We recently installed a water softener & to simplify plumbing have the entire house (apart from outside tap) softened on the incoming main.

We installed a Quooker tap + a reverse osmosis water purifier under the kitchen sink – we now have 4 functions on the kitchen tap (softened hot & cold + purified/softened boiling & cold drinking) on the tap.

No scum on a cup of tea & great tasting drinking water!

I have recently started wearing multifocal contacts as don’t get on with glasses when i’m moving around – they are good for me but you need to be prepared for a slight compromise in either distance or close-up.

Go to Specsavers & get a free contact lens trial – they give you 10 days worth of your choice to try & if you need to tinker with the prescription they will supply more as needed. That should give you a chance to work out if they are for you or not.

I’ve never worn contacts previously (only glasses for reading that were left way too long before changing) but got on with contacts & definately help my riding – I wore them riding on day 2 of my trial period & was sold!

Good luck – don’t think others can give you the answer, you need to try a few options to find out what works best for you, but a free contact lens trial is obviously the cheapest trial option & was a good starting place for me.

What eye drops are you guys using with daily disposable lenses??

I have also recently started wearing contacts & have similar issue with my left eye (probably as I’m right handed).

Having more success with a technique like defblade describes, but I don’t use the tip of my finger.. I try to use further down my finger & then roll /drag my finger down across the lens (to give more contact) & force it down onto my lower lid so I can pick it off.

Definitely go for solar control glass – it is money well spent, especially if your current room gets hot.

We fairly recently installed some south-east facing 4.5m wide x 2.6m high sliding doors in our extension also has a 2.5 x 2m roof lantern – both have solar control glass.

We thought that the main room (6 x 6m) might end up feeling like a greenhouse in the summer, but the glass keeps it at a decent temp & you wouldn’t realise it was slightly grey tinted unless you directly compared it to standard glass – there are different types available though which are more visible / coloured.

In direct sunlight you can really feel the sun on your skin but move behind the glass & you can barely feel the rays.

E-Bike Edge MultiField

Up to 10 e-bike specific data fields – assistance mode, % battery, range etc.

Connects Garmin Edge devices via Ant+ to your bike – works well on my Trek.

Also records battery + assist levels to Strava so you can review your assist level % / battery use etc.

https://apps.garmin.com/en-GB/apps/90ab1b25-7c33-48df-b002-793617b23eed

How would you charge MOT based pay per mile for new cars that don’t need an MOT for the first 3 years?

It wouldn’t be an “illegal bike” – putting a 27.5″ rear wheel on will mean the motor cuts out before it hits 25km/h (not after).

The only way it might be deemed “illegal” is if the software was configured for a 27.5 wheel but a 29 was actually fitted.

OK great, thanks.

Superb, thanks guys – wasn’t expecting a £6 solution to the problem!

I’m guessing I just need to source a 40mm axle pin now to slot inside the bearings/spacers?

Any recommendations on good manufacturers or should I just purchase a RS 40 x 8mm mounting hardware kit and not use the top hat spacers.

Thanks again.

Yes, the speed sensor will be slightly out & the motor will cut out at a slightly lower speed.

Have you checked the bikes software app to see if there is an option to select rear wheel size? If there is then that should correct any issues.

I have an Exe & is a great bike, especially if you are a lighter rider as you will get more range.

You can tune the power modes to suit your riding style / range requirements & as already said you can ride with just the range extender & get decent range if you put the effort in as well.

I have mine set-up mullet & with a 160mm air shaft in the Lyrik – it rips & can handle seriously technical decents like a much longer travel bike (easier to handle than a heavy ebike) & is as much at home on singletrack / flow trails.

I am way more impressed with the bike than I thought I would be now that I have the suspension dialled in.

I have this issue too.

Can’t send messages to anyone I have previously messaged & can’t delete any messages – has been like this for a while.

You can ride out to Peaslake from the YT Mill – you would need to demo a Decoy though to get there & back (unless you are super-fit)!

I’ve demo’d the Decoy a few times as a fun day out with my son – they give you a Trail Forks loop at the YT Mill that takes you out through the Surrey Hills, you can follow the loop & halfway round (at Gomshall) head off  over to Peaslake. There are also plenty of trails to ride on the loop.

The Decoy is overkill for me but is a fun day out for £15!

I now only use an acrylic primer on bare plaster.

Have had mixed results mist coating – as others have said definitely don’t use pva unless you want peeling paint.

Johnstones Trade Perfect Matt is an excellent paint & their decorator centres pretty much perfectly colour match F&B, Little Green etc, but Tikkkurila paint is a step up again & you can get their Optiva (acrylic) Primer colour matched to your top coat paint to save on total number of coats.

I bought a bike 3 months ago that came with Hope 155mm cranks fitted – I’m 6’1″ & was convinced the cranks would fell like I was riding a kiddies bike & I would need to swap them out immediately!

I was coming from 165mm cranks on my previous bike & to be honest I didn’t actually feel any noticeable difference in crank length.

I really like them :

Less pedal strikes even though I have dropped the BB by switching to a mullet set-up.

Spin a bit quicker so get optimum rpm out of the TQ motor on the bike.

Feel more balanced / agile on the bike when attacking downhill sections as my feet are closer together so I can rotate my hips into turns easier  – this is especially noticeable when turning sharp towards my leading foot.

My experience is very positive & would buy another set if I changed bike.

I use a Thule 598 with my carbon frame bikes – always use one of these Thule carbon frame protectors under the clamp :-

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/accessories/thule-carbon-frame-protector-_-1692661

Never had any issues with frame damage – I also always use one of these security ties to secure the pedal/crank to the carrier upright arm helps reduce the wobbling + gives more piece of mind!

Not tick related but just following on from the repelent recommendations in this thread.

We’ve had a lot of mosquito’s locally & been getting bothered by daytime biting ones recently.

Today whilst standing in my kitchen sipping on a coffee I got attacked by this failry large beast!

It’s an Asian Tiger Mosquito – anyone else come accross these evil pests? Apparently becoming more prevalent across Europe & spreading Denghi Fever & other nasty diseases.

I’m looking at buying some Smidge to protect against ticks on my rides but will that also ward off these daytime biters or should I be looking at something stronger/different??

Glad they are putting it right.

In my experience dealing with builders, both at work on the design side of the construction industry & from my own build projects is that if you accept anomolies/errors from day one then that will continue for the duration of the project, as the builders know they can get away with it.

Challenging builders on their decisions & quality of work will make for a bumpier ride, but you will ultimately achieve (almost) what you want on completion.

Best of luck with your project & don’t be afraid to highlight errors (no matter how small) or question what y0u are being told – this can be stressful, but will all be forgotten once you’re sitting in your dream extension thinking how glad you are that you pushed for the correct solutions.

Bosch screwdriver bit set

Your builders are talking BS like they always do when something is built incorrectly.

Get them to rectify their mistake & don’t compromise even though they are making things awkward – joists can be installed into the web of the beam, if not how are they going to support the joists on your 7m  beam that is going within the floor depth??
Losing 300mm on the height of your doors will make a massive difference on your new space – you will look at it every day & regret not getting it changed if you accept the mistake.

Do your shock / forks have spacers / tokens in that your previous bikes didn’t??

Whyte T130 RS for me – very agile 27.5 trail bike.

Also a newly aquired Trek Fuel Exe that i’m running with a 27.5 rear – currently thinking that mullet maybe the best of both worlds!

I opted in for this & had all the tests etc about 6 months ago.

What model & year are your Lyriks – do they definately have buttercups already?

If they do, then the 150mm air shaft that you bought probably isn’t the one for your forks – it will be for the previous  versions.

Air shaft upgrades: –

2021 C1 Lyriks – Debonair (no buttercups)

2023 D1 Lyriks – Debonair + (with buttercups)

I have just added a 160mm air shaft upgrade to my 2023 Lyrik Select+.

The fork doesn’t have buttercups as standard (2023 Lyrik Ultimate does) but the correct upgrade shaft does have buttercups.

So OK to run buttercups in just one side, but you may have an older fork & upgrade kit that is not compatible with buttercups?

There’s a pretty good Sky documentary series called “100 Foot Wave” about Garret McNamara & the other surfers who discovered & surfed the giant waves in Nazare – well worth a watch.

Threads are all good.
All cleaned up, dismantled, re-greased & assembled now.
There was nothing obvious causing the problem – Maxle slides smoothly through wheel axle, bearings all fine.
Can only be that whatever grease was on the Maxle had dried out & acted like cement bonding it inside the hollow rear hub axle.
Anyway, all good & trail ready – so thanks again for all the input.

Thanks for all the feedback.
I couldn’t get any Plusgas today, but managed to get similar own-brand Halfords Release spray.
Another good soaking with the spray, some help from my son to support the dropout & I managed to get the axle to shift a bit with hammer + allen key socket as a drift.
Another soaking & managed to work the axle all the way out – didn’t come out easy & needed the hammer pretty much all the way as was seized on the drive side bearing.
Not sure if any of the bearings need replacing as was pretty dark by the time I finished, but the axle still looks in good shape.
Thanks again for all the advice.

Hi,
Yes, the lever is on the disc side, but the axle screws into a thread on the cassette side.
So I can turn the lever & it unscrews from the thread in the frame, but does not pull out of the wheel / frame.

Thanks everyone – I’ll check all those options.

Is there any way of knowing which vaccine you will receive at each vaccine centre?
My Dr has just suggested to me that I should consider switching to a different vaccine for my second jab, after having such a prelonged adverse reaction to my first AZ jab.

NS – I’m so sorry.
Hopefully in time things will get better.
One thing I felt was that I wasn’t improving, however friends and people who hadn’t seen me for a while, did see an improvement.

Thanks Bunnyhop.
Your “energy bank” analogy is a very appropriate description – seems to hit me a couple of days later if I overdo it & drain my energy bank.

Imagine having a ‘bank or energy’, which can be used for eg – work, play or just normal everyday things, then having to decide where that energy is used up, then it gives a little insight as to what your life maybe like.

That pretty much sums up how i’ve been for 10 weeks now, following my first AZ vaccine jab.

65 Az 8 weeks ago still got head ache and dizzy no energy. Still feel really ill missed 4 weeks at work. Doc says there’s no cure for side effects and said don’t have second jab.don’t think I’d survive another.

Did your doctor offer any other advice?
I’m in a similar situation to you – nearly 10 weeks after my first AZ jab I stiil have extreme fatigue & energy crashes after excercise.
Finally went to the docs a couple of weeks ago & had blood tests which show that I have low blood platelet level & very defficiant in Vitamin D – not sure if this is caused by the jab or a reason why I reacted so badly, but have more tests in 4 weeks time to establish if there is a trend after being on high dose Vit.D tablets for 6 weeks.

I am due to have Jab No.2 in a couple of weeks, which i’m not looking forward to – maybe I also need to speak to my Dr to see if this is advisable.

I’m 32 days after my AZ jab and I’m still feeling crap and have no energy. I am on prescription anti-histamines which apparently means I’d be more likely to get side effects, but I’m properly fed up of feeling like this.

Chin up – it does get you down, but hopefully will only be short term.
I am getting twice the amount of sleep I used to & still wake up every morning feeling like I haven’t slept all night / all week!

I have fond memories of Esher Shore too. Was sad to see that go a few years back.

Yes, shame that went – there was an incredible amount of trail in a small area up behind the ski slope. Was good to have the Freeborn shop up there in the middle of Esher too.

About 20 years ago someone built some North shore over in crowthorne woods. A sizable drop, weighted see saws and some other stuff, great fun. Would probably warrant a hellipad for the air ambulance these days.

Haha yes, I recently found some old videos of me riding the North Shore trails over on Tunnel Hill back in the early Noughties – those were the days!

Had mine about three weeks ago and have felt robbed of energy ever since.
Could be purely coincidental of course

Had my AZ jab nearly 4 weeks ago & have not felt good ever since.
Had all the commonly reported side effects / covid type symptoms for about 4 days – but some have carried on.
Extreme tiredness all the time – I never usually get to bed before midnight, but for the last few weeks I have been in bed at 9pm most nights & still wake up feeling like i’ve not slept for a week!
Physically I get worse after exercise – I have been out on my bike a few times & played football & i’m not too bad when actually exercising, probably feel better for it. But a day or 2 later I get a lot worse, with extreme exhaustion, headaches, brain fog, light headedness etc. – seems my body can’t recover from excercise very easily.

Get your Architect to revise his design to something that will be supported by the planning officer.
Look at other similar local properties & see if/how they have been extended in a similar manner to your requirements.
Withdraw the Lawful Development Application as it is not relevant & submit a householder planning application.
Just because the Permitted Development Rights have been removed, doesn’t mean that you cannot achieve a planning approval for your extension.

I bought an Alpinestars Cruise Shell from SportPursuit in December, but then (pretty much immediately) crashed & had to have an op to repair my thumb ligaments, so never even tried it on.
3 months later & i’m good to go again – but just tried on the shell – doesn’t fit & too late to send back!
Obviously not tested it, but seems a great jacket & pretty much hits all the points on your wishlist.
There’s a review here :-
https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a26236076/alpinestars-cruise-shell-jacket-review/

Cost me £68 (RRP £136?) plus postage – yours for £50 (+ postage) if you’re interested.
It’s the black version (with orange), in size medium – i’m usually between M/L & would put this as M or S/M – arms have plenty of length too. Brand new still packaged with all labels, bags etc.

Just PM me if you’re interested – I will probably buy in a larger size if I sell this one as it is a very nce shell.

So my 2006 Aquaracer Chrono has gotten stiff to wind in the mornings. It seems to run ok, but does this mean I need to fork out for servicing? It’s never been serviced…

Think you’ve answered your own question there.
If it doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t & won’t fix itself – so sounds like a service is due, especially as it is 15 years old & never previously serviced.