I’d echo the don’t buy cheap.

We have a Montana 6 with extension and carpet. Had it for 5 or so years and it’s lasted very well and is a joy to use.

Friends who bought at the same time are on their third cheap tent and struggle every time away. It often leaks, struggles in the wind and isn’t worth the hassle IMO.

Decent kit can be re-sold easily if you decide to not camp anymore.

I have a Nomad 18V washer – had it now for 3 years or so and use it weekly at least.

Runs off a battery that will power 2 to 3 tank fulls of water and I can wash 2 bikes per tank.

If the battery goes it can run from a cigarette lighter in the car.

No complaints, it’s not cheap but it’s had a lot of use and abuse and still works perfectly fine.

+1 for AKG451 I have a pair of the 450’s (which don’t have the inline control) and they are very good.

They have a replaceable cable which always seems to get knackered when I travel so in the long run they should work out cheaper

We got rid of our second car a few years ago and I managed 2 years on my 1250 Bandit. Got a top box and invested in some good textile trousers and jacket.

If it’s what you have you get used to it but if you ride over winter try and rinse it when you get home so it doesn’t get too knackered.

I usually run Ralphs on my bikes, have done for years and only recently got some Nics for the more muddy conditions.

Ridden then in Wales, Cannock and out local trails and never had a problem.

+1 for the Coleman event shelter.
We bought 2 for Mayhem last year and were just about OK in the wind. Anything less sturdy would have been broken I reckon.

As for being good value, they aren’t cheap but if you get a cheap one and it can’t handle the wind then it’s bad value

I’m going to be selling one of them soon if you’re interested and replacing it with the deluxe version.

+1 for the Titus El Guapo from On-one

Bargain price and great quality. Had mine for a few months now, worn all the pairs many times and they are as good as new.

So the story is, chap earns money and spends it on things he deems important and doesn’t have enough to spend on everything he would like to.

As others have said, playing is one thing, teaching is another.

I’ve a mate who is a very good guitar player but an exceptional teacher. So much so that many well known people come to him for certain things.

Add into that that you can’t teach your own kids because to them you’re Dad (or Mum) not a teacher therefore can’t be right.

My experience of Rival shifters that were broken inside is that it needs a new shifter.

Rival was blinkin expensive so I’d expect Red to be extortionate.

If it’s the lever it may be fixable

Dons flame suit…

So I have some Phillips Hue bulbs and really like them.
Yes you can make them green, or blue. But in reality we use them to change the colour subtly. When we watch TV it’s a lower level slightly red colour, when someone is reading the light they use can be made whiter.

They can turn on automatically or when you get home, and you can tell if they are on when you’re away. Do you need this, no, but we do use it.

Phillips have updated the hub and app software several times and there is an API you can use easily for home automation. Easy being doing basic stuff in a few minutes.

Are they worth the money – it will depend on the individual. But the Hue ones are the best out there by a long way and I’ll buy more when we decorate other rooms.

I’m 47 and my thoughts are more along the lines of what is my next bike, not my last bike.

I plan on repeating this until I die at which point my daughter informs me that she will sell them all apart from the Yeti – as it will remind her of me.

All sounds perfectly sensible and reasonable to be (except I’d sell the Yeti as well)

I’m with scaredypants on this one …

There must have been an even bigger plane that jammed the radar and then opened up a hatch, swallowed the Malaysian plane and took it to an underground sea base or volcano.

Obvious really.

In winter for me it’s a mixture of trail conditions and what the current weather is.

If the trails are crap – then I consider the road. If it’s sunny then I prefer road, if it’s chucking it down I prefer a sanitised off road.

In summer I tend to get out more so enjoy the change of the road so mix it up a bit.

We might have been to a different Mayhem last year.

The camping on average was a lot closer than at Eastnor. Soloists could camp trackside at the start of the lap.

This year they are going to have some trackside camping which should improve the atmosphere but to be honest for me it was largely similar – It’s nice to ride through the campsite but it’s a small part of the lap.

For the first year at a new venue I thought it was pretty good – this year should be better as lessons are learned etc

I’ll be there as a 4 and with 3 other teams as well.

I’m equally impressed by DPD.

By far the best delivery service I’ve experienced and most of the stuff we buy gets delivered.

The key things are the ability to change to another day and the hour window. Then make sure you deliver in that window – always. The SMS part probably cost them no more than 10p in texts but adds a massive amount to the quality of the service.

If Ian has to park up for 20 mins to make the window then that’s better than being early.

I won’t buy online from some companies because they have a crap courier who say they called but didn’t – I always email to tell them so they are aware they are losing business – I’d almost say advertising that you sue DPD would be a big selling point to me.

Get a decent fan – it’s gets very hot without the airflow over you.

Around the bridleways of Warwickshire my experience is that bikes aren’t a problem – most riders take the same line and the impact isn’t that big

The big problem is horses that really chew it all up.

You can’t police it and after this much rain it’s very hard work – having to pedal hard downhill – so we alter our routes to avoid the really bad bits anyway

We spent a week there last summer and everything we did was great.

I took a day to hire a bike and ride over the GGB to Marin county – must do
We ate mexican – Amazing
We visited the museums and galleries – equally good if that’s your thing.
The bars were good
Cheesecake factory in Macy’s
Riding on a cable car
Night trip to Alcatraz was far better than we were all expecting and a bit of a highlight.

We did quite a lot in a week but also ‘hung out’ and just wandered about which was brilliant.

I’m jealous and enjoy.

Alpin

I have the saloon not the estate…
However I often put a bike in the boot when I work away – wheels off it fits in OK.

Rear seats fold down almost flat I think – not done it for ages – but there isn’t a large enough gap into the boot for a bike.

ElShalimo – point taken about the ratings it being subjective.

I spend a lot of Sunday afternoons stood on a cold, windy field watching my daughter play rugby and it’s fine for that.

I guess my main points were
– it’s a lot warmer than it looks.
– it packs up small
– it’s easy to look after as it’s not down

For me all positives for bikepacking – If I was heading out I’d be taking it.

Just to add a bit of balance here…

I bought the father in laws 9 yr old 2.0 V6 sport X-type off him a year ago
50k miles perfect condition.
£1300

Whether it’s a jazzed up Mondeo is not really the point.
My voew is that it has a jaguar feel, it can waft you around or if I put my foot down it will shift.

Insurance is OK, economy not that great – around 30mpg put I do tend to enjoy myself.

For what I paid it’s excellent and I will keep it for quite a while I think

If I lived in Cambridge (which I have in the past) and had £500 and a need for a commuter bike then I would without question get a Pompino

like this

One of the new NorthFace thermoball jackets would be a good option.
They are very thin and light with an equivalent fill to a 600 fill down jacket and rated down to -10C.

They have a windproof outer and are as warm wet as they are cold.
Pack down to be very small and I’ve been wearing mine all winter with a T-shirt and occasional thin fleece and been as warm as I need to be.
They look like they shouldn’t be that warm but are remarkable.

I wouldn’t use a down one for bikepacking as they are hard to look after and not good when wet.

Sounds like a no brainer.

I moved from a similar large consultancy to a very small one. Had an appropriate contracting job come along while I was seriously looking I would have taken it.

Leave on good terms and the worse that can happen is you go back.

Whether or not employers look for it, it is probably worth doing if you’ve just dabbled in SQL.

It will increase your knowledge of the basics and a lot of the less common stuff. It will give you a focus rather than dabbling and it’s knowledge that will be very useful for a long time.

I’d be looking to get work to pay for, or go halves on the cost. They benefit and should support you in training.

I had a towbar fitted to our car and splashed out on an Atera Strada rack.

Not cheap but very sturdy, can be fitted in less than a minute and once you’ve sorted which bikes go where they are on in hardly any time. It also slides away from the car when you need it – very handy.

I wash my bikes when I get home usually so salt not a worry.

There are many shops that have all those as demo bikes – they aren’t really boutique any more – maybe 5 years ago but not any more.

I bought my Yeti 5 years ago and the LBS arranged for Stu the Yeti rep to drop on one Friday and we went for a short ride.

I wouldn’t buy any of these without a test ride – you might have to travel to get one but I see that as a good excuse to ride more. Any shop that sells them should be able to able to get a demo for you. If they can’t/won’t then find somewhere else. Many rent them for the day and refund the rental if you buy.

KCNC ones on my Tuareg. Matches the KCNC bar, stem, spacers etc

My Van Nic Tuareg

As it came…

Built with KCNC cockpit, XT chainset, Hope Tech X2 brakes and Pro2 Evo hubs on crest rims.

Ti seat collar

Lovely detail…

I tried a capture the flag the other night – 4 people joined in and it ended up as me vs 3.

I had the most kills but there was always one of them near the flag so I didn’t get one. Would be good with headsets and a few clan people to play with.

My experience is to spend about 50% more than you think you need to – as a minimum.

The best bib shorts I have are the most expensive, always have been as I’ve upgraded to better ones over the years.

The best ones fit better, work better and last longer.

I have one – but not the sport version.
Boot is great – largest in the class – without wheels bikes fit sideways so you can get 2 in there without having to lower the back seats.

Ours is a family car so is OK to drive – if you try and put your foot down it’s average but I have the auto. The sport will be better.

It is very long but you get used to it. I’ll be replacing ours with another I like it that much.

My tip is to lock yourself in the kitchen with a bottle of bubbly and ask to be left alone.

It works for me.

I second what MartynS said – I have one and they are excellent.
You can also chain them together for a louder bigger sound

I had the exact same thought process about 2 years ago.

One plumber told me the problem was the old boiler being inefficient which is complete rubbish. Another agreed with me that as long as it was safe it was fine.

The payback time meant it would have been cheaper to pay higher bills.
What made my decision to have it replaced was a lack of some spare parts.
A plumber who spoke sense said it was worth thinking about changing in the next few years as a failure of some parts that he was seeing would mean a new boiler.

When I swapped I also like the idea of a hot water tank etc but decided for a Vaillant Combi – It means we have endless hot water a much simpler heating / hw system and much better hw pressure.

So far we had a pump replaced under warranty and last week the pcb changed as it was playing up. Slightly annoying given Vaillant are supposed to be v reliable but overall happy I changed from a standard system boiler/hot water tank to just a combi.

CampKoala – That was fun.
Couldn’t believe you kept getting killed.

I also don’t quite understand how you beat me in that bike race when you were so far behind and we were on identical machines – I really am bad at racing.

Tim – I’m Yeti_man and that was rather fun.

I was wondering each round how quickly you’d get killed but you certainly got better.

I’m rubbish at racing I always seem to make a mistake or pick the slowest car so I’ve been doing the survival ones – you need at least 2 people and a decent place to cover each other – then it’s not too difficult.

I may be on later tonight

The simple answer to this is that it’s all down to the parents.

Bad parents may not make the best decisions for their children and removing then from school is one single example. It may or may not be bad depending on the child, the length, time etc
Rules like this are an overreaction to try and address the actions of a minority and IMO completely over the top.

We’ve not taken our daughter out of school but I would have no problem doing so during the last week of any term, especially the last day where they do very little.

If I were to do that I’d just phone up to say she was sick.

I have to say I felt quite bad when Drac stood there ( in his bikini) and told me to take the easy bounty.

I mean killing a bald woman in the street for money seems wrong.

I’ve had a few fun sessions with crew members – we should try and arrange a time when we can all get on.