Where’s the good riding at Bovey?

Bovey Tracey? Probably best to head up to Lustleigh I’d say.

JP

I agree with TJ on this (but not on lots of other things).

JP

My business sends out about 700 parcels a week by various couriers, but not Hermes. They’re all crap in their own specific ways, but are generally worse at this time of year due to the use of agency drivers, many of whom would struggle to find their own arses with both hands.

I’ve had quite a few CRC orders sent by Hermes and they’ve always arrived on time. I suspect that CRC use them because they can offer a cheap next day service that works at weekends for no extra money.

JP

Woodbury is fairly XC in nature. Used to race there years ago. Scadson would be more my sort of thing, but it’s a fair ride there from Teignmouth.

JP

Don’t really change things that much – Wind Hill every Sunday and the occasional trip to Triscombe or BPW on other weekends. If it’s not too wet I’ll do a mid week afternoon ride on the trails at Rowberrow; failing that I’ll head to the pump track.

I do pretty much the same the rest of the year, except I usually get 2 rides in mid-week and they tend to be longer.

I’ve got no interest in road riding.

JP

DHR on the back and either a Shorty or Assegai on the front is the best all round combo IMO.

JP

Unless I’m racing, I tend just to push up my helmet on any extended climb. I realise this defeats the point of a helmet, but I’m usually grinding up hills pretty slowly anyway, and even the most ventilated full face gets a bit hot in summer.

JP

Clifton Suits in Bristol will do something bespoke for you for not much more than an off the peg suit.

JP

Utter nonsense £80 000 a year even in london puts you in the top 5% of earners in the country – that makes you rich by any objective standard. You may not feel rich – but you are.

This is how things are so distorted in this country. the idea that you can be amongst the highers earners in the country and not be rich. Some of you guys are so divorced from reality and whats worse you have no understanding of how skewed your world view is!

No – you’re so brainwashed with your own little brand of socialism that you are completely unable to be pragmatic or objective. Witness the fact that your objections to my argument make no attempt to counter any of the points I raised; you just continue with the ad hominem logical fallacies.

It’s rather sad, but if the viewpoints you espouse are representative of the Labour Party, I almost want the Tories to win this election. I say this as a firm remainer and someone whose political viewpoints are well left of centre, so I suggest you go and have a good think about that.

JP

Just don’t take Emu up on the roof with you when you try to fix your aerial.

JP

tjagain

Member

Rayban – even in london £80 000 is a lot of money and makes you rich. Again you show your complete lack of understanding of how those less fortunate than you live. Please be a little more aware.

What kind of roaster thinks £80k a year is less than what half the UK population makes?

Plenty on here think that riches like that do not mean you are rich. As one again shown on this thread and many others.

80k in London is not rich. You’d be lucky to be able to afford a mortgage on a one bedroom flat in a crappy part of the city on that money. I’m not even sure that 80k down here in the Westcountry is rich – most of my friends earn around that and I’d describe them as no more than well off. They’re not driving around in Porsches or living in mansions.

You can carry on using your own definitions of words, like Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass:

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

…but don’t expect anyone else to agree with you.

JP

MPs can only claim rent for their second properties. The great irony of the expenses scandal is that when you add the cost of new bureaucracy created to the expenses now claimed, it costs a lot more than the old system – purity always has a cost.

I say a flat rate of 250K for an MP, but no expenses allowed.

Doesn’t work, you need expenses otherwise the MP for Shetland and orkney (or anyone for a far distant constituency) is massively disadvantaged compared to say the MP for Maidenhead.

Just give them enough that it doesn’t really matter. If you’re paid enough then, say, the 40k difference between those close and those far away is fairly irrelevant proportionally.

JP

If it’s an aluminium or carbon frame then powder coating probably isn’t a good idea. Plenty of threads on here about it.

JP

Why do you have to wait so long for it?

JP

Horizon pros are good value at the min – https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/nukeproof-horizon-pro-flat-pedals-black-edition/rp-prod135210

That’s got to be the best choice at that price – much more durable than the plastic pedals.

JP

I’ve always thought that MPs should be paid more. It’s madness when the VC of a provincial university can easily be paid three times the salary of the PM.

I say a flat rate of 250K for an MP, but no expenses allowed. Far simpler, and would probably attract a higher calibre of person to the job.

JP

TJ – are you OK, hun?

JP

The current education system is f***ed. I say this as someone who has taught at all levels, including the university sector, so this isn’t a layman’s opinion.

We’re still using a lightly modified version of an education system that was designed to suit the needs of industrial revolution era Britain. It’s completely unfit for purpose in the postmodern world.

JP

Weight isn’t really that relevant on that sort of bike. In fact, the last time I rode a super light long travel bike (a top spec Santa Cruz with carbon everything) I thought it was absolutely awful over the bumps.

JP

It’s all finally starting to unravel.

JP

This is what McDonnell means when he says he’s a Marxist. He doesn’t mean he’s going to try and create a Marxist state. This may be confusing for some people but it’s how intelligent people talk.

Exactly. Pretty similar to how I see Marxism. It still goes that most people who use the word as some sort of insult have never even read the first page of Das Kapital.

The first page (and the rest) of Das Kapital is such a turgid pile of tedious, poorly written nonsense that I’m amazed that anyone has ever got past page 2, let alone been inspired to create a society in its image.

Let’s have a look at the first few paragraphs, to illustrate my point:

” The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails, presents itself as “an immense accumulation of commodities,”[1] its unit being a single commodity. Our investigation must therefore begin with the analysis of a commodity.

A commodity is, in the first place, an object outside us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another. The nature of such wants, whether, for instance, they spring from the stomach or from fancy, makes no difference.[2] Neither are we here concerned to know how the object satisfies these wants, whether directly as means of subsistence, or indirectly as means of production.

Every useful thing, as iron, paper, &c., may be looked at from the two points of view of quality and quantity. It is an assemblage of many properties, and may therefore be of use in various ways. To discover the various uses of things is the work of history.[3] So also is the establishment of socially-recognized standards of measure for the quantities of these useful objects. The diversity of these measures has its origin partly in the diverse nature of the objects to be measured, partly in convention.”

JP

Molls – I grew up in a northern town In the 80’s when the Tory’s just closed down the pits. I loath them with every fibre of my being. I can never forgive them for what they did to us, especially as they seem to enjoy it

Same here.

And the only way we can reverse some of that shit is to go for the type of Government Corbyn is offering.

I don’t know what sort of Government you think is gong to fix this.

I don’t know why you can’t seem to grasp the fact that Corbyn’s Labour are not competent enough to fix anything.

The best that I, and many other posters on this thread, can hope for is another hung parliament. That’s a pretty sad indictment of the current political situation.

JP

This thread is the sartorial equivalent of the bit in the guitar thread where members have posted pictures of their awful Ibanez and other hair metal guitars. It’s not the f***king early 90s people!

JP

It’s perfectly normal to bottom your fork out every now and again. Take it apart if you’re concerned – it’s not difficult.

JP

Lyrik is probably the best fork overall, especially given you can pick it up for loads less than the RRP (which is already lower than a decent spec Fox 36).

JP

Costs and efficiency? With Privatisation? Ha Ha. You sound like you still believe its a good idea from the 1980’s, when sensible people will have seen in the intervening years its been anything but.

Actual Privatisation has landed a killing blow on the ideology of privatisation.

I think there are some rose-tinted glasses regarding public ownership on this thread. Remember BL for instance?

Public ownership tends to result in stupid bureaucracy, jobsworth employees and a backwards attitude towards change and innovation. I witnessed this firsthand when I worked in HE and managed staff who were remnants of LEA control, from the time that the university was a college of HE. They were universally awful in a thoroughly institutionalised way.

A friend of mine is currently working on a major project with the civil service. He comes from the tech sector and can’t believe how many barriers the civil service place in the way of seemingly simple decisions. I think a quote from Futurama sums it up:

“Don’t quote me regulations. I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to revise the color of the book that regulation’s in… We kept it grey!”

Funnily enough, I’ve never been an advocate of privatisation, especially of natural monopolies like water, but I’m also pragmatic and sensible enough (unlike some on here) to see that nationalisation isn’t some sort of panacea.

JP

Edukator

Member

You’ve posted some interesting guitars, JP. But that Jaguar accumulates the things to avoid when buying a classic IMO. Especially when one of the best reproductions that Fender do is this:

https://www.thomann.de/fr/fender_johnny_marr_jaguar_ow.htm

You’ll no doubt find a buyer, Nirvana fans have money in their pockets these days, it’s a strange world the classic guitars market. Of your current stock I’d “kick the tyres” of the 335 with P90s and the Thinline Tele.

Funnily enough I prefer the Jag to either of those guitars, even though I’ve always loved 335s and play a Tele regularly.

The other thing to remember is that there are a lot of professional musicians out there who wouldn’t countenance buying a signature guitar, or even something that’s not vintage. Rightly or wrongly, authenticity matters, even when newer models are arguably better.

JP

My right wing friend who has visited the BBC on several occasions for political interviews is convinced that they’re institutionally biased against the right. All my left wing friends are convinced of the opposite. They can’t both be right, but they can both be wrong.

As for the BBC’s output, personally I think it’s a bit shit: there are no more than two programmes a week that I watch on any of its channels, and it’s been that way for a long time. Occasionally it will produced something great, but these moments are fleeting.

JP

The cheaper 4 pots (Deore) don’t seem to have any problems, which was why I went for some over Saints/XT/Zees. You could buy a pair of the calipers for about £50 from Germany and use your XT levers.

JP

I’ve been playing this quite a bit today:

1963 Fender Jaguar – Refinished – Pre CBS with Original Case

…and I absolutely love it! I’ve not played many Jags, but they have a really unique sound that you can’t really replicate on other Fenders.

Unfortunately, it’s way too expensive for me, but it did make me wonder if I should chop my Tele in for a new Jag. We’ve got an account with Fender, but it would still be north of a grand.

JP

Can we move the election forward to tomorrow? I’m sick of it all already and we’ve got nearly a month still to go.

JP

The new Endura MT500 ones look good – I currently run some Bliss pads, but the Endura ones will be my next purchase.

JP

It’s a weird bit of british exceptionalism to think that we suck at these things and that just about every european government would be better at running our critical services than we can be.

Unfortunately, we did suck at those sorts of things. Almost every nationalised industry in the UK was shockingly bad, and I say this as someone who opposed privatisation of natural monopolies.

Just think back to British Leyland, British Rail et al if you don’t believe me.

JP

binners

Subscriber

To be honest I’m quite happy with the situation as it stands, where the amount of damage any one party can do is severely curtailed. Its actually been quite funny watching ‘World King’ Joris Bohnsons impotent rage at his inability to actually do anything

The worst thing that can happen IMHO is anyone getting an overall majority. Nobody in UK politics could be trusted with one, on account of the fact that they’re all mental! Luckily there seems to be a vanishingly small chance of that happening

I think you’re right there. My business partner likened the prospect of a Tory or Labour majority to a choice between being hanged or shot.

JP

DHR or DHF. The former grips better, the latter is less draggy.

JP

It makes me laugh when people say that the decline in the high street is a consequence of the growth of online, then suggest that reduced rents would have little effect. I’ve run both high street and online shops, so have a pretty good idea of where the issues are.

The fact is that warehouse rents are much much cheaper than high street rents, and business rates are also way too high in the centre of towns. The massive hikes in business rates a couple of years ago in most areas really didn’t help, either.

Now, lefties like tj would probably suggest that increasing business rates and rents for online businesses would help level the playing field, but most people with a brain would realise that this would be disastrous. What would be better is for high street landlords to accept that the days of taking the piss with rent are over, and bring things down to sensible, sustainable levels. £100k pa rents for an off-high street medium sized shop are just stupid (I’m looking at you, Bath & NES Council, but there are many other places that are just as bad).

JP

My 9 year old daughter has been learning to identify relative clauses. As a former English teacher I have no idea why she’s being taught this, as it’s an entirely useless skill that has no bearing on one’s ability to write. I can only assume Gove was involved.

JP

I need to register to vote as I’m out of the UK. Where does my vote go/get counted? The last place I was registered in the UK?

Exactly. You’ll need to confirm when you left the UK and how you want to vote (postal or proxy mainly)

Question for the various experts here – how should I vote? I don’t want people to debate my views (they’re not perfect, but they’re mine) – just advice on which way to vote and why.
If I had to rank my personal priorities they would be:
– Stop Brexit/ at least keep the UK in the common market.
– Kick out the Tories, and associated racist populists.
– Prevent mass nationalisation and appropriation of listed companies, private schools etc
– Avoid electing anti-semitic and/or racist populists to power, it’ll only encourage them.

Logic would probably suggest Lib Dems – they’re not openly in favour of mass nationalisation, and they’re not the Tories. But they won’t win a majority, and there’s a real risk of splitting the anti-racist populist vote.
The other option is Labour, but if they get a majority to start pushing through their more radical plans, the whole country’s going to hell in a handcart, with large companies fleeing, government debt rocketing (energy companies don’t come cheap), etc.

So, what do you suggest and why?

You sound like you’re in the same boat as me. I guess it depends on your constituency: if the Lib Dems have a chance of winning the seat then you’re probably best off voting for them; if they’re too far behind to win then I’d say that any party that’s closest and isn’t UKIP or BP is going to be your only choice.

JP

Bosch are about the make an announcement for there own gearbox for e bikes that works along with the motor and I for one look FWD to the Denise of the rear mech

Denise the Derailleur? Is that the name they’ve given for it? I must say that it’s a little old-fashioned, but I like the alliteration.

JP

twinw4ll

Member

Reading this thread has proved very costly, I’m now gazing at a Fender Stratocaster in my lounge. I can bust out a three note tune after an hour of practice, Sultans of Swing could be days away 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Any top tips welcome or beginner mistakes to avoid.

I wrote this short article on learning to play an instrument, for our harmonica business earlier this year, but the principles apply equally to any instrument:

How Difficult is it to Learn the Harmonica? – Part 2

JP