Carrots, raw either whole or thinly sliced.
Lychees, they are awesome. Grapes are good too. As is melon.

I’ve not got one, but did a bit of reading up on it this morning following recieving an email promoting them.

From what I read initial setup was tricky as the instructions were lacking, but once it is on the network it works really well using the Spotify apps. From what I understand it only streams music from the internet, currently you can’t play local music files. This put me off a bit.

Nice work, I was wondering what the outcome of this was.

Just out of interest do you know what releasing fluid he used? I normally use Plus Gas but am interested to hear if there’s anything better on the market.

I found that interesting, cheers.

I ordered small bib shorts and got the same email.

I knew there was a risk they would sell out as most deals advertised on the internet that get this much exposure (on here and other forums) sell out pretty quickly.

It was a good PSA though, and some people got some nice stuff for not a lot of cash.

I’ve got the same gearing, all be it with Sora on my Charge Plug, and I have found that I don’t use the big ring as much as I thought I would. In all honesty I preferred the triple chainset on the Triban 3 as there was less of a jump between the front rings, and most things could be tackled in the middle 39 tooth ring.

It’s an expensive route, but have you considered a triple? Adding a larger cassette would give you a lower gear, but the gaps between ratios would increase too. A tripple would give you lower gears with the 30 tooth inner, and smaller jumps at the back.

Thst said I intend to leave mine as is and get fitter, perhaps I will try a 48 tooth big ring at some point.

Merino here too, with a soft shell jacket if it’s really cold, but I do tend to run warm.

I’d try plus gas overnight, then a bit of heat. See if you can use the BB tool with a bar over it and rock it back and forth rather than swing off it to loosen it.

Maybe this is the problem. I don’t compete so I don’t see cycling (any type) as a “Sport”. By that, I mean I can enjoy it without worrying if I’m fast/fit/skillful enough to race. Are some folk looking at road cycling only as a sport?

This. I cycle because I enjoy it, and I am aware that I am crap at it, but it doesn’t stop me enjoying it. I don’t see it as a sport as I don’t compete, for me it is doing something I enjoy, because I want to do it. It’s more interesting than joining a gym, and as I work in an office I am glad of the exercise.

That’s very cool. I do love looking at amazing stuff people build in their sheds.

My main bike is a road/CX type bike, a Charge Plug 3. Just sold my MTB on Sunday, but do fancy another. I’ve also got a Triban 3 road bike for sale, I could do with that going before I buy another bike.

Cheers, I’ve attempted to order a pair of small bib shorts with the promo code. I would have ordered more but am unsure of the fit, and don’t really do team kit. At this price it would be rude not to though.

From personal experience I would recommend insurance, but read the small print and go for life cover. Some policies only cover the illness/condition for the year it is diagnosed, life cover covers following years up to a pre defined limit per condition.

Most people recommend Pet Plan, we used Healthy Pets, similar cover but cheaper. They paid the vet direct when we used them, and over the 5 years we we with them we paid between £200 – £300 per year, but claimed for thousands in treatment.

I went through a phase of snapping tyre levers so I bought some of these

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/maxxis-tyre-levers/rp-prod26131?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_name=UnitedKingdom&gs=1&gclid=CObi8p_OpMMCFSIYwwoddRIAqA&gclsrc=aw.ds

They haven’t broken yet!

I signed up to it with the intention of listening to as many albums that I have considered buying but not bought, and creating a list of the albums I would like to own. Once the three months is up I intend to cancel it as like others I don’t want to pay £9.99 per month.

I do like that I am able to download music to my phone for offline listening though, that’s very handy for work.

I’ve just signed up to Premium too, I had never used it until last week. I am liking it so far, seems easy enough to use.

I’ve got a Plug 3, but have not ridden the Genesis Croix Der Fer or CDF which is closer to what I have, so can’t offer a comparison. I originally wanted a Croix Der Fer, but couldn’t afford one so when the Plug 3 came up in the sales I bought one. Ceepers’ review of his Filter did help convince me, and some googling suggested some people found the Charge Plug more springy than the CDF, not sure about the Croix Der Fer though.

I really like mine, it is a bit porky, but that was always going to be the case with a budget steel bike. With the Plug 5’s reduced weight and hydro disks it should be a really nice bike. That said, the Croix Der Fer has an excellent reputation too so you should be fine with either.

80mm works to lower the front end height, it starts to get a bit high for some riders with longer forks and small 29er frames. Drops the BB a tad also. That said it’s only 10-12mm of fork height once you’re riding and the fork’s moving. The rigids are all 470mm long, that’s 100mm-corrected and works out ok for front end height on the S size.

Thanks, it sounds like it might be OK for me then. I just sold my old bike today and was hoping to snag a 2014 model, but it looks like they have sold out since I looked yesterday!

I’ve not played with lego in about 20 years, but now I have an urge to buy this!

Has anyone tried one of these in size small? If so how did they find it? Evans list small for 5’4 to 5’7, so should be a good fit for me at 5’5.5 but I have never owned a 29er so was looking for real world feedback.

I know that the medium and large are popular, and I went and sat on a small Ramin 2 yesterday, but haven’t riden one. I noticed that the small with front suspension is fitted with forks with 20mm less travel than the meduim and large sizes, but the Ramin One forks appear to be the same across all models. Or am I over thinking this?

8 Weeks minimum really. I would advise searching for a reputable breeder of the breed you are interested in in your area, and ideally meet at least one, if not both parents to get an idea of their temperament and physical condition. Probably not gumtree TBH.

There are a lot of puppy farms or people breeding for the money, where the animals are not well looked after etc. A good breeder should have had them vet checked, and used good quality flea and worming products as a minimum. Ideally they will have started getting them used to a lead and collar and started socialising them too. If they haven’t done this then I would not consider getting a dog from them.

Alternatively there’s always the option of a rescue dog, although that might not be the best option for everyone. We have had a rescue and an 11 week old puppy from Preloved. Not great (but not terrible either) experiences with either so we would go with the responsible breeder option should we get another one.

These dogs with human names .. Alan, Colin, Jeff etc.

Imagning if these type of names were used for babies now….

“You’ve had a baby boy. Wow congrats”

“Yeah you’ll have to come around and see baby Keith”

Our Border Collie was named Dylan. Whilst he was a puppy, about 5 years ago we were training him using his name and discovered that our next door neighbours son had made a new friend in school. His name was also Dylan. The dog got a bit confused when the neighbour and his friends were playing in their back garden during the summer holidays.

If we get another dog we would consider naming it Pantera, or Genghis.

I quite like living near Preston, but didn’t really enjoy living in Preston itself when I was a student.

I can’t comment on the climbing, but the riding in the Forest of Bowland isn’t brilliant for bridleways and stuff. The open moorland is mostly footpaths. There’s a bridleway over Longridge Fell that’s not too bad when it’s dry, but is really boggy most of the time.

Gisburn is easily accessible, and Rivington is local if you are happy to drive there though. Ribble cycles and Merlin cycles are local too.

I know you asked for a frame, but this is a cheap built bike.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-country-explorer-14?bct=browse%2fbicycles%2ftouring-bikes

I’ve got no experience of them first hand, but people seem to like them and they are hard to beat in terms of VFM.

As above, my pump is on the frame under the bottle cage, and my phone is in a zipped pocket. Everything else (tube, patches, key etc) are in a small saddle bag.

The 615 Deore is a clutch rear mech, and I think the Deore brakes are Servo Wave, but could be wrong.

As above I use Google Maps for sat nav, but it does use data. I’ve tried NavFree for offline mapping but wasn’t overly impressed.

I also use Endomondo for fitness.

Thanks OP, just ordered a couple for my brother and sister.

I like Chilli cheese. Booths do one with lime and chilli, which is a bit like lime pickle with cheese. It is a combination that works better than you might expect.

Thats how mine arrived.
Should the battery have been separate in the small square box in the packaging?
If so Have I been sent a returned one, there wasn’t a seal over the box fastening.

I think mine came with the battery in like yours did.

What kind of flight times should I expect with the X4?

Mine arrived today, having a proper laugh with it but only seem to be getting 3 or 4 minutes maximum with the standard 240 mAh battery after a full charge.

Tried plugging the supplied charging lead into various usb chargers but getting the same flight times no matter what the battery is charged off.

I’ve not timed mine but when I was looking 6-7 minutes seemed the norm.

Quick flick through the instructions and it says to remove the battery before charging but I cant see how, it looks like it’s screwed down?

The battery is seperate from the quad, it just slots in. It is a tight fit though, you may need to gently pull on the wires to get it out.

Thanks OP, this should come in handy when planning mixed road/bridleway routes

Ah, that makes sense then as mine has the inbuilt camera.

Yeah, I read those reviews too. Mine came with one so I presumed that they all did? I’ve yet to use mine outside as the weather turned shortly before mine arrived.

Ordered the X4 V2, can’t wait!

There’s a guard for the rotors taped to the underside of the plastic packaging. It’s really useful for indoor flying as you can bounce off walls without damaging the blades. Both the Q4 and X4 are really good fun :-)

We used Healthy Pets for our collie, who we had to have put to sleep last month.

We were with them from the off, with lifetime cover (similar to PetPlan, but cheaper). Every year for the last five years we have had to claim for the same condition, and they paid out without fail (directly to the vets so we didn’t have to pay up front and claim it back).

We had the gold cover that had a limit of £7500 per condition for life, and we only had to pay the excess once in those five years. I would recommend getting a quote from them.

I bought the one linked to (Hubsan Q4) about 6 weeks ago when ebuyer were selling them for £20 each (they have gone up in price now). It has taken a few knocks as it took me a while to get my head around the controls but it is fantastic fun.

I also bought the Hubsan X4 with camera as I found the Q4 so much fun. The X4 is bigger but easier to fly as it is more stable, and has a much better controller (the Q4 one is tiny). The X4 has a removable battery too.

From what I understand the X4 and Q4 use the same internals so the controllers are compatible with both versions.

I’ve just given the Plug a test over road, track, canal towpath, cobbles, bridleway, cattle grids. I was pleasantly surprised at the ride, not too harsh. If I was doing that test loop on a regular basis I’d fit some larger tyres. Perhaps the brakes could be a little keener. Only downer was the chain separated on the joining link and came off the bike completely..luckily no damage. I’d advise checking the joining link to make sure it is fitted correctly.

That sounds promising. Sorry to hear the chain failed on its first outing, but other than that it sounds like a winner. Thanks for sharing your findings.

2014 Plug 3 out of the box without pedals 11.7Kg added shimano SPD pedals (not the flat ones supplied which would be a little lighter) and that took it to about 12.1Kg. Pretty heavy but not a surprise, I’ll forgive it since I like the way it looks (been after a red bike for years!).

New lighter tyres will be purchased soon and perhaps wheels further down the line if I’m still loving the bike. Probably won’t get to ride it tomorrow so perhaps Friday. Once thing I noticed was the size chart put me in the medium / large overlap went for the medium and I definitely the right choice…large would have been too big.

Thanks fubar, that’s about 1.5 KGs more than my Triban, but then it is steel and has discs so isn’t surprising. I stopped by the local Evans last night and they are ordering one in for me, it should be there on Monday.

I would be interested to hear how you get on with it. I bought the Triban last year as a cheap introduction to road bikes, and although I do like the bike I think it may be a touch too big for me. When I got it I planned to replace it with a disc braked bike when I found one for the right price.

Evans size guide puts me on a small (which is all they have left anyway), but Wiggle puts me on an extra small so I will have to see how it fits when I see it.

Thanks Ceepers, this sounds perfect for what I want. Thanks for the blog link, that’s the type of stuff I would love to do, although it will never happen.