Those that like the Lidl stuffed pasta should try the Giovanni Rana stuff, always cheap at Iceland and way way better.

Interesting to see the comments on their Fruit & Veg. Round here the quality of F&V at Lidl is awful.

I tend to prefer Aldi for pretty much everything. Their Weetabix is definitely better!

Partner has a Smart Ultra 6 unlocked and on EE.
Damn good phone for the money. Not able to compare it to a Swift but you couldn’t be disappointed for the money, so long as you are ok with BIG phones.

Field full of Daffodils out on Christmas day and snow drops earlier in December down south:

To clarify my last post ref. Vodaphone Smart Ultra 6, you can unlock them for use on any network so if you don’t like Voda, use someone else.

2nd the Vodaphone Smart 6 Ultra of you can handle a big phone. I wanted something smaller otherwise it was to of my list.

Far enough and the battery life is fantastic.
Cost you about £5 a month over a typical 24 month contract period.

Amazing. 200 hours? That’s some moneys worth.

As taxi25 said, that routes basically the staple Cardiff ring SO I’d hope it’s all ok. Never had any queries from people when out with the Cardiff Uni groups.

In for me.
Aside from the trade & movement benefits, the idea of more local decisions scares me when I see the ineptitude of our party politics particularly when it comes to long term planning / strategy, and how that also impacts on things like worker rights, internet “regulation” among other things.

Reforms are no doubt needed but that is the case for any & all organisations. Unfortunately, the benefits I see, also have drawbacks which makes change harder.

Loads of God micro roasters around, many of which have been mentioned but a few others such as:

Coffee Bean Shop
Smokey Barn
Rave (their signature blend is a fav for espresso)
Coopers Coffee Co (Jersey based but I like pretty much all of their roosts in a French Press)
Coffee Compass
Hands on Coffee
The Coffee Bean (based near Cardiff with the Celtic blend being nice for aeropress, although I’ve heard better things about the Blue Mountain blend which I want able to get at the time)

Kinesis Crosslights
Mason x Hunt
Novatech CXD

For that budget though you could get some decent carbon rims or something custom built on Hope Pro’s.

How about a pair of Walsh PBs?
Classic fell running shoe that could well suit that mix of terrain. Made in Bolton too.

How much?
Loads of lightweight options but can get pricey.

Nigor WikiUp 3 for example. Very light for its size.

Seems so welshfarmer. Was up there yesterday and got asked to sign a petition. Car park was pretty full and its not exactly push season so I was surprised to hear it, I’d expect it is petty self sufficient in terms of funds?!

These look good. Might try and do one of the later ones.

TK Maxx are still worth a look.
Picked up a bit of Vulpine kit from there over Christmas and have seen some Yeti said in there recently.

molgrips – Got anything suitable for cyclocross in the same area (in current weather conditions)?

Double post.

Ignore my SVR comment. I was assuming that you could effectively offset savings from one, into the other after the SVR goes up… which would be possible through payment holidays etc but makes it all the more complicated.

Capaldi is leaving already?

Yes. Where the low rate term is coming to an end in 6/12/18/etc months time and the rate reverts to (a higher) SVR. We have no idea if this may be the case. We’re just assuming it isn’t. What’s that saying about assumptions..?

Even then, he would be better off overpaying the smaller loan until the time at which the larger loan reverts to the SVR.

The total sum of debt makes no difference to the choice you make.

There is no need to look at a calculator as the way you are using one is wrong.

Instead of comparing costs over the life of the mortgage (because as ampthill pointed out… it means you’ve assumed the overpayment won;t be transferred once one is paid off), use the MSE calculator and sum the total loan value of the 2 mortgages after say a 5 year period (before the pay-off & transfer would matter).

If you assume a 25 year repayment period for each, after 5 years:
Overpaying on the smaller mortgage = Total debt of £197,990
Overpaying on larger mortgage = Total debt of £198,103 (+£113)

From this you can see that total debt is reduced more quickly by overpaying on the smaller (higher interest) mortgage.
The effects of compound interest only makes this more pronounced as if we look at the values after 10 years, the difference is even greater:
Overpay smaller = Total debt of £140,977
Overpay bigger = Total debt of £141,486 (+£509)

Sorry, thats just incorrect. You agree with the mortgage lender an amount you want to borrow, the rate and length to repay – that gives you a monthly figure. Regular overpayments don’t mean the monthly figuire is recalculated every month – you just stop paying the same fixed monthly fee earlier.

It’s certainly correct for most fixed term mortgages (including my own) which I’d assumed these were (possibly incorrectly) based on the phrasing of the question.
I didn’t say it was calculated monthly, it is usually recalculated yearly when you receive a yearly statement.

It really is as simple as overpay on the highest rate loan.
There is no other answer.

No it isn’t.

Your reducing the term of the mortgage and hence reducing the compound interest so the total amount is relevant.
Compound interest has the same affect on every pound whether there are 100 of them or 50.

That aside, you do not typically reduce the term of a mortgage by overpaying. With most mortgages, overpayments count towards reducing the monthly payment (smaller capital, repaid at x% over your fixed xx year mortgage). The term will only be reduced when you re-mortgage / re-negotiate.

Try Calico http://www.calicoandco.com/
I’ve used them in Cardiff and you have a huge choice of materials & finish which will give you a good variation in price ranges.

Oh the whole agree with the above.

– I think gradings do help. They force you to learn a variety of skills that improve dexterity etc above what you get from learning sheet music. You don’t even really need to take the tests, just get a teacher that can progress you through similar levels.
– A weighted electronic piano is great if you lack space. If you have room for an upright, I’d go for that as a preference though. You can probably pick up an upright for less than a decent electronic piano as well!
– I’d avoid any un-weighted keyboards, although I’ve not played on any better modern ones, the top synths / kb’s I’ve used before feel totally different. You won’t built up finger strength in the same way and it will make it harder to drop onto a Piano when you get the chance.

As above both Rega and Project have great ‘entry level’ turntables.
To thrown weight behind the need to get a demo, we heard turntables from both these connected to both Rotel and Marantz amps and B&W floorstanders and felt the cheaper Marantz to be much more musical. The only type of music we preferred the Rotel for was drum & bass.

The extent of the difference really surprised me, it was bigger than the difference between the turntables.

I moved from SPD to Time & much prefer them.
More positive engagement generally, and lots better in mud. The float is also great for the knees.

Only downside is that it is tough to find deals on them / 2nd hand bargains.

Thanks Trekster.
Anyone else with recommendations?

Thanks, I’ll a look.
Have you used any of them before?

Some of the more road orientated ‘Gravel’ bikes would probably suit.
Giant, Specialized, Norco, BMC, Jamis all do them but I’m not sure of the tie clearances on each of them but a few definitely take that size of tyre.

I use a Porlex Hand Grinder with my Gaggia Classic.
It grinds plenty fine enough and you can’t really beat the regularity of the grind with any machine under £150 as noted above.

Much more effort than an electric grinder though so if you drink a lot, it would become quite a hassle.

Take a look at the 100% Brisker gloves, should fit the bill.

Thanks captcaveman. I’m based in Cardiff so it’s a bit of a drive but we are wanting to test some routes before organising a works group ride.

I’ve had a look at some of the Strava routes and they look good thanks so will definitely test them out when we get some good weather!

Any thoughts on the above?

Ah ok mattyfez, that makes sense, I’ve probably just mixed up what I was told years ago!

I thought most fully comp policies let someone else drive your car without being named so long as:
– They are over 25
– Cover is only 3rd party

Is that no longer the case? I was under the impression that you insure the car, not the driver in the UK and hence you can rarely drive someone elses car on your policy, but would be covered 3rd party on theirs (if they had FC).

Great thread!
Having just got a CX (gravel bike) I’m interested in doing some less technical off-road rides so the info here is perfect.

Out of interest, has anyone done some of the Beacons loops here: http://www.breconbeacons.org/mountain-biking-routes

Particularly interested if any of the blue routes are doable on a CX bike?

Civic?
The faclifted smaller diesels will get over 60mpg average, though I don;t know what they are like to drive as I;ve got an older 2.2d which I’d thoroughly recommend (if it weren’t for your 60mpg+ criteria).
Not the cheapest to fix when things go wrong, but then they are some of the most reliable cars around so cost to own still tends to be lower. Decent residuals over the 100k miles as well.

Fantastic cars for carrying bikes.

I’d definitely keep the picture rails if you are keeping other period features.Positives I find with them:
– Genuinely useful to hang picture from
– You can moved pictures around as you wish and don’t have to worry about filling in holes
– Painting the walls white above the rail feel like it increases the height of the room
– You can use different chains, ropes etc to hang picture lower off the hooks to add a bit of interest, it’s something people often comment on in my property

I’d suggest getting sets of hooks off ebay though as most DIY stores charge an absolute fortune for 1 set.

Good luck with the renovation.