Also bear in mind that the rear drive on Freelanders (think the latest gen might be different), and most similar “4×4’s” only engages after the front wheels have started to slip. It is therefore pretty good at getting you out of trouble, but not so good at stopping you getting into trouble in the first place.

Part of the skill in driving in difficult conditions is to avoid getting into trouble….

Even a lot of bigger 4×4’s can’t run in 4wd on good surfaces – they need some loss of traction to compensate for the lack of centre differential (allows for the different length paths travelled by the front and rear axles).

Reversing is for unlocking auto hubs, but can also free up a reluctant centre diff. They should unlock with forward motion, but if they don’t reversing is often the key.

It’s definitely worth finding somewhere local with a loose surface where you can work the transfer box through every month or so, just to keep everything moving.

They are very easy to put on and off, without having to remove your shoes.

My other half and I had to get them a couple of years ago when we went to The Grand Canyon in February, there was quite a lot of snow and ice at The South Rim.

They are excellent, giving you confident grip where you’d otherwise be on your bum!

Well worth the £20 or so.

Carbon paste instead of grease so you don’t have to tighten the clamp so much, then the clamp won’t (or is less likely to ) break!

I drove my Pajero to Greece and back twice, didn’t notice uncomfortable seats….

I had a long wheel base Pajero (1994), same engine as that, for nearly 4 years.

They are very reliable, and 2.8 diesel is probably the best engine, all things considered.

On the down side the short wheel base isn’t anything like as practical – the LWB is a great load lugger and most have seven seats – the rear 2 are okay for shorter adults. 3rd row seats are easy to remove and fold the 2nd row down and you’ll get 2 fully assembled bikes in. 2nd row up and you can get 4 bikes in the boot with just the wheels out. SWB. the boot is very small by comparison.

I’d also question the reality of that particular example being 2002 – check Wikipedia, the Mark 2 finished in 1999, it had a facelift around 1997, and that’s a pre-facelift model (the wheel arches give it away).

The one real problem with the 2.8 is that any problems in the cooling system tend to lead to a cracked head – get them checked by someone who really knows before buying! On the plus side it’s a cam chain not belt, so no routine replacement required.

Should give about 20-25 mpg. Quality tyres will last for around 60,000 miles!

Service parts are cheap and (sometimes with a little bullying) Mitsubishi UK will provide support for non-UK models.

http://www.pocuk.co.uk provides a wealth of information…

New Hope are much better than the older one – better lever shape, and easier to get tight enough.

At a slight tangent, try using Carbon Assembly Paste on the seatpost instead of grease to reduce the clamping force needed, and thus reduce the risk of damage to the new clamp when you get it.

One of my other half’s colleagues had a true inspiration for last years trick or treaters.

He actually went to the trouble of making…wait for it…

Chocolate covered…

…raw brussel sprouts! Genius.

Blackspire

I saw the Sony mentioned above in Blockbuster – £109 with 3 Discs (Iron Man, Robin Hood and 1 more TBC)

Alaric.

The point, GW, is that it never is “just one”…

Thomson bent. Try Blackspire…

@RestlessNative I’ve not had that problem at all, so you may just have been unlucky…

I have had a GD since early 2008, and recently got a KS i7. The GD has been very reliable in operation, but the inner post has snapped twice at the bolt hole. That said GD have replace the inner section and serviced the post on both occasions with a very quick turnaround.

The i7 was for one of my other bikes, and had it’s first outing on my recent trip to Scotland. After the second day it had 1/2″ downward movement when locked up – so it’s already gone back for repair/replacement- I’m waiting for it now.

The GD has a remote, the i7 doesn’t and I missed it – having the control on the bar is much better if you plan to get the most from the post on rapidly changing terrain – I plan to get the remote kit for the i7 asap.

The GD is very easy to service, BTW – don’t know about the i7 yet.

Alaric.

The washers aren’t there as spacers, they are to allow the caliper to align to the disc.

There should be 4 concave and 4 convex, in pairs, either side of the caliper, as previously described.

I have a Project 321 adaptor that I no longer use, if anyone wants to fit a lefty to an 1 1/8 headset…

email alaricdarmon@gmail.com if you’re interested

I got one a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve had a similar one for several years, but the drawback with it was always the volume of water it chucked out – 25l was only enough for a quick once over on 2 bikes, not a decent clean.

I watch the video of the one in the link, and thought it looked better.

I tested them both when it arrived – the old one does 25l in 4 mins, the new one over 13 mins!

Pressure seems just right for a thorough clean without risk to bearings, it all packs away neatly and quality seems good…

Screens on Vaios tend to be very good, too.

Kitchen scales say 247g.

I've bent Thomson in the past…

I've got a brand new Eternity sitting in the kitchen waiting to be fitted…I'll go and weigh it now…hold on…

I don't know what the current crop are like, but I'm still running Hope C2's on one of my bikes, bought in 2001, not made since shortly after.

They've not required a lot of maintenance over the years, the only damage they've ever had has been a couple of bent rotors, and I can still get parts for them when they need serviceing…

I've also had Hayes 9 & El Camino, Juicy 5 & 7, & Shimano cable operated (poo) and the Hope have certainly been the best of the bunch for reliabilty.

Alaric.

You can drill out the stopped end of your existing cable guides so that you can run full length outer in the original position.

Have you checked with the Chemistry department? We used it for GCSE Chemistry, for fractional distillation.

Of course that was one or two years ago and things might have changed…

Have you considered B and B?

We stayed at The Queen's[/url] in Glyncorrwg a few weekends ago – £25 pppn. They've got bike wash and storage facilities, and they're only a few minutes on the fire road from the start of White's.

It's walking distance from Glyncorrwg Ponds, too – we went there for dinner in the evening.

Very friendly and very comfortable, and not too much more than the cost of camping either (if you add the cost of breakfast, showers and bike wash to the camp site cost).

Alaric.

Only the one bird?

In the last few weeks we've had 2 live mice, several dead mice, 2 Shrews, a Rabbits head, 3 Moles and a Weasel – All left for us by the cat that isn't ours (he "visits from his home more than 1/2 a mile away)!

I ride with pretty wide bars, so I've had to learn to deal with it…

Don't try to ride cleanly through the gap.

Instead approach at a bit of an angle, so you dealing with one tree slightly before the other.

Aim your wheel at the base of the far tree, ready to turn sharply around the nearer one.

As soon as the bar is past the first tree lean toward it so that the bar tucks in behind it and turn sharply so you clear the second tree.

Works for me, but I'm not sure how well I've explained it…

Alaric.

The high end bikes launched in 2007 are actually pretty good. I was lucky enough to go to the press camp in Engelberg and tested the Force, Sanction and Zaskar.

Unfortunately these aren't available in your average Halfords, they have the old, tired designs that GT ditched.

Alaric.

One issue with hotmail is that it will often get tagged as spam instead of arriving in the recipents inbox…

Gmail is excellent, you can also set it to retrieve from your orange.net account (not that I'm suggesting this is unique).

Not sure about the UI being dated, it works….

You also get photo storage, document storage and a load of other add ons with a google account.

Alaric.

Had to take the off one of our bikes the other week – it is that easy! I used pliers to get a good grip, with a bit of rag to stop the jaws making a mess, came of easily.

They aren't actually a very tight fit, they rely on the o-ring seal to hold them securely when the wheel's out.

Unlike the older XC hubs, the pawls and springs are retained, so they don't fly off across the workshop as you take the freehub out!

Alaric.

If you've got a triple ring front set up with a normal (not road) 11-32 or similar rear cassette, you need a long cage.

Perfect text book answer…however if you're disciplined with your gears and avoid the extreme combinations of gear (small chainring/small sprocket or large chainring/large sprocket), as you should anyway, a medium is sufficient and you gain a bit of chain tension and the mech is a little less vulnerable.

Alaric.

I think Blackspire also do one.

I've had one for several years, although I don't use it anymore as I couldn't get the Swan neck mount adaptor when I changed cars.

On the plus side…

It's very solid, even with 4 bikes on
Tow bar mounted, so no damage to the car from hooks, straps, contact with bike
Strap and lock all built in
Easy to fit to, and remove from, the car
Doesn't take up much space when not in use (we've taken the dismantled bikes in the car before for security on the long journey on holiday, with the rack in the boot, then built the bikes up and used the rack for the duration of the holiday to get to the rides)

The downsides:

If your bikes are not medium to large, conventional style hardtails you may well need "false crossbars", that hook between the seat post and stem to get the bikes to hang sensibly. Full suss designs with no horizontal top tube or small hardtails where the top tube is steeply sloped either don't fit at all or sit with one end very high making it difficult to get another bike on
Whilst the bikes go on very quickly, by the time you've padded any contact areas and strapped on a number plate board it can take a little time to get right.

A Thule type platform carrier can be easier to get the bikes on, regardless of size and style, and has a built in number plate and lighting, but takes up much more space when not in use.

Hopefully this makes some sense…

I use Co-pilot on my HTC HD2 – and I drive all over the country for work, I prefer it to the company supplied Tom Tom. Co Pilot is available for Android, and not expensive.

Alaric.

Ooh ooh, can I join in?

It was my Dad's, bought new in the late 50's or early 60's.

I've not had much chance to ride it yet, the seat position needs a bit of work as my father was a bit shorter than me.

Tell him life's too short, just look at the line of dust/dirt 😉

Failing that TF Tuned are probably your best bet.

Alaric.

I've put 3 bikes and kit in an Aygo before – 1 small, 1 medium and one XL MTB, wheels out, stack them in with the bags and stuff in the gaps as you go.