Thanks everyone for all the input and ideas.

@timber luckily I have secure storage at our yard and can leave boots, saws, climbing kit, PPE, first aid etc there, otherwise a cargo bike would definitely be a necessity.

@tjagain that Whyte looks like it would serve my needs well. Is the Bosch motor significantly superior to the Specialized one?

The Specialized Turbo Tero looks like another good shout. If bought new with a transferable warranty then hopefully I can shift it on at the end of this year without too much loss. Seems that my budget needs to be somewhere 2.5k to get one. I will either need to free up some funds from elsewhere or get a wee loan to cover it but can probably make that work.

I don’t think the long tail cargo bikes are for me. Seems over kill for what I would need to carry. Realistically a couple of panniers would do me as I can store kit at work and would commute on a Monday with work wear for the week and then daily with food and drinks. Wet weather may put a spanner in the works as I would need to transport wet work kit home to dry out over night before returning the following day with it to wear.

The Specialized Creo looks like it would make short work of my commute and seems a good option. It doesn’t look like it would take panniers however.

The bolt on battery kits mentioned seem a cheap way of getting some assistance and a bafang or tongsheng kit bolted onto my old P7 steel hardtail might provide a fairly cheap initial solution.

@alpin I did have a gander down the back of the sofa but so far only come up with some unwanted pocket detritus and a swathe of piggy bank fodder.

@tjagain and @stwhannah the full fat Bosch powered something seems like the best answer here. A bit of a rack fro panniers and turbonutterbastard mode for the days when I am spent or just the early morning commute when tired and a little hanging. Is there a specific ‘old folk euro tourer’ that you would suggest looking into? I can’t magic up a budget more than a few thousand but if I can get something and run it for 6 month and then sell it on when I am done without losing more than a grand or so then I can make that work.

Leki Micro Vario here. Have snapped 2 in the last 5 years, mainly when they should have been put away for scramble bits and then I didn’t bother and got them jammed in behind a rock, both times they have been replaced free of charge.

The handle is good. They fold down small enough to go into the vertical pockets on the side of my day pack. The swing weight and feel is pretty optimal, they mentally disappear after the first few minutes of walking. They come in most handy for me when crossing rivers, ascending snow covered terrain and steep descents to take some load off the knee. I’d recommend spending the extra, my old man has a set that are woeful, feels like it takes twice the effort of the lekis to swing them.

Robert Jordan – The Great Hunt
Book two of The Wheel of Time series

@ton

I have been riding in various footwear and having issues on rough decent with loosing footing. I have been wearing some meindl anteleo mid hiking boots which are my favourite at the moment. Used my vans at the trail centre and they are great but they don’t cope with the rain very well and for bigger rides into the hills I want more shoe. Used a pair of low cut Columbia hiking shoes too but they were god awful as they have a curved edge to the sole and miss the pedal pins on the edges completely.

Thanks for that. Somehow missed that they ran up to that size in the five ten freerider. At 14.5 its worth an order and see how they fit. Reviews seem to suggest a narrow fit but I’ll order in a pair and see what they are like on my feet. Otherwise I think that a set of DC/Vans skate shoes will be the way forward. I should really consider moving to clip in pedals too, as there are a few options there, but I don’t want to.

Fond memories. That was my dad sat next to him as he ran course car on the McRae stages. Always have a soft spot for the way he drove. Everyone has him pinned as a flat out and balls to the wall sort of driver, however the deftness of touch to perpetually slide a mk2 escort through gravel stages and the reaction times to keep the metro 6r4 on the tarmac through Donegals narrow back roads are such different and equally impressive skills. He was adaptable and able to turn his hand to all forms of racing. When him and Rossi swapped equipment for the day, much like Hamilton did recently, Colin was within a couple tenths of Vale’s lap time by the end of the day. When he tried his hand at rallycross and only lost to Pastrana in the x-Games not due to rolling the car on the last jump but because (In Colins words..) he pushed too deep into the braking zone and understeered on the last corner. The noise his 6R4 used to make when sat in it was raucous!!Hope that the Impreza ends up somewhere that it will be driven and enjoyed rather than just stored for value, I would venture to suggest thats what he would have preferred.

YT Izzo?

I think the YT Jeffsy is more suited to my riding.

Ibis Ripmo AF.

OOOoo I like that idea. My budget is supposed to be pretty strict but is only money at the end of the day. This sounds like a fun bike. I will add to my list.

mboy, thanks for the feedback about the Whyte. Can’t honestly remember the source that formed that opinion, have been reading far too many bike spec sheets recently! Maybe I ought to ride this if I get a chance.

ta11pau1, thanks for the info on demo days, really helpful. Yorkshire, Lake District and Bennachie plus a Canyon somewhere. I wonder if I will have the patience to get round to riding all of them if the first couple impress. I am 6’6, 17st so having an xl frame is a must.

The 2020 is a new design

Orbea Occam. That review from basqueMTB does praise the bike highly and the terrain that I have seen at Guara is pretty rough. If it had a decent bottle cage I might consider this bike.

Worth trying a daith piercing? My partner suffered debilitating migraines for years and then 18 months ago got her piercing, she hasn’t had any migraines since. No link to shoulder/neck with her case.

Thanks for the responses, didn’t expect this amount of input and it has taken me a bit of time to tune into the various options people are suggesting and their pros and cons. You have opened my eyes to some options that I hadn’t considered and even some brands I wasn’t aware of. I have tried to express some of my thoughts below on the various bikes and how I think they would suit my riding and narrowed it down a shortlist of bikes I would like to demo later in the year.

I am open to buying second hand and have been keeping an eye on the classifieds, both here and elsewhere. I appreciate I can get a much higher spec and lighter bike if I can find a used model that fits the bill. I am however limited by the need for an XL frame and the wish to go 29. I have seen a few bikes that I might otherwise have gone for. The is a YT Jeffsy for 1.5k at the moment but it is 27.5 and a small frame. Have also looked at a Santa Cruz Tallboy, Commencal Meta AM, Yeti SB4.5 and an Orbea Occam from last year. As nice as they all are, there is a compromise with each one and considering this will be my main bike for the foreseeable then I don’t want to go down that ‘almost’ route. I will keep watching what comes through over the next wee while and would be pleased to buy a suitable option should it present itself.

The bikes suggested and my thoughts are as follows;

Bird Aeris AM9 – Loving the fact they are a UK brand and the model looks like it fits the bill. It is always reassuring that the bike was designed with our climate and terrain in mind. Nice looking geometry and reviews suggest it finds a good middle ground of capable yet nimble. Price point is good. I will get myself up to Bennachie to have a wee shot on one when I next have the chance. Actually looking forward to this already!

Jeffsy 29 Comp. Pretty looking bike. Super stiff frame, but I’m no lightweight so perhaps this isn’t critical. Good value for money. Interested to ride this and see how compliant or not it felt through twisty techy sections. I like em stiff and responsive, wonder if I ride with enough gusto to make this come alive?

I don’t know anything about Vitus as a brand but the Escarpe 29 does look comparable to some of the other bikes suggested and cheap with what seems to be great spec. Compliant suspension on rougher trails makes it seem like it has more rear travel than it does. It has steeper geometry than some of the options which may suggest less stability at higher speed. Also read that the design of the suspension causes it to be wallowy on the uphill.
Always fancied a Cotic and would happily stay with a steel frame as find them very responsive and I have always enjoyed the feel of the rear end. Although I have always taken pleasure in this on my hardtail perhaps the way a full suspension 29 deals with terrain you would not have the same advantages from the steel construction? The FlareMAX has a very classic shape and look to it. Nice option and quite tempting but rather similar to where I am/what I know now for it to excite me.

Canyon Strive is a strong suggestion and amongst my top three that I want to go out and ride this year. Interesting option with its shapeshifting madness. Essentially it is quite a slack bike(73.5 seat tube) but with improved climbing ability due to the rear shock leverage adjustment system. I can’t decide if I like the sound of a downhill orientated geometry but with climbing ability due to this adjustment. Having a little extra bike to compensate during my ‘committed beyond ability’ moments on the down might be a sensible thing but it is hard to believe this proprietary climbing setup can actually provide as good an experience on the up as a more balanced geometry might. It would be good to demo this and feel how it behaves.

Whyte S150. Is this bike any fun? I read a bit about it and it seems that all the reviews say how capable and balanced the bike is but nothing to note that it might be flamboyant and nimble when asked. It doesn’t really excite me, whether that opinion is justifiable is another question.
In contrast, the playful agile nature of the Sonder Cortex someone suggested sounds good. I am out on the bike to have fun, it needs to ride comfortably all day but I would rather have a playful bike which I can enjoy in the right moments than a boring, capable, well balanced bike that has to be nursed slightly through the gnar.

Looked at the Commencal Meta and think it is probably at the far side of where I am aiming for. It is relatively heavy and slack and perhaps will be too much of a step toward an endure machine and sacrifice too much flickability and climbability for my particular needs. Not ridden one so my opinion is an uninformed one but I am not massively drawn to go try one.
Orbea Occam was also one I have looked into in a bit more detail after a suggestion and seeing a 2019 one in the classifieds. I like this bike, but after watching footage of it tackling steep rocky trails and seeing it skitter about a fair bit followed by the reviewers feedback that the bike does not feel surefooted when the going gets rough isn’t very confidence inspiring. I would like to move towards a bike which was capable at the rough edges, one that would bolster my confidence rather than bailing out on me when I get in over my head.

After some consideration of the comments and advice on here and further reading/watching I have narrowed down a shortlist of favourites which I will try to get out and demo this summer. I am still watching the classifieds for a higher spec couple of years old bike but as mentioned above the limitations and criteria mean this is an unlikely route. So from best to worst my thoughts are;

Shortlist

Bird Aeris AM9
YT Jeffsy 29
Canyon Strive
Sonder Cortex

I am a bad drunk. I don’t do drunk well.

Mmm yes. Inevitably due to the wide variance in the road surface and thus huge parameters to calculate into suspension set up, at no one point in the lap will the setup be perfect for the bumps and terrain at that moment.

Maybe intelligent traction control and a balanced and predictable tune that the rider understands the boundaries of and can work within is the most refined it can ever be. Or…perhaps on board adjustment of brake balance and dampening which the rider can manipulate throughout the lap would allow progress towards refinement. Albeit at the expense of some mental processing power from the rider.

Whichever setup is presented and however many precautions are put in place it will always be the riders prerogative to lean against that line to extract the best possible performance from any circumstances. Gladiatorial spirit and ego fuelled will to gamble with confidence at the limit defines the champions of these contests. You can’t shield against that, I can only observe and admire.

It is the nature of the riders application of machine to course that kills.

I think the superbikes are where the pinnacle of the challenge lies. They have too much power for the irregularities of the road surface without the electronic jigpockery the superstocks have to smoothly get that hp down. It takes a true talent to be up above 133 on them.

The course is a stalwart of the bike road racing circuit/community. The circuit and race are not going anywhere. Local industry revolves around this week of the year and the buzz on the island is electric. You can’t change the course. All that will alter is gradual changes in the homologation to encourage focus of future development on suspension and traction control etc

The riders talk about the furniture on the course. I.e. the immovable objects. These things seem to define a lot of the limitations and along with the truly bumpy sections define the areas of the track where time can be won and lost. Thesecond athletes are out to find a limit, their will is to extract maximum performance from their kit against said track on the day in question.

It isn’t beyond me to see them banning the superbikes in years to come. A la group b. Similar advances directed towards and focusing on the suspension and handling of the bikes,budgets being spent on link arms, shocks and rebound stability instead of èking hp out. It would be safer. A stable less powerful bike which requires to be driven through the course rather than an overpowered bike which needs nursed/featherleighted round the circuit.

Hutchy is more refined. Within the limits of the bike meets course combo. Rather calculated and germanic in his efficiency and calculated nature. Dunlop is a true road rider,fourth generation, and his style is indicative of dancing on that line between machine and it’s interface with the terra firma. Dunlop will always be faster on a machine which has too much for the course, it appears he has an instinctiveness and raw understanding of machine and race track combined with the mental acuity to hold it together for 120minutes of complete clarity and flow.

In my opinion,leave the challenge there. Let them come,let them try. Let them die. Who are we to deny people the opportunity to expose themselves to the rawness of the tt race. It’s a real race, it is how it has always been, let them come and race.

Loads of non biscuits. Cakes and shortbreads don’t count. Fox’s Amber’s are amazing. No jammie dodgers?

Isle of man TT apart from fuelling up for long races??!! or Gran turismo, never enjoyed the NFS games.

The issue I have is with thefts and drones being used for surveilance. Have seen some of the gypo camps with drones buzzing around. I don’t want them flying about my secured yard planning how best to steal my stuff. It is built to be shielded from public sight and with an open sided shed which without a drone can’t be seen without going right through the yard.
I don’t like it. If I see one over my property then I’ll shoot it down.

Ok. In that case then I would be playing along with it all until we got to the point in the story where it didn’t work out. In Shetland, man says no. Then I would be there to support and reinforce (or establish) yourself as a person she can lean on during a crap situation.

She would then be in the right place to get access to the help you believe she needs and she would also be somewhere that she has a support network of people to prop her up when its needed.

Calling the police about marijuana in personal amounts will only lead to unnecessary stressors for her in my opinion. Go and help her and stop grassing her up for petty crimes.

I appreciate these are desperate times and hard to see clearly when your options are so limited and your help doesn’t feel like it is welcomed. Throwing her to the wolves and hoping that she ends up being cared for can’t be the best way. There’s as much chance of them mishandling the situation, her becoming panicked and it escalating into something more serious. How do you respond when forced into a corner?

Not sure about this model of saw per say but it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Is the chain tensioner screw, part of the side casing or part of the saw body? Is the pin part of this located in the hole in the bar. Is the side cover going on fully? If you’ve pulled the chain brake on then it won’t seat onto the clutch drum properly when you try to refit.

Pics would help.

+1 for helping her on this mission to Shetland. Get involved and get her back in the UK. Getting her care and help here will be sooo much easier.

If she regularly drives stoned and has done for years she is used to it. Although her reactions will be slowed, her manic mood swings will be capped too. For motorway driving where the mind has time to think about other things perhaps it not as crazy as it seems. She has obviously been self medicating herself for years, she will have her methods of coping. She is still here. Give her a little more respect.

I wonder if your despair at her situation is clouding your reasonable judgement.

Rake it out. Apply iron sulphate. Should succeed in removing 90%. If not then a scarifier might be in need.

Good reading here LawnExpert

+1 for the Mosque kitchen. Solid helpings, cheap and flavourful. Cash only.

Mithas down at the shore gets rave reviews but when I went it was a poor atmosphere and a bit pretentious for what we wanted that night. Alright food tbh.

Shapla. Somewhere easter road ish. Amazing chef. Best korma I’ve eaten, period. Really nice wee place. Highly recommend.

Some interested shouts in this thread, am going to have to go eat some new Indian soon.

Interested in the Rage 2.5 that you are looking to move on. Drop me an email when you decide to sell. Cheers

+1 for Maverick. Had mine a few years, gets regular outings and been spot on. No signs of wear and tear so far.

Aye, that’d be with everything taken offsite or wood ringed up and stacked for you. Without stumpgrinding though.

Without seeing the tree. 200

Just after hit a wee jump on skis a s its popped me into oblivion. The floaty feeling here is quite nice but the impending drop to knee crunching doom is bad. Very bad.

Flow.

Proper enjoyed that. Excellent :-)

I made some money buying and selling cryptocurrency recently. Namely bitcoins. They are very unstable though, I bought at £160/1btc and sold 12 days later at ~£195/1btc. Equates to about 15-20% return on my investment.

One I like from a recent job. Apologies for the phone pic.

Can’t recommend enough watching a few episodes/series of the ‘dog whisperer’ with a guy called Cesar Milan. It will help you understand what’s wrong with you and allow your dog to be at ease.

Specialized hotrock?

Skoda Yeti 4×4. The newer breed are great going vehicles and surprisingly roomy inside.

I did the same search a while back and I now have an msr elixir. Mostly used for just me but have had the missus out a few times. Good toe height in it, so you don’t lose the last 10cm of tent. Easy pitch and coped fine on a pretty exposed moor for a couple of nights. Used it without the outer a few times too and nice to fall asleep to a view.

Not much of a porch area, enough for wet gear and boots though, so I take my tarp too if its inclement. Makes for nicer round the fire in evening.

I give it 8.5/10. Loses points because if I regularly used it for 2 ppl I might find it a bit small.

@piemonster I hadn’t but I have now and was very useful. Cheers

Heading up to Glencoe for a day later in the week. Anyone been up over the weekend and share first hand how the conditions are at the moment? Cheers

As mentioned above, the ski school won’t want you hanging around. Gives the kid more than one authority figure and causes them to get distracted.

Ability wise… Who cares! If the kid comes away from the week with a positive vibe and a want to go back because it was fun then I’d say thats the most you can hope for. Doubtless they will learn something through the games at ski school and perhaps wide open blues a few times at the end of the week will be possible with you, if you’re competent.

Soo many parents push too hard for their kids to progress. Mostly selfishly so they can ski the mountain with family etc Physiologically kids under about 7 don’t have the fine motor control needed to steer the feet acurately. A fat plough using the whole legs and a level of comfort with the sliding feeling is doing well for that age on week one.

Bad idea

The outside ski which you have most of your weight on does the same thing in a snowplough turn as it does in a parallel turn. The inside ski has little to no weight or function other than a stabiliser and a ski which is already pre set for the new turn. Both skis are on their inside edges, left for turning right and vice versa.

Align the idea to riding a bike and stanilisers can be a great tool to get going. Your centre of mass is always within your ‘footprint’. Asking someone to move their centre of mass outside the footprint takes a bit of a leap of faith.

The key to moving from plough to parallel is turn shape and unweighting the skis during the transition. People struggle to bring the skis across the hill to control the speed, they tend to use the braking of the wedge shape instead. No one moves enough vertically, all beginners are very rigid and static, to progress we need more flexion and extension of the legs.

If you are struggling to make the jump from wedge to parallel then start by running parallel across the slope and then brushing int . Slight wedge to start the turn. Gradually as you learn to stand on the outside ski you will feel the inside one begin to drift in at the end of the turn. Slowly this will make its way back up the turn until only a tiny wedge is used to initiate. This is a good stage to be at as the next step is easy with a few exercises, giants n midgets or the such.