I’m often tempted by gilets as everyone seems to rave about them but, as asked further up, if you’re not wearing a wind stopper jersey don’t your arms freeze?

I’ve only ever broken one, in the mid nineties. Never knew about Shimano faulty chains. Just realised that I only ever pack my ancient park tool if I’m on the MTB, but these days I’m riding road / gravel far more

Some very funny answers, and on reflection I don’t watch ITV much so perhaps I should be grateful. Tried the full scan on both analogue and digital and the weird thing is that no channels are being found although I still have access to all the other channels. Think a factory reset might have to be done. Thanks for all the suggestions

Had them on and off my Golf mk7 for the seven years I owned it without issue ( and they’re for sale !!! )

I really agree with his comments about bike feel, agility and responsiveness are really important to me. I had a Tarmac then switched to a Defy which is considered to be a fast endurance bike but I found it dull for out of the saddle blasts. The Defy was similar to the Tarmac in all other aspects. I’ve now switched the Defy frame with a TCR frame and I’m happy again. I really like that snappy feeling and it’s the same with XC and ‘fast’ gravel bikes.

I remember riding a F700 with headshock in the late 90’s and thought it was so rigid and uncomfortable compared to my steel Marin pine mountain. Looked great but happy to give it back!

I bought some Ksyrium SL road wheels about 4 years ago and they were super easy to set up tubeless, the hubs were quiet and they span for ever. But all the flat blade spokes rusted within about 18 months, Mavic re spoked them for free but it does seem like a design fault

looks interesting but a bit more of a spike than I was originally thinking of, what are they like when you come off the ice onto rock and gravel? ( where I think the slightly shorter stud could be better ) Or are you constantly taking them on and off depending on the conditions?

Has anyone used Kahtoola exo spikes, these are the intermediate spike that can be fitted to hiking boots and running shoes. They are not as aggressive as a full on spike, more of a stud. I’ve been caught out in ice twice this year in the lakes and dolomites and these look good, and are very packable but would appreciate opinions

I’ve just realised that my lezyne track pump is 15 years old and used 3/4 times per week so I’ve got to recommend it!

I would have ridden them and kept them on without any concerns!  Continental 4 seasons always looked like that after not very much use

My input to this is:

Keen Targhee are a great fit for wide feet but are just not robust enough. Ive had 3 pairs, all failed within a year for stitching failing and soles falling off – all were replaced for free by Cotswold

Lowa Renegade wide fit – not wide enough for me but a brilliant boot if it fits – my son owns these now

Meindl Journey are a great fit. First pair lasted 400 miles and the sole came off. They were replaced for free and I think they are ok if they are used as a 3 season boot

I also now have the aldberg framlington in the 5 width and this is a great fit and will be used all year round ( lakes in winter, alps etc. in summer )

Final point is that I have wide feet at the front but not wide heels or high volume so I use a sorbethane foot bed to take up the excess volume in both the Meindl and Aldbergs

Hope that helps

Ive been using Synergetic on my road bike for about 1250 miles since mid April. My routine is to wipe the chain with a dry cloth after each ride, re lube on just the rollers every 250 miles and a deep clean with the chain off the bike at 1000 miles. So far so good. I have done no chain cleaning other than wiping it clean when washing the bike. Chain looks clean, no black gunge build up

Used Squirt for years but sick of little black bits getting all over the floor when I use the bike indoors on the rollers

Gravel and MTB still using rock n roll blue but chain life isn’t as good as either of the above so will probably switch to Synergetic when the bottle runs out

Fixed, thank you!

Sill can’t login on my iPhone ( last 3 days ) but on MacBook all is fine

He’s a person who really does deserve to be described as inspirational

Thanks all, lots of great information to experiment with. I’m not really a gel fan, hence the clif bloks and cereal (graze) bars, and I prefer taking sandwiches ( walk around, stretch and eat for 10 mins) than stopping at cafes. I do have an alarm on my Garmin that goes off every 30 mins. I will practice slowly increasing my consumption, more variety and carbs in my drink bottle and I’ll stop fretting over the BC recommendations! I think I need more pockets for all this food!

Thanks, hadn’t thought about pedal washers

I really like the ‘old’ bontrager system, so easy to understand. In contrast I find Maxxis so complicated that I have stopped using them. But that could be explained by me not being the sharpest pencil in the box …

Thanks all

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Soreen bars, I’m a terrible snacker but only ever eat Soreen mini loaves on the bike

And I have a Paramo Quito which is over 10 years old and has never let me down. I also have a montane fleet which I bought with exactly the same requirements as you and it is perfect, it packs down smaller than the paramo which is why I bought it

I also gave up on lane swimming due to inconsiderate people but I was told by someone far better than me  that if you tap the foot of the person in front of you it was considered a polite way of saying can you pause at the end so I can go past – is that an unwritten rule?

I tried all sorts of chemicals and a wire snake which does go round bends but nothing worked. The old school plunger did eventually do it. I blocked up the overflow and filled the drain then went crazy with the plunger. The block turned out to be my daughter’s hair which she had been cutting. It had congealed into a solid lump!

Agree with diggery, I split the side wall of a GP5000S hitting a flint using Giant SLR2 hookless rims. Quick and easy to put an inner tube in and ride 30 miles home

Another big fan of JRA, two sets and both have been faultless. My roval slx wheels were a disappointment, if the tyre lost all pressure, the bead wouldn’t stay locked on the rim ( tubeless ) which was dangerous ( big puncture going down hill ) – this was about 5 years ago so maybe they have redesigned the rim. Never had this with any other tubeless wheel sets. I really liked my mavic wheels which replaced the rovals but the flat blade spokes rusted within two years, they were replaced under warranty. Also very impressed with the giant SLR2 ( 35mm ) carbon wheels that came on my defy but they are quite expensive when bought separately.

My 4 year old 4iiii left hand only has been perfect and used in all weathers

@thebunk, downloading sonoma now, I’ll check back in 5 hours! Does it remove Big Sue automatically once sonoma is installed? So much for automatic updates! Thanks again

MacBook Air (M1 2020 )

Mac OS Big Sur version 11.7.10

Version 14.1.3 (16611.3.10.1.19)

If I search for strava, log in, go to the dashboard drop down menu and select heat maps then I just get a blank page

If I search for vanguard, log in, go to the ‘what we offer’ drop down menu and select lifestrategy funds then I just get a blank page

Yes to google chrome, everything works fine

Everything was working fine on safari a couple of months ago

Thanks

My son is 18 and has been playing with the same team since he was 4. I think there are about 5 of the original group still playing and it has been a huge success. His team mates came from a variety of local primary schools so it made the transition to secondary school seamless because he had an instant group of friends. He’s quite shy so the team has been his social life and he’s quite a good all round sportsman so its given him confidence to participate in other sports and an outlet to burn of all his excess energy. The coaches have been dads who have been fantastic at giving up their time in all weathers and encouraging the kids in a team environment. Yes you do get problem parents and problem teams and you might even have to move teams if the culture isn’t what you want, we’ve been lucky in the fun and team culture come above outright winning. I’ve seen parents try to steer their children away from football but it really is the culture of the playground and local common so its denying them that opportunity when they really want it

Half of my pension is managed and, as said earlier, the vanguard 60:40 is massively out performing it over 1 and 5 years so today is the day that I’m cutting ties and switching to the interactive investment sipp mentioned above and moving it into the vanguard fund. This is quite a big deal for me as the pension company has been my security blanket for the last 5 years but this thread has really opened my eyes to fees and performance. I also really like the money ladder analogy. So, thanks to all of you for your input – great thread. I must admit to being a  bit over invested in Vanguard but it appears that nothing comes close to the performance for the low fees

I use the 5000 ASTR, bit tougher than the standard 5000 STR but my favourite is Pirelli p zero TLR – it has a bit more ‘feel’ than the 5000’s. But if the bulk of your mileage is commuting you may want something even tougher and long lasting like a Cinturato Velo TLR

Interesting post for me as well. My ‘managed’ pension made 4% after fees last year, Vanguard 60:40 made 10% and 80:20 made 12%. And over 5 years, Vanguard is still significantly ahead. I get good long term advice /planning from my financial advisor and I trust him but, for me, it just seems that they can’t compete with tracker funds

@ElShalimo, thanks for your suggestions, I will definitely follow up on them. But I might have more questions for you in a few days!

Looking for some advice regarding a week long hiking holiday in the Dolomites. We are thinking of basing ourselves in a town and doing daily challenging walks. The choice I’m struggling with is do it yourself with regard to accommodation and route planning or use a company ( eg Colletts ) who provide tried and tested routes of all levels and accommodation. Obviously using a company is more expensive but I like the idea of the ‘tried and tested’ routes. And where would be a good source for finding routes, I can’t use my trusty OS App in Italy! ? Thanks

Inspiring film, I was smiling all the way through it. And the Adidas advert is superb

Helly Hansen Lifa have been popular for ages for good reason and you can always find them with a good discount, but brynje are good as are montane dart. Not a fan of merino or merino blends although I persevered with them for ages due to all the hype!

Saw some today near Canterbury along with some snow drops

What width tyre and pressure are you using, 40 ml of sealant doesn’t sound like very much. But as others have said, 2500 on a rear race tyre is about right