Dunno if it’s already been posted, but he’s also just released his first novel (Bob, not Ted).

Not the question you’re asking (in true STW fashion) but have you considered a running buggy? Get the kids out, decent work out plus fresh air. Normally some cheap ones on Facebook, just need to make sure the front wheel is locked in place so it can’t fully spin round as otherwise it will act like a sudden brake.

Nowt really to add to the request, but the only thing that’s made our air fryer properly smoke (as in fill the house) was chicken (thighs, not wings) – the spitting fat hit the hot plate/element bit and belched out loads of smoke. On the odd occasion when we’ve done it since, we’ve put the air fryer outdoors.

Fury would have Usyk in an ugly, boring fight. Jab from a distance and then constantly lean his whole body weight on him and maul up close til he tired.

Joshua needed to do a Fury (vs Wilder 2 ) vs Usyk, make his size count and rough him up.

Ever since the Ruiz (1st) fight Joshua has been shy about unloading as he doesn’t trust his chin any more. Can’t blame him, I wouldn’t want to be hit in the face either. But to win on Saturday he needed to eat a few in order to dish a few out, and he doesn’t seem willing to do that any more.

If I was AJ, I’d retire with my millions. He’d outbox Wilder for a few rounds til Wilder landed something big, and then it’d be game over. And there’s no chance he outboxes Fury.

The only other fights are the Joyces/Whytes/Chisoras/Dubois etc which he’d probably win, but with very little reward for the risk of losing and tumbling further down the rankings.

Hopefully the RAF won’t copy the Navy in only recruiting people who can’t fit bike cranks correctly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSegIu9IgB0

Hmmm.. No posting of referral links and codes where the poster will benefit financially or otherwise

Other major factors in Dele’s decline are the loss of form and eventual transfer of Eriksen. He kept making the late runs in the box, but no-one ever looked up and picked him out.

Too much time spent on Fortnight.

Armed burglary at his home where he got assaulted.

Poch’s intense training provided results on the pitch, but also took something from them. Dembele was broken. Dele has stated he can’t train to the same intensity any more.

Tottenham playing a different system – he is very effective in one position only, and playing him anywhere else makes him look average.

People forget just how good he was. 16 goals in League 1 aged 17/18, 10 goals in the PL aged 18/19, 18 aged 19/20. More goals than Gerrard/Lampard/Scholes etc at that stage of their careers. Even in the Champions League semi, he got two assists for Lucas.

Shame he can’t perform at this level any more, but sounds like he had a pretty bad upbringing so hope he’s happy now.

Dunno about amateur musicians, but Mystery Jets? Also Ozzy and Kelly did a cover a few years back, can’t remember if it was any good though?

We’re in West Cornwall, pretty good mobile signal where we are. The gas meter is outdoors (not sure if that’s standard) – as long as it manually shows a reading I’m happy submitting it myself if it did fail to autosend?

Probably a stupid question, but we have old school meters.

Would upgrading to smart meters fix any issues with the existing meters (i.e. all the old hardware is removed, so new meters would be far more accurate?)

I presume they’d also make it far easier to establish which devices are using excessive power etc for electric?

Any real downsides to getting them upgraded?

Thanks for your help on this guys, really appreciate it!

I’ve left the meter for about half an hour without using any gas, and it remained the same – not even the 2 decimals moved at all), so I’m guessing no leaks?

Will try the same this evening when all our neighbours are home, not use our gas for a while and see if the meter moves.

There’s only one pipe that leaves the meter that goes up to our loft (gas pipe runs across that then down into our kitchen) – I’ll check the loft part later, but all of the flats have their own separate meter / gas pipes leaving into their flat. Genuinely can’t see how any other system could tap into ours?

So this means that:

A) the reading is correct, we’re somehow using that much gas? (2 adults, 1 toddler)
B) The gas meter is faulty and exaggerates how much we’re using?

Thanks convert – my bill says as follows:

1 Jul 2022 – 28 Jul 2022 (so not quite a month)

916.22kWh at 7.120p per kWh – £65.23

2896 – estimated meter reading at tariff change (this is in line with the meter reading I supplied)
2925 – you gave us your meter reading
29 gas units at 39.3 calorific value
Standing charge
28 days at 25.923p per day – £7.25

So £72 ish plus gas VAT at 5% for 28 days gas

Gas Meter Readings are:
28/07/2022 2925 1142 kWh
22/06/2022 2888 1737 kWh
04/05/2022 2833 1327 kWh
30/03/2022 2791 1912 kWh
15/02/2022 2730 1223 kWh
27/01/2022 2691 3355 kWh
02/12/2021 2584 63 kWh
01/12/2021 2582 (estimated) 1796 kWh

Thanks Kryton.. that’s a huge difference! Any idea on kWh or gas units used for a typical month (or anyone else with this info?).

Our Worcester Bosch boiler is 3 years old and just been serviced, all working fine apparently (and seems to be on ECO mode), so can’t see it being that.

Does anyone know a method of calculating if their gas usage is accurate?

We live in a first floor flat, have no heating on from Feb til Oct/Nov (and only then for a couple of hours a day).

So gas is used for showers (about 10 mins a day), hot tap (3 sink fulls a day?) and cooker hob (1 ring for about 20 mins per day max). Everything else is electric.

At the moment we are being quoted as using 1000kWh for each of the last few months (with no heating) so about £80pm on our current plan (Transferred to British gas because People’s Energy went bust)

Is this about right? Or am I paranoid in thinking this is too high, as we really don’t seem to use much gas?

Actually, got another idea for you.. no idea how complicated, but those Specialized shark fins used to go for decent money on Ebay.. very hard to get hold of now. Basically a steel bar with disc tabs attached that connects the rear drop out to the left hand rear brake boss, enabling non disc frames to run disc brakes.

These

Another company used to make a similar but adjustable one, but they stopped making them.

The only others ones are the A2Z ones which don’t work as well (they move if your bike is wheeled backwards with the brake on).

Probably already available, but how about some generic bar / seatpost clamps which feature a small flat plate with a couple of holes drilled in it (or long groove so it’s adjustable) that people can then attach stuff to their bar / seatpost.

You see loads of velcro / zip ties / bodged solutions, a neat removeable universal clamp may sell a few units?

I’ve been buying these (mainly for hangovers) and they work well.

Ingredients are “Dextrose (Glucose), Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate), Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Natural Lemon Flavouring (Maltodextrin, Acacia Gum, Flavouring Preparations), Maize Starch, Sweetener (Sucralose), Riboflavin.”

In the last week or so I’ve been making my own by mixing water, this low sodium salt (has Potassium Chloride and Sodium Chloride), low sugar lemon squash and a drop of lime juice.

Seems to work well, has most of the main ingredients from what I can work out, tastes pretty similar but about 1/1000th of the cost.

I had one of these when I was about 5, so that was 1987 for me

They’re getting ever increasingly thinner these days

As a twatty luddite who’s moved back to 8 speed, I’d agree.. also the gaps between the cogs are smaller thus making the gears more likely to skip, increasing the chances of the chain snapping.

I’ve had a few close ones with snapped chains in the past, not happened since I moved back to 8 speed.

Anyone knowledgeable enough to diagnose his underlying condition? Narcissist? Sociopath? Psychopath? The man is unhinged

He’s just the product of an extremely privileged upbringing where he’s always got his own way, never heard the word “No” and has never been held accountable for his actions. Same as Trump. Lie, cheat, bully, it doesn’t matter. In his eyes he’s done nothing wrong.

Personally I’ve got slackboy winning so far with the Bontrager Privateer.. XT/XTR, Chris King and Sids for £70!

Same.. you can always see his big mop of hair moshing at the front. He’s the barometer of whether you’re at the best gig in Bristol that night. Get well soon Big Jeff.

Not sure about your numbers here.

Yeah, you’ve got a point re: Joshua’s wealth. I was more referring to less well paid boxers/MMA athletes who could retire a few fights early with a big Saudi payday, thus preserving their long term health.

Be interesting to see if Joshua gets as much grief for his fight in Riyadh

I can kinda understand boxers/MMA fighters taking the money – in their game you have a short shelf life, and it’s a case of making your money and getting out before you suffer permanent damage, so grabbing easy cash makes more sense (even if the cash is unethical).

Golfers and footballers less so, IMO, so it’s only right that multi-millionaires like Eddie Howe and those golfers face awkward questions about who pays their wages, when they don’t need the money and could easily make shed loads elsewhere.

Only skim read the thread, but does this stem from your childhood i.e. money was tight, had to be frugal etc?

IMHO just do whatever brings you and your family the most happiness in the long term – if money’s not an option and you can cut back a few hours at work, then do so and ride every day.

I ordered some kit at wiggle recently, and in the order comments stated that “I love the delicious taste of your tasty Haribo”, and in return when I received my package I found none other than..

f*&k all haribo.

Maybe I’ll state that I hate it next time.

So Mrs Hoppy has spoken to them and the shop have confirmed that they “broke” the frame pulling the post out but that they couldn’t do anything else. They’re going away to talk with the manufacturer to see what they can do about a better offer.

I’d immediately e-mail them confirming the content of this conversation (what they’ve admitted and agreed to do), and that you look forward to hearing from them.

Covers you if the situation goes nasty, and you end up in a legal dispute.

To be fair, Lee Anderson is right in saying “poor people can’t cook”.

Largely because energy and food prices are so expensive.

(obviously it’s not laziness/lack of budgeting that he implied)

Hope Jack Monroe tears him a new one.

When these “best purchases” threads turn up on Reddit, they always have the same top answers..

Electric Toothbrush
“Tea Kettle” – mainly American, so not standard out there
3m phone charger lead
Magic Wand (nsfw if you were unsure)
Rice Cooker

Do AliExpress etc do compatible chainrings for road bikes? Can’t be that much difference between genuine and copycats (compared to other bike parts with moving parts etc)

Tried folding it in half length ways, then either rolling or folding it loosely? Won’t be pretty, but won’t be 5m long

Edit: Drunk and misread the original post.. Happy riding Zed’s son, you sound like a great dad Zed :)

She had a lovely obituary in The Times

No-ones priced out of biking (other than those unfortunate to find themselves on the poverty line), but people may be priced out of the latest trends.

My favourite bikes run on 8 speed.

PG-850 cassettes were £7 each in a sale a while back on Wiggle.
PC-830 chains are £6 each
Jockey wheels are around £7
Cables are £2 each
Chainrings cost me around £14 each

So to replace the entire drivetrain we’re talking around £50

Yep, 11/12/13 speed stuff may perform better, weigh less and look cooler, but 8 speed drivetrains never seems to snap, need less maintenance/setup, and cost nothing.

Cycling doesn’t have to cost much, but only if you don’t care about that tiny performance gain or how you look.

If you’re skint, you can easily still ride and have fun – don’t stop riding just because you can’t afford the same level of components that you used to ride – life’s too short.

My bodge (and no doubt frowned upon by you professionals) was to use expanding foam glue to fill the gap, so it all had something solid to sit on.

Then put a thick layer of silicone to get it watertight.

Then tidied it up with that white PVC L shape profile stuck on with more silicone.

Doesn’t look too bad, it’s all hidden by the PVC strip, plus is totally water tight.

Joey Deacon (with that username you must be well old like me, so your dad must have had you is a right nipper) – your dad sounds awesome!

Ha, yeah he is.. to be honest I had that nickname years back as I kept taking wrong turns during MTB races, on very well marked courses. Have messaged mods on here a few months back to change it, as it’s obviously not that tasteful and felt I should (long overdue) do something about that as I don’t want to upset anyone, but didn’t get a response, so I guess I’m stuck with it for the time being (Any mods reading, please let me know if this is something that can be done?)

Your dad is my new hero

Yep, he’s lots of people’s hero, including my own! Some of you surfer types may know him.

My (68 year old) Dad’s response to walkers works pretty well:

“You shouldn’t be riding on footpaths”

“Yeah I know, but haven’t you ever tried doing something a bit naughty?!”

They don’t have a clue what to say back, just flustered and embarrassed in front of their walking group.

or be like me, argue with a walker for ages about whether we’re on a footpath or a bridleway, gets a bit heated, I ride off victorious having won the argument and smug in the knowledge I’m right. Only to get home, and find out that I’m not.

From the top 20 most expensive:

Nicolas Pepe Lille Arsenal Aug ’19 £72M
Kepa Athletic Bilbao Chelsea Aug ’18 £71.6M
Alvaro Morata Real Madrid Chelsea Jul ’17 £70M
Tanguy Ndombele Lyon Tottenham Jul ’19 £63M

Why then draw loads of attention to yourself via the Beeb, which could now leave him/them under scrutiny if they’ve committed fraud etc? Make no sense.