If you buy the cheapest 2 litre bottles of sparkling water they are a chunk cheaper than running a soda stream.

This was what I worked out. Would kinda like to be environmental, but not got the spare cash to throw at it.

This was right at the time:

“I’m a man (a man),
without conviction”

Not any more…
…maybe that’s just karma?

I like the Ortlieb bags. I’ve got a Micro 2 (the 0.8l) and a Saddle bag 2 (4.1l).
The Micro carries my multitool, puncture kit and a tube. It tucks entirely out of the way under the saddle. Great for short local rides.
If I’m going further, the SB2 gets the Micro dropped down the end (I’m no weight weenie!) and is big enough for a spare top or proper waterproof (and I’m XL-XXL) and some grub.
Best thing is, they both use the same clip, so I’ve got one mount on each bike, and no faffing about beyond making sure I’ve got the right size of tube with me no matter which bag I want to use on which bike.

Lezyne pumps live on a clip mounted under the bottle cage (HP on the road bike, HV on the MTB)
MTB has a tubeless seal kit in the bar ends.

I’ve also got pockets on my back as I’m mostly a roadie, and a couple of velcro/elastic strap thingies if needed.

I’ve got Cruz bars, moved them between 3 cars now with different fitting kits… and I’m struggling to think what spanner you mean! Pretty sure everything on mine does up with a normal spanner or socket… 10mm IIRC. The bolt heads should be square and held by the tracks, no need to tighten anything up by poking down inside the bars. Or is my Alzheimer’s playing up???

Looked into these a while ago for my daughter. As well as the HG concerns, there are plenty of other things to watch out for… many buyer’s guides around… read them, make a list, check everything. I think I upset the lady selling hers as I went around and explained, point by point, why a realistic offer was about half what she was asking. I also looked at one for me a while later. It was very tidy and keenly priced, however it turns out I don’t fit well in the driver’s seat…
But overall, I’d certainly consider one (if I was shorter) and it was in the right condition at the right price. (Sometimes cheap and tatty is the correct answer!)

And if you branch out to the obvious rival – MX5 – check for corrosion in the front chassis legs. Then check again!

Bar end shifters like Microshift BS-N08 https://www.microshift.com/models/bs-n08/ are insane and I can;t see how they’re possibly useful.

Why insane? I’ve been using them for at least 25 years on my audax bike.
The only problem I get now I’ve finally got a new bike with a brake-mounted shifter is occasionally going for the wrong type of shifter on the wrong bike when I’ve been riding the other one for a bit.

You sure it was the cat ?

Maybe Amber Heard has snuck into your house…

If you shot a man in Reno just to watch him die

That reminds me.

If looks could kill, you would NOT be lying on the floor, begging me please please please, don’t hurt me no more!
You’d be dead.

Heart are probably thinking of “if looks were very, verypainful”.

I was struggling to get to an hour on Zwift due to soreness (mainly backside/saddle interface, but also hips and back), then read about rocker plates. Did my own version to see if I’d like it by cutting up a (£7) camping mat and putting a few layers under the trainer and each of its legs… I’ve never taken them out, never bought a rocker plate, and can happily do 2 hours plus. It just puts enough wobble into the system to keep everything moving a bit.

Frozen pizza (Iceland’s posh range (Piccolino?) has a great spicy meat one)

Always keep a couple of frozen ready meals in for emergencies.

Slight cooking: pasta, with a tin of tuna + tin of sweetcorn + some mayo to stick it together

Utter grot dirty meal of guilty pleasure: Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney pudding and a tin of sweetcorn, nuked in 3-4 minutes.

Diamonds do not shine.

They reflect and they refract…
…but they do NOT effing shine!

I’m a huge believer in if you’ve not used it in the last year you’re not going to.

No No No! You WILL need it approx 3 days after throwing it away!

Since I was able to use a grumbling bathroom fan (that I had replaced in the actual bathroom, but didn’t throw away) to fix the egg incubator my wife randomly brought home when she decided she fancied trying to hatch more chickens, even she doesn’t really mind any more. So long as it stays down the garage/shed, she’s perfectly happy for me to disappear for an hour or so with something broken (or needing making/inventing, like her recent request for “a hooky thing so I can open and close the window over the kitchen sink”) and to come back with a fixed/made thing that works.

You’ve got to have piles of random stuff to hope to achieve this (or a full machine shop to hand!).

Nice one, OP :)

Nearest outlet place (McArthur Glen at bridgend for me, for example) and have a good dig around.
I got a full tux for £120 (from Skopes) a couple of months back, mad to spend lots on something that’s going to come out maybe once or twice a year.

Leaks will probably be a cheap/easy fix, so long as it’s not from the drum bearings. But if one seal or pipe has gone, then chances are the rest might not be far behind…

The thought process I used with our dishwasher (which had been out of service for a few months recently) was that it was 12+ years old, not working and we were going to replace it anyway, so zero risk attached to taking it apart and seeing what I could do. Turned out to be an errant lump of grot in a drain hole causing the problem, fixed for zero pounds and zero pence. But we’re expecting something to fail properly on it sooner rather than later now.

Takis are the whole next level. Fantastic. So long as you like loading your poppadoms up with piles of lime pickle when in the curry house, then ordering a phal ;)

I’ve got an R1, same bike bar the gearset. I love it; as said above, it’s a decent, solid bike but not to say heavy/dull/boring… I think it sits well on the price:performance/Law of Diminishing Returns… you could spend a lot more and get very little extra.
There are a couple more R1 than R2 reviews out there which will be fairly relevant – including one guy on YT
HTH, any questions, feel free :)

The opposite of Paino’s experience here. We put a burner inside a normal multi-fuel stove and it gets very hot indeed, and heats the whole bottom of the house. But mainly bought for the nice flame effect! The not long-term constant heating doesn’t become a problem as it’s roasting long before the fuel runs out. We usually get 2 runs to a fill. And as it’s inside a big cast iron stove which is now all hot, that stops the heat vanishing with the flames.
However it would be far less good, and rather uneconomical, as a sole source of heating – we have CH and my wife just puts the fire on when she’s feeling a bit chilly. I don’t think I’ve ever put it on for myself ;)

Other pros – effectively zero install costs. No vents, no chimneys required. Proper real flames. Independent of other fuels – so if your electricity/gas/oil fail, you can still heat much like a log burner. This was relevant to us when our boiler packed up just before Christmas this year!.

Other cons – the juice is not the cheapest. There is a smell to it, but good quality ethanol reduces that. The jury’s out on whether it releases harmful stuff into the air… although it’s pretty clear that if they are bad, they’re not as bad as logs. As Maccruiskeen says, you have to be aware that the flames can be near-invisible when starting and ending burns, and that the burning relies on the low vapour point of the fluid, so re-filling and lighting a hot burner is not a good idea. Similarly, be careful when filling as spills will easily ignite, too. Ironically, it’s often harder to get the the actual burner going, as the fuel is sat in a big cold pool producing little vapour compared to a wide, shallow puddle of a spill.

I’ve got the Ravemen CR1000 too. If it’s going under a mount, you can turn the lens the other way around to preserve the beam shape/cut off. Because it’s properly focused, I think it outperforms its nominal ratings – most of the light goes where you need it.

I did put a couple of (not very good, especially the moving one – trying to steer, change gear, change light modes and film holding my phone, up an ulit lane!) vids up on YT

To all those who haven’t finished them, get on with it… for tomorrow you may die… otherwise you’ll feel pretty silly when you meet him up there!

It got very dusty in here when I found my dad’s bookmark two thirds of the way through the last book he was reading – Fallen Angels, the latest at the time from Larry Niven. One of the very, very few books me bought in hardback, as he knew he probably didn’t have time to wait for the paperback to come out. He was too right.

I’m also still a bit annoyed with Iain (M) Banks for dying long before he ran out of stories.

My last company, HR reckoned giving any vaguely detailed feedback might leave you open to inadvertently saying something that could be taken as biased/etc, so we had a send a very short email, basically “I’m sorry, but you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. Best wishes for the future.” and nothing more.

I was in A&E checking I hadn’t busted my shoulder going OTB, in May last year. I got 220/180, and I was already on meds for high BP! It was comical, as I had to hold the cuff together – the velcro was trying to rip open – and the nurse was up at 200+ saying “I don’t think I can pump this any harder!”
I’m now on more meds…

If I ever have a tattoo, it’ll be “There’s treasure everywhere”

Thanks, OP :)

We decided to (strongly) decline the attempt to pay us for a wayleave for the phone and power lines crossing our land. The tiny amount of money on offer didn’t nearly cover the current ability to get them to re-route around us if we ever wanted them to. In the meantime, it’s a handy stick to threaten them with when the phone line goes a little slack and starts tapping on our roof in the wind – as the route it takes totally ignores the minimum distance required from the building. We don’t care though so long as it’s not tapping!

So not the cute witch/sexy vampire from Buffy then? 🙁

Don’t watch the American version of Penn and Tellers’ Fool us.You will be sadly disappointed…

Saris H3; c. 2.5 years; just under 5000Km and just over 59,000m climbing in 7 days and 13 hours.

380 slices of pizza burned; 6 of them put back in the system tonight ;)

Hit the squeaky pulley/belt issue 2 or 3 months in, a box with replacement parts arrived with no quibble 2 days (from America!) after they seen/heard the video of the noise. No complaints with that service, or the trainer since those went in.

Useage fell off a lot last winter, as I decided it was too grotty out for road riding… but not bad enough to stay inside… That’s when I got my first MTB and ended up on here :)

Every detail I can see from the video looks exactly like the broken one, so I’d say it was real.

Again, take the refund on the 2, then start a separate not-fit-for-purpose action via ebay for the third, as well as contacting Abus who might do something from goodwill, or maybe replace and ask for the lock back to check over if that’s an unexpected outcome.

It should do much the same, but you’d lose choice of fan speeds, the option to add heating, and the multi-directional install vent. The Drimaster filters are very large, I think you’d have to replace anything much smaller very regularly. There’s a long thread running on PistonHeads in the home, gardens & DIY section, with some good price offers direct, if you scan back a few pages.

a global nuclear war could be bad new for the bike industry, both by destroying its consumer base in one fell swoop, irradiating materials needing to build new bikes and, potentially disrupting supply lines and logistics

On the …ummm… bright side, if your whole bike’s glowing, no need to keep recharging your lights. And you’ll be very visible to any traffic that survived the EMP.

I use an OnGuard Terrier cable lock (on the right on the link, a Combo 4 or 7 if you click through).
It’s thin, light and very easy to carry in a pocket or saddle bag, but definitely a step up from the plastic-case style ones mentioned above. I have no doubt it would last very very little time against pretty much any sort of tools, but it would certainly need tools to get through it. So I consider it very much only a deterrent to a casual thief – cafe with in sight, or popping into a shop for a drink/snack. I have also used it as a front wheel/extra lock along side a D lock for longer term/dodgier areas.

The other day I saw that there was a person killed or seriously injured on the road every 15 minutes.
Would you trust anybody in a large vehicle any where near you?

Yes. Constantly. Not dead yet.

Always been very happy with my Creative T20s
I guess Creative must be, too, as they don’t appear to have changed them in anyway in the many years since I bought mine! Although only Creative actually claim to have any stock, so this may turn out to be a false lead…

That’s the other issue. I’m not sure power line adapters will work as each side of the house is on a separate wiring loop from the fuse box.

The garage is on a whole separate circuit from our board in the house – then there’s another in the garage. It was working fine until late last year, and i think the problem may be down to the socket rather than the system, if you see what I mean, I think it may have got slightly damp/corroded as the wall there is damp. (Stopped using that socket. Must check it/change it sometime…)

I think in theory your neighbours might well be able to pick up your powerline signal, too, if they had paired adaptors handy…

Could you borrow a pair and try them? Takes maybe 5 minutes tops to pair them up with your router and each other.

Powerline adaptors work well in our stone house. The (old) TP link ones we’ve got can be wired into stuff (like this computer, the Fire Stick) and also repeat the wi-fi signal, albeit it’s not a mesh system so sometimes you can lose signal moving around.

I also bought a range extender https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Y5YB5D1 recently, as the powerline signal went flakey in the garage, 25-30 metres away from the house, and that’s helped a lot there. But it is sat in an upstairs window, so it’s not fighting the stone.

Scout/Explorer Scout Leader here, 26 years leading (and Cub/Scout/Venture myself beforehand).
I’ll keep it short unless any specific questions come up…

First up, if you’re looking at being a Leader rather than just a parent helper, there’s a lot more training that requires a bit more effort than there used to be… a good thing overall, but it is a commitment.
Talking of commitment, that’s exactly what being a Leader (or even helper, if Leader numbers are low) is – if you’re the sort of person who finds they have to re-arrange stuff last minute because “something came up” a lot, it’s probably not for you as there’s a bunch of kids relying on you to turn up!

The (slightly joking) tag line has always been “just 2 hours a week”. You certainly can do it on just 2 hours a week (plus training, to start with) especially as a helper or Assistant Leader. But putting in a little more time will help you and the Scouts get a lot more out, in my experience. I do mean just a little more, usually – 10 minutes planning on WhatsApp with the other leaders sometime in the week makes a much better evening; a night at the pub with some books and a calendar 3 or 6 times a year makes a much better term/half-term.

I’m a bit unusual in that I went through as a youth and came back almost straight away after uni; most of the Leaders started off to support their own children… some go when their kids do, but many stay on, so there must be something good in it.

Thanks in advance, by the way, for even considering stepping up. There aren’t so many parents who do… and on that note, if you find yourself not enjoying it, don’t be (emotionally) blackmailed into carrying on just because no-one else will take over – I think it’s well worth having that in your mind before you start, although it sounds negative – it’s volunteering, not a job, if you’re not getting anything out of it then it’s hopeless. But it will certainly all fall apart if no-one has a go!

As to the family side – depends a bit on your set-up, obviously. I’ve simply always done it. My daughter went to Brownies rather than Cubs and tried Explorers with me but she’s not an outdoorsy/practical type. My wife has never minded me being out once a week regularly, and odd evenings/weekends; she just treats it as quiet/”me” time for herself (and an evening she can eat stinky fish without me complaining!). Work is more of an issue for me these days as I work most Saturdays and so that makes weekend activities very difficult.

The priority list is always:
Family
Work
Scouts

As in any organisation, there are some less than nice people, although the ratio is happily low in Scouting… anyone who tells you to bump Scouting up that order, or who says anyone who doesn’t isn’t a “real” Scout, is one to avoid/ignore.

Hope this helps!

For a floor stand, I’ve got one of these:

Stabilus 2.0

It’s very sturdy, holds my XL e-bike (or my road bike or my 29er or my old 26″ … any bike, basically!) with no problems, folds up for storage and also goes out with me in the car boot to stand the MTB in for cleaning after rides. With a very heavy bike (like mine), it does help to put a foot on the rear leg as you roll the bike off, otherwise it’s very simple roll-on, roll-off.

Not quitesure I’d use it as the only support while loading a child onto a seat, but then it does only just not really like me at 95Kg climbing on, so there’s a fair chance it’d be ok!

As above. They will then try and tell you that advertised prices aren’t the same as selling prices because there’s always haggling and price reduction. Which was BS years ago, and is super BS these days since covid slowed down the flow of new cars onto the market, and second hand prices shot up (I would have to pay the same now for my car with it’s current age/mileage as I did 3 years and 40k miles ago). If they continue to take that line, ask them to provide an acceptably suitable replacement car themselves instead of the cheque, ie, put their money where their mouth is – this has worked for me in the past!

Another alternative, if the car is relatively low value – it doesn’t take a lot of damage to write off a car if they are considering repairing it to insurance standards. It might be worth looking to see how much it would cost to get back on the road yourselves, and buying it back off the insurance company. For example, my daughter’s car is scrapped all the way down the passenger side (not her, it came like that! Bought cheap though ;) ). It must have had a new mirror, but every panel that side is dented/scratched – the worst scratches have been painted in (not very well). It would cost a fortune to repair properly, so I think it was either never reported to insurance, or bought back as suggested and fixed just enough.
This is another income stream for insurance companies, mind – as well as low-balling you, they will be be making money selling on the salvage. The less keen they are to let you buy it back, the more likely it is that there’s mainly cosmetic damage and they can make extra £££s selling it on!

Be aware however – hire car costs can sometimes be attributed to you if the third party can show that you didn’t take efforts to minimise the costs (ie, the length of time you had the hire car for) – and the insurance hire car charges are yet another industry rip-off scam. So act quickly each time your end so if necessary you can show that it was the insurance dragging their heels which delayed matters, not you.

Also, why black, tarmac grey and petrol colours? Does no-one want to a) have some brightness and joy while riding and b) be more visible when on roads in the manky grey rain?

This. It’s hard enough finding everyday coats that aren’t blackblackblack (and I gave up on 2 out of my current 3), but cycling stuff should always have an eye (so to speak!) towards visibility. Not just an MTB problem, either – there is so much road specific stuff in black, too… but at least there’s usually a choice of something brighter there!

Not a major story, but at a friend’s wedding, I was called down to the kitchen where the meal was being prepared, on the basis that I was both “handy with stuff” and tall. A cold water pipe passing across the ceiling had sprung a leak, and was spraying water all over the kitchen. All bodge repair efforts failed (water’s a sod like that); I ended up stood a chair, stripped to the waist, holding towels over the hole so the chefs could keep working, until a real plumber appeared after an hour or so.

Maybe 6 months or so later, my mate must have been told about it and got straight on to me “OMG, I never knew, I never thanked you, so embarrassed” etc, but I was (and still am) “you’re my friend, it was your wedding, you weren’t supposed to know so it didn’t spoil anything… and I know damn well you’d have done the same for me.”