I recently retired at 60.

Worked all my life and payed into company pensions and also made additional voluntary contributions, long term plan to retire early.
Fortunate in that I have a final salary pension for an employer who I worked for 25 years, good luck on my part, everyone needs a little luck in life.

Now, don’t flame me, but here goes.
Most of the women in my age group / generation didn’t really bother with pension stuff, they were in the main second wage earners who concentrated their wages/ salary on bigger mortgages, cars, holidays etc, believing that pensions were a waste of money.

The state pension changes from 60 to 65 or whatever it is that now affects them is what they are up in arms about. They wanted equality in the workplace, and now they have got some of the other type of equality that has caught them out.

I actually do have a little sympathy with them, in an odd sort of way.

Its easy to say just keep on working until the state pension age, but the workplace has changed. Many simply wouldn’t get another job if they were out of a current job aged 60ish, due to employers not wanting them.

Also, most people in their 60’s are actually not as sharp as they were, a few niggling health issues, lack of any real workplace ambition, having worked for decades ( life is about more than being a wage slave).

Personally, the women relied on a preferential pension arrangement, and have been caught out with equality changes. They should have had the common sense to understand that pensions were a good thing, and the state pension is nowhere near and amount to retire on, at any age.

I’ll be voting, however, very disappointed in the lack of political parties putting candidates forward.

Only two parties standing, the choice is between Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Ok for me, as I feel Plaid will do a very good job locally , but there are a lot of people who won’t vote for either of these socialist parties.

@leebaxter

Yes, we discussed extra solar panels, the key issue that stopped this from going ahead is the bonus of importing electricity from the grid in the off peak time.

Looking at buying energy at 5p kw between 11pm to 6am.

We still have one child living with us, can’t see him leaving any time soon…..

Shower usage and charging the car are probably where the bulk of the energy consumption comes.

Just had the chap out who did the initial install.

Went through the details and prices etc,

Have decided to put a deposit down on the Tesla Powerwall 2 battery.
Demand is high at the moment, will be about 10 weeks until installed.

You can also daisy chain additional batteries in the future, which avoids the initial expensive install costs, and makes some sense further down the line. Battery prices will probably fall in the next two to three years time also.

Maximum drain from the battery to the household is 5kw, and the battery can be controlled from an app regarding the import from the grid.

Should work well with the ev car charging.

I have ridden my (now sold) front suspension fat bike on the blue trails at BPW.

A friend of mine has ridden his Surly Pugsley, rigid , singlespeed , there as well.

I’d stick to the blue trails personally, you’ll be fine, enjoy.

Thanks irc

That helps put some perspective on the money side of things.

However, I would imagine over the next decade that electricity prices will increase, making the purchase of electricity from the grid more expensive. Difficult to factor that in , in payback terms.

As for putting the same £7000 into some shares etc, yes, could well do better, but wouldn’t have the monthly saving benefit of lowering our monthly expenditure.
Having now retired, we are more conscious of the monthly drain on energy bill, community charge, water rates etc.

Lowering the expenditure allows us to budget long term.

Buying a van, which I have considered for purely going to further afield places for mtb’ing, would just see me blowing the same amount of money for no return at all, and cost money to run.

Sometimes the financial argument does have to stack up that well to persuade you, when we bought the solar panel system , the numbers were ok with a payback of about 7 years.
But we are glad we installed them, again with lower outgoings.

We have the solar edge panels already installed.

The main driver for the battery is to store and then use the electricity produced by the panels on the roof.

An added benefit of storing the energy is that we can use the energy to charge the Nissan Leaf.
The ability to top up the battery at 5p kw on low peak times is another big benefit. Can then use the energy from the solar panel production and some stored energy from overnight. This would be a very low cost system in terms of reducing monthly outgoings.

Just the initial outlay cost of the installation really, having said that, could buy a used car for £7000 ish, and it cost money to run, and depreciate at an alarming rate.
Or, leave money in a silly low interest rate ISA and continue with paying a lot for electricity.

I also do feel that we have the means to reduce our monthly energy bill long term, and do the environment some good at the same time.

The chap who installed the original system is coming over to explain the details this week.

I have a Ricoh GR which meets your needs, but it isn’t cheap, think the newer GRII is around £500 these days.

Excellent image quality, but always put it in my Camelbak.
On the one occasion I didn’t it had got a little sweaty , it was in its own camera case though.

Ricoh GR , excellent compact, I have abondoned DSLR as well. Just too much faff,

I have had a reply from the original company that installed the current system, see below.

Our total electric usage for the whole household is around 6600 kwh for a year.

Didn’t know about the tarfiff changes , looks like this could force my hand to get cheaper tariff rates overnight, especially in the winter months.

…

Lots of options out for battery storage. The best by a mile is the Tesla Powerwall 2 which will launch this month the 17th. We have 14 pre orders to install as this battery was delayed by six month after the Powerwall 1.

The Powerwall 2 is 14kwh battery at 120Kg in weight, it can be mounted outside and looks very attractive. If you compare any other make the Tesla is actually the cheapest per Kwh and the tech is far beyond its competitors.

Install price for the Powerwall 2 would be approx. £7,000. Not cheap i know but she is a beast of a battery and has very long life cycle so expect over 20 years trouble free charging and discharging.

There is a new tariff coming this year which is aimed at battery storage. the tariff will be 4.99 pence per kwh form 11pm to 7am…….12 pence per kwh for 7am to 4pm…… 24 pence per kwh form 4pm to 6pm….. then 12 pence per kwh form 6pm to 11pm.

The Tesla Powerwall can be charged form the grid as well as solar so you can charge the battery on the low rate to have full battery ready for next morning. Very handy in the winter months when solar is not doing much. this make the battery usable all year round.

I recently attended one after speeding in a 30 mph limit.

Actually very good, better than I thought it would be.

Learnt quite a bit, and has helped changed my perspective on my driving habits.

Most people would benefit from a bit of a refresher, and being educated above safer driving habits.

Cinelli gel tape.

You can get it in clear which looks ace.Very easy to apply, not messy at all, and I haven’t managed to tear or rip it whilst applying it.

I have had a few Leica cameras, expensive yes, but the image quality is second to none.

Considering buying the new Leica Q full frame camera. Had a couple of Canon full frame cameras, image quality and functionality is generally better, but if you value image quality to be the most important issue, then dig deep in your wallet.

I was an early convert to ebikes due to a bit of a strength issue and wanting to go out and ride more often.

Anyway, I wouldn’t worry too much about them at the moment.

I had a Felt with the latest Bosch system, nothing but trouble. Bike was brand new and just kept breaking down. The motor simply isn’t well built enough, the crank interface is the splined ISIS and we all know how good that was…..

Bike must have broke down at least 20 times , riding a 21kg bike without battery assist isn’t any fun.

Bike was back and forth for repair, bottom bracket bearings blitzed due to the design being useless to cope with its intended purpose at trail centres.

In the end, I had another warranty replacement bike, 50 miles later, same problem.

I like the idea, and would have one, but ebike at over £3k that basically is very poorly designed and doesn’t work.

Can’t comment on the other systems like Shimano steps or the Specialized system, but for the short term I feel the design simply isn’t beyond canal paths and light road use.

Got all my money back, but was really fed up with two bikes costing over £3k that were simply very poorly designed.

Perhaps we should have a sticky for the ebike hate thing.

Ride what you want, it’s no big deal. Limited to 15 mph, just like a very fit rider uphill, who cares if someone have battery assist to propel them up?

Does this really bother you? What if a really fit rider passes you, do you get worked up about that? Who cares.

You don’t have to justify what you ride, and if (as it is termed) some fat *** passes you on an ebike, is that really a concern?

At least he/she is out having some exercise, it’s none of anyone’s business why they choose to ride an ebike really.

Ride what you want, and have a smile and wave to people, we aren’t racing or winning any gold medals here.
Come to think of it, the sport…….is actually riddled with cheaters…….and has been for decades.

Just read the article, thanks, it does relay a lot of the facts and detail about the very sad case.

I recently had to attend a speed awareness course as I had been speeding.

I firmly believe that ALL motorists should have further training after say three years, the standard of driving is pretty poor in general and very bad in congested cities.

The speed awareness course did reinforce a lot of the issues discussed in this case, 5 second rule, looking and reading the road, the speed limit being exactly that, a maximum limit, appropriate speed for the conditions.

XR3 on the rear, good rear tyre, and ok on the front in drier conditions.

Prefer the safety of the XR4. Upfront these days though.

Ardent Race is fine on the rear when it’s drier, slips around a little in poorer conditions though.

Well,good to see that a few bought these tyres, great bargain.

I use the XR4’s front and rear in the winter months, but just removed the rear one. prefer the Maxxis Ardent Race for our summer/ drier months.

Always go up easily tubeless, using the Airshot to bang them onto the rims.,

You need to buy or borrow a mech alignment tool.

Remove the rear mech and screw the rear mech alignment tool into the rear mech dropout.

There are a few videos online, have a look and see how to straighten the rear mech dropout.

You might break the dropout if you are a bit hamfisted, always good to have a spare rear dropout in your spares.

Once this is straight, refit the rear mech.

If it still is troublesome, then the mech is the problem , have to be a new one to fix this.

Alternatively, your lbs can fix this, but it’s worth being able to do this yourself really.

Just finished Animal Factory, sure gives an insight into life as a convict inside San Quentin.

Had a look at the Red Rising trilogy.

Looks like my kind of book, will give it a read after I have finished the current book, always seem to fail when trying to read two books at once.

Ruined Crosby, Stills and Nash.

But was a real influence outside of CSYN.

Wasn’t afraid to experiment with different styles, credit to him for that.

Made some great albums, you have to respect him for not just turning out the same stuff year after year.

I’m very close to building up, or buying a road tourer.

Been looking at the usual suspects, Trek 920, Specialized Sequoia and the other variants of this type of do it all bike.

Been riding bikes , both mtb and road for donkeys years. Always rode with drop bars on a road bike.

Always viewed anything other than drop bars on a road bike as a bit naff, listened to all the arguments about the varied hand positions, but in reality only rode on the hoods and close to the stem.

Never had a problem with flat bars on mtb, then I briefly had a Jones…….

Seriously considering buying a Singular Swift and making a road based tourer using the Jones bars. Now that’s a lot of different hand positions, and plenty of space for a bar bag, Garmin and lights.

Pretty sure I won’t be going drop bar on a tourer, different matter if you are keen and want to race etc, but for most, a type of flat bar would be good.

Also makes it very easy to make the rest of the brakes (disc) and mtb gears ( to make it low enough) for proper grovel climbing.

A digital display is more repeatable.

Even if it is not absolutely accurate, the repeatability of the same pressure is easier to read.
The dial type pressure gauge can be quite variable due to the angle you look at it etc.

Expensive though, but once bought it will last a long time.

I have a few shock pumps, the ones that come with a new pair of forks, like Rockshox etc.

The standard ones are all much the same with a simple dial pressure gauge.

Just bought a bling shox pump though, as I like the pressure to be more accurate and precise.
Syncros sp 1 digital is probably the most well respected shox pump you can buy, so I now have one.

If you are stuck for a standard Rockshox shock pump, drop me a pm.
Yours for the postage and a donation to this site , or charity.

Good grippy tyre for the front , all year round use.

Been using these XR4. Tyres for a while now.

Good rear tyre for the winter months, but will change to something like a Maxxis Ardent Race on the rear for spring / summer riding.

Glad peeps have found it useful.

I have just built up a short travel 29er.

Stif are selling Niner RIP Carbon 9 frames for £1100.
Total weight with dropper 30lbs

Can be built into a full bike for your budget.

My main issue was slow climbing.

I’m not the fastest of climbers, and found that, whether it be weight or drag, it was hard work to climb on steeper terrain where there was medium size rocks.

Didn’t have the power or strength to provide the ummph to keep the wheels turning.
As I said, could be just right for you after a test ride, as they do keep up their momentum once rolling.

Just another opinion in a sea of opinions.

I was a very early adopted and jumped on the 29+ tyres with one of the first Trek Stache 9 bikes.

After the honeymoon period, I found the drag whilst climbing to be too much of a disadvantage.
Nice cushion effect on the downs, but always seemed to confuse the suspension set up, probably down to me, but it just added an element of suspension set up confusion with low tyre pressures.

Nice enough, but not for me.
Too draggy ultimately, but if you have the legs for it then go for it. Definitely would recommend a test ride, I wouldn’t have lost any money selling the Stache on this way.

I just bought a Niner, not an Air 9, but followed the Niner size recommendations,sizing was spot on.

RIP 9 , I am 5 10 tall and would normally ride most manufacturers large size frame.

With Niner it was a medium , just right.

Hope this helps.

Yep, money pits…..

Different people will have different requirements.

Buying a cheap car and just using it locally with lowest running costs can work for a lot of people.

On the other hand, someone who needs a reliable car for work, and does quite a few miles will probably need something approaching greater reliability etc.

I had always bought cars outright, and a recent car purchase did make me consider the whole leasing issue.
I was lucky that there was a 0% finance deal for 3 years , my 4 year old car more than paid for the deposit.

However, I was considering laying out something like £13000 in cash for a car, this still seems daft to me.

£13,000 spent on a depreciating asset in one fell swoop, at least by leasing you are keeping your money and drip feeding the depreciation, and this assumes that you have that disposable money.
I think that most people would be better off leasing, but not all.

Once you have bought the car, unless you are very lucky, you are going to lose a lot of money buying for cash.

At lest with leasing, the money is still in your bank account

Forgot to say.

Niner RIP 9 carbon frames at Stif , very good value , being discounted at the moment.

I had a carbon 650b Fuel 9.8, sorry to rain on your parade, but didn’t like it one bit.

Could never manage to get the rear shifting to be smooth and easy, tried everything, the tortuous cable routing through the frame and eventually through the rear chainstay, action was very stiff.

Could have lived with that, but the DVRC ( or whatever Trek called it) forks and rear shock was awful. Spent loads of money at TFT trying to make it work better, never did.

Just blow through the rear travel, pedal clipping sending me flying into the undergrowth a few times.
Forks were a little better, don’t know if Trek continue to plot their own frow these days with propetiety suspension. Even the rear shock dimensions were very non standard.

Excellent reputation on warranty etc, lovely looking bike, not for me.
Unfortunately I would say it was the worst full suss bike I ever had.
Was about three years ago.

Fantastic, put a smile on my face.

I was in a similar situation , couldn’t get on with the Jones Spaceframe, but did like the riding position etc.

Have eventually ended up with a Niner RIP9 , currently the frames are being discounted by Stif at about 50% off for the carbon frame and rear shock.

I also forgot to say, that I only ride off road, and think the terrain just might be battering my body a little too much at the moment.

Even thinking about getting a touring road bike to get some easier miles in.
Less battering, not so technical and less steep inclines.

Can’t seem to find a suitable flat bar (or Jones bar) bike at the moment though.

ton, trying to offer some words of support here.

I am not the oldest person in the world, in my 60’s , and everyone has different physical abilities.

I digress I have struggled more with strength when climbing, hence the foray into ebikes, but have had a really bad experience with the ebike reliability and now don’t own one at all.

I don’t feel the ebike is a viable option at present.
So, I now only have normal bikes that you have to pedal and have some of the burnout feeling you are getting.

Too worn out to ride two days on the trot, and sometimes a little worse for wear on the third day. Can’t seem to increase my fitness no matter how much I ride etc.

My advice is don’t give up.

Ride the bike, take some breaks on the way, get rid of the speedo or Garmin and don’t worry about the distance, time or speed.

Since doing this I have found the motivation and enjoyment , the emphasis on recording each ride to “improve” hasn’t worked for me.
The emphasis has just been on getting out, enjoying the ride, the diverse weather and the feel good factor from just riding the bike.

Give it a go, just chill and enjoy.

As chop chop says.

When return on the W2 homeward bound leg, don’t turn into Energy.

Instead carry on the fire road, keep on this fire road, going up, long draggy fire road climb past the end of the Black run section.

This will bring you back up to the top of Windy Point, the top of the long climb out of Glyncorrwg.

Instead of turning left and going on the outward bound leg of The Blade, keep straight ahead.

After a mile or so, the entrance to Helter Skelter will be on your right hand side.

49%
Solar panels
EV car

I would have another one if I was convinced that they were reliable and robust, until then, I won’t touch them,

I disagree about just for older folk and the me generation.

They (would) be great for
Getting out riding more often
Going further
Enabling the less fit individual to ride with fitter people and avoid the long waiting at climbs etc
Carrying more gear with you on a ride, like camera equipment
Carrying extra food and making a day of it out in the wilds

Not worried about what other people think about me or ebikes or “cheating”, life’s to short to worry about what other are thinking. It’s not like there’s any harm in riding any sort of bike.

If it gets more people riding, out and about, then that’s better than sitting on the sofa.

But, there is a real need for them to be better made and reliable, buy with caution at the moment.