FWIW if it’s a pension then you’re covered to any amount. If it’s a SIPP you’re limited to £85k. You SIPPers did know that, yeah? Or are you now scrabbling to limit your exposure

It doesn’t really apply in practice though. SIPP providers don’t own your shares so if they go bust the creditors can’t be paid with your assets, the shares are safe. Same goes for cash, it should be held by another bank or trust, although if you have over £85k in cash in your SIPP you probably should get some financial advice :)

i’m thinking that the 25% will get rid of the mortgage as well as a new vehicle and a year or two of racing.

Once the mortgage is gone i’m in a massively better position financially especially as i’ll still be workin

Well worth doing some research and getting some advice. The James Shack videos are good for this with often quite specific examples. I strongly suspect it would be a bad idea to take money to pay off the mortgage especially if you are still working. Your pension should be making more money than your mortgage is costing and you may limit what you can pay into the pension in the future and miss out on employer contributions and other tax benefits. Certainly don’t trust me though, and do some investigation :)

All stuff that relatively speaking I have no time or expertise to deal with

Its certainly daunting to start with but getting a handle on the basics will really help. A bit of reading a some youtube videos. It can all be done on a phone sat on the bog if you really are that time poor. Its well worth making the time, seems crazy to spend most waking hours working, travelling to work or thinking about work when some good financial planning might mean retiring 5 or 10 years earlier.

This isn’t a diss at you btw, loads of people ignore it. I took zero interest in it my younger days. Annoyingly it was when I was employed and had someone else who could’ve ben chipping in. It only since I went self employed that I’ve taken proper control and done some decent financial planning. Hopefully enough for early retirement.

needing a £ coin to use a shopping trolley

I dont use cash

If it is a slot type then a Yale type door key works. Just don’t forget to take it out! If it is the draw type then you need a coin or token. Just leave one in the car glove box

Cheap tools aren’t always a false economy imo. They help you to know what tools you actually need or want. Sometimes they work fine so you’re saving money, sometimes they don’t but by then you know it’s worth spending the extra.

I recon any mangled chain I could mangle enough to get the bad link out (ie snap the broken link) and get the quicklink in if I absolutely had to

No chance. Quicklinks are pretty pointless if you don’t carry a chain breaker.

I suspect that connector will be fine but it looks a bit weedy to me. I’d go for one used on gardening tools if you have room eg https://www.wickes.co.uk/Masterplug-10A-3-Pin-Rewireable-Non-Reversible-Connector-Block—Black/p/162051

Its one of those tools where nothing else will do. Lots of incidents will have many solutions but if you want to fix a broken chain you need a chain tool. Probably used mine a handful of times in anger but glad to have it. On a multitool it adds very little weight. That said last time I broke a chain I was on the way home and near the top of a hill so went chainless and freewheeled or scooted.

I think sane people stay clear of the comments altogether. They certainly go crazy whenever the article mentions a bicycle. This is all news media comments as far as I can tell, not exclusively a Guardian issue

We have both. I’d say induction is better in every way apart from cooking. Does make for a tricky comparison but as cooking is the important bit then gas wins.

Sometimes taking the old tyre off disturbs the tape. If you’ve got the tyre off and it is still fine then I’d crack on.

Double digits is a good sign. One or two usually means someone has the same thing and wants to know what it will sell for. Once you go over 10 there will be a few serious buyers in there. 31 sounds good and it should go for what it’s worth. I wouldn’t get too hopeful about a bidding war and a crazy final price though

Any particular cheap knock off brands to look for?

Katsu seems ok, the routers are supposed to be nice but I’ve not tried one. I’ve had a couple of drillpro saws that have been good for little money.

I had no idea motorists also moaned about that.

Some do it without even realising.

Are all Makita batteries the same or does this apply to a particular range?

It applies to the 18v LXT range. They have a couple of other ranges eg CXT, which is a DIY range and 36v for bigger tools. LXT is the universal pro range that has a huge range of tools and works for cheap knock off tools as well

Would handguards work for that?

Has anybody managed to simply plug the existing hoses and olives into the new brakes when stopping left to right?

Does anyone do something else?

Shimano olives are the same but they have two different sized pins depending on the hose. Usually one is gold and one silver. Other brands are different but may work.

Magura olives have a squared centre bulge, not tapered like Shimano. Tektro olives are not symmetrical and have a shoulder on one side.

does her policy allow her to drive other vehicles with the owners permission? It used to be a standard clause but is less common these days. Might be third party cover only though, how careful is she?

Do you mean a smart watch? The smart part is pretty much designed to work with a phone. Sounds like you want a fitness watch.

Wife has a Garmin 45s. Bought second hand but pretty much as new, quite cheaply. Does steps as well as tracking and other fitness things. Nice and compact so should suit a child.

Nothing particularly special but it’s worth getting a narrow – wide (NW) as the chain stays on better especially once you remove the front mech. Also you may need shorter chain ring bolts but some 1x chain rings have a sort of built in spacer so you can use normal bolts

There is some decent Makita compatible stuff out there for very little money. Definitely not Makita quality but one of the big issues with cheap tools is cheap batteries so if you use your decent Makita ones then they are ok.

It’s a shame that people equate plants growing with tatty. Always makes me a bit sad when people mow roadside verges to neat lawns. What is the point of that? We’ve recently been working on a project in Ireland. There is a strong tradition of keeping your property neat. Anybody not mowing the lawn and keeping hedges manicured will get grief from the neighbours. We’ve been encouraging kids to nag parents and grandparents into keeping an area wild. You need a “area kept wild to help wildlife” sign to keep the neighbours at bay.

Litter on the other hand is a menace to all. No excuse for that. Just been out and it’s bin day, bin contents everywhere. I wouldn’t say I do my bit but do have a couple of areas locally that I try to tidy. Little and often as any rubbish just attracts more.

Aiui the capacity is how much chain slack it can take up, the max sprocket is to do with actually being able to shift.

I know some of the older long cage Shimano mechs can happily handle the chain slack but struggle to change up on a big cassette. I’d think all 11 speed mechs should be ok as that was when 1x took over

No. It’s known as pension recycling and there are rules against it.

That 25% tax free sum might be nice but there are lots of good reasons to not to take it so its worth doing some research and maybe getting some advice

Slightly against the normal recommendations but do you actually want it all in a pension? A lot can happen between now and your retirement. Changed to tax rules, retirement age, personal circumstances, etc. While not quite so tax efficient I think it’s still worth having some more accessible savings. Put some in a stocks and shares ISA and you can still save it until retirement or access it earlier for emergencies, buying a house, retiring early. If you already have this then crack on with the pension.

Mine was like that. It was sort of held in place with friction and grease but would often move. I just centred it with my finger before fitting and it would usually stay there long enough to get the axle in.

I see they are up to £4 now.

Mine arrived this morning. Made 6/23, use by 6/24 so a just out of date but fine for a little while yet.

NyA has a wide range of visitors. There are walking, running and horse riding trails too as well as the very popular red kite feeding. Not just mountain bikers. It’s quite a nice visitor centre and there isn’t much else nearby so it should be possible to make some money there. Shame to lose it.

Interestingly the FoD visitor centre is always busy. Car park full and all cafe table occupied. I’d say its not as nice a visitor centre but maybe has better facilities. Is it more down to location, not quite so middle of nowhere?

Description says “BEST BEFORE DATE SURPASSED QA CHECK: PASS”, whatever that means and zooming in on the picture It looks like it says 2022 and 2023 on it. I’m sure it’s fine for use immediately but silicone doesn’t last forever so I’d be wary or buying some to stick on the shelf and use one day. For a quid it’s a worth a go though 

You can get all sorts of things to pump up an air bed,  A stand alone usb rechargeable unit, a 12v pump that runs from the lighter socket, a mini compressor that’ll work with tool batteries eg Ryobi. Inverter seems like an unnecessary step.

Jeanjean’s run was the best for me as pure entertainment but I guess it wasn’t that clean so gets marked down at this level. Some fantastic riding under huge pressure all round.

IR will require an IR blaster on the handset. I haven’t seen that as a feature in years

Pretty common on “alternative” brand phones. Current Xiaomi Note 13 does for example. If you do have ir then there are loads of universal apps. If you don’t then you are likely limited to apps specific to the model of tv

Thought GB were getting two silvers but two amazing finishes to grab golds.

If you have a smart TV you can often get a phone app to control it. Our Samsung does this. Not a replacement for a traditional remote but it does mean you always have a working option.

Have a look at Dahab. There are some big hotels but also a string of smaller hotels up the coast. The snorkelling is excellent, much better from the beach than Sharm and Hurghada, where you really need a boat trip to see the good stuff. It is closer to the Israeli border if that bothers you but I’ve been a few times and always felt very safe.

Slight hijack – what’s Hurghada like generally?

I liked it as it is more of an Egyptian town, still very touristy but has a rougher, earthier side when compared to Sharm which feels very fake. Maybe not for everyone but I enjoyed wandering around when not in the sea. Hard to get out of town for a wander by yourself but you can jump on a bus to some amazing places like Luxor, Kings Valley, Aswan. All quite touristy but if you get up early and are willing to walk a bit you can have a nice experience away from everyone.

So if he reports it, is he then involved with insurance automatically?

It probably says in his policy that he is required to report any accidents. I suppose he could report to the police without reporting to the insurer but then you are on dodgy grounds. Doing nothing and moving on and no one is any the wiser. It would be nice if the other driver got some comeuppance but it’s likely to come to nothing and reporting to the insurer will likely put your sons premium up.

Annoying but I’d let it go. Likely to be more hassle for him with little to gain.

Definitely. Bought an orange alpine very cheaply. On paper it was a great bike. Bit of mix and match of components but mostly ok. First ride rear brake packed up, went front squealing to no bite at all. Also the forks felt weird. New disk and pads and swapped the forks with some known good ones from the parts bin. Exactly the same thing happened. Played with fork setting which made it ok but not great and put a whole new rear brake on that came off another bike and worked fine. Rear brake packed up again and the front started squealing.

In the end I split it for parts. Actually made all the money back on just the frame and wheels so I guess the curse was lifted. Replacement bike has been great…. so far

That doesn’t sound that much like a career change, more like a similar job in a different sector. Do you have enough transferable skills to just apply for jobs in that sector without much training? Should be possible especially if it is more of a management or overseeing role.