I’ve got some Northwave with a furry lining, possible Celsius? Anyway, they’re very comfortable, waterproof and warm so just the job!

Gym yesterday, treadmill run today.

There really is only one word for her and it begins with c.

After reasonably steady week due to various reasons I managed to get out for a run today. Hopefully on the bike tomorrow.

As someone mentioned above, I’ve started buying some of the classics on Blueray as it’s cheaper than forking out extra on top of the subscription to watch them.

Plenty of the sequels to old horror franchises used to pop up late at night. Don’t seem to that much now although that could be because I don’t watch much telly?

Not sure why people think this is a good result for Labour, Badenoch who is now the firm favourite, will cause Labour the biggest headaches of any of the candidates

Why? She’s rat poison to most people with no redeeming qualities.

After a couple of days walking I managed to get an hour of short tennis in today.

Christmas requests submitted to the boss. Signed, stickers, the end.

Only Ford are wet belt.

No they’re not.

Just been looking for a car for mum with a similar budget. Plenty of low milage and great condition Fiesta’s about, 17 reg on + Focus a bit older or a bit higher miles. She also looked at a 2017 Seat Ibiza in mint condition with 15k on the clock for £9.5 but didn’t like the interior (so immediately ruled out the Fabia and Polo).

I’d just go to Motorpoint and pick whichever you like in budget. Tried this with Mum but she’s 86 and has pretty fixed ideas of what she wants even though she’ll dismiss cars that perfectly fit the bill in favour of one that doesn’t, before insisting she liked the other later in the day!

Absolutely agree. Most things get upgraded over the life of a house anyway so no need to do everything at once unless you are doing a full renovation and if you are the buying price should have reflected that. Estate agents are paid to sell any given house at market value (give or take) so the asking price should be based on the overall condition of the property.

As others have said, I’d offer to get the boiler serviced but tell them an electrical test is on them. I would refuse to pay to bring things up to current regs as well. They were current when installed and the house is not especially old.

Had our boiler serviced once or twice but that was on the back of a repair then them following up the next year. Haven’t bothered for the last 5 years or so and carry out basic  maintenance (replace rad valves, top up the system, add inhibitor, etc.) myself.

I’d probably forget to ask if buying another and certainly wouldn’t back out of a sale because of it. If you’ve had a proper look around your prospective house and have half an idea about diy it should be pretty obvious what may need looking at and that should be factored in to the price/offer IMO.

Run Tuesday, walk yesterday, PT upper body today.

We test drove a Quashquai back in 2014. It was nice enough but we bought a Kuga instead which caused us no trouble for the 5 years we had it. My sister has a similar vintage Rav 4 which she really likes and the boot is bigger than most in the class.

We got my lad a Cube Acid with suss forks and hydraulic brakes this summer. He loves it and even though he’s slight has no trouble chucking it around.

Think my Cube Reaction had a Maxxis ardent up front, Schwalbe Racing Ralph out back? Seemed a decent combo for gb type stuff.

That was very funny tbh.

I was one of those suggesting my gb was only a bit faster on road. It had similar 1x gearing to my xc ht, similar tread tyres and was steel compared to carbon for the xc. Can’t see why you’re surprised Daffy tbh?

Not sure I’ve seen anyone claim a xc ht is nearly as quick as a proper road bike either?

Walk up the moor today. Managed to bust my thigh muscle which is typical as was planning a ride tomorrow.

Yes, and it was easy and stress free. Car was in demand and in vgc though so that probably helped.

I liked my gravel bike but just couldn’t get on with drops. Tried different widths, reach, style but nothing stopped me getting sore after 30km or so. I put it down to me not riding in the correct position for drops after a lifetime on straight bars. Tried to adapt but couldn’t get comfortable and realised I would never be committed enough to train my body to ‘fit’.

Sold it and bought a Cube C:62 Reaction and found the only place it was a bit slower was on road. It converted me to XC bikes and I’ll be getting an Epic or something similar soon. Just be careful with some though as the low front ends could cause issues.

Core session today for me.

Not particularly enthusiastic gym session today. Should have gone earlier.

What’s wrong with 130mm and 27.5 – ohh that’s nice, but probably would have to get rid of the NX.

Absolutely nothing at all, it’ll be ace fun but the market for them is tiny so prices are low.

Close – Me. Got growing kids. But need it in XS or small.

Exactly, s or xs would be fine, the big ones less so.

All ebikes are already banned on some transport rail networks and in some workplaces and flats. Could end up in the situation where it’s difficult to get house insurance if you’ve got an ebike.

Can’t take them or E-Scooters on our local trains. Could well see insurance becoming an issue too, although I guess phones and dodgy chargers have not caused a rise?

That Santa Cruz is in great condition but I don’t think it’s a bargain as no one wants short travel 650b. Orange 4’s sell for peanuts compared to their 29ers or longer travel bikes.

Who’s in the market for a short travel, small wheeled bike in large?

York? It’s probably the worst place for MTB in Yorkshire!

Nah, that was a covid mistake and they’ve clearly made far fewer 2024 bikes.

I’ve hit both sides in the last few years as I’ve been trying to find my perfect everyday bike and am also thinking about overhauling the whole squad.

Built my lovely Pace HT 2022/23 using plenty of bargain PSA’s and ended up with a well spec’d bike for around £1600. Then everyone started selling HT’s at half price and everyone decided they didn’t like 650b. I’ve considered selling as part of the re-org but can’t imagine it’s worth much, even in mint condition so I’ll probably just keep it.

Bought a Ragley Trig via C2W just as low stock hit. Sold it a couple of years later for less than half what I’d payed after tax discount but luckily missed the epic Ragley dump by months. Luckily I managed to buy a bargain Cube carbon HT that was heavily upgraded for the same price. Then sold it on again a year later for the same price!

My Stage 5 is also possibly on the chopping block as my current thinking is I want a big bike (160/70mm 29er FS) and an XC whippet (120mm carbon XC FS) but I’d hate to think what that’s worth with Orange selling similar frames for cheap, cheap!

Unless I become rich all of a sudden I reckon I’ll buy the XC bike but just keep hold of the Stage 5 and Pace until I make the jump to a big electric thing some time in the future.

That new purple looks nice but is the cheap ASX SX level? Interested to see the moss colour up close.

Yep, XL’s are thin on the ground.

Steady ride for me today.

Noticed the same, especially with XL Santa Cruz or Specialized.

Not had a problem with Shimano brakes so far and have had a fair few sets. I’d say 4 pots are worth the extra but I’d also say Hope 4 pots are worth the extra again. Maybe not for you though if you like the grabby nature of Shimano?

Faffing in the work gym today in a very cba manner.

Realised Foden has hardly played this season – is Pep just resting him?

He’s been ill apparently.

Hope for me, Renthal are a favourite too. Used to like Thompson but thought their longer stems were better than the stubbies.

Steady 31 mins on the treadmill today.

Couple of reasonably steady gym visits the last couple of days.

Deathgrips here, really like them.

Not many with those specific requirements unfortunately. I’d say from the three (storage/sale/wireless) you probably need to pick two.

I’m looking at similar bikes and have considered Specialized Epic Evo/8, Transition Spur, Santa Cruz Blur, Orange Stage Evo, etc. Plenty of choice and ‘some’ great discounts so if I were you I’d set a budget then have a look what’s available. Think Canyon had a sale on too?