2006 ml 320 here, first of the gen2 model which was light years ahead of the 1st gen. 120000 miles now from 66000 when i got it 6 years ago, does 30mpg,( hit 40mpg once going to scotland when they had 50mph speed limit in place) £560 year road tax and £500 a year on servicing, tyres are £130 a pop and last 30000 miles.
Its super comfy, great for long distances on motorway, good over fields for camping, and loads of room in the back for dogs bikes, hay bales etc.
Only had a new battery and a rear console unit blown, other than consumables its been the most reliable car Ive had.
Feels very well made. Worth about £3500, was £50k new!
get one with FSH though!

Live in the countryside but within 10 miles of a major city ( by Bike), always picked jobs i could work from home and/or within cycle commute distance. Covid situation has meant WFH indefinitely with a day in the office here and there only if required, they off hired a whole floor of my office due to redundancies and for more people at my work now the norm is wfh.
Best thing about countryside – big garden, lots of nice walks and country pubs, friendly people, little traffic, and a few village shops within a mile or so. Prices have shot up though with 3 houses on my street recently selling quickly and for around 25% higher price than they thought pre covid! lunch at home with the missus everyday is also nice.
Id say go for it but act fast!

Missus got me a flying lesson. We threw a big party for 50 of my friends and family at the house so ended up with 7 bottles of scotch, and I bought myself a vintage Rolex.

Got a Whyte 629 here. Quality of the frame is awesome and as cheap parts wear out they Do benefit from upgrading! Running xtr and Chris king wheels on mine and upgraded the forks And she’s a proper flier. Most people never heard of them so they fly under the radar.

I have a 2006 merc ml. worth about £4k. seats go down flat in the back and its like a small van, but with big comfy seats, auto, 3lv6 td engine, mercedes build quality and 33mpg on a long run though i dont do much mileage so mpg isnt a worry. depreciation is almost negligble, £550 a year car tax though. Looks like a baby unimog too so its a win-win :-)

I’m after a 200×50 dpx2 for my Hightower if you want to do a deal?

have you tried other brands the guys have some cheaper 12 speed sram alternatives by sunrace: https://www.bikester.co.uk/parts/cassettes-chains/cassettes.html

i find they do, but I also recommend use thick grips, padded gloves and hold your posture better so less load is placed through the hands at point of contact, loosen the grip you have on the bars, and ride wider tyres with less psi in them

after 1 fatality on our road cause by a nutter doing 55 in a 30, we campaigned and got some of those intelligent speeding slow down signs fitted, 50% of motorists still ignore them but it helps a bit, we had to do a community speed watch for 12 months and the council fitted a traffic recorder to verify the stats.
I sometimes park my big old 4×4 on the road to slow people down. thinking of putting one of these up aswell.
https://www.securitysafetyproducts.co.uk/security/safety-signs/police-slow-roll-up-road-sign-900x600mm.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0rr4BRCtARIsAB0_48MMy6KnJ-Vovjfui7u2YIjuj8TDsvINfn9yLvrjqc7i7WFZyrKZUnEaAp6EEALw_wcB
thing is some people just don’t give a funk about speed limits, nor the impact of their actions on others, and with very little real risk of being caught due to lack of policing its an issue we wont ever fully solve until we evolve as a species to not have to rely on cars for every single little journey.

your reaction to the situation is to be commended sir, only thing to add is that there are far too many people in prison, hospital and the cemetery due to the escalation of road rage incidents, stupid is as stupid does!

i asked myself the same question after my delonghi mach9ine died, ( was looking at a sage barista) and after getting a £20 bean grinder, £15 stove top pot and £10 milk frother jug, decided I didnt need a machine after all and actually enjoy the process of coffee making this way (takes all of 5 minutes) and haven’t sacrificed flavour or worktop space!

on my 3rd case from them, first one was a mixed bag but then found some offers for moor beer which is amazing stuff and go through 2 cases. generally take 5 -7 days to arrive after order which I can live with

I had about 50 LPS from when I was younger and have a decent old HIFI so recently bought one so I could listen to them again, bought 4 more albums since ( led zep 4, Dark side of the moon, Nevermind and kind of blue) and love listening to them start to finish with a half time interval to change sides

id be keen to know the price and spec of the gretsch chipps

Im a guitarist turned drummer, and whilst I only have one drum kit I do have 13 guitars, which is the optimum amount:

1 fender strat
2 fender telecasters ( one with high actions set up in open g for slide )
1 gibson les paul
1 gibson 335
1 gibson firebird
1 martin d18 acoustic
1 takamine budget acoustic
2 handmande acoustic from vietnam
3 tanglewood parlour guitars set up in different tunings for slide
plus two amps, a marshall handwire and a fender blues junior
plus 1 ukulele, a bugel, a harminica and a set of bongoes
did have a yamaha electric piano but its on permanent loan to a mate

ebay. Ive shifted tons of old bike bits the last few weeks for good money on ebay. Parcelforce collect too so no need to leave the house.
Pinkbike has always been a bit hit and miss for me
STW classifieds has been mostly miss.

I’ve done more Road cycling this month than ever before (700kms so far) and upto this weekend saw very little traffic. This weekend though there’s a distinct increase in the number of high speed nutters in Audi’s BMW’s and souped up mumsmobiles ragging round the countryside with scant regard for the well-being of other road users. I think lockdown boredom is setting in!

I’d avoid Öhlins. A mate had his set seize up whilst on bc road trip in whistler and no one could get the parts for service. He had to buy some rs lyriks at $1200 to see out the holiday.
I’d go pikes.

I like the look of them. But for my local trails and advancing years I think I’d be better off with a highball.

Joe bonamassa has a few of them. Not sure what the appeal is to be honest at this price.

I’m running a set of stans baron s1 with wtb ranger 2.8 tyres. Smooth no name hubs not too heavy and crc have em for £315

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/stans-no-tubes-baron-s1-mtb-wheelset/rp-prod163028

Brakes line up with my other wheels which are dt350s.

Watchfinder.co.uk May be worth a look. Even a Rolex for 2.5k. They do sometimes haggle on the listed price.

You could be into 2nd hand omega at that price. A nice refurbished constellation. Or a Cartier.

What’s your budget?

i had this problem 18 months ago the solution turned out to be a 2nd had cannondale caadx for £500 off eBay. didn’t want to spend much in case i hated it. I’ve since spent another £1k on it with upgraded wheels and full tiagra hydro brakes/ groupset on and i absolutely love it.

one of my pals took a megatower to BC for our 2019 road trip ( North shore, VC island, Squamish, Whistler bp) it climbed like a goat and hauled serious ass downhill, i couldn’t keep up on my high-tower. I think if your furloughing the rough stuff regularly that extra bit of travel really helps.

gravel king SK’s here, 40c, really good tubeless on and off road

I read that the volumes of traffic were seeing is 75% less than normal. Makes for really awesome road riding. Clean air no noise and loads more people out on bikes. Enjoy it while you can.

Stuck a bottle cage and bell on the full sus as mainly doing short laps of the ‘suddenly full of walkers’bridlepaths locally for my daily excercise. Missing the hills that’s for sure.

On my 2nd pint of Nottingham brewery rock ale. #Lockdownlockin

my social distancing impulse online shopping thus far:

waiting on
bulk order of granola from 15th march, still not dispatched
a new saddle, tyre sealant and rim tape.
some chris king lube so i can service my hubs.

orders arrived already:
roval carbon wheels for the hightower
new ugg slippers
a north face hoodie
18 pints of ale from the local brewers
MXR chorus pedal for my guitar

On hold due to job uncertainty:
Trek rail e bike

https://www.ugg.com/uk/mens-tasman-sheepskin-slippers/5950.html?dwvar_5950_color=CHE

been running the gravelking sk 40mm on my CX commuter bike for the last few years, theyve taken a hammering on and off road and deal with thorn punctures easily, as long as i keep the sealant topped up.

Bought a road bike 5 years ago and do about 1500 miles a year on it. Do I wear Lycra? Hell yes. Do I give a flock about what people think I look like? Hell no.

Crazy weather in tignes last few days. Everything from high winds lo visibility to heavy rain sunshine and snow.

Just arrived in tignes. Lots of snow as far as I can see but arrived in the dark. Will
Report back tomorrow on conditions

This book was a big help for me when I was in a similar situation:

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/dale-carnegie/how-to-stop-worrying-and-start-living/GOR001217037?keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmsrxBRDaARIsANyiD1qm34jYtbYNIFUTclK3yQz9nzgvGGafbytfmtwdEHorygWMDpR0dDoaAjDVEALw_wcB

Happy to send you a copy if you send me your email.

Often wonder whether I’m missing a trick by sticking with my 20 year old seperates hi fi ( with bluetooth dongle attachment for streaming) rather than using a sonos type system, this news suggests I am not! ill stick with my old rig for now

overall average for the last 40,000 miles is 29.7mpg, 2006 mercedes 4×4 diesel, saw it hit 40mpg once on the way to scotland when it was a 50mph speed limit the whole way

Led Zeppelin 4. Just rebought on vinyl for extra oomph!