my new Passatt GTE is miles ahead in quality, feel, driveability and useability than the Ford it replaced which was absolutely awful in every respect and the worst car Ive ever owned. My car before that was the first shape Hyundai i30 and that was really well built inside, almost on a par with the VW and actually much better than the Beemer that preceeded it

The virtual dash i n the VW is brilliant,a really nice thing to look at and fiddle around with, and I’m amazed with the 1.4 petrol engine, even without the battery assistance

Touch screen entertainment system and sat nav is so much easier to use than my mates Audi’s fiddly little dial

Chellaston

you could walk/cycle to work across Sinfin moor (or if your at Raynesway site that’s easy too)

good schools

lots of new housing getting built which is a bit shit but means cost isn’t that high compared to other similar areas

easy enough to get round the city traffic without going into the centre to get to Black Rocks etc, straight onto M1 or A50/A38 for peaks or cannock etc, close to airport for holidays but far enough away noise isn’t really an issue

on edge of city, nice bridleways and canal paths lead to singletrack playgrounds around Ticknall or ride to Morley Woods or Bramcote

lots of nice little villages just further south but prices do go up a lot – Ticknall, Repton, Melbourne etc

shardlow, Aston, Weston all nice too and more of a village feel

I wouldn’t want roof bars fitted to a Kuga permanently, fuel consumption is bad enough without (lucky if I got 38mph from my old diesel model on long way journeys say at no more than 60-70)

worst car I’ve ever had the misfortune to own and was very glad to get rid of it last week

recently picked up a Kona Dewdrop frame and P2 forks dirt cheap on ebay and have done this

Built up with flared drops 105 double with a wide range SLX cassette, rear mech on a Wolftooth roadlink, can run either 26″ x 2.4 or as it is currently 700c x 32mm

Rides lovely, very spritely and the flared drops are ideal

Whats the fuss about, its nothing new have been able to simulate all the main Alps climbs with video climbs on BKool for ages

I’d prefer the video of the actual climb than Zwifts computer graphic footage (did a 7 day trail of Zwift the other week, enjoyed the competitive element but missed the better realism of BKool)

I rode Alp d’Huez a couple of weeks ago and did Mont Ventoux on Sunday (9-10% ave gradient for 5,346 feet over 13.3 miles, just failed to get under 2 hours but I’m no means fast and haven’t been on a bike much since last October as I am recovering from a shoulder op 6 weeks ago)

He has branched out into monging weed

seaweed that is

It’s shit, slow and not very user friendly

As well as cancelling my sub recently I had been slowly drifting away from STW, slow with news, too many preachy opinion type articles , FGF full of dodgy pics of blokes modelling clothes that were just embarrassing to scroll through at your work desk on a Friday lunchtime, Facebook page that keeps dragging up articles from months ago, the only reason I still drifted over to the ‘main’ site was when I was browsing the forum. Now that’s been made so unfriendly to use I can’t see myself spending much time here at all, by the time it’s no doubt sorted and running faster I, along with a few others I suspect, will be gone

I have a Passatt GTE estate on order for my next company car, ordered early Feb and will be with me March 15th, that’s adding a couple of factory options to the standard spec

could have had the 330e or upgraded to a 5 series electric but the Passatt offered a fair bit more (adaptive cruise control being the biggy), a lot more space (estate being pretty much essential for me) and the seats where far comfier

was pretty pokey in GTE mode and over the weekend I had a demo I averaged about 76mph on economy mode, low 40mph just on petrol

Bought my Strive just over a year ago, it was already heavily discounted on the ‘seconds’ part of the website, week later they had another £300 off all bikes in the Black Friday sale, although mine was no longer in stock

Started live chat with them to ask about returning it and buying another model in the sale and no questions asked they refunded me the £300 straight away

only experience I’ve had of their customer service but it was A1

If the weather is OK may be heading down with my daughter (7), she is a fair weather rider though and it’s not looking that promising at the mo

it is however ideal for your situation, you could also go to Conkers afterwards if the little one still has surplus energy

things to do – Williamson tunnels tour
your kid should love it

^ first (and hopefully only) time I’ve agreed with a comment on the daily mail

How few of the the opinionated posters have any hands-on experience of civils pricing, risk management, difficult clients and construction project delivery?

over 22 years in the construction industry
12 years site & Project Management & 10 years in an Estimating / Estimating Manager role for 2 major contractors, internationally
I have been involved with projects up to £450 million, often in direct competition with Carillion
We have strict governance and risk management procedures that have been strengthened and reinforced alot over the last 2 years since we had our own profit warnings, it is clear that Carillion did not

@iain1775 – building mag reported that Balfours and Galliford Try will take a combined hit of £80 million on the Aberdeen bypass specifically.

projected extra cash contribution to complete the job without Carillion is £60 to £80 million, any shortfall is shared equally
It was a project that was already in a degree of trouble Gallifords for example set aside £98m in May last year for troubled contracts including Aberdeen and Queensferry crossing

Balfours official statement detailing the three JV’s so you don’t have to rely on 2nd hand press interpretations – https://www.balfourbeatty.com/news/statement-regarding-balfour-beatty-s-joint-ventures-with-carillion-plc/

oldschool – Member
Dragon – if the Scottish government lawyers were smart enough (you never know!) then because the Aberdeen bypass is awarded to a consortium / joint venture the risk of a member of the consortium failing may (should) pass to the other members not the gov. No idea if that is the case,
Is the case here, Balfour Beatty have taken a hit as partners in Aberdeen. They announced yesterday they expect the knock on effect to cost them about £45M. They were also quick to point out that this was their only financial exposure to Carillion. They are obviously worried about their own value if they get tarred with this brush

Balfours £35 to £45m hit is not all on the Aberdeen bypass, we were also in JV’s with Carillion on the M60/M62 works and the A14
A very measured and sensible statement was released to staff today from our CEO who has turned the company around in the last couple of years, a reminder how important positive cashflow is in this industry, something Balfours now enjoys
BB is a different company to what it was a few years ago, some real changes for the better have been made to how we approach bidding for and taking on work and how we manage projects through thier lifecycle, these will help minimise the fallout from our Carillion exposure. Its a shame Carillion didn’t recognise their issues and put similar measures in place early enough, it only 2 years ago they launched a hostile takeover bid for Balfours
Quite a few of my friends and ex-colleagues worked there, several giving up 15+ years service elsewhere. I feel for them at the moment

I had Homeserve 8 cover a couple years ago when there was a massive topcashback deal so it only cost me about £30 for the year (after cashback)
They replaced a leaky tap no problem, we didnt want the standard tap they offered so there was the option to buy our own and they would fit it FOC
Cover and service seemed good but cancelled it after the year as our intention was to replace our boiler so a large part of the cover wouldnt have been needed

I think they hike up premiums massively in the 2nd year regardless of you claiming on it so its possibly not something I would want to rely on long term

Just picked up one of these from appliances direct
Only had a 5 minute play with it so far but sound seems really good, comparable if not better (slightly less bassy) than my Bose Soundlink mini
Works Bluetooth and WiFi, apple airplay etc
I wouldn’t pay £100 for it let alone £300 but for £30 it’s a steal
I think I might get a second one
https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/thecone-bc/aether-theconebc-desktop-pc-speaker

Bulletproof pulled out of the UK market about 5-6 months ago

I’ve the first gen Pro (pretty much identical to the Pro2 bar a few small changes) and that works with Zwift
Only used it on a laptop though not an iPad (don’t want to pay around £60 for ai pad compatible ant+dongle)

I would suggest though the BKool software is IMO better than Zwift anyway, bigger choice of real world routes, video routes as well as computer graphics, decent training programmes and velodrome sessions. It makes Zwift seem more of a video game. Not to mention its also now significantly cheaper per month than Zwift

In terms of the trainer it’s the only smart one I’ve tried so can’t compare to others but I like it, resistance changes seem effective and quite quick, it connects to the laptop no issues and that’s without any kind of use extension lead, it’s quite noisy compared to my previous Minoura but that was known for being one of the quietest around so no great shakes
From unpacking to using it was literally less than 10 minutes, and most of that was figuring out the BKool,software as the user interface isn’t as polished as Zwift

Another BKool here, new to it (and all this smart trainer business) but seems really good

Hicks Lodge

Saw your post on the pinkbike forum, I’d agree with the comments there and suggest a small
It’s a long top tube and reach since they made the ‘race’ geo standard
My medium strive race is not much shorter than my mates XL Santa Cruz Nomad
Where a outs are you, maybe someone local has one you could try?

yep received my new one 2 days after posting the old one off, they must have started processing the replacement before they received my old one it was too quick for them not to have done

I’d be lucky if my daughter (7) would try anything but water, she won’t entertain drinking anything else, no juice, no fizzy drinks not even flavoured water
Regardless though I wouldn’t waste decent (or even cheap) alcohol on my kids, its all for me!

Just left Cornerstone
Orignal razor was great, whilst the new blades seem to clear better I really can’t get on with the redesigned handle

I want to see the photo 2 seconds later after he has collided with that massive billboard inconsideratly placed in the middle of the shared use path he is cycling along….

Matt on mh BFe, can’t notice it at all really

Source hipster
Removable straps make it very stable, prefer it to my wingnut (unless I need to carry lots)
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Source-Hipster-Hydration-Pack-1-5L_101511.htm?sku=366712&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgKnWsNmv1gIVDM-yCh0DsAbsEAQYASABEgKCdPD_BwE

Yes common problem, just stick some protective tape there and one of those rubber protector things on the cable

I noticed mine rubbing fairly soon after getting the bike so was able to address it before it got any worse than just a cosmetic mark, mainly as there is loads of similar experiences throughout this pinkbike thread
https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=149137&pagenum=491

I have one of these on the exposed bit of cable outer over the BB, has stopped all rubbing
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPIRAL-SOFT-SILICONE-RUBBER-BIKE-FRAME-PROTECTOR-CABLE-OUTER-BRAKE-GEAR-HOSE-RUB/201986688299?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3D993fc475529e4b1eb6094a87f3848c4a%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D11%26rkt%3D30%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D112058067392&_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726

Field needs mowing

rone – Member
There is a way of using existing public rights of way to get from Rowsley to Bakewell
without going on the A6 via a public bridleway and non-classified highway
.
Can you shed any light on that? Do they mean nipping around the back of Bakewell Showground?

POSTED 1 DAY AGO # REPORT-POST
simon1975 – Member
Take Church Lane from A6 at Rowsley and continue through Coombs Farm. Perfectly legit.

POSTED 1 DAY AGO # REPORT-POST

This
Easy enough to follow on the ground, road turns to farm track, bit gravelly, a little climb then downhill back to a path qcross a field on the right that finishes at the end of the Monsall trail
If you miss the field path the track carries on to join the A6 near the entrance to Bakewell showground

Not sure about the other end though

once the link above is fully open all the way through to Matlock station is is a relatively short road section from Cromford along Starkholmes Road and the A615 to Matlock
Alternatively just go up A6 through Matlock Bath (avoids a bit of a short but stiff hill)

several parts on the ground between Bakewell and Matlock are not rideable without a (unsigned) road diversion

Matlock-Darley Dale – open to walkers, surface completed but no crossing of the railway at Matlock end available for cyclists yet

Darley Dale- Rowsley – all works complete but not officially open until crossing at Matlock is resolved then will all be opened together

Rowsley-Bakewell – 4km section of old railway works not started, landowner negotiations and funding still underway but
“There is a way of using existing public rights of way to get from Rowsley to Bakewell
without going on the A6 via a public bridleway and non-classified highway. We are currently looking at the feasibility of formally promoting and signing these as a temporary off road alternative until the main onward route along the line of the former railway is completed”

I understood as well the run into Buxton is a way off being complete due to issues over land ownership although this is only a short 150m section, extension of High Peak and Monsall trails into centre of Buxton is still under discussion as far as I know

so there should be enough finished that you could ride it with the aid of a map to get round bits that arn’t finished. If you can access the bits that are finished but not officially open yet I don’t know, they may well be barriered off at either end

I too am intrigued by the location of Shatner’s Bassoon, and also the Hayfield Campsite descent

Hayfield campsite is from here down to the gate, hairpin left and down to Hayfield past the campsite
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=404955&y=386317&z=120&sv=404955,386317&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=622&ax=404955&ay=386317&lm=0

Riber all the way down through Bow Woods
Black rocks multiple ways down

Would completely agree with this but
1. Technically they are not in the Peak District
2. Both cheeky

Has no one mentioned The Campsite descent into Hayfield yet?
That’s my fav, from the very top (the horrible grassy field) it’s just a fast fun blast right down
Then possibly Cumberland Clough and the long blast from Shooters Cabin down to Glossop Road although as others have said it depends on the conditions and can vary on how I’m feeling
Although good I’ve riden all the stuff around Ladybower too much for it to feature

Back in the day you got square and rectangle bricks so as a kid you had to use imagination to build stuff. Now each kit is very specific and kids appear to pick it up, make it, and then not touch it again.

Groan not this again

Got my daughter an orbea MX20 for £150 on ebay the other week, immaculate
She loves it, and I’m quite jealous, it’s a lovely little bike, great matt black/pink/blue/yellow colourscheme (that’s the bit that important to kids)
The internal cable routing is better than any of my bikes have had, frame is beautifully hydroformed and light
Even has little bosses on the down tube for a crud catcher type mudguard (yet to find one small enough though) and a nice little CX style chain catcher to stop the chain coming off, cranks, brakes, grips etc are all child sized just like on Isla or Frog
My daughter got the hang of gears before she even got to the end of the street and finds them light enough to change no problem and I can’t get her off it now
She had a 16″ Frog before which I sold for £30 less than what we paid new, after over 3 years, so the Orbea ended up costing me £20!

Bike is so nice in fact I would seriously look at orbea for my next bike, if the adult ones are as well thought out they have to be worth a look

Didn’t hike my premium after claiming for a water damaged iphone, in fact they where very apologetic that it had increased by 23p due to a rise in tax or something, always found the Pedalcover team to be friendly and very helpful.

any better discount codes than BOARDMAN (13% off – £12)?