Used car prices are crashing at the moment. CAP reporting 4.2% drop last month, largest fall in 12 years with similar drops forecast for Nov/Dec. I’m also in the market for a car but I’m holding off as the collapse in trade prices hasn’t filtered through to retail pricing yet, so I wouldn’t be rushing to pay too money for a used car. Having said that the lower end of the market is strong due to people not being able to afford the fancier cars they once enjoyed with the higher finance rates, heating and mortgage rates we now have to pay.

I think if you paid in full and signed the contract before seeing it in person then distance selling rules would apply.

If it was subsequently delivered on a transporter or collected in person I don’t see how that changes anything as the ‘sale’ had already occurred.

I’m assuming this is a used vehicle? So the only real loss to the garage is some hassle and another owner on the log book if they take it back.

I’d feel a bit bad if it was a small independent garage, but if it’s one of the big chains I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. They are a business and they will be used to this happening and can offset the loss on the occasional DSR return against the additional revenue and lower overheads of the distance sales.

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/handlebars/comp-corralitos-handlebar

Try these, they have super shallow drop combined with 15mm rise, great bars.

Almost flat bar hand position with the advantages that drop bars give

I was looking into home chargers, but it just occurred to me, do I also need a smart meter to get  the cheap tariffs?

I know the chargers have SIM cards so assume they can be monitored by the electricity supplier but will that work ok with the billing for home non EV use if you have a dumb meter and manually send the readings every month?

No, it’s widely acknowledged, but bear in mind that traditionally people buying new expensive cars often seem to be the kind of people to be impressed by looks over value and function. Not necessarily the case with the EV market 🙂

You might be able to down spec wheels when ordering the higher spec car. I think this can be done with some manufacturers as I’d enquired in the past.

I’ll be buying secondhand, EVs are taking a bit of a bath at the moment and there are some great deals – maybe I could swap with someone who wants a worse ride and less range🤣

One annoyance I’ve noted with EVs is the trend to fit massive 20”+ alloys. Not only do they give a worse ride, more expensive tyres, less pothole resistance more road noise but crucially for an EV they also hurt the range.

I’d have thought they’d be trying to make them as efficient as possible?

If you want the smaller 19” wheels on the Ionic 5 (which are still massive) you have to get the base spec with cloth seats and less options. The 20” wheels on the better spec cars reduce the range from 315 to 295. I saw an article where someone fitted 18” and got another 50 miles range vs the 20s.

I don’t even think the bigger wheels look better and it seems crazy some cars fit expensive air suspension to mitigate the lack of air in the rubber band tyres. Am I the only one that thinks this is daft?

Out of interest is it typical to have to queue or in most cases is there usually a free charger?

dantsw13
Full Member
There isn’t one. Luckily most EV drivers tend to be considerate, but this is becoming more of an issue. Properly planned sites with queuing spaces would be a good start.

Sounds like that could get stressful, especially if there is nowhere to park nearby. Would have thought they could implement something on the charger whereby you input your reg and it puts you in a queue and displays the reg up next?

Just started looking at some EVs, so far the EV6 and Ionic 5.

One thing I wanted to understand is the protocol for queuing for a charger if occupied? With  petrol/diesel there is a clear in/out and you just get in line and wait your turn. From what I’ve seen, the chargers in the services are usually at the front of the car park with nowhere to wait. How does this work in practice especially if there are 3 or 4 people wanting to charge?

FunkyDunc
Free Member
I do like that people are trying to justify its better to hit a child in a saloon car than an SUV.

I would prefer it if people just didnt hit children at all and learned to drive properly rather than make pathetic excuses

Accidents happen, sometimes it’s not the drivers fault. If a kid runs out in front of you, you have a better chance of taking evasive action or stopping in a lighter more nimble car with a lower center of gravity vs a big heavy wallowy SUV. If you do then hit them it will be worse in an SUV for the reasons mentioned.

So how do you explain the fact that pedestrian deaths have dropped nearly 50% between 2004 and 2021despite the massive rise in SUVs and the overall size and weight of cars in general?

dunno, maybe it’s kids get ferried everywhere in SUVs rather than walking nowadays? Either way if there is a drop it’s still independent of the greater deaths from SUVs in that report.

intheborders
Free Member
I also saw a statistic that pedestrians are 8 times more likely to be killed if you are hit by and suv vs a normal car.

And you didn’t question the statement – FFS do some critical thinking.

So a vehicle the same width & weight as another but slightly taller yet it’s 8 times more likely to kill a pedestrian – yeah, that works…

The report seems credible, read it yourself link in the road.cc article

https://road.cc/content/news/suvs-8-times-more-dangerous-kids-walking-or-cycling-295527?amp

As for the higher rate, could be several reasons.

1. Extra size making it harder to judge position. 2. Extra width making passing more difficult
3. Extra weight – more energy transferred to victim
4. Extra weight – worse stopping distance
5. Greater isolation from outside, reducing awareness
6. Sense of entitlement of suv drivers causing dehumanisation of cyclists/ peds
7. Extra height of front area meaning children’s heads are going to be hit here rather than their legs being hit and their heads hitting the softer bonnet designed to absorb energy.
8. Often more gadgets to distract drivers
9. Height causing blind spots lower down where it makes it more difficult to see small children.
10. Safety aspect (for driver) tends to attract more incompetent drivers who may have had multiple previous accidents in the past and decided they need an SUV in case they have more.

Just a few ideas, I’m sure there are more

Yes people should stop buying SUVs, particularly the ones that sells in high volumes, your typical 1.3t 1.0t amd 1.5t small/medium SUVs. Instead they should buy estates but only the 2t RS6 with its huge emissions.

The D4 V90 I had did 55mpg+ on a long motorway runs. I expect you’d struggle to hit 40mpg in the heavier less aero XC90. It’s been discussed to death but for a like for like interior space you’ll be burning more fuel / co2 in a SUV than a similar sized saloon/estate. I also saw a statistic that pedestrians are 8 times more likely to be killed if you are hit by and suv vs a normal car.

For anyone wondering if the human race will step up to the plate and make the necessary sacrifices to defeat global warming this announcement tells you everything you need to know.😬

I bought a gravel bike back in 2021 and didn’t really get on with the bars, so ended up mainly riding my XC bike, though to be fair I think the bike is a touch too big for me.

I recently replaced the stock bars with some Ritchey Corralitos which have transformed the comfort and I’ve not ridden the MTB since. The corralitos have super short reach and drop and also a 15mm rise so your body position ends up more like it would with a flat bar.

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/handlebars/comp-corralitos-handlebar

I’m a bit more risk averse than I was when I was younger, but I’m pretty sure if you took a 100 cyclists and a 100 couch potatoes the level of premature death and disability would be higher in the couch potatoes.

Thanks for the comments.

Not sure about fat bikes or single speeders, don’t think they’d motivate enough to get out.

Curious about the conversion kits. Maybe I could convert my pub bike, looks like they are £280 on amazon.

I suppose it could be a bit risky to get something secondhand out of warranty. A EMTB hardtail would be cheaper and a bit more robust – The Grand Canyon:ON has the Bosch motor and is under 3K, or maybe go full on budget with a £999 rockrider from decathlon.

Regarding damaging the trails, I went out about 3 weeks ago and some of my routes were super muddy, barely rideable. In the last few weeks they’ve really dried out and it seems to be where the bikes have been riding they have smoothed out the horse/footprints, so you could argue it’s improving the trails. -;)

If your local trails turn to mud in winter is it really a great idea to use an ebike to make them passable but probably trash them in the process? A modern smart turbo trainer and Zwift is a much less destructive way to keep fit over the winter.

There is a fair amount of horse riding in my area so they get chewed up anyway and they always seem to smooth out and self heal themselves when it dries out in the summer.

Thanks for the pics. Looks like if you reversed it and also rotated the mounting with the hinge positioned on the leading edge of the bars you could get it lower and out front.

Regarding top tube mounting, I guess you are taking your eyes off the trail more so increasing the chance of crash.

I’m guessing the shape of the drop bar and the brake hood would protect it in a crash if it was mounted out front on the gravel bike, on my mtb I’ll probably use the rubber bands on the bars, think that would be safest in a crash as the rubber bands should allow it to move in an impact rather than break.

Thanks for the replies…

Does anyone use the garmin segments. Couldn’t really see how to set it up. I noticed the edge explore 2 doesn’t support strava live segments, that might be ok if I can create my own segments in garmin. I basically want to track my progress on a ride vs. previous rides on hills, downhills etc. If that isn’t easy to do think I might just go for the 830 instead which supports strava live segments.

I don’t understand why they’d charge £300 for OS maps, when you can get all the OS maps for £25/year using the OSMaps app? I checked out the talkytoaster maps, they are £25 so a bit more reasonable

johnhe
Full Member

Im not sure about the Vertuo, but on the older style Nespresso machines, i found that the best way to improve the taste of your coffee was to do a dummy run first – get everything warmed up and cleared out – before inserting your own pod.

That would also solve the OP’s issue, no?

You can run a cleaning cycle but it takes a while and pumps through 500ml of water, might be able to terminate early though by pressing the button.

Mmm, only used it a few times, but I don’t think I did. Will try and see if that sorts it.

Oh dear, she’s getting a mauling by Beth Rigby.

https://news.sky.com/video/share-12711935

I’ve got some ACS custom pro17 for playing in a band. You can get the impressions taken in boots. Expensive at £150 but better than tinnitus and hearing loss.

RustySpanner
Full Member
Cheers all.

No one locally has the Rumble 100 in stock but I’ll have a drive up to Morecambe anyway, see what they recommend.

Honestly if your end goal is to play some gigs I’d be looking at a rumble 500 as a minimum. When you are sandwiched between a drummer and a guitarist with a 4×12 you won’t be able to hear yourself with just a rumble 100, especially in a rock/punk band, you might get away with it in a jazz band. I have gigged a lot with a GK mb212ii which I really recommend, it has a great tone that really cuts through. I used to have a rumble 500 but prefer the GK which is a bit more powerful and has a more modern tone, while the rumble is more vintage, less hi-fi. They don’t make the mb212 anymore, replacement is a legacy212 combo which is £799 (on offer at the moment). Think the rumble is a bit cheaper. I’d also suggest you get better flexibility with a separate head and cab, though a combo can work out a little cheaper.

Ideally I’d like something light but flexible;
Effects loop.
DI out if possible.
Nice clean tones (I have a pedal board I can use for distorted sounds).
Simple – modellers with hundreds of built in amp sims and effects confuse me.

The Fender Rumble 100 looks like it might fit the bill.
I’d happily take the Rumble 40 if it was loud enough.
I love Orange guitar amps so happy to try a Crush 50 or 100.
Ashdown? Ampeg?

I’m also very open to the idea of something like a Trace Elliot Elf head and adding a nice (Barefaced!) cab later.

All suggestions welcome.

Rumble 40/100 etc., won’t be enough if you want to play in a band. What’s your budget and would you consider used?

So you think allowing the economy to collapse is a price worth paying to protect the principle of free markets? Do you even have any idea what economic collapse means? You will suffer unimaginably if it happens, why do you want it to happen? I presume you’ve stocked up on tinned food and bottled water?

No, of course not. You have misunderstood what I’m saying.

I’m against us borrowing billions to put directly into the energy companies pockets.

Ultimately we need to use less energy this winter because the supply isn’t there and no amount of subsidy is going to change that, a rousing call to arms from Truss (never going to happen)for us all to turn the heating down a few degrees and see how long we can go before putting the heating on would be a start, this would bring the price of gas down which in turn would hurt Putin and hampen his war effort. Longer term we need to invest more in renewables and provide grants to improve the insulation in our homes.

Also I don’t see a problem in having some level of subsidy but this should be taken from the energy company profits. It’s not actually hurting them at all. The cost of gas/oil production has not suddenly gone up, so they’d still be making bumper profits if it was capped at its current rate, all it does is stop them making extra profits from Putins war.

I think this taxpayer funded price cap is an incredibly dumb decision.

The price of gas/oil and any commodity is set by the supply and demand balance.

We have less gas than less winter because of Putins antics, so the price will keep rising until demand drops to match the new lower output. Basically we have to suck it up, turn the heating down and wear more layers until we can build up alternative renewable energy sources.

If Truss is subsidising our energy bills (running up debts for our children to pay off), then the natural feedback mechanism is broken and people will still be wearing shorts and T-shirts in the winter with the heating set on 25degC – the price will keep rising funnelling more cash to the energy companies and putting U.K. PLC in deeper debt. The only winners will be the energy companies.

I’ve worked out why it wasn’t working…

There is a menu “always allowed” and basically all his apps were ticked. Not sure if that is the default or if he’d managed to change that himself, anyhow I’ve removed the apps and it appears to work now. Parent 1, kid 0 (for the time being🤣). Hope that helps anyone else having the same issue.

You need to add him as a family member and then you need to set it to “Block” when the limit is reached for both Screentime and App Limits. Once you do that if he wants more time he will get the option to extend for 1 minute or send a request to you to allow more time. The request will appear on your phone.

Unless he knows the PIN in which case all bets are off…

That’s what I did, but it still doesn’t work. I’ve also changed the pin a few times, but it’s only 4 digits so maybe he just keeps guessing. If I was cynical I’d say Apple have made it a bit crap so kids can bypass it so they stay addicted to their phones.

Take it off him once you’ve been notified of the limit being reached.

That’s what I’ve been doing but I’d rather it was done automatically as he is always pissed off with me when I take it off him.

OP – bet you never watch shite on your phone. Don’t be too hard on him!

Yes, but not to the extent he does and not at all at his age.

Turn the WiFi off?
.
This is likely to be more effective if he pays his own telephone bill or you live in an area with a rubbish signal

Did that on the router but he just burns through his mobile data allowance instead that we pay for.

Like the looks of the GR86 but too impractical for mtb duties

Rear seats fold down, so you should be able to squeeze one in with wheels off. I guess I’ll find out in August when mine arrives😀

Constantly crashes on my iPhone11 and iPad. It’s been so bad recently I’ve been using pistonheads more and more which is rock solid by comparison. I prefer it here so hope it gets fixed soon, but not worth the bother when it crashes every few minutes.

I can’t decide is Russia are just really inept at logistics and just can’t get the smart bombs to the aircraft or whether the reality is they are skint and there’s actually only half a dozen advanced munitions in Russia and they don’t want to use them. I can understand the ground forces being limited if they can’t get stuff to the frontline, but obviously the aircraft are flying out of Russia airstrips. The other worrying possibility is they just don’t GAF and why waste the fancy stuff when they can just chuck the old unaccurate stuff on buildings/civilians etc. but you’re right on that one – doesn’t take too may downed Sukois to make that look like a bad decision.

My best guess is they are saving the decent weapons/bombs for when we(NATO) get involved

https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/world/story/are-ukraines-vast-natural-resources-a-real-reason-behind-russias-invasion-323894-2022-02-25

I am no economist or military expert or nuanced politician, but what will Putin achieve with this war now.

If in another month the Russian Army has destroyed everything and occupied the whole of Ukraine, what will be left

Quite a lot actually.

The largest natural gas reserves in Europe, after Russia. These are currently pretty much untapped, ironically the Ukraine could be the solution for removing our reliance on Russian gas, which makes we wonder if this is the reason Putin is so keen to get his grubby hands on the Ukraine.

On top of that they have a massive amount of precious metals including huge lithium fields that will become increasingly important for EV production. They are also one of the worlds top produces of wheat and corn.

Cars have got much bigger over the last 30 years, unfortunately the streets haven’t. The main road through my village has parked cars most of the way along and while two smaller cars can pass, two SUVs certainly can’t, this regularly escalated into road rage, people mounting the pavement etc., and generally makes it a less pleasant place to live.

It would be good to have a rapidly escalating tax once cars got over a certain width, with this tax given back to owners of smaller cars. That way they are paying something back to all the people they inconvenience.

I’ve considered it, but how can you tell if a car smells of dogs/fags etc. Plus it’s difficult to spot resprayed panels even on high def pics.

Also isn’t cazoo owned by the daily mail?

I’ve no idea how you go about finding people but if you get the chance do it, it’s so fun and playing with other people will improve your skills!

Check out join my band, have joined a few bands advertised on here. Good range of abilities and ages.
https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/