I’ve had a number of conversations with different people who work in vets practices (two clinical directors and one practice manager who used to be a head nurse) who say that they don’t either, they just put some money to one side.

well of course they do, they will get whatever treatment they need at cost, which will be considerably less than us.

Not a great example but our dog had painkillers recently. £80 from vet, but could buy the drug itself for £10

Our 5 yr old dog has just had ACL surgery. £4.5k. The other one needs doing at some point too. No way would I be without insurance

This is a failure of the whole political class not just one party. Neoliberalism and greed have been allowed to override quality of life and safety for far too long. It is a systematic failure of what we value as a nation greed before humanity, and politicians from all major parties have driven this attitude.

Agreed doesn’t matter who is in power, lobbying and collusion between business and politics happens all the time no matter what branding the politician. It will continue to happen under this Labour government and whoever comes next.

twice as much as London
Storms are forecast for next week.

Yeah Ive seen that too :-(

I’ve had 3 oracles and I’m also on my second repair in 12 months.

Where as I have had an Oracle for probably 5 years now that has been faultless.

We had a Bambino before getting the Oracle. The Bambino was a great machine

From what I remember the puck size in the Bambino is smaller than larger machines.

Nice ish cars. Dont they have a history of being stolen lots?

Where are you running ?

ie flat trails or proper off road fell ?

Decathlon stuff is pretty good at the cheaper end of the market

Did this thread help you at all?

Well yes in that people thought it wasnt unreasonable to ask for the discount to be passed on

I’d be more aggrieved about having to keep waiting for ‘last years’ model than the £180, which isn’t as much as that in salary sacrifice terms.

Just to be clear its a 2025 model Rise. Orbea have reduce the RRP on their website.

Anyhow contacted the bike shop and they will do the bike  at the new RRP. I guess in reality that will be money off towards any upgrades etc.

Apparently the bike is so delayed by Orbea not having all the bits to build the frame (god knows why you launch a bike without being able to build it). I am more suspicious that the ordered wasn’t put in when they said it was put in.

People find lots of ways to kill themselves, let them crack on outside I say,

Ban open fires and wood burning stoves first

The simple answer is that the NHS is screwed :-)

What is clear is that all people on all sides of the coin are working , longer , harder , with less resources.

. If not then why so patient?

because there are not many in the country and it’s in salary sacrifice , so not sure that I can cancel

It’s not my LBS , a shop a good 1hr away.

I didn’t order from my LBS because the earliest they could get it was Dec. This company (and Orbea) said I could get it July.

It’s an Orbea Rise

Not showing as on sale just a drop in rrp

If you order it now, when do you get it?

I can order one from Start Fitness and get it next week, I am not looking to jump ship, just Ive been waiting for months when I was originally told July delivery

The shop Ive ordered from have it out of stock at the reduced price.

When you see people doing 60 mph + in an Avg 50 I always assume they are criminals (dont give a hoot) or thick (deserve it)

Employ a Project Manager ?

Any one in an suv. Clearly they have no sense or they wouldn’t be driving one. I would start with range rovers and  go from there

Anyone in an estate car, that hasn’t realised the benefit of an SUV over an estate

Anyone smoking, to include vaping, middle lame drivers , anyone doing 40-55mph in a 60

Other bikes are available and all that ….

Blimey this year you could actually it is a tour of Britain (ish)

other easy wins – stop all forms of bike racing (both MTB and Road), that would make a massive difference in itself.

Ban people put bikes in cars to take them somewhere else to ride. Never understood this !

Ban internal UK flights where other modes of transport are available and relatively practical.

ie being able to get an aircraft from London to Edinburgh is just crazy

Stop commuting > 1.5hrs from place of residence to work.

Sam Reynolds is not only amazing on bikes, his car control is amazing

Disgraceful behaviour here drifting bikes

Forgot that Bernard Kerr loves his cars too, and Mat Armstrong is an ex BMX’er

any recommendations for in-ear wireless, and a decent bass sound.  as per the OP, sub £100 please?

As above the Sony’s. However you do have to get the placement right in the ear. If you dont the sounds is awful, but get it right and they are really comfy and great sound

Clarksons Top Gear crap and this program normalise speeding and using cars a play things.

Agreed bikes are glamourised too. So much bad content advocating going fast on bikes and using them as play things, where the only reason for a bike is to get you from A-B. Bikes are dull horrible things and should have no place on a forum, other than discussing commuting.

Oh I missed Matt Jones, Sam Pilgrim, Sam Reynolds, bloody annoying bikers who distastefully have a liking for fast, dangerous scary cars, how dare they.

Anyhow Grandad OP needs to move with the times.

Just about all the best bits (modern equivalents) of Top Gear/Grand Tour can now be found on YouTube by younger presenters. The only thing that they don’t appear able to do because of budget is the big rad trips. Thankfully the car community is still large and I would say growing on YT. All three Grand Tour presenters have said their format is outdated and not really viable on modern TV

OP – try watching AdamC, Mat Armstrong, Jayemm, Petrol Ped, Shmee, Supercar Blondie , this is just the tip of the iceberg. I bet they have bigger audiences than Grand Tour etc. You may learn a lot about cars and enjoy them :-)

Also I worry more about the avg driver who dies T watch Top Gear , Grand Tour who have no understanding of cars or what they are cable of. They are the dangerous ones on our roads . At least a person who has learnt to do skidz understands car control more

About the time they stuck that offensive numberplate on the Porsche in Argentina.

But as a grown up liberal man it allowed you to be outraged and keep you watching ?

I really do hope it’s a good one, as the last few have been woefully bad.

Anyhow just going out for a quick drive, do a few big skidz, drive recklessly quick and blow a few cars up. Anyone want to join me ?

I’m just assuming that the central locking is powered by the battery, which, being dead, isn’t powering the central locking

All cars can be opened using a physical key which will be inside the remote key if that makes sense?

Sorry it’s an awful situation to be in.

Unfortunately I can see the only long term solution is to get out of the company. Even if the failure point is your manager , the fact the organisation cannot see that means they are not worth staying in

You could try fighting the incompetence above you, but I’ve rarely seen that work out well if the company are not already asking questions as to why so many people are leaving

Not emailing is just bonkers / documenting is just bonkers, and yes setting you up to fail

Either take some time off sick now, or structure your plan to get out

3 of my mates did it in May this year.l over 3 days

Ilkley to Ribblehead pub bunkhouse

Ribblehead to a little campsite just outside Sedbergh (Bridge End)

Bridge End to Windemere

They are all pretty fit runners/ ultra runners . They did say it would have been easier running it though (with out gear)

I always thought electric shifting was a  gimmick

Few months back test road a few light weight emtbs that came with a mixture of AXS and Di2

To me absolutely makes sense on an MTB now, more so than a road bike, and an emtb a no brainer

Yes you get no feeling when changing gear, but let’s face it a very well set up manual shift is fairly feeling less. It’s only when gears are not synced properly that you really feel the gear change.

Anyhow my new emtb will have Di2 , because it offers further benefits with Shimano motors . Not sure why AXS is so much more expensive than Di2 , I found both brilliant in operation just the AXS shifter is more ergonomic. Fast crisp shifting , which must save wear on the drivetrain.

Ive wondered myself if these system are truly clever and prevent shifts if too much load going through the drivetrain ?

What bike are you loooking at op ?

why do people still deliberately choose full fat Coke when there are excellent sugar free alternatives as an example.

That is really missing the point. I like full fat coke. It’s no worse or better than the sugar free alternatives that are just as bad

Its the main foods that people eat that are full of fat, sugar, salt etc

Have a listen to this

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021xv1?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Ultra-Processed Foods (UPF), as defined by the NOVA Food Classification system, are the most problematic, and are causing more addicted like behaviours in people. They say if the addiction was formalised, then Government’s would have to do more to regulate these foods and the food industry

What we need is not further investment in cycling, we need further investment in Canoes. Why? Because thats the next easiest way for me to get to work other than a nice warm car.

Cycling is not the answer, and there are some very minded views above about cycling or the alternatives to cycling :-)

It feels the most realistic (as much as riding while watching a TV can) – the most like the type of riding I do outdoors. I grew tired of the cartoon/repeated scenery of Zwift and I’m not interested in the XP/drops/gamification element of it

Thats what I dont like too

 Freeriding in any fake world on your own was boring as ****,

I quite like riding routes that I know I have done in the past in the real world in the middle of winter in the garage, it beats getting cold and wet. Also enjoy riding areas that I might be going on holiday to the following year

being able to ride a route and chase down or try and hold someone made it more interesting.

You can race real people on the likes of Rouvy. Granted not as many participants as Zwift but certainly no different in terms of capability to do it

Yes , everyone can cant they?

but it’ll have only a handful of changes in gradient, the view will only actually be notably nice intermittently and the corners are mostly just a few gentle bends.  Whereas Zwift will have me switchbacking my way up an alpine pass with dinosaurs and repeated punchy sections

Why only a handful of changes in gradient ? The rides I have done have been mega accurate to the real thing.

Or is it more of a suggestion that Zwift is more of a structured workout/intervals?

Whats the attraction of riding in a virtual world though?

Rouvy offers similar experiences but on ‘real’ roads, but for some reason doesnt appear to attract people.

You can’t have super supple wet grip and durability sadly

The Graphine used by Inov8 is very impressive. Much more grip than my Salomons and no sign of wear

Thanks for all the replies.

Love the gun! Although not sure Mrs FD would like the idea of salt splattered all over the walls of the kitchen

As to killing flies – they shit everywhere. I’ve asked them nicely not to come in my house and shit everywhere, but they haven’t listened! So death it is

We have bee hives in the field behind us. They very rarely come to the house. They are placid and very easy to move on, maybe one or two when the weather starts to cool down.

Another killing machine has been ordered , will see how it goes when it arrives

Apologies to those of a nervous disposition who may not like to see flies suffer, but these are some of the types of fly captured so far

Awaiting arrival of my first ebike, and have wondered the same as op

However I’m not going to swap anything out, why not just see how it goes and then look at options

As has been mentioned above I think some of it is that many people who use e-bikes have never ridden bikes before so have no mechanical sympathy or understanding of cadence ie use the motor.

I do think electric shifting does makes sense on an ebike and increases precise shifting ie reducing wear

Shimanos autoshift on Di2 will also make you spin at the right cadence

Shame your Inov8s havent lasted. Mine are 2 years in and going strong, lots of use in shitty conditions.

Interesting the difference views on what a lightweight walking boot is. To me good approach trainers / fell shoes are better these days than just about any walking boot. The only reason for a boot for m now is a little extra weather protection and ankle support in loose scree / boulder areas.

Hanwag are a little too tight in the toe box even after breaking them in.

Boots have moved on IMO anything that needs breaking in is just nuts!