Hiya,

Live in a 1790’s house, walls 800mm thick. We use a Dehumidifier. Some of the original issues we have was caused by the mortar used to point the stone. Since moving in I have removed the portland cement and repointed completely using lime mortar. I also insulated the house more and rebuilt the heating system to work better.
My comment in all of this is the problem is normally a multitude of factors insulation, heating, and ventilation.
Oh yes if your house is rendered get it checked this can be trapping moisture in.

BR
Jerry

Hiya,

Just a note today Rich tea has u-turned on immigration today and the pledge of below 200K. It is worth pointing out that net migration reached 750k last year this was by official channels and visa’s, so the government in control of these or should be. Just to point out that last year the figures of those arriving by boats was 45K. Just pointing out the false narrative by this government and the media, because surely they should have more of a grip on the Visa’s? Personally I think it’s all crap and my family are refugees, so to say illegal in front of something where there is no legal route shows how this the Tory’s are using to stir up support from the Right wing…

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

There’s a Woodland near where I live in North Somerset used to ride it all of the time, with no problem. Horse riders use it. During lock down, the house leading to the trail changed hands ;-( The new owner, now sits outside and shouts at cyclists attempting to use what was used by locals for years. Doesn’t seem to mind horse riders that did far more damage to the paths.
My friend living in one of the farms nearby openly calls the new owner a tosser…
The new house owner also put a speed sign outside house to remind people of the speed limit, rumor has it the local yooths use it to measure how fast they can go through that section ;-)

Oh well land of the tolerant long gone…

JeZ

Conspiracy of Lefties? Err does that include her parents ;-)
Keep going Lizzy hopefully you’re batsh1t crazyness will put people off the Conservatives more. The only conspiracy is in their minds, mind you I’d rather not get in that one, it would imply they have one. I worked for companies destroyed by Lizzy, so here theories on economy has hardly any credibility with me. Just another failed CFO…

JeZ

One question? Isn’t this the same rule he asked us to follow?

Yesterday when asked about who said gave the advice that it was fine, he failed to answer the question?
Personally my highlight was the comments on the Guardian headline for an interpreter that understood bull5h1t…
Yet we still pay for this tossers legal fees, when the same party has cut legal aid to the rest of us all. Scummy git!

Jez

Hiya,

It’s a tad bit depressing to be paying for the C u next Tuesday. I see now he’s going to vote against the government in the EU/Ireland Windsor accord. This seems to be an attempt to wield some control and nothing but pettiness. I guess the bigger the hole he digs for himself the further he will fall into it.
The only hope I have is that this totally destroys to Tory’s.

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

I have a FlareMax V3. Awesome bike, my only problem with it, is the routing of the dropper cable. The main pivot bearing can come loose but easy fix. As for weight I point you to most mountain bike tests they are not as heavy in comparison to other bikes. The only bike I tested when I tested the lot was a Scott Spark RC but it was super expensive and I’m not keen on Carbon fibre bikes for numerous reasons, that I don’t want to get into a flame war over…

JeZ

Hiya,

During the referendum I was educated to the fact that the reason euro roads are so good is that we paid for them.
Amazingly that doesn’t seem to have been true.
Along with hospital queues our roads are the most potent signs that Tories are horrible , useless ****.

That’s because Toy’s are the “muddle management”, that you have to deal with in most companies. They don’t fix issues, that’s for the guys they subbed it out to, so they don’t have to get their hands dirty ;-(

Where I live a road was completely replaced and perfect. The first question to a local tory Councillor was, which one of you live on the road?

In fairness my road gravel bike route I have mastered my bunny hops over most of the gaping holes.

BR
JeZ

I need a new leisure battery and I’m also looking at installing a solar panel in April. I wondered about lithium but they are expensive. This one is £500 in the sale.

just make sure it’s lithium phosphate they are much more safer than ion batteries.
I found it funny in the link, that they say they have their own BMS, they actually have to!
With respect to chargers you probably have a compatible one already. I have a sterling b2b charger and victron solar controller they are designed more more lithium than lead acid or AGM.
CHeck the campervan forums to see who’s using what for batteries, but EcoTree have a really good reputation.

JeZ

Have you looked at Lithium Iron phosphate batteries. They are expensive, but have greater lifespan, but don’t have the voltage degradation as they are depleted in charge. I replaced my battery last year with a agm battery but aim in a few years to get one of these.
The other thing is to have a solar panel. They really help the battery to stay topped up.

BR
Jez

Another failure of the conservatives. Have they actually delivered anything,but failures?

JeZ

Hiya,

My son has one. Bike isn’t too bad, build quality and our experience of customer service not great. We had a rivnut fall out took a month to repair. We found quite a few build quality issues.
Please also note the wheels on standard not tubeless compatible.

Personally I’d go for a Alpkit Sonder Camino, nukeproof digger Comp (I have one). Better spec and shimano grx 1×11 not sram apex 😉

JeZ

Whilst we argue about the next state of fascism from tosser government, it’s very good at distracting about all the other things they failed to deliver. NHS, Energy, Economy, Immigration (My family are refugees so couldn’t care less if it fails again!), Welfare, UK unity. I’m pretty sure I’ve missed quite a few but hey failure is something they seem good at. I guess when you saw UKIP and the party that became the conservatives, none of this is a surprise…
It looks like it will fail legally anyway, just like everything else they do.

I’m trying to ignore all the crap and hoping the local elections stick another stake into the heart of this government. One can hope anyway ;-) My wife is on a warning, that if it gets any worse, I’m out of this crappy country and all that sail with her…

JeZ

1.6 turbo is our most fitted turbo. Renault have superseded the turbo many times to try and alleviate the problem. The current ones are more reliable, but that’s not hard when the original ones were often going pop before 10k.

I’m not trying to create an argument. That’s not my experience with my own. I service mine every year and have met others that have done the same, with no issue. There’s evidence that the variable setvice record though with these vans being the issue.
I give one example of a mis diagnosed issue with these vans. The gearbox was considered weak till a number of people discovering the issue was caused by not greasing the gear linkage regulary.
Like I said mine has done 52k miles, no turbo issues. I guess going back to the service problem the oil for the turbo is shared with the engine, perhaps the variable service causes the turbo to fail early? We all know commercial vehicles are abused more after all…

All in all I’m talking about my own experiences with a single van.

JeZ

Hiya,

Forgot to mention I chipped my Renault 1.6 115 DCI. It’s probably about kicking out about 140BHP.
It wheel spins in second now, not that it’s intentional.
Perky enough and mine is a full pop top campervan with bike racks on the back.
The only issue is the rear disks can gum up and score. When they go because the hub dis, bearing is as one it is quite expensive to fix. However that is the only issue and wear and tear.

All the best
JeZ

Depends on the model.
2.0 often goes bang, as it’s worked far harder in the big vans.
The older ones used a variety of VW engines, but they were all poor reliability and refinement wise compared with the Merc engines.
It’s same story with the Renault 1.6 that they took from their cars and stuck in the Trafic/Vivaro. Was fairly reliable in a sub 2000kg car, but stick it in a van that weighs that empty and it’s not a good combination for reliability.

The 1.6 and I have one is fine. Mine’s done 52/K miles seen a fair few with over 100k miles.
They need servicing to be reliable is my feeling.
Mine is a dci single turbo euro 5 version. The later ones seem to have a small problem with the add blue tank level detector, but there is a software fix. The twin turbo ones seem a little less reliable.

My advice as with all things is to have a balance of reading forums.

JeZ

Hiya,

Pretty heavy snow in not so sunny Portishead.
Blanket covering and still falling ;-(
The good news is I have a full wood store and snow socks for the van, if I’m stoopid enough to venture out.

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

ID mobile does in plan roaming in the EU. I use it all the time. Else get an eSIM for you phone.

BR
JeZ

Whatever the CON-servatives say it just seems to be a ruse, to remove more of our rights. It’s not like its under control, since they’ve been in power. My family is part refugee, so I hope it all fail. Besides we need immigration, to back fill the death rate, else we will turn in Japan…

JeZ

Hiya,

In the distant past and in another house we lived in our neighbours cat did this. I ahem mixed chilli oil and put it along the top of the fence. Owner wasn’t impressed ;-) never saw the cat again. Well we did get a dog anyway and she’s rather good at chasing cats.

JeZ

Hiya,

Full stall at portishead fruit and veg seller.

Have never really purchased fruit and veg from supermarket.

JeZ

Hiya,

What Andy said plus a standing desk. If you do sit have a stool and not a chair with a backrest.

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

Seems pretty symptomatic of the anti cycling brigade. Seen wire in the past, logs across trails in Hawley where I used to live. Here we have brambles deliberately pulled across trails and I actually have been deliberately knocked off my bike on a trail by a farm vehice and threatened by three guys to not come back.
Just a lot of embittered angry people out there…
I have a camera now for this reason because the police couldn’t prosecute the assault from insufficient evidence.

JeZ

Hiya,

And unlike France we have (had) huge reserves of gas so it’s not surprising the countries had differing policies.

Just because we have reserves, it doesn’t mea we should use them. We kinda have to make the decision to migrate from fossil fuels. Don’t get me started on how the current political party abandoned the green deal, because it cost them too much to make houses… It is all this short-shortsightedness that has got us in this mess. Also worked for the army so kinda also know the 6Ps…

JeZ

Hiya,

Just my two pence worth I’d avoid Ribble Ti at the moment, not because it’s not a great bike. The company is dire to deal with. Their customer service is frankly pants. They supplied a GCR AL bike to my son and it’s been a total pain with frame problems with Riv-nuts and parts, I’d avoid!. I also see plenty of people waiting months for their bikes. Plenty of other supplier out there at the moment so pick the one with the best customer service is always the best route.

Br
JeZ

Personally it is all a mess. The governments lack of decisions on the long term like the French did many years ago will hamper us for years. It really doesn’t matter because the cost will become so high that companies will discover new ways of doing things, regardless of government policies.
Ironically personally I can be self sufficient energy wise but it doesn’t solve it for all because most cannot do what I can and really that is my point.

Ironically there is a plan, it’s mostly wind with a gas backup. It’s not proved to be a great plan, but then you can’t predict the future.

Actually this was predicted it is why the French moved their energy production to Nuclear and why the Italians moved domestic heating to air source heat pumps. When I studied electrical engineering in the 80’s and 90s we were taught that fossil fuels would run out about 2030 so we should start planning well in the 90s. It didn’t happen.
The banking markets will just in vest in what gives them the best returns and obviously now energy production is very lucrative as we can see by the energy companies profits. I’m pretty insulated from this because I knew this would happen ages ago, even before Russia invaded Ukraine…

JeZ

Hiya,

@wbo

The UK will be hooked on Gas for decades yet! – Better get your wallets warmed up then

Doesn’t stop the migration and in fact should speed it up, when things get too expensive, then it’s time for innovation. In the next twenty years we will probably have smaller nuclear plants and hopefully fusion will become a reality. If we do extract gas it should really be in the short term.

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

My concern is damage to this area. If you had ever been to this area its quite amazing for cycling and general outdoor activities.
With respect to our energy problems they aren’t going to get any better. In italy for instance during lockdown they took the bold step of migrating to air source heat pumps. The UK historically his massively under invested in energy production and has no real strategy to energy production. Ironically this was all forseen many engineers studying in the 80s and 90s knew our energy production would dwindle and we’d have to migrate from gas. Succesive governments left or right didn’t make decisions and kicked the can. Now we have little choice to find new gas reserves and we’ll all be paying more in the future years for lack of planning.
I hope the area isn’t damaged too much by this and I hope this time we finally invest in alternatives to gas.

JeZ

Hiya @daverhp,

I have a Digger Comp and have done 2K kms on it, since last November. You did the right thing keeping it, it is a awesome bike. I’ve hacked mine changing the stem, handlebars and seat post, and I run Crank Brothers Egg beaters on it.
It’s an awesome bike so easy to ride fast on gravel and road. Make sure you go tubeless as soon as you get it the bike’s wheels are pre-taped and all you need is the sealant as the bike comes with the valves for Tubeless. It has to be the most faultless bike I’ve ever owned and well assembled which is more than I could say about my Cotic, when it arrived. Don’t mention my sons Ribble mind which was a pain in the back side and had to be returned twice to fix and wasn’t half the spec of the Digger.

Happy Rides await!!!

JeZ

Hiya,

I’m using http://www.rhinogoo.co.uk/ for mountain most of the stuff I used to use solvents for. Occasionally if I need to clean brakes I will use brake cleaner, but rarely and maybe one a month.

JeZ

Hiya,

VW Campers have always been expensive. In 2015 when we were looking for a campervan we did briefly look at one. Brother in law put us off one with his one, being somewhat unreliable. For the last 7 years we have a Renault Trafic MK3 converted by Sussex campervans. Hell of a lot cheaper and more reliable from our own experiences. OK last year was a tad bit expensive where I had to get new springs and new disks etc at the rear of the van, but only after 55K miles and the roads in North Somerset are crappy and pothole ridden.

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

I have my own company and claim heating, and electric, equipment insurance, telephone and of course depreciation on equipment. I know the guidelines for WFH allow you to claim and the HMRC has guidelines on it. It’s either your employer being lazy, or not passing on what they have claimed for you but that would be a form of fraud I think.

BR
JeZ

Hiya,

From the first album I ever purchased. Still love it:

Although my favourite track from the album is:

BR
JeZ

Anything with Led Zeppelin at the end is fine by me…
I take it for what it is and reading too much into it, would be a mistake.

JeZ

The thing I wonder in all of this is the massive playing of the markets, play when we left the EU, and play again, when will inevitably have to rejoin when the country is truly broken. Russia for sure helped but don’t think for one moment that the Tory’s knew this would happen. Nobody makes real money in a stable economy it is only the poor that suffer in this and they don’t vote Tory, so they don’t care. Note the pensioners these days are still being propped up by the Tory’s, for good reason.

JeZ

Hiya,

I had forgot to say in my previous post on this subject. Be careful of creams and ointments containing petrochemical products. Some people like me are allergic to petrochemicals.

JeZ

Hiya,

Try Aveeno green/light blue. Works very well. Also recently I found Dr.organic Aloe Vera which successfully got rid of Eczema on my leg.

BR

Jerry

Yes, live in Portishead just down the road. Nice place, strawberry line for dog walks and gravel ride to cheddar good. If you day trip to Bristol then go to St Nicks food market 😋
Spoke to the sustrains guys the cycle path from Clevedon to weston opens in Easter, be amazing for a cycle that.
All in all a nice place to live, lots to do. People are generally friendly, watch the retired NIMBY’s tad bit aggressive but hey, not the end of the world 😉

JeZ

When I needed to use it the combination did not work. 5 minutes of trying all the combinations showed me that while I thought I’d set one number the lock had chosen a different, non-adjacent, variant

Exactly what happened to me. I’d used it a couple of times before. With these locks I’d cut the middleman out and throw it in a bin, before using it.

JeZ

I honestly don’t think a real bike thief would take more than a couple of seconds to defeat one of those. They’re just to stop casual passers-by.

A pair of tin snips would defeat one. I was kinda lucky they set the teeth into the plastic shroud, rather than the steel, else I’d of really struggled.

Heck knows why they are so highly rated mind. The alternatives seem a lot better. I stupidly followed the reviews rather than my usual technique of looking at the design and reading owners opinions. My first one I couldn’t actually unlock, it seemed to have the random reset of combination problem.

JeZ