Yeah agree with that to a degree, it can certainly be ‘managed’!

Hmmm, would say it’s somewhat more complex than just saying profits aren’t important and cash is all that matters, I would argue that whilst profitability is subjective and complex, and cash flow is undoubtedly critical, to understand a firm’s financial performance you really need to understand the income statement (ie profit/loss), cash flow and balance sheet.

Cheers, I Assume I need some way of communicating my speed to the software so I need to buy some hardware – some sort of Bluetooth speed sensor or suchlike?

Some good bands discussed here but the whole ‘grunge/not grunge …’ chat reminds me of aggressive xc / freeride lite / gnar ….. Etc

Anyway what about the pumpkins!?

I had a Cayman S for a couple years, got written off when some tube decided to ram me in the rear. Great car, really felt special and the way it handles was just sublime. Mine was a 55 plate, bought it at about 7 years old and was in the OPs budget. Was always aware of the engine risks but never had a problem personally.

The thing I rwlly loved about it was the handling, it felt like you had to try and drive it smoothly to get the best out of it, and as someone with no pretensions that I am Ayrton Senna, it always felt like it could catch you out if you didn’t. The steering feel was just so good and as someone said above you could place it so accurately.

Would recommend one, only caveats would be obvious point s like the engine thing and budgeting enough for repairs servicing etc.

I’ve got a Cayman S, love it and it’s practical enough as a second car though wouldn’t have it as only car as not much cop for bike or family transport, Have heard the horror stories about bore scoring / ims and so on, worth having a look on the porsche forums for more info – prevailing wisdom seems to be they are rare but are real. Would be a real bugger if it happened and I guess shouldn’t get one unless you could handle it if the worst happened.

Re speed etc, as some have said there are diesels etc that will be just as fast but the way they handle is what I enjoy most – it is very enjoyable to drive at sensible speeds.

Lots of good suggestions here, I lived over there for a bit and have done most of the stuff suggested. Some added colour on some of these:

From Brooklyn bridge walk, head over to Brooklyn heights promenade, great views of the bridge and manhattan.
I never thought that much of grimaldis so would not bother with that, maybe I just got a bad one!

Blind tiger is a good shout, as is Brooklyn brewery.

Cable car over to Roosevelt Island gives some great views (just turn around and come back, Roosevelt Island is odd!).

Have fun it’s a great place

I used to struggle with this – but have managed to start enjoying running. Really enjoy randomly running around strange places and helps me find the nice parts for when I go out for a beer later ;-)

As an alternative consideration, accomodation in Manhattan can be horrendously expensive, so depending on budget and how you prefer to spend your cash, you might want to consider getting somewhere just over in Brooklyn where prices will tend to drop pretty sharp and there are some cool nice areas, though not as ‘happening’ as Lower East Sde . You’d want to stay close to Manhattan would not be far from Worth street.

Could allow you to save cash on hotel and spend the remainder on food, whilst still getting a nice room.

But if you want somewhere swanky and in a cool area LES seems a good shout.could make some restaurant suggestions if you say what sort if grub you like – used to live over there for a bit.

Pinameister .(piña colada & Jagermeister)

some great pictures and stories. There is a place that does conversions (called jerba iirc) where I live, might have to pop in to see them now…..

Wow, thanks for all the responses, some great sounding stuff there and you have definitely whetted my appetite. We did 6 weeks in a van in N Z years ago so some idea of what it like but kids will change a lt!

Cheers mate, that’s exactly the sort of thing I envisage. Definitely tempted!

TBC, cheers. Not an encouraging answer, but useful to know nonetheless!

I got mine a couple of weeks ago and have been out a few times, on ‘normal’ trails plus the beach a few times. First impression was that I couldn’t get the bloody mech on properly for ages, and like Joe I couldn’t get the powerlink off (never had any problem with 9 speed ones!) but after I’d got past my mechanical incompetence I got it onto a trail.

First ride was on some mixed trails with a mix of surfaces including quite a lot of boggy bits. It was ace fun, felt quite different to normal MTB, probably harder work but encouraged me to take different lines – have never gone seeking mud before. Going through mud the tyres would slide, but it felt controlled, much more stable than normal tyres. Left the tyres relatively hard for that as didn’t want to end up pumping up on the trail – about 18psi which felt like a good starting point for normal trails, though will try a bit softer next time.

After that I have been out on the beach a couple of times. Both rides have been at night, so can be hard to tell what sort of sand you are on until the bike’s reaction tells you – as with Joe on the snow, when it got deep and off camber I found it hard to steer on the direction I wanted, suspect there is a technique point here – any tips? Not came across any sand I couldn’t ride through yet ( except when I tried towing the kids in trailer!). Had the tyres down to maybe 12 psi, then tried even lower last night (sub 10) and that started to feel too low, especially on road on way home, felt really squirmy.

As for the bike, so far I have found the 1 x 10 to be about right for what I will use it for – mainly playing around on local/beach trails which don’t have massive hills. It’s clearly a pretty burly thing, but again for what I’ll use it for that’s no issue – and is as expected. It does feel very stable at low speeds – has felt quite confidence inspiring when mucking about on rocks at the water’s edge – plus when I have got a bit of speed up it felt pretty planted. Do think I will chop the bar down a bit. Traction is impressive – if you can keep the pedals turning I think you could pedal up a wall.

Only issue I have is that the rear brake feels terrible – lever coming to the bar, unless I pump it a few times – after which it bites earlier but then quickly reverts to pulling to bar again. Front is better but still a bit inconsistent. Obvious diagnosis would be that it needs bled but seems a bit strange when it’s brand new – any suggestions…?

If you need practicality for biking etc, GTI may be a better option? (Self confessed GTI fan.)

My daughter also got a pea stuck up her nose, she told us she had a bogey stuck. we managed to get it out with some tweezers.

Next morning she complained of another bogey and upon a really good look we found a second one lodged higher up the same nostril. Got it out, on A&E’s suggestion, of closing the other nostril and blowing hard into her mouth.

Nice one, cheers.

Cheers guys, will have a look on the Facebook page. Was out for a short ride tonight to see what shape my old bike is in after 4 years in storage. Didn’t come across any doggers thankfully, glad I didn’t read that before I went out or I would have stayed in!

Magic, thanks. Stansfree when do you go out, be grand to join you perhaps next week.

Druidh I will check that out, plus will have a.chat to Dave

A mate of mine used to play water polo – we were in the pub talking about a game he’d played in the pub when my wife came over to join the coversation and asked the immortal question: ‘ water polo – how do you get the horses in the pool?…’

This woman is a doctor!

Finished mine in 3 and a quarter years – treated it as a 9 to 5. For me it was a lot less work that an actual job (not academia)- I look back and am amazed at the amount of free time I had.

A a lot of the advice above is good – I reckon there’s a fair bit of luck in terms of the subject matter – it’s research so you could be unlucky and have a topic that just turns out hard!

Learned a lot during mine, and I don’t mean in terms of the subject matter – for me it was a really good experience in learning about myself and maturing from my undergrad years, from being good at passing exams to finding out what it is like to do research for real. Be prepared to feel you’re not up to it – I spent a lot of time feeling like that, and I think it’s pretty common feeling.

Good luck with it.

I did a circuit of Manhattan once – some cool stuff to see and a pretty interesting ride – as someone says, you can avoid roads a lot of the way. On the roads things can be pretty intimidating, cars go down the avenues really fast plus watch out for pedestrians! Riding round central park is pretty cool thing to do, also the route mentioned over the Washington bridge is quite nice – though if you visiting probably short time probably better ways to spend your time than a long ride out of the city.

Watch out for the potholes!

Nothing to say about the Type R as never driven one, though like the looks. Have a Mk V GTI and would recommend considering as an option – really good fun. I get close on 30mpg if I drive carefully, more like 25 if less so….

Did it a few years ago from leuchars south, back to Edinburgh over two days. A bit different, some bits totally unpleasant (near Boarhills) hike- a-bike, oter bits some good fun. Really enjoyed it all in all – we found it quite a tough one as tried to stay as close the the coast all we could, leading to some crap bits – but may be do able in a day if you a lot fitter than me and are a bit more pragmatic about using road when path is crap

Cheers folks

I’ve got cash with them – they are covered by the uk govt protection scheme so unless you have over 85k with them (!) you are about as safe as with any UK bank. Have a look at Martin Lewis’ money saving website he has some good advice on this sort of thing

I have two kids, love them to bits and absolutely the right decision for us. I have found it really hard for the last few years to keep up mtbing and social life generally – some seem to manage it, we have struggled a bit. Getting easier now ( youngest is 1, oldest 2) – but I’d be lying if I said I never looks at some of my mates’ lives and envy their freedom. I’d suggest that many folk who have them go through some strong feelings, and there are times when I have found it really hard – I suspect many folk go through feelings of regret, but I’d also suspect that most get through that and are happy with their decision in the long run.

For the OP, all I’d say is that unless you feel compelled to have kids I wouldn’t recommend it – no-one will know how you’ll feel in 10 years about your decision, but your guess will be bett than ours!

Yeah, if it’s not rush hour I’d grab a cab into Manhattan, the air train can be a bit slow depending on what terminal IIRC, and you’ve then got to get a long island railroad train or a subway.

You could probably grab some food and get up the Rockerfeller Bulding ( shorter queues than ESB and you can see the ESB!) – suspect kids would like that.

That made me laugh muddydwarf, v amusing

Wasn’t on the bike, but had an altercation with an eejit dog walker when out for a walk with family yesterday – after dog ran right up to my 3 year old and put it’s face right up to her’s and the guy walking it just stood there and did nothing, I told him he should control his dog, and he retorted that I should control my children. To be fair,my daughter had been standing there minding her own business, so I can see that she is a real menace.

Quite impressed I managed to keep my language clean.

I have a focus estate and it’s great for chucking in pushchairs and assorted kids’ stuff, for a practical family car without spending a lot I’d recommend it. Mine isn’t the most inspiring drive in the world (small engine and auto box) and I’m getting shot of it for that reason, but it’s done us proud for 3 years and was cheap, paid.5k and will hopefully get 3 of that back.

Oh yeah, though have to admit fuel consumption – and tank size. – are pretty poor. I get less than 30mpg, keep telling myself to see how high I can get it, but get bored after 5 mins ….

Sorrycannot talk you out of it. Have a 55 plate mk 5 GTI and I love it. As fast as I could see myself needing on the road, plenty of room, nice and comfortable inside. Handling flatters my mediocre skills, think you’d have to be a pretty bad driver to bin it. Buy it.

Poppa:

1. Impending nuclear explosion which can only be stopped with disarm codes (a la Bond or something).
2. Said codes in posession of hapless gentleman, who is half a shandy over the limit, does not have any means of wireless communication and is 10 miles away from the nearest telephone.
3. Thirty minute countdown timer.

– just sounds like excuse for a TT with excellent motivation….

Until recently I worked in 'Model Servicing'…

Alright stu? Not just a gibberish email from Loz..? Some of his jokes read like gibberish….

I’m back in the ‘burgh next week, like for good. Might be up for a ride soon..?

New York for me – been year ~1 year – been ace fun, but not been great for riding. Home to sunny Edinburgh in the summer.

When I came over to US I brought most of the bikes (stored two in the free-storage unit that is my folks’ attic! – only a temporary move). Was no major hassle to get them shipped along with some other stuff – if I was doing again I’d take one on plane and ship the others. Selling and re-buying seeems an expensive way to do it – I’m sure I’d get peanuts for my bikes – worth much more to me than I could sell them for.

If I were doing it again I’d get an estimate of shipping costs and consider taking them.

I live in Brooklyn – good for beer, not so good for mtb…

NYC is great place, but couldn’t stay here for too long without losing it