I have a Vari (https://www.vari.com/uk/en/) which you can place on any desk. Its a sturdy bit of kit, but works very well.

“I’m so jealous of…”

No – you’re envious. You can only be jealous of what you have, and envious of others. That’s why we ‘jealously guard…’

“Low hanging fruit”

A plastic shelf replacement for the fridge door. It’s only taken 3 years.

Another vote for Briggs and Riley, just good kit.

But these ‘Deflopilators’ are for bikes with front baskest or brackets when carrying something heavy over the front wheel, making them far more prone to flopping at slow speeds. I was hoping that marketing vid would describe a problem that needed correcting, but it seemed it was more of a ‘look at our innovation; more than anything else. Not sure its comparable with dropper posts or suspension.

Unless you are planning to carry a picnic basket and/or small dog on the front of an enduro bike.

Try OBS software. It’s free, but takes a little getting used to, it has a serious amount of functinality. May be overkill, but its pretty powewful. It createws a ‘virtual camera’ which you can use to plugin to any recoding tool you have, such as zoom.

As someone pointed out earlier, salary increases get baked in long term, not to mention bonuses tied to those salaries. My company (US based) had a very profitable year. They acknowledged the inflation and cost of living increases, but salary increases were pretty much inline with previous years (2% – 5%) however, bonuses were pushed up over 100% in many cases (depending on performance). Short term gains, but 10% seems high for any sector at the moment.

I started using our old treadmill to recover from some major surgery, and kept going. It died, so I did a fair amount of research and ended on a Peleton Tread. Three points 1) The subscription to an excercise program will end up costing you more than the hardware itself. That said, its far better to have a structure program to work through. 2) The treadmill is only one part, its helpful to combine it with some weights and floor routines. 3) You will use it frequently for the first few months, then it will lie idle taking up space. But then who wants to run indoors when it 25+ degrees outside? I now use mine during winter months.

Noooo! – No cheap lumpwood charcoal! Spikes in temperature, then drops off rapidly, and dumps ash all over your food. Just get the Weber briquettes, and a starter chimney, one small firelighter below gets it going, long burning steady heat without the smoke and ash.

I have a Meater probe, and trust me, my Weber does way better than our Fan oven when it comes to temperature management.

Still rather see 184 people become millionaires, than one person getting more money than most could responsibly manage.

Watermouth Castle does indeed, need to be seen to be believed.

I had a similar frustrating issue, spent hours trying to figure it out. Gave up, and went to LBS, took him all of 20 seconds to straighten a tooth on the chainring. Worth checking all those teeth are straight.

I have a ‘mild’ hernia from my stoma (Crohn’s disease) I wear a specially designed vest that keeps everything in place when riding. There are various bands and vest for this sort of thing. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Hernia’s are fairly common for those with ileostomy or colostomies, any many ride and run regularly – but I’m sure you Dr will advice you accordingly. Hope you get sorted!

If all these damn online markeplaces would simply add a mandatory field in the description for the frame number of these bikes, the world would be a better place.

Get some sealskinz socks. Game changer for winter riding

I’ve had a Bandit, and the Smuggler, recently ‘upgraded’ to a Sentinel. I still ride the Smuggler. But the Sentinel is great for park and bigger mountain days. I do feel like at a certain price point, the big brands have very sorted bikes. It becomes more of a question about brand – and buying a bike that suits 99% of your riding (unless it’s N+1 of course!) FWIW – Nukeproof is hard to beat – a lot of bike for the money.

The gospel: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html

Takes some getting used to, my company switched about 2 years ago (10k employees), and I have learnt to live with it. Document formats are not so much of an issue now, as Google tries hard to play well with others. Collaboration is such a key part of what we do, and G-suit does that really well. As you mentioned, its 99% mindset. I don’t think I would go back.

I got heavily involved with B4RN (under the name B4SH – Broadband for Surrey Hills). Did a lot of digging and cable laying. But now have 1G up and down. A damn site better than BT’s 3.5Mb on a good day.

The problem with a lot of the big providers is they are legally allowed to advertise an average speed. So they only need to get half the households on a set speed, and they can go to town on selling that speed. Leaving half the network at a loss. Not to mention all this BS on TV about “WIFI reliability or guaranteed speed”. Wifi speed has nothing to do with broadband.

My youngest daughter went after some hidden chocolate in the kitchen cupboard. Pulled herself up on the counter, and down came a 4 door wall mounted kitchen unit, full of glasses mugs and crockery. One almighty smash. Incredibly, she was completely unscathed.

Thanks for that – I wasn’t convinced about the token. I’ll try dump some pressure and see what that does, before playing with the LSC. It’s a Transition Sentinel fwiw.

I too have a Topeak JoeBlow 15 odd years still going strong. Have just purchased one of those Airshot canisters though. Multitool must be about the same age too.

I have also gone from a Smuggler to a Sentinel. I’m 5’9 and the large feels a little cramped. I have shifted the saddle right back, and that’s helped. I’d echo the thoughts on the Sentinel not being a ‘peppy’ bike. It feels sluggish on pedally tracks, and the slack head angle means its not happy at slow speeds on twisty runs. But get a bit of gravity assist, and its bloody awesome, and climbs just fine. I’d like to add some spacers to the rear and see what that does. Overall I’m thrilled with the Sentinel – it does what it says on the tin. I’m keeping my Smuggler though.

A mate of mine left an (overly) honest exit letter with his employer a few years ago. He then applied for a job at my company. Sailed through all the interviews with top marks until the hiring manager got in touch with the previous employer. Took him out the running immediately. Sometimes things are best left unsaid.

Free me please
From quarantine hell

Cube do a good selection of 29ers in this range.

At the risk of topic deviation – Do the older XT finned pads fit the new 4-pot 8120’s?

Just got some a few weeks ago. Usually a 9, went for a 9.5, and fits fine. Could probably have gone for a 10. Definitely size up from your regular.

I always ride with a pack. It has all essential tools (which I lend out far more than use for myself) and it has a back protector, and a place to stow my sweaty crap when I get to the pub!

Thanks – I’d not heard of the FB group. Will check it out. Also, thanks for the offer for bag help. I’m just starting to get back to exercising, and have some support clothing arriving soon to test. I’m sure to have some questions soon. Aiming for an Alps trip next year, so that’s to goal!

Have not ridden since December. Recovering from a total proctocolectomy thanks to Crohns Disease . Its been a year of pain, but waiting for stitches to heal up – then back on the bike!

I’ve been pleased with my Sonos bean, pricy, but quality is top notch.

I just hovered over the link, the title was enough thanks.

Mate was out there this last weekend – said there has been a huge amount of work on the trails, not just a scrape over – but complete rebuilds. All looking bigger and better.

7 days in Les Arc with 12 mates. Will certainly pop across to Tigne on one of those days can’t wait!

Toddlers are terrible at flying – Take an airplane instead.

Also – Check for bent tooth upfront.

I’ve been working from home for the last three years, and it is initially disorientating – two bits of advice – have a dedicated workspace that you can walk away from i.e not the kitchen table. Second – don’t try and work to ‘traditional’ work hours unless you have to. I do a few solid hours of work once the kids have gone to school, but after that I take the dogs for a walk, do some household jobs, shopping, and another solid stint from say 4pm onwards (when the US get going). Bottom line – its your time, use it as you feel fit, not office hours.

Another vote for the towbar option – its also easier to secure the bikes. A determined scrout can remove a bike from a roof mounted bike rack in seconds. Not so easy with a towbar mount and a decent chain / lock.

Agreed – and don’t forget – pensions are not only a great way to protect you from tax – but can also be transferred to a significant other without any tax penalties (like inheritance tax).