Thanks jimi, like the look if that evoc. Looks just the job.

Evoc stuff looks expensive, but by all accounts it is well made.

I have a 320d touring auto, so probably the worst combination of rear wheel drive and automatic gearbox (for driving when slippery).

Car came with a spare set of alloy wheels (official BMW ones, so overpriced), with winter tyres fitted. Made a huge difference and allowed me to he home last winter following the end of a week of training, 90 miles away from home. Snow really started to pelt it down on the road between Milford and Haslemere, lots of fwd cars in the ditch, unable to get up some of the hills, but I got through fine. Only trouble I had was getting into our shared driveway, which has a short but steep incline. Postman and local kids helped! I don’t credit me getting home to my driving skills, so think the winter tyres do work. I know they are not snow specific studded tyres, but lots of slippery leaf mulch and wet roads round here, so would probably always get a set if possible.

LMT – do you have any details of the outfit you rented bikes with/went on a tour with? I am looking to do a day in Lanzarote in November. Would be happy to pay someone to guide as I think it may be a non starter.

Was it Tommy’s Bikes?

Thanks Stumpy – I am staying in the Peterborough area on the Thursday evening, driving up from MK earlier in the day, (sorry, probably not very clear). Then returning home on the Friday morning.

Without meaning to be rude, Thetford looks a bit more interesting (and waymarked), but does seem a long hike East though. I might have to be riding at night as well, due to work commitments.

I do have a mucky nutz guard and have to say they are well worth their sub £10 price, really simple idea, but so effective.

It is good fun. Not local, but inlaws are, so sometimes my escape ride. Head for car park near bike shop. Pay up and head up the dirt road at the south end. Keep going until you see a trail leading off to the right, from here I literally follow my nose, tracking round the hills and heading up to the beacons for the views and wind.

Had fun up there in the snow, but don’t know any cheeky or more interesting routes I am afraid. Probably about the most logical place to explore, as almost everything can be so easily referenced by views of Malvern and the easy orientation of the land.

Have a good one.

It is good fun. Not local, but inlaws are, so sometimes my escape ride. Head for car park near bike shop. Pay up and head up the dirt road at the south end. Keep going until you see a trail leading off to the right, from here I literally follow my nose, tracking round the hills and heading up to the beacons for the views and wind.

Had fun up there in the snow, but don’t know any cheeky or more interesting routes I am afraid. Probably about the most logical place to explore, as almost everything can be so easily referenced by views of Malvern and the easy orientation of the land.

Have a good one.

Resurrecting an old thread, as still have not made any progress on off loading old lenses or getting a camera. But don’t worry, I get there eventually – took me this long to sort out getting a mac mini.

Have seen the following online – K500 DSLR and a K-01, compact system camera. Both come with a 18-55 mm lens. As I understand it the K-01 (at £280) is not a true DSLR, and the K500 (£350 ish) is. I would like ot be able to have a camera that can react and take pictures quickly – the old Pentax cameras and lenses (see list below) were fun to use because of the speed and lack of lag, which seems to plague my IXUS.

The other option is too look for a second hand camera, but my lack of camera knowedge worries me when purchasing used. any recommendations appreciated – old kit list below.

Pentax A body and an Asashi K1000

Hoya Wide 35mm
Pentax A 24mm
Pentax A 35-105mm
Vivitar 28-85mm
Pentax M 50mm
Pentax A 70-120mm
Pentax M 80-200mm

Difficult one. IMO it is a bit of a fallacy to think there is a good option for London living – if you have to travel into London to work, you either pay through the teeth for centrally located property, or suffer a long and expensive commute. Have done both, not sure which one is really the best option, but if I were only in London for a short time I would be tempted to stay in the centre, if I had the cash (which I don’t).

Have lived in Docklands (Canada Water/Surrey Quays). Easy access to London, but soulless and next to some pikey areas. At least Grennwich has some charm, the river and a few good pubs. Blackheath also on the list of nicer spots in East London.

I now live miles out (Haslemere) and the price of our 3 bed home would not even get us a two bed flat in London, even in the semi-crap areas. Commute does take 1hr 30 to 1 hr 45, depending where you are headed. I am lucky that I only go into London infrequently, where as when my mrs goes back to work, she will need to do that 3 days a week.

I liked Edinburgh when I visited, thought it had a nice atmosphere compared to London and lots of greenery you can actually see. Was thinking about moving to Bristol area, but my wife can’t get an easy move with her job and we both need to work. Maybe go ‘trendy’, grow a beard and live in Shoreditch?

I have a 2011 320d auto estate (privately owned). Pretty basic in terms of kit (SE Model, heated seats, leather, DAB, windows…).

Drives nicely, plenty of power and comfortable. However, I was lucky as our car came with a full set of BMW alloys with winter tyres. Makes a massive difference, auto rear wheel drive would not be the first choice of car in crap weather.

I have had problems with the N47 engine (would not care if it was a company car though). Chain guides replaced twice under warranty – at around 6k and 22k miles. Engine is good apart from that issue though, very economical, accelerates with gusto (leave bike racks on and it is still 45+ mpg). Think the engine is still in the line up.

However, I sat in a new VRS estate and they are smart inside, loads of kit and probably a lot of fun to drive. Would consider one myself, if buying again, but the wife likes German stuff. :roll: Boot can’t be beat either.

Drove a new 3 series (320d ‘luxury’) and the interior was nice (fancy sat nav, nicely built, good wireless etc). Even the saloon had a decent boot, slid a mtb right in.

Went for Option 3, but via the dodgy route.

Bought a Trance X frame from the US online. Built it up with budget parts from CRC, Merlin and parts bin at home. Probably spent a bit more (circa £100-£200) than the bottom spec Trance X on offer from Pauls/at the local LBS at the time, but have a sot of ‘custom’ bike with better forks and wheels, than a standard off the peg bike.

But if I have a warranty claim on the frame, probably will be wishing I hadn’t. Having said that, there are loads of good value UK sourced frames available.

It was good fun though and I spent many geek hours with a spread sheet in front of me, trying to justify the expenditure to myself.

jonjonjon3 – thanks for the tip, looks like I was deluded. I thought I had read it was for a pair, but rear only is not such good value. Off to the LBS it is then!

Out of interest, what are the main differences re: the different Hope hubs?

bigG – thanks. I remember the good old days of vinyl seats stuck to my bare legs, obviously wearing very short shorts in those days. Oh the joys of the mid 80s cars. Lucky to get a car with a wireless, let alone some fresh dolby cassette action.

Although it isn’t a problem at this time of year, in my experience I find it does help keep the car cooler with tinting (when I have been in other cars that do have it in place). Black seats in my car don’t help though.

There were less drive bys in those days, hence the tinting did not need to be so good – so my peeps in Compton tell me (that there Compton off the A3, not in Los Angeles).

ir_bandito. Wish I had gone for tinting in the first place. Blinds are well made, but attachments are not good for my model of car (plastic clips with adhesive that does not stay on in the heat or the cold). Have heard someone on here with a Passat saying he has no problems, but for me it has been a pain.

Thanks all. Only looking to do rear passenger and back window of vehicle. What percentage tint is recommended as a good balance? I think prices I was looking at was circa £200 for one car.

Skoda Superb estate, or Octavia estate?

I would be happy with either, or if I wanted something smaller would go for a Roomster as they seem to be good value and have loads of room.

I have had a Passat estate and a BMW 3 series estate. Both are not as efficient as Skoda in the arrangement of boot space, Passat obviously better than useless BMW though.

I am not local to Swansea area unfortunately. I have done plenty of the local trails at night where I live, (Surrey Hills) and some are pretty quiet, but arguably not as weather exposed.

I have ridden The Wall a few times now, but obviously different when you only do it twice a year at best.

Well, there is a vote of confidence right there!

Possibly foolish is the best description. I am hardly one to throw caution to the wind. Other option is to head out 1st thing in the morning and at least that way I am more likely to be picked up by a passing cyclist…

Yes. Why?

What is wrong with me? So excited by such quality blend of bikes/hip hop, I have just done some research ready for an impulse buy. However – $321 for shipping, £599 for bike itself and a lot more for tax.

Damn it all, I could just imagine riding around the lanes of Surrey with that fine machine, I am sure it would get much appreciation in Shere (which is of course home to one of the temples of Shaolin).

I have jet washed the deck to, but this anti moss napalm is supposed to help get rid of all the stuff I couldn’t get up. It says it starts to really work after 2-3 days, which is why I was wondering if it needed to be exposed to the air or not.

I now have a mac mini with much more hard drive space at circa 500GB. I know not huge, but compares well to my previous 128GB lap top. I think the only thing preventing me re-ripping it all is the circa 35GB of music I currently have, which means I would be needing a bit more time to rip it all in lossless format I am guessing.

Still, might be worth it long term to have better quality tunes. CDs seem easier to achieve good quality though. If going digital with an airport express, is it better to go for a separate DAC or just get an amp with digital input?

Thanks Wobbliscott.

Airport express probably seems the easiest way to go, perhaps it is time to stick the CD in boxes until I have a home with more space, whenever that may be.

Seems mad to go and buy an airplay enabled device when I have a decent amp and speakers that still work, although it does make me look like a bit 80s.

I don’t have any digital inputs on the amp, due to its age.

My music is stored in 128knps quality I think – didn’t have much space but a lot of cds to load onto my laptop when putting all music into itunes.

Are airport expresses reliable? Do you just control them using an ipod/pad/phone with the remote app?

Stumpy, definitely possible to use blue ray for cds too. Hi fi does not sit next to tv due to a lack of flexibility in the layout, which means I can not get the sound from blue ray to the amp at the moment.

I use the soundbar for films as it processes surround signals, not just stereo. Sound is good for films, not horrendous for music, but not amazing.

it looks great – of course I have not done it, but have been interested for a couple of years now.

You will need to book well in advance – early bookings sell out very quickly, so when I think when/if I finally take the plunge, I will try and book 1+ year in advance to get the cheapest entry/plane ticket possible.

Would not recommend a Tom Tom, my next slap nab will be a Garmin.

Tom Tom is very buggy, constantly sends me messages for me to update and then won’t update from their web site. Tripe.

When I was young. I remember looking into apartments and seeing TV screens quite clearly. Might be my memory tricking me though.

drlex, there is no excuse for my poor music tatse.

Holy Grail was the song ‘Superman’ by Willie Nelson and Snoop:

Snoop and Willie Neslon – Superman hiphop and country. God Bless America.

Someone has commented that Snoop has ‘smoked himself country’. Ace.

So I have bitten the bullet and taken the plunge. Went for a Mac Mini in the end, as I could get a small discount via employer and had some vouchers which I have put towards the keyboard (Apple keyboards are obviously made of gold, they are so expensive).

I resisted the tempation of going for a MacBook Air. Super bling, but not so much storage and does not look like I would be eligible for full recycle trade in value, as the case of my computer has cracks in. Checked with Apple and they won’t repair as the computer is decribed as ‘vintage’. Old Macbook on ebay soon for parts.

I will be able to keep all my dodgy collection of hip hop/country music in one place and pipe it to the Apple TV etc round the house. Lucky wife.

tonyd – just had confirmation BMW will not replace part (car is inside warranty) at the momemen, don’t feel it is a sufficient problem.

makes me think it is indeed time to get rid. Might be fine for a long time, or it might not. Either way, bit of a gamble.

Unless there is a major item of expenditure on the service charge, that is a one off, steer clear. Service charge will not likely decline, as once it is at a level, it is hard to drop it back down unless the place is not maintained.

I would be putting the additional cash into a mortgage, the service charge will add no value to your property if you buy.

I had searched the interweb on it before, but didn’t realize it had its own facebook page. I think unfortunately it is a design flaw, but BMW are never going to admit it. I am a BMW fan, so I am not keen to knock them as a company, but it amazes me that such a popular engine can have ongoing problems for so long (I believe the engine has been around for a while and remember when looking at BMWs a dealer saying that he thought circa 80% of the cars he sold had the 2 litre diesel engine).

Massively annoying as we thought it was a good buy – I would rather have got something that was dull and reliable.

molgrips, I appreciate your point – better to have a car that you know is well maintained and know the history, than a wild card.

However, the issue has been repaired once, needs to be repaired again and my concern is that it will need to be repaired a 3rd time outside of warranty.

I know that you will have to spend money on any car, but this will be expenditure on top of the normal costs of running a car, which I am not so keen on. The chain cam part is not expected to be replaced pre 200,000 miles/life of the engine, hence the location at the back of the engine and overall expense.

having said all that, it might be best just to chance it – if it doesn’t fail, I’m quids in. If we sell it, well there will be the depreciation in the period that we have owned it and replacing it with anything that is of a similar age is going to be almost as expensive and therefore require more outlay, unless we go for something that is ‘good/better value’ (I would happily have a Skoda Octavia, VRS or regular, but the wife won’t).

Have an ipod touch (but possibly 4th gen). Really pleased with it, was almost going to get a classic, but glad I didn’t. Ipod touch has so many useful features, apart from obvious email/web.

I went for the 32GB model, worth the extra cash. I have more music than it will take, but I am just trying to get rid of stuff I no longer listen to and just just load music on the ipod that I regularly listen to, along with some films.

Not keen on Apple headphones myself, I have bought some seinheisser ones that go in the ear. Not even expensive at £15 or so, but well reviewed by Which/what Hifi etc. Sound fine to me.

I use the ipod to stream music to my apple tv and it is one of the best features of the lot – I have my Apple TV connected to a decent soundbar and it is a handy feature. Also plug in to my old hifi amp and am happy with the sound quality.

Have a wife, kid, two bikes and a bike rack. We opted for a BMW 320d Touring, but frankly wish I had got a Golf. Golf MK5 Diesel best car I have ever had, whereas the BMW is just the most expensive. Drives well and engine is powerful, but there are problems with the cam chain on this model of engine, which is frustrating/surprising as the 2 litre diesel is on so many of their cars. Also other niggles have cropped up, which just annoy at a car of supposedly this quality.

Not sure where to go from here, we bought it 2nd hand (I know the previous owner), 1st service is coming up (has done 20k) and my big worry is the engine issue coming up outside warranty (we have another year of warranty left). Seems crazy to spend £5k + repairing a car that will only be worth £15-£10k at a guess, so wondering whether to get ride of it now. Shame as we have only had it since Christmas 2012. Cam chain part has already been replaced by original owner at less than 7k miles, 2nd one needed now and the car is not even 2 years old.

Saw a new GTI at Goodwood and to be honest it looked like my kind of car. Fast, not stupidly expensive, fits actual people/bikes inside and they are well made. Also looked like it had a lot of stuff included in the price.

Countzero, thanks for the input. Mini does seem really good as a media centre, 500GB should cover most bases but I have two USB drives (500 Gb and 250 GB I think).

I have an apple tv which I use to stream music mostly, either from my ipod touch or my wife’s ipad. If I do go with a mini as a stand alone device, I am not that keen to have it set up as a desk top, as I just don’t have the space at home (we don’t have a study or somewhere we could put it).

Ideally it would just sit under a TV – the apple tv could either be kept in place or moved to the second tv we have.

The Macbook Airs do look really smart and I like the fact that they take up minimal space and are portable, but the storage is a big downside. I think as my picture library grows I am best to opt for a stand alone storage option anyway, so photos etc will be kept on the external HD.

Resurrecting an old thread, but I never took the plunge and am now needing to make some kind of decision.

I was thinking of going for a Mac Mini and can get a small discount through work (circa £30). They can be had for maybe £450 anyway, but you need to add a keyboard and mouse. I want to connect it to the TV, so would be looking at near on £80+ for the wireless keyboard and track pad from Apple.

I see that John Lewis are now offering £150 trade in on lap tops, so you can get a macbook air for circa £700 with a trade in on an old lap top. Looking at it now, it seems that the better deal would be to spend the additional cash and trade in my old knackered macbook for a macbook air. It would only be an 11 inch screen, but to be honest I have a work lap top and probably won’t be using the laptop for loads of spreadsheets and word processing documents.

The downsides to this route are:

lack of storage at 128 GB v 500 GB for a mini, so would probably need to go for another storage option as mentioned above
processor speed (not sure how these compare in the real world)
slightly more expensive
11 inch screen v 40 inch (but lets be honest, the wife would never let me use the big TV all the time for doing computer stuff)

ibnchris – saw a Singular Swift, but i the early part of the ride and assumed it was therefore not you as I expected to see you round Alfriston (on Saturday, rigid fork)? Hope you had a good ride though.

Didn’t notice the unfriendly walkers, although I have started bellowing ‘Hi’ from a quite a few yards back to give people warning. Grumpy walkers are oft seen on other rides though – maybe I was lucky with the sunshine!

birdge, maybe – it all seems a distant memory (was 2009 according to my photos though…).

Need to sort eating for sure – need to red up on gels/hydration drinks and also get quite a lot fitter to do it in a day.

I stayed at the Rising Sun in Upper Beeding – £35 for a single room, secure bike storage, sorted me a pack lunch in lieu of breakfast and good honest pub grub and beer. Truleigh camp site looks like a great spot -views worth the entry fee.

Time wise – I stopped too much. Joined the SDW circa 7:40 Saturday am, so with stops got in at 6:40 to Upper Beeding. Need to factor in more time for stops to fill up water and eat. :D Sunday was quicker, but left at just before 6:00 and got to Eastbourne at 12:50 – probably spurred on by my much fitter companion. Stopped to munch bacon sarnie and picked up another sandwich in Alfriston – recommend the general store there, very good food. Have posted times on Strava under Gribble.