loads of them at my local resevior, a case of dodge the slow worms in the Summer

sounds like a poor electical connection to be honest, if its anything like out Skoda the radio cuts out and the indicators come on when you go over a pothole…Skodas are brill cars but they do have their electrical gremlins
I would defo go poor connection to the airflow sensor, if you know where it is unplug it check the condition of the pins and plug it back in securely, there should be a slide pin that holds the plug in place sometimes it comes off…any garage would be able to check this for little cost if you dont fancy it yourself
good luck hope it gets sorted

The 1.8 is more grunty esp at motorway speeds, where the 1.6 will feel a bit lethargic. There really isnt much difference in fuel economy either between the two. The 1.8 is one insurance group higher. The road tax is more expensive on 1.8 too. But the bigger engined car still drives better and sounds better (bit more of a roar!!)

got a Golf Tdi PD 2008 model, now on 80K with no faults, most reliable car i ever had – in fact more reliable than our previous two Toyotas. I do however always have the car serviced at VW, it isnt the cheapest but at least they know what to look out for if there is anything untoward…in fact ive just remembered it did have one fault – the door mirror indicatior was misted up which they replaced under warranty..
That said you should beware of dual mass flywheels going on VW diesels (in fact pretty much any modern diesel)
– look out for vibration through the gear lever, and a dramatic change in engine note having the clutch either engaged or disengaged… the car will sound like a bag of nails with the clutch out…i would walk away from a car with a suspected flywheel problem as it would cost upwards of 1K to fix

I had a similar experience with a ‘no strings’ girl, 10 years later she still lingers like a bad smell- women really dont do no strings … emotionaly they are wired differently to guys and get connected far easier than we do… good luck :P

very envious. Probably all the bike you’ll ever need, nice bike indeed:)

nobby nic evo all the way, apart from a complete mud fest they are a brilliant all rounder ive used in pretty much all conditions everywhere, used to run a nobby nic on the front and ralph on the back but have gone nic all round as so much better for traction on the steep climbs.

i test rode 2 29ers, a trek x-caliber which felt like a tank and a stumpjumper which was probably the best hardtail ive ever ridden, so you really need to try lots of bikes to get a good idea-the case 26s are no different…theres good and bad…

Kool and the gang 8)

Brezno Slovakia 2009 marathon, virtually the whole town saw us off from the start a police escort up to the first fireroad, relentless climbs but 40 mph fireroad descents, being warned at the start that brown bears had been spotted on the course!! sheer brilliance!! not only that the event was only 10 euro entry with a full course meal at the finish!!!
such a great event in the tatras mountains , beats anything ive ever done in uk….

countzero- it was a simple question..i dont think its right or wrong, just different. why react like that?

There are a few guys wearing full face helmets and full downhill body armour around erm.. Thetford! Its no place for that!! Very Plebeian

Also im not saying its the full 100% Plebeian but…..could somebody explain to me what the appeal is of a fully rigid singlespeed please? I dont get why you would purposely spend money to downgrade your bikes peformance on anything but the smoothest fireroad….explain? :?

Specialized don’t even do a 26″ hardtail over £1000, nor any Epics, that’s a hell of a step!

And in a way Specialized will be the 29er test bed, if they start to re-introduce 26 epics and stumpy HT’s back into the range within the next 24 months we will know that 29 hasnt worked with the mainstream UK mtb’ers. Im not sure any other manufactuer has taken such dramatic steps to influence 29ers into their range.

I think ill wait a while before jumping on the 29 wagon, ride quality aside it looks like ill have to save up at least £4,000 to replace my epic anyway spec for spec and that’ll take me years…

Bike prices hmmmm thats another topic :(

both myself and my wife both drive cars with vw diesel engines, as hers is a company car she always puts supermarket fuel in it. I always use shell (have the points card) both cars are of a similar age and on similar miles (90k ish)
my wife has needed 2 egr valves and one system reset in that time due to poor fuel, i have had no problem whatsoever. i wouldnt buy supermarket fuel for a car i owned…

mudshark ….. only if you are dutch cyclo tourist can you get away with that 8)

Flat bars and ends all the way, have 580mm flats on my XTC works a treat. You dont want wide risers on the road makes no aerodynamic sense..

Giro Athlon or Xen work at treat

Spin classes are a great cardio workout but dont really relate to real world biking too much.
The last spin class l went to i took my HRM, we were going for an hour and when i finished my average was 97% of max…now that cant be good for anybody, and in fact it could lead to burnout (it did with myself) esp if you are cycling regularly too.

As flap jack says you can do your own thing but my spin instructor was a strict git and would shout at you if you werent doing exactly what he was and at that time!!

better to get on the turbo with a fan on your face (and some proper music) and do some sensible interval sessions that relate more closely to your goals whatever they may be

music for bedwetters and to fill the awkward silences at middle class dinner parties after the jacobs creek has run out

LOL, by the way excuse my ignorance but whats a bed wetter?

Took part in my first Dualathon last Sept, got to say it was the hardest thing ive ever done.. everything is totally flat out and the bike section was just a time trail!!!

That said im now addicted to running and looking to do some trail events next year, just take it easy to start with – Dont forget the stretching before and after the run to maximise recovery. I was advised to work on the base (longer low intense runs) for about 3 months before starting any type of speed work and intervals mind.

Good luck with the Tri you’ll love it!

I put 5K in a short term bond (12 month) last Dec and just got a chq for £150 – only condition is you cant touch the money for the agreed term.

Im not sure you would get that out of an ISA at the mo, might be worth shopping around though.

Alternatively there are also 5 year stock market bonds available from most banks, basically when you put it in they take the whole value of the FTSE into account, and as long as the figure is higher in 5 years you would probably earn about £1,200 in interest on that 5K. Again, you must not touch the cash invested for the term – if you do they would probably charge you a fee for taking it out early. You have to be pretty sure you will not need the money for the term. Because the stock market is so low at the moment it might be worth a gamble. 5 years should be enough for the economy to sort itself out!!??

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IMG_2317[/url] by andypaul99[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Bella. border collie / flatcoat retriver cross

The E prefix number plate is circa 87-88, strange as i thought that imported vehicles of that era had ‘Q’ plates. Or maybe its the E reg 1st time round? Was it already registered before it came over do you know? (sorry for being such an anorak!!) 8)

I really miss my 2007 Stumpy FSR which i sold for some stupid reason. You could just ride it anywhere and end up with a massive grin, rode it all over UK and took it to europe..just fantastic!!! Why did i sell…WHY!!!! :cry:

Brandon Country park should only be 70p for all day parking today (should be!) if you follow the blue trail towards high lodge (turn left out of the carpark and cross the main road) you will pick up the green,red and black routes from there.
There is a great deal of tree felling going on and around the blue route on the Brandon country park side so its probably best avoided at the mo…the red and black are good to go though on the high lodge side.
The trail has dried out quite a bit and its mild so you are in for a real treat!!!

DEfinately going to work on bike skills, esp descending which has always been a weakness. Decided to ride more sportives and marathons next year rather than just keep going flat out round in circles!!!

Hmm, i have a set of those on my Golf(2.0TDI) and they went just over 35K. Trouble with the Civic diesel (i assume its the 2.2) is it does chuck out a whole load of tourqe and will munch tyres no matter what you put on them. Get a garage to check the tracking and front suspension firstly -if all ok Goodyear eagles arent too bad but 13K on the Goodyears doesnt seem right to me….
Just a hint – with high powered diesel cars accelerating hard coming out of corners and turning out of corners is a surefire way to reduce their lifespan…

Its hard wired into most Dogs to chase moving objects. The ones that chase you are likely to be Dogs that (through human training) over the years evolved to chase and fetch. If they get too close to you its likely they havent been told not to….its the owners fault!
I was bitten by a Collie a while back whilst on the bike, the little blighter wouldnt let go of my anke – made a right old mess, not only that it completely messed up my 95rpm cadence. Git!