Show us your toys.

quote:

Originally posted by Nime:
Pray tell why your "toys" always involve personal transport? Have you no imagination?

Nime

Er,...no. Sorry.



And of course, there's still:

quote:

Originally posted by Brian OReilly:
The beautiful BMW C1. One day all motorcyles will look like this........

How do you think it compares to the Vandenbrink Carver?

Cheers,

Edo (sticking to an M62 on all fours for safety)

quote:

He likes nothing better than chasing the local cats around the garden

How much to run an Owl then?
Do they eat the local cats ,or is that too much to expect?

Howard

Why do cats get such a bad press?
That thing would need a wheely-bin sized nesting box!
But what a beautiful bird.

quote:

How much to run an Owl then?
Do they eat the local cats ,or is that too much to expect?

They are pretty cheap to run, my Father looks after/breeds from injured owls and birds of prey, fully licensed by the Home office and their staple diet is DOC's or Dead Day old Cockerels. A bye product of the poultry business, no one wants the males and they have yet to find a way to tell the sex of an 'egg'. We get them by the case load and freeze them. Owls and raptors need all the bits and pieces you find in a whole chick so pedigree chum won't do. We supplement that with anything the cats bring in, all 6 of them and if you put corn down in the flight Ho, will catch any rats or mice that venture in to nibble on it. He looks pretty comical with just the tail hanging out of his mouth...

Last time I checked a captive bred barn owl was around 40 quid and you don't need any special permission to keep them, just if you take in wild ones. We have several that people have abandoned or tried to return to the wild, something that will always fail as they are imprinted on humans and will not hunt. That's why we breed from the 'wild' ones as the chicks are capable of being released.

Andy

Speaking of my toys I have plenty of free ones with over twenty types of birds visiting my garden or at least overflying it. They range from large ibis to tiny Golden Birds and finches. We tend to take them for granted but it is magic to sit out the back early in the morning and listen to the Kookaburra chorous with up to half a dozen in full voice.
Last week looking up into our ginormous pine I could see one of them hanging by his beak from another one perched on a limb.
The reason soon became obvious, neither being prepared to relinquish the mouse stretched between them.

John S --

Record Carbon crankset and TWO Record carbon fibre bottle cages.

I am not inconsiderably jealous.

Just need the seatpost now, to complete the set!

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Danaher:
Record Carbon crankset and TWO Record carbon fibre bottle cages.

Very nice. That little lot is probably worth considerably more than my lowly road bike/commuter:

quote:

Originally posted by Nime:
That thing would need a wheely-bin sized nesting box!
But what a beautiful bird.

I took my son to the zoo during the week and they have a huge new section which houses a couple of sea eagles. Those things are absolutely enormous - my son was sure one of them was eyeing him up as a potential meal...

quote:

Originally posted by ianmacd:
"Why not just post a copy of you bank balance?"

Nigel C, I am totally with you on this one.

I dunno - it's interesting to see how people spend their dough.

BTW - my bank balance is £1.69 at the mo. And no, I'm not kidding.

BTW2 - Steve G - what kind of speed can you get out of that thing? I'm wandering if my (REALLY low end by those standards!) Specialized Hardrock can be bettered - I'm usually ragging around above 20 mph except on uphill bits, and am wandering if a proper road bike rather than an ATB would be faster. The only thing I'm not sure on is the riding position with drop handlebars...

Mind you, front suspension in Exeter is a must - the roads are appalling. I'm not sure normal forks'd take Thornepark Rise!

quote:

Why do cats get such a bad press?

Cos they keep crapping in my garden thats why.
No I am not going to get my own so it keeps the others away.

Howard

quote:

Originally posted by domfjbrown:
BTW2 - Steve G - what kind of speed can you get out of that thing? I'm wandering if my (REALLY low end by those standards!) Specialized Hardrock can be bettered - I'm usually ragging around above 20 mph except on uphill bits, and am wandering if a proper road bike rather than an ATB would be faster.

I've found the road bike to be a lot faster over any kind of distance. My 10 mile road commute is 10 minutes faster on the road bike, I often see 25-30mph on the flattish bits and 40mph+ downhill.

quote:

The only thing I'm not sure on is the riding position with drop handlebars...

The riding position does take a lot of getting used to and I find I tend to ride on the hoods most of the time, rather than use the drops.

quote:

Mind you, front suspension in Exeter is a must - the roads are appalling. I'm not sure normal forks'd take Thornepark Rise!

Our roads aren't great either so with the road bike you have to make sure you keep the tyre pressures up (110psi on my bike) to avoid punctures. My bike has aluminium forks which are quite harsh so I've been considering a cheap set of carbon forks for it instead.

The owl rocks! I'd train it to swoop into Parry towers and steal his crockery.

Matthew

quote:

Originally posted by Steve G:
Our roads aren't great either so with the road bike you have to make sure you keep the tyre pressures up (110psi on my bike) to avoid punctures. My bike has aluminium forks which are quite harsh so I've been considering a cheap set of carbon forks for it instead.

I'm baffled by the fashion for straight and rigid forks. I bet even the T de F lads would gain a few seconds per mile if they went back to a nice soft tapered fork bend. (and round frame tubes)

Comfort is a large factor in speed on poor surfaces. Which means most roads these days.
I saw a continental road race on TV where they were racing with straight forks on cobbles. I just hope they removed their false teeth first! Sheer idiocy!

Nime

Tim,

What is the frame on the Bianchi road bike? Be interested to find out!

Dave

quote:

The owl rocks! I'd train it to swoop into Parry towers and steal his crockery.

Matthew

Why would you want to do that ?

Mick

David --

It's an SL3 Lite -- Double-butted aluminium, carbon seat stays and forks.

Shortly to be replaced by a FrameWorks48 Titanium compact...

My arse deserves it.

quote:

Just need the seatpost now, to complete the set!

is Colnago carbon not good enough for you?

Becuase Mick the thought of you penning the words "My antique teapot was stolen by an owl especially trained by a cabal of whinging pinko scum" on your insurance claim would be worth the effort alone. Words, i might add, you'd have to pen in biro as I would train it to steal your fountain pen colleciotn as well.

Matthew

PS Note to mods: I don't really have owl training skills

quote:

Originally posted by matthewr:
Becuase Mick the thought of you penning the words "My antique teapot was stolen by an owl especially trained by a cabal of whinging pinko scum" on your insurance claim would be worth the effort alone.

Matthew

You whinging pinko scumbags are a vindictive lot.

Regards

Mick

<Dons donkey jacket and stands around brazier outside Parry towers>

"Free the workers from capitalist oppression!"

quote:

The owl rocks! I'd train it to swoop into Parry towers and steal his crockery.

I'll start work right away 'Freedom for Tooting!!!'

Andy

Toys, Seattle style.......