Separate accounts here and each just spend what we need/want to. If one of us is unintentionally building up funds and the other reducing, then we just make a concious effort to pay for a few more things from the greater pot, eg “you can pay the house insurance for this year”

Whilst I earn more, I’m also definitely less inclined to part with money without comparing prices etc first, so it suits me fine that by default I manage the larger part of the spend. Where she’d likely renew her insurance out of convenience, I’d want to see a big chunk of Quidco and would always pay it on a card that pays me cashback.

That manual is for AV8B, which is the variant that the septics fly.
TBH, I would have expected more pictures and fewer words :-)

Du ??

Isn’t that a generic term for it?
Which suppliers do folk use?

This isn’t going to be easy for me but i’ll give it a try…
Here goes…

I agree with what Elfinsafety said

There, I did it. :-)

Wheel damage should not be an issue as the chain should barely touch the wheel. All the contact area is on the tyre.

The A44 road over the tops from Llangurig will be the potential problem (assuming you’re coming from that direction).
Once you’re over there you’ll be fine.
Plenty of trails to explore from Strata Florida, heading toward Elan. A bit fire-road-heavy but that might be a benefit at the moment.

Tregaron really is very “rural Welsh” Wales but the pub on the junction in the middle of the town is not a bad place to spend an evening at all.

If you’re up here in the land of civilisation then Aberlour

Wednesday nights? Bogtrotters

Feeling vunerable is good, it lets you know where your limits are.

This assumes that you are happy with where you think your limits are.

Yeah, there’s a skills compensator element to it but you can’t conversely say that you’ll get better skills if you ski without.
It’s not like the “big forks” debate.

FunkyDunc,
In her case, the problem was that she wasn’t trying to do a 20m jump!!! (It should have been shorter) She just went too fast at the takeoff.
That kind of illustrates my point, which is that sometimes you get it wrong and sometimes other people get it wrong. Either way, I’d rather have the benefit of the protection.

Sorry to be blunt but its a case of:

If you don’t think you need a helmet, then you probably don’t !!!

ie, Have you got anything you (or significant others) would consider worth protecting?

Our kids have always worn them but, to be honest, the penny only dropped for me about 5 years ago. Since then the wife and I have worn them too. Now I’d feel vulnerable without. I’ve seen too many accidents where it would have made all the difference between laughing it off and being carried off.

I’d say the chances of somebody else hitting you are much higher on skis than when you’re on a bike.
You’re probably also likely to be going much faster on skis than on wheels.

Last year, one of the kids in our party took a big fall, failing spectacularly to land a massive jump (maybe 20m+)
She went down HARD on her back and hit the back of her head in the process.
Her helmet definately served its purpose but unfortunately she was evacuated for suspected spinal. (Thankfully later given the all clear)

My eldest is now after a spine protector for christmas as he’s still narked that she outjumped him (even if she didn’t land it).

Get one!

doug,
It’s Bombardino and yes, int it great!
Ramazzotti is the other local tipple that I like.
Local red wine (Lagrein Grieser) is not bad either.

OP – I would recommend Kronplatz[/url] for family skiing.
Yes, Italy again but for me it would always be Italy or Austria as first choice.

Kronplatz is almost unknown to Brits but we’ve been going regularly for about ten years.
Whilst its in Italy, they consider themselves to be Südtirol and the spoken language is predominantly German. Most of the clientelle are German, which is a good thing.
The uplift capacity is fantastic, so you don’t waste time queueing even at peak season.
I’d recommend searching for half board in the vilage of St Vigil.
HTH

UCL….. is that top tube or wheelbase?

Just found some threads on another forum from USA users (proper cold) that seem to suggest it was a 2008 models problem and more recent stuff hasn’t suffered the same. Just anecdotal, nothing conclusive.

junkyard, I wasn’t having a pop at DONK or suggesting he’d done something wrong. I just wondered if there was a common factor such as model/year.

Is this a problem with certain models? certain vintage? certain “milage”?

I think its worth collecting a bit more data on the problem.
Quite happy to start the ball rolling.

I’ve two bikes with shimano brakes:

Model/Age: 2009 XT fitted from new on FS and 2010 XT OEM retro fitted to HT.
Usage: Both heavily used (gone through umpteen pads)
Fluid: Both recently bled through with Halfrauds LHM
Maintenance regime: pistons lubed with plumbers’ silicone spray and cycled in-out when changing pads or at any indication of lazy piston.
Stored: Integral garage, so only exposed to extreme cold when riding.
Location: Lancs.
Cold use: Still night riding, well below zero.
Cold effects: both feel a bit more digital on-off at the moment(Hayes like) but continue to work fine. No leakage. No problems yet.

thomthumb, I was assuming the percentages were of max, as that’s what Stuartie c introduced in his post.
I’ll look at the numbers again on basis of HRR.
Ta

Jase, that was my first thought.
I can’t recall ever getting much over 182 though (trying hard!)

Read somewhere that running up a big hill was a better measure to establish max than riding up same. Will try that.

I recently got myself a basic Polar HRM and so far have just used it to try and understand what I’m currently doing (when just going for a ride). Baselining I suppose.

Seeing those numbers quoted above has got me thinking I’m already doing something fundamentally wrong:

I’m 43 and tend to max at about 182bpm at some point on most rides.
Resting hr is circa 60 bpm.

A typical night ride at the moment would be 2.5 hrs at an average of 155bpm (reasonable pace but still stopping, chatting, waiting for stragglers). That would be 85%, which sounds too high!

Two weeks ago, that first really cold night, there were only a couple of us out so we ended up doing 3 hrs with no stops (other than gate opening) and averaged 165bmp. That would be 90%!!! I was cramping-up occasionally towards the end of the longer climbs but this eased if I backed-off a bit.
Pre-HRM, I’d have judged the intensity of a ride by “If I’m cramping up then I’m trying just a little too hard, and backing off a little next time out to avoid it.

I’m not super-human, so those percentages surprise me.
Your thoughts?

Take a look onMoney Saving Expert

AS DD says, you may be better with annual policy.
If it’s winter sports you need then you may also find that Family wintersports cover is disproportionately cheaper than for single traveller. (I guess the family traveller is lower risk.)

Just try pricing all the combinations of single/family; single trip/annual, etc

HTH

Yep. I reckon the Mule NV is worth a punt at that price.
I ordered one last night :-)

That was us. Coming Up Coal Pit ? met you on where the path joins the mast road ?

Nods to Lowey. Pleased to meet you.

We reversed your tracks down Smithills Moor to the steps, then turned left and went exploring off-piste before crossing what were presumably your tracks on the road near Smithills Dean.

Bundlebox estimates £40 shipping and £60 import tax etc, so total delta costs circa £100 on top of the £216 ($325) item cost.

That looks attractive to me.

Also threw some numbers at their cost calculator to see if a group-buy would save anything but showed that it wouldn’t as most of the cost is item-value driven.

hmm, interesting ferrit, I’ll look into it.

It’s probably only a little cheaper than going to the amazon seller direct (circa $100 shipping quoted on the hucknroll website but you then have a different import tax regime to contend with, that would have been less unpredictable if through amazon).
The main obstacle would be the warranty I think… but if they’re that reliable anyway, then it might be worth sacrificing that.

Ooh, what have I started ?!!! 8O

PSA here for anyone wanting to get hold of the 44RC3Ti from the States.
Amazon.com @$325 delivered BUT… only to a US address. I was trying all last night to circumvent that one and failed misserably! Would be great if you have freinds out there and are not in any panic though.

Surfer’s got the right approach:

Debt per se is not bad, unmanageble debt is.

It’s about managing your financial affairs as though you are a business. If you can borrow money at a low rate and use it to create personal wealth, then great. That’s sound risk/opportunity management.

At the other extreme, the same logic of managing the debt still applies equally well but the objective then becomes to avoid incurring costs whilst maintaining solvency/managing the cashflow.

I’ve been in both situations at various stages in life. Its simply a matter of taking responsibility and managing your financial affairs. How can people think they can ignore this basic responsibility and blame others?

People do sometimes need help and occassionally deserve support BUT people who aren’t prepared to address the problem (eg blow £6 on a car or ignore the bank’s charges) DON’T </rant>

Thanks all for the input.
I’m leaning towards the ‘zocchis at the moment, would probably stick to the 44 RC3Tis, rather than 55s.
Seen a few deals from USA sites but I beleive that would have warranty implications, which would negate one of the main benefits.

Andituk,

Quite nice and crispy up there last night:
Barn>Pike>Wilders Moor>Mast>Smithills Moor>Two Lads>Dog kennels>Gardens
Met a couple of other loonies up by the mast too.
Bolton MRT were up there too pratting around with out-of-life distress flares.
Not really any problem with the amount of snow that’s on the ground, still plenty grippy enough and nice and fast rolling ‘cos it’s frozen solid underneath.

Have fun.

They’ve only been out for about 3 months

Christ ! is it only that recently?

Seemed like they’d been in the mags for ages.

I guess that’s because I hadn’t taken any interest whilst I had properly functioning forks but have been watching intently for the last couple of months.

Will probably run the floats into the ground over the next 6 months and then either see how Fox are fairing or try to find a decent discount on >2010 ‘zocchis.

they’re only sacrificial aren’t they? (in case of bearing seizure) – don’t see why they have to be lovely, just present

Agreed, although mine is currently <75% present on one side (broke off a piece of the inner “tube” whilst refitting.
I took the view that it would probably be fine so long as there was no free play in it and there was still something left to sacrifice in case of bearing seizure. I would like to replace that tophat at next bearing change though.

Thomthumb,

do you know if those FSA ones from uk bike store are compatible with Shimano?

Cheers.

midlifecrashes, thanks for the clarification.

There is another possible interpretation of

The proposed loan repayment threshold is £21,000.
The repaymnent rate will be at 9% above that threshold.

i.e. Is it possible that the repayment at 9% applies to the whole of the earnings (not just that element >£21k), once you’re above the theshold?
This would result in payment of c£2k PA kicking-in at the theshold.

I’d be happy to hear that this is not the case but haven’t seen anything yet to dispell my fears.

The default answer on here is likely to be …
Hope Hoops, Pro II hub with Stans Flow rim.

Much as I hate to be a sheep, I really can’t fault that answer.
Tubed or tubeless, suit yourself – brilliant wheelset run whichever way.
Strong and light.

ianpinder,

Just remember that half of Munich will also be setting off early on Saturday morning and heading down the Inntal junction. Make Sure you get through that bottleneck EARLY.

A hotel on the SE side of Munich will avoid some of the traffic and ensure you get onto the autobahn 8 more easily (the other potential bottleneck)
We normally expect to pay circa 50 Euros for a family room (inc breakfast if lucky). There are some very reasonable new ones around the Messe.

Also, if you’re lucky enough to be out there over Christmas itself, the main family celebration day is Christmas EVE out that way. This means that you’ll have the resort to yourself but might find some facilities closed. Everything will be open again on Christmas day.
HTH

We drive to either Austria or Italy most years.
IMHO its less hassle than flight + hire car.
Usual plan for us is Hull-Rotterdam overnight ferry, arriving at about 09:00, then zip down the autobahns to Munich. Hotel overnight there.
Set off dressed in ski gear ealy the following morning. On the slopes for 10:00 ish.
Other years we’ve done the journey down to Italy, over the Brenner, in one go. It’s really not that bad a drive.

Germany and Austria’s infrastructures cope with snow very well. Its not an issue.
Once into Austria, one thing to remember is that if the roads to the resorts aren’t open, then they’re loosing revenue. Consequently, they are cleared very promptly.

We take chains but have only needed to fit them once and only then for the few miles up/down the valley to the resort.

I’ve also lived in Munich for a few years and my one enduring memory of autobahns in winter is of three lanes white-over to a depth of about 6 inches, constant heavy snow falling all around, three snowploughs/blowers working in formation …. and that only warranted putting the matrix signs to 100 kph.
The traffic was still flowing fine.

Christ, this country would be on its knees. :roll:

Peck my hut

My ketchup

Tyke chump (wrong side of the Pennines)

I went for the slick hub and vapour rim at the same price (not as wide)
I’ve only been running them for a month or so but I’m impressed by the quality for the money.
Seem very evenly tensioned to my untrained ear and certainly robust.

They’re not too bad out of the factory though. Would most people notice a difference?

IIRC, I think Roger said that they were too tight from the factory and exceded the tension limits for Stans rims.

as per martymac ^^^

Call me unadventurous but that’s what I’ve had every day for the past year and a bit (with the only exceptions being for a fry-up occassionally).
Porridge, flapjack, maltloaf, all you’ll ever need. :D

edit: and jelly babies, obviously.