Our ducato does a lot of miles on Europe. I prefer the ducato to our car on the motorway.
We specced the 150bhp engine. You can now get a 160. I wouldn’t want any of the smaller engines.
It will sit at 90 quite happily, not too loud, but obviouslylouder than a car.
Be aware you will use a lot of fuel. If we drive hard on the motorway we get 19mpg…..we tend to sit at 75 for fuel consumption unless in a rush across Europe.

I’ve been with brentacre for about 8 years now. I’ve even given up phoning round as their renewal is cheaper than anyone else.
Plus when you ring it takes less than 60 seconds to get through to someone.

Sorry to disappoint .i meant these, I do not have 3 knees

I bought three, the insert is brutal, rock hard on the inside too so not very comfy.
I have d30 inserts as above from m’bike jeans. They are a bit thinner and fit in the pads perfectly.
I’ll be using them with d30 inserts.

Pi at http://www.clandestine.cc is who you need to speak to. From full custom to a bit of frame mod and rack.

Where abouts are you?
How often will you be in the water?
How mediocre were you?
How big/heavy are you?
Any aspirations?

These will affect the board choice massively. Shaper of a good local shop is the best idea but if its a generic fun shape for the odd session some deals can be had online….. answer those q’s and I or someone else will give you some ideas……

We did 6 weeks in the campervan last summer. 1 day to drive from calais to top of Denmark. Ferry from hirtshalls to Christiansand.
We loved it, can’t comment on campsites as we didnt stay on any. Depending on your thoughts there were quite a few caravans “freecamping” / at we would be considered a Motorhome aire in France.

Good was expensive but not crazy, perhaps we webt forewarned so it wasnt a shock.

We spent a lot on ferries and I imagine they are very expencive when towing. You are constantly catching them, we did 4 in one day.

Norway is amazing, lofoten was disappointingly busy compared with lots of other places but incredible and quite’ish on hilltops.

We went about 6 hours north of Tromso and across the top. It’s a long way home from there….. 3 days of driving back to calais.

Weather was a mixed bag, we were under prepared. We had everything from 30deg to 7 degrees.

We will be going back in a few years…..

Why did it take so long for geometry to progress? Amazing how obvious the changes seem with hindsight

External has its plus points but a real pain if it’s wet, covered in snow etc….

I much prefer out internal ones. We bought silverscreens from http://www.caktanks.co.uk
Great quality. We also have a curtain behind front seats from van-x. We normally just use that, we slept well during aNorwegian summer with just the curtain….

Could try http://www.clandestine.cc he makes some super nice stuff. Award winner at bespoked.

When they took residence on our school fields we were told 2 weeks before anything can be done…. They left after 13 days

Brentacre for us. Probably been with them 8 years with various vans and they have always been cheapest.

Not sure if its true….
After noticing how much Germans and French swear, particularly F…
I was told that their languages either don’t have or don’t have the same attitude to swearing as we do so therefore not seen as a bit funny to use the word.

The cleave is as good as it gets on Dartmoor. Okehampton area is dire.

Just don’t speed in. Norway.
96km in a 90. 400 euro fine. 98 and the fine was double! The rest of the holiday I was driving like a granny!

Me and g/f did our first alps trip a few years ago. We based it all from this book –

I think the book is great, parks and some other rides.

We always go with the campervan and never do more than 2 days at a place.
Even an average bike park set up is great if the sun is out and the novelty of not pedalling uphill!
We tend to base a lot of our plans on the weather, did some great riding. Ear chamonix one year, loads of rain the next year so stayed in southern alps near pila etc…
We haven’t ever used a guiding company, caught a public bus with a guiding company one year, the other English riders were so irritating I would have hated being stuck with them. Good maybe with mates….

My car purchase last year was a natwest transfer on a Saturday afternoon using my phone and card reader.
Significant amount, went through instantly. Tax as mentioned above. Sorted.

I genuinely use brunox deo fork spray on my clippers. #bikelife!

They look cool, will hold residual well if you can look after it and stop it rusting.
Sounds like a commute where I would rather use a 125 than my big bike.

That’s how I bought my last car, good few thousand that transferred immediately.

I did a cbt, probably did 4 rides, felt vulnerable on a slow & small 125.
Did DAS and felt much happier then.
Shouldn’t have wasted the money on the 125, agree, bigger bikes are easier and you can get away with poor technique with the small bikes so bad habits could form.

How about the railway station car park in knighton? I imagine you can buy a long stay, or just accept the parking tickets!
I left my camper in a layby at the other end of trans Cambrian and worried the whole time so I appreciate your concern.

Enjoy Saalbach, we were there for half term.

Goggles – I had some vonzippers for a few years, were approx £45. Did all I could ask.

Bought some new anons this year for the integrated face mask mostly, can’t say they did anything the vonzippers didn’t.

I really enjoyed all or nothing. All blacks one and man city. Struggling to get into the NFL one though.

We bought a mini clubman cooper s a few months ago.
Love it.
Cooper s seems to have a few more issues than normal cooper…..
Good residuals on minis too

Had a brand new alfa giuletta as a courtesy. Lovely to sit in, nice engine, dash was already a rattly mess!

This thread feels a bit ridiculous.
Just because she is a girl doesn’t tell us anything. There seems to be a lot of assumptions.
My girlfriend’s first ride was whites level at Afan. Loved it. Muddy, tired, fell off and hurt herself, been hooked ever since. We never don’t ride together. It’s brilliant.
But she was already a good snowboarder and surfer so bit afraid if stuff.
I’ve taken friends who go on to hate it and need a picnic! Only you know her, just seems sad that there are people out there that wouldn’t want to share activities with their partner.

Torridon/Skye. No brainer

We found some great riding on Lofoten this summer. There is a Lofoten guide book of walks and rides that we bought from the tourist info there.

Starling murmur. G/f got one a few months ago, it’s incredible. Will likely be what I buy next.
She is 5″7, rides the medium.

Running out of gas mid meal is incredibly frustrating…
Sometimes harder than you would like to find a new bottle. Difficult driving around with half cooked curry!

Finisterre socks. It’s all i wear have some token thick Finisterre for when it’s really cold

If it hasn’t already fit an eberspacher
Always have a second gas bottle
15tog duvet in winter
Ridge monkey pan for mess free sausage cooking

We boarded serre Che last year, loved it. Nice area, quiet for Feb half term.
Didn’t really consider beginners much.. but the 2 greens we did were quite narrow fireroad that can be tricky.
Black’s and reds were great with good side piste action.
Cheap accommodation too!

Following the surf industry model?
Almost all the major surfbrands sell he off board etc… But not in big quantity, it’s just to give their clothes brand credibility.

We did a cx event at school and kids got a buff. They loved it.
Agree with trophy too

Gf has one. Rode her bike yesterday. Loved it.
Looks wider and shorter than my flite but tempted to get one…..

Latin. All Latin!

I always wonder how much they pay these people to live with them….could set that couple up for another decade!

Montgenevre is really fun with serre Che down the road. Quiet, fun,etc…. We often make it our warm up day/2 of alpine road trips. I think it would suit all you have said

Sounds like I might be in the minority.
Living in Devon and Dartmoor being wet wet wet I regularly drive to s Wales or mid Wales for the weekend. Trail centres and just guaranteed fun and rideable no matter the weather.
Usually opt to drive to Exmoor or quantocks in the summer so around 1.5 hours there….
However, gf rides too, we go in the camper and always make a weekend of it.

Always do an Alps trip each year and trips to North Wales and Scotland.

Turns out I love a drive…..