**** all again, I think I might move my fairly small amount to an ISA and save myself the monthly disappointment of checking the result.

Amazon. Our drive is about 10 meters long and the driver often leaves parcels at the road end of the drive rather than on the doorstep or in the letterbox. Saves him 10 steps but gives me a load of grief when the parcel disappears or gets soaked in the rain.

+1 for the 3m black, reflects white tape. It is really good, we used it on my mums gatepost after a few knocks and near misses. I used some offcuts on my commuting helmet and often got comments about how effecting it was.

Have a look at an app like snoop where you can link your bank accounts and play with the data.

I prefer that. I used to like having “PayPal money” that meant I could have free bike parts using man maths.

Agreed, nothing better than buy “free” parts.

if a dog walker turns up to the same FE site with no facilities, what, exactly, are they contributing that we arent?

I’d guess most people wouldn’t go very far to walk the dog, 10 or 15 minutes down the road so unlikely to need breakfast, fuel, a pub lunch and a BnB. MTBers on the other hand travel hours to a destination and will need some or all of the things I list above. Add in a bike shop for emergency spares and repairs and I’d say cyclists bring a lot to a FE site and the surrounding area.

I was late to trailforks so paid £36/year and I’d say it is worth it, I used it loads in Europe on holiday and it is really handy to have when riding somewhere different in the UK.

Bell super has a mount but I find it too far back. I actually stuck a mount further forward so on that basis I’d buy a helmet that fits you and stick a mount on it – provided it has a flat surface to take the sticky pad.

What nonsense! Clearly none of the places listed above come even close to the trails behind the nationwide!

The market does seem really odd at the moment, some really good stuff going stupid cheap if you are in the right place at the right time.

There are also some people who still think we are in the middle of the pandemic and are trying to sell a 5 year old bike for 90% of RRP having done zero maintenance since buying it and not even washing it for the photos.

Cycling glasses, if I don’t lose them I drop them and scratch the lenses. Now I just buy 3 or 4 pairs of safety specs from screwfix.

Proviz jackets at mountain warehouse for £22, free delivery this weekend too – https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/proviz-reflective-windproof-cycling-jacket-p56347.aspx/black/

Cant embed for some reason, AC/DC Thunderstruck live at Donnington 1991

https://youtu.be/Af0P6XEkI7Y?si=5LZ1qzB9Di_D8f0i

Use the reg no to check webuyanyvan.com, that’s obviously trade or rock bottom so work out how much over that you are willing to pay.

Some deals on Mondraker Foxy and Superfoxy around, for example – https://www.freeborn.co.uk/mondraker-superfoxy-2023-enduro-bike

Text under the video now says electric motorcycle. And yes, he deserved what he got.

No direct experience of them but I saw an ad for a Wahoo element rival for £100 odd on amazon. Might be worth a look?

Anybody in the middle lane of the motorway when the inside lanes are empty.

I used to use this on my hardtail, worked perfectly well.

Hardly “ugly”, with a tiny little battery box!

I beg to differ, that looks even worse than I’d pictured!

Its a no from me, that’s fugly and expensive. It will look even worse if you are tall and need to raise it in the frame.

I’d go for roof bars and a Thule bike carrier if it were me, often available cheap from FB marketplace or similar.

I know you say you don’t have roof bars on the car but you can fit some for not too much money – https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel3.php?emulate=roofbar&query=7666&srsltid=AfmBOopcxqMD-Zlynlfs-X5kJ3T4rgIQh75qgHZ_NXSSGxu8C7xY9N7E

I’d agree with Borrowdale Bash including Walla Crag, also High street/Nan Bield is great for big views and descents.

Sometimes everybody can be an arsehole, doesn’t matter what age we are.

The problem with deciding if your own kids are nice people or not is we are all pre-programmed to like and protect our young or the species would die out. Some people I know sing the praises about how wonderful little Jonny is when in reality, everybody else thinks they he is an arsehole. The parents just have a massive blind spot to it.

It is tyres for me, I have so many stashed in corners of the garage. No idea why I keep old, worn out and probably slashed tyres. Other than giving some pretty nasty spiders a home, I am yet to find a use for them!

New bike!

I have been happy with my Halfords 1600 for the last 4 or 5 seasons, they do an updated 1800 one now for 70 odd.

My other half does most of the things listed above and unfortunately my kids seem to have picked up each and every one of the annoying habits, when I moan at them for any of them they just say “well, mum does it…”

One I don’t see mentioned yet but as a household of 5, I seem to be the only one who can tell that the bin is full or the recycling needs to be taken out.

Whilst I agree that government money shouldn’t prop private businesses up, it is clear for anybody trying to book accommodation, have a meal or grab a pint during Tweedlove that it does bring a lot of extra people to the area.

I cant help but think the weather being so bad this year may have put the final nail in the coffin? If it was dry and warm, would it have been more successful with vendors making more money and everybody being happier?

It does seem peoples attitudes to mass events and racing has changed. Before COVID there were loads of events, all well supported. I used to do a few Gorrick or Evans events as it got me riding somewhere different and it was good to have a beer and some food afterwards but I started to get fed up with it being too busy (I know, I paid money and contributed to the traffic) so I stopped doing them and started exploring more on my own with an OS map and trailforks. Now I like nothing more than an off piste ride where I hardly see another person.

I have 2 bikes in the garage with that setup and I use boiling water and a paralell punch to knock them out. I wrap the rear triangle inner tube and rags to protect it, put it in the vice and knock them out with the punch. It is fiddly and frustrating but just take it slow and give it a few knocks at 12 o clock, then 6, then 9, then 3 etc. Once the first one is out it gives a slightly bigger lip to knock the other one out.

I have a 61cm noggin and have a 7IDP and a Bell full face, in open face (Assume sizing is the same?) Giro, 661 and Fox all fit fine. The helmets are all sized as large or XL so I wouldn’t look for XXL but use the size guide.

Troy lee do a Xl/XXL but when I tried it on it was absolutely massive.

@tthew A few more commutes and you will have worn enough material away that it wont be an issue :-D

Just make sure you keep it away from your brakes. ;o)

That is actually why I haven’t tried it, that and I am lazy and don’t want a clean bike that badly ;-)

A mate of mine uses household furniture polish on his frame, it does seem to keep it cleaner than the rest of our group when riding in the same slop and he maintains it is a lot easier to wash as the mud doesn’t stick to the frame.

I’ve had a cycle to work bike from them, no issues. Delivered fully built in their own van rather than boxed via a courier.

I agree with @poly and harsh as it sounds, if 22 out of 24 didn’t show then I’d be looking at what I could have done differently. You expect a few no shows but not that many without something else going on.

I play the odd village cricket game when they are short and I am around. It just takes too long for me, if we get a sunny afternoon I’d rather be on my bike somewhere in the woods.

Never mind, I just spotted the update. I’ll try again next week.

Since when did tyres start costing £75?

I went through a few SLX mechs too, now I just stick a Deore on for £45 odd and replace it when it needs it. I can’t say I notice a difference in shifting between Deore and SLX, possibly a bit more chain slap on big impacts with Deore but could have been there on the SLX too and I don’t remember.