Tbh if a 32A socket is installed with the correct dc leakage rcd protection and is on an open neutral detection device or it’s own TT earthing system with no chance of simultaneous contact as per the EV risk assessment in BS7671 then it will work just fine. However with a dedicated charge point the car can turn the unit on an off in the event of a fault whereas it can’t with a simple socket.
But that’s a minor consideration as the real risk is with it being installed wrong and plenty of them are but installed correctly no problem.

We install EV chargers but mainly commercial, tbh find the cheapest one you like the look of. As above the grant has been reduced so the total cost is now higher than it used to be. Bearing in mind units can’t be directly connected to a domestic earth supply without additional measures. All that is taken care of by the installer if they are familiar with EV charge point regulations but I can tell you the majority of electricians aren’t. We install 300+ a year and when interviewing for electricians it amazes me how many haven’t got a clue on EV. I only mention this as you could buy a cheap non OLEV charge point and have a local spark install it but the cost for the unit, plus RCD plus Earth rod or open neutral device would prob be more than an OLEV unit with the grant

singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-slow-can-a-tradesman-work/#post-11382688

You get what you pay for and £110 a day for a plasterer is bottom of the barrel.
As a tradesman we don’t work for domestic clients at all, too many want a job cheap or without the VAT. They are happy to accept a price but question how many hours it took after. They have no concept of overheads as they assume vans, tools, insurances, accountants and materials are all free issue and every penny they pay you goes straight into your personal account. The general public on the whole get exactly the tradesmen they deserve 😁

I’m not seeing any of the issues reported on other units using the edge explore. I don’t use garmin connect preferring to drag and drop the .gpx straight to the unit. Once you select route and hit go that’s it,if you go off route you can ignore the unit and once you go back on the route it carries on. You can ask it to find the start but it’s optional. It’s so simple I don’t know how they could improve it tbh

To get a .gpx onto a garmin edge plug into laptop. Ignore garmin software and just navigate to the unit itself in explorer. Drag file into garmin/newfiles. Remove unit and the power it off and on and the file is then in routes on the garmin. Couldn’t be simpler tbh

Garmin edge explore here too. I draw my routes on viewranger and export as a .gpx then drag and drop them to the garmin :)

I’ve had our 03 3.5 elgrand for 5 years now, done over 45k miles in it and it’s just clocked 110k miles. Very reliable and very adaptable. Fuel average is low 20’s. Paid £5k and it’s depreciated very little in the 5 years which helps offset the fuel. Lots more knowledge and support for them now. Highly recommended as a comfy fast bus, plus it’s great fun wasting slow wheezy T5’s from the lights, although it’s not as good as a T5 at impressing middle aged men in animal t shirts 😁

Awesome thanks everyone loads to go at 👍

Thanks I’ll start looking, if anyone has a gpx or strava route they wouldnt mind sharing that would be ace :)

Best update this, set and reset the derailleur and went for several rides to get to the bottom of it. In normal use fine but put effort in especially at same time as rear suspension compresses and it jumps a gear or try’s too. Shows up when popping the front up for a wheelie too.
Took the decision to order 11 speed kit same as my other bike as it’s been bombproof and it would mean one set of spares too.

Arrived today so set about swapping it all, starting by taking rear wheel out and here’s the first issue it’s loose, axle is out by 2-3mm and can be spun by hand. Wheel moves nicely side to side lol. Hmmm so I tighten it up and reset derailleur and head out and you’ve guessed it everything is fine !. It was new a couple weeks ago and dealer tubeless’d the tyres but ultimately I should have checked it over when I got it.
The 11 speed kit can stay till it’s time to swap through wear .

Yeah about 100 miles now, I’ll check as suggested and take a bit of slack out the cable

Only been a week and it looks like a set from 28 days later..

91397102_10158194121849188_7584817441922875392_o by Tony H[/url], on Flickr

Endomick, your issue is having big name firms in to do your works. They only use sub contractors on the cheapest rates so although you are paying top whack they aren’t so you get what they pay for. Any decent tradesman is busy doing their own work. It’s always been the same in the trade tbh

What about all those people who don’t drive economically all the time ? Have we had a go at them yet ?

My Nissan is 17yrs old and has 8 seats, it has a 3.5ltr petrol engine and does 20mpg. But it’s made so surely it’s better than having a new car that isn’t yet made ? But I only do 7000 miles a year in it and it’s used for family stuff and the mtb. It’s not used during the week as I use my new 4wd auto Kuga for that lol, guess I failed the test. I’m my defence I install electric car chargers so I’m helping people that want to save the planet, if building a new car with batteries is saving the planet ?

When you look at how much cyclists moan about the cost of everything it’s no surprise cycle mechs are on minimum wage.

Kia eniro at sensible money, Tesla model x at not

The auto on the new shape transit is short geared, it revs too high at 80 on the motorway to be relaxing, the manual revs 500rppm lower at the same speed. Demo before you buy if you do a lot of motorway miles and want an auto. In every other respect though they are superb vans and drive very well

You can get a tow bar for an elgrand but they’re not plated for it. Plenty of owners use them and tow with them but it was a Japanese market thing not to have them plated with a tow weight in them. I haven’t towed with this one but did with my previous and it was great. £5k is starting point up to £10k. They’re bulletproof as they are very simple things.

Had 5 VW’s with dsg and all can hesitate when pulling off, most noticeable out of junctions but you get used to it.
The last VW was a new T5 in 2014 a 180, the third in a row and after 2 great vans it was nothing but trouble. Gearbox, leaky windows, driveshafts and other stuff. After 10+ visits to the dealer in 12mths I got rid. I lost £7k in the year which percentage wise is less than we lose on our works vans but cash wise is more. I replaced it with a Japanese import Elgrand for £5k. I still have it 5 years later and it’s lost less than £1k in value. Good job as it only does 25mpg. But for £5k it’s been more reliable than a £40k VW. It’s quicker and comfier too. At work we have a new transit custom and that is a much nicer place to be than the VW, heated seats touchscreen etc and enough room for 3 proper sized people. So far in 30k miles it’s been reliable.
Vans are great, big people carriers even better, Japanese big people carriers better still 😀

I’m more a reader here and we don’t know each other but have seen your posts over time, I’ve been through similar but without the kids involved. What you’ve achieved so far is nothing short of super human and a credit to yourself.

Looks lovely and I really want one but…..having had a Scott e-bike for 18mths with a Bosch motor and no troubles I bought a new 2020 Spesh turbo levo 5 weeks ago. TBH it was against my better judgement as Spesh aren’t know for the most reliable e-bikes but the backup is very good. However 2 failures including a new motor at 90 miles and I rejected it. A £5k purchase should be a quality item and my experience and that of others shows they aren’t despite the great back up.

You can’t go wrong with an SV as a first bike, I’ve had a couple and with some simple mods they make a very effective track toy too. £2k will get a nice injected one leaving some money for mods and track time

You could buy and fuel a small petrol car much much cheaper than leasing a new EV for a 12 mile commute.
But if you want to go EV to save the planet the Nisan leaf is a fair price as are the Kia and Hyundai offerings.

Yes as long as it’s accessible for maintenance and the cable routes and containment comply 😁

I see a few CX bikes at my local trail centre normally ridden by bearded men, proper cyclists who look permanently miserable and never say hello to an ebiker. They don’t seem to like being passed by anyone especially ebikes but tbh they get little choice.

At that budget a 650 v strom fits the criteria. Ugly though. You could find a 660 tenere just in that budget. I’d go for the strom and not look at it much

I want to defend the ebike as you know I have two of them and I’m a big fan. I’ve recently gone from a 2 yr old Scott to a new Spec turbo Levo. If we ignore the new motor at 90 miles and it’s latest failure the Spec makes the Scott fell leaden. The Spec is massively more playful and jumps and bounces about in a much more enjoyable way. But and it’s a big but my £1000 bossnut clockwork bike is better if you want fun anywhere you are going downhill. My fitness is improving and I see a future where I prefer to use a normal bike as they are just more fun. This is hard to say as I do love my ebike lol

Thanks for replies, after much reading looking at specs etc and discussions with mates and realisation I only want a hardtail with maybe short travel forks, I came to the conclusion it was time to drag out my old bike I bought new in 2006 as it fits the bill. A new set of tyres and it’ll be ready to go again. Still looks in good condition today

I guess you want a pub but if a cafe with a walk then Hassop station cafe is a regular for us and we enjoy it, Hassop hall was lovely, got married there and hired it for the day and evening was superb. But alas it’s a private home again. Plenty of other choices though all above

All junction boxes and joints should be accessible which I guess they kind of will be so either way will do

Great to see, known Chris a few years from motorbike Trackdays good to see him out and about again at last 👍

Amazing to read parents who given the choice again wouldn’t have kids, but there;s plenty that have them and miss the easy single life as kids are too much hard work for them.

I didn’t have my first till I was 46, I had 25-30 years of single life, 10 years of racing motorbikes, 300 trackdays, 160+ motorbikes, 70+ cars, holidays etc and it was all epic fun. I didn’t get those with kids that couldn’t get out or afford to get out. Until I had my own and for me it’s massively more fun than any of that that went before, I’d rather spend aday with my 6 yr old at the park or going for a ride and spenfing £5 than spending £500 on a trackday. All the stuff done before was good but all a bit meaningless and these days holds no interest.
I am odd though as at a kids party I’m the grown up who joins in with the kids while the others look on or tap away on their phones ignoring the kids.
Each to their own as always of course but it’s the best thing you could do

Timing update ?, I use a garmin device to record the ride and that uploads to Strava.
Tbh a lot of people morning today so maybe it’s a Strava issue.

We install car chargers but only for commercial or industrial. However I can say there’s no need to go for a Tesla charged and the additional expense. Any 7kw charge point will do so find the cheapest deal you can, Chargemaster, podpoint etc. Should get something installed for under £200 including the OLEV grant.

Great day tbh, as for the pressuring please read the posts it was between mates in the same group and not towards anyone we didn’t know. We regularly stopped on trails if we caught slower people and regularly waited to give them more time unless they stopped and waved us by

There are some range extenders out there, as I recall BMZ make some but there are others.

I’ve got 9 helmets from several manufacturers, The Arai I have is the noisiest and has worst visor mech, my Shoei ones are nice and fairly quiet with a good visor mech, several agv’s are the same. But the best in turns of finish, quietness and visor mech is my latest HJC, model is a RPHA11. Recommended but as with any need to try first

Surely if it’s about saving money then leasing a couple of year old diesel car works out cheaper than any new electric car, tbh if money matters buying a few year old car works out cheapest. But I guess if you want new and you can live with an EV then that’s all that matters.
It just seems in the UK we are hooked on mpg and depreciation or monthly payments are never considered.

Qualified sparky here own a contracting firm that specialises in inspection and testing….what you’ve got is a neutral fault.

Couple things to try, turn new CU off and have sparky do a loop test on the armoured cable, this’ll prove the swa can take a load. Make sure loop tester is on RCD setting so it doesn’t trip the house. After you’ve proven this double checking no cores have been crossed and same colours been used at both ends you can then connect in one circuit at a time. Tbh had the new install been fully tested first this wouldn’t have happened but you can rewind and do that now 👍

As above to become a real sparky takes a lot of training for commercial and industrial, the easier option is a few boil in the bag courses and become a domestic sparky, it’s not difficult and many make a really good living at it. As an apprentice trained commercial sparky I can’t think of anything worse than domestic. However as a means to an end it’s a start on the road to become a sparky, you may find it’s all you need but you may find it’s only the start. I’d say go for it initially and then look to get experience with a commercial/industrial company whilst earning something from the domestic side. It’ll be hard to break into the non domestic side as rightly or wrongly we always look for apprentice trained sparks, saying that we did have one guy who trained late and made a great sparky. Good luck with it