I must be lucky, number of really helpful shops in our area (Midlands). The one I favour runs a great club with lots of socials and racing mixed together.

I would give it a go too but conscious that I’m much slower than I used to be (had an accident). Building up fitness again – did my first cross race last weekend. Might struggle to keep up.

Rocket Ron?

On one freeranger is a great frame for the sort of local mix and match riding you describe. Loads of clearance. I’ve had 45mm with full guard on mine.

I upgraded to a Specialised Crux over the summer. Massive clearance again. Runs 47mm no problem. I absolutely love this bike for winter road, BWs, canals and cross racing.

Never tried the Checkpoint. Mate had one and likes it but I didn’t bother as I wanted more clearance

Atoll looks a good size – not small at all

Only £7300 on the leather strap 😉

Only just released so I imagine stocks will arrive in due course. I think it’s a lovely thing.

Its not as if Loic has come out of nowhere to win.

Is the main factor not simply that the teams with big budgets attract really good riders?

Differences in suspension = marginal gains?

I like the 7mesh Cypress – windproof showerproof; packs down to a very small size and not hot/ sweaty on the bike either.

https://7mesh.com/en-GB/products/cypress-hybrid-jacket-sale

The new white dial looks very nice too

I got the Worx Landroid to do our back garden about a year ago and it’s been great. Opted for the largest size as it wasn’t much more. from Amazon at the time. Boundary wire is relatively quick and easy. Put the eye accessory on it to dodge items left on the lawn and the odd tree that I did not ‘wire around’. Occasionally gets stuck but the lawn always looks nice and I don’t have to factor in 1-2 hours to cut it each week.

I always fancied the Snowflake but was instantly underwhelmed when I finally tried one on. It seemed to wear a bit small, perhaps compounded by overall lightness. But I think the main factor was that it seemed dated rather than traditional. Perhaps a leather strap would have improved things, but I quickly moved on.

Follow Derek Guy on X

Lots of decent advice regarding fit, how to mix and match, do’s and don’ts for older men

I’m taking my wife away for a few days – Girona, somewhere we have not been before. We both ride.

I’ve put it on all my bikes now, the majority are 1x. Just a nicer experience. Even put di2 on the frame I use for Zwift. I find I change gear much more than I used to as it’s so easy. Not essential by any means but certainly makes a noticeable difference to my rides.

Beaverbrooks are clearing out their Wolf watch storage. Good reductions; good value, you decide.

Picked up a nice single watch roll yesterday. The boxes appear well made too.

I imagine it’s quite situation dependent. I had C6-T1 fixed for traumatic fracture. Was on the trainer straight away and riding outside was possible quite early too, but I waited 3 or 4 months to allow soft tissue healing. Bony healing takes about 6 months.
once fixed the other levels need to do a bit more work and can be sore. After 6 months I rode an off road event at the weekend without problems.

The grinder on our Sage is at its limit, set to 1, for espresso. Beans make a huge difference too, decent supplier, recently roasted. I use a single skin, double basket. Took me a few tries to get good coffee but easy after a bit of trial and error.

An Outbound light – no UK distributor when I got mine so import duty was ++++

Spare mounts too if needed 

Yes. Drab olive describes it well. Nothing like the more vibrant colour of a Kermit, Hulk or Starbucks. Much more under the radar.

Bit of both probably 18cm

my other SMP is a mid size 

That’s the one

Said I would post some photos with the rubber strap 

I think the teepee campsite was advertised later than everything else so that might work out for you.

not much accommodation unfortunately- even the campsite gets sold out almost immediately 

Last year was poor wasn’t it. Riding through a tunnel of low cloud all day with only piles of logs to look at definitely took the edge off. 

Find the epix useful for training- just given my daughter my Apple Watch as it didn’t work for me. They have recently updated power meter compatibility which might make it workable but battery was v poor and not up to recording longer events 

We have three which is quite a bit more work. Two is fine. Whether it’s worth it might depend on if they enjoy spending time together- which isn’t a given.

I used them last year to book accommodation in Majorca. It was pay in full at the property. Just checked and that’s not changed, nothing up front 

Like that – definitely stands out from the crowd. Some design cues from the Bigeye?

Looking for a replacement white leather strap for one of my wife’s watches. 19mm lug to lug and 18mm at the clasp. Watch Gecko doesn’t seem to do a white strap. Found The Strap Tailor

Epsom Calfskin Watch Strap – White

any experiences or any other recommendations (cheaper would be excellent)

Might not run to a soak away, could cross over to neighbours. We have multiple dirty water drain’s running in different directions. 

obvs doesn’t answer your question 😐

It appears more green when I look at it directly but definitely hard to appreciate in photos. Also appears more green in natural light. I’m sure a big green rubber strap will push home the theme. The black has Seamaster written in red iirc, wheras the Seaweed text is all white.

Agreed there is clearly something wrong with me😆 I didn’t even try the white one on. Mind I was concussed recently so it could be down to that. I’ll take another photo when the rubber strap arrives and try to highlight the green to see if I can do it justice 

New watch day. After trying loads on over recent weeks I ended up getting another SMP. Bought the first one nearly 25 byears ago, its mid size 36mm. Although I set out to get something different I just liked this much more than anything else at the price. Have a rubber strap coming too. Not the worlds best photo. Looks much sharper and less flat in real life.

I tried the Carrera on the othyer day; but with a white face, brown strap. Lovely watch.

@Kato If I got another SMP I think it would be the green one ;)

Re ‘Who is Erin Carter’ If it wasn’t set somewhere sunny I might not have bothered. The wife and I watched it all and on balance enjoyed it but its a bit far fetched. That might bother you and make it unwatchable or you could elect to go with the flow and enjoy the scenary.

Sent my Omega SMP off to Calibre for service today. I bought it in 1998 and got the 36mm, mid size. I always regretted this decision as my wrists arn’t particularly small at 7″ and I could have sized up.

I have a lot of time on my hands at present and can’t do too much following a bike accident. So been looking at watches, thinking of replacin the Omega. Was originally looking at the Longines Zulu time but ceramic bezel is quite glossy. Tried on the new burgundy Black Bay on 3 link bracelet which was nice. Also quite liked the Breitling Superocean Heritage in black with the rubber sttrap. They both seem like obvious choices and having been down that road before with the SMP I started looking at Vertex Aqualion.