Like above I bought a house off a divorced couple. She there when we arrived sat in an empty house and made a fuss about being asked to leave, but nothing like needing the police to come, just some polite but strong words. She had too been really difficult with viewings almost enough to put us off buying, which was we presume what she wanted.

We weren’t moving straight in so I gave the place a really thorough checkover, which was pretty fortunate. The shut off valves for the washing machine and dishwasher were not shutting off properly, and were leaking nicely behind the units. A few radiators were weeping from the valves (something I checked on viewings, not sure if they were knocked on removing furniture) so I switched the gas off and drained the central heating system down. They had broken the up and over garage door and the side garage door. Plenty of keys were missing and external doors left unlocked.

Basically check everything water/gas/electric thoroughly and make sure you can secure the house before you start moving anything in, if you can.

As above your tyre clearances are likely suited to a 23-25m tyre, so a modern wide road rim may not do you any favours.

My personal preference is a cheap functional wheel from DT Swiss using 350/370 hub. 3 pawl ratchet which is easily serviceable, bearings are maybe £20-30 and can be done at home with a few sockets and a hammer (and original bearings seem to do 5k miles for most). These tend to be 1500-1700g for a set and between £200-400 depending on what you can get hold of.

PR1800 spline in a 23mm rim are not heavy, cheap and very useable – if you can get them.
PR1600s are slightly lighter but far easier to get hold of.

Both also have very nice QRs, assuming they fit the frame.

*EDIT – no idea how to embed!*

If you like classic pre-stoner rock try Leaf Hound…

which is a nice transition into something slightly more modern from Unida who have already been mentioned in the thread (only that they did a decent cover of Stray by Leaf Hound!)

Struggled enough to get Pro Ones (you did buy Pro Ones right?) onto DT rims with just the standard tubeless tape, let alone another layer. Tessa tape is certainly stickier and IMHO nowhere near as good as the DT tape (not as flexible, not as sticky, doesn’t seal as well).

Essex Auto Group Thurrock Lakeside was the dealer. Car wasn’t very old and bought from them new. Can’t remember when it was exactly but the Kia warranty person was a guy.

If you ever plan to travel with the bike in a box make sure the cables are long enough. Crossing over usually allows for this.

We had the last shape Sportage that had a few really annoying problems. Kia had a very weird warranty process where a Kia representative had to attend the dealer to confirm warranty coverage – issue being they were stretched thinly across a huge network and were unreliable. 1st time they didn’t show up, 2nd time they were there but had nothing to compare it to (crunching box alone wasn’t enough). Ended up on the 3rd visit they finally approved a new gearbox. This was at 10k miles, the replacement was even whinier but at least changed gear cleanly.

Not sure I would ever buy another and certainly never from that dealer.

I have a Fiesta now and can easily get a bike in the back.

I still use a Samsung S6 for trainer calibration, a backup for running training software (TR and more recently Zwift), and for my son to use to look on Lego Life. Only reason I don’t still use it as my daily phone is the battery life runs down mighty quickly when the screen is on.

I replaced it with a Moto G6 which for the money is decent. It has always been buggy as hell though but for 1/5th the money you can sort of accept it. The camera isn’t anywhere near as good. No idea if more recent Motos are better in terms of bugs or camera.

The one thing I do not miss is the Samsung software – bloatware aplenty, updates come far later than cleaner Android setups, and some of the Moto features are very useful (attentive display, volume buttons to skip tracks) – all of these can be done through 3rd party apps but are rolled into one with bringing data risks.

Either way I can’t justify the current Samsung prices for a phone when the Moto does the job. That’s the crux of it. If I travelled and took loads of photos then it becomes a slightly more interesting proposition.

I understand limits have been raised under legislation but uptake from schemes and employers varies.

That looks like Cyclescheme are up and running on it but your employer needs to be too – so they need to actively apply for the new scheme and agree to set a higher limit.

I work at a global firm with 8k employees all over the globe – for me the chance of getting anything changed is near to nothing. I am stuck on the Halfords setup with a £1k limit and 2 entry points a year. Sucks.

Are you sure Wiggle let you top up a C2W voucher?

Their own T&Cs say “Employees can no longer add funds (or ‘top up’) – whilst previously allowable, this is now prohibited in all circumstances.”

The C2W limit increase should last on the basis it opens up e-bikes. I cannot see even a leftie government reducing incentives to get people mobile. Could see a levelling on discount for 40% tax-payers though as it used to be for childcare vouchers.

My reason for multiple accounts is it earns me some interest and cashback for doing nothing I wouldn’t already do.

We have a joint account at Santander, who also provide our mortgage. Not only did they offer the best rate at the time we also get cashback on that mortgage plus other bills (massively outweighs the monthly fee). Some money then goes into a regular saver @ 3%.

The current account interest is 1.5% so I pay out a chunk each month to a Nationwide account. On opening the Nationwide account earlier this year through a referral I got some cash, an intro rate of 5% up to a few thousand of balance, opportunity to pay cash into a junior account (at decent rate) and another regular saver @ 3%.

I also run 2 credit cards for my everday spending. One Amex with cashback and a backup Mastercard with Tandem which offers a small amount of cashback (but better than nothing).

I will switch out of Nationwide soon as deals are ending and there are some ‘bribes’ out there for switching, but the Santander account more than covers itself on mortgage cashback alone.

Naples is lovely for a chilled evening out if you stay there.

Everglade City offered a decent airboat ride and one of the best meals I ever had (was 5+ years ago and pretty much the only restaurant in town).
Going out in a canoe and seeing things at less than 30mph and in total silence was lovely too.

I didn’t set pressure on basis of sag sitting down dangling legs, that is just how I measured sag.

Do you set pressure using sag?

Had two thoughts about the open mode being soft and running more than 30% sag.

Firstly that reduces the effective travel, when on the worst descents I would have thought you would want as much travel as possible (whilst retaining some sag to maintain tyre contact on dips)? Rear is 120mm effective travel, so at 40% sag it leaves 72mm travel (without considering downhill your weight may be further back and therefore it sags more). That said it is a very progressive setup (frame pivot and shock combo) so maybe that is still enough for trail use? I have to say even at ~80mm total travel I have not ever felt it was too little.

Secondly with twinloc I am not sure how much the sag reduces when on the ‘traction control’ middle setting? The rear certainly sits higher on middle setting so will have to experiment to get best compromise. Unsure where it sits on full lockout.

As well as those above there are well publicised issues with the 1.6 Citroen engine (as used in the Mini Cooper S) and with the Vauxhall 2.2 (in that case it was oil jet gunking up and there was a replacement larger bored jet that could be fitted).

Chains work well with perfect lubrication and tension but, as on a bike, have a lot of moving parts which will eventually wear out. Issue then is because most were designed to last for the life of an engine (which over time was found to not always be the case) there was not necessarily a consideration for chain replacement.

Similar issues coming out with the ‘wet’ belt driven Ford Ecoboost engines now, designed to be sealed for life without consideration for a belt change – yet they can need doing at under 100k miles if oil, filter, driving style etc. results in wear. How you know without it snapping I am not sure.

That does sort of make sense.

I probably ride 60% of the time with the shorter travel / increased compression damping anyhow. Plus 30% open (as you say proper descents) and 9% fully locked out climbing. The other 1% I am sliding down a trail on my leg/back/face.

Think I took 2 spacers out of the forks and it works far better for me.

BearBack not sure what you are asking? Sag measured (for rear shock) by sitting on the saddle and dangling my legs. Twinloc open.

Had a very quick play on 185psi. Travels more, sag is just over 30%. It makes the front feel firm though so will have to have more of a play when have more time and the right weather.

Just checked and it was ~195psi (allowing for a bit of leakage when putting shock pump on). Sag is bang on 30% without helmet, bag etc.

When I totally deflate I can get full 45mm travel out of it.

Settings at the moment are 210psi. I am 80kg, set it up at 30% sag with a backpack, tools and couple of litres of water.

Will go deflate and setup again now to double check,

Good shout but yes I did that (every 50psi as per the EVOL specific instructions).

I might however try deflating, equalise then work back up. I have had the bike a couple of years and only now am riding harder am really puzzled why not using any more travel.

The full spec is below if that makes any difference to advice
2017, Nude4, DPS, A, Trunnion Evol LV, Scott, Spark Plus, 165, 45, 0.2 Spacer, CL+, RM, Climb F, PMS-3275C/PMS-3275C Logo

https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=568 is where Fox have the volume spacer tables. My shock is a 2017 model which is helpfully not listed. On basis of being 165/45 and LV though the 2018 table says no spacer makes the CR too low.

Ergon single bolt on grips could be setup to add 10mm each side (just make sure you plug bar ends).

You can butcher the original grips for the twinloc mounting ring or shim it easily enough (assuming you have one)

That 90 degree shoulder and elbow method puts me at over 900mm (at 5’10” 178cm tall). Am I freakishly proportioned? Never considered my chest/shoulders to be wide nor upper arms really long.

There are a few areas where my phone say 4G but won’t make a call or do anything data related on Vodafone. Big spot near Hildenborough in Kent, another just by Dartford in Essex.

I always figured I actually didn’t have reception there and the phone was wrong though.

G6 here (maybe 18 months old) and it is buggy. I still maintain the Samsung S6 I had years ago is a far far better phone apart from the Samsung bloatware.

On the G6 the call quality seems fine my end but other end I often get comments about it being unclear. This happened on EE and now Vodafone and over multiple locations. Other bugs-
The screen rotates in it’s own, even when rotate is turned off.
Screen can flicker when on adaptive brightness is on in rooms with fairly low light.
Volume control is poor at low end, it goes down low enough for very quiet listening, and the first few ‘clicks’ of volume are linear with a sudden jumps in volume.
Camera is ok, better than the G6 Power but nothing like the quality an S6 or iPhone produces.

That all said battery still lasts all day even with it being plugged in a couple of time during the day. Most calls I make are on a headset or through the car, where it appears to work fine.

Would I get another Moto? Maybe but I would be monitoring it very closely over first few weeks and if played up would be returning it.

Use a universal remover on a windy-gun
Or hammer on smart socket
Or take to dealers and see if they have one of the same (if they are Peugeot OEM and not aftermarket)
Or if aftermarket take photo of head and share with manufacturer along with receipt and V5 (McGard Will supply a new key at a notional cost)

If it has a spinny head you get into the realms of hammer and tap, the stuff of nightmares.

Either way be thankful they been off recently, hopeful that they have been torqued up properly and copper slipped, and make sure you do up all the other regular nuts FT before trying to remove the locking one (take the torque off the locker).

Vimto, still or fizzy.

At 5’10” I bought a M/L Defy as my first bike. Ended up running a -6 110mm stem with all the spacers taken out and still was too high. Few years on am running a 52 CAAD12 with 15mm of spacers and -6 110mm stem.

Worth trying doyouspain.com from most Spanish airports.
Always worth too getting your own waiver insurance for not a lot (sorry if teaching to suck eggs), loads of photos before and after, and even cleaning the car if gets really dirty.

Another vote for DT Swiss here. I have put 5000 miles on a set of rim brake R20s and they only look about half worn. Only spend has been £16 on a set of bearings, which after some mental faffing turned out to be a very simple job to swap out with a couple of sockets and a hammer.

I tried Hunt and had issues, they did everything they could to put it right but in the end I sent them back and bought another set of DT Swiss (Merlin, £200 for a more modern equivalent of the R20s).

Had a weird creak on my road bike with 370 DT Hubs, turned out to be a bearing in the hub or freehub (not sure which as replaced them all in one go, cost about £12 and an hour of my time).

I found Tesa tape to be a pain in the arse for any rim that has a deep groove in the bed. It doesn’t stretch which makes it damn hard to get it to conform to a rim that isn’t fairly flat inside.

This is to the extent that after taking all precautions fitting I cannot get it to seal on the Hunt rims I have as it will not go into the groove properly.

DT Swiss tape is so easy to apply in comparison and way kinder on thumbs. It’s more expensive of course but if it seals first time that is money well spent in my book. Have wasted so much damn time on tubeless (MTB and road) when could have been riding (that said the tyre/rim combo on my Scott Spark went up first time on a low volume roady track pump without any soapy water or sealant).

My Oakley Minutes snapped clean in half after a mere 18 years, but my others (can’t remember the name) are still doing ok after 22 years (the silicon ear grips have gone a bit baggy though).

The £1k limit lift relies on the scheme and your employer both agreeing to raise the limit (notwithstanding firm’s with a consumer credit license such as HSBC who have always offered £2k).

As it stands the mainstream cycle to work type suppliers all seem to be sitting on their hands with regards raising the limit (probably working out how to make the most £££ out of it whilst staying compliant).

My workplace uses the Halfords run Cycle2Work scheme. They have told people in industry they have no intentions on reviewing the £1k limit in the short run. My employer is huge and will have zero interest in using GCI, it would take me months to even work out who to talk to.

Another thumbs up for Planet X. For MTB I wear a 20 year old pair of Oakleys but on road am instantly a Carnac convert. Very light, good optics, look fairly neutral.

In case anyone wants to know exactly what is in a 370 hub on an R20 rear wheel:

6902RZ
6802-2RZ

And freehub:

6902RS
68022-2RZ

Syncros wheels on my Spark were pre-taped and think may be disguised DT Swiss 370 hubs. As above silly easy to make tubeless.

Syncros wheels (XC24 or something?) on my Scale were not taped, have Shimano hubs, and were so hard to setup tubeless I gave up. Problem just seemed to be that any tyre was very loose on the rim. Currently have some Specialized Storm Control tyres fitted for the very worst mucky weather and have tubes in. Will try again to setup tubeless again before it gets really wet and sloppy but one more try only.

My neighbour took one to secure their next property whilst waiting for their buyers to survey etc. Somehow the buyers must have got wind and leveraged the hell out of the situation to negotiate a sizeable discount.

Neighbour got his sale but wasn’t happy, guessing it was either too much risk to start again or the bridge was punitive (or both!).

Used cyclescheme a few years back. At the end of the initial 12 months I paid the 7% and never heard from them again. Left the job within a year of that, so under 24 months total.

What did you do at the end of the initial 12 months?

Ah ok, I only asked as have been getting same problem (sending and receiving) between Android (Moto G6) on EE and an iPhone (5C) on Vodafone.