It was no different in 1969 by the looks of it –> http://www.retronaut.co/2012/06/abbey-road-1/

:P

I can’t stop watching. It’s like picking a scab. No wonder the traffic doesn’t stop readily – I’ve just watched one girl cross that road 5 or 6 times, each time pausing in the middle for a photograph.

Strangely, I’m seething.

what about white vinegar?

Let me get the baking powder out first, ‘k?

Problem with this is people would just forward it on to other members and membership may decrease.

They can do that with passwords too. They can also do that with physical copies of the mag to an extent.

The question to ask is how realistic is that? Do al your overseas subscribers know each other? Do they live close to each other? Are they ever likely to get together and start sharing digital copies of your mag (or share passwords to an online version)?

I’d guess that they probably wouldn’t. In which case I’d suggest an emailed PDF as the simplest answer.

UPDATE: Text from the missus – “Your trainers smell of sick”

I’m buying some Milton tablets tonight.

Anti bacterial wash? Is that like a household cleaning product or something?

I have a 5l tub of the anti bac wash that you brush onto fresh plaster in kitchens/bathrooms before painting. That might do it.

Yep, tried the washing machine, but I don’t think it gets hot enough.

I’ll give the freezer a go first. Good point about the glue.

I reviewed/tested the Lifedge case for the iPhone 5/5searlier this year. Recommended if your phone regularly goes anywhere near water!

UK company too. :o)

I’ve surfed at my local beach for 20 years and over the last 3-4 years the number of SUPers has steadily increased.

IMHO, it seems to attract those people who want to be seen doing the ‘latest’ thing in a vain attempt to look cool/Hawaiian.

I have thought about picking one up a couple of times, but I’ve always come to the conclusion that it looks a bit dull.

I prefer a normal board when there are waves, and for flatter days I’ve got a good inflatable kayak so I can fill it up with kids/lunch/whatever and head off for a few hours. Can’t do that on an SUP.

I’d say that a lesson would probably be a good idea, especially if you haven’t surfed before. Not least because it will give you a chance to see if you like it without forking out for expensive kit.

Tell you what I’ve just discovered… that a BRAND NEW Renault Trafic crew van is only £12,292 (plus VAT).

http://www.renaultretail.co.uk/vans/new/trafic-van-crew/

That changes things a little…

On most of the listings for T5s, I see something like this:

“I have used this vehicle as a family runabout for the past two years and it has never let me down. The only reason i’m selling it is i’ve bought another one.”

Which immediately makes me think:

YOU’VE HAD TO BUY ANOTHER ONE? REALLY? WHY? WHAT THE JE-SUS IS THE MATTER WITH THIS ONE?

So… what it all really boils down to is this:

I’ve had two T4’s, two Vitos, four Trafics and now my first Transit. The T5’s are very expensive for the spec and feel rather old fashioned to drive. Very “van-like” to drive where many of the alternatives are much more car-like to drive. The lower spec engines are poor in modern terms too.

Vs this:

However, it’s all about what your heart says. I once chose a car based on the spreadsheet of knowledge(tm) that I put together. It was the most economical of the cars I looked at, yada yada, yada and it was the worst car I have ever bought. It was a Rover. My next car was more money than I really wanted to spend, but felt right. It was a VW.

Hmmmmm…

Yeah, Hiace is another possibility… although it would need a second row of three seats which adds another £2k ish to the cost if they’re not already fitted in the van.

’09/’10/poss ’11 trafic/vivaro crew cab is looking favourite at the minute.

I can absolutely guarantee with 100% certainty if you don’t buy a T5 you’ll die.

You will also have a 100% chance of dying if you do!

Very helpful, thanks. :D

Yes, buy a T4

Ha! Have you seen the prices of used T4s these days? They’re almost as expensive as T5s!

I have been eyeing up the new Transits, but at £12k plus vat PLUS the additional couple of £k for fitting windows and rear seats, it would bust the budget a fair bit. At least at the minute.

There’s a couple of 10 plate Vivaro crew cabs online right now that hit the mark under budget, but my bro has told me to steer clear of the whole trafic/vivaro family.

Although I guess there’s probably plenty of negative stories for every type of van…

midlifecrashes – yeah, my LT35 had full width bunks across the back and another massive full width bed that folded out at the front.

I’m after something smaller now so the missus will be comfortable driving it. I think as a family we’ve outgrown the ability to all sleep in one vehicle so am not looking for something that will have beds in it. I may kip in it from time to time if I’m away by myself, but that won’t happen especially often!

Aye, chriswilk, that’s pretty much the point I’m at now. I do like VWs, but I don’t much like the scene that unfortunately seems to come with them now.

Also considering Ducato/Relay/Boxer as my bro is chief mechanic at a Fiat Commercial Main Dealer so fixing one of those should cost very little. I’d have to drop seats and windows in myself though…

Yup, that’s pretty much the problem.

I’m sure I liked them first before everyone else did though. :-)

I did something similar a while ago and I could have as much woodchip as I wanted from a local sawmill, gratis. They had MOUNTAINS of the stuff.

Might be worth asking around.

Yeah, that fits in with the three million man-hours of research into T5 prices that I’ve done, too.

Bah.

Ok… final decision is Salsa Fargo V2 fork at just short of a hundred quid, plus about £30 for fitting at my LBS.

Rigid steel, about 2.5 times lighter than my current sus fork and has plenty of mounts for bottle/anything cages – I don’t have access to frame mounts because I use an Alpkit custom full frame bag.

Something like some fat Kenda BBGs 2.5″ should smooth out a lot of the bumps too.

And also no carbon to worry (unnecessarily?!) about. ;o)

Should make my 20 mile daily commute (road and hardpack) a ton nicer, should be good enough for light trails and track, and should easily be tough enough to handle multi-day trips which generally involve the bike being bundled on and off trains, vans and roofracks.

Thanks all – you’ve been super helpful.

The On One carbons are down to £119 just now.

Out of stock though! :o/

Here is my Blue pig with a 29er exotic carbon fork.

Looks sweet. Been reading about carbon forks though and am a bit nervous about bashing them in the wrong way… like when the bike’s being loaded on and off a train, etc.

Also, not sure how the carbon would hold up to the weight of a reasonable amount of bikepacking gear.

Good stuff. That’s decided then. :o)

Locked out doesn’t normally mean no sag

Yeah, I wondered about that, although I can’t see the sag being more than 20mm or so when they are locked out, given that the fork is supposed to have 100mm bounce in total?

So I do think that a 440mm fork might lower the front end a bit too much for my liking though. Anyone got any thoughts on that?

If you want steel try Salsa cromoto’s

I’ve actually been looking at some Salsa forks and quite like the look of the Fargo V2, mainly for the cage mounts.

However, this takes me to another little problem. My current front disc calliper is post mount, yet the forks I’m looking at are IS mount.

Can you get an adaptor to make the two compatible? Or am I looking at a new front calliper as well?

I’m also considering rigid steel forks as well as carbon.

Even steel would be around 2.5 times lighter than the current front sus.

Yes, I’ve just measured the axle-crown length as it is when I normally ride the bike with the fork locked out (no sag) and that’s around 470-480mm.

So, I guess that puts us into the 29er range. Any know if putting a 29er fork on this bike would cause any problems? Given the measurements, it doesn’t seem like it would to me, but I’m pretty new to this.