One thing I’d add is the need for a spacious dry garage with power. Also, you need a large array of good tools which are expensive.

I have been involved with old Alfas and the rule for me is to ignore the mechanical condition and buy one with a solid body. Bodywork is time consuming and boring!

Schooling is supposed to educate our children and equip them with qualifications and skills and hence not be left behind or have zero skills. The kids in this programme seemed to go to school but do not benefit. Why?

RIP and thanks to the Met Police.

Came across his music via ‘Shadow play’ on a compilation. ‘Million miles’ is my favorite track

What I love about his solos that they are not just a blizzard of fast notes but contain a melody in themselves.

I’ve got a 2001 a6 tdi allroad 2.5 owned for last 7 years. Plus points, fantastic ride quality, 4 wheel drive, quiet, great to haul bikes and family long distances, comfy leather seats, plenty of power. Negative points, about 30mpg max, suspension goes in around 100k miles….£2K bill all round, my gearbox went at 170k miles £3K cost. Other advice: Do an oil change every 10k miles regardless of dealer advice, Don’t go near an audi dealer for servicing….

Be careful. The VW warranty may insist that the car is serviced at VW or has been serviced with OEM parts. This has a big cost implication.

I bought a Golf from VW used cars, came with a warranty and they would not payout on a gearbox wear issue within the warranty.

VW cars are not as reliable as their reputation suggests IMHO.

We rode this in October. If I had to race it, I’d think about weight, as the climb is quite long, also it is likely to be wet so I’d think about some tough grippy tyres. From what I remember there are quite wide, deep, breaks in the path to let water down, and these seem to catch my 26 wheels and really slow progress, a 29’er would be perfect to get across these. Enjoy it, its a fine day out….

Agree with the comments about Chesterfield branch. The attitude of the staff is really poor. I only go in if I absolutely have to. Would never buy anything big off them.

Aristotle – Member

Fantombiker – Member

I was looking at them as well. Not going to go for it because it is underpowered.

Do you need/use more power or is it just a case of “because I can”?

I used to be in the “more power!” camp for cars and motorbikes, but I’ve seen the light and realise that ride, handling (and tyre & suspension setup) are more important

Agree ride and handling are important but you do need power and correct torque delivery. But I don’t agree with using such cars for fun on the road, pointless and dangerous, so personally I need a practical, comfortable car that’s a beast on track days. 200bhp in that weight will not cut it on a track day.

I just don’t see the point for example of buying a Nissan GTR and never either tracking or racing it. It won’t get you from Manchester to London any quicker…not in rush hour anyway….

I was looking at them as well. Not going to go for it because it is underpowered. Much rather spend the same money on a used P*****E cayman, 370z or a BMW e46 M3.

Did one recently in East Midlands. Went in thinking it will be a tedious 4 hours of being told off. It wasn’t. I learnt a lot, it was interesting and I would recommend it to anyone. Also some hot females present….not a bad evening.

In a previous role I was a senior manager in a business and was responsible for a project which spent millions launching a weight loss supplement. A few learnings from this experience:

Research generally shows that programmes which change eating habits (ie Weight watchers) are much more effective than tablet solutions. Tablet solutions tend to be used by crash dieters to get ready for a particular event (summer, wedding etc.)

It is very hard to stick to a tablet based programme over even the minimum period required which is usually 6 weeks.

I don’t work for this company anymore so I can say with confidence that they are an expensive option that almost certainly won’t work for you.

Anecdotally the fasting diet, 1 or 2 days a week, seems to be very useful for an cyclist since you can eat on days you are cycling and fast when you are not….

I’ve started a business swapping them out for hotels and hospitals

Geordiemick00 Might have some business for you! can you email me at nbathurst at yahoo dot com?

Thanks

I think Scofield was right. I sense real frustration with the failure of our public servants to take decisive action against people who harm our children.

There has been a widespread failure by the media, politicians, police, the bbc and social services to protect vulnerable children.

The reaction to the Saville, Rochdale, Wrexham affairs has been pathetic. I applaud Schofield in a provocative action designed to elicit a faster justice for those accused.

What we don’t want is more inquiries. We need evidence collected and given to the CPS and a trial.

Yep, I’m a ginger, love it, love the freckles and the fact I stand out from the normals. For a long time I considered myself a superior being….this view has somewhat faded in later years….

Saw a documentary that said girls found pale skin unattractive due to darwinism making them choose less ‘sickly’ looking partners. However Girl gingers were highly attracive to Males becuase they were regarded as hot-tempered…not sure how this related to darwinism but you get my drift..

A new LBS started up in a nearby town. Every time I went past it was empty and I felt sorry for the guy. So although I do almost all my own maintenance I took in an Reynolds road wheel to be trued, and bought a tube at the same time. I couldn’t collect the wheel so my wife went. He charged an hours labour to true the wheel and £15 for the truing tool! He kept the tool!

Not been back….

There could be another model in play here, that of the “pre-pack administration” which allows a company to fold without paying its debts, its assets then bought by a pre-determined new company (often the same people!).This allows the company to unburden itself of nasty debt, loss making divisions etc Highly dubious practice?

There is so much rubbish on this forum about lights. Our MTB group rides at night all year round, every week and in all weathers. We ALL have the “crappy inferior” chinese lights from Deal extreme. These have replaced the best from Hope etc…..If you want to pay more than £40 then do ahead, try Lupine…..

I’ve lived in Eastern Europe and know the massive difference winter tyres can make in ice and snow. (I crashed a Subaru turbo on summer tyres on a motorway in Slovakia when they had an unexpected snow fall).

Anyway, I am not sure there is enough ice and snow here, but last year I tried 2 used winter tyres (had 5mm tread). They lasted about 15,000 miles and cost me £55 fitted!

I now have two used all season tyres, saving around £300 in the process.

I guess you have to be sure of who you buy from….

Sounds like a pain in the ass having to pay out that much so soon after buying the car, but as someone above says, once it’s sorted you should get many years trouble free use out of an Audi.

Had my 51-plate 2.5TDI Allroad for over 10 years now, got over 104,000 on the clock, and probably spent less than £3k on it fixing faults (though it does cost between £300-£1000 per year on servicing/consumables).

I’ve got an 2.5 tdi allroad, looked after it as well, it has done 177k miles.
It was fine until about 150k miles, since then I’ve had to replace front air shock bags, wiper motors, flasher units, front brake calipers…..and then…

Last week the auto box started playing up and an recommended independent specialist wants £3k to sort it out……..Mrs FB none too pleased…..

I saw it. I don’t understand why the BBC are being made to be the main villains. Whether they showed the Newsnight documentary is irrelevant in the light of complicity in Healthcare institutions to collude with JS practices. it is also irrelevant in the light of south yorkshire police failing to act on official complaints.

Swarfega works amazingly well in this situation…..

You probably think this is a good idea as bike shops, apparently, buy water bottles for £1 and sell then at £7 and buy SS MTBs at £300 and sell them for £700. Alternatively, this is a load of twaddle and bike shops are already selling at or near break-even prices.

If that was the case then the shops wouldn’t exist. I believe the average retail margin of LBS is around the 25-45% mark.

It seems like this co-op would be a lot of hassle. For example, our club can barely agree on the colour of the jerseys let alone a tyre/groupset bulk purchase.

I think Livestrong needs investigating, who are the beneficiaries if they are not giving to medical research? If LA is taking anything out of this charity then it is suspicious.

+1 franksinatra

I don’t get ‘Livestrong’. It does not give (very much) money to cancer research, yet promotes awareness. Surely everyone is aware of cancer?? What is its purpose? Does LA take a massive salary out of it? Who are the beneficiaries? This does not ‘feel’ right.

Nissan Bluebird…….Nissan GT-R

I think most politicians are astute enough to know prohibition doesn’t work as a drug policy. But no mainstream political party will ever have legalization as a policy, it is too risky from an electoral perspective.

But I don’t think drugs are a big societal issue, only a very small % of people are dependent, Alcohol is a bigger issue….most crime is committed under it’s influence, it has made our town centre’s no-go areas during weekends and has a huge cost in terms of healthcare, policing.

Labour tried to develop drinking culture into the cafe style European occasional drinking by deregulating licensing laws. This has failed.

I saw them in 1999 as part of a corporate thing. Didn’t like their music at all, in fact couldn’t stand it before I went.

They were pretty much the best band I’ve seen live. It was so atmospheric and exciting, it was such an event. I’ve seen lots of bands who were dull (eg U2, Sisters of Mercy), the Stones put on a real show, and They are great musicians, tight as a drum.

Of course he’s a Bully, manipulative, single minded, win at all costs……This is a criteria for winning. Many, many business people have the same mentality. What..do you want all your champions to be virtual mates, to be people to have a drink with? To be nice

The reality is that people who have achieved a lot in life are not particularly likeable.

Lance is not an average athlete. We don’t know what he would achieved clean. But when he won the tour 7 times, he beat everyone else who was doped as well.His team-mates had access to all his resources and none were close to matching him. He could not have beaten doped riders whilst racing clean, but he was an exceptional athlete and maybe not a supreme number 1 but must have been in the top 20?

He was a good one day or stage racer but he was nowhere in the GQ and that is quite a transformation.

IIRC Bradley Wiggins was a track rider doing 1K or 4K sprints and he changed! Specific training, lost fat, got a dedicated team, now he is a GC contender…..

Asheden has one view, Dan Coyle has another…..Lance was winning races when he was 16. He must of had some talent and physiological advantage or was he doping then as well?

In order to succeed at the highest level in the grand tours you need the following, very high vo2, very high watts per kilo, determination, strong (natural) recovery, resistance to illness and the strongest team.

From what has been published Lance did have an exceptional vo2, and was a lot leaner post-cancer. Irrespective of doping, I believe he would have been up there. He could not have beaten talented riders on EPO clean though.

As the above natural differences probably make 5% difference at the top level and EPO 10%.

Lance was gifted, determined and brought a strong team. Contrast his approach to Ulrich’s (also gifted)…who arrived at the Tour, fat, injured, with poor tactics, a weak team, and a losers mentality.

Let’s put this in historical context, pro cycling has been using drugs for about a century, not always illegal. EPO was not on the banned list when it was first used. Lance just came along and did it better than everyone else with a ‘total war’ approach. He was winning the game as it was already set out……I still find him an inspiring individual.

“There is Anquetil’s famous remark that you don’t ride the Tour de France “on mineral water alone” and his tacit admission of the use of amphetamine, as in a story told by French journalist Pierre Chany. According to Chany, Anquetil and 1958 Giro d’Italia winner Ercole Baldini agreed not to use amphetamine for the Grand Prix de Forli one year, to see who would win on “just mineral water”. They took the top two places, “but suffered like the damned to get an average speed that was a kilometre and a half slower than they would normally have ridden. ‘Never again!’ they told me as they got off their bikes,” wrote Chany (quoted by Les Woodland in The Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France).

+1 deviant
+1 bigblackshed

What we have here is public school educated career politician relying on increasingly desperate media stunts to appear electable. So what he knos a lot about classics, how is that helping London?

IMHO Livingston was great, he had big, bold ideas, and implemented them. More substance than many.

Don’t get caught up in a fast start. Pace yourself is the way to finish well. Drink energy drink. Plan the ride by looking at the profile of the route, know where the big hills are. Make sure your bike computer is accurate.

Private hospitals (GIYF) do comprehensive heart health checks, I looked at these and they were £800.

My (wealthy) friend flies to a private hospital in Thailand where they do a full MRI/CAT 2 day health check. You could probably get a good deal in Eastern Europe?

Alcoholism runs deep in my family. It is such a destructive force, and very hard to get off.

I agree with seeking help asap. The key is trying to understand the underlying causes which is the path to altering behavior. Is it really work stress? Doubtful, but if so then solution is obvious, find something else she enjoys doing.If it other issues then counseling and perhaps CBT can be really helpful.

Good luck

there is a post-wire void…..but try

generation kill
southland

and I went back to Seinfeld!

+1 the National – Boxer
Wintersleep – new inheritors
Interpol – turn on the bright lights