I think the max weight is 80kg for the roof bars. So assuming bikes are say 13kgs each that leaves about 50kgs for the box and it’s contents. Will have to check the weight of the box and then load accordingly. Probably just soft bags forClothrs that would go up there. Hard stuff like buggys etc would go in the boot.

Not allowed to fit a towbar to the car as it’s a company car.

If there’s not enough room after a few trips then the wife will have to swap her Mini Countryman for a Nissan Qashqai or something!

Ah ok. I was thinking the box would be easier to load when close to one edge. Then I’d slide the middle bike carrier to the edge to put the bike on – then slide it back to the middle and lock it down. Obviously I don’t know if this is do- able as never tried it!

If not then it’s box in the middle as suggested above. Thanks for the feedback. I may have to think about a seperate boot mounted bike rack when said baby grows up enough to ride a bike. If we have a 2nd baby then god knows where the dog is going to go!

Fair enough. I’d assumed the box would go on one side, then the bikes together on the other side. Any reason why you put the box in the middle?

Although I might have the relevant mounts anyway. My sjcam came with loads of mounts and fittings. Compared to go pro costs they were really cheap.

Ah, good heads up. Maybe I’ll have a look at the seatpost mount myself.

Thanks for the quick replies – really looking forward to using it now. Will be Feb sort of time before I can ride off road with it though. Boo.

Got a chest harness already got my sjcam – I think the go pro mount will slide straight into that which is good. Going to use my old camera attached to the back of the bike I reckon – so I can get done shots of the rider behind chasing me.

Just hope my pc is man enough for a little bit of light video editing. About a 4 or 5 yr old Mac mini – think an i5 with 8gb of Ram. I’m not that good with computers so no idea if that’s good enough or not…..

Very cute – puppies are huge fun. Ours didn’t give us any grief at night really – she had a cuddly toy in with her (and a towel) – we rubbed both against mummy dog before we took Molly home. She has a crate and sleeps in that with a towel over her. Think as long as the puppy feels safe she’ll probably be ok. Molly chooses to go and sleep in her crate sometimes during the day as she likes it in there (unless she can get at a sofa)!

This is our Molly whilst on dog photos…..

She’s not much of a dog really!

We’ve also got a puppy called Molly – although she’s about to be one year old this coming week so I’ll have to stop calling her puppy soon.

So far I’ve not tried biking or running with her – just mostly either road walking when dark, or when light I let her loose on the large field behind the house. Usually about 20 mins twice per day on weekdays. On weekends she still gets 2 walks per day, but longer and more fun ones.

I’m recovering from shoulder surgery so currently running in a treadmill about 4 times a week but would like to do some road running soon. Thinking about taking Molly with me to save time on the evenings as wifey is about to have a baby so going to get very time poor imminently.

Molly is a Cavachon (King Charles spaniel / Bichon frise cross), but she’s longer and leaner than all the other cavachons ive seen. She’s really rapid in the field and just doesn’t stop running around.

So my question is can I start jogging with her? Maybe build up slowly a couple of km and see how she goes?

I don’t plan to ever take her biking – that’s my fun time and I don’t want to have to worry about where she is / what she’s up to!

Note the comment on the BMW 330e – same kind of thing as the Merc 350e (except no estate available). In my mind with these cars they should have used a more economical petrol engine in combination with the electric motor. Whilst over 200bhp is nice, for people wanting better economy even using say a 1.6 turbo would have been a better option.

I was also tempted with a Lexus 300h as that’s a petrol hybrid, but they plagued it with a cvt box.

We need viable alternatives to diesel before killing them off.

Just to add when I don’t need the car for work I try to cycle to the office (in the middle of Bristol). Public transport as an alternative isn’t a great option. Bristol buses being more expensive than in any other city I’ve got public transport in. Trains aren’t any better either – peak train to London from Bristol is now over £200 return. Versus off peak of around £70. Outrageous.

Another vote for Ciliary Blue. They’ve put new lenses in one pair of normal glasses for me which are great, and much cheaper than vision express. They also put some prescription polycarbonate lenses into an old pair of Oakley frames I had for riding in. Great job both times and a very quick turnaround.

It’s a tricky one. I’ve always preferred petrol cars and had 14 different ones over the years. However, work mileage has meant my last 3 have been diesel due to mileage. Just moved company and had to order a company car for the first time.

First thoughts were I wanted a petrol plug in hybrid – a Merc C350e estate. But it was just outside the allowance for me on company car scheme as it costs so much – and couldn’t be delivered until at least May / June time. Hardly any other hybrids on the scheme. That said – whilst the Merc is under 50 g/km of co2 it makes a mockery of the testing system. It’s a 2 litre petrol turbo in a fairly heavy car. I know someone who has one, and when it runs out of electricity it’s mid 20’s mpg. Not very eco, but very low in company car tax.

Looking outside of hybrids then diesel was the next cheapest company car tax option. I’ve got a max co2 output of 125g/km. On the current co2 measurement then petrol just doesn’t compete for me in a reasonable size family car. Gone for a Jaguar XE diesel in the lower powered version(163bhp). Nox wise I’m assuming this isn’t too bad an option – it’s got an adblue tank that needs to be refilled circa every 9000 miles.

Given it’s not actually my car I’m probably less worried about any new diesel regulation. If I were buying the car myself I think I might have gone for petrol, through fear of new regulation which might devalue my new car.

Does the bag itself have to be waterproof, or does one with a rain cover suffice? I’ve got a bag from Mountain Warehouse – a Walkabout 20l. Lasting really well. Used to use it for commuting to work with no issues with all my stuff in. Changed job and not currently cycling – using the same bag to carry a laptop on the walk to work along with shoes / lunch etc. Might be a tight fit for full change of clothes and a laptop. But mountain warehouse had bigger bags and all reasonably priced / with water covers / with compartments for hydration packs etc. Got lots of different pockets etc.

I’ve got 661 comps which are full knee and shin guards. Probably not a general use all day cycling shin pad so rule those out. Fine on uplift days, and in September I did 4 laps of Cwmcarn wearing them – but in the summer they’d be too hot and sweaty.

When I bought a year it so ago I decided against the stance due to the flex required in the rear triangle as it’s effectively missing a pivot to save on costs. The fork also was low rent for the riding I do vs Boardman pro fs (which at the time had RBS revelations). Given the pro fs now has pikes on it there’s likely even more of a difference.

Looking past the brand name I’d have the Boardman pro fs over a giant stance ever day of the week.

I haven’t edited any video yet from my sjcam m10. I’ve got a Mac mini, so was thinking about using iMovie. Newer macs seem to have thus included for free, but mine doesn’t so will need to buy it for a tenner. No idea if my mac has enough processing power to do this quickly / easily, but will know early next year. Currently off my bike after shoulder surgery.

The cheaper sjcam rip offs maybe as good, or may not. Looking online there are mixed reviews – I think the main problem is you just don’t know what you’re getting. Make sure you order one that has sjcam printed on the front – lots call themselves sj4000 in the eBay ad, but none of the ripoffs have sjcam printed on them. Note the box the camera comes in has a scratch off panel so you can verify it is geuine on the sjcam website.

I broke the on/off button on mine – and for $10 sjcam repaired it – I had to send it back to China. That $10 seemed to be partly for postage do seemed fair. They even gave me an extra battery when they sent it back.

Until a month ago I’d had android for about 4.5 years. Swapped to an iPhone 6s as an early upgrade as my Samsung A3 was driving me up the wall. Prior to that I’d had a Samsung galaxy s2 for years. The s2 was good until it stared flowing down big time in the 3rd year of having it. The A3 was ok ish for a year, but after that it started getting glitches and the battery just wasn’t lasting. I went for the A3 as it was fairly small compared to the s5 or whatever the top phone was at the time. I was planning to get the new A3 2016 or an iPhone se for the size. However the se was too small screen wise.

So far I think the iPhone is better than the android phones I’ve had – although it still has annoying things about it. Mainly where Apple force you to do things you wouldn’t ideally do / the phone doing things without you asking it to.

I’d suggest looking at SJCAM. Either an sj4000 or M10. Basically the same camera just in different shape cases. My M10 was £37 off eBay – couldn’t find it cheaper than that.

Just done this to both my bikes. The race face cranks just came with no rings so I had to buy some bolts. The 32t oval ring has threads machined into it and is where the middle ring would normally go.

The SLX crank was a triple. I’ve put the race face 34t ring where the middle ring was – I managed to reuse the original crank bolts as the ring was thick enough.

Hi Hadge – is the plate for the 2016 fs Pro only or does it fit the previous green and silver model too? Will it make the bike better downhill but less good uphill?

I don’t have that year one, but I have the previous one (silver and green). Main differences are the one you’re looking at has a better fork, 1x 11 instead of 2×10 and think it’s got a slightly more laid back head angle.

The one I’ve got has been good – only thing is I’ve had various creaks. Cranks first (sorted with copper slip grease), then the reward hub (sorted by greasing the rear bolt through QR thing) and now suspension bearings. Just replaced them and was fairly easily and cheap bearings through betd. Halfords aren’t the best in all stores, but I do most bike maintenance myself so that didn’t worry me.

Performance wise it climbs well enough, but also descends pretty well. I keep up downhill on it with most people I ride with – I’ve made a few tweaks from standard. My Revelations are now 150mm travel, got some decent flat pedals on it, got a dropper post and just gone 1 x 10. Brakes are epic btw- I prefer them to any other brakes I’ve used.

For £1200 you just can’t go wrong. I’d love an upgrade to the 2016 model.

Did you ever learn to bunny hop etc on flats before you went to spds? If you didn’t then you’ll feel a. It unconnected to the bike and like you can’t easily do anything on it. Stick with it though- it’ll get better and you’ll be a more skilled rider because if it. I put spds back on for a while in the summer and found I was pulling up on them too much. Enjoy my flats more these days – invested in some 5-10’s now too.

Always wanted a Klein Mantra! Too expensive to justify these days for a bike that reportedly has very odd handling. The most extreme URT bike ever made I’d have thought. Don’t they try to catapault you over the handlebars every time you go downhill?

Would quite like a Mantra frame just to put on the wall of the garage and admire.

Has anyone with a home gym got a pulley station for hi / low / middle cable exercises?

Looking at getting a Bodymax CF810 adjustable pulley station. I can’t find anything else in the same price range that really compares as an alternative. Has anyone got one?

I’ve sort of got a slightly retro mtb. No idea what the frame is, but think it’s fairly old as has no disc mounts, but is fairly light aluminium.

Got some bomber z1’s on it (think ’99 as orange legs / gold stanchions / blue alloy top caps), some mavic d521 rims on Sachs hubs, and Magura hydraulic rim brakes. Gears let down the retro theme though – got a 1 x 10 setup on it.

Not ridden it yet though properly.

Until mid last summer my only mtb was a 98 Kona U’hu. As a way of getting back into mtb cheaply it was great. I held my own against most of my mates – in its favour were the Z1’s that are still plush in this day and age and it was quite lightweight with Easton tubes. Against it was the urt style rear suspension and V brakes. The brakes were ok for a while, but after a few mins chasing a mate downhill at Cwmcarn my fingers were wilting from braking. He rides a Kona Process 134 though so. It really a fair race.

It’s the time saving that’s the best thing about adjustable dumbells for sure – especially over spin locks. If I had the money and the room then a full set of proper dumbells would be great obviously.

This is how my home gym is setup. Actually getting to use it a bit now post shoulder op!

Fair enough. See how that goes – the selectabells are the best purchase I made – apart from the bench. Made such a big difference getting a decent bench to replace the wobbly York thing I had before.

Agree on all the points about training at home – just need to replace the tiny TV I have with something a bit bigger – makes cardio more bearable.

The only downside vs a commercial gym is the lack of Lycra clad lovelies to ogle.

The cheapest gyms in Bristol (near me) are the gym group and pure gym. I was a member at the gym group for a while and it was ok. Loads of kit (except nowhere near enough squat racks) but always very busy. Took to going there at 7am and still you sometimes had to wait for stuff. Fitness First was worse, as were the local council gyms (which had rubbish kit in anyway). Tried some hotel gyms – not good. Crossfit gyms to expensive for me to justify. Ministry of Fitness gym is local but a bit too full of gurning apes for my liking. Good kit in there though.

Home gym a better solution for me.

Maybe it’s just Bristol, but every gym I’ve been a member of has has a certain amount of waiting for kit. I’ve not been a member of a crossfit gym though. My neighbour uses one and it sounds expensive. I figure my gym gear st home will last ages as it’s mostly metal plates / bars etc.

I’m considering buying myself a pulley station at some point – just trying to justify the cost at the moment and working out how it would fit. Got a treadmill in the garage gym too and currently have my racer setup in a turbo for some exercise whilst rehabbing my shoulder after a stabilisation operation.

I’ve got the 5-32kg Selectabells. Had them about 2 years now and going strong still. I don’t find them too long for any exercises – even over head dumbells presses where you bring them together. I had spin locks before – I wouldn’t go back.

Bought them from powerhouse who were great – I ordered a decent flat / incline / decline bench at the same time, plus some Olympic plates, Stand to store the plates on, squat rack etc….

I’ve semi converted half a double garage and got some really thick rubber matting. Haven’t stepped into a gym since – so much better not having to wait for kit to become free.

People are suggesting offshore accounts – but I’m not sure what the benefit there would be.

I work in cash management (for corporates) and cross border payments always attract the most bank charges. If you get paid in usd then the payment will go via the US and that bank will charge a correspondent banking fee to handle it. Unless you open an account in the us you won’t avoid that. Sounds like the cash would be no good to you there and doubt a us bank would open an account for a non resident without good justification.

All uk banks can open usd accounts in the U.K – just depends if they’ll do that for individuals. I’m pretty sure HSBC will, not sure about the other banks. I can’t comment on charges, but there will likely be some. Corespondent charge on way through us – and they may charge to receive the payment. Once in the uk though in usd you can pick when to convert to gbp (if that’s the currency you want).

In terms of spending on cards abroad most banks charge for withdrawals / transactions. I think the post office do credit cards with cheap overseas payments. You can also find pre pay credit / debit cards that are good overseas I think.

The same as most on here. Joint account for house bills / mortgage and food etc. Separate accounts to get salaries into and spend each what we have left. Not that I don’t trust wifey, but I work for a bank and I’ve seen a lot of messed up joint accounts when people split up etc. She actually earned more than me until recently so she didn’t ever really understand it, but it’s just me.

Had a lot of cars over the years, but somehow never an Alfa. Always fancied a 147 GTA or 156 V6. Lovely looking cars and great engine. A mate had a GTV V6 which was nice to look at, but the drive wasn’t much to write home about. I had a Honda S2000 at the time – and for me the Honda driving experience was a million times better.

Just ordered a company car and hoped the new Alfa would be on it (never had a company car and figured I’d like an Alfa if someone else was paying to maintain it). Sadly my company don’t allow you to order an Alfa. Would have made a nice change from all the BMW / Merc / Audi’s in the car park. Luckily Jaguar are on the list :-)

If you are handy with diy car maintenance then I say go for it. Maybe go for the estate version for biking practicality.

Smash is ok for what it is. But I don’t consider it real mash potato.

Year and a bit now on an RSP Plummet (not the new hydraulic one). I’ve not done any maintenance on either the post or the cable. Still works the same as when it came out of its box. Ugly – but does the job.

I’ve run a fibre flare on the seat stay of my commuter for years. 1 each side would be very visible I’d say.

I don’t have a suggestion, but I have an avoid if. Ambers is important. Samsung galaxy a3. It fits your budget and is smaller than say an iPhone 6/7 and Samsung S7 – but the camera isn’t good – especially indoors / in low light. It can be a bit slow on the internet too.

Just upgraded mine to an Iphone 6s and it’s so much better.

I’ve got Guide RS (without bite point adjust) and my brakes start to bite quite early in their travel. They certainly don’t get anywhere near the bars before biting. My mates Shimano SLX brakes get far closer to the bar before biting in comparison. I’ve found the guides to be faultless so far. Had them over a year now – on my 3rd set of pads and done one bleed myself. Still work faultlessly.

I’ve got a Garmin forerunner 200 something I think it is. Does intervals and some other fancy things I don’t use.

I use it on bike and running – I didn’t realise when I bought it that its only water resistant, not waterproof. Seems daft when a £10 Casio watch is waterproof.

If I could go back to purchasing again I’d go for something like a forerunner 15 probably as I’d prefer waterproof over fancy functions. All I use it for is time / distance / pace.