Thats plan 1 – What a dream, a garden with an allotment in it, how i dream!

I reckon ill fit in fine with all the tractor fans!

Think im sold, you get grumpy walkers everywhere and just learn to live with it, try riding kinder on a sat afternoon in summer ;-).

House prices seem very reasonable for such a nice place, yeah its a lot more than where we are at the moment but its a hole and i dont want to bring kids up there!

Its going to be hard taking on a big mortgage with two wee nippers as its not cost effective for teh wife to return to work, however the plan is for her to do some childminding, prob just two kids if poss to bring in an income as oppose to spending all her wage on childminding, which cant be done anyway.

Re tourists, she also likes the idea of having a B&B with just 1 or 2 rooms so this would be perfect, it all depends how much we can buy house wise and if we can get something big enough in the right area to afford us to do such a venture. It would be a win win as the house would earn an income and allow Mrs B to raise the kids, plus give us extra space for friends and family to visit.

I just need to work out how i could get a **** mortgage/see if its even possible to get a bigger mortgage to allow us to do it.

I can handle sleepy towns/villages. I dream of a quiet local pub as oppose to a robinsons hole where you wipe your feet on the way out of if you are brave enough to actually enter in the first place.

I think the only thing im going to miss is my allotment which is 50yards down the road at present and i suspect they are hard to come by in the Malvern area, if anyone can confirm, get me on a waiting list that would be ace

No early 30’s, 5 years no claims discount with one bump in last 5 yrs and a clean liscence, mrs similar but less ncd.

Maybe its just Oldham and the fact its full of people of different ethnic origin who seem to like the home rule for insurance, “dont bother”, or 3rd generation of such who are slightly work shy and see fake claims as an honest days work. Not to mention that traunch of society that we have dragged up ourselves who’s work starts at nightfall with a fuzzy head!

Intersting what people are saying though, maybe it makes a big difference to myself as the above are genuine problems causing a massive skew in results and hence premiums.

I am looking forward to cheaper quotes though i must say

Just remember to treat insurance companies like Mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them shit!

They say you have to tell them about windscreens being replaced, it doesnt mean you have to be daft enough to do it.

They dont share info as its commercially sensitive, however a lot are in teh same groug, e.g. admiral, elephant, sheilas wheels i think for example and the underwriters may be able to share info, otherwise its testicles.

Comparison sites aint cheap, try smaller brokers and specialist insurers. I have a friend who pays a fraction of what i do for a BMW 330M sport against my diesel accord as he can justify him being in an owners club and it being a performance car so specialist will insure it

Regarding the protected NCD, its a difficult one as it will make a difference if you stay with teh same insurer, but if you are buying through a comparison site it wont pay to stay with the same company, if you use a specialist it may.

Oh and remember, you can phone your insurance company and give them someones details who you claim have hit you and you will more than likely get a pay out even if you just got the reg number and model etc as you passed in the street – Yes i have one on the go against me!

Its worth a good call around your local places, from £600+ for a golf rear end and CAt i got it fitted for £200 all in from a small place called Oldham Tyre and Exhaust who are locally reputed as CHEAP as hell (proper crusties work there buy who cares). Maybe call them for a quote and it will give you an idea of what is a cheap price to save you getting dirty. For comparison i could only buy the parts for £180 myself so fitting worked out at £20, not worth losing the skin on your knuckles for £20

Im sure Mike Hall will have chat to you about it, find him on face ache or through his normally aspirated human blog

We used to use Ski Transfers based in Les Gets. Rob who runs it used to have a wake board boat that we had a day on on lake Annecy, sound him out if you fancy doing something different for a day

This threw a rat amongst the pigeons!

As someone said, kids going to a good childminder is actually a really good part of growing up and learning, we chose ours because of reputation and the fact that they get a lot of creative and learning time, nurseries dont offer that, they pay kids min wage to baby sit and spend all their time chasing the brats so if you have a good one they get less attention.

My original question was regarding pay, and how she could charge for both her and our holidays, ours at full whack and hers at full, nothing more, not trolling (whatever the hell trolling actually is – Im sure the only ones that fully understand what it is are the ones doing it, but hey, separate discussion). Anyhow she has since apologiesed for a mistake and its now half pay when either are on holiday, which is fair!

Bringing up a newborn with a 1 year old isnt easy either, those that were bitching clearly havent done it.

And yes people can earn a decent wage for childcare, 2 people doing it, at home or swanning about all day doing their own thing with kids in tow when they want can have 4-6 kids so £2-3k month, plus extras for school run and after school.

We only use them two mornings a week to give my wife a break (have a 5month and 19month old) but did pay £480/month for 4 days.

Apparently the childminder has changed the contract to half pay when both parties are on holiday

mikewsmith – Member
You don’t pay your builder to have 2 weeks off in the middle of the job.
But we aren’t talking about Builders, we are talking about child minders.

This is where i struggle to grasp it, surely she is self employed and thus if she cant provide a service she cant invoice for it. I would have thought we either pay when she is on holiday (x weeks per year) or if we decide not to use her?

Its cheaper to insure the bike on your home insurance for such trips

And also on the PM show on radio 4, scroll to around 37/38 mins in

Mike on Radio 4 PM Show

Kaboom!

What an effort bud!

Done it guys, smashed to pieces

Anyone know anyone in media world to get him some coverage on his return, or even on the finish line?

Cheers guys, some good info.

I dont really want to divulge why or where i was going to buy but cheers for the heads up

I picked up a proper hippy from J19 M6 last weekend and took him to Heathrow, he was going to london so was well chuffed.

He was actually a really sound guy, friends on Faceache now and he is touring the UK while over from home in Austria for a month. Had a right blast on the way down too, made a rubbish journey enjoyable.

What made it funnier was my colleague who i met at the car park had done the same on his trip down from Llanberis.

Payback for all my journeys between Keele and Lancaster Uni as a student

cheers guys, forget it though, the laptop has just died, that or the screen has gone.

Ace!!!

Awful news, thoughts with family and close friends at this most awful time

I bought an 07 accord diesel tourer for £3900 plus a 52 plate golf GTTdi with no oil in the gearbox

Its a great car, no more boring than a passat, infact a bit sharper id say.

Has ALL of the toys too, literally everything, something like £37K when new, 4 years straight from lease.

Had the manifold replaced FOC by Honda, have the callipers to sort out at the rear, but otherwise look at honest Johns for a list of problems with the equivalent passat, it runs into pages as oppose to about 6 things with the accord.

All of the passats i was interested in at the time were either on 3 owners in 4 years, in the garage getting their park brake fixed or strangely had no repair paperwork with them at all, as if everything had been disposed of

I reckon its the best looking bike i have seen over the past couple of years.

A 5″ version would be a dream!

what we will save in insurance will pay our current mortgage, we need to get out before people realise they cant afford to live somewhere sh1t with, (and im sorry for saying it but i live here and therefore feel im in a fair position to comment – however fully expect to be shot down) loads of scamming, idle scruffy foreigners and locals who on the whole are happy on benefits/bordering on unemployable.

Sorry but its true, hence why i want out bad

Saddleworth is nice, small though but rains too much (said from the top of the moor in a cabin above Delph!)

Postcode lottery results for car insurance risk rating

GL Gloucester
1, 4-5, 7-11, 13, 15, 18-19, 51, 53-56 . . . .. A
2, 3, 6, 12, 14, 16-17, 20, 50, 52 . . . . . .. B

OL Oldham
1-5, 7-9, 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . F *
6, 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Refer
10-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E *

F is as bad as it comes, the * means most wont touch you, Refer means people dont bother with insurance

£2600 for a Honda Accord Diesel Estate with a clean licence and 5years NCD. Who said worry about your bike being nicked in ‘Nam? Take it you mean if you go out on the Ale and leave it unlocked someone may see it as a free taxi home. We worry about our kids being stolen in Oldham!

Where do i sign

b0leyngr0und – Member
Cheltenham’s fine enough – moved here 11 years ago from Keele. Lot’s going on, lot’s of good places to ride. Forest of Dean is close enough, welsh borders, Malverns, Cotswolds. Up the escarpment are some great little villages with great little pubs and it’s friendly enough. Areas are odd especially for schools. Some really nice areas are in really shitty catchment areas and the opposite is true. We’ve been in Up Hatherley for 8 years and never had trouble of any sort and we’re close to the Lakeside school – quiet, suburban area – but – half mile away and still in Hatherley are some less nice places. Avoid Hesters Way, St Marks, St Pauls, Fiddler’s Green, Whaddon. Any questions then ask. Oh – and great festivals and places to eat.

b0leyngr0und – What did you do at Keele, i was there 99-02 and then did a year as SU president in 03!

I can live without curry, gravy and mushy peas, ive already sacrificed battered sausages as im from monkey hanger land originally, not to mention garlic sauce and Parmo’s.

Id be running the company which would have me in the office and people on site, with some site work and travelling overseas so it would be a mixed bag but the office is on Rodney Road, so very central.

Im not sure the worst estate in Cheltenham would be half as bad as where i live in Oldham but it would be nice to get it right first time round. Might even be able to afford car insurance in Cheltenham as oppose to being ass raped as we are in Oldham, that will be nice.

I think the next plan is to come and bring teh family down for a week, might bring the bike and get out with some of you guys too if thats ok, then try weigh up where we want to be and if it IS in the ‘Nam itself or a bit out. Whats swaying us at the moment is at full stretch we could afford a 2/3bed terrace in @Nam, wheras in Malvern we could get something approaching this des res

All seems good then as I hoped, the only downside being the house prices!

One thing i have looked at is Malvern for buying a house, and there are some really nice houses there for not the silly money i would have expected. I quite like the idea of living somewhere with a village feel but am i missing something here?

Is Malvern a realistic road commute also, looks less than 20 miles so its within commuteable distance, maybes not daily but at least weekly?

Cheers for your thoughts guys

Is it the one in the base of the leg, where the boot goes over?

Mine popped out and bent and i had no end of problems until i sent it off to eighty aid who had the service deal then.

If so, mine was caused i think by not resetting the bearings regularly enough if that helps

just a std brass nipple

He had breakfast with martin walker this morning too at the airport.

Current stats are an impressive: Total distance at Auckland: 16255km (10100 miles) Total riding time is around 50 days and 14 hrs.

NZ south island in 55 hrs after nearly 10000 miles, and 170 mile/day average!

His videos on FB of the Nullabor are compelling viewing, im sure he will post them up in good time but he has been to hell and back across OZ.

NZ should be complete in 5 days total, my hero!

dont do it, you will regret it. Other riding out there is so much better, much quieter, awesome trails and weather pretty much guaranteed to be better. Also, breaking bumps, i say no more.

We stopped off for two days in the PDS two years back on a 2 week road trip and it was by a long shot the worst riding we experianced, even worse than places like val’disere which we knew nothing about.

If you are driving then do it, if going guided then just choose another company somewhere else, i.e. les arcs.

You wont regret it i assure you.

Drop me an email and i will email you an account of where we have been and how to get a free day riding in in the alsace if you are driving down and back!

I just don’t ‘get’ them. How can it possibly work?

The same as any other fork but uses needle bearings in a “square” as oppose to round leg.

I kind of miss mine, miss the lack of weight with teh carbon one but just didnt like how it dived on slow rocky stuff.

Resetting the bearings is critical too, eventually it will knock the hell out of the internals if you dont and kill them. It amazes me how many people out there have a set and still dont know that the bearings need resetting regularly

What ianv said, head south, all of what he said plus PILA!

Thats Australia crossed! 11000km and counting now

if i get a cradle can i do it myself easily? i.e. will it show as an external disk that i can copy files to an external HDD? That i can do

Linux looks like a pain in the arse and i have never used it before, nor have the geek credentials, the time nor the inclination to figure it out.

id take cash and run, they turn over too many bikes (1000/week) to care what you get, just do it yourself.

if its a £400halfords carrera you lose then let them replace it, if its something you built and is a none standard spec dont let them bother

Are you getting chain suck? i.e. the chain not releasing from the front chainring and sucking up and getting trapped between the rings and the frame?

If its not that then the freehub may be goosed?

I doubt your pedals are locking up

yeah sometimes the seal on the tube/syringe aint great when you draw the air out of the fluid to start with so air leaks in/ Some are good, some are bad

Is it a Hollowtech chainset?

If so the bearing has ceased and your only option is to bash it off.

It may have cut a gouge in the axle also

what are the rest of the group riding? STick to something similar to them.

You will get away with 120mm if you stick to the singltrack stuff, nothing that isnt a DH track there is more technical or aggressive than the peaks so you will be fine.

If everyone has a DH bike just buy one for about a grand before you go and sell it when you get back. I got a glory and it cost me £100 for a 2 week road trip. I wouldnt use it at home so bargain!

Also and most importantly if you are going in June take your winter riding kit as there is a HIGH probability the weather will be pants, i.e. wet for days

There is a camp site at Brides les baines, but not sure if you can get a bus up to the resorts or not. Its where the budget ski holidays stay. Meribel is a posh old place too, not exactly riveting place to be, very quiet. Lifts in the individual valleys arent open all days also which is a pain.

From my experience id rate it 5/10

Go to Pila instead, cheap, loads of trails and weather always better

Anyone know of any similar events in the Nort West? I believe there is one at the velodrome in Jan but know of nothing else and could happily fill a stall

Yeah just do an advanced search on the seller

and it will bring up their sales like so