thanks Fantic I am oddly lazy!

To be fair, I can empathise with that. My biggest issue was keeping the bike to a sufficient level of cleanliness that having it indoors was deemed acceptable. At least having a dedicated clean rear wheel was one less hassle. Swapping out the wheel was a 5 second job and I never found indexing to be an issue.

In the end, I decided indoor cycling was a winter only activity. Once the bike was indoors for winter then it stayed there until the spring. I also found swimming was infinitely more enjoyable than indoor cycling, so the turbo only got used a handful of times.

It’s odd you took the one answer that you wanted to hear and ignored all the others that said you should use a turbo specific tyre.

For the record, I used a Michelin Pro Comp for a few rides on a turbo and the rubber dust produced made me think it wouldn’t last much longer. So I bought a turbo tyre.

You might have found a second hand wheel off eBay for £25 a cheaper long term solution than keep buying new road tyres, particularly considering you do actually have a turbo tyre already. This one even comes with a turbo tyre and cassette on it already: eBay wheel (8 speed though)

I’d go with the 50’s or 40/50’s depending on your aesthetic preference.

For the record, I have the 50’s and would buy them again. I had a warranty issue with failing spokes but Hunt customer service was excellent. The mark of a good company is how they deal with problems. I personally can’t be arsed dealing with a Chinese company if things go wrong. Plus in times like these we should be supporting British business.

Ever welded before?

I was hoping nobody would ask. Truth is I have been a welding engineer for 15 years but I can’t actually weld. Think of me as a football manager that never made it as a player. I did a three day course and was rubbish at it. I feel the need for redemption.

I made a slide in frame out of timber

Could you elaborate on this a bit please? Got photos?

Speed wobble is frightening. I’ve never experienced it, but the stories from friends makes me paranoid.

One friend had this issue (different bike/wheels to you) and he fixed it by a combination of removing a spacer under the stem and just going a bit slower. I suspect the latter was more of a fix than the former. Interestingly, he never had issues until he got a pair of 45mm deep Mavic wheels – which suggest speed wobble can be caused by wheels.

Temporarily working from home due to COVID is the last thing on the bank/insurers mind. Feel free to contact them both to check, but 99% of the population wouldn’t even think about it.

I can’t see the Wildcats game going ahead… Well, it may do sans crowds!

You were right. Just announced.

And it seems the lack of testing is due to shortage of test kits.

I’ll just take my own precautions regardless of what the WA / Aus government advise. Kids still have to go to school, but I’ll probably work from home next week.

Good luck @aphex_2k with your job. I think you’re in for a tougher ride than us desk jockies.

P.S. I’m not a big a fan of this softly softly approach. The disease is here (Perth, WA in my case). We’ve got the region’s biggest oil & gas exhibition going on at the moment and the big finals of the basketball tonight (a big deal in WA). The general public don’t care if it gets cancelled. We know it’s in our own best interests.

I had a cold this week. I phoned up the hotline and was told I was ‘not at risk’- no advice to get tested. It’s just a matter of time until we get local transmission of the virus, so why not get a handle on it now rather than waiting until it becomes a problem?

From Monday (so he can go to the footy on Saturday)

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t for real. That man should never be put in front of a TV camera.

It’s my fault. I moved to Oz six months ago and spend hours reading it. Sorry.

I’m using bog standard shimano resin pads. Totally silent. Wet or dry.

Me too. How can that be? I never did anything clever. Just installed the brakes fresh out of the box, bled them, set them up as straight using the one eye squint technique, and hey presto! I’ve been through two sets of pads since new, so can’t imagine it was just luck.

(Shimano Ultegra on a Scott Foil with Hunt wheels – in case that is relevant)

I found the Topeak one to be a bit weak when it blasted. It wouldn’t seat a pesky road tyre. It was quickly replaced with an Airshot that has worked every time.

I recently broke my track pump (a basic Topeak jobbie), so a replacement was much cheaper than having to replace a tubeless/pump combo.

Take a look at the canister systems. I got the airshot but I think there are more refined and/or cheaper options.

The many criticisms of Aberdeen city are fair. You won’t hear me defending the city – it could have been made so much nicer if the council had got their act together. Now with the oil industry in decline I can’t see anything ever getting better. Talk of there being art or culture there is laughable. Considering it’s the third biggest city there is nothing of note.

But…. that’s the city. Don’t live in the city. Don’t rely on the city (except for work). Don’t expect the city to enrich tour life. Live somewhere on the outskirts close to the natural amenities that AberdeenSHIRE has to offer. I lived 30-40 minutes drive to the city and if weren’t for work I’d only go in maybe once a month to take the kids to the water slides.

So yeah, this city is pants. But don’t let that be the main deciding factor.

My wife read this whole thread.

Hello mrs_marcusbrody! I hope you know your husband does this ;-)

I basically choose what jobs to focus on using HigherEdJobs.com and Trailforks. Not always in that order.

All said in jest of course. I do it myself. Currently living in Perth, Australia conveniently close to one of the best windsurfing beaches :-)

Winters are dark, there’s no hiding that. You wake up in the dark and drive home in the dark. You might get out on your bike with lights, but your wife and son might not be so hardy.

On the flip side, there’s nothing more breathtaking than going for a walk up a hill on a crisp blue winters day and looking at the snow covered Cairngorms in the distance. And, it all becomes so much more worth it in May onwards when the days start getting longer and the weather warms up. One summer day in Aberdeenshire is worth a 100 summer days stuck in London (or any other big city).

I got used to the remoteness personally. My family and my wife’s family are from the south coast of England. We drove down there about twice a year with three kids – about 12 hours including stops. iPads were our saviour. We never used Aberdeen airport due to the cost. If we needed to fly abroad on holiday then Edinburgh or Glasgow are much cheaper and not far away. The only annoying thing about the remoteness was the lack of shopping in Aberdeen – as I said before Amazon will be your new shopping centre.

It sounds from your last post OP that you’ve got a decent appreciation of the place despite our squabbling. Hopefully you get the job offer and then it’s up to you and your wife to decide. Good luck.

deleted – it’s not worth it

You have some solid evidence for the other 2 statements but the what is the last one based one?

I know 100 Scots and one is a ****. So it’s a carefully researched source.

Please find another thread to hound me on. I actually want to help the OP with what could be a life changing decision.

Scotland is 94% white
Aberdeenshire is 97% white
Scottish people are 99% welcoming

Argument solved.

Source (except the welcoming thing): https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-visualiser/#view=ethnicityChart&selectedWafers=0&selectedRows=0,1,2,7,12,16

Each group of people have general characteristics. This is a well known fact. You clearly belong to a group who like to argue… a troll perhaps.

What a strange statement.

So now there are no bigots in Scotland?

It feels like pile on fanatic278 day today. Ok. I shall rephrase. She probably won’t have an issue with race. Scottish people are generally welcoming to everyone.

Geez. I didn’t mean to start a Banchory class war!

I have been rightfully corrected that Banchory isn’t out of the question. I did a quick check on the current property market and indeed £180k+ will get you something perfectly nice with a garage for all your bikes. By the way, possibly Rightmove is the correct place to look but historically http://www.aspc.co.uk is where all Aberdeenshire houses are listed.

Anyway, there are indeed many places other than Banchory to live. If you do get offered a job then we can restart the debate about which village is best (which is Banchory obviously 😉)

I’m not entirely sure people who are from or have spent a long time in an area are the best judges of it either.

Living in the city for a year as a student isn’t the most useful reference point for a mid-30s man with wife and kid looking to raise a family there. As a young graduate I had the chance to work in Aberdeen and didn’t even bother turning up for the interview. Fast forward to my mid-30s with one child and another on the way, I jumped at the chance. Aberdeen City isn’t the place to be for a family, but head west and it’s a different experience entirely. And as I said above, loved the place and would go back in a heartbeat.

If you’re used to Banchory money and aspire to get back to that once your wife gets back into work, then look at renting in Aboyne or Torphins for the first year. You can get your son into a decent primary school in both those villages, and if you ever get a boost in income it’s not too disruptive if you want to move to Banchory. I don’t want to harp on about Banchory too much as everyone has their own opinions, but you’ll find everyone who lives there love it.

If you don’t get the job, then it was a shithole and you dodged a bullet. Plus Massachusetts is a lovely place anyway.

I lived in Aberdeenshire (Banchory to be exact) for 10 years until last August, when moved to Australia. I recommend the place to everyone I talk to and would happily go back if I had to.

Aberdeenshire is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The scenery is breathtaking. You have so much greenery and fresh air. It’s impossible to take something like that for granted. If being in the outdoors is your thing then you will love it. Cycling, skiing, walking, sailing, kayaking, surfing….. the list is endless.

I see some negativity in some of the above posts, but unless they raised a family there then take the negative opinion with a pinch of salt. It’s easy to look at Aberdeen from a superficial level and assume it’s all grey and lifeless. To be honest, Aberdeen City is a bit like that, but other than working there you won’t be relying on the City for you or your family. You’ll be living as far out on the edge of the city as you can comfortably commute, so you can take advantage of the aforementioned countryside.

That’s not to say there aren’t negatives to Aberdeenshire. I won’t dwell on them, but a few things to be aware of. It has no real culture to speak of (museums, music or art). Winters are dark and cold. Shopping for clothes or anything like that is pointless – Amazon will be your new shopping centre.

Your salary is going to be a bit low compared to many. It’s an oil and gas city, so a good proportion will be on £70k plus. Ideally I’d recommend looking at Banchory as a place to live as the outdoors is in your doorstep, but that’ll not be affordable for you. Try Westhill or Kingswells. You would need to drive for 15 minutes to find the outdoors, but other than that they are nice new commuter towns. Maybe look at Aboyne as it has the outdoors on your doorstep, a bit more affordable, good schools, but a bit of a commute to the city.

If your wife wants a job she might need to find a different profession or compromise on her beliefs. Everyone there earns money directly or indirectly from oil and gas. If it weren’t for oil & gas Aberdeen would be a tiny fishing village. She won’t have an issue with race, Scottish people are welcoming to everyone. Saying that, it is a predominantly white demographic – I can only think of two non-white kids at our primary school.

I raised three kids in Aberdeenshire, the eldest is 13 now. They have nothing bad to say about their lives so far. My wife is equally in love with the place. We still own a house there and will no doubt come back once the kids have all fled the nest.

P.S. One bike for Aberdeenshire isn’t enough 😀. You’ll want a road, gravel, enduro, marathon and trail bike. Seriously though, I had a Santa Cruz 5010 and it was a decent compromise. Light enough for multi day wilderness trips but with enough suspension for mincing down the downhill tracks on Scolty hill.

I went to state and private schools. My kids have been to both state and private schools.

We had one horrendous experience with an overly pushy private school, that meant we pulled our daughter out. We also weren’t that impressed with the last state school she went to, but didn’t pull her out of it as such (we moved overseas).

Don’t worry about posh kids, society or segregation. There have been just as many parents/kids that I’d avoid at state schools as I avoid at private schools. Knobbers exist at both ends of the wealth spectrum. I suspect once you start to experience the parents and kids that are in the private school system you’ll find lots of traits and characteristics that are familiar – try keep an open mind about this.

On the whole I feel private schools have been a better experience than state schools for both me and my children – but there are always exceptions to the rule. Smaller class sizes, teachers that are motivated and most importantly the kids motivate each other to achieve their best. As a bright kid myself I was continually bullied and brought down for being smart at my state school. Private schools the kids are the opposite.

You are doing the right thing, thinking hard before turning down this opportunity.

I would see them as the lucky ones

Their wives beg to differ. Always living on the breadline because they never stick with anything long enough to work up the ladder.

Interesting responses so far, thanks. Some pretty horrendous sounding jobs there.

Back to me again… I have had good and bad periods. Sometimes new bosses come in and make the job hell. Becoming self-employed during a recession had its ‘challenges’ – I spent two years commuting on a weekly basis to Paris just to earn some money. In both cases I didn’t quit though, just put up with it until it changed (e.g. the boss moved on, or the project came to an end).

I guess there is a difference between job and career satisfaction. Job satisfaction for me goes up and down. Career satisfaction has remained pretty stable at 70%.

I find the responsibility of being a husband and parent to be my main focus. I do find it difficult to understand why people in similar positions to me (I’m thinking of a couple of people I know) will just flit from one job/profession/career seemingly without much consideration for their responsibilities.

P.S. I should mention I currently enjoy my job (in case my boss is listening). I moved to Australia 6 months ago and now work for a fantastic company in a place where I have always wanted to live. The family is settling down and we live 5 minutes from the beach. No mountain biking to speak of though – just road cycling and windsurfing.

Take a week off sick to reset your head. Then do what @singletrackmind said above. They can’t fire you within a month – particularly for just doing the job they hired you for. Work to rule.

That was the cheapest of the Cannondale Trails – Trail 8. Is this one any good? Trail 5. Which is lighter out of that and the Cube?

The Cannondale Trail 5 is a better bike and probably lighter than the Cube. It has 2x chainset which is a big plus in my books (over 3x). The forks are also one notch up on the Cube. If the extra cost doesn’t put you off then that’s the better choice over the Cube.

Well, I tried Deezer but not a huge fan as it doesn’t integrate as nicely with my Amazon Echos.

Has anyone tried Amazon Music – does it automatically replace explicit songs with the radio edit version?

I wish I had those skills. It’s a good plan. So – any thoughts on these? This is expensive – but I have £300 to put towards it from the sale of the Islabike. The sizing is just right – with room to grow. Not sure what resale prices are like.

https://www.thelittlebikecompany.co.uk/product/frog-mtb-72/

Or this – better price. But will the reach be too long for a 12 year old? Small size is 27.5″ and right for height and inside leg.

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cannondale-Trail-8-29-Mountain-Bike-2020-Hardtail-MTB_216367.htm

The Frog looks to be just an overpriced generic small adult bike – rebadged as a Frog. Also, I had a Frog once and the resale value is nowhere near the Islabike.

The fork on the Cannondale is the cheapest one Suntour make…. As I mentioned above, probably best aiming for Suntour XCT or above (it goes M3030 > XCT > XCM > XCR in order of worst to best).

In general I wouldn’t worry about the reach. If it’s designed to fit a person of a specific height (adult or child) then the reach should be proportionate.

The Rockrider mentioned above looks good. As is the Cube I mentioned previously:
https://www.jejamescycles.com/cube-aim-pro-mountain-bike-2020.html

Do bear in mind that ours have done either three kids, or sold on for £100 less than we paid a year earlier, or both…

If my kids enjoyed biking I would go down your route for sure. Sadly they don’t share any of my hobbies. Added to that, if I tried to give my nearly-12 year old a second hand bike as a birthday present she’d screw her nose up. Saying that, at various times they have had second hand bikes, just not as birthday/Christmas presents.

I’m not sure I’d spend £600 on a kids bike they will outgrow in a years time, unless maybe if you had a few siblings to pass it on to.

My logic was to get a bike with hydraulic discs and Suntour XCT forks (not as bad as you might think) for as cheap as possible. My daughter isn’t a keen cyclist so anything better would be a waste.

Sounds like you should be looking at small adult bikes.

My 13 year old daughter (also tall) has a 16″ Cube Aim Pro adult MTB for £374. There’s plenty of choice around that price point.

So sad that vacuum clippers aren’t a thing 😔

But if you want cordless with a battery that lasts for months (maybe 10 cuts between charges) then these work for me:

https://www.babyliss.co.uk/super-clipper-xtp-hair-clipper-7475DU.html#start=4MPV

Bookmarking this…. If such a thing exists and is less faff than the sink tidy-up then I’m in! If it involve attaching vacuum cleaner nozzles then I’m out.

Usually do my #1 all over every couple of weeks, so there can be a fair amount of clippings.

6 months! Seems like they are a fair bit stricter in Oz. Fair enough though – thems the rules.

So has this changed your mindset regarding driving/speeding?

What’s your general tolerance for working in a crap job? How much can you put up with when your home life is generally rosey? It sounds like your current job is really bad, but will the new one be guaranteed to be much better?

Personally I take a traditional view that my role in the family is to earn money to feed the wife and kids. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them happy and can live with poor job satisfaction if everything else in life is going well. Saying that, if you are working such long days that you don’t see the kids on Mon-Thurs and coming home in a grump then maybe it’s not worth it.

Pro Stealth saddle sorted my peeing issues (urgency and blood). I also saw GP and urologist, which quickly resulted in a camera inserted into my bladder. Will save that story for another day.

Yeah, it’s in settings here:

Op, to be honest and unless they’re 6 years old, they hear all the words every day at school.

I don’t think mine hear swear words at school as much as they seem to be scattered in pop music. You can’t even listen to Pink or Katy Perry without hearing swear words. Just doing my best to keep my kids polite and innocent for as long as possible.