Depends on where and how it’s blown is the honest answer. The two times I’ve had a head gasket blow it’s been useless. The first was a K-series with it’s stupid gasket design, the second was my T4 Where it’d blown between two cylinders. There’s nothing to be lost by trying, it’s already broken.
Morally? You’re Trading it in against a brand new one at the dealer. They’ll have figured in some maintenace in their profit margin, don’t sweat it.

An acquaintance of mine back in Aberdeen had valuable dogs and was paranoid as hell about these sorts of things. Add in a lower than average intelligence and a Faceache account and you get the story I’m about to regale. About how one day he came home at lunchtime to find a couple of thick black cable ties around the lamppost outside his house. Seeing this as a sign that his dogs were going to be stolen, he fetched a big knife from the kitchen and dealt with them. Next day they were back. Again, he removed them. This went on for about a week, and getting worried, he called the police. They promised to look into it. To their credit, they did, and caught the culprit. A council worker, who had damaged the locking mechanism on the lamppost’s door and was trying to do his best to not electrocute passers by…

Volvo C30 could be a good shout, too!

I had an Audi S3 a few years ago and while it was ludicrously quick and also lovely inside, it had literally less than Zero soul. Not quite Korean levels of soullessness, but still. I’ve got a mk5 GTI now. You’d get a mk6 for your 10k budget and you’d never need anything else.

I totally can’t use this forum. Sorry.

https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DYaSSMQVybzE&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjTzKuc_enlAhVRDOwKHelJBmAQyCkwAHoECAoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0bhA6e20G2JrPZWueIS1pY

Land of confusion by Katzenjammer. Superior to the Genesis offering in every way.

Ali Spagnola on YouTube does all sorts of covers in the style of different bands and singers. Her doing Mumford and Sons covering Truth Hurts by Lizzo is especially good, but it’s all worth a watch.

Quite liking mine. Done about 200km on it. Doesn’t feel anything like as cumbersome as every other 29er I’ve ever ridden. Haven’t done any proper gnarr on it yet, because I’m still playing with fit.
It’s made my 650b Explosif feel even more fun, too.

I’ve always called those things horseshoe clips, and my LBS knows what I mean! I like them – cable ties are fine but need care when installing. Specifically when you trim the excess – a flat bladed knife is what you need to get them done perfectly, otherwise the buggers WILL take chunks out of your fingers when they’re cold, wet, and muddy.

Yeah, centrelock brakes are usually held on by either BB type locknuts or cassette type locknuts. If they’re cassette type ones you may well need a new cassette tool with a deeper inner bit to clear the wheel’s axle…

I’ve perfected my ertwensoep recipe after living in NL for nearly three years now…

Handful of bacon bits, fried with butter, onions, garlic and diced celeriac. Fling in some chunks of tattie as well. Once that’s all nicely sweated, add hot chicken stock, red lentils, green split peas, and a whole smoked sausage. Stir every now and again and leave it on a low heat for about two hours. Serve with rye bread and ham. Lovely.

My wee bro did Strathpuffer with us a few years back. Think he was 13 at the time.

Yeah, I got one purely because I knew it would fit since Brant said so upthread. Think it’s just weirdly photographed, as it doesn’t seem to be much more than 10mm tall. You could probably mix and match, though.

Mine, not quite finished but with a chain flung on so I could start shaking it down. Have messed about with saddle and bar heights a bit and I think I’m going to like it a lot.

Update! I am maybe not stupid, just naïve enough to think that 15mm through axle would be the same as 15mm through axle. My older (as in 2013, maybe?) Kona Explosif 650b front wheel fits between the fork legs, my lovely new Fulcrum one doesn’t. So I’ll sell it on and find a new old 29er front wheel locally, hopefully. And of course my spare SRAM cassette that I have in stock doesn’t fit, because new ‘standards’! I’ll maybe be riding it next year…

I haven’t fitted the caliper yet, and it’s all new kit! Honestly feels like the forks are about 5mm too narrow, but they’re on the receipt as the same axle width as the wheel! I’ll get my vernier out after lunch and check for sure.

P.S. it’s lovely, with the exception of some dodgy paint at the rear caliper mount, but that’s an easy fix and I absolutely cannot complain at the price!

Mine arrived this morning, so I’ve been taking my time building it up. However, I cannot get the front wheel to fit at all. Am I doing something stupid?

At first I thought you meant a treadmill bike and I was horrified. But you didn’t, so that’s good.

Genuinely excited now. I’ve even got a buyer for the remains of my Zaskar now, so it’s working out cheaper, kinda…
Hopefully see it here in NL next week?

Duolingo is genuinely excellent at getting you some of the way to A2 standard, but you have to do it every day, and you need to do other stuff on the side, too. Watching kids’ telly in that language helps, having subtitles on Netflix helps, and if there’s a translation of your favourite book? Yes, that helps as well!

You can do much better than a Zafira. Like walking to the bus stop.

JimW, thanks!

They look weird. But more importantly, what’s the music in the video? Sounds mid 90s but I don’t recognize it.

Been using their Wild Grip R for a while now – bought a couple when they were on offer in Decathlon. Very impressed with them. As said, the transition into corners is perfect and they don’t feel too squirrelly at lower pressures. Even wear sensibly – I’ve probably got 2k out of the rear, and that’s with a lot of tarmac time as well.

Nope. I’ve just this last week bought umpteen different autumn beers and I’ll be making a start on the stouts and porters I’ve been saving soon.

Just done it, thanks Brant! May have ordered some wheels and a stem, and tyres as well. Just to get me going sooner, really…

For £13 I’d be daft not to add that headset to my order. Is that even possible? Don’t fancy buying it separately as it’s a tenner delivery to where I am!

Holland – The Netherlands in general – has already done pretty well out of Brexit. Lots of skilled workers coming in, needing houses and stuff. My town’s an easily commuteable distance from Amsterdam and in the last two years houses were on the market for literal hours. You’ll struggle to rent here. Seeing fewer UK diplomatic plates now, but that’s because those cars are on Dutch plates now.

I used to be insured with Aviva though Stewart Collins, but they wouldn’t reinsure me unless I taxed my van again. Sorry, but no. It’s a camper and it’s SORNed for half the year. I’m insured with The Caravan Club now, even though I’m not a member. They were half the price of Stewart Collins, fine with it being a conversion, fine with me SORNing it for half the year, and I’ve got fully comp cover for the whole of Europe for 364 days a year. 365 next year…

Mine’s numberplates. Specifically the wrong format or typeface for whatever country they’re supposed to be in. Marvel are utterly terrible at this.
Chase, or just travel, scenes that make no sense bug me as well. See Trainspotting 2 or The Hitman’s Bodyguard.

Whichever Airline uses 747s.

I’ve recently got a Samsung S10E and I am really impressed with it. It’s costing me ~500€ over my two year contract, which I guess would put it towards the top end of your budget?

650b

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbmxmuseum.com%2Freference-images%2Fshimano_bl-m600_patri2k_01_lg.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbmxmuseum.com%2Freference%2F3798&docid=a983Km0W0l3ivM&tbnid=238xW9fqYm9eoM%3A&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

These ones. Excellent.

Another +1 on the Avid speed dial levers – my youngest has those on his bike as my eldest was using an old set of early LX V-brake levers at the time, which were also excellent.

Tie a tin of juice to your existing forks and go for a spin.

Have you ever been to Efteling in The Netherlands? That’s genuinely magical, even to a cynical mid-30s bloke like me.

Another one here with some Deore M525 hydros still going strong! Been on a couple of bikes and have never failed me which is one of the reasons I always eventually upgrade to Shimano brakes. Avid and Formula have been shit in comparison.

Ahhh, so a crate of beer and it goes on a purchase order as ‘misc’! ;)