Amazing, thanks all. I’m very happy to explore as long as I have a reasonable chance of finding at least something and not just piss off a load of dog walkers. Good to know to avoid certain areas when wet too.

That sounds promising. Ta. I’ve seen Belmont Woods is an option too.

Aside from all the comments about noise, kids losing interest and them being a bit bitey, we had a couple of females (sisters) that lived together pretty happily for a fair while in a Savic XL ‘tank’.

They then had a spectacular falling out resulting in one wanting to chew the tail off the other. I had to construct a partition wall from wire mesh down the middle of the tank with one gerbil living on either side. We’d swap them over from side to side occasionally to mix their scent and tried reintroducing them a few times over the next two years.

It’d work for a month or so before they’d have another tiff and the tail would get shorter still. From memory they did mellow with age but the short life-span (two and a bit years) was not a bad thing. In the end they passed within a few days of each other which, if it weren’t for the fact they seemed to hate each other for most of their lives, would have been rather profound.  Good Luck

Like benos,  I was gonna suggest Bird Aeris 160 AM too. Test rideable from Eversley in Hampshire. They have a  M/L, L and XL sizing structure, available in Mullet and lots of options when specifying a full bike build.

The reach might be too long for you but it’s ben reduced in this model when compared to the Aeris 9 (29er) and Aeris 145 (27.5) models. Lovely and light bikes (imo) and great value for money.

I think yesterday was me!? Amazing. I’ll get sitting on a bit of tin foil on a carpeted step in anticipation…

Enjoy the next phase… I’m just a little bit jealous. I remember popping in to the shop in Swanage (12 or so years ago?) for a chainring and came out half an hour later with a chainring, a bunch of  ‘this machine kills facists’ stickers and a better outlook on life.

Can you do one last sticker run before you let the door close behind you?

@superdan Sounds brilliant, only it doesn’t seem to be available for iphone?

Anyone know of an equivalent conduit for apple devices?

I’m a Libre 2 user and this is an advancement I’d been hoping for for some time. I had been recommended miaomiao (not meowmeow, that’d be highly unethical)  by my consultant to achieve this but didn’t fancy an additional sensor on my arm given how often I catch it anyway – I decided against it in the end.

Although I can get low sugar alerts via bluetooth connection between phone and my Garmin Forerunner, so I assume I may be able to stream blood sugar  levels through the same route? I’ll be installing a new sensor in a couple of days so I will investigate.

You hear all the diabetic news first on the STW forum!?

I’m waiting for my ttx2 air from Jtech… should be dropping any day now. Glad to read the reviews above and will report back once it’s on and ridden. It’s replacing a tired Rockshox deluxe so I’m hoping for a noticeable upgrade.

Clearly a divisive subject and not one I’m personally going to get too animated by. I can only apologise for the lack of amusing cycling whilst blazed anecdotes and am already plotting my wireless projectile coffee cup scheme.

I accept the health implications of briefly emerging through a haze of smoke are minimal, but there is more than a little irony in promoting healthy and sustainable forms of transport only for the cycle store to be shared by one of the least healthy habits. The smoking shelter definitely wouldn’t meet the legislation on ‘openness’, so if the issue doesn’t get resolved it’s good to know that there’s something to beat them with, in the absence of a pair of bombers.

Good to know, sounds like I’m making a problem where there isn’t one.

Fair enough. A cup of coffee and a cig seem to go together in most cases. The saddle of a bike makes the perfect cup holder.

If you select ‘display details’ you get the total journey time.

Ranking is done on the total stage times though.

I was wondering the same. The Sportident results page for the Epic does show the total time as well as the individual stages.

https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/ArdRock/2021/ArdRockFriday/

So it’s the same course as the Enduro and Sport, just you are riding when the Enduro riders get the practice.

I literally just took delivery of my Coolsurf Sail after my brief moment of panic yesterday evening. In the end there were no extra charges and came in two and a half weeks.

It did however get shipped from Denmark and was initially supposed to come last week. Can’t comment on the quality yet but it feels a bit lighter than my 10′ 6″ Goosehill one in its box.

I use Libre 2 and agree it’s a game changer. However, when I first started using it and checking the readings with finger prick tests I got some wildly different readings – like 9 mmol/L different on stable sugars. Abbott put it down to bad batches but it seems to be more reliable and I’ve stopped checking more recently.

I switched off the alerts as I’m pretty good at knowing my rough sugars anyway. I now just carry my phone and check at will. The lag is a bit of a pain but you learn to respond to it.

Unlike most above, I do have trouble getting them to last the full 14 days. The adhesive always seems to lift and snag so I have started covering them with stickers I bought off amazon. Even they need replacing each week. Perhaps I’m just a sweaty git who can’t judge doorways, but I am pretty active so this may contribute. I’d never choose to go back to finger prick tests now and when I do occasionally test I forget how inconvenient and painful it is. My long scarred finger tips are now almost healed!

Our Sports Pursuit/Coolsurf board was ordered on the 17th July and originally supposed to arrive on the 27th July, we’re now waiting for it to arrive today (3rd Aug). You might get lucky but it could be a frustrating wait…

Thanks both. After a bit of panic following that 23:30 text from fedex I then received emails from fedex this morning saying it’d be delivered later today with no further mention of import duty. I can only imagine it was a message incorrectly sent to me for the whole consignment but it had my tracking number?

Our board has been shipped from ‘coolsnow’ in Hjebjerg Denmark even though no mention was made of this when I paid for it via the Sports Pursuit website.

Did anyone ordering the Sportspursuit boards get hit for import duties?

I ordered one a couple of weeks ago and it apparently comes from their Danish partner. I’ve just had a text notification (with the same tracking no. as in my order) that I need to pay £72 in duties to fedex!? Seems a lot for a £250 board, and one I had no idea at the point of purchase was coming from outside the UK!

I took my 11 year old there yesterday as it happens. I’ve not been since the waymarked trails went in but it was mostly familiar stuff. We did the blue (a bit under 4km) first and he really enjoyed it. I’d ridden most of it the other way round before but it was a good loop. Boggy in two places only at the moment.

We did 3/4 of the red but cut it short in the repeating looping Empire section as he was feeling it and I didn’t want to make it a chore. We went off to ogle at what they’ve done to the jump site since I was last there instead. The red was pretty beaten up; rooty and rough with a few diversions. Nothing too technical that couldn’t easily be avoided, just a bit thrashed.

mariner
Member
Plan is to find many more small anchorages throughout the Hebrides.

If you don’t already know it may I recommend Leaves From Rowan’s Log?
A Glasgow surgeon and family go sailing I think in 1920s. Lots of small anchorages listed.

Just checked prices online. Wish I still had my copy.

True story. That was written by my great grandfather Dr R Carslaw. I only found out when my mum bought me a copy ten years ago when I coincidentally named my son Rowan. She was born in Helensburgh into a long line of sea-going folk. I now live in Oxford – the place the UK just about the furthest from any coast!

Typical, I spot this less than 24hrs after the offer expires, as I return from a weekend camping trip with a long list of things I need, well want, to buy.

Bah. Enjoy your discounted kit. 😉

We’re in Imlil (High Atlas) right now with two young kids. It’s a bit out of season but still awesome. The oranges are stunning, and sustaining my food-fussy son!

Very friendly, a little overwhelming at first like many places. Yes there was a murder a couple of weeks ago which had us a little concerned but it sounds as though it was an isolated incident depending on what reports you read. Certainly no hostility and ‘feels’ pretty safe. Off to the desert next, then Marrakesh and Essaouira. Climate is fantastic at the moment with low 20’s on the lowlands and still warm up here.

I’ll be back to take in some climbing and biking when the kids are older.

All very useful, thanks all. Yes, as MrSmiff says, I think despite my serious doubts over the quality of their work, I can only hope that the trader has at least met the very minimum standards and it is not worth the inconvenience or stress of pursuing this further.

There is at least some insulation in there and I intend to try and pack out the wind tunnel that is the under-eaves storage. I suspect reducing the draft through there may have a dramatic effect on the overall insulation.

Sparksmcguff – I couldn’t agree more. Which? Trusted Trader status was simply used by the trader to draw in business with no assurance of any quality. The trader knew exactly what he could get away with, namely endless verbal assurances but nothing binding ever in writing. Oh how I have learnt from this process!

Our experience would also back up tjagains and rockhopper’s suggestions. A private inspector working for the trader is hardly going to bust a gut to spot any failures to meet regs, and once it’s all plastered and finished it’d take some commitment to point the finger.

No architect – the convertor did the designs. Round here (1930s semi’s) they often don’t even come to the house to quote!

I want to be sure that it conforms to building regs which sound pretty stringent. My confidence in this trader is rock bottom after having to fight to get even basic snagging done. I’ve learnt a lot through this saga! We’re doing a ground floor extension with full architect designs and a personally recommended builder.

Thanks all. We have a Final Certificate issued by the AI issued in May this year. We’ll get in touch with them first, but as I said they were contracted by the trader. We only managed to get the completion certificate after chasing and chasing ourselves.

From memory the only thing the inspector picked up on was the position of one smoke detector. There is a layer of tri iso (having googled it!), but I cannot recall seeing any riding board kingspan or celotex going in and there certainly isn’t any in the storage they put in the eaves – they’re draft as hell!

How is the u-valued measured? Does each material come with a rating and they just add up?

Erm, Halfords – at least in the Netherlands.

We just got back from there and they have a few branches dotted around. There’s certainly one in Hilversum, east of Amsterdam.

I OTB’d on Saturday when a branch flicked up on the Verderers descent and stopped my front wheel dead. Resulted in the spoke tearing out of my carbon rim and writing off the wheel.

As for me, I landed predominantly on my left wrist and shoulder with a few other grazes from contact with the trail. My helmet made contact with the ground but I think my arms took the brunt of it. I got an x-ray on the wrist yesterday but it showed no bone damage and it’s already feeling better, if a little purple. Good job as I’ve got BPW and Ardrock coming up on the calendar. I thought the worst when it happened but, expensive wheel and some skin aside, I seem to have escaped reasonably unscathed.

Actually Mrs Bakes does do the bins most weeks, but she’s not a fan of strange noises or spiders so that’s where I’ve got her.

But actually you’ve inspired me to give it a go and I’ll be sure to report back on the results. If nothing else, with a surname like Baker it will, as some have said, come in handy making bread.

I think I’ll practice on my wife though so she has to sit still whilst I relentlessly try, try and try again. She may well regret this even before the next spider needs dealing with.

I always aim for ‘dragged through the hedge backwards’ chic when I get her to school. The problem is it looks like ‘dragged through a nuclear holocaust’ chic by the time I pick her up. Her wearing a bike helmet to school doesn’t help – perhaps she should wear it all day?

shermer75 – Member
saying he’d not had to deal with a return like it before
Isn’t that what they always say?

I was being diplomatic 😉

I’d say carbon wheels, go with stupidly expensive ones where the warranty is likely to pay out because it’s loaded in the price. Else, you’re risking a write off in situations that would simply dent an alloy.

I’d tend to agree – but they are stupidly expensive. If this one goes it’ll be replaced with an alloy rim for sure.

Yes, I’ve also purchased a digital tyre pressure gauge to keep an eye on that too!

Just to follow this up….

In the end I sent the wheel back to the shop, who in turn sent it back to Giant. I then waited a couple of weeks and have today received a new wheel in the post, complete with a new tyre. The shop couldn’t tell me what Giant’s conclusion was so it may have been defective, or not?

The shop representative implied it had been defective saying he’d not had to deal with a return like it before, that I was just unfortunate it had cracked and that the new wheel should be fit for my purpose. A bit of a change in tack from when I first contacted him and pushed for a return but I guess time will tell. That said I’m happy with the outcome and appreciate the advice on here.

Good timing as I have a day off on Friday and have been itching to get out on the bike for the last few weeks.
Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again!

gravesendgrunt – Member
A mate of mine has gotten through 2 sets of Giants Carbon wheels that’s came with his 2017 Reign due to cracking,he’s a big lad mind.

Interesting – did he get them replaced foc?

kimbers – Member
Fwiw 20psi not too low , if they are wtb tough tyres.

Not even 20 in my case – more like 24psi – and yes tough. These tyres didn’t flat at the time either. Like I say I was surprised when I saw this, and that was after looking because I’d had to top them up during the week.

Worth keeping an eye out if you’ve got the same wheels…

vincienup – Member
If it’s any consolation with the colour coordination you could get something made up by indiprint or someone else to key your replacement rim to the bike?

Bad luck on the rim…

That actually is a consolation! Can’t say I’m overly fussed about sticking with a carbon rim after this experience, so a cheaper rim that I’m more confident with thrashing will do fine. Especially if I can get it coordinated!

Thanks all. Seems consensus is largely the way I felt it would go. I think I’ll just suck it up, buy a new (alloy) rim and get a new wheel built up. If it were a lbs then I might hold out some hope, but it’s not local and based on the experience when I picked the bike up, I think it’d be a wasted 2+ hours and petrol money.

Almost as gutting as the cost, is ruining the colour coordination!

dirksdiggler – Member
Looks like impact damage and non oe spec tyres.
I think you’ll have a heard time with a JRA warranty/mfr defect claim.

I hear you and that was my gut feeling. I really don’t think it was caused by a ‘major’ impact if it was one and it causes me to question replacing it with another carbon rim. Maybe if I do I’ll go for a Santa Cruz.

I swapped out the OE Nobby Nics before even riding the bike

Low 20’s pressure, honestly no dings I can think of – there aren’t even any rocks around here. I’ve ridden way harder and bigger on alloy rims and never had a problem.

Santa Cruz would have us believe carbon can survive a beating and this wheel has had nothing close. 🙁

FWIW I got a 2017 Trance from Cycle Surgery and it came with a roll of tape and valves to set up tubeless, plus a spare hanger and some tyre levers. The mahoosive hose they left on the dropper was less impressive and needed cutting down before it snagged on something.

The rim tape it came with was blue so it’s possible they’ve already applied it? I don’t recall what was on the rims before I taped them up, but mine are now set up tubeless with no problems.

I think you should consider contacting her new form tutor to ask them to keep an eye out for her. There’s no need for her to know you’ve done this – I had letters, emails or phone calls from concerned parents from time to time.

During form time they might have the opportunity to do ice breaker activities so that she can find some friends among her new peers; set her up with a mentor (we used to do this with vertical form groups); get her working in groups that might spark a new friendship. The form tutor oversees pastoral care and would be your first port of call. Hopefully she’ll soon settle in and this will be a distant memory. Good luck.