There’s a bit of a review here…

https://www.blacksofgreenock.co.uk/content/13-solace-tested-and-reviewed

We have a Blacks Of Greenock Solace 1 which is a 4m bell tent.

https://www.blacksofgreenock.co.uk/tents/8-solace-i-tent.html#.XIeBJij7RPY

These have a slight design modification to increase the height of the door opening which is usually pretty low on bell tents. They come with an inner tent and decent groundsheet which is a bonus. We paid a bit more for a canopy that attaches to the front which is great for outdoor cooking under cover. There are pro’s and cons as alisted above but for family camping where your staying put for long weekends or longer they are great.

I’m using an Adidas backpack I picked up from sports direct (sorry!) for £20. It’s got a laptop pocket, small pockets for keys etc, it’s comfy, water runs off it and I dont care if it only last 12 months. I’m impressed

Link for the same one at wiggle.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/adidas-training-backpack/

I use roughly 30% front and back as a starter then forget sag and tweak the pressure based on feel and regularly getting 90%+ travel. The sag on my shock is probably more like 40% now and it feels right.

Reading between the lines it’s a new Edit V3 frame with the same travel and same wheel size. I can’t see them reducing the travel or going 29 given the riding ethos in the Pennines which is their core local market. I suspect a geometry tweak, boost spacing and removal of the mud shelf. I love my V2 and they’re the only changes I can think to improve it.

Mini Aazlad82 was in one of these until about 3.5 years…but he’s a big lad. Very good seat but a bit pricey.

https://cybex-online.com/en-gb/car-seats/sironaqisize

I Bought a car stereo today using the code of the dashboard. It looks like it’s luck of the draw.

Garmin Edge 130 to replace my 5 year old Edge 200. The old one worked fine but firing up an ancient laptop just to downloads rides was becoming a chore. The added benefit of live segments is nice!

Huddersfield canal with coffee stop in Uppermill. Link said canal to fallowfield loop at Ashton. The old railway line between Stalybridge and greenfield is a good one. A decent loop can be made of that and The canal.

Damn you lot. I know its not a fancy automatic with Jewels and whistles but I love the look of these and snapped this up at a decent discounted rate.

I got a replacement rear mech from Sram a few months back after this issue. I just asked the bike retailer to speak to them and it arrived within a week.  Winner!

A touch over budget but a great bike and a good deal. Wish I had the cash!

https://www.airdropbikes.com/collections/sale/products/bitmap-trail

Music service is pretty good if you are a Prime subscriber.  Works wells as an alarm clock.  Our five year old has a love/hate relationship with Alexa.

It’s truly heartwarming to see the smiles on the kids faces.  Great work by all involved and all the best to the Gnusmas and the family.

Give her one of your bikes!

Make sure you listen beyond 2:20.

BRMC.  The Line.  The song starts fairly meh but it transforms about 3 mins in.

Many songs (or even entire albums) by The National.

Another one for the list…

Airdrop Bitmap.

https://www.airdropbikes.com/pages/airdrop-bitmap

not steel though..just saw that bit of your original post.

We finally got a stove fitted on Thursday after nearly 5 years of living in the house. Just had a small fire yesterday to cure everything and we pushed it a bit harder this evening.  We need to find a cheaper source of seasoned wood as I haven’t built a proper store yet so no home seasoned logs in the pipeline. That’s the next job.   Bring on the chill!

Get the retailer to fix it/replace it under warranty.

I have a garden trug filled with concrete and on old D-lock set in it for locking bikes to in the garage.  Work a treat.

It’s interesting that we both specified Fox, Hope and XT!

This Orange Alpine is looking for a new home…

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-orange-alpine-160-vgc-lot-of-fox-hope-and-xt/

wrong post.

Donated.  I’m more of a lurker than regular poster on this forum but it’s a great community and charity begins at home.  Feel so bad for those kids but they’re resilient little things.

The lass that runs the desk at my local station automatically sells everyone split tickets without being asked.  I’ve often heard her say that it’s perfectly acceptable to travel on split tickets. At the moment the TOCs are in no place to enforce anything.  Northern currently running at 35% of trains being cancelled on our line.

Yep. Male variety.

This weekend has involved two trips to specsavers to have his glasses fixed. First for a scratch to a lense as a result of a fall.  Second about three hours later from another fall (in the living room).

Two afternoons of balance biking – both involving an ice cream stop. Some gardening and then pretending to have a campfire in the chimney and roasting bread (because we didn’t have any marshmallows).

Great times but I’m knackered!

Airdrop Edit?

https://www.airdropbikes.com/collections/frames/products/edit-frame

Lighter fluid…no need for a match!

I suppose its works like GT85 and diesel without the odour.   Good luck.

17 and a few months. Year 1999. £600 worth of yellow/greens metallic Fiat Punto. M reg. Loved it.  Lasted a good 5 years.

https://goo.gl/images/oVH6Eo

Two Bosch powered bikes in our riding group. Both owners are now on first name terms with the suppliers.  Losing all drive and hit and miss battery contacts seem to be the main issues.  Top tip…buy local.

ITALY!

Food, drink, cars, bike stuff, the attitude.  Who gives a sh1t if it’s efficient/works well…just look at it!!

Love the real Italian restaurant in our village, good espresso, Alfa’s, Campag

They have their priorites right!

Built my Grasshopper 2 up on Saturday.  Went together well, no breakages.  Completely stock with the exception of a bearing set to replace bushings.

It was dark by the time I’d finished so I grabbed the Exposure Joystick and head band mound and went for a walk along the old railway behind our house.

Great fun! It went like a dream. It’s surprising what it can get trough in terms of light mud and gravel.  Braved a few step downs at speed.  Brilliant fun.  It’s going to be too fast for the 4 year old for now though.   Love it!

I was fully expecting to ditch the Guide R’s that came on my new bike pretty rapidly for the Hope M4’s that I had on my old bike.  This was based on my past experience of Elixirs.  Anyway, I’ve been running the Guides for four months and am really impressed.  They control my 15 stone bulk on steep descents just as well as the M4s and have been faultless.  They feel as good as the M4’s which are going up for sale.  I can’t comment on SLX but the impression I get is that they’re good until they fail and then you bin them and buy a new pair.

Stumbled upon this thread….got a bit nostalgic about the 80’s….bought a Grasshopper.  Oops.  I’ll say it’s for mini Aazlad (4). Hope it’s here for the weekend.

I’ll be putting our 2009 Golf (Diesel) through its MOT before 20th May just in case. This car has been great. 150,000 miles and going strong but I wouldn’t buy another diesel because of the emissions but more so the fact that they will be priced/regulated off the roads if things carry on like this.  We’re hoping to run the old Golf until EV’s are a real viable option for a normal family.  When’s that cheap Tesla landing in the UK?

It’s a good read, nice to know cycling infrastructure in the northwest is being discussed at this level.  I’ve registered with GMCC and offered my services as a cycle commuter for Oldham Borough.

Zinsser as the base coat.  Then two coats of your choice paint on top with a light sand between each. We used Little Greene water based eggshell for top coat. Spendy but great paint.

Minimal sand, Zinsser BIN (sorry), topcoat or two. Boom.

Just done my kitchen and did a bit of experimentation. The Zinsser’d test patches were significantly less prone to chipping/scrapes than the non Zinsser’d bits.  It’s a pain to apply it but it sticks like ****.