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Thanks - I thought he was talking crap. Now I have to give it a go

I just took my old frame to a bike shop that I don't quite trust but have little choice but to go to as it is the only one which has an English speaking mechanic. I have a bottom bracket that has stuck and the plastic lockring's teeth have all broken off so I can't remove it. I took it to them and he said that the whole frame is 'to be thrown to the bin'

Is this really true or are there secret methods that he can't be arsed to do as he'd rather sell me a new one? Just had a really pissed off evening after realising that the parts he sold me today are completely the wrong size for my bike too, so I've decided not to go back to him anyhow and to deal with communication problems in other shops.

That chain reminds me of the plastic links you used to get in toy handcuffs when I was a kid.

snus is scary - went through a phase of that, but managed to get such a huge nicotine hit that it was too much- after I gave up I was smoking cigs two at a time to make up for the drop in nicotine.

Yeah, black bogeys are pretty gross, that is mainly why I want to quit!

I can't really justify that I have this pretty filthy habit, and I am hoping to kick it soon even though I enjoy it.........anyone else tried it and have preferences or favourites.

Note this thread is about nasal snuff and not anything more .........dodgy

I'm just shooting my brother a message as he is a tuba student and may be interested.

Potetskrel - you may want to check out straightrazorplace - a few guys there had a go at making their own. From what I remember the grinding is quite a task. I managed to make my own knife with a hollow grind that shaved - it wasn't very practical though!

My first choice is a feather straight razor - so sharp you only need a once over. Second choice is a real straight(I have 30 or so to choose from each has a different feel) Third choice would be a double edge, prefereably adjustable - opened up to an extreme setting.
I can't imagine what would make me go back to crap3 shaves - I guess I would have to be locked in a bomb shelter or something......actually I just wouldn't shave....go all trampy

Had a really cool weekend meeting some fo my family and managed to walk away with a 1930's Voigtlander brilliant camera. Just have to find a local supplier of 120 film and gonna have some fun..........

Five fingers did me wonders. I don't run in them exclusively as they take some getting used to for longer runs. They certainly force you to run carefully and to watch your footstrike. I have had a couple of issues that I hope will be changed in the new models -
First the stitching came undone on mine - maybe as the sizing was hard to judge and I got some that are slightly too small.
Second - How do you get the stink out of them! Washing doesn't seem to do much.
Just finished my first marathon and I am going to return to training only in VFFs and see if my next marathon in september will be possible wearing them.

I am aware that the cable is not a particularly secure method, but I am only using it as a secondary and was wondering about the difference between locking it separately vs. linking it to the u lock.
My bike is not worth spending so much extra on a really good chain and as I ride around the city lots and I don't want to carry too much extra weight. In any case 80% of the bike I lock up next to use particularly stupid locking methods(round the seatpost, through quickrelease whells etc.) so I doubt mine will be the first target!

Just got an evolution series 4 and it looks pretty good. I am a bit pissed off that it doesn't fit into my frame though, which will mean I can't use the bracket.
I have seen a few pics and also read advice to put a cable through the front wheel to stop it being stolen - I also lock my bike in a place where I can lock this to a railing along with the u lock.
My question is - is it better to hook this onto the u lock or use a separate padlock. I doubt anybody is going to cut a cable to steal my wheel, but if I use a separate lock I assume they will need an extra pair of cable cutters along with whatever they cut the u lock with in order to walk off with the bike.
Am I right or is it better to use the evolution to secure the cable as the padlock is probably not as strong.

I know a few people who work for ryanair - cabin crew and pilots and they all hate the company. Not only are they a crap airline but also bad employers!
I unfortunately have only ryanair flights available between my family and Poland.

So I let her know how I felt about it and her response was 'So you don't want to go out for her birthday next month then?'
Wasn't quite sure how to react to that one! I heard that she is celebrating by doing a tandem skydive, so there is always hope......

It can be a big problem with older people, I agree. Often they have opinions that are based on lies that they learnt when they were younger.
My wife is a historian and regularly finds errors in books that still haven't been corrected.

With this though, it wasn't even that the opinions were controversial or that irregular. It was the delivery of that opinion.

Is she fit.......that I can't say - I find her so repulsive that the idea of looking at her in a sexual way makes me want to vomit - I would prefer my sister. I guess according to popular opinion she is reasonably good looking.

.............than spend another second with a particular 'friend' of my wife.

The history is simple - I first met her 3 years ago and she made it clear that she had no brain, diplomacy and lived only to stroke her own ego. Every time I meet her, she shows the same features and has NEVER demonstrated any charateristic that I even slightly value.(Well maybe she has a good figure!)

She is so caustic that I can't understand why her group of friends continue to socialise with her just because 'they went to school together'

So as you may have seen in Poland(where I currently live) yesterday was a tragedy involving the death of a huge number of Polish politicians, historians etc.
Usually according to Polish customs, you should cancel all parties, social events, TV programs and sports matches but my wife had a birthday and doesn't approve of this custom (Which incidentally was popularised by the late Lech Kaczynski, the President who died in the crash)

So, the conversation turned to the crash and we started discussing the serious political implications of the crash(The stand-in president was due to be a candidate for the presidential election and now must choose a huge number of people to replace those who died, putting him in a position of great power).
Now whilst the discussion took place she started to 'express' opinions - that the russians caused the crash, that there was a conspiracy by the opposing party.........various other ideas that whilst unusual were not completely impossible, but the manner in which the 'conversation' evolved to me was amazing.

Anybody who disagreed was shouted at, accused of being 'simple', having no political knowledge. The fact that every sentence from her mouth started with 'Słuchaj mnie"(Listen to me) simply outlined that it was all bullshit. This degraded into her shouting at the whole room(only 8 people) Something I can't stand, if you can't convey your opinion without raising your voice I lose almost all respect for you.

Then whilst watching the news report the room was in silence whilst this attention whore made commentary to the tastefully edited obituaries- 'Fuck me, your kidding. Oh I never liked her, Shit, Fucking hell'

Really, I am not angry with her, she is such a piece of unculture(did I make up a word?) that she doesn't deserve my time, but I am so disappointed that this kind of behaviour is repeated at every social occasion and nobody will stand up to her and tell her piss off(Last night I so wanted to throw her out of my house, but I didn't want to piss my wife off) After 3 days of being irritated with her everybody will forget and she will be invited back next time. I have a problem that my Polish isn't good enough to have a good argument or she would have heard such a mouthful from me.

Now I need to decide - should I risk offending my wife by saying that I won't attend any more occasions that will also be attended by her?

Sorry guys for the rant, but I had to blow off some steam.

Trumpers is my favourite London shop. I went there a few years ago when I was into open razors, and although I'm not interested in the one they have(I collect the vintage ones) I am really into their shaving creams - you really can't beat them.
Haven't had any trim or anything there yet though. Maybe on my next visit?

The money is not so much of a problem now Poland has become an EU member, however the use of the money is still an issue. One road I had an accident on was left in a terrible condition after they 'ran out' of money to finish renovating it. Simply put, they screwed up the organisation and pissed away all the money.

Happens all too often that bureaucracy wastes money that was intended to be put to good use.

Things have improved greatly since I arrived 3 years ago though. I wouldn't have dreamed of cycling then as there were so few roads that were ridable. I think that the Euro football tournament has put the boot up a few butts to do something so they don't feel ashamed when the rest of europe visits in 2 years.

Hopefully attitudes will change with better road conditions.

So Cyclecraft is the one to get then. I'll get a copy asap.There is a definate lack of cycling culture here, although I am in one of the best cities for cyclists in the country - they have at least pledged to make the city more cycle friendly, although if that will actually amount to anything I don't know.I see very few cyclists on the roads here - most opt for the cyclepaths, which are strewn with rubbish, dogs and pedestrians who don't realise that it is a cyclepath. If there is no path they ride on the pavement, much to everyones annoyance. Most of the road riders seem to be couriers, but I see so few of them that I can hardly stop and chat to them for some advice!Poland has one of the highest cyclist death rates in europe despite having so few cyclists, which doesn't seem like good news for me.

I should start I guess with a short intro - I am British but living in Poland and I teach, cycling around the city to all my classes, which has brought me many new cycling experiences.

I found your forum whilst searching for a replacement bicycle for my winter damaged mountain bike, the winter here is really strong and I had real trouble during the winter with parts freezing, and salt and grime destroying almost everything but the frame of my bike!

So, I decided to buy a single speed road bike, which hopefully will be much more easily maintained and much more suitable for my completely flat city(Wrocław).

I have cycled since childhood in the UK and was always road confident and considered myself a fairly safe rider. After moving here I had a fearful introduction to maniac drivers, horrific road conditions and suicidal peds like nothing I have seen in the UK. I have since lost most of my road confidence and want to read up on road safety to improve my odds against what are pretty lethal conditions here.

The roads here are something else - I have had 3 shock absorbers break from city driving - most drivers here swerve to avoid potholes, which can be 20cm deep(a consequence of quick fixing for 50 years, laying asphalt on top of cobbles)
This is my first cycling problem, the next is the fact that most drivers are insane - think, blind, stupid and arrogant.

In all my cycling I have had three falls, all three in the last 6 months due to people opening doors into traffic, pedestrians wandering into cyclepaths, and deadly snow conditions.

I now want to read up on better road riding techniques and saw cyclecraft on amazon. Do you think that the ideas in this book could be easily transferred onto european roads? Are there any better resources, believe it or not, the highway code is pretty tough to read and there is no translation. I even heard that the law for cyclists is not particularly clear anyway.

Is there a point when road conditions are bad enough to stop riding?

Thanks

Great idea, but it should be an option, not the only way for them to watch. So are all the guys sat there watching television plugged into the wall, or do they not have tv? That sounds like discrimination!
Maybe they should have the women riding connected to the men's TV?

I have quit so many times I can't count them - only two times did I do a good job. I gave up for 3 years on my own and started again when I left my girlfriend(I gave up for her)
Now I am quit for 14 months.
I quit alone and then listened to Alan Carr - seems a pretty good way to give up. After two months I took up running and that has kept me off the cigs pretty well. If you smoke it screws your training!

Unfortunately I recently found my stash of nasal snuff and now I'm pretty hooked on that, although I suppose it is safer than smoking.

Auschwitz is worth a visit, it is however a pretty depressing day out. Make sure you give yourself enough time as I had to cut my visit short to catch the bus back to the city.

I felt that the Wawel castle was a waste of money, it is ok to go up and see but to pay to look inside was boring and nothing special - we have plenty of better castles in the UK - it is more like a stately home than a castle.

I was also a little disappointed by wielicka, but I have visited plenty of caves and mines so I was expecting something extraordinary.

Best thing to do in Kraków? Walk around absorb the culture, go find a little cafe and have a quiet coffee. Sit in the main square and look around for british people shaming our country on their stag nights!(I live in Poland and it is a popular topic over here to talk about how bad our manners are in their cities)

Kazimierz is worth it. I'm headed there in 3 weeks for the marathon and to meet some friends so I'll have to do some more sightseeing there.