moment is a creaky, squeaky, wobbly piece of shit, and I think some of the threads are fucked which means every time I grease and bolt it it just petulantly spits the bolts back out and starts creaking again. Now I'm living where there are cobbles, I can't stand it any more.

It needs to be black or silver, sturdy as an ox, fitted only using a rear brake mount and mudguard eyelets, and not be too expensive. And preferably available in a shop in Berlin/German mail order site.

Any ideas?

If by brake mounts you mean cantilever brakes, Old Man Mountain racks are probably your best bet. Mail order across country lines and even oceans is easy these days, and for me usually half to two thirds of the local price. (I will pay local if it's HERE, but the item almost never exists out here in the hinterland, and most LBSs are loathe to do special orders)

what's the name of the female singer, or it could be a band, who's been played quite a lot on radio recently, new I think (maybe 2 or 3 singles in), pretty mainstream, big voice kinda 75% KD Lang, 25% Neko Case. me like but can't remember names of any songs. first single was called something about Arms, maybe?

Casa Madeira [/URL],2 minutes walk from Vauxhall Station, make fantastic custard tart, and fish cake too.

This was known as 'salmonella cafe' when I worked nearby... It may or may not have been completely unfounded.

This was known as 'salmonella cafe' when I worked nearby... It may or may not have been completely unfounded.

I once bought a swordfish panini from there and it took them about 30 minutes to hand it over even though all the ingredients were right there. They also tried to give me somebody else's stuff about 4 times during this half hour.