It’s not called hidden Lincolnshire for nothing. Cathedral and castle worth a visit. Nice little bookshop on steep hill.

Slightly different tack here. I was talking to a body shop guy about my wife’s Suzuki swift that was hit head on then from behind in a car accident. Car was written off but my wife and son both got out intact. He said they are amazingly engineered cars with a super strong internal structure and if he had to have a small car it would be one of those.

Always loved small nippy hatchbacks. If it was my money I’d be going for a Swift GTi. I think everyone at some point should own something Italian though.

Cheapest most reliable probably an Avensis Tourer 1.8 petrol CVT. The 2012 face lift version has revised suspension and improved handling. It’s far superior to the earlier version. Good fuel economy and spec. Plenty of low mileage examples about. They make good taxis for a reason!

Went from a 20” 456 inbred to a 29er. Tried a 27.5” after and hardly used it. Keep it as a back up. 29er is faster and more comfortable. Being 6ft 4 it makes sense. I can see a full sus on the horizon but I have no idea what. Any suggestions on full sus 29ers bikes for tall fellows?

Kids are funny things. When my Son was 2 he took himself off to the toilet for a No2 we thought we cracked it wahay.  It must of scared him senseless. Back in nappies for a bit then. It takes time and patience. Do not draw attention to it or make it an issue and it will sort itself. Probably had a sore tummy or a little bit of constipation.

I’ve played a couple of Les Pauls. An old standard that was well worn in. It had a nice tone and was well set up. The last one was a modern standard that had sharp frets and a bridge that was miles out. My far eastern built ESP Ltd VF401 DM is much better built than the one I tried, cheaper and holds its tune far better. (Don’t mention the neck joint either!)

What mileage does it have on it?

I’m not a food snob but I’d rather shop in Aldi or Lidl than Asda.

My 3 yr old seat 2.0D is £30 year tax at the moment. Just driven to Lincolnshire from Durham 135 miles 58mpg indicated at an easy 70mph approx. If you do the miles a diesel is your best choice if you pootle about short journeys go for a petrol. Walk and cycle as much as you can.

I have been low carb not no carb for 2 yrs. I dropped white rice and switched to brown rice whole grain with grains/ quinoa etc. Probably reduced my intake by 2/3rds approx. Seems to work for me. Cauli rice is easy to make, I prefer it baked on a tray as apposed  to frying. It’s dryer  and less greasy with a better texture.

Karnali we have a Fabia 1.2 Tsi on a mixed cycle of urban A road and motorway the average is 38-40 mpg. You won’t get anywhere near 57 mpg.

Edukator I wasn’t saying that a domestic supply would be unable to charge a vehicle just that if everybody suddenly decided to switch to electric vehicles the supply network/ grid would struggle to cope. It struggles to cope at Christmas when people put the kettle on during the ad break for X factor. Never mind everybody fast charging their car overnight every night for work the next day.

Do you have any information on the carbon footprint of a new electric vehicle including the lease hiring of the battery compared to keeping an older combustion engined car on the road?

Agree about the brakes. My wife’s 1.2 Tsi Fabia has much bigger brakes than the 2.0 tdi Yeti. Very odd.

Just in the process of handing back my 2014 2.0 tdi 4×4. It was fine until it had the emissions update. Don’t touch an older EA189 engine.  Very comfortable and great in the recent snow.  Boot is an odd shape. Not much sound proofing though. Older petrol engines pre 2012-13 have timing chain reliability issues.  Rear doors can rust at the bottom problem with door seals. Still waiting for a door 6 months later! Would I have another?  No it would have to be a later Karoq with the 1.5T engine preferably or if not that the 1.4T.

There is an old saying that an estate can do everything an SUV can do only better cheaper and faster.

Which is why I’ve changed to a Seat Leon ST!

Until we get a fast charge infrastructure for  our cars at home and mid journey electric cars are pretty irrelevant at the moment if you do any real mileage. Most domestic supplies can only charge a car at 10 amps. A commercial charger can charge a car at 32 amps but tend to only charge at 16 amps. For every household that needs a car to have an upgraded supply will take years to implement. Some areas don’t even have broadband never mind a decent electric supply.

If you do 25k a year diesel every time. Tax won’t change enough to offset the fuel saving. Don’t believe the hype about small petrols the fuel economy claims in my experience ( we have a small Fabia petrol and a diesel Leon) are rubbish.  Nox is a problem in built up areas. CO2 is a problem for everybody everywhere.  Modern diesels are very good if they are used how they should be ie 25k a year and not the school run.

If it’s XC go for a 29er. I’ve never found much difference between a 26” vs 27.5”. My 29er is faster and  more comfortable. If I was a trail centre addict and I only had one bike It would be a full sus 27.5 but I like long days out in the countryside so the  29er Hardtail gets used most of the time.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ch_Fz2Np-Z4 

I give up hangs head in shame!

Where is the video linky thing gone!

https://youtu.be/AZLqZ_H_nZc

Concept 2 is good but noisy because of the chain. JTX freedom is a good machine at the £500 bracket. Very quiet compared to concept 2. What I would say if you have ever done any rowing or are likely to use it a lot go for the concept as you will quickly overwhelm the resistance of the cheaper models.

Up here in the North East a teacher asks some pupils in the class to construct a sentence using the word champion. Laura said “I won the sack race on sports day and was crowned champion.”  Tom said “ l made my dad a cup of tea and then tripped and spilt it in his lap, champion son effing champion he said.”

I’ve just finished a 3.5 year lease on a Yeti. That included 3 services and breakdown cover. Oil and filter and brake fluid. Air con service was optional. With a 3k deposit it was about 250 month. Do the maths it’s a really expensive way to have a new car. Never again for me. Just bought a Seat Leon 2015 FR ST for 12k with 15k mileage.  Still in warranty. It’s mine I can do whatever mileage I want. Servicing is fixed price at the main dealer. Someone has lost 13k on this car in 2.5 years. This time it wasn’t me!

We have a 1.2 Fabia 110 Tsi petrol and a 2.0 Seat Leon 2.0 Tdi FR. They are both decent cars. The Fabia is plenty quick enough and with the Dsg box is great for short trips and urban driving. The diesel is superb for longer journeys faster more refined and better economy. If I was doing 16k a year it would still be diesel every time. Don’t believe the mpg fuel figures for some of these small turbo petrols. 38 mpg average for the Fabia 50 mpg for the Seat.

Cut out carbs and eat what you want. You’ll lose weight so fast people will think you’re ill! Try it. It’s scary.

Can I just say what an old work colleague once told me when I scrapped a rather expensive tool for a customer he said “son if you’ve never scrapped anything you’ve never done anything” he was right. If you’ve never made a mistake you’ve never pushed yourself. Life is about gaining experience by making errors and hopefully not repeating them too often. We are all the same really, it’s how you deal with the challenges that matters. Don’t be to hard on yourself.

Tank of shell V power new air filter and a really good thrash.

There has been some research recently into some of the smaller turbo petrols from Nissan/Renault and the real world NOx emissions were as bad or worse than a modern euro6 diesel. I’ve just bought a used Seat Leon ST FR 2015 with just 14K miles on it for 12K. It was over 25K with various options. There are some serious bargains out there at the moment. It’s probably the last diesel I will buy but we may as well benefit from a lot of miss information and scare mongering. If you do the miles diesel is still the better choice. If I can I walk and cycle and we use my wife’s Fabia Tsi for short local trips (38mpg if we are lucky compared to 55mpg in the Seat.)

Just get some Michelin Cross Climates and be done with it.

By the time Vaseline degrades the plastic in the connector your car will be obsolete.

I have never heard of a generic fault on these but if you can get to the motor power feed could you wire in a separate control independent of the original control. May be an easier option. I could probably knock you up a circuit diagram to make a control.

Vaseline has always worked fine for me on all my trailer connectors.

Well done PS. It is remarkable how the weight just falls off and it has nothing it would seem to do with fat consumption more carb consumption. People have remarked how have I kept the weight off I just tell them I eat low carb. It’s not a diet it’s a lifestyle thing.

Just buy a small electric tyre inflator and a can of gunk about £20 and run any tyre you want on the Bimmer. Most cars these days come with a can of funk. It’s lighter and keeps the cars overall C02 footprint down. Only had to use it once on my wife’s car and it worked fine.

We had a good fab shop where I used to work. One way of winding up the welders was to say that welding was just like hot icing. If you could draw a line with a pencil you could mig weld. Stick welding is all together more difficult to get right. That looks decent, good job.

Longforgan, Inchture and Errol are all inbetween Perth and Dundee. Mrs Inbred is a Fifer from just over the water in Newport. Lived in Invergowrie when we met. I like Dundee but I’m from Newcastle so it’s like a smaller version. Bridge traffic can be a pain if you are travelling over it everyday. Agree with the comments about Broughty Ferry. I always preferred Monifieth. Perth is lovely and would be my choice.

Most likely the drain holes are blocked in the cabin filter housing which is normally on the passenger side engine bay against the bulkhead on a right hand drive car.

Zippy is that an Otterhound?

My sister and law lost hers recently.

Fantastic dog but thick as mince.

Martin I felt the same as you. Remember to eat some fat to get your fuel for riding. It takes a bit longer to convert to energy but you will be able to sustain much longer rides eventually. I don’t bonk anymore because I’m fuelling myself from fat not carbs. I remember feeling crap for about the first 3-4 miles then realising that I was getting faster over time when everybody else was getting tired! One other strange thing is my water consumption decreased. I think that’s because I am not processing carbs maybe.

For all those wondering if it is for them just try it. It’s not a diet because once you try it it just becomes the norm. No massive hunger pangs or sugar crashes just sustained weight loss then normal low carb eating to maintain your weight. Cut out the white pasta and bread and white rice. Replace with wholemeal varieties and cut the quantity down to about a quarter. Increase the veg and fibre and don’t forget good fat and good protein. Think of sugar as poison. Snack on Nuts and fruit. Eggs are great for low carb. What I have noticed more over the 3 or so years I’ve been low carb Is I’ve become leaner but with more noticeable muscle. The fat just seems to disappear. I have tried to make an effort to include more weight training as well as cycling. That has made a massive difference to my overall fitness. I can honestly say I have never felt hungry and sometimes have to remember to eat.