Me :P

Morewood… Doh! I should have realised when you wrote “Idylles and Void”.

Tough call. Have you demo’d and fallen in love or are you in the drooling at catalogue ready to be swayed in another direction stage?

You might be lucky or you might not… I’m guessing YT in which case you have to deal with them for warranty not Bos direct; which could be a blessing or even more of a curse.

Lovely kit if it works but if there is something wrong with it you might have to consider getting rid rather than banging your head off a wall to get it fixed.

I liked the Bos stuff I borrowed but the after service scared me as I tend to need warranties :?

*gulp*

Travel adjust is a crutch for poor bike design… or a faffage device for a rider to use to explain why they could do something better if only they had remembered to change something after the last climb/descent :wink:

I don’t see the point other than to find the sweet suspenson travel length for a given frame. I’ve tried changing fork length form climb to descend but it didn’t work for me; too annoying as to whether I had it right and if the climb/descent was worth the effort, or how the bike would ride for the next bit of trail. Often we blame the tools but more likely the skills of the rider are at fault. Running a longer fork for extra descending prowess sounds like a good thing but the extra bottom bracket height and slacker seat angle tend to counter-act the benefit of the slacker head angle (IMHO/IMHE) etc. Or increased pedal strikes on techy climbs if you shorten the forks. 10/20mm might be acceptable but the differences I feel in Talas etc ruin the ride the rest of the time for me. Usually the bike designers know what they are doing and have specified the a near optimum fork length for the frame… faff with this at your peril.

Could be for some. If its the one thing that is stopping you buying a van then it could be the answer :roll:

In that case I’ve got ther perfect thing for you… some chimneys that need swept.

Get the kids out of way so you can put the speakers wherever you like :mrgreen:

Ugly functional brackets for the win.

double :oops:

Love the Sportline grill Chrisl 8)

Looks like a bigger meaner VAG and will blend in with the other Audi’s and Mercs

Choose your colour wisely and have a few bling looking bits/bobs on it and instead of being the laughing stock of the car park you will be the talk of it.

Not a cheap option but it has the kudos of the badge to punch above (many a car) any other van.

No surprises… my VW short wheel base T5 Kombi allows for bikes to go in complete behind the second row of seats. They sit at an angle and so far I’ve had 2 adult + 2 kids, or 3 adult with no problem.

If taking four or five adults I might have to pop off a wheel or two to get it all in but I’m absolutely sure it will fit.

Thinking back when my two were toddling they were not allowed in the “adult” living room. We gave over the dining/family room completely to toys and crap and kept the front room as our sanctuary. Only when they were with us were they allowed in probably saving us from much broken stuff; especially when other kids came round as they were also not allowed in that room.

We still do the same; front living room is a no toy zone. Movies, reading and music only… absolutely no eating.

Fingers through the tweeters is perhaps another matter….

I keep the covers on 99% of the time and only take them off for serious listening sessions when the kids are away or in bed… which is also when I lift the speakers and stands away from the walls to improve soundstaging. I thought this a better compromise than hiding it all away.

But I am victorian dad and my boys know not to mess with daddys stuff.

Come promotion time you’ll be the bloke with a van.

You won’t get to see the inside of the executive bathroom.

Very true if your van looks like this (i.e. a bit rapey)

Not so much if it looks like this (although this perhaps is a bit blingy).

Use the studs in the wall. It will not be pretty as you will have to make the bracket/shelf/whatever straddle a couple of the studs if you want a solid fixture.

Or… in the spirit of STW I suggest you “make the kids house safe, not the house kid safe”.

FWIW – my two boys are now 6 and 7 and for the whole time we have had my speakers blue-tacked to the massive lead shot filled Attacama stands “almost” without incident.

I visited the local Hifi imporium last night to discus my similar requirements. Newly decorated room; need to improve TV sound without clutter of additional speakers etc. I wanted ability to play music but my wife said this was secondary and was not going to happen unless it was discrete (proper Hifi is in another room supporting another TV so I/we can go in there to listen to music).

I’d looked at a few Hifi options but the speaker and clutter issue makes it a non starter. I’d also looked at a few soundbars in the past week and dismissed the cheaper ones as little better than the TV speakers; and the more expensive ones I liked the sound of (Yamaha) tended to be too bulky to sit in front of our TV. I also wanted it to be good with music and ideally be able to stream music without the TV on (without using an apple TV or the like). Music was where the ones I tried struggled… but much of that could have been the showroom but when it sounds tinny or the bass is disjointed as it can be from a subwoofer I’m not interested.

At the suggestion of the staff I sat down and was treated to the Sonos PlayBar. At £599 it was more than I wanted to pay but it was a very impressive piece of kit sonically and functionally (and not ugly like many of the soundbars).

TV must have an optical output and you need a tablet/smart-phone and ethernet port (or wireless bridge) etc but the world of music is at your fingertips.

I bought it and (shock-horror) my wife likes it :D

The van is not our only car so technicaly I’m cheating… we just ditched our medium sized car (mine) and big 4×4 (hers) for a smaller car (hers) and a van (mine). We use the smaller car most of the time for family stuff and shopping etc so the van is for adventures. I catch the train or bike to work a lot of the time unless the bike is in the back for adventures after work. I was never that happy leaving an expensive bike in the back of the car even hidden under blankets; but in the van under blankets its much harder to see what it is. Van is a Kombi so 5 seats with enough room behind the seats for bikes and camping equipment (for the 4 of us); no need for a towbar mounted theft magnet.
The van is nicer to drive than the big 4×4 it replaced (IMHO) and cheaper on fuel, tax, and insurance which is nice.
Picked up two friends to go biking last night with the van. Could have done the same with the car but the van was so much easier with no bike dismantling required and somewhere to change out of the rain and faff with bags etc… we could easily have piled in another couple of bikes and people if required and probably will in the summer.
No regrets so far and I’m looking forward to many more van adventures in the coming years.

*sing* van adventure, its an adventure in a van *sing*

My local is officially the best in the country.[/url]

Excellent chips of course, and they quite often have fish other than Haddock* on the menu which is great.

*For some reason many Scottish fish and chip shops sell Haddock rather than the Cod you get in England.

But I’d love to try those dripping cooked chips.

You mean Nogano Blue surely :wink:

I swapped from a Hope clamp to a Straitline recently for the same reason. The Straitline clamp requires much less torque in the bolt to stop the post from slipping; and for that reason I feel much more confident in how the Straitline works.

But if your a Hope fan-boi then your collars and cuffs won’t match :roll:

Or perhaps my thinking is complete rubbish?

On the Hope site they say the clamp is the Same.

But I still think the clamping forces are too far away from the post to work as well as other designs.

I don’t think thats possible as the designs look a little different? Perhaps with the older design?

FWIW IMHE/IMHO the older bolt version clamps too far out from the seatpost causing uneven clamping forces; which means it doesn’t hold the post well and may even cause some damage. Better designs are available.

You have to click on each of the pictures and read the comments down the side. There are three greens and two blues for comment.

I like YS 7464!

+1

So Kermit… or his background (nice one richc) :wink:

“It’s not easy being green”.

Great colours though :mrgreen:

I liked it and would have it again which makes it more than just a novelty.

Tokyo* and Paradox I love. The recent Paradox Grain is my favourite so far.

Tokyo* is wonderful with some ice-cream… makes an amazing Affogato (Beer Float).

If I remember correctly when the first Prince Alberts were available the pre-orders could be had in the colour of your choice… same again would be cool 8)

Never mind “rootbeer” do a “beer” coloured bike… although it might turn out “beige”…

Which could actually be very cool 8)

ARGH… that looks like the Chip Shop Curry Troof I broke :cry:

I’m very impressed with the Avalanche Cartridge recently fitted in my Float forks… in combo with the rear shock I am getting a “wow” from them… but it probably is overkill unless your sure of what your trying to improve.

I like my DMR Vaults; but my terms of referenece are pretty small as previous to them I’ve only used Shimano and DMR.

I find the Vaults fantastic underfoot due to the size and shape. Pedal strike I can’t see making much difference unless your willing to run a really small pedal… in which case run SPD’s :wink:

I’d like to try the Launch Components Launchpad just because… but they are not cheap.

Whole groupset apart from the cassette sitting at my LBS… cassette ETA is 4 weeks (FFS!)

I was disapointed in the Assos shorts I bought a few years ago. Not that comfy and the stitching came apart.

The Lusso Gel insert ones I bought last year were amazingly comfy so I bought some more. They are lasting very well and over a year later still have the thick material feeling rather than going soft/baggy.

Made in the UK if that bothers you.

Always carry a coffee cup to show how important and busy you are that you can’t sit down and enjoy it.

Loving my Answer Fall Line gloves.

Somehow they are almost warm enough for winter and yet cool through the summer. They don’t give me blisters like Royal and 661 gloves do… and as a bonus they are still going after over a year. I just bought some more; not because the ones I have are failing but simply because they are ace.

British Racing Green?

Or many moons ago Spec did a Stumpy in a matt green which I always loved the look of.

But… colour is one of my least important considerations 8)

Those pictures were ace… sometimes clicking on threads that I have no interest in can be most excellent.

shoes that indicate myself as being a depraved drunken drug addled wreck.

For the holidays there are these.

That is going to be so epic :mrgreen:

Midge filter lite.

Lorraine Kelly and her growler?

Who was thinking this then?