I’ve had a run of slightly daft big cars – BMW E23 728, E32 735 and now a Merc E430 estate. I don’t do lots of miles so they work for me in preference to a new car depreciating on the drive.

Buy a good one that’s been well looked after and (aside from fuel) it should be fairly cheap to run…

Yes, agree with all of the above.

Also, if you get chance, the views from Cave Hill over Belfast can be very nice.

You can buy these for a fiver less on ebay. I was considering them but the weight put me off. I ended up going for Shimano MT55’s from Merlin for £125.

A most talented chap – looking forward to seeing him at Moseley Folk this year!

Another Alpkit Gourdon here, nicely waterproof and good value.

Yup, they are very good.

About 6 years ago the slave cylinder went on my T4 somewhere in mid France. The RAC were very good and arranged taxis/hire car/accommodation for a week or so whilst VW sorted it out. I think we had c.€1000 of benefit from a £70 or so policy. Well worth it!

I’ll be posting up a little used Large Charge Cooker SS in the classifieds later on…

Might be selling an almost unused Large Cooker SS….(very nice but too many bikes)

Charge Cooker SS here, great fun for a quick blast…EBB though so less adaptable although there are geared versions.

I’ve recently used tyresonthedrive who fitted (inc balancing and disposal) a full set of tyres at my home for less than I could purchase them from the usual online suppliers….might be worth a look.

Thanks for posting, some inspiration to get out there!

Another Gourdon here, works very well….

I’ve got two and they have been great. Big and durable seem to describe them well.

Cool, that looks like fun! Cheeky block by one chap in there…

My latest cheap and cheerful do-it-all car is a Mercedes E430 Avantgarde Estate for well under £2k. Cavernous, FMBSH, 60 in under 7s and (this one at least) solid, clean condition.

Thanks for sharing – you can certainly hear some of Nick in that song.

Done – thanks!

I had an early square dash 2.5 lux in silver with (super itchy) Berber tweed interior. Such a fun car to drive with 50/50 weight distribution and no PAS/ABS to dull the experience. Very tempted to get another!

Arrived yesterday, thanks Mr Cheeseman! Will definitely buy a Suzuki now…(cough)

Morzine on Sunday for 5 of us :wink:

I have a <100 mile black Large Arkose frame for sale…email in profile :-)

Something like this….

0700 Alarm (radio)
0710 Alarm (buzzer)
0730 Finally vacate bed
0750 On bike
0820 Arrive at office bike shed
0825 Fire up laptop, pick up shower kit/clothes
0830 In shower
0845 At desk (coffee/breakfast consumed at some point)

I have a 2013 Arkose which is my commuter – used on a mixture of road, cyclepath and towpath etc. It seems to be solid and not too lardy (alu frame/carbon fork). I’ve got it kitted out with full length guards and a rear rack/panniers.

I’m planning to do some touring on it and it will also get used for more sedate winter road rides when I don’t want to take my shiny road bike out.

I do like Genesis bikes though!

*cough* large RL 853 frame for sale – see my posting history (sorry) :oops:

Great work RD, good to see some real life/everyday riding in there. Quite strange to see my house in the middle of the map!

Hopefully see you up on the hills sometime. I’m sure I saw you and some chaps cresting Rednal hill a couple of months back…

David

If there was a *jealous* smiley I’d post it here…enjoy!

Id like to see a bike that could be used for proper off road riding and also take a rack and full guards.

Sounds like a Surly Ogre?

29er Felt HT
29er Surly Ogre rigid for commute and bike touring
700c (29er) Felt road bike

Rab Photon Belay here too – very toasty!

Three of us were out for a ride last night and stopped at the forest track crossing before the bridge at approx. 8pm. We heard various strange noises which I took to be some local jokesters trying to scare us…

Did the long ‘long’ route – it was an enjoyable day, lots of encouragement from the staff and locals which was great.

The mass start did seem to create a long tail back for the first few miles – perhaps it could be staggered in future to split the field up a bit?

All in all, well done folks :-)

4 for me:

29er hardtail
26″ FS
‘Best’ road bike
Commuter/light tour road bike

And plenty of parts to sell!

Two for the mens’s on Sunday – looking forward to it!

I have a steel s/s with mudguards in the classifieds…

kazafaza – I’m sure I saw your Fortitude this morning coming down the ramp by the A38! I was walking round from the work bike shed and recognised it from the pic (looks good) :-)

Yes! We were there and it was very enjoyable – quite an uplifting experience. Glad we made it :-)

Cheers, that’ll be mine then! I guess they’ve lost my number – must give them a call in the morning…

It’s my Rock Lobster 853 in something akin to BRG.

Should cost about £25ish, they do a good job.

Conti Gatorskins (700*25) here – working well in all weathers. No punctures either, despite riding over plenty of glass on a few occasions.

Did the Monkey and FTD last night – fast rolling with just a couple of very small thawed sections – go for it! A couple of corners have frozen puddles – just take the top line on the berm.