Crank Brothers Speed Lever - How To Remove/install A Tyre Easily

The Crank Brothers Speed Lever is a tyre removal and installation tool that is ideal for all cyclists. Whether you ride a mountain bike with big chunky tyres (although most of these can be removed and re-fitted by hand and without the need for tyre levers), a touring bike, a BMX, a hybrid or a fully fledged racer the speed lever will assist with the removal of all tyre types.

Cycle tyre removal can be a tricky process, especially when dealing with exceptionally tight racing tyres with full wire beading, and usually requires the need for two (and usually a three) separate tyre levers. The speed lever is totally unique in both design and use, and all tyres can be removed with just the speed lever.

Using the tool is simple and the tyre removal process simply involves;

i) Hooking the plastic hook under the tyre bead

ii) Extending the telescopic arm and clamping to the skewer

iii) Turning the wheel so you are looking at it face on; and

iv) Applying pressure and pulling the tool towards you using the skewer as a pivot point

As well as removing the tyre the speed lever will help get the tyre back on once the inner tube has been patched or replaced. Installing the tyre involves;

v) Putting a bit of air in the inner tube to give it a bit of shape

vi) Inserting the inner tube in to the tyre

vii) Putting the tyre back on the rim, by hand and then the tool

As most of you are probably aware as the tyre goes on it gets tighter and tighter and you will get to the point where it is impossible to get the tyre any further without using some type of lever, and this is where the speed lever comes in.

Simply turn the tool over and place the narrow hook over the tyre rim and use as detailed above.

Whilst normal tyre levers can be used for this the Speed lever actually pushes the tyre back on the wheel without rubbing against the inner tube which could damage or hole it. It also stops the tyre sitting on the inner tube which is likely to lead to a 'pinch' puncture - a common occurrence when using normal tyre levers to reseat the tyre.

Using the tool requires a certain technique, which feels odd at first but after a couple of attempts it becomes natural. There are loads of 'tutorials' on YouTube should you need it (some are quite good whereas others are totally useless but this tends to be the case with YouTube), although if you step back and think about it logically video demonstration should not be required. Some users will read about how good the speed lever is, buy one and dismiss it after the first use when they don't use the right technique and end up breaking it.

Crank Brothers claim the speed lever is durable and robust and it is, to an extent. It should be noted that it is still made out of plastic and if you give it too much hard whilst using the wrong technique you will break it, without a doubt. This tool requires a bit of practice since it is not something you can simply stick under the tyre beading and give it the big heave ho because it will break. A weak point is the telescopic arm and pressure shouldn't be applied here, which to me is common sense but it appears many users still tug on this section and then wonder why the tool breaks. If you use the tool properly it is strong, robust and a lot of pressure can be exerted safe in the knowledge the tool will perform. I have never managed to break a speed lever (although I always use them properly) and I have had some very tight fitting 23mm racing tyres in the past.

I have read some reviews stating the plastic hook is fragile and easy to break, although I have never managed to break one. The plastic hooks do wear out over time with use, which is to be expected, and lose their effectiveness (ultimately leading to replacement) but I have never actually managed to break a hook during use.

Crank Brothers are so confident their speed lever is durable that they offer a lifetime warranty on the product and will replace it if you break one. I can't comment on the hoops you have to jump through to get a replacement because I have never broken one. Whether Crank Brothers will replace the speed lever when the hook wears out is something I have never tried and something I never will.

At 5.99 the speed lever appears expensive but considering only one is needed, whereas multiple tyre levers are needed at a couple of pounds per time, I think it is actually very good value for money. Besides, the additional is worth paying since being stranded on the side of the road with a puncture, and being unable to remove your tyre because your levers are useless (and bent) is not much fun believe me. It was also an expensive (not to mention embarrassing) taxi ride home.

The speed lever is widely available from all specialist bike shops (both online and offline), as well as Halfords so getting hold of one shouldn't create any problems.

The speed lever is, without a doubt, the best tyre removal and re-seating tool I have ever used and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It does require a specific technique and a bit of practice to use it effectively, but it won't take too long to learn and it is so worth it. Just don't use one and dismiss it after the first attempt because you will regret it.

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Choosing The Right Summer Tyres For Your Suv

Sports Utility Vehicles or SUVs are high performance vehicles. To make the most of your vehicle, you also have to get the right set of tyres; depending on the season, the use of the vehicle, the types or roads it frequently travels on to. During the summer where temperatures are high, you have to get summer tyres for your SUV.

Summer tyres are also considered high performance tyres. They are manufactured using a different mix of rubber for their body and the tread are designed differently to make them suitable for use in different conditions during summer. The main characteristics of the summer tyre is excellent driving and braking performance on both dry and wet roads.

In choosing summer tyres for your SUV, it is important to find a shop that you can trust. Aside from being capable and trustworthy, you want to choose a shop that has dealt with SUVs or at least understands specific problems about your vehicles make and model. You should also consider the road conditions and driving style. Since youre driving a high performance vehicle, you need to get tyres that balances the safety requirements of a good high performance tyres and is a little more compliant over rough roads. Since high performance tyres are usually more expensive than other types of tyres, you want to get tyres that have a long tread life so you dont have to replace it often. You should remember that differences in tread pattern, sidewall stiffness, and how the wheels are installed and balanced after the new tyres are installed can change the dynamics of your car.

Do your research on tyre brands, options, sizes and speed ratings. Although you may not understand all of the information you will find, it will give you a good idea of what to look for and how a particular type of tyre will benefit you. Visit car forums and ask the opinions of people who are driving the same SUV as you are driving. Look at customer reviews for specific types of tyres available. Stay with trusted tire brands. Quality is not something that you should compromise specially in buying summer tyres for your SUV. You dont have to spend so much to get good tyres, but you want to make sure that you will not be purchasing cheap tyres that will not be able to handle your driving style or the performance of your car. It is strongly recommended to buy the best tyre you can afford, tyres that fit your car and your needs as well. You may initially spend more but in the long run, you will be able to save on the maintenance. Other than that, it will ensure your safety on th e road. For more info on SUV tires, follow this link.

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How good? why? use Yokohama Parada tyre

Is very powerfull tyre use on the street road, this looking spec tire Parada is a King of the Road for low profile tyre we can use. On the time Cornering you are confidence on smooth pass over even shape corner. Is also increase your steering wheel light when turning. However Is also is a most wanted for new Drift driver to use it . It just have a little noise on the main road but some other say so is Quite. In condition Dry road you are be 100 persent to speed on the way left and right is very stable Gripping. Uneven road or pass over Bump is cofortable and silent.

But on the wet is just have 70% on Griping cornering this also bettet than other tyre tread. Almost to say cross over the water bump , is no worry your car will go to other way . Parada will help you keep contact on the road even in high speed.

Point on the Parada tyre as be:

Solitary circumfereruntial groove efficiently move water away from the thread area for ultimate wet handling experince.

Low void shoulder enhances vehicles stability and increases rubber to road contact for sharper cornering and less twitchiness.

Helical long grooves optimoze wet handling stability to adjoining thread blocks.

Rim protector Bar protect wheel against scuffing damage.

More load on a shorter sidewall increased load capacity allow ; for shortre sidewall , increasing plus siza capability.

Having to say when you try it , do it , feel it then you known. Why i sugguest !

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Sports Cars For Girls

Looking at different kinds of cars, one can't help but notice that each car has a special trait, a characteristic that makes it what it is. And we cannot help but categorize a car by its looks and features. On sports cars for girls, one usually arrives at an image of a convertible roadster that is small and compact. To give you a better idea, here are some cars that can be classified as a chick car.

Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Beetle is a compact family car that is made in Germany. It is one of the most easily recognized cars in the whole world. Due to its popularity, it has even moved up to a cult status with many loyal followers. It is known as the beetle, bug, or kafer (German) because of its distinctive shape.

Mini Cooper

This car is an affordable, stylish, fun, and compact piece of machinery. It was first designed in 1959 as a car that combines a big interior space with a small car body. It is very appealing to the eye and popular to a wide range of people due to its affordability. With regards to safety issues, the mini cooper employs an anti-lock braking system for more stability and control especially during turns and cornering. The interior of this car is stylish and compact. One drawback is its small storage capacity but that is expected from this type of car. It is not a hot rod but it is a fun to drive around the city.

BMW Z4 Roadster

The Z4 is the follow-up to the Z3 series which was first introduced in 1996. It is very popular to both young and old car aficionados because of its aggressive design. It is a bit bigger then the Z3 and its body is much stiffer even when measures were taken to reduce its overall body weight without compromising rigidity. It has a stiff chassis, a variety of transmission options, and large disk brakes that enable this car to provide great comfort and pleasure while driving.

These are some of the best sports cars that can be considered as girl cars. If you are still thinking of what kind of car you want to get, consider the following: The prices of convertibles start around $20,000 and go up to the hundred thousand range. Engines used usually are four or six cylinder types while the pricier ones employ V6 or V8 engines. Maintenance costs for convertibles are roughly the same as those of sedans and technology has made soft tops stronger and more durable to withstand years of abuse.

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Top 50: Most Memorable Movie Cars

With the newFast and Furiousfilm due out in a little over a month, we take a look back over the years and look at the top 50 most memorable cars from the silver screen.

A few rules before we start. This list contains only cars found on the big screen and their ranking is not based upon any previous knowledge of the car from TV. The list is also not including any cars which aren't real cars, weather they be animated or unique one offs, if you never expect to see one on the road, you won't find one in this list.

Apart from that, enjoy the list, if you have any comments, suggestions or criticism, then by all means comment at the bottom. If your interested in movies from cars, go check outIMCDB(Internet Movie Car Database).

50. Tommy Boy - 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX

An epic road movie with this sweet 67 Belvedere GTX. It starts off as a fine motor, yet by the end of the film it has been totally destroyed, including the nail in the coffin when it catches on fire.

49. 2 Fast 2 Furious - 1999 Nissan Skyline R34GTR

The silver and blue Skyline was the star of the start of the second F&F franchise and we all remember the (over the top) intro race. Is it possible for a Skyline to jump over a Supra? I'm not sure it is, but it's funny to think some people believed it.

48. Blade - 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

The evil Charger owned by "daywalker" Blade featured in all three of the Blade trilogy, it's evil, yet simple style won the hearts of many people for it's understated style, and awesome engine.

47. XXX 2 - 2005 Shelby Cobra Prototype

Only appearing at the end of this film, this Shelby concept had a similar role to the (above) Skyline, to perform something (CGI) incredibly unbelievable, yet entertaining none the less. It sadly never went into production, which means no one got to test to see if it really could drive on train tracks with bare rims.

46. Cheech and Chong Up In Smoke - Chevrolet Step Van

There's not much to say about this custom Chevy Step Van, apart from the fact it was driven by Cheech and Chong and it was made from pot!

Awesome!

45. Uncle Buck - 1975 Murcury Marquis

This is a rare car indeed, not the car, but the persona. It's a rusty nail which is on it's last legs, yet people still want it. A classic piece of movie history driven by the late great John Candy.

44. Tucker: The man And His Dreams - 1948 Tucker Sedan

The story of Preston Tucker and his attempts to make it in the car business. The Tucker Torpedo was one of only 51 cars made by Tucker before an unfortunate case of fraud. There are many fans for possibly one of the rarest brands in automotive history.

43. The Rock - 1996 Ferrari F355 Spider

How to smash up a Ferrari 101. This film is for anyone who wants to see what happens when you trash a F355 Spider. You maybe disappointed though, as rumour has it it wasn't a real F355 they crashed, only a replica based on either the Toyota MR2 or the Pontiac Fiero.

42. Dumb and Dumber - 1984 Ford Econoline

There's not much of the originally Econoline on display in Dumb and Dumber, but what a van! It's obviously remembered for it's dog like appearance as an advertisement for "Mutts Cutts"

41. Italian Job (2003) - 2003 BMW Mini Cooper S

The 2003 remake of the classic Italian Job was a great advertisement for the new BMW Mini Cooper S. Some good car chases and clever driving showed the car off as a fun plaything which everyone will have fun with. Shame the real car wasn't as much fun.

40. 48hrs/Another 48hrs - 1964 Cadillac DeVille Convertible

It's good to see a classic Caddy in a film, it's even better when it's used as a cop car. What makes this one really special is what a great film. It's so good, Jack manages to blow $25 grand on an almost identical one for the sequel!

39. The Car - 1971 Lincoln Continental mk3

This heavily customized Lincoln Continental was responsible for terrorizing a small fictitious Utah town. Some likened it to the shark in Jaws. Whatever you think of it, you'll always remember the horn!

38. Who Am I - 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4

Jackie Chan going out of his mind with amnesia is a fun thing to watch. The car though is what most people remember of this film. Showing off it's rally credentials by handling all terrains, all speeds and the odd fruit stand.

37. Big Lebowski - 1973 Ford Gran Torino

Another car to get hammered all the way through the film. Dude's 73 Torino gets crashed, stolen, trashed and of course, it has to be set of fire. Yet it's still an awesome car that many would happily own.

36. Kill Bill - 1997 Chevrolet 2500 Silverado Fleetside "Pussy Wagon"

The "Pussy Wagon" started the nickname of "Pussy Yellow" when referring to bright yellow on cars. The monster pick up will forever be remembered solely down to the paint job and name. It's still use by Quentin Tarantino as his daily drive.

35. Thelma and Louise - 1966 Ford Thunderbird

Another great road movie with a classic convertible in it. This one of course being remembered all the way through the film, but most notable of course, for the end scene where the car gets driven into the Grand Canyon.

34. Le Mans - 1971 Porsche 917 Le Mans

It's a film about 70's Le Mans, with the two main cars being a Ferrari 512LM and this Porsche 917 driven by Steve McQueen. Similar to the Rock, the crash with the Porsche and the Ferrari was filmed using two replicas made up on VW Beetle chassis.

33. XXX - 1967 Pontiac GTO

Not the greatest movie in the world, but this car is something else. It's like Bond's DB5 for the Playstation generation. Big, stylish, and fully laden with some awesome gadgets and weapons that even Q would have been proud. Although I doubt he would have painted it that sexy purple.

32. Graduate - 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto

This classy little red Alfa was the poor man's Ferrari in it's day, and thanks to its star role in this film it was a world wide success. It's well remembered for running out of fuel near the end of the film, leaving main character Benjamin the task of running to the Church.

31. Grease - 1948 Ford De Lux

Greased Lightning, the car that races in storm drains, gets the girls, and near the end of the film (during the fantasy sing song) it manages to fly away. Well, it was the fantasy bit!

30. Gone In 60 Seconds (1974) - 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 "Eleanor"

If you ever want to see a film which is based around the car and a car chase, this is the one to watch. A 40 mins car chase starring this Mach 1 was the film! There were some people (who weren't the greatest actors) and a script similar to Duel (non existent) but the car and that chase is what its about.

29. Fast and Furious - 1970 Dodge Charger

Of the many cars from the fast and Furious 1, Dom's Charger is probably the best known. It only appeared in the film a couple of times, but for the end 10 mins it plays a massive part in the film, including pulling a torque powered wheelie off the lines, and the above flip which (sadly) totals the car.

28. Austin Powers - 1967 Jaguear E Type "Shaguar"

The only car for Austin Powers is the "Shaguar". Using the classic 60's E type Jaguar and simply painting a massive Union Jack on it is style like no other. Of course the number plate is well remembered too!

27. French Connection - 1971 Pontiac Lemans

Regarded as one of if not the greatest Hollywood car chases, The French Connection doesn't revolve around the chase, but it had a massive impact to the film. During filming, the crew didn't have the permit to shoot the film, so a lot of the traffic in the chase with the El Train is real traffic!

26. Nation Lampoon's Animal House - 1964 Lincoln Continental mk2

The star of the show is Flounder's brothers Lincoln Continental. this classy car stars off OK, but gets trashed while on a road trip with Pinto, Boon and Otter. The car ends up being fixed for the Homecoming Parade by D-Day, yet it doesn't look much like the original. Evil!

25. Starsky and Hutch - 1976 Ford Gran Torino

The first car you need to forget about the TV series for. Yes it was popular before the 2004 film was made, but it played a big part on the big screen. Plenty of chases and high speed driving left people (once again) wanting a red Torino with a big red over the top stripe.

24. Days of Thunder - 1990 Chevrolet Lumina Nascar

Top Gun is a... oh wait, no sorry, Days of Thunder is a film about Nascar. So lots of speed, lots of excitement, some awesome race cars, and of course crashing! There's also a plot and some characters in there, but it felt a little too familiar. Still some great cars though.

23. Transformers - 2009 Chevrolet Camaro "Bumblebee"

Yes yes, originally Bumblebee was a VW Beetle, but in the 2007 movie of Transformers, they used a 74 Camaro which magically shifts itself into the soon to be released 2009 Chevy Camaro. At the time the car was of course a prototype, and was actually based on a Pontiac GTO.

22. Risky Business - 1981 Porsche 928

Parents need to realise, that telling your teen-aged children not to do something, and then going away for the weekend is a terrible thing to do! Of course Joel borrows it, and of course it goes wrong when it end up in Lake Michigan!

21. The Dukes Of Hazard - 1969 Dodge Charger R/T

The second car we need to forget about the TV program for. The classic General Lee got a modern upgrade to the big screen in 2005, and thankfully used an original 69 (although 68's were used for some of the filming) and not some modern day prototype. Fast, sexy and awesome looking fun!

20. Ronin - 1998 BMW 535i

This is another film with an epic car chase in it, well actually there's a few, but the big one is the Paris city center chase involving this BMW 535i, and the Peugeot 406, the BMW remembered of course for getting totaled in a crash which leads to the car being upside down in a construction site. This is regared as one of the best car chases in movie history.

19. Vanishing Point/Death Proof - 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T

A popular plot for 70's car films are epitomised by Vanishing Point. The cross country multi state car chase with the police will forever be remembered, as will the white 70 Challenger R/T. The same car was also used in Tarantino's Death Proof.

18. Christine - 1958 Plymouth Fury

The Stephen King classic book wonderfully transferred to the big screen in the epic film about an evil murderous Plymouth Fury. The Fury was in essence the Belvedere Sport with the evil red paint being an extra. It's an evil car, for an evil story.

17. James Bond (The Spy Who Loved Me) - 1975 Lotus Esprit

Q really pulled it out of the bag for The Spy Who Loved Me with this 75 Esprit. A modern (for it's time) road car made by legendary British firm Lotus, transformed into a submarine. No clever CGI like in Transformers either! It was all old school engineering.

16 - Wayne's World - 1976 AMC Pacer

When a certain guitar solo kicks in in Queen's classic Bohemian Rhapsody, people will nod their heads. Why? We all know the answer to that! The Mirth mobile was the ultra cool hatch to have!

15. Duel - 1960 Peterbilt 281 Tanker

Steven Spielberg's first feature film revolves around this monster Peterbilt 281 Tanker, playing a game of cat and mouse with a Plymouth Valiant. This film is a classic, with little dialogue and a great concept. Of course, the truck gets trashed at the end when it drives off a cliff.

14. Cannonball Run - 1980 Lamborghini Countache LP400S

Ok, so this car hung on many a teenagers wall during the 80's (and probably the 90's and 00's!) It was one of the cars that people noticed in a film featuring some of the worlds finest machines! (One of the other cars in this list was featured in the film) Of course, the sexy Adrienne Barbeau covered in spandex piloting it might have helped.

13. Bourne Identity - 1989 Mini 1100 Special

Another pretty wrecked car that has a spot in our hearts. Mainly due to an impressive mid Paris (the French obviously love car chases!) Police chase which sees it flying through little alley ways and down flights of steps like in the Italian Job. It takes a battering, but still keeps on going.

12. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider

What a car to take for a Joy Ride if your bunking off school! The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider is a rare and special car. It's in theTop 10: Most Expensive Cars Of All Timeand rightly so. In case you were annoyed at the film makers for wrecking such a rare and expensive car, fear not, it was just a replica based on a Datsun 240z.

11. Mad Max - 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe

"The Last of the V8's" will forever be remembered as possibly the most bad ass cop car in movie history. It's evil "futuristic" styling worked well, even if the supercharger button was only a prop, we can but dream!

10. Love Bug - 1963 Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle)

OK, so Herbie was a magic little car that dreamt of being a race car. It was successful too, but not nearly as successful as the Beetle was for VW. It's featured in 5 movies and a TV movie, and even though Lindsay Lohan ruined it for the youngsters of today, it's still one of the most recognizable movie cars of all time.

9. American Graffiti - 1932 Ford Coupe

Written and directed by Star wars man George Lucas (a self confessed hot rod nut) the story of American Graffiti is based around teenagers driving round listening to the radio. Who cars when there's not only Milner's 32 Coupe, but over 20 over classic cars and hot rods (and a Vespa)! Helped popularity of hot rod's with a new generation.

8. Smoky and the Bandit - 1977 Pontiac Tans Am

Burt Reynolds is a fan favourite with road movies thanks to this staring role and Cannonball Run. In this he's cruising (and speeding) around in this 77 Trans Am causing all kinds of mischief. Some great car chases, a funny script and this amazing car, great film.

7. Gone in 60 Seconds - 1967 Shebly Mustang GT500

The re make of the Original 1974 classic wasn't as good if you ask fans who have seen the original. However, the remake used the ultra rare Shelby Mustang GT 500 to play the part of Eleanor. It's script and cast still aren't that amazing, but that car is truly magnificent. Please not, "No Shelby's where harmed in the making of this film." It was a replica built on a Mustang. Real Shelby Mustang's are to rare and expensive.

6. Ghostbusters - 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor (ECTO1 )

Well, it's one of if not the most recognized ambulances in the world (the only other one worth noting is Burt Reynold's ambulance from Cannonball Run) It's a bit busted when the Ghostbusters team buy it, but it's so over the top that it's amazing!

5. The Italian job (1969) - 1968 Austin Mini Cooper S

By 1969 the Mini was already on it's way to becoming a legend in the auto world. This film sealed it's fate and ever since people of all ages and sexes have dreamed of owning an original 68 Cooper s. No matter what people say about the Muira or Dino in the Italian Job, the Mini's are the film.

4. Blues Brothers - 1974 Dodge Monaro

It's one of the all time best films. Yes it might not be a masterpiece of drama, but it's funny, fast paced, has some of the biggest names in music in it, and oh yeah, that 74 Dodge Monaro marked up as a police car. It's a great film to watch if you love watching nondescript police cars crashing into each other too.

3. Bullitt - 1968 Ford Mustang GT390 Fastback

This is often regarded as the greatest car chases of all time. The ever cool car nut Steve McQueen speeds round San Fransisco in the awesome 68 GT390 Fastback while being chased by the ever cool Black Charger. Rumour has it one of the original Fastbacks still exists somewhere in Ohio.

2. Back to the Future 1/2/3 - 1981 Delorean DMC 12

It's a touch choice going for the most memorable car, and this Delorean was so very close to the top. It featured in the massive box office smashes Back to the Future Part 1, 2 and of course 3. The heavily modified Delorean was of course a time machine/hover car that just rocked the 80's.

1. James Bond - 1963 Aston Martin DB5

Connery drove it in Goldfinger and Thunderball, it was then driven by Brosnan in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. Craig then used it in Casino Royale and during all that Moore "borrowed" it for some fun with Burt Reynolds in Cannonball Run.

This car has a better resume than most actors of its time. Plus it's an Aston Martin. The DB5 is the most memorable car of movie history.

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Top 10 Most Economical Cars

Of course, more recently hybrid cars have been growing in popularity. The mix of a petrol engine and electric drive-train has proven a massive hit in the USA, but is it justified?

In this article, I'll look at the top 10 fuel efficient cars avaliable to buy today. I'm not including electric cars because of how rare they are at present, although I'm hoping by this time in 2010 there will be a lot more on the roads.

See all 12 photos

A popular return of name for Fiat with the return of the Panda. This spacious little city car has amazed people with it's sense of spaciousness. It's a small car that feels big.

The small 1.3 Turbo diesel engine pumps out an impressive 65.7mpg on a combined cycle. There was some shock when this car first arrived at how well it was built. Fiat had a problem with bits breaking from almost new. Yet the Panda gets thumbs up from a lot of people and it help turn the tides for Fiats problems.

The new kid on the block. Retro is in and everyone is reviving classic cars. The Fiat 500 is obviously the new re-incarnation of the 500 from all those years ago. Using the same 1.3 TD engine from the Panda (above). Due to less weight (only 3 doors) and being a little more aerodynamic, the 500 manages an extra 1.6mpg over the Panda.

A great little car that's a lot of fun to drive. Is a definate contender over the king of retro, the Mini.

Another face lift for the ever popular Renault Clio has appeared, and with it's 80 horse power 1.5TD it has taken the crown of the most fuel efficient Renault of them all.The Clio is one of Renault's best selling cars now, and they keep making it better.

Like the Fiat 500, it's a lot of fun to drive, and like the Fiat Panda, it's also very roomy with a decent size boot, and 5 comfortable seats. It's looks are fresh up to date and as it's a Renault, is built very well.

The Citroen C2 has been around for a while now, so Citroen have just launched a face lift version of the car. It's a good seller for Citroen, especially with the ridiculous cash back offers Citroen are known for! 68.9mpg comes from the 1.4HDi engine which is an absolute dream.

These well built French cars are on a par with Renault for quality and style. Both of these cars appeal to the youngsters as much as their elders and due to the massive increase in the economy are getting more and more popular.

The Toyota Aygo is exactly the same as the Citroen C1. Both use the same 1.4 HDi engine producing a brilliant 68.9mpg. There both a lot of fun to drive while keeping them easy to use. Well built and very reliable will add to the low cost of ownership to make both these cars great sellers in 2009.

The one thing to know about these cars, is there's a slightly cheaper brother to both of them. A 1.4 Petrol version is available for 1000 less, and still pulls 61.4mpg! Yes it costs a little more to run, but the little petrol engine is very capable.

This is one of the coolest cars out at the moment. Yeah it might have shocked you when you first saw one, but it's growing on you! It's not quiet as economical as the non Clubman version (losing 2.5mpg) but it's worth it for the extra room the Clubman offers you. those extra doors and a real boot really help!

The Clubman is comfortable and spacious, and even though it's growing in popularity, it's not as common as the normal Mini. Get yourself something rare before everyone finds out about this great little car.

The Skoda Fabia is a great car. Skoda are part of VAG (Volkswagen Automotive Group) so in essence this car is the Volkswagen Polo Blue-Motion, but cheaper and slightly bigger! The slight increase in size means it's heavier so loses out 5.4mpg over it's VAG brothers. But the extra room and smaller cost means it's still a winner.

This is the mark 2 of the Fabia, and is it not a pretty car? It's a Volkswagen, so it's well built and well run for ever.

For the majority of this millenium the Mini Cooper has been a massive success for BMW. It's been one of the coolest cars to own. There small, cute and fun to drive. There maybe some controversy over the looks, and the fact it's more Midi than Mini, yet the sight of one every 30 seconds in any major town or city speaks for itself.

The cooper D has been improved for 2009 and is now part of an very small group of cars to average over 70 mpg. Even with these current diesel prices, that's a lot of mileage for your money!

The Polo is another car that's been around for years and is still very popular. Using the same engine and gear ratios as the Skoda and Seat, this daddy of the small VAG cars is a stunner. Amazing fuel economy, great build quality and VAG reliability make it a great car.

It runs joint top with the Seat (below) yet it sits in position 2 because of it's cost. It might still be popular, but being over 1000 more expensive than the Seat means it's not worthy of the number 1 spot.

Yes, the Seat Ibiza is the most economical car out today. using the same engine as the Polo and Fabia, this small little Spanish car is phenomenal value for money. It's a little over 10000 although they can be had for about 8000 if you look and haggle) and with 74.3mpg it will keep the pounds in the bank.

As with all VAG cars, it's well built, reliable and great fun to drive. The new version has just been launched, and Seat have really outdone themselves with the new model. There popping up everywhere. 2009 will see a great year for Seat judging by this amazing little car.

And here are the 2 popular hybrids! Languishing near and off the bottom are the Toyota Prius and the new Honda Insight. They both use a 1.5 petrol/electric system to help the economy and it seems to work well, just not quiet as well as the modern diesel cars.

The Toyota Prius as you may have noticed has the same 65.7mpg as the Fiat Panda in the number 10 spot. The reason the Prius did not get the 10th spot is down to the initial cost. The Prius costs between 18 - 21,000, whereas the Fiat Panda costs a tiny 9000! That's half the price! Sorry Toyota, you maybe one of the most popular cars in America, but in Britain your out done by the little Fiat.

So they you have it, the top 10 economical cars available to buy today. There's a great selection of cars available to run on less money, and as long as you drive correctly, these amazing little cars will reward you with simply amazing economy. I wonder if they'll crack 100mpg over the next decade? Here's hoping for 200mpg

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Law Of Attraction - To Get What You Want And What You Don't Want ( Part A )

Law of Attraction is the secret of the book The Secret. Actually it is not even a book at the beginning. It is a documentary movie sold online at thesecret.tv but because it is so well received, it is converted to a book, or should I say, a transcript of the documentary movie.

I read the book in October 2007, so it gives me almost 3 years to share my experience after playing with it. I am very sure this will be very very interesting, especially if you have never heard of it before.

Law of attraction is simply saying that you can get want you want, by just thinking.

Cool? Which means, the people who believe in that law believe that everything in this world is manifested (created) by the mind. We think. We create.

It is not, we think, we do, we create. It is we think, we create! There is no we do. That is the surprising part. They believe that once you ask, you shall receive. The universe (or God) will take in your order and deliver to you, like a drive through McDonald service.

Unbelievable right? More unbelievable than Ripleys Believe It Or Not.

It did sounds a bit unbelievable to me at first because it was missing the we do part. Previously my thought was at least you need to put in some effort to get something back. Not sitting there and did nothing. Means positive thinking will at least drive us to act which later lead us to results. There are suppose to be actions.

But Law of Attraction doesnt speak about actions. You ask, you will receive.

I try to be opened minded and trying to investigate. I bought this book before the day I flew to USA alone. The flight will be around 17 hours if I remember it correctly, long fxxxing boring flight!

Read it the night before the flight and felt very interesting. Continue to read it in the airport and immediately wanted to give it a try.

Then I saw a pretty blonde wearing a whole black dress and a black cold wear in front of me. So I put down The Secret, stared at her and keep mumbling, You sit beside me later You sit beside me later You sit beside me later

Sounds like an idiot but I did that for 15 minutes! Yeah, 15 minutes. 15 minutes is not long if you compare to the 17 hours flight! A sweetheart sitting beside you is definitely worth that 15 minutes of investment.

After that I forgot about it and kept on reading. Another 15 minutes we were called to queue for departing. I look at her again while she stood up and mumble my magic quotes again for a few times. And I forgot about it again to prepare myself for departure.

There were 300+ people flying that day. It is a huge 747 with 3 sections [3-5-3 seats arrangement]. Because Malaysia Airline Service a.k.a. MAS at that time was as lousy as Proton ( my country homemade car ), they were not fully booked, not even close to it. So it ended up that generous MAS is doing big charity and gave most people several seats to sleep. Means most people will get 3 seats on the left and right section. Some will get 5 seats in the middle!

And when I found my seat, the blonde was sitting right beside me. 1 out of 300 chance for this to happen. 1 out of 300!

Coincidence? Maybe. If this was so interesting, I shall not stop here right? I flew to Los Angeles for a seminar. There was slightly above 100 participants. Each of us was given a ping pong ball so we can wrote our name on it for lucky draw. I wrote my name Yap.

There will be 1 to 2 lucky draws a day depending on how good our behavior was for the day, an organizer trick to make us all good boys. [Boy boy, be good, I give you sweet sweet]

There were 2 lucky draws the first day. On the 2nd day, when they pull out the ping pong box for lucky draw, I just came back from the toilet and was bouncing on a rebounder at the back of the hall [they provide rebounders and bounder balls at the back for people who felt sleepy to wake up and I was really sleepy!]

So I suddenly remembered the law of attraction thingy, why not give it a try? The speaker was searching for a ball and I mumbled again with full concentration. Yap! Yap! Yap! Call Yap! Yap! Yap! while bouncing up and down, up and down

Next thing I know, the speaker shouted, Yaaaapppppppppppppppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!! I bounce off the bouncer like a Spiderman and flew to the front to claim my prize.

And I am the official 3rd winner of the lucky draw among the 100+ participants. A 1% chance. And I only used law of attraction once which is in the draw I won.

But my story didnt end there! I flew back, immediately called an emergency meeting with my buddies and shared my experience. They were very excited too. So you know my friends are as crazy minded as me, believing in shits like this.

A week later my friend went all the way to KL ( one of my state ) in car pooling with his friend to his company annual dinner. I didnt remember how many staffs were attending but probably a few hundreds. Again, there was a lucky draw. And the main prize? 32 LCD TV. Remember that was 2007 where LCD TV were far more expensive than today.

This friendsaw a chance to try out this law of attraction bullshit. There are many prizes (mostly small) given out that day. But all he wanted was the LCD TV.

You know, the problem is, you got to do this sohai thing without letting people know you are doing it because people will really think you are a dai sohai. My friend walked to the TV and kept mumbling quotes like This TV is mine I will win this TV I will go home with this TV stuffs like that. Went back to dinner. Lucky draw went on for small items until the grand prize 32 LCD TV.

Rules was modified and they were not drawing for 1 person but 3 persons! Only one of them will win the TV and the other 2 will have to walk down the stage being eliminated like American Idol.

My friend kept mumbling his name like a monk again. He was called up to the stage among the 3 persons from the few hundreds! A very small chance in statistic. Without stopping, he kept looking at the TV and kept mumbling his name and all the magic quotes he could think of. He was already 1 of the 3 out of the few hundreds. There was only 2 competitors ahead!

Unfortunately, my friend was very unlucky. He came here with 3 friends in a small Mini Cooper and the poor him had to squeeze himself beside his new 32 LCD TV at the back of the car for the 2+ hours journey back to Ipoh.

The other friend tried that too. He was in another lucky draw in his company too. He didnt get fancy things like a laptop or an LCD TV since his company is very kiamsiap. But he managed to get a 1 year free subscription to an investing magazine.

So 3 people tried out Law of Attraction within a month and 3 have outstanding results. Coincidence? Up to you.

After knowing this law, I suddenly remember something about my mum. Since I was small, my mum can always get something back from lucky draws. She never got big stuffs like car, TV or bicycle (which was BIG to me when I was a kid) and she always get something like cooking oil, cheap hand phones, etc. while I get nothing from the same draw.

She was a teacher and is now still a representative for the teacher cooperation. Every year there will be meeting at Genting Highlands with hundreds of participants. Every year there will be a lucky draw. She is the only person who has been able to draw a prize for 5 consecutive years! The next best known performer got only twice.

When I was small, I remembered there was a draw with a bicycle as one of the prize and all sort of house hold stuffs like laundry powder, baked beans, etc. and of course cooking oil. So many things. I remembered my mum told me that all she wanted was a cooking oil so she can give to my grandma. What I want is the bicycle. Yeah baby. But at the end, she got the cooking oil [out of so many things and so many people], and I got nothing. I was sad. She was happy.

To be continued ..

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Schwarzenegger Green Governor of The Year

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was awarded the 2010 Green Governor of the Year Award yesterday from Beautifuil Earth Group. The Governor was presented the award by Lex Heslin, President and CEO of Beautiful Earth Group, a leading sustainable services company.

Though hes been criticized throughout his reign in office, Governor Schwarzenegger was the governor of choice for its unprecedented achievements within the fields of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change, among other avenues. The inaugural Green Governor of the Year Award, in the future it will be presented at the Opportunity Green conference in Los Angeles.

"Governor Schwarzenegger has worked tirelessly to protect the environment and to create sustainable solutions in California," said Heslin. "He has advanced the research and generation of clean energy light years ahead of other states. He has succeeded in the face of many challenges, and California, the United States and the planet will benefit for many years to come from his continual decision to do the right thing."

"I'm honored to be the first Governor chosen for this award," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "California is showing the world that you can protect the environment and grow the economy at the same time. We are creating a new economic foundation for the 21st Century built on clean fuel, clean energy and clean cars that is turning California into the green capital of the nation and the world, and I couldn't be more proud of these accomplishments."

Though only established in 2008, Beautiful Earth Group has already made a powerful impact on the United States renewable energy projects with the construction of New Yorks first solar electric charging stations and test driving the states first MINI E MINI Coopers electric zero emissions vehicle.

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A brief history of the Monte Carlo Rally

Since its inauguration in 1911 by Prince Albert I, the Monte Carlo Rally is widely regarded as one of the most difficult and demanding endurance races in the world. Running from La Bollne to Sospel over a steep and stiff mountain road full of hairpin turns and passing over the icy Col de Turini, the Monte Carlo Rally is perhaps one of the most special and prestigious rally stages in the world.

In its early years it was mainly an amateur event where ardent racing aficionados would drive their cars along hard European roads, day and night, and often under extremely difficult conditions, to get to the exotic Monaco waterfront. At that time, the aim of the Monte Carlo Rally was to create a tough rally event where global manufacturers would be able to test the durability of their automobiles as well the latest technological improvements and innovations under extremely challenging conditions.

Over the years, the winners have included many of the worlds leading car manufacturers such as Ford, Fiat, Jaguar, Renault and Lancia, but also smaller manufacturers such as Amilcar, Hotchkiss and Delahaye that have achieved major successes in the earlier years.

However, in the 1960s the Monte Carlo Rally became more prestigious than ever.

In 1960, a Mercedes Benz 220SE was the winner after a difficult scoring procedure. Then, it was the time of Mini Coopers that pretty much dominated the Monte Carlo Rally during the rest of the decade. Other winning manufacturers of the 1960s were Panhard, Porsche and Saab, signifying a complete range of competing rallying cars. However, the conditions were so demanding that each year fewer and fewer cars were actually making it to the finish. Especially, in 1965 only 35 out of 237 cars finished their race, a fact that made the Monte Carlo Rally even more exciting and prestigious. Winning the Monte Carlo Rally gave the winner a great deal of reliability and exposure.

By the end of the 1960s, the amateur spirit of the early years had been transformed to professionalism and marketing. All manufacturer teams were keen to employ the top rally drivers and mechanics aiming to maximize their chances of winning the rally. Driven also by the urge of television coverage and the potential of worldwide exposure, top factories would do the utmost to win the Monte Carlo Rally and increase their sales by targeting new car buyers in their living rooms.

Since 1973, the Monte Carlo Rally was held in January as the first race of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) World Rally Championship. In 2009, the race has joined the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) programme. Since 1991, the participants are allowed to choose their starting points from five venues that are located almost halfway from Monte Carlo district. Each starting point comprises of different conditions, usually wet tarmac, dry tarmac, snow and ice, all in a single stage of the rally. These varying conditions require great experience from the drivers as they have to balance their cars on ice and snow as well as on dry tarmac. This is often a difficult choice because, from a mechanical point of view, the tyres that respond well on ice normally perform badly on dry tarmac.

Since its inception, the Monte Carlo Rally has come a long way. One of its most impressive parts is the Night of Turini, also known as the Night of the Long Knives because of the intense high beam lights cutting through the night. No matter the progress made and the professionalism undertaken, the memories of the small Mini Coopers are still alive today in the minds of all the rallys fans around the globe; maybe because the magnitude of the Monte Carlo Rally is in the magnificent spectacle of man and machine against the elements of nature.

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10 Budget-Friendly Speed Demons

Cars that break the 200 mph mark or cost seven figures can be jaw-dropping to both the eye and pocket book, but for most normal folks, a balance of utility and fun must be struck. Below is a collection of vehicles that prove practicality and performance are not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts.

For some reason, the MazdaSpeed3 slips under many peoples radars when thinking about seriously fast and still inexpensive cars. Depending on who you believe, this hatchback will reach 60 mph in as little as 5.4 seconds, and definitely under 6. The value of the MazdaSpeed3 starts with its highly-attainable base price of $23,410, and continues with its 2.3-liter engine that produces 263 horses and 280 lbs of torque while still providing 26 mpg on the highway. Other goodies include a sport-tuned suspension and brakes.

If shopping for a new Sube its tough not to step up to the WRX STi when it is tempting you with its 300+ horses and Rally-injected credentials. But for the money, the tamer WRX delivers much of the same performance for a fraction of the cost. Starting at just a hair over $25-grand, the WRX arrives at 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, about a second faster than last years model. While it lacks 40 horses from the STi, its 2.5 cylinder boxer still creates 265 horses and 244 lbs torque while being $10,000 cheaper. As with all Subarus, the biggest upside with the WRX may be the Symmetrical AWD.

Those that lament the passing of the Neon from the Dodge landscape need to give the Caliber SRT-4 a chance. Not only does it get up to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds, but itsturbocharged engine produces 285 horsepower. Plus, unlike the Neon SRT-4, the Caliber has the added utility of a hatchback and available all-wheel-drive. Starting at $25,470, the Caliber SRT-4 is also the right price.

Surely the winner of the longevity award when it comes to pocket rockets, the 2009 Volkswagen GTIs ability to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 6 seconds is even more impressive given its affordability with a price starting at $23,230. While 200 horsepower may fail to impress in comparison to others in this list, the GTI is famous for providing a large list of standard options, where other companies nickel and dime for every accessory. Despite its fleetness to 60 mph, fuel economy is still over 30 mpg on the highway.

AlthoughMINI Coopers are becoming a dime a dozen on the road, with a boot full of options and customization, any potential owner can tweak their MINI to reflect their individuality. For less than $23,000 you can get into a MINI that will reward you not only with a stylish and fuel efficient ride that is capable of 34 mpg on the highway, but a decent turbocharged 172 horsepower that will get up to a top speed of 139 mph. In terms of the fun factor, the MINI Cooper S is about as good as it gets for the money.

Chevrolet gets slammed often and thoroughly in automotive circles, mostly for transgressions of the past. But despite the nagging reluctance to accept the Cobalt as a real contender, in SS form and with a sticker of around $24,000 it deserves at least mentioning with the rest of these cars. It also comes in both coupe and sedan version offering a little more function for those that cant manage with just two doors. The turbocharged 2.0 liter engine it shares with the Solstice GXP andSaturn Sky Line is both powerful (260 hp) and fast (0-60 in less than 6 seconds). It also still provides 30 mpg on the highway. Now if they can just get people to buy it.

Despite years of struggling to make an impact in America as Japans Fifth biggest automaker,Mitsubishi maintained a focus on providing highly technical (and fun) vehicles to the world. The payoff is cars like the Lancer GTS which shuffles to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds. No it isnt a Lancer Ralliart or Evo. But those two cars start at over 25 and 33-grand. Even with VariableValve Timing, stability andtraction control, and every other electronic option offered, theLancer GTS CVT comes in around $23,500. Plus, it has many of the same angular, aggressive lines of the EVO that should be appealing to many buyers who cant afford its more expensive siblings.

Volvo followers have been faithful to the brand for decades because of its legendary durability and safety that is the hallmark of the Swedish car maker. With the diminutive C30 they also have an inexpensive model that starts at $24,000 and proof that the companies tank-like toughness can also produce a car that is youthful and a blast to drive. Powering the small hatchback is a turbocharged five cylinder engine that propels the C30 to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds. Best of all? Its a Volvo.

Arriving in 6.7 seconds (though some report even quicker times), theHondaCivic Si Coupe is almost three seconds faster to 60 mph than the standard Civic coupe, which in automotive terms is a lifetime. Starting at $21,905 the Si not only comes with the newest generation of Hondas endlessly tunable engines that produces 197 horses, but also receives sport exhaust, rear spoiler and 17-nch wheels. In terms of affordable and attractive coupes, the Si is easily one of the best.

For those that need four doors and dont care for hatchbacks, the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V provides comparable performance to more traditionally popular cars in this group. It has a high output version of the Sentras 2.3 Liter engine that produces an even 200 horsepower and hauls to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds. With a standard six speed, tuned suspension, larger brakes, and Helical Limited Differential, the Sentra SE-R Spec V offers huge value with a base price of $21,160.

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Things TO Note When Buying Your First Car

Making any kind of financial commitment for the first time can be a bit unsettling. Buying your first car is no different than any other situation. To help you have a good experience, there are some guidelines you need to keep in mind.

The first thing you should do is research. Unless you've won the lotto, your first car should be one that gets good gas mileage and is very reliable. It is easy to get caught up in how cars look, but don't make this mistake. Read up on the best rated cars and avoid those that get bad ratings like the plague.

Your second task is to know what you can comfortably afford. You are going to need a down payment and then a loan with a corresponding monthly payment. In general, the smaller the loan, the less total interest you will pay. There are different ways to set up loans, so play around with the various online calculators. Once you know what you can spend, stick to it. Don't blow your budget!

Go to the dealer to test drive the car you are interested in. Personally, I decide up front that I will not buy on that visit. This gives you time to digest the experience and take a measure of what you like and what you don't. Only then can you really make a decision.

One final tip is to look for oddities with the car you are considering. I'll give you an example. I own a Mini Cooper. I love the car, but one thing that bothered me was there was only one dealer in San Diego when I bought it. This gave the dealer a lot of leverage over my repairs and such. It was a serious issue, but I decided to buy any way. Fortunately, there is another Mini Cooper dealer opening in the city, so it no longer is. Still, this is the kind of thing you want to watch out for.

Buying your first car can be unnerving because it is usually your first large financial commitment. Follow these tips and you should get through it fine.

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Top 5 Fuel Efficient Cars

The Honda FCX Clarity is a fuel cell car so it does't produce any emissions. The only exhaust that is released is water vapor. This car doesn't harm the ozone layer at all. The Honda gets 72 MPG. That's a step a ahead of the other car companies. The Honda has 134 horsepower. The Honda runs on hydrogen that generates energy which is stored in the Lithium-Ion Battery which propels the vehicle.

The Toyota Prius is a hybrid that gives off really low emissions. It is a gas electric car that gets 48 MPG. The Prius is run by a 1.5L 110 horsepower engine. When driving at low speeds you are not using any gas and when you reach a certain speed the gas part of the engine takes over. This allows the car to have better city mileage than highway mileage.

The Honda Civic Hybrid uses a magnet motor to charge the battery so it doesn't have to plug into a charging station.This car gets 45 MPG and has a 1.3L engine that produces 110 horsepower. The Civic can go 590.4 miles on a single tank.

The Smart ForTwo is a compact two seater.It has a small 1.0L engine that has 71 horsepower . The small 1.0L engine propels the car from 0 - 60 in 12.8 seconds towards a top speed of 90 mph. The Smart has a 5 speed automated manual. The Smart gets 36 miles to the gallon and costs about $15,000.

The Mini Cooper has a lot of style but if you look at the gas mileage it's far from being a bad car at all. The Mini get 35 MPG and along with the good gas mileage it is pretty fast. The Mini has a 1.6L 4 cylinder engine with 118 horsepower and has a top speed of 126 MPG. The Mini costs around $19,000.

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Tips of Maintaining a Car

It is a wet dream for some people, a harvest for a long time, brilliant design and art. But give only a few people in the car of a sense of touch, which is managed properly. This is due to the lack of experience and recommendations as cars. Many owners of cars on the groups continued their brand identity and admirable. Developers and designers to create new templates that change usually represents, as the vision of a future high-tech without jumping to the older models.

Lots of information and advice, however, is easy to follow and contribute to maintaining a standard equipment. Sometimes you can work the gas in the car the meter is not correct. This may include sending the defective device to cause the fuel tank. In order to avoid a complete break should replace, as soon as it is corrupted. Replacement of the fuel tank sending unit is simple, because the path is available. Drag car, draw or drag behind a line, bar, line, or another link is also very important. This avoids problems with auto engine will not start.

The engine is the most important part of the car and run effectively, because it has adapted and changed the sails. This improves fuel economy. If there is an irregular plugin. You can reduce fuel consumption by 5%, according to the EPA. They require extra attention as sufficiently requires care, brakes. It is essential to prevent undesired can handle tow in a State of sound. "" "" Remember the light of the warning "engine" maintenance ", as well as the way of control" should be ignored. This is due to wear and costly repairs can yield of fuel consumption.

Car owners should be very careful to replace worn out tyres of their vehicles. It is recommended that you use the best quality, style and size of tyres recommended by the manufacturer. This saves a lot of them should change because resistant does not already deck sometimes money. Fuel consumption, stubby replacement tyre rolling resistance should improve performance as prestige. If the tire pressure recommended by the manufacturer, fuel consumption can be improved up to 4%. Tyres, which, under its swollen Ups will have more features.

The standard lays down that a return clean because it seems brilliant, if a disk is no matter how new or old. However, a prosperous key to a car wash is done from top to bottom, and then one must wash one page at a time. One must look for a bleak place in detergents and therefore these leaves fall from trees and dripping SAP. It is very important for a car in a sealed area and dust with air dehumidification is saved. Cannot afford to maintain because the climate in winter. General car maintenance, operation and perk.

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Customize Your Own Car With Own Rims

But this concept is the painting of the wheels suitable for a few years, there are many questions that you and I thought that it would be my experience with my tires integrates actions of painting. I have many examples of how to do it, but I think that first adjustments of time for me when I decided to try my tires in winter of this year. I was quite please with the result.First and foremost, must paint the hell your tires? Of course it is: Duplicolor is painted with the colour in his wheel. They offer color color shows your black style, metal, silver and bronze as a classic example. I decided for my gun in my dose of lip in brilliant style of stocks of license. Here are the options:Then choose the color, bought its color and is ready for the half. You must first have your tires. Why? This gives a rough texture of the surface, so it became known the color well. Light reading article works your tires as granaries of the wheel. The only difference here is how you want to go. In my case by winter wheels painted completely me not to dismantle the color on the wheel. Boiled to the surface with sandpaper of sand 300 ensure that everything on Earth. This is to keep the thick color and for all surface and when the wheels did not have any harm, it should be sufficient.The wheels are the Earth. It has its color and now. Ensure that only clean all dust from grinding wheel with a clean to keep the color well and not from his first trip with new scales painted wheels! Here is my attempt to be washed and ready to completely dry before painting:My wheels mesh with paper and tape. Of course, is going to change the tyres not in color, draw. It will not be painted band. Although close by, know that the lips which were masked. Therefore, I have used the tape also painted the lip to protect. What little that air that also meet the mask if you change a color well: pumpCircles are dry, unpainted thing escaped and now is the time. Put some newspapers on the floor a nd the location of the boundary line in the upper part of the newspaper. You want to paint the concrete edge to not keep it clean with the newspaper.Now, please contact the first layers of color. Color in dry and leave the next day, you can enjoy their manual work and results.

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Hannibal: A Short Biography

Hannibal ("mercy" or "favor of Baal"), Carthaginian general and statesman, son of Hamilcar, was born in 249 or 247 BC. Destined by his father to succeed him in the work of vengeance against Rome, he was taken to Spain, and while yet a boy gave ample evidence of his military aptitude. Upon the death of his brother-in-law Hasdrubal (221) he was acclaimed commander-in-chief by the soldiers and confirmed in his appointment by the Carthaginian government. After two years spent in completing the conquest of Spain south of the Ebro, he set himself to begin what he felt to be his life's task, the conquest and humiliation of Rome. Accordingly in 219 he seized some pretext for attacking the town of Saguntum (modern Murviedro), which stood under the special protection of Rome, and disregarding the protests of Roman envoys, stormed it after an eight months' siege. As the home government, in view of Hannibal's great popularity, did not venture to repudiate this action, the declaration of war which he desired took place at the end of the year.

Of the large army of Libyan and Spanish mercenaries which he had at his disposal Hannibal selected the most trustworthy and devoted contingents, and with these determined to execute the daring plan of carrying the war into the heart of Italy by a rapid march through Spain and Gaul. Starting in the spring of 218 he easily fought his way through the northern tribes to the Pyrenees, and by conciliating the Gaulish chiefs on his passage contrived to reach the Rhone before the Romans could take any measures to bar his advance. After outmaneuvring the natives, who endeavored to prevent his crossing, Hannibal evaded a Roman force sent to operate against him in Gaul; he proceeded up the valley of one of the tributaries of the Rhone (Isre or, more probably, Durance), and by autumn arrived at the foot of the Alps. His passage over the mountain chain, at a point which cannot be determined with certainty, though the balance of the available evidence inclines to the Mt. Genvre pass, and fair cases can be made out for the Col d'Argentire and for Mt. Cenis, was one of the most memorable achievements of any military force of ancient times. Though the opposition of the natives and the difficulties of ground and climate cost Hannibal half his army, his perilous march brought him directly into Roman territory and entirely frustrated the attempts of the enemy to fight out the main issue on foreign ground. His sudden appearance among the Gauls, moreover, enabled him to detach most of the tribes from their new allegiance to the Romans before the latter could take steps to check rebellion. After allowing his soldiers a brief rest to recover from their exertions Hannibal first secured his rear by subduing the hostile tribe of the Taurini (modern Turin), and moving down the Po valley forced the Romans by virtue of his superior cavalry to evacuate the plain of Lombardy. In December of the same year he had an opportunity of showing his superior military skill when the Ro man commander attacked him on the river Trebia (near Placentia); after wearing down the excellent Roman infantry he cut it to pieces by a surprise attack from an ambush in the flank. Having secured his position in north Italy by this victory, he quartered his troops for the winter on the Gauls, whose zeal in his cause thereupon began to abate. Accordingly in spring 217 Hannibal decided to find a more trustworthy base of operations farther south; he crossed the Apennines without opposition, but in the marshy lowlands of the Arno he lost a large part of his force through disease and himself became blind in one eye. Advancing through the uplands of Etruria he provoked the main Roman army to a hasty pursuit, and catching it in a defile on the shore of Lake Trasimenus destroyed it in the waters or on the adjoining slopes. He had now disposed of the only field force which could check his advance upon Rome, but realizing that without siege engines he could not hope to take the capi tal, he preferred to utilize his victory by passing into central and southern Italy and exciting a general revolt against the sovereign power. Though closely watched by a force under Fabius Maximus Cunctator, he was able to carry his ravages far and wide through Italy: on one occasion he was entrapped in the lowlands of Campania, but set himself free by a stratagem which completely deluded his opponent. For the winter he found comfortable quarters in the Apulian plain, into which the enemy dared not descend. In the campaign of 217 Hannibal had failed to obtain a following among the Italians; in the following year he had an opportunity of turning the tide in his favor. A large Roman army advanced into Apulia in order to crush him, and accepted battle on the site of Cannae. Thanks mainly to brilliant cavalry tactics, Hannibal, with much inferior numbers, managed to surround and cut to pieces the whole of this force; moreover, the moral effect of this victory was such that all the south of Italy joined his cause. Had Hannibal now received proper material reinforcements from his countrymen at Carthage he might have made a direct attack upon Rome; for the present he had to content himself with subduing the fortresses which still held out against him, and the only other notable event of 216 was the defection of Capua, the second largest city of Italy, which Hannibal made his new base.

In the next few years Hannibal was reduced to minor operations which centered mainly round the cities of Campania. He failed to draw his opponents into a pitched battle, and in some slighter engagements suffered reverses. As the forces detached under his lieutenants were generally unable to hold their own, and neither his home government nor his new ally Philip V of Macedon helped to make good his losses, his position in south Italy became increasingly difficult and his chance of ultimately conquering Rome grew ever more remote. In 212 he gained an important success by capturing Tarentum, but in the same year he lost his hold upon Campania, where he failed to prevent the concentration of three Roman armies round Capua. Hannibal attacked the besieging armies with his full force in 211, and attempted to entice them away by a sudden march through Samnium which brought him within 3 miles of Rome, but caused more alarm than real danger to the city. But the siege continued, and th e town fell in the same year. In 210 Hannibal again proved his superiority in tactics by a severe defeat inflicted at Herdoniac (modern Ordona) in Apulia upon a proconsular army, and in 208 destroyed a Roman force engaged in the siege of Locri Epizephyrii. But with the loss of Tarentum in 209 and the gradual reconquest by the Romans of Samnium and Lucania his hold on south Italy was almost lost. In 207 he succeeded in making his way again into Apulia, where he waited to concert measures for a combined march upon Rome with his brother Hasdrubal. On hearing, however, of his brother's defeat and death at the Metaurus he retired into the mountain fastnesses of Bruttium, where he maintained himself for the ensuing years. With the failure of his brother Mago in Liguria (205-203) and of his own negotiations with Philip of Macedon, the last hope of recovering his ascendancy in Italy was lost. In 203, when Scipio Africanus was carrying all before him in Africa and the Carthaginian pe ace-party were arranging an armistice, Hannibal was recalled from Italy by the "patriot" party at Carthage. After leaving a record of his expedition, engraved in Punic and Greek upon brazen tablets, in the temple of Juno at Crotona, he sailed back to Africa. His arrival immediately restored the predominance of the war-party, who placed him in command of a combined force of African levies and of his mercenaries from Italy. In 202 Hannibal, after meeting Scipio in a fruitless peace conference, engaged him in a decisive battle at Zama. Unable to cope with his indifferent troops against the well-trained and confident Roman soldiers, he experienced a crushing defeat which put an end to all resistance on the part of Carthage.

Hannibal was still only in his forty-sixth year. He soon showed that he could be a statesman as well as a soldier. Peace having been concluded, he was appointed chief magistrate (suffetes, sofet). The office had become rather insignificant, but Hannibal restored its power and authority. The oligarchy, always jealous of him, had even charged him with having betrayed the interests of his country while in Italy, and neglected to take Rome when he might have done so. The dishonesty and incompetence of these men had brought the finances of Carthage into grievous disorder. So effectively did Hannibal reform abuses that the heavy tribute imposed by Rome could be paid by installments without additional and extraordinary taxation.

Seven years after the victory of Zama, the Romans, alarmed at this new prosperity, demanded Hannibal's surrender. Hannibal thereupon went into voluntary exile. First he journeyed to Tyre, the mother-city of Carthage, and from there to Ephesus, where he was honorably received by Antiochus III of Syria, who was then preparing for war with Rome. Hannibal soon saw that the king's army was no match for the Romans. He advised him to equip a fleet and throw a body of troops on the south of Italy, adding that he would himself take the command. But he could not make much impression on Antiochus, who listened more willingly to courtiers and flatterers, and would not entrust Hannibal with any important charge. In 190 he was placed in command of a Phoenician fleet, but was defeated in a battle off the river Eurymedon.

From the court of Antiochus, who seemed prepared to surrender him to the Romans, Hannibal fled to Crete, but he soon went back to Asia, and sought refuge with Prusias, king of Bithynia. Once more the Romans were determined to hunt him out, and they sent Flaminius to insist on his surrender. Prusias agreed to give him up, but Hannibal did not choose to fall into his enemies' hands. At Libyssa, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmora, he took poison, which, it was said, he had long carried about with him in a ring. The precise year of his death was a matter of controversy. If, as Livy seems to imply, it was 183, he died in the same year as Scipio Africanus.

As to the transcendent military genius of Hannibal there cannot be two opinions. The man who for fifteen years could hold his ground in a hostile country against several powerful armies and a succession of able generals must have been a commander and a tactician of supreme capacity. In the use of stratagems and ambuscades he certainly surpassed all other generals of antiquity. Wonderful as his achievements were, we must marvel the more when we take into account the grudging support he received from Carthage. As his veterans melted away, he had to organize fresh levies on the spot. We never hear of a mutiny in his army, composed though it was of Africans, Spaniards and Gauls. Again, all we know of him comes for the most part from hostile sources. The Romans feared and hated him so much that they could not do him justice. Livy speaks of his great qualities, but he adds that his vices were equally great, among which he singles out his "more than Punic perfidy" and "an inhuman c ruelty." For the first there would seem to be no further justification than that he was consummately skilful in the use of ambuscades. For the latter there is, we believe, no more ground than that at certain crises he acted in the general spirit of ancient warfare. Sometimes he contrasts most favorably with his enemy. No such brutality stains his name as that perpetrated by Claudius Nero on the vanquished Hasdrubal. Polybius merely says that he was accused of cruelty by the Romans and of avarice by the Carthaginians. He had indeed bitter enemies, and his life was one continuous struggle against destiny. For steadfastness of purpose, for organizing capacity and a mastery of military science he has perhaps never had an equal.

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England is Snowed In

England is drowning in snow and for that it is the laughing stock of Europe. Foreigners just cant understand the mass of snow that has gridlocked the country. If they could only watch English television they could appreciate the hopeless battle the English are involved in; and losing.

An ITV program traced a poor couple completely snowed in. Basically stuck in their house, they cant get anything from food to milk for their baby; and the husband has an urgent meeting elsewhere the next day and cant leave. Its horrific, and really nothing to laugh about.

The camera followed the reporter (who just happens to be the sister of the lady who cant get to the shops). She walked up a small cul-de-sac where a dusting of snow could be seen on the road surface. The house she was aiming at was at the end of the cul-de-sac. To make the horror of the snow crippling the couples life more understandable, she put down a bottle of milk into the snow. She carefully chose a corner where the wind had driven most of the snow. The horror became very real at that point, the snow actually covered the bottom of bottle, and it must have been at least an inch high.

Before entering the house to interview the afflicted couple she detoured to the parking area behind the house. It was clear that they would not use their cars for days; the snow on the cars and on the parking was at least three inches high. It would take days of warm weather to melt it off the cars and off the surface. With such insurmountable impediments its no wonder nobody gets to work.

All right, if you insist, I was already in stitches at that point. The interview after that was less amusing, though. What she interviewed was a pair of whining snivellers. They complained about the council not clearing the cul-de-sac (and probably their private parking lot, too); about the impossibility to get anywhere without a car; and it went on endlessly in that vein. If ever you want to know what is wrong with Britain, this pair was the epitome of the sickness.

Britain is renowned for its Universities and Colleges; they also offer a great many absolutely useless courses with an equally useless degree. The same goes for utterly brainless GCSE courses and exams. As the government is currently playing around with the school system anyhow, maybe they could include a few useful lessons into the curriculum. How about shovelling? Maybe how to mount winter tyres would also be feasible. And then it would be high time to take the word work from the list of four letter words you are not allowed to mention.

Quite frankly, most British employees look out of their windows in the morning; if they can see a single snow flake drifting down they are immediately incapacitated to get to work in any way. It is funny, though, that migrant workers manage to get to work no matter what the weather looks like, even if they have to slog on foot for miles through snow. Is anybody astonished that companies hire more and more migrants?

Related articlesOh, to be in EnglandBritain is Never Prepared for Winter, Why Not?

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Trek 1200 Racer - How To Be Like Lance Armstrong

Trek History *************** Trek is an American company which was started in 1976 in a barn in Waterloo, Wisconsin.

By 1980 the company had outgrown it's original factory and moved to new premises. The owners decided to keep the company in its 'home town' of Waterloo.

In 1982 Trek started producing road racing bikes and the 750/050 series was born.

Trek became global in 1989 and the first overseas subsidiaries were formed in Great Britain and Germany.

By 2005 Trek had the largest dealer base with the bikes being available in 90 different countries. At that time Trek had 10 subsidiaries and over 70 distributors.

Arguably, it was the 'great' Lance Armstrong who raised the profile of the Trek brand within the road racing community. In 1997 Lance Armstrong was dropped from his European cycling team after being diagnosed with cancer. What a mistake that was....

Lance Armstrong joined forces with Trek and In 1999 became the first American on an American bike riding for the American team to win the Tour De France. Lance's popularity was so great that the bike developed for the American team, the OCLV carbon 5200, became the biggest selling road bike ever.

Trek 1200 Spec ****************** The Trek 1200 is described as an entry level racer although it does have a few high spec components to it:

Frame ********** The frame is a Trek Alpha SL butted comfort aluminium frame. Whilst not the lightest frame around it is still noticeably lighter than that of my mountain bike, and being a recreational rider I would not notice the difference in weight to other entry level racers in its class.

Forks ******** Most of the bikes in the price range of the Trek 1200 have aluminium forks as standard.

The Trek comes with a carbon fork with alloy steerer which are usually associated with more expensive bikes. Again, whilst being a recreational rider I would not notice the difference between the carbon or aluminium it is nice to say "my bike has carbon forks".

Gearing *********** The Trek comes with Shimano gears which is good because they are well known for their quality and reliability, as well as being easy to work on. In addition to this, I do not like the shifters on Campag gears.

The Trek has Tiagra gears and a 105 front and rear mech. Whilst these are not at the upper end of the Shimano gear range the are still a higher spec than most bikes in this class which have Shimano Sora all round.

Gear shifters ************** The trek has Shimano Tiagra Sti gear shifters. This means that both the gear shifter are levers, as opposed to one being a lever (easily reachable wherever the hands are on the handlebars) and one being a small button on the hoods (difficut to reach when on the drop bars, if like me, you have small hands).

The Tiagra Sti gear shifters also allow the use of the Shimano flightdeck cycle computer which has the added advantage of showing cadence.

Most bikes in this class have lower spec Sora gear shifters (where one is a lever and the other a button).

Chain ring ************ The Trek has a Bontrager Select crankset with 53-39 chainrings. This means that it is a double chain ring instead of a triple.

A triple chain ring = more gears which (according to the forums) is better for beginners as the extra number of gears should mean that the rider should always be able to find a gear which s/he can easily spin (i.e rotate without getting too tired too quickly and build up lactic acid in the muscles).

After a few rides I now understand what this means. With my double I am on the largest cog but using the first 2 or 3 cogs on the rear. Being near the extremes (i.e the largest cog on the front or back and the smallest on the other) results in a tight chain which decreases the life of it.

If I had a triple I would be on the middle cog on the front and probably the 4th - 6th cog on the rear to achieve the same gear. There would be less stress on the chain and it would last longer.

Since I do not use my Trek every day to commute (like many cyclists on the Bike Radar forum) riding in the extremes will ot make that difference to me since I do not cover the mileage. I only way for me to get around this is to persevere and strengthen my legs so that I can spin the higher gears on the rear cog and the front ring.

Wheels ********** The Trek has 32 spoked wheels with black anodised Alex rims. It is the wheels that ets this bike down, however, these cheap wheels are common on entry level race bikes.

Unless you're under 10 stone (unfortunately I'm a bit more of a porker than this!) the wheels tend to flex quite a bit if you put a bit of extra weight on them. I find this a problem when hill climbing - although living in Norfolk there aren't that many about which is a good thing!

I have also had the wheels flex when going over pot holes. I know that you should always avoid these on a racer and 9 times out of 10 I do, but there are the odd occasions when they are unavoidable.

Changing the wheels is not a difficult task and it is usually one of the first upgrades most cyclists make to their bike. I'm hoping that good old Santa will bring me some nice new wheels for Christmas.

Tyres ****** The Trek comes with Bontrager Select 700x23c tyres as standard. Although I have had no problems with them yet (they haven't lost air or been prone to punctures) they have only seen nice, dry summer roads. Once the autumn/winter arrives and the road surface worsens I will have to see what happens.

Forum research/reading (I'm well and truly hooked on Bike Radar) confirms that these are not a popular tyre compare to Michelin, Continental etc but I am not going to change them until I need to, and since these are my first racer tyres I have nothing to compare them to.

One thing I would point out is the 23 cm width is very narrow and does lead to a harsher ride than 25 cm tyres. I can confirm this since my other half has 25 cm tyres on her Giant.

Handle bars ************** The Trek has Bontrager Sport handlebars. Like all racer bars these are dropped (i.e the ram horn shape).

After riding a mountain bike since I was a kid riding with dropped bars is quite strange at first. The bent forward and low riding position ("riding on the drops") does take some getting used to and it does hurt but after a couple of rides the pain goes and it does feel a lot more natural. I now find it more comfortable than the upright position when riding my mountain bike.

When riding on the drops I find it difficult to reach the brakes due to my small hands. This can be a bit unnerving especially when riding downhill where it is possible to reach quite high speeds (I'm a pure beginner and going down Norfolk hills (sorry... slopes) I reach just over 30 mph.

If back pain does set in when riding on the drops it is possible to ride on the hoods (the top part of the bar) and get the upright position back. Riding on the hoods is slower than on the drops - although it is still quicker than riding a mountain bike.

Stem ****** The stem is the metal tube between the frame and the handle bars. The Trek has a Bontrager Select stem as standard, and to be honest, I don't know if this is good or bad.

One thing I should point out is that the stem is quite short and leads to a very compact (almost "cramped") riding position and I'm only 5' 7" with quite a short upper half. This stem size would not be suitable for taller riders or those with a longer upper half although the stem is easily replaced.

Seat ****** The Trek comes with a Bontrager Race Luxe saddle. This is nothing special in the world of racers, although being razor thin it is actually quite comfortable (obviously not as nice as sitting on a mountain bike seat).

Seat post ************* The Trek has a Bontrager Carbon seat post which is unusual for racing bikes in the entry level class. The carbon seat post is a weight saving measure only, so, being a recreational cyclist and not a time trailer means I don't really see the benefit, although carbon fibre is prettier than painted aluminium in my opinion.

Peddles *********** All racing bikes tend to have clipless pedals. These pedals require specific cycling shoes with cleats on which attach themselves to the pedal via a locking system. The Trek has Wellgo Clipless road pedals which are about the size of a matchbox.

Being attached to the peddles is weird and takes a lot of getting used to, especially riding in town (where you are constantly start/stopping) or on small country roads where there are lots of junctions to stop at.

I changed the pedals straight away to those where they are clipless on one side and normal on the other. These are a lot larger than the Wellgo (they need to be since 'normal' pedals need to be big enough to get a large proportion of the foot on) so there is an effect in aerodynamics. As stated before, I am a recreational cyclist, and would not notice the difference. Besides I feel a lot more confident with my current pedals.

What's it like to ride? ************************ The Trek can be likened to a sports car in that it is quick, nimble and you'd never take it off road. The Trek is not as comfortable to ride as a mountain bike. The stiff frame and no suspension means that all vibrations are channelled along the handle bars. A good thing is the drop handle bars allows for several hand positions that can help to alleviate any arm/wrist/hand cramps.

Every pot hole, drain cover etc ridden over on the bike is exaggerated and this, combined, with the razor style saddle generally leads to a sore backside for the first few rides. I was walking like John Wayne for around two weeks! Padded shorts are an absolute must have.

I found that riding on the drop bars took a little getting used to and had stability problems at first. The trick here is to persevere it does get much easier very quickly and I now feel more confident on the drops on the racer than on the flat bars of the mountain bike.

The Trek is fast it is necessary to get used to the speed. Doing 15mph is effortless and speeds of 30mph + are easily achievable down hill (even the tiny hills of Norfolk!).

Upgrades available *********************** There are loads of upgrades available for this bike. The most common ones include:

1)Gearing (putting a higher spec on there such as Shimano 105 or ultegra) 2)Wheels (putting on lighter, and hence faster, wheels) 3)Tyres (putting on narrower, and hence faster, tyres)

There are many other 'cosmetic' changes including changing the stem, changing the saddle, changing the bars etc. etc.

The cost of upgrading varies greatly and depends what is changed. For example changing the gearing to Ultegra involves changing gear shifters/chain rings/front mech/rear mech/chain/cassette and is likely to cost around 400 (I didn't pay much more for the whole bike!).

Rather than changing the wheels (which isn't that expensive and can be transferred to other bikes) and the tyres (these will need to be changed at some point anyway) I can't see the point in any other upgrades since I am a recreational cyclist only. I, and probably 80% of other owners, would not see significant benefits in upgrades.

If a significant upgrade is required then it is cheaper to buy a new bike with the higher spec components already on it.

Any problems? ****************** During the few months I have had my Trek I have had no problems with it whatsoever. I have covered just over 2,000 miles so it has had it's first service at the bike shop. I got this for free (since the first service is usually free from the bike retailer) although the next one is going to cost me 25 plus any parts that are going to be required.

My brief ownership has shown that racing bikes require a lot more looking after than mountain bikes. For example the tyres need to be at the correct pressure (around 110 psi) otherwise they bulge and rub on the brake pads. The chain needs to be lubricated regularly. Brakes wear out quicker (due to higher speeds) and tyres last around 1,800 miles (I have never had to replace a tyre on my mountain bike!).

Owning a racer will mean you need to be accustomed to bike maintenance. It is all part of the fun. If you are looking for something to ride, put in the garage, ride, put in the garage etc and never have to do anything to it, then the Trek 1200 - or any other racer for that matter, is not for you.

Availability ************** My Trek 1200 is a 2006 model so will be difficult to get hold of. I'm lucky in that being vertically challenged and requiring a small frame there was one in the bike shop. Mr 'average' will find it harder as popular sized frames will have long gone.

The Trek 1200 has been discontinued and replaced by a newer model (hence the stonking discount I got). This is not a problem since parts are readily available should anything go wrong.

Conclusion ************* Buying an older model bike is by far the best way forward, regardless of the marquee/brand. You get a higher spec price for a lot less money, and the snobbery factor in the road bike community means that many cyclists want the 'new' model and manufacturers exploit them by bringing out a new model each year (some of the changes are minimal and often only involve a change in colour scheme!).

Lance Armstrong has helped to raise the profile of the Trek and whilst some want the Trek (so that they can play at being Lance) others don't (they do not want to be seen to be wanting to be like Lance). Lance's involvement has meant that a premium can be charged for a Trek racer. When I got mine I didn't even know that Lance rode a Trek (shows how much I follow cycle racing!)

Trek are a great brand and the bikes are very good quality with high spec components. I have had no problems whatsoever and would highly recommend a Trek to anyone.

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What You Should Definitely Know About Suv Tires?

When you buy SUV, there are a lot of things going in your mind about where you can drive it. However, many people do not pay attention to one of the most important parts of that vehicle and those are the SUV tires. Remember that if the tires of your SUV are not properly maintained, the handling and steering of your vehicle will worsen. Therefore, here are some things that you should definitely know about SUV tires:

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Things I learned on my Motorbike

I have been riding my bike for just over 18 months, in this time I have learnt a hell of a lot! I have had the back slip out many times due to using the back brake far too much for the situation, I have had the back tire go flat while I was riding down a dual carriageway which was really fun, I have ridden to and from North Wales which is 330 miles from where I live.

I would like to pass on some of the knowledge I have gained to you so hopefully to reduce the risks of you having the same problems I have, and to make everyone a little safer. The first and biggest problem I have ever had has been when it is wet or greasy on an A-road, when riding in these conditions extreme care must be taken when entering into a corner. The worst time I have had on a motorbike was entering into a corner as I would in the dry expecting the exit to be clear, luckily I was only doing 30 but the car in front of me did an emergency stop, I applied the brakes firmly, with too much on the rear brake which caused the back to slide. To this day I don't know how I managed to keep the bike upright! I remember releasing the back brake and bringing the bike over to the far left side of the road and going past the car but it was the closest miss I would ever want to have. After this experience I always approach corners expecting the car in front to stop, so allow lot s of room and keep good visibility ahead.

If the front tyre goes flat there is no way you will be able to keep the bike up. If it happens to go down while you're riding do not touch the brakes just coast into the side of the road, keeping the bike upright without any sudden movements.

If the rear tyre goes down then you have a chance to stay up, while I was riding to work the bike started feeling very strange, a very strong vibration at the back, I realised very quickly that I must have had a nail which had punctured the rear tyre and it was going down. Knowing that I was not very far from a tire shop I tried to continue (I do not recommend doing this in any circumstances!). I slowed right down keeping the bike upright and not touching the brakes.I was flashed by a car who wanted to pull me over. So we both pulled over and he told me my back tire was flat which he realised quickly that I knew all about! He very kindly offered to follow me at a distance to keep people off of my back wheel so if I came off i would not be run over. About five minutes of very careful riding we got to the tire shop where my rear tyre was so hot it stank the entire carpark out. If I had stopped I would be have been able to repair my rear tyre but because I had ridden on it fo r those few miles I had to spend 120 on a new one. which was entirely avoidable! I know I was bloody stupid for so many reasons!

Now every time I check my bike I spin the back wheel and check it thoroughly for nails and I found one a few months ago, this time I removed the back wheel puts it in the boot of my car and drove to the garage where it was repaired for 10 and it is still holding now. So I am in pocket and have a safe tyre to ride on, you can buy these kits from any bike shop.

The last thing I'm going to talk to you about now is long rides, I ride regularly to North Wales which is 330 miles from my home. This is a very long way on a motorbike without brakes in the car I can do the same trip with one-stop, on the bike I have to start at least three times usually five. It is very important that you know the range of your bike i.e. fuel and also how often you need to stop yourself. It is very important also that you secure all of your luggage on the back of the bike securely I personally use a top box that this, it cost me 150 but it is the best 150 I have ever spent on my bike, it keeps everything dry including my laptop and is easily removable so you can take in if you stop, is also a good place to keep your helmet if you stop for a short while the example when you go to work. When on a long ride it is very easy to get bored and cold or even too hot, any of these will affect how you ride your bike and thus your safety, make sure that you have the correct armour for the time of year so some armour for summer and armour for winter, in winter it is particularly important to buy good gloves which will keep you warm, and I also recommend mits which go over your handlebars I have used these every time I ride up to North Wales and they keep my hands out of the wind and rain. With boredom it's a little harder to control on a motorbike legally you cannot have headphones in your ear to listen to music but what you can do is buy speakers to your bike. But I personally entertain myself by varying my route and concentrating on what cars are doing so I can predict how they're going to act, it sounds boring but if you're doing long motorway trips it's very entertaining.

I hope this is helps you either need brushed up on very very basic things, if you would like to learn more about how to ride more safely I suggest that you join in an advanced motorcycle club, they will guide you through your advanced motorbike licence and give you general hints and tips on how to ride safely.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this.

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The tea bushes grow on the lower slopes of the Himalayas

West Bengal also lies in the eastern part of India. It is one of the smaller states of India. It has a long border with Bangladesh in the east. The southern part of the state is broad, low plain. Across this plain flows the wide Ghana. As it nears the sea the river breaks up into smaller rivers and streams. One of these is the important river Hugli. Between these smaller rivers there are flat islands. In the North of the state are the Himalayas. Not far from Darjeeling is the famous peak Kanchenjunga in Sikkim.

The southern and northern parts of west Bengal have very different climate. In the south the some of the interior districts are extremely cold. Woolen clothes are needed. Heavy rain falls from June to September. The north the climate is more pleasant because of the mountains close by.

It is possible for the farmers of west Bengal to grow many kinds of crops. This is because the northern and southern parts of the state have different climates. In the south rice and jute are the most important crops. Both these crops need much heat and lots of water. The rice fields are ploughed and flooded. The tiny rice plants are sown in the flooded fields. The crop ripens in about four months.

Because of the warm climate, two and sometimes three crops can be grown in one year. In winter there is not enough rain, so water for flooding the fields is obtained from canals and wells.

Jute grows best on the flat islands of the Ganga. This plant too needs a little flooding. It grows to a height of about three meters. When the plants are cut down, the leaves are removed. The stems are tied in bundles and soaked in ponds to help remove the jute fiber. This is called retting. After this, it is taken to the mills near Kolkata. There it is made into gunny-cloth and bags, ropes and matting.

In the cooler north, tea and tobacco are grown. The tea bushes grow on the lower slopes of the Himalayas. Some of Indias finest tea comes from the gardens near Darjeeling.

West Bengal also has many mills and factories. Most of these are near Kolkata and around Asansol and Durgapur. There are jute and cotton mills and factories for making chemicals, papers, rubber tyres and tubes. There is a big iron and steel mill at Durgapur. From this iron and steel, railway engines, trucks, cars and machinery are built. At Chittaranjan, railway engines are made. Haldia is a large oil refining and chemical centre.

The capital of west Bengal is Kolkata. It is the second largest city in India. It stands on the river Hugli. It is a busy port.

Darjeeling is a busy hill s-station. People from all parts of the country visit it in summer to enjoy the cool weather and its beautiful scenery.

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