I’ve had a few.

Ti456. Stolen, stripped, dented and recovered in 2010…

….still in daily service 13 years on as my wife’s commuter. (Not my lawn).

PX RT57. Many happy countryside miles, flippin’ stiff though. Ebay’d in lockdown.

Scandal 29er. Possibly my favourite ever bike, sadly stolen last year. Has been my only MTB, my wife’s reintroduction to cycling after years off, lockdown monstercross and just a great ‘everything bike.’ Weird, loud and missed.

Big Dog. Brief affair. Frame is still in my garage after the bits were swapped onto a Bfe. It may yet become something else, who knows?

Half term in the New Forest with the boys. Glorious.

Google is your friend

The eldest had the 20″ version as stock on his Saracen, it was basic but okay. Not sure I would have paid £150 though. I would be scouring ebay for an older 80mm 26″ RS or Fox, knowing I could probably get my money back after they’d grown out of it.

Charge — if they still exist

Edit: it’s worse than I thought. They seem to only make ebikes now and utility ones at that

In fairness, they’d probably sell 10 of the E Bikes for every fat bike they sold to beardy weirdos*, which is is dead useful for a company that wants to pay it’s staff and continue trading.

*A noble demographic, of which I am proud to belong.

We’ve had bikes for our two boys ranging from 14″ to 26,” taking in all the sizes along the way. We’ve had Specialized, Islabikes, Saracen, Vitus, Commencal, NS and Nukeproof, all of which got plenty of use.

Based on my experience of all the above and weighing up quality and value, it is very hard to look past Vitus now. Even at full price they are really well thought out bikes in terms of geo and kit. Given they are often discounted, seals the deal for me.

Eh?! Why don’t they buy somewhere without neighbours?

…..everybody needs good neighhh-bours?

It might open up your options to look at an angle adjust headset to lengthen the wheelbase and drop the BB at tad. It certainly made a difference to my old Solaris when paired with a wider bar and shorter stem. Just avoid straight steerers and you should find something suitable.

If kiddo can be trusted to walk to school by himself, why can’t he be trusted with a key?

I’m not 100% certain he can be completely trusted with either, but he will be starting his last term in primary after Easter, so we’re trying to manage the transition to High School in September by encouraging him to be a little more independent. He is quite a young 11 and while he’s not daft, he’s prone to distraction and could absolutely leave the front door unlocked while staring at Pokemon on his phone as he leaves.

Being burgled last year has left us hyper-vigilant to risk, as we were definitely targeted, so if spending a couple of hundred quid means I can reduce that anxiety (justified or otherwise) then I’m okay with that. I get that someone will be able to break in if they really wanted to, it’s more that if someone can waltz in through an unlocked door, we wouldn’t insured at all.

Move to somewhere you don’t need to lock your doors.

Then he’d have a really long walk to school 😄.

they also invalidate some house insurance policies

That’s my fear. Having had our burglary claim assessed face to face last year, the insurers were very interested in the physical security measures we had in place. Unless, they were specifically mentioned as okay in the schedule, I’m not sure I’d risk it.

Just kick him out when you leave?
Assuming its only 5-10 mins he can just get to school a bit easier.

Although it’s around that, it’ll be a fair bit later from next year when he’s at high school. I realise we’re probably being hand-wringing, helicopter parents and god knows we were left to roam feral at that age, but it’s a an extra level of stress that we can ‘tech’ out of our lives.

Re. the trust thing, he’s a sensible lad but prone to day dreaming (not unlike his Dad). The ability to check the house is secured remotely is the appeal in this case.

I think I’d be as cross about being ignored as the faulty bike TBH. If the retailer still won’t engage after reasonable attempts have been made on your part I think @ruffrider is on the right track. If you do decide that approach, this may be helpful Rejection letter

Good luck.

If anyone is selling a Shotgun or Macride anywhere near Sheffield or Newcastle I’ll have it for a fair price.

@sharkattack I’ve PM’d you.

The Nukeproof Digger has a 641mm front centre on a small frame. It’s a bit more on the slack HA – short stem, side, but mine ticks along well enough on the road. I’m about your height, but went for a medium, as I wanted a roomy cockpit. Geo is on their website.

Edit; It’s all about the Diggers today 😁

Somebody’s edited her Wikipedia page 😂

Isabel Oakeshott is a British political journalist and grass.

Wiki

Edit; It’s now been re-edited.

Oof, sounds nasty, you have my sympathy. I would have thought patience is your friend here, I’m afraid.

Not directly comparable, but a series of unrelated events led me to acquire two sprained thumbs and left wrist a couple of months ago. I then managed to slice through the top of one of my finger joints (MCP) with a Stanley blade.

Anything other than gentle riding is currently quite painful and a recent trip to the FOD seems to have set me back weeks, frustratingly. Your injury is way more severe, so I would give it all the time it needs to heal properly before chucking yourself down anything terrifying. IANAD.

Genuinely helpful PSA, despite the grumps.

When we were burgled last year, it was really useful to be able to access order details going back years as the insurance company wanted lots of proofs to establish the details of custom builds. Digging back through ancient emails to find stuff I’d bought elsewhere, took loads longer.

Notable exception was Sam at Cotic, who found my seven year old invoice while I was on the phone.

I think I need to start saving for a Vitus 20+ for the daughter having seen all the above!

Do it, they’re ace. Budget for a 14-34 Tourney freewheel though if you plan to use it as an introduction to actual mountain biking. Jr really struggled with some of the short, sharp ups on the Cannock Blue with stock gearing, but can spin up most things now.

I also fitted some Clarks Clout hydraulic discs I had in my spares box. They make such a difference for little hands with limited grip strength.

Proper grippy pedals and shoes are also crucial. This is a bit of a leap of faith as most parents look at the teeth and see potentially minced shins, but not slipping off crap plastic pedals in the first place is key IMO.

My absolute favourite topic!

My two are 6 and 10, the littlun’ loves a flowy Blue, his big bro is building confidence on easier Reds. Biking with kids is a massive faff and can require superhuman patience, but is never not worth it.

Sherwood Pines this week

I’ve found isopropyl alcohol is pretty good at shifting oil based errors. No idea about Putoline though, so you may want to try it on a rag before attacking your car. Good luck.

Looks like a more XC/trail build with the RRs. What travel are you running?

It’s a Pike Ultimate at 130mm and Trail wides with 2.4 Hans Dampfs, so definitely erring towards a trail build in weight and attitude. I may try a longer air shaft, I’ll see how I get on.

I really wasn’t sure about the grey as the website doesn’t do it justice, but I really like how it looks and I’m a massive tart so that’s important. What swung me was the silver Pike’s I already had suited it better than the pink or blue.

Righto, seeing as nobody is posting Grey BFe’s, here’s my recent build. It’s a small, bought in the Xmas offer and is built up with the bits from my Big Dog bought last Autumn, I just couldn’t get on with. I previously had a Solaris Mk1 that I loved so I’m hoping this will be a keeper.

Feel free to convince me it’s not unethical by the way. I really want a new trail bike and I could have one in a week.

The issue is a personal ethical one.

Let me help you out then…

Assuming you aren’t about to buy a new trail bike anyway, then buying a shiny new MTB on C2W will generate an 20% of it’s sale price in VAT, a proportion of the profit will be paid in corporation tax as well. It will contribute towards increasing the turnover of the retailer, ensuring they can continue to employ staff, perhaps hire more. All these things are good for the economy, promoting growth at a local level.

See, you’re virtually a saint, thank me later 😉

The only issue in scrapping VAT on bikes (in lieu of C2W) is perhaps the unintended consequence of making them less affordable. I suspect the option to pay monthly without incurring credit charges is a much of an attraction as the tax savings for a lot of people, especially on lower incomes.

It would also be interesting to see how the sums add up in terms of the reduced tax take in scrapping VAT on all bikes regardless of their use, versus income tax lost via C2W.

Also, I suppose a voluntary scheme needs to be attractive as much as it’s fair in order to be effective. If it wasn’t popular, it wouldn’t last long as it the cost of administering it becomes a burden.

I was horrified by this as I had unwittingly bought a chocolate croissant for my colleague this morning. I know it’s not cake, per se, but I immediately referred myself to HR, just to be on the safe side.

I’ve always had new cars, on (whispers) finance. The idea of bangernomics and cars as white goods just doesn’t appeal to me. Some of the brands I’ve had would mark me out as a certain-kind-of-person by some on here as well, but I’d like to think would be wide of the mark.

I think it’s an understatement to point out the reduction of ‘hobby’ time is just one of the smaller ways your life is turned upside down by parenthood. I think from a Dad’s perspective, if you’re not sometimes finding it tough and full of sacrifice/compromise, you need to look at whether you are pulling your weight. (Not aimed at any previous poster, more reflective TBF).

My two are now 10 and 6, and between school, swimming, Scouts, wrap-around clubs etc. the little time we have left as a couple we quite like to spend together. It doesn’t help that Mrs LJ is an NHS worker (currently fun) and we both work different weekend rotas.

All that said, I don’t think we do that badly. The last decade has featured a lot more dull road riding than it otherwise would have done, but we all ride and holidays and weekends away generally involve bikes. I also get a weekday off every fortnight to travel for some proper solo MTBing.

Anyone battling their spouse has the wrong spouse.

That made me chuckle 😀
I’ve long had a theory that ‘If the Missus lets me’ has long been a cut and paste excuse for blokes to duck out of social situations, rather than actually say ‘I’m just not feeling it’, or ‘that other guy you ride with is a wally.’

Any links for the discounted frames?

They’re discounted on their website. Be quick though, they are back up to full price tomorrow, apparently.

Well I’ve pressed the button on a small in Smoke. I’d been dithering over Christmas, as I have a brand new medium Big Dog that will be the donor bike. The On One was a replacement for my small Solaris Mk 1, stolen in September and despite being cracking value just hasn’t lived up to how much I liked it’s predecessor. I’m hoping this will be a keeper as I had the Solaris for 7 years.

Looks like a potential Photoshop opportunity to me!

Ordered a proper skateboard for my eldest that was delivered to my office. Of course I had to have a go didn’t I?
One pulled painfully calf later, I couldn’t wait to tell her what a tragic, middle aged, bell end I was. Gifting my wife things to take the piss out of, keep my marriage what it is.

Tsk, peasants. One simply parks one’s Aston inside.

I wouldn’t recommend saying it that many times though!

And that’s 80!

Cheers!

So I finally realised there was a 5th coleoptera!

79!!! I think this is the last one. Where should I be looking?

77 now.

Stuck on the maths one, which means there are two clues I haven’t identified. I’ve got five beer mats, the three for the birds, and two for the phone and painting. What the flip am I missing?

Hopefully vague enough tips to keep it challenging;

It’s not a duckling, think of another bird.
The bee and the big C are part of the same clue.
Ignore the nest, it’s the wasps that will give you the answer
With the St. Bernard, think of a film.

I’m a stuck on the horses reins,
the ceiling painting,
The shark drawing,
The seagull,
Arrrghhh!

Been dipping in and out all day and now up to 58. When is it appropriate to start sharing tips? I’m not sure I can see another 22 clues.

Mrs LJ had some XC32s on her Mythique which had an annoyingly clunky top out which I never managed to eliminate. It was nicked before it was a year old, so can’t really comment re. durability.
Jr now has the same fork on his Nukeproof which doesn’t seem to have the same issue and seems way nicer than a budget Rock Shox.

Slightly on a tangent, the Mythique is a fab bit of kit, you’ll not get better at RRP, like for like.

Here you go….

Linky

The suspension at that level is boat anchor heavy. I’d be looking at rigid

I see that opinion a lot and I understand the logic in a lot of situations, however my lads have had air forks on 20, 24 and 26 inch bikes and for MTB they’ve actually been a plus.

If you are planning actual Mountain Biking with them, just get the Vitus. We’ve had a couple and you will not beat them for value. They are proper bikes, just a bit smaller.

Still too long for my taste, bring back XC bikes!

If you ask around a few flat roof pubs locally, you could probably buy my Mk1 that was nicked 😪