chewkw – Member
Any of the Japs made car/van is better than any of the French made ones.

I’m pretty sure the NV200 is powered by a Renault 1.5dci engine.

I used to have a Renault Kangoo van with the 1.5dci and it was a great little van. Really cheap to run and never missed a beat.

After owning a few vans, I’d say something like a Dispatch, Trafic or Vivaro could be bought for the same price if not a bit cheaper and offer a lot more space.

kazafaza – Could I just ask what mudguards you’re using?

Thanks, Andy.

I wouldn’t expect a Friday order to be delivered on a Saturday even if I opted for next day service. I’d have imagined Monday delivery at the earliest.

I’ve always thought that next day was next working day.

Might have been easier to send the order direct from the shop to your buyer.

It’s a shame the Focus ST was powered by a 1.6 Ecoboost!!!

I like reading his reviews and his words would play a major part in any bike buying I did.

One of the few journalists who told it how it was; rather what the manufacturers wanted you to hear.

Here’s[/url] his website for anyone interested.

slowmart – Member
Unfortunately Heat was well directed, flawed characters with a high tempo plot.

As regards the fire fight across London, what the chuff happened to the villain who escaped on the push bike?

It was an indicator how quickly it found its way to DVD.

I don’t even think it was a singlespeed 29er fatbike; so the film was always going to fail.

Edit – Although bad guy did get away!!!!

I got the impression that they tried to copy Heat slightly with the gun battle as the bad guys came out of the bank with trench coats and masks, the ongoing relationship issues in the background and the moody night time city bits.

I thought it was disappointing and whilst I wasn’t really expecting too much; it was even worse than I’d ever imagined.

I’m a breakfast, dinner and tea as well.

Tea is always the main meal of the day, dinner is just lunch.

Lunch was always ‘dinner’ time in school.

I’ve had an Endura e-vent jacket for what must be over 3 years now. It gets worn pretty much every day for commuting, mountain biking and road riding and it’s been fantastic.

No damage to it despite me having a few falls since I’ve owned it and it’s still waterproof despite never being re-treated.

I couldn’t find a single bad word to say about it.

Dog threads are great :D

They’re much better than the boring bike ones.

Gorgeous dog and he’s already got that ‘what mischief can I get up to now?’ look :-)

I’ve previously paid the following on a frame and components, just to give you an idea….

Value of goods – $4465 (dollars) inc postage, so approx £2767 (pounds)

Import VAT – £599.03 (pounds)
Duties – £134.45 (pounds)
Brokerage charge – £18.34 (pounds)

Total – £751.82 (pounds)

I paid the following last year on a frame and components, just to give you an idea….

Value of goods – $4465 (dollars) inc postage, so approx £2767 (pounds)

Import VAT – £599.03 (pounds)
Duties – £134.45 (pounds)
Brokerage charge – £18.34 (pounds)

Total – £751.82 (pounds)

We’ve got a few Wallaby’s over on the Isle Of Man living wild in the Ballaugh Curraghs area. They reckon that there is around 100 wandering around.

There are also meant to be a few Red Panda’s as well after they escaped from the wildlife park.

I’ve seen quite a few Wallaby’s, but not seen a Panda yet.

svalgis – Member
Anyone care to comment on the fit of the Woolie Boolie 2’s? Is the size guide accurate?

I’m a size 8 and wear medium Woolie Boolies

I’ve found my Woolie Boolie’s combined with my MW80’s and MT500 overshoes have been spot on.

I suffer with really cold feet, but the Woolie Boolie socks have been really great and made a big difference to my winter riding.

I’m a big fan of Woolie Boolie’s[/url]

Is it a Sunbeam of some kind…. tiger etc

The front number plate would suggest its maybe post 1968

Frame – Kona Big Unit
Brakes – Hope X2
Fork – Project 2
Gears – 32 x 18
Wheels – Hope on Stans Crest

Frame – Dekerf SST
Brakes – XTR race
Fork – Dekerf tuning fork
Gears – XTR 2 x 10
Wheels – Chris King on Mavic XC717

Frame – Moots Vamoots CR
Brakes – Campag Chorus
Fork – Moots carbon
Gears – Campag Chorus
Wheels – Chris King on Mavic Open Pro

I reckon that tourer version looks nicer the the coupe.

Must be getting old!!!

I was watching this youtube review last week and was surprised how much the it seems to move around on the road.

I haven’t driven one, but our local dealer has one in black and it looks fantastic in the flesh.

My newest bike is a 26″ Dekerf which I bought after selling a titanium 29er.

I still have a Kona Unit 29er which I use for general messing around and cycling to work.

After numerous miles on both 26″ and 29″ bikes though, any future bikes will be 26″.

I think it looks like an owl riding a scooter.

According to Moots

I was told by a titanium frame builder that if you need to remove any ghosting left by the original decals, you need to use a very fine scothbrite pad and rub it around the frame tube rather than along the tube (Hope that makes sense)

I bought my Kona Unit off them and they were spot on.

The bike arrived in only a few days and they were great to deal with.

I did phone them first though to make sure they had the bike in stock.

I would use them again, but would always check on availability before ordering.

If you’ve had the Golf for a while and it’s previously been a reliable car, then I’d keep it.

There is every chance that you could buy the Subaru and get hit with a big bill just a few miles down the road.

So 53.5 is that the top tube bit, don’t they measure the down tube like we do? Sorry haven’t clicked that fit link, I shall do that right now and look stupid.

The seat tube measurements vary so much and the effective top tube is the important bit.

My road bike is listed as being a 52cm even though the top tube is 53.5cm and the seat tube is 48.5cm :?

I’m 5ft 7 with a 31.5 inside leg and I ride a 53.5 effective top tubed road bike with a 100mm stem.

I could go 10mm longer on the stem, but I prefer a more relaxed position.

I used the Competitive Cyclist fit guide when I first started looking as I didn’t have a clue about road bikes; their recommendation was spot on for me.

Arnold Clark Renault in St Helens have been really great when I’ve dealt with them in the past.

I’m not surprised they wanted to see both parts of your driving licence as the photo-card does not show any endorsements you may have.

lambo – Member
Thanks, contacted 18 bikes who know their stuff and it seemed like it was going to be a bit of a mission. Luckily another sweep of the floor has turned up the ball bearings and it’s all back together. Lesson learned to take care next time!

Cool, glad they turned up. 8)

I’d contact Evolution[/url], they’ll probably be able to help.

Out on the bike first thing at 6am :-)

For my cycle to work :(

mandog – Member
The Hiace has disappeared from the Toyota UK website

I don’t think Toyota have made the Hiace for maybe just over 12 months now.

Toyota are now in partnership with Citroen and Peugeot. The new Proace van when it comes out is going to based on the Dispatch / Expert.

I’d personally go for the Golf as I think they look and feel a classier car than the Focus; although I don’t really think they’re any better made.

The focus we have in work has buttons all over the place and looks a bit of a mess. The Golfs I’ve seen look far more plain and simple; which I prefer.

The new 2013 model Golf appears to be getting great reviews, although I know it’s early days and the models given to the mags seem to be high spec models.

I always drive like I’ve got Miss Daisy in the car and get nowhere near the limit of a cars handling, so it wouldn’t be high on my list when buying. I’d be more concerned with the specification and crash test results.

There both just run of the mill family hatchbacks and I’d imagine that any handling improvement the Focus has is probably small in the real world.

I had a 2011 Citroen Dispatch which was smaller than the likes of Transits, Transporters and Vivaro’s etc; but it still had 3 front seats.

The middle seat wasn’t very big though and not really designed for any great distance.

If you wanted 3 full size front seats, I reckon you’d need to go Transit / Vivaro size.

The nice thing about the Dispatch was that it was just like driving and parking a C4 Grand Picasso.

You can buy a new shape Berlingo with 3 front seats, but after owning the larger Dispatch with a 3rd seat; I can only imagine how small the Berlingo seat is.

My Dispatch had the 1.6 hdi 90ps engine and it was good on fuel for a van.

hora – Member
Also looks a lot? smaller in the back? How do your taller non-paying passengers fair??

There is much less leg room in the back and the new model also feels much more enclosed.

We have a very roomy Transit van for any passengers.

We’ve have a new 2012 shape Focus in work now for a good few months as a patrol car and whilst it looks a much nicer car than the previous model, many of us prefer our older shape (2011) car.

Both are 1.6 tdci’s its easy to do a direct comparison.

The new shape feels a lot smaller inside, the pedals are really close together and the seats are really firm if you’re in the car for a number of hours.

There is also an annoying corner piece of the dashboard that everyone bangs their knee on as they get in and the dashboard is just a mess of buttons.

The new model certainly handles and grips much better than the previous model, but as an A to B car; I’d personally rather buy a low mileage 2011 shape Focus if you want a Ford. Maybe on Ford Direct to get a 2 year warranty?

Just return the forks rather than the whole bike?

Maybe they could send you out a new set of forks with a trimmed steerer and crown race fitted.

One of my most cherished DVD’s alongside Heat.

There is no such car as a Focus ST diesel.

I think you’d have to get a Titanium if you wanted a high spec Focus diesel.

My AA covers me for both the car and bike and my RAC did as well.

From the AA website….

AA Breakdown Cover doesn’t just cover cars. You’ll also be able to call us out for assistance with:

motorbikes, vans, minibuses, caravans or trailers on tow
However, some restrictions do apply. Your vehicle will need to meet the following specifications in order for us to be able to provide you with breakdown cover:

Maximum vehicle weight – 3.5 tonnes (3,500kg) gross vehicle weightMaximum vehicle width – 7ft 6in (2.3m)