my new arc welder.

far better than my old buzzbox , has more than a 20 second duty cycle.

Trout upgraded Hope Lights. And my expectations were quite high.
2×10 drivetrain. Had regarded as marketing hype till I got my Canyon

Rapha Jerseys
MDMA

Probably my Blur LTc, it’s better than I imagined a bike could be.

The Cotic Soda I bought from Northwind! Bloody brilliant! Strangely despite being 26″ – the trails come alive!

Vostok Amphibia 420, replaced the strap with a campagnolo synthetic. Love it.

Endura shorts and merino base layers.
The shorts lasted me about 8yrs and were worn for every single ride i did, including a 3mth tour of NZ.
Same with the base layers – 5 years on, worn all the time for all outdoor activities and still going strong.

although read a lot of comments that imply i must have just been lucky..

a kobo glo – I never expected to use it as much as I do, plus the fact that it has a memory card slot means you’re not tied into the store

Fat Bike. Nothing else gets a look in now, just sooooo nice to ride – anywhere!

Ergon GP2 Grips.

No more Raynauds numb fingers.

I’ve got another one – one of these

Little knife sharpener for £4 off eBay. Works brilliantly. I have the scars to proved it 😉

Bike:

Spesh tyres – Purgatory/Sauserwind combination work well (don’t think they make the Sauserwind anymore though

KCNC seatpost – so easy to set-up the saddle position compared to other posts I’ve had.

Overshoes – yeah, not perfect for every occasion, but for riding round a muddy, splashy Thetford they keep your feet dry & warm

On One/Planet X jerseys – wait until they have a sale on and buy for cheapy cheap. Work/fit as well as any expensive jerseys I’ve bought.

Dirtworker – must be 5/6 years old now and still works fine. Always a pleasure putting a freshly cleaned bike into the car, rather than knowing you have to still do it when you get home.

Other:

LG GPad 8.3 – bought cheaply (£160), but is very good..

03 Seat Ibiza 1.9 TDi – bought for £7500 with 24k miles on it 8 years ago. Now on 244k miles and still going strong. Still on original clutch/DMF & exhaust, only on it’s second set of front discs and pads (need changing soon though) and I am currently getting >60mpg relatively easily.

Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens. Heard good things, but was better than I expected.

Dolce Gusto coffee machine. Simple, quick, plenty of varieties and decent enough coffee for my luddite taste buds.

Tesco’s own range of beers – called something like ‘Simply IPA/Ale/Stout’; surprisingly pleasant.

Another shout for the Narrow-wide chainring, feels much more solid underfoot and secure.
1×10 transmission, expander, clutch mech and one-up rad cage. So much smoother, more intuitive, just as useable, reliable and quieter than the old 2×9 XT setup it replaced.
Dropper seatpost, works a treat.
My Nukeproof Mega TR, after fitting the aforementioned transmission and dropper post I’m at a stage where I’m very content with it. Never been so happy with the “feel” of a bike out the box.

Went out for my first ride on one of these yesterday:

Stock other than I put a KS LEV on that I had spare. Probably the cheapest ‘proper’ bike I’ve ever owned, and it’s brilliant! £400 extremely well spent.

Smart tv .

Yet another shout for a narrow wide chainring – didn’t expect it to work particularly well with an old 9spd mech but it has been perfect.

Oh and an 11 year old Forester S – fast and fun. Not very frugal to be fair but what the hell…

An engagement ring

My last Passat 130 TDI, 51 plate, bought with 94k on, sold 7yrs later with 235k on & doing about 51mpg O/A, no major problems throughout.
Wish I’d spent the £’s on the little jobs that needed doing for it’s MOT & kept it.

Buffalo windshirt bought in 1991 & still going strong.

1×10/1×11 set ups with aforementioned NW rings. Simple and easy to put power through with confidence.

Way better than the 2×10 set up it replaced. Tried it out on another bike whilst mine was being fixed, having always thought I was nowhere near fit enough. Turns out it’s actually a lot easier and simpler. Never end up in wrong gear, get up almost anything, including hills that have induced asthma attacks which I can now get up without getting overly breathless No brainer really unless you regularly do really really steep stuff.

Same bottom and top ratios as the 2×10 but less in between obviously. Having run it through one of the ratio calculators though, there is so much overlap on the 2×10 it’s actually pointless.

chamios cream

Dropper post

Superstar narrow wide ring

All have improved my enjoyment of riding for little outlay

Some bikepacking kit.

Regatta (Aphelion) walking boots . Bought whilst budgeting, saw in sale for 35 quid. Am very fussy about footwear as need good midsole and cushioning, also quite heavy on boots, these things were more comfortable than my old Lowa’s, im ediately bought a second pair and 18months later still on the first pair, small section of leather stitching undone after rough use yet still watertight, soles going strong and comfy as, er, old boots!

Best of all is probably the Argos Proaction hike tent, a shameless copy of 240 quid Lightwave backpacking tents . 15 quid in sale was expecting not a lot. Turned out to be the best tent for packing (tiny pack size), light and sturdy with headroom for sitting up. This thing is legendary now discontinued grrrr!

Just got spicy chicken kebab skewer thing from the hot counter in Sainsbury’s for £2. Was expecting the usually fairly bland dried out bits of chicken breast on a stick. It was well marinated and perfectly cooked. Nice crispy bits of brown meat on a stick. Made my lunch.

Surly Krampus

1×10 with a N/W chainring

Crank broth… oh wait, wrong thread.

Specialized defroster winter boots 2010.
I’ve used them all year every year since. They’re starting to look a little tatty now, but new ones don’t look as good.

Evolution Rage mitre saw. Thought it would be good for one project, but it’s fantastic and accurate.

Maxxis Exo tyres.

Solastorm light head unit.

Solarstorm x2
SLX brakes
Deore brakes
Gore Phantom II
NW Celsius winter boots
Free BIC racing cap at TdF 2013
HighRoller II

Not much exceeds my expectations but recently I got some low friction shock bushes that have to be the most accurately made components I’ve ever fitted to a MTB