Swiss Army Knife – Huntsman. Only got one a couple of years ago after becoming a parent, and now it is literally attached to me every day. I absolutely don’t know how I survived most of my adulthood thus far without it. So useful. And if you think you won’t use one, you’re wrong- you will.

older bike will be increasingly limited for upgrade potential vs new. i still ride a 26″ bike and have found that so over recent years. I recon there would be significant ride characteristic differences too which you may find a limiting factor depending on your experience. Personally if it was me, i would choose new and then you have many years of happy upgrading as and when you feel its needed- part of the fun!

“The EU will never reciprocate, but great news for smugglers on the continent.. “what was in those 8 containers you shipped last month?”

“err… bog roll mate, honest”.

#takeback control.”

listen, if that means more affordable drugs, weapons and contraband on our British streets then I for one am all for that. Finally some good news.

Nope and DNA testing is a back door to data harvesting as has already been shown. The NHS are to offer this soon as a voluntary-for cash- service. Not good. Also they’ve been shown to be a load of crap with wildly varying results for a single specimen sent to different firms. Pissing your money away.

OP, i did this very thing this week. collected new S/H car on Monday night. The weekend before, the dealer had a look around our old car for about 3 minutes and offered us a really fair price we could work with. Car has electrical problems (that weren’t disclosed), high milage and a stoved in door and sills, and only one key (wasnt bought with two) – no questions asked and i naturally kept quiet about known mechanical issues. All sorted. Nothing to worry about id say.

in my limited experience with car purchases -there is no place for morals if going via a dealer on the second hand market. Honest up to a point, as others allude to above. They all work to high volume low margin as i understand it, so I’d only have a sweat on if it was a private sale- not something id ever consider anyway so…

Questions:

What would a Scottish passport look like?

Also, Basque Gingers + Support are playing tonight at the Horny Sheppard. £3/4con on the door 8pm. See you there. I’ll be down the front. Tapps aff.

^true

Anyone fancy a pint?

“One of my neighbours is a Romanian. I haven’t seen any mobs with pitchforks outside her house.”

Presumably they’re all inside the house. They can be a little like that Romanians.

As a remain voting Scot no less I moved down from the ‘motherland’ to NW England in 2012 to be with my partner who as it happens is French. For what it’s worth, my area voted strongly to leave but the people here are and always have been warm, very welcoming and brilliant to me and my wife. We now have children here and have no plans to move. Make of that what you will.

stoked to see Thin Lizzy’s L&D getting a shout several times. Absolutely stonking. Also of note is their ’75 Live in Derby concert – For Those Who love to Live is on another planet.

Re Queen, Their Montreal 1981 show is peerless- yes, better than their post Live Aid Wembley 1986 reprise which frankly was too long (Big Spender and rock and roll medley ffs) and I say that as an enormous Queen Fan.. Tie Your Mother Down is always breathtaking.

Whole lot of Rosie on If You Want Blood You Got it…
Phil Collins has a million outstanding live efforts too that match or better his studio work. His live Aid set actually is particularly impressive and moving.

right. I was aware of the catastrophe on here regarding Her/them when they crashed (metaphorically) into one of the forums ages ago. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t a glowing picture that painted.

put the bong down mate.

“the wife”

“You see you went wrong buying a Peugeot”

only a matter of time before that appeared heh! Heard it all before to that end ( my wife is even French- i’ll never learn…). FWIW, the car before that was also French coincidentally, not a single problem. Before the timing belt issue, this car has been no better or worse than any other I’ve known..but now its an issue.

Anyway, yes sums still very much to do but thank you for some of the tips re leasing. Something to look at maybe.

What is generally considered Low mileage anyway in 2019 for a second hand vehicle? is there such a thing really or is it too nuanced? is that even the be all and end all? Are references to Lings a meme or genuine… I don’t know anymore.. btw, The Peugot was 31k miles when we bought it in 2015 at around 5 grand. I thought at the time that was low mileage for a 4 year old car.

We haven’t considered lease options. I don’t know anything about it when it comes to cars. The other thread about it has been interesting but i have a headache now reading it lol. Neither of us are particularly bothered about having the newest car on the estate, but not sure of any benefits to us going that route… hmmm.

I should add quickly: Ethically, neither I or my wife looking to fleece anyone, we REALLY don’t want the grief any more than this car has already given us- so declaring the issues wont be a problem. We are factoring low valuation into this. We just want shot of it at this point.

Jacob Rees Mogg probably.

the Angel Care pad and monitor model has been brilliant for us (non cam model- felt it was unnecessary, tho i believe theirs’s is v good), on the second child and no issues at all. It’s even survived a few overseas trips in luggage. Durable and reliable, would absolutely recommend to a new parent. The peace of mind was really good for us.

do Gillette still mail razors to teens like the did to me back in the day? and if they do do they mail shot girls and boys? Always thought their product was good FWIW, but stopped shaving in my early 20’s as i prefer that look and coincidentally look like a pea when clean shaven.

shark week should be fun

Guinness, before and preferably during.

I love cleaning my bike. There seems to be alot of pride taken in treating your rides like garbage here to me, something i’ll never understand. Wasn’t brought up like that i suppose! I bet almost all of you are riding a MUCH more expensive bike than mine too, so I’m not sure why the ‘life is too short’ mantra really is the driver. I like the reassurance of knowing the bike is in the best condition it can be – granted i probably should be more care free but still its a weird badge of honour. Seems to be cool to ride it into the ground and pull it out of the garage/shed covered in crap. Its been like that as long as i have been riding too!

I will say though, that there is a relationship between how long you spend cleaning when you don’t ride much (two small children..)!

yo, i have one! I’m in Lancaster if you’re keen. a child’s bike came in it from Decathlon, but they shipped it in an adult box for some reason..

Didn’t know about Sender too! That’s ****.

It would appear so. At the tail end of last year, their then editor James Smurthwaite became an editor on Pinkbike. He actually responded to a similar sentiment that I posted the other day on PB, where I was agreeing the demise of the mag was really sad. He stated that in spite of their best efforts, decisions above him and his team made it impossible to continue. He signed off by saying “I hope someone buys the name and keeps it going, maybe if i win the lottery..”
Steve Jones famously made the move to start EMBN on youtube, last year somewhat controversially for some.

I’m speculating, but the site traffic clearly wasn’t doing the numbers for the publishing house (Factory?) following the demise of the print as we know. Its a shame, James is a talent and his content over the WC season last year on youtube as a ‘roving reporter’ was pretty interesting. Snuffed out by a dispassionate business it seems.

Given the resurgence of publications like Sender and Shredder MTB Zine, its so crap that the daddy of them all couldn’t be sustained. It’s heartening to see the DNA of the mag living on though.

Great, thanks for the tips there guys. I’ll have to revisit the balance bike idea i think! I should have mentioned budget, probably £50-£100 new if I’m looking at anything other than second hand. Money a little tighter than a tight thing with a second child (girl again) who arrived in the Spring.

ps PJay- my child in question is a girl ;) However that tip of removing the cranks is a great one, ill bear that in mind as an option.

UPDATE:

took the plunge on a Huawei P20pro on a decent deal for me. Android has taken a week to get to a point where it feels like a ‘normal’ phone again and is great to use, a very quick device too. Some oddities with apps but its all good at the mo. The camera btw is phenomenal. The reviews are not kidding with this device. Blows any ios device out of the water that I’ve seen on that front- including the iphoneX. Real happy so far, battery is also incredible, a welcome relief from the nervy battery on the 6sPlus. PM me if anyone out there happens to be interested in this particular phone- its v cool and i can answer some questions hopefully.

 Still no course rides from Claudio?

He/redbull sacked it off after his bleed on the brain. Sensible decision. FWIW someone like Gee did a more than admirable job there- seeing the course at pace (recovering from a broken hand too) was excellent. Personally, I’m getting sick of Claudio and the fanboy circus around him- I don’t rate him particularly as a commentator either, he always seems a little flat, and would like to see him move on- they need some fresh blood in the commentary booth with Mr Warner. The previews were generally entertaining of course but alot seem to get VERY excited about him, which I’ve never understood. hey ho. Just my two pence!

Roll on MSA.

ps, Gwin not racing but currently on a 29″ tues.. Source: his IG account.

Love it when people chime on on threads saying they don’t care about something and advise us to move on. Yet they care so little they have to comment anyway.

I don’t care that you don’t care but I thought I’d mention it all the same.

so true, idiots. If you haven’t got anything useful to say…

anyway, regardless, thanks for the feedback to the above query so far.

Interesting. Seems a few here are bemoaning updates on REALLY inexpensive older android devices, which is not the area I’m looking at. I’m keen to hear what it’s like for for those at the sharper end of android devices. The phone I’m interested is currently competing with the S9 and the IPhoneX by way of explanation.

Thanks for the input peeps. Sounds alot like a lottery, and strangely familiar to my time on WinPhone7/8.1… relying on manufacturers and the whim of a carrier. Sadly there isn’t an Android One phone that has caught my eye, aside from the Nokia 7 Plus which a family member rates- but im swung by the more powerful features on the Huawei P20Pro which seems to be getting plaudits. Going for a Pixel will cost me as much as an iphone, same for something like the handset outright model of the OnePlus6 etc.

Do google release OS updates on a similar annual schedule to Apple?

Can I just ask… has anyone ever actually seen a woman wearing a full burka in the UK?

I know I haven’t. And I live in the North West of England and spend plenty of time towns like Blackburn, Rochdale and Burnley, where a huge percentage of the population is Muslim. A small percentage of Muslim women wear a veil, but I really can’t see why it generates the amount of fuss that it does.

It’s wholly disproportionate but seems like a touchstone for people like Johnson to stir things up amongst their target (racist) audience

Thats quite surprising Binners, citing the towns you mention. I’m also in the NW of England and see them fairly regularly. I think the fuss or debate about its use in the UK is two fold- its symbolism surrounding the oppression of women, and also the question of integration. Both things that are at odds with our supposed ‘values’. I find my self conflicted about it, I’d defend the right of any minority community to use a ceremonial or religious dress, but struggle with the oppression angle that makes me uneasy. I haven’t resolved that issue yet personally. I don’t pretend to have a full knowledge of this issue o f course but that’s been my takeaway from it.

Are you living in the 1970s? Wake up and look around you.

*sees racist old people everywhere

We should be a lot more concerned about what lying, mendacious scumbags like Boris are up to while they’re busy lobbing distractions into the mix

nailed it.

btw @binners what you doing here anyway? as a massive racist yourself, I find your hypocrisy quite alarming.

(that was a joke)

Thank you for the varied answers and confessions there. Someone asked how long my hair is, its long, down to mid chest, but typically tied up in a knot or ‘man bun’ if you prefer using terms like that. Never a ponytail. I have a beard too. See also: Jesus Of Nazareth etc. He never lived long enough to go grey did he? He had some stresses though tbf. Probably had a few.

For the record, personally not overly bothered, but it certainly for me has become the first tangible sign of getting older.

one of my wife’s bullshit TV shows is only on Sky

the crux of the matter. that is a shit situation though, we’ve only so far had an incremental increase,  but certainly ready to negotiate if and when the time comes.

Dat can of worms…  I think you might be on to something though personally.

FWIW I have- and still run- a set of Mono M4’s purchaced 2003 ish (possibly before- if not at the point they came out, not sure when they were released)- I recently sent the rear one off to Hope for a service and three days later I had a brake that is IDENTICAL in function to the the new E4 on the front of the bike. Genuinely worth considering doing imo.

to me… to eulogy.