Any question answered...

can anyone recommend a decent roofer or general builder in Catford vicinity who can quote for re-tiling?

Yes.
Can you wait until Saturday when I'm back in the country and can get his number?
I know a chap who has a small team. He basically looks after all of the building needs in our street. He's built a bunch of loft conversions, a couple of summer houses, a handful of patios etc... He's good, and very reasonably priced.

yes that would be great, thanks. at the moment I need a quote as I'm trying to buy the house but will also need to have it done too, in the near future (as soon as I can afford it).

We need some new office chairs. One of the guys in the office is pretty big, I'd guess c.20st.

Can anyone recommend an office chair that's not too expensive that will cope with someone of that weight?

Also if anyone knows of any good deals, etc. on plain vanilla office chairs that would be useful too.

Cheers.

I don't know if I'm replying to a joke here...only just dipped into the thread.

I used to work with a colleague who weighed 25 stone or thereabouts.

His main issue was width...we had to remove the arm rests and he was fine after that.

The caveat is that we had pretty good quality standard office chairs. I'd personally be surprised if you needed to get something in specifically for a 20 stone bloke. Width is the main concern.

An argos value office chair will not suffice but you don't need to get a structural engineer in is my point.

Standard office chairs seem to be rated for 110kg (about 17st), but there are plenty of XXL models for 150kg (~23st) in the UK, obvs. much more in the US :-)

Wasn't there someone in London who had specialised (no pun intended) in repairing Sturmey Archer hubs?

Modern or older?

Which 27 inch tyre has good punture resistance and good rolling resistance?

I find with the less common sizing go with the make / model you know from other sizes, since other less common sizes, especially 27", tend to be old school styled touring tyres and really cheap, since the wheels theyre going on are also old school, cheap and probably not used for performance. I'd go with the conti ultra sport or gatorskin depening on your budget.

Pasela comes in a 27 with Tourguard.

Good call, st jean de maurienne just down the road is a bit bigger and nice too

And Joop Zoetemelk's old mechanic set up shop around there.

Wasn't there someone in London who had specialised (no pun intended) in repairing Sturmey Archer hubs?

Bicycle Workshop in Notting Hill

It had always been part of the city & guilds bike mechanic course which was the industry standard qualification before cytech hit off. So a lot of people should have the skills.
I appreciate that. I was looking for someone specific who had a stock of spares from all periods etc.

Bicycle Workshop in Notting Hill

Thanks, that's who I was thinking of.

Does anyone know anything about race radios? What's their range and where can they be purchased or hired from?

I don't know if I'm replying to a joke here...only just dipped into the thread.

I used to work with a colleague who weighed 25 stone or thereabouts.

His main issue was width...we had to remove the arm rests and he was fine after that.

The caveat is that we had pretty good quality...

No joke. I think the problem was the previous/current one were cheap. although when I found them they were rated to c.21 stone. I just wonder how they're tested especially if you're rocking on them, etc.

But I managed to find some rated to 25st with a 5yr guarantee.

Anyone want to come to Bespoked for free today? I'll be there in an hour, so PM me before then and I can let one extra person in with my ticket.

Can anyone suggest a half decent restaurant near Waterloo where I may get a booking for this evening?

Auberge? Meson don Felipe? Mar e Terra?

Depends what kind of food you're after, what your budget is etc.

how near? my favourite 'nice' place round there is Mar i Terra just behind the Palestra. if that's too far the tapas place on the Cut is supposed to be quite good but I've never been. also on The Cut - Anchor&Hope is good but no booking, The Young Vic restaurant although it'll be noisy, The Baltic just around the corner on Blackfriars Bridge Rd is nice and when I've been significantly calmer than most.

Meson don Felipe, that's the one. andyp have you been to both? which is better? I've been to Mar i Terra more than ten times but for no particular reason have never stepped foot in Meson don Felipe.

I had another question but I can't remember what it was - anyone?

Alzheimers

You dropped this -> ?

Don Felipe I had tried but they don't do bookings at 9pm

Auberge looks perfect and has been booked

Cheers

Meson don Felipe, that's the one. andyp have you been to both? which is better? I've been to Mar i Terra more than ten times but for no particular reason have never stepped foot in Meson don Felipe.
The food is excellent in both. Meson don Felipe tends to be busier and, given how it is laid out, is quite a public place to eat. Mar i Terra feels a bit more spacious.

I forgot about Baltic, that's excellent too.

Theres a "toilet defect" sign flashing at the toilet in the train Im in. So when they were designing this train they knew it would be so crappy that they actually installed a sign for this rather than built it with peoper toilets.. Is it me or is this weird?