I would say for that money and age a Boxter would be a much better car.

Having said that I had one of the first 3.2 v6 TTs and it was a great car.

If you try the V6, you may not want a 1.8t – I had a 225 1.8t after the v6 and thought it was quite agricultural after the bigger engine.

I would take my time at this time of the year, try a couple and then buy when the prices soften at the start of the winter.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

As the problem is only under significant load, how would I check if the ring drive is the problem?

The freewheel is not moving the pedals

If you check your local B&Q they usually do a van hire by the hour service.

I have used my local one (halifax) a couple of times.

I guess it depends on the time/miles you need it for.

You should definitely be able to get on overnight / weekday for around £40

The choices are literally endless!

Assuming you want to ride from the in Laws house? Where is that?

Epic – do a loop around Stoodley pike

Local – Norland Moor / Elland woods /

Hebden is only a short ride / car journey away and there is an excellent range of trails – Blazing saddles bike shop would let you know about a good 2 hour ride from there – maybe up to Gorple reservoir?

If you are on Strava, look for some segments you like the look of an make a loop?

Hope this helps!

Amazing year for raspberries this year!

Another vote for the delonghi

I have a Magnifica 4200 I think and I really like it!

I used to know a consultant in Leeds, whose house was called “Bedside Manor” – used to make me laugh!

My mate did it last year on some 2.35 Small block 8’s.

He got some interesting looks from some of the marshals and staff, but did not get any punctures or rips (he does weigh as much as a packet of crisps though)

The limit of my advice is to make sure you don’t have a bald Maxxis advantage like I did last year – the back end was trying to overtake the front all the time!

How long is a piece of string?
Depends what you want and how new it needs to be.

Some great deals are shared on Pistonheads in a thread called best leasing deals.

You can get something small – FIat 500 ish for around £100 per month

There are some amazing deals on cars when the newer model appears – I saw a BMW 335d x drive for £260 per month on 10k miles recently

Have a think how many miles you need the car to run and how much up front you can afford.

Another option is a PCP, after you have paid half the payments you can walk away – I am in year 4 of a 4 year deal and can give them the car back with no penalty.

What sort of car / miles do you want.

PS 2 years seem to be the best deals, it used to be better to go for 4 years to average down the depreciation – not any more!

Wasn’t one of those found in a Cod recently?

I thought they were called Stanimals? 8O

Not sure if it would work, but could you not just get hold of a larger needle and syringe combo and inject through the tyre, as long as you kept the hole you caused when the syringe is withdrawn to the bottom, the fluid should do its job?

How about pushing on to the next fuel stop, despite the car computer thingy saying you cannot make it……………..I do it all the time and there is absolutely no benefit to it ………..but significant risk of running out of fuel!

In the STW tradition of recommending what you have I would put forward the Pinnacle Arkose 3

105 gears, some hidden cable runs and pretty green colour!

I have some 28mm tyres on it sometimes and they are a lot faster then the small block 8’s that it comes with.

The Arkoses do seem to be well thought of on this forum!

Radio with earphone and ear plug for the other ear!

So it seems that many who were Fat Curious have scratched the itch (most going on to a long term relationship, some leaving it there).

Only one so far who might be interested in a fat weekend.

(I didn’t know about the others hiring them out, part of the thought was that on one wont do test rides!)

That does look fun!

I’ve not done it in anger yet, but the matesrace thing is really good (not that you have to use it – calling out times in the pub is perfectly acceptable too!)

If you are organising, them maybe look at the profiles on Strava and choose the ones that suit your style of riding? :-)

I am planning to do a matesrace later in the year as a one evening event for a group I cycle with and a neighbouring group with beer being bought by the losers for the winners – should be great fun!

Yes I know about inaccuracies of strava etc

2nd vote for Cycle fast in Halifax

He went out of his way to do one for me overnight last year when I had a pretzeled rear wheel and the ‘Ard Rock Enduro the next day.

In my youth I have a 1.1 popular Fiesta that did “h” miles an hour.

(Speedo went from 0-90 or 100 and then it said “Mph” at the bottom, the needle went all the way down to h”)

No baby robins or child’s faces were harmed, but obviously I would not do that now.

Would that be a vote for Henry Westons then?

Is high tech one of the brands that the Sports direct guy has bought – makes cheap trainers – brands them hi-tech / karrimoor / lonsdale etc then sells them at a fraction of the retail price which was never charged?

Or have I got it mixed up?!

WHen it is new (or clean) a quick rub down with some car wax does seem to help it not attract as much mud. Some swear by silicone spray for this too!

With your history of anxiety I would say that a 24 ambulatory monitor would be a good idea before committing to potentially life long BP medicine.

Many GP surgeries have their own machine now, if not you may be able to get a referral to someone who does have one.

Take a look at the cardiovascular risk parts of trusted websites British heart foundation etc to understand the risks of high BP. With your age, you are just at the beginning of a risk that is worth doing something about (depending on other factors) – might also be worth having a full health check with the GP to have a more clear picture of your personal risks before embarking on treatment plans.

HTH

I think the OP’s question has been universally answered – Not very STW to agree is it?

Anyway I have a few – 4 plus an enormous black orpington Cockerill.

They appear to be attracting rats again – any top tips for controlling them (the rats) my wife hated the rats but loves the chicks. I can’t say I am fond of the rats either.

Not sure of the provenance but I’m sure there is one going around recently that says 90% of all the photographs ever take in history happened in the last year

(due to the huge numbers of phones with cameras).

Probably not your problem, but mine was really rusty, having left it out in the rain ny accident.

I sprayed some silicone spray on it and it works OK now (just for firewood, not serious use)

The spray is good for bikes too – hope recommend silicone spray to lube the pistons in their brakes – i seem to be finding lots of uses for it around the house!

I think VW have a 45k limit on their second hand stock for resale if I remember rightly

I had a scirocco for 3 years and put about 60k on it and it went stright to the auction.

Smart TV is pointless if you have a PS4 attached as others have said

You can connect to netflix / catchup services etc

One thing we just got that is useful is a Playstation TV – currently 1/2 price in most shops. It allows you to play your playstation on another tv in another room. So in your case you could get one for the lounge if the whole family wanted to play.

(needs a good wifi connection to work properly!)

I have an older place than your, Victorian.

It overlooks a valley and the prevailing weather comes across the valley, causing weathering of the front elevation windows more than the back which are sheltered.

I have several windows at the front restored and modern methods applied to the beads (they basically put the tufty bead in the wooden battens to make a better seal and reduce wood on wood contact which caused rattles / draughts etc).

This was about 8 years ago and all of them look like they need redoing or replacing.

I am thinking about replacing the whole lot with some of the textured finish UPVC as I think it will last longer / save draughts and energy.

There is a local manufacturer to me – Quickslide in Brighouse, West Yorkshire – probably will look to get them to do the whole lot.

HTH

Alastair

PS one issue you will have if you don’t go sash of some sort it either back filling or front filling the gaps as a sash window is kind of 2 windows back to back. If you replace with one window you will have an internal gap to fill or potentially a problem on the outside if you position on the internal side

Not the same market, but I am sure Apple are guilty of this!

Hobbling the phone released today so that a new one can be released in a year’s time – yet people lap it up

(PS I do have an Iphone – am not an Apple hater!)

Its made it to Halifax!

I do about 20k a year and Spooky is right, different miles do make quite a lot of difference in the value of a deal.,

Basically I think that a 2 year old car with say 40k miles is still newish (despite the highish miles)

The same car at 4 years with 80k miles seems more leggy by comparison and probably does not fetch as much pro rata

Some sensible advice here!

I am just looking to see what is on the market as there are some very keen leasing deals at the moment.

Leasing is probably best if:

you are doing lots of miles (15k or more a year)

you don’t mind an outgoing model

you want to change every 2 years ( it used to be that 3 and 4 year deals were better, now it seems that 2 years is often cheaper!)

you can be a bit flexible in terms of car and manufacturer to take advantage of what is on offer, rather than needing a specific model / colour and spec etc.

There are some especially cheap mercedes deals at the moment

See if you can see the horizon programme on weight loss, it was very interesting.

They tried to type people into 1 of 3 types depending on their eating behaviour, then create a diet plan that would work.

One of the reasons for varying weight loss is water loss. Another problem is that the body fights a new lower calorie intake and attempts to keep weight on an even keel.

Good luck!

The fat badger was good a year or so when I went there.

Gastro pub sort of thing so may well have a pie on offer!

I would not say I am an expert, but have managed to use one of the round files with a flat bar attached successfully to keep a chain sharp

There are lines scored on the bar to show what angle to hold the file.

I find it best to do all the left ones, then do all the right ones as I seem to get the angle right then.

I would recommend little and often once you have it working properly again.

Also don’t spend too much time, I thing a new Oregon chain is about £20

HTH

Hypos are easy to spot…………….by others!

One of the first symptoms is confusion (for the sufferer)

Cliches?

I got a DIY kit for a very old, victorian bath

Apparently it is difficult to put on, but responds well to a light sanding after to take out any dimples.

Mine has lasted a good 6 years post treatment so far.

Kit cost about £60 if I remember right