I pickled some Brussel Sprouts over Christmas for a bet. Lots of chilli involved and I’m still letting them mature. Oddly enough no-one seems that enthusiastic to be the first to try……

The new Berlingos do come in two lengths but the one I’m looking at is old so I guess it now classes as an SWB.

There’s no way my bike will go in straight – it would mean a wheel off or in at an angle.

Interesting point about the Tax and Tolls. I went to Wales yesterday and it’d be nice to know the Severn crossing toll was the same as the car.

I’m leaning more towards the Berlingo now.

Can’t do a LWB Connect as I’ve a limited space to park one and the SWB fits perfectly.

Doh – yes, Citroen NOT Renault (french innit).

Like the idea of the false floor. I guess I was wondering how bikes would go in with both wheels in – but if you reckon you can squeeze three in then that’s more then enough for me.

The Berlingo I’ve seen is a very clean example it’s fair to say.

It is an SWB Connect. Cool – thanks for the tip 🙂

I still don’t get it.

What I do get is people out there like the back-to-basics (Amish – I’m not letting that one go!) feel of riding a track on a bike with no suspension. I started riding when all bikes had no suspension and I enjoyed it as much then as I do today on the variety of bikes I own.

But why not just hark back to the days of old and get a rigid framed, normal wheeled, bike? An Inbred with a rigid fork maybe?

Why has old fashioned needed to be re-invented for the modern day? And if you want to get more in touch with the trail why are you using disk brakes – surely that must be seen as some kind of performance advantage that takes away from the purity of riding?

I’m not being grumpy here (well I’m not trying to be) – I just honestly do not get it. My old Marin Bolinas ridge was £230 complete and meets all the simple purist needs that are being talked about.

Would I want to try one – hell yes. I’ve ridden some very odd bikes over the years.

Would I want to own one – hell no. They are ugly (subjective, I appreciate) and I can’t see why they represent any sort of giggle value at the price they are. If they were a couple of hundred quid I’d probably buy one for giggle rides a couple of times a year.

Even I’m getting confused now.

So owning a Jones isn’t about speed. It isn’t about smoothness. Or technical ability. It isn’t about where you ride or whether you’re Amish or not.

It’s about defining yourself?

What as? Niche?

Or it could just be friendly ‘banter’ and pee taking?

Well yes….

I ride an Orange 5 and I care not one jot whether people keep saying it’s ugly or it looks like a filing cabinet. And (here lyeth the difference) I don’t get all evangelical in its defence.

Fatd bikes are nothing special. If we all loved them then they wouldn’t be so niche-tastic for those that do.

I’ve had a Jones for nine years – so I must be out of fashion now surely?

Yes. Sorry to be blunt but this isn’t about fashion.

I’m a firm believer in personal choice, but for some reason there’s a fantasism about this style of bike that is annoying.

People who ride this type of bike are looking for something beyond innovation, beyond fashion. It clearly doesn’t matter if there’s a better tool for the job either.

People who ride this type of bike are the Amish of mountain biking. And that is cool. Just don’t try to persuade the world of your religion.

They are very expensive (fact) and very ugly (opinion).

I’d not heard of Jones before this thread so I went to look at their website.

I saw pictures of lots of bikes I wouldn’t want to own – so yes, this does seem to kill lots of birds with one stone.

I appreciate beauty is in the eye of the beholder but they do look a bit like the inbred offspring of a delivery boys bike and a vintage tractor.

If it is a hatch (and not a saloon) then they’re massive.

Fold rear seats down. Take front wheel off. Chuck in.

When I go to France I take the pedals and handlebars off too and “stand” the bikes upright with the fork legs in the rear foot wells. This way you get almost an entire loading area for kit and tools etc.

The division is a joke at the moment.

Audley really should retire.

David Price isn’t a bad boxer but he’s arrogant and has now paid for it.

Tyson Fury is a good hitter but a pretty useless boxer and a gobshite of the highest order.

Had hoped Price would rise to greatness. It’ll be interesting to see how he recovers from this one.

Why ban hands free phone calls? You’d have to ban talking in a car (whether to a phone or other passenger) for it to make any sense.

What about banning smoking? The hands free in my car is activated from the steering wheel which must be sharer than finding a fag, popping it in your mouth and then lighting it?

But then driving is so very boring, so having a few distractions isn’t so bad is it?

slash
Firstly for the solo in One in a Million
Secondly for the soulful cover of Ain’t in Fun of the Spaghetti Incident
Slither from the Velvet Revolver days

Angus
Well for pretty much anything but I do really like Touch too Much

Iron Maiden
Strange World

Hendrix
All along the watchtower (already mentioned)

Too many to mention really. Guitars are ace.

Mr Molgrips

I want a PC that will manage my video editing better. I have a GoPro and I use freebie software for editing (which may be part of the problem) but I get bored of it taking three hours to turn my files into nice HD video.

Needs lots of storage space as I have lots of music, photos etc.

Needs not much else tbh. I like a big screen though.

As I said I do most of my stuff on my iPad. The desktop is really just a nicer tool for video and music stuff (nicer than my laptop).

I’m lucky enough to be on fibre optic broadband so connection to the Internet isn’t an issue.

When can you deliver?

You see – I’m old.

My last desktop was all seperates and I loved it for it. I used to shy away from the all in one boxes on the basis that if one bit broke the entire thing was borked.

Budget – £1000? I do want something that will edit video faster than my old laptop which just seems really wheezy. A nice big screen (bigger than a laptops) would also help.

I guess I could buy a laptop and docking equipment. Not really thought of that.

Yes – I meant there seems more laptops then desktops.

And I do understand that getting a bespoke one gives you unlimited options – but I am not the most tech savvy individual and would probably end up wasting my money on functionality I neither needed nor understood.

31/2/13?

None of us will see that date…..

EDIT: That’s cheating….

31 01 2013 isn’t palindromic……

Flash spray with bleach will remove it. Spray it on and leave it for an hour.

Use an old flannel to wipe the sealant after each shower and clean a little more often……

Is it an auto?

They won’t do anything if left in gear……

Get something automatic, comfy, good climate and a good stereo.

I did a similar commute a few years back and drove a 2.5 SE X-Type Jag. Plenty of em out there and spend as above – half car and half on petrol.

I now drive 5 miles to work and have a manual diesel Mundano.

People often think I’ve got it all the wrong way round but having the comfy car on e long drives made a huge difference to my mood.

The above seems reasonable. It’s how I divorced my missus…..

Tread carefully. The rules around license requirement are complicated.

Remember Lemsip has paracetamol on it which is quantity controlled by many countries and requires a pharmacist release even though its OTC to avoid potential for accidental overdose.

Having said that chemistdirect.co.uk seem to deliver to Europe. But the buyer will be restricted on quantity due to the paracetamol content.

Cool. Proper cool 🙂

Well in answer to the OPs question about a rock n roll band it has to be AC/DC.

They’ve stuck to a formula and produced some epic tooooooons. Live they’re fabulous. What’s not to like.

Don’t change the recipe. Don’t evolve. Do what you do and do it loud. AC/DC innit.

A bowl of pickled onions and some cocktail sticks so the wife can enjoy would seem the classy solution.

I don’t do Christmas, New Years or even my own birthday. They’re all arbitrary dates.

Time with mates. Time with family. It’s all ace.

But perhaps the best times are those that pre not pre-ordained.

I’ll be spending tomorrow night with loved ones. But hat isn’t because the year is at an end.

Don’t want to get all existential on you – but life is what you make of if, not what society has prescribed.

If the Mayans did get it wrong and this Friday isn’t rapture than I don’t see it’s worth getting wound up about. Its not like its the end of the world.

@spectabilis

I hear what you’re saying, but these were FIXED brakes supplied by Hope. The front needed no loosening or adjustment to any joints. Yet within en miles would be spewing fluid onto the pads. So this is a brake fitted as from Hope, and returned as a wrong un before being refitted.

This is the straw that broke the camels back.

If they can’t get em right then why should I bother.

Ran Hayes for years. Fit, use, forget. And half the price of Hope.

Now on XT. Fit, use, forget. Cheaper than Hope.

If you want to pay for them, good luck. I choose not to. Simple.

In sufficiently tightened. Terminated incorrectly. Made of cheese. You choose.

All I know is Hope were really poor at sorting this. This legendary customer service (presumably because so much goes back) was woeful.

The year mine were leaky I went out to the alps and rode with a big bunch of guys using Hope brakes. They ALL leaked.

Maybe it was a bad year. But then I’ve mates who’ve had them recently and they scream like banshees in the rain. Hope blame installation, but a similarly installed XT doesn’t scream.

Products support is clearly strong, sadly stronger than the product.

Sadly me and a lot of my mates have had poor performance from Hope and their returns dept. So much so that when I brought a Five recently I had to ask Orange to put Avid brakes on instead of Hope. That’s how much I hate them.

Money for power for reliability. Hope are useless.

I hate Hope brakes. I’ll start with that so people know where I’m coming from.

The reason is as above. I brought very early M4s for two bikes and both sets leaked like an old woman who’d drunk twenty cups of tea and touched the white stuff that comes out of a broken dandelion.

They leaked from the unions mainly.

They got sent back to Hope who sent them back “fixed”. Usually within ten miles they’d be weeping again and not working due to fluid on the pads.

I appreciate the marmite nature of Hope. Some of you are lucky. I wasn’t. Hope just suggested it was my fault – brakes fitted by me and bike shop, front brake which requires no breaking shouldn’t fail, I’m not bad with spanners….

Swore ten years ago never to use the shit again. It works randomly, and their attitude when they can’t fix it is very poor.

I did suggest they changed their logo to “Don’t stop using Hope”. I don’t think they saw the joke……

Had a funny turn on a business trip in September and ended up being rushed to Prague A&E with a suspected heart attack.

They couldn’t find anything wrong and put it down to stress / anxiety. But when I got home work insisted I went to see a cardiologist. I’ve so far had 24h ECG monitoring, 24 Blood Pressure monitoring and an echocardiogram.

They all came back normal.

Doesn’t stop you worrying, but it’s good to know the tests are pretty reliable. I guess it was frightening at the time as I’m a ripe old age and a tad fat.

Keep talking to your GP and try not to fret until they find something, which they may well not. My symptoms are decreased and almost gone now – so the ways see it I’ve had a good MOT 🙂

Arnold Schwarznegger was asked which famous composer he might like to portray in a film.

He replied “I’ll be Bach”

David Beckham was stuck on a jigsaw. The picture on the box was a tiger but he just couldn’t make the pieces look right.

Eventually he asked Victoria for help.

She told him to put the Frosties back in the pack.

I told my ex boss he was ‘p-ing’ me off totally in front of his entire leadership team. He got booted out of the company the following day.

Then told his boss he was a ‘banker’ in front of other colleagues. He fell about laughing and then demoted me 🙂

Some you win, some you lose.

Best fun was telling the owner of a software house he was a lazy, useless tosser that was dragging his company down. As he was trying to get a huge contract from us at the time he wasn’t best placed to argue…

Sadly I had a reputation for gobbing off at people. Eventually (after the banker incident above) HR put me on a coaching course where I learnt to be rude to people without using offensive langauge 😉

Bulb alignment can vary. Had an ancient old Renault Five once and it had little screw adjusters on the back of each headlight – pretty much everytime I changed a bulb I had to reset the sods.

Not sure if this is the case with modern motors – but probably worth a look.

The problem with the dash adjusters is it does both lamps – so if one is pointing skyward and you adjust it down the other will become a bit useless…..

Hmmmm,

They’re not too bad to take apart and clean. I had HFX9s on my old bike and they were prone to doing this. It’s an easy job to pop the pistons out, clean, re-fit and re-bleed.

BUT – once they start doing this it becomes a more frequent problem.

I got a bit lazy with mine and just replaced them every couple of years when they were on sale at CRC…..

Don’t use them anymore as they are too much of a pain compared to modern equivalents (XT all the way).

He’s one dimensional.

They’ve just mentioned Haye. I don’t like him either but I’d bet on David Haye taking his head off.

He just lacks credibility for me.

The Kiltchkos can fight and box, but they’re mainly technical boxers. The sport desperately needs a fighter/boxer to bring some excitement to the division. Tyson Fury just doesn’t seem to be it.

He’s not pressuring his opponent. His opponent has been up against the world champ. This is poor.

The boos from the crowd say it all. He can’t deliver.

I just think David Price is a better bet. The rant TF gave at the fight Price had with Harrison was pathetic.

I wouldn’t want to be in a ring with him, even with a weapon. The boy can clearly hit. I’d just rather see a better example of boxing (not fighting) going up for a title shot.