Small dogs I always give a good strong kick to the head if they go for me. Big dogs I scream like a little girl and run away really fast.

Take it seriously is what I say – go see a specialist and get an X-ray to make sure it’s not fractured. If you can wear an airboot for a couple of weeks then do so.

I didn’t after my feet swelled in an ultra distance cycling race – putting pressure on the ball of my foot.  I carried on riding and when I got home largely ignored it – I ended up with a necrose  sesamoid which causes me lots of **** pain and headache in the long run. If I had rested in the months after the original injury I would have probably been fine.

I’m avoiding surgery to have it removed for now as I fight the arthritis train in the rest of my body.

Take is as a lesson that you are doing something wrong to your feet – look at the shape of your shoes and your feet in general. Altra shoes are your friend – start looking at how much control you have of your big toe…  go see a special podiatrist who believes in barefoot techniques and making your feet strong.

Found this video which is very useful – I will post it here in case anyone comes looking for this via google

This is the bit I am talking about which I can’t figure out… it sits under the main bearing cover of the headset…but surely if I tension this…it will negate any tension on the star nut?

HATE from London.

@fatmountain because what you’ve written is classic student union stuff comrade. It simply isn’t true. Ask Liz Truss.

Sorry for all the typos – smashed out the original thread on J’s phone without my glasses on. Should have read bib not bin shorts. Didn’t realise there was a female sub-forum… I will create an account.

Thanks for the useful comments.

What’s this raffle in aid of? I missed the start of these

Great responses guys

@sheck spot on – I wonder even if it’s worth buying a lovely VFR800 as well to keep under the covers!

@molgrips crystallisation seems to be a core part of lots of the problem with ad blue. It gums up injectors and sensors and when it’s a tank issue it is normally because the pump (which is often sealed In the tank and not serviceable) has packed up… and lots of time because it’s gummy.

@fossy seems the advice is the opposite… to regularly top up a little with fresh ad blue (not from a 10 l bottle sitting on your shed shelf). The issue is that it takes so long to use 10l for a regular driver. I have never topped mine up on my own – it’s always been done by the garage when they are fixing problems !

@mikertroid me as well mate. 400 mile range and I’ll buy an electric tomorrow. For the moment the best of the electric vans is a VW buzz…but it’s tiny inside and does 200 miles unloaded. It’s also £40k!

@b33k34 show me the case law for this. There is absolutely no reason  this would invalidate your insurance. Without being rude to you, I think this is exactly the kind of “computer says no” thinking which I think is starting to make the UK a very exhausting place to live or get anything done. It’s the same kind of

I understand  the many points made on here by people who have no knowledge of Ab Blue systems of the problems that it causes in vehicles. But the truth is that changes on emissions and the environment in general need to be societal ones, and ones made between industry and government. I have a vehicle which I require for work, that simply doesn’t work not because I have done something wrong – but because the technology which has been sold to me is a total bodge. Newer vans aren’t available to buy at the moment (there are lead times of 9 to 12 months) and the electric options available are totally ridiculous at the moment for anyone who is a sensible human being and who leads a busy working life outside of a city.

Thanks to the members who messaged me privately to let me know they had removed the ad blue from their Citreon van’s and that they hadn’t had any problems and were pleased they had done it!

But anyway…  I actually was reading through a Citreon forum and someone had managed to get their ad blue pump running again by using a bottle of the decrystalising Wynn’s Crystal Ad Blue additive. @TroutWrestler was asking about. Anyway I bought two on my way home today and threw them in the tank – and drove for about 80 miles and hey presto the lights have gone off! First the UREA light went off, then after a couple of start stops the engine management light went off – so there is your answer!

So for now at least I’ll be doing no ad blue deletes. For those who find this thread via a google search in the future – I also have been reading how many recommend topping up their ad blue little and often. Apparently it was a fairly short shelf life and if you only top it up in bulk once every 2 years (thanks to those silly 10 litre tanks) then that’s what can cause gumming up of the tank and pump (which tends to be what dies!)

There are multiple aspects of the ad blue system – I’ve had the injector changed originally (about £700 I think it was?), then had a new tank fitted (was about £1000) and also had the Nox sensor changed. So I’m lying – I’ve spent £2000 ish on this issue so far, but due another £1000 bill now as the pump has gone on the tank again.

There’s not much that can be done about it –   ad blue is sticky corrosive shit.  The Berlingo’s ad blue system is incredibly poorly designed and many owners find that they have constant issues with it. Nothing to do with the garage.

@woodlikesbikes that was a superb suggestion. What a guide and what a great book. Can’t believe I’ve never seen it.

Thanks!

Thanks @woodlikesbikes I have ordered an old copy of the book off amazon for £3.

@Longdog and @sandwich will have a look at that idea as well.

Yeh I’m working abroad so sadly no pure gym or bromptons and whatever. I have some resistance bands with me, just have no idea what to do with them.

You’re all right about the diet – it’s just so tricky in se Asia where I am at the moment.

Eugh. Nice idea, but what a bloody palava.

Boring. The big boys are really pushing the e-bikes.

I suppose for me one of the biggest parts of all this is the tragedy of the waste and thinking about how complex lots of the things I have and even the packaging is. It would take me days to empty all the jars, tins and boxes to give them even the slightest chance of being recycled. I  also know that I’m far and away from the worst –  people already consider me quite the minimalist.

The issue is where does all this stuff end up? In the ground? In the sea? There is absolutely no chance that 5% will be recycled properly.

Brentford I think is always fantastic. Such a lot of character, and a real in London feel.

No it’s a very oddly spelt version of my first name at the domain name, which isn’t a format used by any other company employee.  So that is what is strange about it. Not sales or something guessable format wise.

Cheers anyway – deleting the catch all.

Let’s not forget that more immigrants is just a Ponzi scheme. It requires more infrastructure and stresses finite resources (e.g. space).

The problem with this debate is it becomes incredibly tribal and selfish, with everyone pushing their own agenda.

Those on here crying about their 30-40 years NI contributions have absolutely no idea the pain of being in your early 30’s and never ever having lived in a time of economic growth. Most of you own your own houses. Really have no sympathy at all for you.

TBH I was very satisfied with my personal account with Monzo, and have since switched both business accounts to Monzo after being dissatisfied with the service from HSBC.

Haven’t had a single problem. Slick and quick. The app works well.  I love the verification process to sign in through a browser that doesn’t require a dozen numbers, usernames, aliases and passwords to access.

Oh well… I will just pick 2 or 3 repeat offenders a day to diligently report to the ICO then.

I’ll be the black sheep in this thread and say I think the constant changing of speed limits, enforcement of yellow boxes by cameras, road closures enforced by ANPR at variable times, modal filters etc are making driving incredibly dangerous even if you intention is to stay within the law. It means the driver is constantly distracted, constantly forced to change lanes and has to look at their phone the whole time, as it’s impossible to navigate cities without one.

It’s enough to give even the sharpest of knives ADHD. I have no idea how drivers of goods vehicles cope.  In London particularly, every time you are about to turn right you have to spend a good few seconds checking that an LTN hasn’t been added to your turn, before pulling out across oncoming traffic and through a bike lane.

Easier than a a white one.

4 dates in 8 days is a recipe for disaster and exhaustion.

God this thread is the usual mix of the righteous who have no idea what they are talking about, bringing up loads of paper pushing rubbish. The usual talk of insurance,  stamp duty and other things that have absolutely no relevance to a private bit of woodland with the no rights of way across it. Much of it seems to stem from sour grapes of those who don’t have their own money to invest.

The idea that this is like buying an NFT is one of the stupidest things i’ve read on here or that the trend for purchasing woodland is like “tulip mania.”

Land is an asset – and I can’t see ever see with the way UK population is going, and climate change making living anywhere south of the pyrenees more and more of an uncertainty that the purchase of several acres of land is ever going to be a terrible investment.

Some of you people are what makes living in the UK dull –  dark lives, endless unnecessary paperwork and administration.

And my girlfriend needed an implant which was slightly complicated recently by requiring a sinus lift and bits like that… the bill has come to nearly £8000 which luckily she has the money for due to some inheritance…

….but realistically… who the **** has £8k sitting around for this kind of thing? It’s totally unhinged.

Jesus. This is Britain in 2024. I can’t even get to see a dentist at the moment – have tooth pain and suspect I need a root canal or similar.  I just have no idea where we go from here… this generally seems to be the future of healthcare in the UK.

Makes you wonder really – if it isn’t broken, then don’t have anyone mess about with it.

I had a fairly similar incident a couple of years ago – the expansion vessel went about an hour after the engineer left. It cost me about 400 quid I think.

I don’t bother getting the boiler serviced any more.

I found exactly the same as MSP – too much cycling and nothing else makes for huge imbalance.  Follow the knees over toes program for serious strength gains – not sodding around with physio fooling around with rubber bands and endless doing silly glute exercises.

I also found the barefoot show thing helped counter intuitively.

Good tip @Ajantom I will order some Avid SD7 then !

I am thinking about doing more or less exactly the same thing (…although haven’t built my stooge yet). Have bought some fancy incompressible outers. I know hydraulic brakes are hardly a faff these days, but I just find in life I am so short on time to do anything admin related that I want my rigid bike to be utterly analogue.

Are you going to go with the Paul levers as well? I fancy set of the 2.5’s but they seem hard to find in the UK or in Europe.

They are ludicrously expensive though…. are they really much better than BB7’S?

So that should be 32mm tape?

I really am starting to find modern life unbearable in the last couple of years. I’m probably down 3-4000 quid to events completely out of my control, which I feel others should have paid for. It’s also cost me days of time.

Events outside your control that cost you money are exactly what you pay for insurance for.  Don’t make life harder for yourself by pissing off your insurers.\

Every time you make a claim or let an insurer know you have been involved in an “accident” then you are penalised for it the following year – it often means when the damage is 300-400 quid that it’s worth just paying up regardless of if you are at all liable or did anything wrong whatsoever. That’s at least about 2-3 days work for me after tax which is quite a lot of money, but like I said… you just have to shrug your shoulders.

There’s also probably a couple of hundred quids worth of damage to my bike to pay for. So this incident will probably have cost me at least £500 at a minimum, not taking into account that a dented tank and whatever else means the bike will be worth less.

OK thanks. Looks like it’s going to cost me loads of money either way – I just hope it costs the neighbour loads of money on their insurance premium next year. I’m stone cold broke, so they’ll just have to call their insurers and go through the process with them. I’m not talking to anyone about it until my insurer calls me.

I really am starting to find modern life unbearable in the last couple of years. I’m probably down 3-4000 quid to events completely out of my control, which I feel others should have paid for. It’s also cost me days of time.

The bike was parked under a cover, locked to a tree and sits there all the time. There’s absolutely no way it fell over on its own.

Last year I had someone drive directly into the back of my van whilst trying to undertake me at a set of traffic lights.  The driver was in a brand new BMW and had a scratched door and contacted my insurance company via his own. My insurer said that it was unclear whose liability it was – effectively they couldn’t be bothered to argue about it as the claim was so little and went 50/50.

They then doubled my insurance premium the next year and have listed the accident on whatever new fangled database which insurers now use.

Anyway I’m heading out of London on January 3rd to a house in the middle of nowhere. Bring it on.

…p.s. the flooders also don’t drive. So it’s not them.

Where there is blame there’s a claim

Absolutely, get a claim in.

I was joking…please don’t do that.