This goes for all technology and ‘stuff’, just look at phones. Decades ago we thought we were at peak tech in your pocket. Clearly not.

I can’t find the article now but apparently Apple and all the rest are finding it harder to get people to part with their cash for new models as differences to the previous ones are now very small. So while I take your point about not knowing what the next big thing is, I think it’s also true that you can reach a point where there’s little room to do anything really novel.

I’ve got some gloves and a jacket and very happy with them. As above reasonable prices too

I can also relate to a lot of this. As others have said though it’s hard to say to what extent things like lockdowns and Brexit have played a part and how much might just be middle aged ennui. But I do feel like I’ve slipped down from where I’d like to be in a few areas.

Are the Eurosport highlights worth watching? I never feel they choose any highlights, just leap in towards the end of the race when a lot of the racing has already happened.

I’ve only watched a few, for Paris – Nice and Tirreno Adriatico, and they have been a bit like that. Not sure they are the same ones that would have been available on GCN+.

One annoying thing though is that the on demand highlights on Discovery + have ads in, which they didn’t on GCN +.

If thats the case for the Grand Tour highlights that’s a real downgrade for me, as that’s how I mainly watch them

EDIT that’s on the £6.99 package, perhaps you don’t get ads on the £30 one?

I’m not sure if poor Internet would be a total deal breaker for buying a house, but it would definitely be a big black mark against it.

I’ve got an Exped one that I like, partly because it’s a bit wider and squarer than my old Alpkit one – I tend to sleep in something like the recovery position, so it helps get closer to that. I got a quilt largely for the same reason.

but find the new models very noisy

This is definitely true – MrsSalmon hates it!

Not in the same league as some above, but probably a Patagonia Fjord insulated overshirt*, a Castelli Perfettto ROS, and some old Howies jeans I’ve just had repaired after a couple of years out of circulation.

*I’ve got a couple of regular Fjord flannel shirts, which I got a couple of years ago to replace two more that wore out after about twenty years. I’d always fancied one of the insulated ones and finally treated myself when they were reduced in the new year. Getting nice clothes just because I like them is rare for me!

Mostly The Guardian for me

I know you said 100% merino, but Montane Primino is worth a look.

Uninstalling Twitter on my phone. That’s the only social media I had on there and I was increasingly finding myself wondering what I was getting out of it apart from getting frequently wound up by awful takes on things and general a$$hattery.

Quality of life is the aim IMO, but implicit in that for most people is that you have a certain amount of money, right now and when you retire. I guess the trick is in the balance.

There are probably plenty of people on here who earn a lot more money than most people in the country without necessarily working any harder in their 40 hours a week, and who will probably be in a better physical and financial state come retirement age than those people. I reckon you could make a pretty good case that quality of life is improved with some money.

Also following this, ta!

On the sleeper train, where will your bike be? In the compartment with you?

Sonder Prima? £849

Prima Al Frame And Fork (alpkit.com)

Just my card in my back pocket and my phone. I’d be a bit nervous with just my phone I think.

For a while I had a £20 note I’d take with me if I was going out on my bike, but I think I gave it to MrsSalmon ages ago. I’d probably get a bit of cash out if I was going somewhere a bit more back of beyond for any length of time, but I basically never carry any now.

I bought a new saddle. Back in the day I could happily get on any saddle and ride but these days my backside seems to be very fussy, so another one for the collection.

I moved from Plusnet to O2 and while I got a good Black Friday deal the coverage is noticeably worse than I had on Plusnet/EE. I’m in the West Midlands and I’m surprised how often I don’t have any signal. Same for motorway travel.

Big element of this I reckon

who really knows tbh?

In true Singletrack tradition though, I use Orange Seal Endurance. The LBS closest to me sells it, it has stopped a few punctures for me, and it lasts a while (sometimes – there seems to be a surprising amount of variation to that). Haven’t had a reason to try anything else, especially as it’s (supposedly) better to top up with more of the same rather than mix.

As far as I’m aware, that’s only to Brussels, not Paris, and that’s what it says on Seat61 too?

Yeah, I didn’t read it properly!

Putting it in a bike bag in Paris does seem like the best option at the moment.

Interesting, thanks @Kramer. According to Seat 61 you can indeed take fully assembled bikes on Eurostar, but there are very few spaces.

I really enjoy it, because it’s a bit of an adventure, it’s much nicer than travelling by train, and it means that the days spent travelling feel like part of the holiday.

I assume you meant ‘plane’ here, but yeah, I’m already on board with this. I haven’t flown for several years now, and I’ve taken my bike around the UK on the train lots of times, and spent a fair bit of time on trains in Europe. Best way to travel IME. That said though, there’s a limit to the amount of faff and struggling with awkward luggage on busy trains that I want to sign up for.

EDIT the trip that @greyspoke describes is the kind of thing that puts me off TBH.

Anyone done this more recently? I’m thinking more road than MTB but don’t suppose that makes much difference. I looked into it a few years ago and had reluctantly come to the conclusion that it probably didn’t make a lot of sense, but then Covid happened and made it all moot.

Also the Pyrenees would be an option, but I doubt that changes the equation much.

I’m watching it, and I’m enjoying it, but there’s some shocking acting going on, and in S2 I think he’s… too big?

I mean I’ve read loads of the books, and he’s a big guy, blah blah, but I never thought of him as a pumped body builder. And he spends too much time in S2 looking like things are getting to him. I think he was a better Reacher in S1.

I have had a couple of jackets just ‘give up’ within a couple of years – the Pertex Shield Rab just basically gave up wherever there was contact (rucksack straps and back) and the Mountain Equipment Zeno (Drilite) did about 18 months and no attempts at re-proofing worked. We also had a Haglofs Proof jacket that just stopped after a year – I am not sure of the model.

It does make me wonder a) what will manufacturers change to make things work again? b) what about Paramo – anyone noticed a drop off in performance? c) will things like Paramo and Columbia Outdry come to the fore?

I’ve had a few ‘proper’ waterproof jackets and have done the Nikwax dance many times. IME they never get close to their original performance once the original DWR wears off.  I’m happy that my 7 year old Montane eVent jacket doesn’t actually leak, but it doesn’t really do a great job of keeping me dry for a wet few hours on the hill either. Every year I say I’ll try Paramo but haven’t pulled the trigger yet!

Anyway, agree that in the OP’s case it sounds like it’s just defective.

If you don’t count Zwift I’ve done very little this December. In fact it’s been a pretty poor year generally for riding – weather, illness, injury, and a couple of annoying mechanical problems. I think I only wore my summer jersey a handful of times.

Mavic Allroad SLs? Very happy with mine, but I do have another set of wheels for ‘proper’ gravel. Dunno about weight limits though.

Haven’t watched it for ages, but usually a few. If I got 5 or 6 that would be a really good score, and I don’t think I’ve ever got double figures!

Can’t bear a creaky bike. I’d go so far as to say it affects my feeling of how well me and my bike are working together.

Now I’ve typed it I see how pretentious that sounds, but it does!

With  Centrelock I can swap my rotors onto my second pair of wheels on my Camino in a minute or two. If I had 6 bolt I doubt I’d bother doing that very often. Also as someone else mentioned no small screws to get full of crap and potentially round out.

Another one leaving Plusnet, and another one going for that O2 40GB/£8 deal.

Nearly went with Talkmobile but the roaming turned out to be a bit limited – I think I’d have been over it on a trip earlier this year

+ 1

I’ve got an Elite Zumo which, at the time, was the cheapest direct drive turbo available. It’s fine. I’m sure if you’re a serious Zwift racer or trainer then it has it’s limitations, but for ‘mileage on crappy days’ it’s, like I say, absolutely fine.

I’ve been using my Tailfin Aeropack for taking my laptop and a change of clothes into work and while it does work it’s not that great. I’ve got a 13″ laptop and it goes in flat but not very well so it doesn’t make great use of the space. Before Covid WFH when I was going in every day I used a pannier which was much better for that.

EDIT The Tailfin is a really nice piece of kit and works exactly as advertised, it’s just that it’s not great for commuting with a laptop IMO, but then that’s not what it’s made for.

Bontrager Air Support works for me – actually capable of getting a road tyre up to pressure without making your arms drop off. It’s not as mini as some out there though – a bit too long for a jersey pocket I’d say unless you have very deep ones.

I don’t think you should ban these foods it’s a choice.

We need to help people make healthy choices and teach them how to cook.

I agree in principle but I think expecting individuals to go against the flow of the society/system they are part of is generally doomed to failure. There’ll be exceptions for sure, but most people are products of the environment they live in and the deck is pretty heavily stacked the wrong way. Biggest factor by a long way I reckon is the ready availability of cheap, tasty highly processed foods.

One way to do that would be use the tax raised on sugary/high processed foods to subsidise healthy foods.

Yeah, there definitely need to be some sort of interventions like this at the state level I reckon.

The song is… alright? But the first time I heard it was watching the video, and I don’t know what they were thinking with that. Just seemed cynical and a bit exploitative, and it made me wonder what the point of the whole thing was. Especially as apparently Harrison really didn’t rate the song first time round.

I did happen to watch that last night, not much new (for me) on the stuff about how breathability fails when it’s soaked, but I didn’t know a lot of the stuff about how Gore operates as a business.

I always think it’s a tricky one because lots of things are true at the same time. Is my eVen’t jacket breathable? Yes, way head of my old XCR and even further ahead of a non-breathable waterproof. Is it waterproof? Yes – despite what some people are saying above I’m happy that water does not ever make its way through the fabric from the outside, and I’m never going to encounter any conditions where that could happen. 

Am I lovely and dry after a few hours walking up hills in the rain? No, I’m not – probably not when it’s brand new, and definitely not when it’s a few years old and it’s been Nikwaxed or whatever a few times.  So I guess in that respect you could argue it doesn’t work, but I still can’t take it seriously when someone says you might as well just wear a bin bag.

I really like Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow. I also thought the first Jack Reacher film was pretty good, despite the obvious issues with him as Reacher. And I think the last few Mission Impossible films have been better than last few Bonds (haven’t seen the most recent one though)

But there aren’t many that aren’t pretty watchable – he’s had a few stinkers for sure but he’s got a pretty good record on the whole

I’ve got a Perfetto ROS and really like it for the riding I do, I always wear a Lifa baselayer and that’s good for me for a pretty wide range of temperatures. If it’s really cold* I add a merino mix T shirt underneath. It’s the poshest bit of kit I own and even though it was pretty spendy I’ve been really happy with it. Sizing is mad though – I’ve got an XXL but I’m M or L in everything else!

*I’m in the West Midlands and I don’t usually venture out if it’s much below 4 or 5 degrees.

We have a peanut feeder and a seed feeder. The peanuts used to get emptied about three or four times quicker than the seeds when we were using some seed mix we got from Sainsbury’s. Now we’ve switched to sunflower hearts it’s the other way round – woodpeckers are still on the peanuts but everything else ignores them until that’s all that’s left!

I got a bit of metal long enough to be sticking out of both sides of a Conti Gator Hardshell and also catch on my mudguard stays and destroy my back mudguard once. Mudguard and tyre in the bin, but I was kind of glad for the opportunity to get rid of the tyre – didn’t like it at all in even slightly damp conditions

I’m on Orange Seal Endurance, and a large part of why is that that’s what the closest LBS to me has on the shelf and I always seem to have to pop out and get some when I’m messing with my tyres. It seems to last a good while though and it’s pretty consistently highly rated so no compelling reason to seek out something different just for the sake of it.