+1 Halo Sports wash, washed mine many times no bother.

Had one for about 5 years, new camshaft at 70,000 miles traded it at 150,000 for a Nissan Pathfinder. Loved the Touran, hate the Pathfinder. I would have another without question, really good, well thought out vehicle. Only niggles apart from the camshaft were it seemed to eat rear springs and a couple of DMFs, although the last one lasted 80,000 miles. We got well over 50mpg out of ours.

I’m currently running my Stanton Slackline as a 69er with a 1 by 8 with a 27.2 non dropper with inner tubes AND rigid forks. I don’t give a stuff, it looks shit but rides well, who cares?

I’d like to see a square taper BB in there, ha ha.

This is such a bargain, I mean a genuine bargain but the longer you leave it the more the price goes up, its £1099 in October, but still a good price even at that!

2.4 Mountain Kings are on offer at Merlin at the moment for £17.99, just picked one up in Puregrip compound to try. I must say it’s better than I expected, much much smaller than a 2.4 Trail King and more like a 2.2 but grippy and quite fast rolling with a decent amount of squish.

Went to Pompeii and Vesuvius last year. Pompeii was excellent and surprisingly quiet (end of August) but v hot. I took two 750ml SIS bottles and we just kept filling them at the taps that are all over the place. You can book online in advance but you have to choose your day. Don’t even think about seeing it in one day unless you are there early and leave late. We also went into Pompeii new town for a butchers and once past the grotty outskirts the town centre was really quite nice. There is an amazing coffee/cake/gelateria not far from the Pompeii entrance – I had the best hand pulled espresso and ice cream ever. Never went to Herculaneum but as they say its supposed to be better and it’s closer to Naples I think.

Vesuvius was also pretty amazing, we had a hire car which made life easier. Take a jumper to the top and don’t wear flip flops or stilletos (yes, they really do). You can buy a ‘I Love Vesuvio’ hoody at the tat shops close to the walking bit. The lower slopes were full of rubbish and derelict hotels and cafes. The best bit for me was seeing the Vesuvius Fiat Panda 4×4 razzing up the track top the top.

Far too much, I would love to live without one and the hassle of servicing, worrying about paying to fix it, insurance etc etc etc. In my ideal world I would just hire one for holidays and days out and get taxis but having kids and no car just wouldn’t work with our modern hectic lifestyles.

NO WAY would I leave my 10 year old home alone all day, although in 1981 when I was 10, I was gallivanting all over town and up in the hills on my own (or with kids the same age) all day during the hols when my folks were at work, left to sleep in the car whilst they partied at friends, left to sleep in the hotel room while they went to the pub, went to work with my dad in the front seat of the car without a seat belt while he chain smoked 100 fags a day, loved it when my dad did a ‘ton’ on the M61 with me in the front seat (no seat belt…), got sent to the shop to buy 20 No 6 and a box of matches for my dad. It sounds like my folks didn’t give a toss, but as far as I was aware, that was normal back then (feel free to correct me!).

My Abarth 500 service interval is strictly 6000 miles for an oil and filter change 18000 for everything else.

Brill day, the descents on the GT Grade were not the most enjoyable!

Decent stuff looks great, but… It’s bad for your garden’s creepy crawlies because it takes away a load of habitat. Birds can’t come and get their 5 a day in worms

This was our issue but we are putting some rotting logs about for the bugs.

Our garden is very shaded and we have two dogs doing their business. When we moved in the sellers said they tried all sorts of grass, all of which failed. So they installed artificial and spent quite a bit on the drainage etc. We were dead against it at the beginning but after one winter we are completely sold. For dark and shady places its great, green all the time, leaves can be swept off, not affected by dog wee, dry when its raining. We’ve got a kids swing and there are no bald patches at all, its hard as nails. Only slight issue is when a mole wants to come to the surface…we have slight humps sometimes so I just hammer them back down from time to time. Might be worth spending a bit and getting good drainage put in if your garden is wet. Do it.

This has really affected me, I don’t normally blub in public but I couldn’t help it on hearing Mike’s death. I never knew him, never would have, but I admired him and his understated modesty from afar and the whole situation is so incredibly and profoundly sad and upsetting to me. Kristof Allegaerts tribute to his friend and competitor was first class and cheered me up a bit, much respect to him. RIP Mike Hall, a legend.

Got one, its shite.

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I’ve got one, you can’t charge it whilst recording a ride.

Mini review

I’ve used On One Gravel Road for general on/off road. Good all rounder and quite cheap.

Yep, they have been buying back the affected ones, mine passed the inspection last year but ‘internal and external chassis corrosion’ was an advisory on the MOT this week. Its becoming a bigger issue and has been in the national press (The Sun…) this week. I suspect mine will fail at some point but I tow a horse trailer so I’m keeping an eye on it.

I got a Gusset Jury 465 a-c on my Slackline for the winter.

Loads of gothic churches for free if you like architecture. Going up the Arc de Triomphe at night is good, that’s quite cheap. Feeding the birds in the Tuileries Garden is fun when they sit on your finger. Loads to do.

+1 TRP HY/RD. Great brakes.

I’d ditch them asap, E&L are the worst of them all.

I’ve always wondered why people insist on calling me Dick, I mean my name isn’t even Richard. 😐

I’ve got a 105 alloy Grade, brilliant bike. If you can upgrade to the TRP HyRd brakes do it, they are great. I’m 5′ 8″ and have a 53, they do size up large. I’ve been on some trails I normally do on the mountain bike, its excellent and tremendous fun. 

Same as sadexpunk, sold everything as a job lot to my local collectors shop. Still have pangs of regret now and again…

Just use meths.

I did a ghetto conversion of some old Floats to coils after an internal scratch meant it never kept air pressure. Sooo much better and 100% reliable. Do it.

Perfect timing OP, just looking into this myself!

After years of owning plenty of aircooled VW’s over the years including a bay window camper, Type 3s, Bettles etc, don’t do it unless you won the lotto recently. Look good, the reality is somewhat different.

A recent birthday present from my good lady wife was a bottle of Bloom Gin and four pack of Fentimans Tonic. Very nice with lashings of ice after a long hot ride.

Mrs Karlsbug has one, does whats it says really, battery life a bit poor when recording an activity (GPS on) but lasts a long time when just using as a watch. Its OK for basic running/walking and was cheap but with hindsight a 15 is much better value as it will do heart rate and is also a step counter but Mrs K didn’t need that so it suits her.

Its the track between Chapel Lane and Dick Lane SD6171020617 53.680602,-2.581172 (centered). It has never been a bridleway but is a track that has been closed without permission and according to some bylaws (I’m not familiar with the specifics), should be available as a right of way for traffic. If they get a list of names to show that people use it, it can be reopened. The local bridalway group needs a list to show its in regular use. The contact is hilarycox60ataol.com

ta.

Yep, got two, they both do it.

Any Stanton

Tried a Nano 40c in my GT Grade, wouldn’t fit in the fork, so I got these in 33c. I used them on the HONC and they were pretty good, good on road and loose dry but a bit sketchy in the HONC mud fest this year but they did OK. Overall I’m quite impressed.

Gravel Road

1×8 here…not died yet.

Doing it on a GT Grade this year.

+1 Windows phone. Lumia 640.

I just px’d my 54 plate VW Touran at 150k. Looking at these mileages, I should’ve kept it. Although we have spent a bit on it in the past, it will probably still be going long after my ‘new’ 57 77k Nissan Pathfinder has exploded….