One thing I really like about the Petzl Bindi is that the torch is mounted in the cradle that allows some adjustment on the angle.  So depending on what you’re doing you can point it further up the road or closer to your feet.

If theres a big difference in fuel consumption between eco and comfort, then I would think, only one of your journeys needs to be in comfort to recharge the battery; you shouldn’t need every journey to recharge the battery.

A 1h+  journey twice a week should cause no problem at all for battery.    It’s usually a problem when there are weeks between journeys, not days.

Check the alternator is producing the correct voltage, you should see around 14v.

Check there is not any unexpected current draw when the car is turned off.  Lots of guides on YouTube how to do this.

You can try charging the battery outside of the car.   Once charged disconnect the charge and leave the battery to stand for a couple of hours and then check with a multi-meter the voltage across the terminals you should see at least 12.5v.

Thank you all for the feedback was very useful. I was in London Town yesterday and happened to be near a ProCook shop so popped in to have a look.

I ended up going for the professional range and getting a couple of stainless steel pans. They seemed well made and had a good weight to them and were on sale and were available for around £25-35 depending on which size you got.

I’ve never used steel pans before so will be a bit of a learning curve coming from non stick.  I understand you need to get the steel pan hotter and then the food doesn’t stick etc…

Can you season them with some oil like a wok? Or will this ruin them? If I end up getting burnt bits stuck to the pan, can I just go at it aggressively with a wire sponge to clean it?

I have the exact same Weldtite grease gun. Must’ve had it for ~5 years and it’s still going strong. Works pretty well, it carries on weeping a little bit once you’ve stopped plunging so you need to stop earlier than you think but you soon get used to it.  I think it’s absolutely fine for a home mechanic.  You do need to make sure you get a tube of grease with the tread on it so takes a little longer to search but it’s not that difficult and a tube of grease lasts me quite a long time so it’s no real bother at all.

Yep it will work but the apps will know you are in France and the content you can access is different in each country.

eg Channel 4 On Demand app only works when you’re in the UK.  Netflix and Prime video worked fine but the content available was slightly different.

So either a get a VPN to pretend you are still in UK and use what ever services you currently use to watch your stuff.

Or check who is showing  the things you want to watch in France and download their app / get a subscription with them.

I.e. perhaps you could have equal pressure acting at the calliper, but only a single pad extends, therefore reduced braking force.

Yep thats how I’m interpreting it.  On the outside wheel if only one pad is acting on the brake disc therefor less brake force you get some sort of 4 wheel steer assistance.

Other thing I could think of is does a reduced or increased force on the brake disc effect the suspension movement?  Could a reduced brake force on the outside wheel lead to the suspension compressing less?  Or increased force on the inside cause the suspension to compress more? Both acting to keep the underbody of the car flatter meaning the floor works more efficiently?

To me – means less damping and + means more damping.

Moving all the way to – means theres the smallest amount of damping or no damping so it’s fully open.

Damping is used to reduce motion.  So using less damping and moving towards – end will allow the shaft to move faster, moving towards + end will add more damping and slow down the shaft.

I started getting into WEC a few years back and am really enjoying the recent resurgence with lots of teams racing in the top class.

I was hoping to go this year but have a family wedding to attend ☹️ Maybe next year.

What are the options to watch it on the UK?

What app you using @futonrivercrossing?

Albon was on the Beyond the Grid podcast a few months back.  To me it came across that he really fits in with the team and likes being part of that team and what they are trying to achieve.

I imagine he has a few scars from the Red Bull days and maybe now he highly values being somewhere where you are respected and treated better?

Engine flush I’m guessing is where they spray some chemicals into the air intake for the engine with the intention to reduce the carbon deposits.

Certainly not necessary but could be helpful.  If it’s an old engine could help it breath a bit better and run a bit better.

It’s a bit like running the bike with a gunky chain.  Works fine and shifts gears fine. But when you take it off the bike and give it a proper wash by dunking it a jar of degreaser and lube it again and put it on the bike everything just works a bit better.

I think you just need to cover up the V5 ID Code thing in the top corner?

Without the ID code I think the only thing you can do is claim you have lost the V5 and request a new V5 sent out to the address already listed on the V5.

But with the ID code I think you can do a lot more like change address or ownership etc …

So I would send them a photo but have the ID code covered up or blanked out.

Polymorph plastic ?

It’s starts off as plastic granules that you put in hot water for a bit. It becomes mouldable and then once cool hardens.

Thank you all for the suggestions.   I will have a search on Strava, Trail Forks etc …. for routes at those locations.

Mich CC2 haven’t been the best choice for UK conditions for a while.  They excel in snow conditions but they are let down on their wet weather performance.  I would argue for UK conditions you would want to sacrifice some snow performance for wet weather performance and have more of an all rounder or something biased towards dry and wet performance.

For my 206 with 15 inch wheels I decided to go for Hankook all season tyres, they had good dry handling (cold and warm) with OK wet and snow performance.   Better in the wet than the Mich CC2 not as good in the snow but miles better than a summer tyre.

Specialized camber MIPS white helmet all sizes but small £13.60 code OUTLET20 add £4.99 delivery
https://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/brand/specialized/camber-mtb-helmet-930663

Up to ~£30 with delivery and discount code now …. still a good deal though …

Very similar prices on Specialized Outlet webstore plus many other helmets, sizes and colours ….

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/c/sale?group=Helmets%2520%26%2520Helmet%2520Parts

Thank you all for the info, really appreciate the feedback.

I’ll have think but I’m leaning towards the blower type ones as they give more flexibility ie you can turn them on for ~20mins to dry a damp shoe or ~2h for soaked shoe. Sounds like the pod type ones may take too long for really wet shoes.

We have a utility / garage space where we could keep the dryer so noise and smells are away from the house.

I was using Trailcross XT for the last ~4years.  

Really good biking shoe, not waterproof but dries very quickly, works really well with Sealskin shocks.  Lots of grip and comfortable. Enough flexibility for the odd bit of walking.  Just a really good all round shoe for XC and trail. 

I recently switched to Specialized shoes because they were on sale otherwise was going to go for another pair of Trailcross.

If the membrane is dead can it replaced? Or is it new jacket time? 

I have a light weight packable jacket, that leaks more than a sieve and is pretty much useless.

My opinion is that most of the diets are short term fads and not always healthily and sustainable. Just do a balanced and varied diet controlling your portion sizes.

You’ll get all the nutrients you need and will not impair your exercise regime but at the same time make sure you are not over indulging.

Combined with an exercise regime you should see your self getting stronger, faster, better while also getting leaner and in better shape.

Just me? 😉

oi you missed this bit! 😛

and has gaps so air can escape

It was the haphazard nature of connecting things poorly that was my concern. It’s a pretty simple job to make sure there are no air gaps, just use a few more wraps of tape. So if they didn’t do that well it puts doubt over other aspects.

thank you to the others who gave some helpful input.

I had a parcel diverted by the folks at Altura to be returned back to Alutra. Is that an option?

I asked Altura to change address from home address to work address as no one was going to be at home that day. As the parcel was already with Evri all they could do was ask for the parcel to be retuned back to them.

I preferred that option as it was safer than Evri leaving the parcel out in the open all day.

It’s been a while since I was at uni and did analogue electronics so don’t know the exact methods but intuition says thats all plausible.

From memory, there’s multiple ways to create an oscillator from DC voltage. There should be some fairly simple circuits using an op-amp or something using a crystal oscillator or 555 timer.

Common sensors from detecting rotational movement are usually voltage or current based which would work nicely with some op-amps to create some function used to control the motor.

But all of that requires a lot of theory, a lot of maths and a lot of data sheets etc …

All much easier and quicker and better quality done using microprocessor or Arduino or similar and using commonly available parts for those eco systems.

Used/refurb Aeron.

Very quick search shows these are around ~£500-600 for a refurb chair. Is that the going rate for a fairly good chair? or are these considered towards the posh end?

How often are you using it?

2 days a week doing a full working day ~8am – 6pm. Remaining days I will be in the actual office.

GiroFlex G64

Thank you. I will take a look at these too.

Yep as per Multi21, desiccant type is what you need in a cold environment (anything less than room temp).  The refrigerant ones will either simply not work or take ages to extract moisture or increase power consumption.

A lot of the energy consumption figures quoted by manufacturers are in ideal conditions ie air temp around ~20degC etc … so unrealistic for your loft.

If left permanently on in the loft you’ll need one with a drain hose and built in humidistat so you can set it and forget it.

Meaco, Pro Breeze and Eco Air  are brands that get good reviews in Which.  Don’t think there’s much between them.  So get the one with the best deal / discount.

I predict most the teams switching to a suspension system similar to Red Bull, ie pull rod at the front promoting anti dive and push rod at the rear promoting anti squat.

I’m hoping the other teams will be a bit closer as the regulations are static and also I think the other teams understand that it was the overall holistic approach to design (aero, chassis and suspension) that created the monster that is the RB19.

For ages folks were only looking at the aero aspect of the RB19 and trying to figure out what they were doing differently and then they realised its everything working together, its the whole concept not one particular thing.

I still think Red Bull will be out at the front as they have such a huge head start on everyone but hopefully the gap is a bit closer such that on circuits or conditions that do not favour Red Bull one of the other teams can take the victory. While at the moment RB are so far out in the lead that even on a bad day they win just with a smaller gap to 2nd place.

The car manual will state what type of coolant to use.  If you don’t know where your copy is just search online for the manual. 

You can also try a few other motor factor websites and check they all recommend the same type of coolant. 

Also check how low the coolant is on the header tank. Don’t go buying 5 litres if you just need to do a ~250ml top up. 

What’s different about the Buffalo material? 

Just to be clear though, in case you start comparing “reach” on other bikes, a shorter stem doesn’t effect the “reach”… which is “I” on this…

+1

As you are comparing saddle to handlebar distance, sounds like its the effective top tube you want to reduce not the reach.

But that pedantic item out the way … the suggestions given above are all valid and good suggestions.

Have a search on AirBnB for “Sheppards Hut”

Me and my partner have stayed in a few and always had a great time. They are often on a secluded part of a farm with a nice view, have heating, running hot water and bathroom attached and small kitchen.

Nothing at all for over 6 months now, thinking of bailing out and investing in coke and hookers instead.

Not clear if you exposed the sticky poison and then cleaned and lubed it? Or cleaned it in situ? If you’ve not exposed it then use a block or zip tie or combination of to block the well working pistons so the sticky one comes out then give it a good clean and lube. 

It’ll be on sale at Evans Cycles next week with 50% off like everything else in the biking world!

I have the CRC lifeline track pump and it’s not great to use.   In hindsight I should’ve done this:

Get an Airshot and a separate track pump. Pedros

Does blu ray player have an optical output you can connect to the sound bar for the audio?

A correctly sized bushing will reduce wear and give better performance.  Not sure what tolerances bushings are made to in the mountain biking world but it’s quite common for them to need fettling to get just right rather than good enough they come out the factory.  The suspension tuner should be able to asses the fit and recommend if a bushing resizing would help in your case or not. Just stick it on the notes to them for them to take a look and advise you.

Thank you all for the recommendations so far. A few different avenues for me to look into.

As said I don’t want to use Brentacre, I had a very bad experience making a non fault claim from them last year and using their claims management company Winn Solicitors.

Their response to my feedback and complaint was terrible; the person on the phone couldn’t care less I was having a bad experience using their service and didn’t want to do anything to rectify it or make any assurances that they would look into and make things better in the future.  I really don’t want to use them again.

I would much rather pay more money and get a better service.

I will looking into A-Plan and Admiral ….

Is it worth getting camping and caravan club membership or something similar? Do they have any exclusive insurers / policies that are not available on the open market?

As said I don’t want to use Brentacre, I had a very bad experience making a non fault claim from them last year and using their claims management company Winn Solicitors.

Their response to my feedback and complaint was terrible; the person on the phone couldn’t care less I was having a bad experience using their service and didn’t want to do anything to rectify it or make any assurances that they would look into and make things better in the future.  I really don’t want to use them again.

I would much rather pay more money and get a better service.

I will looking into A-Plan and Admiral ….

Is it worth getting camping and caravan club membership or something similar? Do they have any exclusive insurers / policies that are not available on the open market?

Evil Following or for a bit more travel Evil Offering.