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Don't get your knickers in a twist. Dakin says he wants to do XC, so I'm not sure if a 'rough road' bike is a good recommendation.

If anyone's interested in Trangias or other alcohol stoves, I have RUCAS: RUCAS
. It's made by some dude in his garage, and it's bloody fantastic. I have a Trangia and MSR Whisperlite too, but the RUCAS is the one I use 90% of the time - I only use the MSR when I want to cook with two pans at once, or if I need to melt snow.

I wouldn't really call it a cross-country capable bike by the looks of things. Dirt roads yes. Maybe that's preferable if dakin isn't actually going to do proper mountain-biking on it.

On-One Inbred 29er if you don't mind having the same frame as everyone else.

Wouldnt mind getting one if someone could post

Ditto with postage to NZ, it's too far to come back just for a badge (sorry, the truth hurts sometimes).

Mind you, the landscape goes a long way towards making up for the weather and the poor build-quality of housing.

Oh it absolutely does, but only if you are into the outdoors lifestyle. For us it's just amazing but if you're young, old, sick, or poor, then New Zealand is a real shithole of a country. Incidentally even down here in Dunedin the weather is warmer, drier, and more settled than most of the UK (and Kiwis call us whiny!)

Anyway, I bought a cheap dehumidifier which has been running for a few hours and has filled up once already. I've found a source of cheap Mylar (tough flexible clear plastic) which'll allow me to diy-double-glaze the place for about $100 (that's fifty quid), if the landlord lets me. So it looks like our shack will be bearable this winter without having to resort to sleeping in our sleeping bags.

The landlord is obliged to keep the property at a liveable standard so we'll go elsewhere if he ignores us (a friend rents out his warm and spacious future retirement home for only $120 more per month but we would both have to drive to work)

Dehumidifier sounds like the way forward. They are reasonably cheap secondhand too.

A couple of mates have some leftover insulation - with a couple of new rolls there'll be enough to do the living room and bedroom. I will mention this to the landlord.

Sometimes I wish I was in my house back in the UK...

Yeah we do take all reasonable steps to keep the moisture down. It's extremely windy here so not always possible to crack a window open at night. I've just had a nose around in the attic and there's no insulation up there at all! Which is actually fairly common in NZ and somewhat of a scandal.

I've also noticed that the guttering has broken and the window frame underneath is soaking wet, no doubt contributing.

good to hear about the dehumidifier running costs. I've asked the landlord to install some insulation, fix the gutter and tidy up a few other broken things, and provide us with a dehumidifier. Hopefully he will be receptive...

My house is cold and damp. It's autumn here in New Zealand and down here in the south it's about 10-15 degrees in the day and 2-7 at night. My house is a pretty standard 1950s Kiwi jobbie i.e. a furnished shed by UK standards - semi-detached bungalow, an inch of crumbly rockwool between the ceiling, single glazing, fireplace, and a heat pump (an air conditioner in reverse). It's also rented - I'll be living here for a couple of years but I don't want to put any real money into it.

I only heat the living room, and only in the evenings, but that's okay. I'm more bothered about the humidity... we have water droplets on the bedroom ceiling in the morning! I am concerned that my clothes (especially the very expensive down sleeping bags and alpine jackets) are going to get mouldy...

My thoughts are:

1. Heating. Seal up the living areas - the bedroom is off the living room, so I can put some weatherstrip around the door. I'm also thinking about making DIY double glazing, since the living room and bedroom have fucking massive windows. I have also discovered that open fireplaces are really rubbish at heating the house, so I will get an inflatable chimney damper since there is no point actually burning anything in it.

2. Dehumidifying. This is more complex.
   The obvious solution is to buy a dehumidifier, however a) they are somewhat expensive to run but more importantly, b) they only work well if the air temperature is 20 degrees or so - my house, like most old Kiwi houses, is much colder than that.
   Another solution is to open the doors and windows for 10-15 minutes. But it's pretty rainy and damp here in the autumn so I wonder if it'll actually introduce more moisture.
   I also wonder how to dry clothes. It's often too damp to dry them outside and we don't have a tumble drier. Currently I dry them with a fan heater in the hallway, with a window open, but it's bloody expensive.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Having done what uber gruber suggests for one summer whilst at uni, I would recommend it. I didn't make any more money than I would've done had I worked in a bar, but it was certainly a lot more fun.

I also always check my mirrors and do an over-the-shoulder when turning or moving in either direction. I don't know why anyone wouldn't, especially the OP who seems to understand why you should. You may be a moron for undertaking an indicating vehicle, but that doesn't mean you deserve to get knocked off.

I was sure this was an April Fool.

Also reminds me of aerodynamics lectures at uni; midway through a lecture the tutor stated loudly 'Never stand too close to a passing train - else it will suck. you. off.'

I have made/bought a handful of alcohol stoves; the best I've used is the RUCAS - probably not as light as the 8g but it's been tough enough to survive many hiking/cyclotouring trips in New Zealand (quite a few dents by now, but still functioning perfectly), and it boils much more quickly than any of my handmade stoves or my old Trangia. The only drawback is that it also functions as the potstand, which means it can be a little unstable if there is no hard level surface to place it on (or if it's very windy).

The RUCAS ( Repurposed Ultralight Compact Alcohol Stove ) - YouTube

http://www.ebay.com/sch/wheelie_pete/m.html

^ interessant.

I have used Materialise several times - they seem to work out the cheapest for architectural/product modelling. I'd love to start designing and printing more functional stuff though.

I think he is talking about swapping a new fork with a different axle-crown length and rake than the current one, rather than disassembling and rebuilding the frame itself.

http://www.spectrum-cycles.com/geometry.php

Just take the brake shoes out.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/774841427/halfbike?ref=live

This is truly awful.

Cyckit - Integrated, Minimalist Under Seat Cycle Storage.

I'd use one, looks far better than most saddlebags. They're only down the road from me. I'll get in touch.

Yup.

Aw, seeing that reminds me of stopping to buy milk at Balclutha before turning southwards to camp at Curio Bay, and getting stuck behind about a thousand muddy cows being moved along the road.

Yup, it's a stereotype for a reason. The first few times I didn't know what to do, now I just drive/ride straight into them and they get out of the way pretty sharpish. Unlike horses...

None of them moved or showed me any interest.

My recurring experience with them was always a bit like when you're walking along and someone is walking directly towards you, and you both turn in the same direction to avoid each other, then turn again, then end up almost walking into each other before saying 'sorry' and working something out, except that the other person is a trotting horse and you're on a very fast-moving bicycle.

I rode to the New Forest. They have wild horses wandering around.

Horses which lead to many 'oh shit' moments on the descents as I remember, especially at night on a heavy touring bike.

Just spent two days riding easy gravel paths along the Clutha River in New Zealand. There-and-back route of 160km (100 miles) and camped at the turnaround point. The start is only an hour's drive from my house so I'm quite spoiled.

There's nothing your LBS will be able to do that you can't do yourself, unless your LBS employs a framebuilder.

Rivnuts... some people say they're fine, others say don't do it; however Google reveals several long-term successes and no failures. I would go for stainless steel rivnuts over aluminium ones due to corrosion issues, but then again, perhaps I don't understand how electrolytic corrosion works.

Am I a member yet Ed?

Derailleurs do not have 'speeds' as such (although they are designed within specific speeds) so almost anything will work so long as it a) can handle the biggest sprocket (the capacity) and b) can take up enough slack (the range) and c) has the correct ratio cable-pull for your shifter (e.g. SRAM mtb stuff ain't gonna work with Shimano shifters).

Make sure your derailleur hanger is straight, too, otherwise it'll never shift properly. A good shop will do this for a tenner.

^ Yep. The only one that works is the rear Crudcatcher, but it's really ugly.

The Full Windsor one isn't terrible, mind.