Seems passionate about the food which is the important thing. Every dish he’s made I would eat. Nice to see the driving over lemons place, Now I can put a picture to the place after enjoying the book. Have to agree about Sarah Beeny.

Long top tube, which is fine for me as I’m a bit of an ape. Stiff back end, not as supple as some other steel frames out there. Slack head angle great for Knarly descents, very stable. I always feel as if I am having to push the fork through stuff on the trail. Front end grip is great, to great if you know what I mean. If I had my time again I’d go for a Scandal but I’m not as hardcore as I thought I was. Bit of a wimpy XC boy! Frame is strong and well made. BB runs true and I’ve only ever had chain suck with Alloy rings. I would give it a try if you don’t like it you could always pass it on and try something else. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Well I bought my 20″ Inbred 456 just as Brant was leaving On-One. From a quality point of view it was fine. The BB was faced but it was so close that it didn’t make any difference. The Head Tube is short but I just put spacers in and Got a 22 Deg short stem. Problem solved. The bike went together really well and I’ve had no quality issues since. The geometry doesn’t suit me but that’s my fault and although the back end was stiff its no worse than any other ally frame I’ve had. Now it seemed to me at the time that a lot of Inbred owners thought that the Ragley was the bike that they should of bought. I think they got a little caught up in the Hype etc. All of a sudden the Inbred was pants and the blue pig was the Bee’s Knee’s. On the plus side will the second hand values of Brant designed Inbred’s go up in value? I need a 21″ Scandal with the old steeper geometry.

I had to travel to Bradford from Durham to get mine. Wharfdale car sales. I think the diesel cars have all shot up a little bit at the moment.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201128402250164/sort/priceasc/usedcars/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/body-type/estate/transmission/manual/fuel-type/diesel/model/mondeo/make/ford/radius/60/page/1/postcode/dh12bb?logcode=p
This one is only 115bhp but its only 2700.

Mine is the 2.0 130bhp tdci Zetec Estate. It’s an 04 with 70k on it with full history. Paid £3200 for it and that included 6 months tax and 1yrs MOT. It does an average of 45-50mpg. It has a 6spd box, climate, Cruise control, heated front screen which is worth the price alone in the Winter. It destroys hills, has 240 torques. Put your foot down in any gear and it just goes and keeps going! It is massive inside. I’m 6ft 4 and I don’t have the seat all the way back. Put the back seats down and you’ll get two bikes in easy. I usually put mine and my little lads 24″ bike in no problem. The main thing is the way it drives. I just can’t fault it. It handles superbly for a big car. It’s very comfortable and just eats up the miles. Read the reviews for yourself on Honest John’s site. Fewest breakdowns in tough TUV tests. I’m very happy with mine so far. Mondeo spares on Ebay have everything you will ever need at a quarter of the price of the VW bits. I really wanted a Passat Highline 130 TDI Estate but they were well over 5K for one with 80 to 90K, then you have to factor in the cambelt and waterpump change, 400 notes to do it properly. Service intervals of 9k as opposed to 12k for the Mondeo.

If you actually like driving then the Mondeo 2.0 TDCI is the boy! I have just gone from a Focus to a Mondeo Estate TDCI. Test drove loads. Had my heart set on a Passat until I drove the Mondeo. It is much better in every way. 130bhp version is more torquey and a lot smoother than the 130 Bhp Vag unit. No timing belt and water pump to fail on the Ford, chain cam driven. Bigger and will make the Passat feel like a canal boat in the corners, but it doesn’t have the all important VW badge!

Anybody running a Soul at 140mm.

A lot of people have commented that the Scandal is as comfortable as the 456. Why bother going for steel when the ali one is as comfortable and also a lot lighter. I have thought about the std Inbred and think that it would suit the fork better but its just that harsh back end. I think as life gets more hectic I prefer to ride for longer when I can get out rather than lots of short epic trips hence the need for comfort over technical ability. Also I need to get this right this time or my missus is going to go mad. Does the Cotic have more flex / give in the rear. the fork would probably suit the Cotic at 120mm. The Genesis latitude is another frame I have been pondering over.

I have a marzocchi MX Pro 120 ETA & TAS. This fork is about 25mm longer than other forks so at 120 its more like a 140. This makes the 456 super slack for me. Can wind it back to 100mm but it sort of defeats the object of having the longer fork. I love this fork, it’s super reliable, soaks everything up, the ETA works great on the climbs. To be honest I think I’ve just bought a frame with too slack a head angle. My old giant XTC was like a rocket compared to this. A bit twitchy on the descents but so fast on anything else. Bl**dy uncomfortable though. I’m thinking 70′ head angle with this fork would be spot on crossed with a forgiving steel frame. Maybe more XC than aggressive trail.

Scuttle shake!

Unfortunately for Murray he is playing in an Era of possibly the greatest tennis players of all time, athleticism, skill and stamina and most importantly mental toughness. I think Murray is slightly lacking in the last department. I think he needs to get rid of mummy and find a coach that will instill some MTFU attitude before he misses the boat. When Sampras was feeling sorry for himself his coach Tim Gullikson would say “Lets have a bit more blue collar.”
Come on Murray!

At the minute its an open cage not a kennel. It needs to be enclosed on three sides with its back against something solid like a fence. Dog needs to feel safe and secure in his kennel. Cracking dog, cr@p kennel!

off to bed now, a very very chuffed ganpa. :-)
A friend of mine, his Son has just had a little girl. He’s very proud and one plus would now be he’s sleeping with a grandmother :wink:

Do what I did on my golf mk4 take bumper off, takes 15mins then replace side lights with white LED bulbs about a fiver for two and guaranteed for 50,000 illuminations. They are crap but legal.If you look in the manual it tells you to take the car to a dealer if a bulb goes! You Tube has some very good instruction vid’s on bumper removal.

.never quite got the hang of that little rascal….
No I don’t think many people do. Mate had a skip brown conversion 200+Bhp. Still to this day it was the best and worst car I’ve ever driven. I think he had Avon Turbospeed’s on it. Anyway back to topic I have only positive comments on Fulda’s. Good value and grip OK. If you want a tyre that lasts it will have a harder compound thus it’s grip will be reduced, you can’t get something for nothing!

I think we will find out that this may not have been a burglary but some sort of dispute that went wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if the protagonists knew each other, burglary used as a cover etc. Time will tell!

Look for a small independent builder / fitter that is in a tradesman scheme in your County, then get references etc from people that have used them. You will regret going to a national company if only from having to waste hours of your life negotiating the price down to the point where it becomes competitive if at all!

Structures. Hot glue gun and a big bag of paper straws. Build a bridge, talk about compression and tension, arches and triangles. Add weight till it collapses. Great fun.

Don’t be pressurised by the locals to speed. You will be the one that gets pulled. Stay at the limit and you will be fine.

Tried 2.3 vertical pro’s on xc 717’s. They were awful seemed to squirm around on the rim and they are a narrow tyre for a 2.3. I eventually got some xm 719’s from merlin. Much better for any large volume tyre. I like a bit of comfort on my hardtail.

No. I think we just differ in who we’d rather drink with. I’d rather have a drink with a wet smelly dog than with someone who wants to watch telly and eat Tapas. Each to their own. :wink: An open mike night and pork scratchings no problem with that.

Anyone who doesn’t like dogs automatically barred. I’d rather have a damp dog scrounging the odd crisp or peanut than some boring to$$er talking about work or football! No telly. No Tapas. It’s Barnsley not Barcelona.

Just check the weight limit for the box so it doesn’t void your insurance etc.

Had a Golf 1.9tdi for two years sold it to get a Mondeo 2.0TDCI. My dad had the old shape focus estate 1.8TDCI 115bhp. The Focus is better in every respect than the Golf. Better torque spread, better mpg just as reliable if not better. The handling of the Focus is light years ahead of the Golf. Obviously the badge isn’t as good on the Focus.

1.8 VTEC petrol just as economical as a diesel Focus. You have your VTEC coloured glasses on! Not a chance, look at 30mpg max for the VTEC on a good day with the wind behind you and no other traffic on the road. You can’t really compare the newer TDCI to the old TDDI they are Night and Day really

Good comments so far, Reba’s or Minutes seem to be the most popular, I’ll get a price and see how expensive things are. According to my wife this better be the last bike related purchase for some time although as I see it I’ve just bought her a caravan so I have a bit to go yet!

Had two sets, one set of xc717’s on deore hubs and one set of 719’s xt hubs. Both spot on never had to touch or tweak either set.

I think the key word here is comfort. I can tell if one bike is more comfortable than another. If it’s more comfortable I will ride it further for longer, and go over rougher trails etc. As for technical ability of said different bikes I wouldn’t have a clue how to quantify if one is better than another.

The amount you will lose would buy a lot of road tax and fuel. If you only do 14k you will probably never make it up in cheaper tax and mpg over the life of the car. Having said that a nagging wife can be a great motivation to do almost anything to stop the moaning. I know I have just bought a caravan a car to tow it and all the crap that goes with it. She still hasn’t told me when we can go away because we have so many things on! I’m told that caravans hold their value better than cars so I should make most of it back when we sell it unused by us :(

No dpf on the 1.8 Tdci which is the ford engine. I would go for a Honda Jazz 1.4 petrol. Great little/big cars!

I thought about the Honda Accord Tourer but was put off by the reports of clutch failures. If you are covered by their warranty then you’re OK but if you have bought it from a non franchised dealer then you’re in trouble. 900 pounds for the parts only then Honda labour rates as the clutch is a pig to change and special Honda tools are needed. Apparently all the higher powered diesels 130+ hp suffer from clutch problems, cant cope with 240ft/lbs of torque regularly put through the clutch. Fords probably the cheapest to replace ie most common circa 400 pounds all in. That’s what swung it for me. The Honda’s were lovely to drive though. Lot’s of probs with the new TDI 140bhp VW’s. Oil pumps failing seems to be common.

Never spent more than 4K on a family hack. Wife’s car is brand new every three years so I’m no skinflint, I just can’t bring myself to spend a lot of dosh on my own car that spends it’s time towing caravans, carrying bikes and acting as a family taxi for my kids and his friends. Current car is a Mondeo Zetec Estate 130 TDCI. Was going to go for a Passat Highline 130 TDI. The Mondeo is faster, handles better, is bigger and has a better towing capacity. Can’t comment on reliability yet but the parts are cheap so we’ll see. It doesn’t have leather which is handy to wipe chocolate off etc. Had a petrol Focus Estate before that and a Golf TDI estate before that! The Golf had a great engine but was the worst handling car I’ve ever owned, the Focus handled beautifully. The Focus was the most reliable car our family has ever had. Only a water pump and rear wheel bearing in 5yrs.
If I needed a family hack for bikes etc but didn’t need to tow a caravan I would go for a Focus Estate 1.8 Tdci 115 hp. No DPF which is a bonus. VW’s not as reliable as they once were.

Stanley towbars in Chester-le-Street are very good but they only do it at their workshop. Hedley will come to you at work or at home and fit it. I was charged approx 30 quid ( plus towbar and electrics)to do it at my work, took about an hour. Ford Mondeo estate. Life time guarantee on the towbar as long as you have the car and a years guarantee on the electrics. They also sell kits for DIY’ers.

Have to agree on the AA route. I bought a Fenix L2T AA Torch because I wanted a powerful light that was light and could use AA cells. The Fenix was about 180 lumens but only lasted about 1 1/2hrs with the best 2800NM’s. The choice of power output was poor Full or low (10 lumens) with nothing in between. I think there would be a real market for a small lightweight AA powered headlight that had a decent run time and a decent mid-range output so you could extend the time if needed. You don’t need big power for a lid light just clarity and a bit of depth because you can move or focus the beam with your head really easily compared with one on the bike that is static and just goes where the bike is pointed. The Joystick is about the only option it’s expensive quite heavy and you can’t extend the runtime if you haven’t got a piggy back cell. AA’s you can get anywhere.

Wasn’t really sure when the DPF’s came in on the Vectra. Is it only on EURO IV spec models? I think the Vectra is good value, its just I’m not sure about their reliability. A lifetime warranty on new models. Are they any better than they used to be? Whatcar rate them really highly but I’m not so sure they always get it right.

When I have enough spare cash this will be first on my wish list. Cracking value and really comfy!

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/assets/images/SportiveBianco_Review.pdf

The cams are the same material in the 150s and in the 130’s the issue is to do with how much boost they run and how often the Oil is changed. You must use the right VAG spec oil in the 150’s or they do indeed eat the camshafts! If you skimp on oil then its big bills. I would go for the 130 TDI its a lovely engine and doesn’t strain the chassis to much. The 150 is to much for the chassis, it’s no Focus in this respect.

Just got my boy the 24″ snot green one (£189.99) and he loves it. I wanted to get the 26″ Isla bikes one but he is still a little small. At that age kids want bling forks and discs even if they are heavy and don’t work properly. Probably only getting about 20 to 30mm travel on the softest setting on the fork but hey he’s happy!The Isla bikes are good but very pricy and kids grow quick. Never yet seen an isla bike for sale second hand at a decent price.

Try walking the dog on the pavement for a bit to toughen up the pads on his feet. Then build up the time. Two weeks should be enough. Dog shoes really are not necessary and they are a complete pain to keep on.

What ever you do don’t get one with a plastic bush, get one that has a brass bush or shim, these are far superior.They don’t squash and deform then go slack.

Out of stock at the moment. The fixed one is in stock for 6.99.

Sounds like he found you just in time. Who adopted who? Dogs are great. Never trust anyone who doesn’t like dogs or horses. Best bit of advice my old man gave me. It’s never been wrong!