I too bear Aeropress explosion scars (metaphorical if not literal).

My contribution – not as good as some, but it only happened a few weeks ago – was dropping and smashing a full glass jar of cinnamon. It’s coated my entire kitchen-diner with a micron-thick layer of brown dust. On the plus side, my house smells amazing.

Is the thru-axle on your axle stand just resting on the wood? If so, and in case helpful, I bought one of these to make that interface a bit more robust on my wheel stand:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125833820812

(Not this exact one, I dunno if this eBay seller is reliable or anything)

Go them!

Well, I thought it was funny *shrugs*

My Australian colleague refers to nursery as “baby prison”.

Separately: imagine England wins (or does really well) at the Euros. Does that help Starmer or Sunak? I would imagine it would also boost the Plaid Cymru and SNP votes as ordinary people there recoil from the prospect of Eng-er-lund triumphalism (and fall victim to envy).

If England are through to the quarter finals on election day, it will boost the incumbents. The red top papers will be joyous and all will be well in our sceptic isle for a little bit.

Much easier if you drop the carbon part.

Maybe an Allez or an Emonda ALR? Or whatever Kinesis’s current winter road frame is?

Huck it to flat and see if it breaks.

BBC declined to renew their contract with the Met Office a few years ago and went with Meteogroup as a cheaper option.

I didn’t know Steve Geall was building frames again, that’s awesome. I hope they expand the range.

130mm rear spacing and derailleur hanger on the Tutto which would annoy me, if I was only ever going to use it fixed or singlespeed.

On the plus side the tyre clearance looks good.

:D

It’s crap in the swim as well

I have  a massive softspot for these having lived in Japan for a bit.

A pal of mine has an Alphard which he uses for triathlon racing and family duties and it’s lovely. Less convenient than a van for throwing dirty stuff in/being a big empty space (obviously), but a much nicer place to be.

I know he’s used it to transport three TT bikes and three blokes.

I once bonked so badly I had to stop at a supermarket, buy food and sit on a bench for half an hour before I could get home. I was less than 2 miles from my door :D

I’ve fond memories of the bike show when it was a massive MBUK affair around the turn of the millenium, with a big dirt jumping demo and stuff.

There was a time when the bourgeoisie considered having Sky TV or a large television terribly déclassé. I think that attitude ended at about the time The Sopanos came out, maybe a little after that.

And that makes me sad. I also pine for the days when having an ageing Volvo estate with moss round the windows and tartan rugs in the back was a signifier of proper breeding too.

@scammell I once saw the King driving a Landy from Chatsworth House up towards the farm shop. Sadly I was on my bike and too far away to shout “vive la revolution” or anything.

Me and some pals did heckle Keane something rotten when they played the Fuzz Club in Sheffield in 2002 or 2003.

I feel a bit bad but it was somewhere only we know.

Total non-issue IMO

Look at the face of the guy behind Nige he knows this is campaign gold.

That guy lobbing stuff out the bin had a good aim under pressure. Also, as an aside “alleged incident” – FFS, there’s a video of someone throwing things at Farage’s head, there’s nothing alleged about it.

I like Trek. I was expecting a Merida or a Giant from the thread title.

Loved Fuquay bikes, 11-year-old me always thought they had a kind of surf vibe that was a bit cooler than Chas Roberts/Dave Yates. No idea why. Probably because I got “Fuquay” confused with “Torquay”.

I think it’s the Labour party in Ireland that have been using Sylvanian families.

https://www.tiktok.com/@labourparty/video/7377417464218422561

Some amazing work on TikTok from Labour and the Lib Dems. Ed Davies is rating dogs on the campaign trail, and Labour are trolling the Tories with Sylvanian families.

Here is a good blog post on investment portfolios and sector allocations: https://monevator.com/investment-portfolio-examples/

But re-read the posts on this page and consider whether chopping and changing after six months is a good idea (hint: probably not).

When I was in uni halls there was a Candian student who stayed on Canada time.

I’d sit with him at breakfast sometimes, which was his pre-bedtime snack. Absolutely bonkers – I’ve no idea if he ever went to any lectures.

Is it broken? Not in the same way the NHS is broken or the transport system is broken.

A few more years of unworkable and outright hostile policies (HE freedom of speech bill, visa changes…) and endless doing down from politicians would have/could still see it get more terminal.

But with a bold new administration willing to give the sector a fee rise in exchange for (a) maintenance grants and (b) the sector policing itself much better with regards grade inflation and quality, I think it’s redeemable.

Re. Dorries’ tweet – I was wondering what would happen if Sunak won his seat, that’s the last thing he’d want. I can 100% see her prediction playing out.

I was visiting a friend last night who lives two streets away from Murrayfield stadium, I couldn’t hear anything :-( :-(

(I was poised and ready to buy tickets the second they released, but didn’t get through the online queue)

I thought this was going to be a joke thread.

Hard to believe there’s anyone out there who’d still think this might be a good idea.

This thread has reminded me I had a pair of Specialized BG mitts years ago with the padding in the counterintuitive place (I believe it is over your ulnar nerve). Loved those mitts, but long worn-out now.

I’m about to buy a Giant (Defy Advance 0), will watch this thread closely for Giant’s response before pressing the button.

I’d read the other Giant warranty threads linked to above and reassess right now if I were you…

I’m guessing a BFe is/ was the archetypal ‘downcountry’ hardtail, no? And Cove Handjob etc as above

Disagree, in my mind a BFe is more at the lighter end of a hardcore hardtail., the Soul/Handjob would be trail or downcountry, and then you get to actual XC bikes.

Be very wary of ‘bargain’ Shimano XT M8000 spds, there’s an Aliexpress fake version.

I thought this thread was going to be about Hope switching to mineral oil in a new brake model, I’m a bit disappointed it’s not :D

I’m with @tuboflard, Omega MoonSwatch is a great shout. You can pick a colour/planet that will appeal to your son too.

(Or just get the Mission to Neptune, which is the rarest & coolest)

Flavoured coffee! I bought some ‘Little’s Christmas Spirit’ instant a few years ago and it was so bad I emailed them to ask for a refund :D

Bit of both won’t do any harm.

There was a few pay-for on-site attractions when I last went. Some VR thing and a dungeon. They may change seasonally?

Then an extra £30 when you get inside and realise Alton Towers now has “pay to play” rides.

I was quite disappointed by that when I last visited, it seems quite an unpleasant change in business model.

Worst ever coffee – the stuff that came out the machine in the factory I worked at for a while in my gap year.

It was 10p a cup and on the 2pm-10pm shift I really needed caffeine to get through the last few hours, but it was memorably awful.

The machine somehow superheated the ‘coffee’ to at least 130 degrees celcius and it then would go from being scaldingly hot to stone cold if you so much as took your eye off it. So giving your mouth third degree burns was the lesser of two evils there.

Then the taste. If you had to distil ‘acridness’ this would be it. With notes of your least-favourite teacher’s bad coffee breath, and stale cigarette smoke.

I can’t remember if it was a Kenco or Nescafe machine, definitely one of those two.

:D