Where was the log store and log basket for the nice woodburning stove ?

I was in the same situation.  My old Mondeo had 125k on the clock and needed a lot of work to get it through its MOT.  I tried a few Ford dealers and none of them could supply a Mondeo estate, unless you were prepared to order a brand new one.  I don’t understand, as this thread shows they were great cars! Cheap to run and buy.  I would agree the Focus is nowhere near as good as the Mondeo ( I changed from a Focus to a Mondeo).

In the end it was between a Subaru Outback and superb estate for me.  Neither have the boot capacity of the Mondeo.

Come on Ford bring back a decent sized estate car.  The Kuga is now near as good!

See also beer, wine, cake, red meat etc. etc.

Drinking beer, wine or eating red meat or cake have no impact on the people at the table next to you.  Smoking does.  Some people tolerate it, but smoking is inconsiderate, eating red meat isn’t.

You’re outside. The cars driving past pose a far higher risk. Get a grip!

You not liking something isn’t a reason to ban it

Please send me to a link that suggests passive smoking outside doesn’t harm anyone?

Protecting health, reducing the burden on the NHS is a reason to ban it.  Liking something, doesn’t mean it should be allowed if the consequences impact others detrimentally.

No it doesn’t. If I want to kill myself by smoking, drugs, alcohol, mountain biking or other dangerous sports like skiing and climbing that’s my right and it’s got f*** all to do wiith the govt or handwringing idiots who should mind their own business. Passive smoking in beer gardens harms no one. If non-smokers don’t like the smell they can go to a pub which voluntarily doesn’t allow smoking in beer gardens.

Passive smoking in beer gardens harms anyone who is unlucky enough to inhale the second hand smoke.  Please can you point me to some research that shows passive smoking doesn’t harm anyone?

Or perhaps the smokers could smoke far enough away not to impact in the health of non-smokers?

Dangerous sports and smoking donot compare.  There are always health benefits to “dangerous” sports, which may involve medical treatment.  Even if medical assistance is required it may use up some precious NHS resources, but there is no benefit that comes from smoking.

Smoking is one of the few, if only past time that can have such a negative impact on others not willing to participate.

The smokers still want to have their tab in the beer garden, because they can.  Irrelevant if it negatively impacts others.

Falling off a mountain bike has no detrimental impact on anyone else.  On Saturday in a car park there was a family with young child in push chair, both parents standing round him smoking.  Unfortunately that child has no choice whether they inhale the passive smoke.

This is why there needs to be a complete ban.  In some situations the Government need to act for the greater good and wider benefits to the population.  Health out trumps anything else.  There would be no negative impact in banning smoking, I guess if you are a smoker you will disagree and still think it’s ok to light up in a beer garden, next to a family having lunch.

There should be a complete ban on smoking. It does no good to anyone, not the smokers, not the non-smokers.

When I worked on a building site, it was unpleasant to have to work with someone who smoked. Often tools in hand, fag in mouth. I shouldn’t have had my workspace contaminated by a smoker, whether outside or not. As others have said it clings to your clothes.

When I lived in a tenement flat, it was deemed acceptable for another resident to walk by everyone else’s door while smoking until he got to his flat.

There is no nanny state in improving health.

I might fall of my bike and get injured, but even if i do the bike has contributed to health and well being, unlike smoking.

As others have said, why is it acceptable to leave a non biodegradable cigarette butt in the street?

I had a tradesmen round in April, he was a smoker. I saw him flick is cigarette butt into the garden and it was also acceptable to leave an empty cigarette packet hidden in the garden. I didn’t find drinks cans or any other litter from the rest of the team which were doing the job. Some/most smokers are inconsiderate. Even if you are allowed to smoke in a beer garden, it is still inconsiderate. Have a drink and smoke amongst smokers.

Completely ban smoking. I guess if you smoke you don’t see it that way.

The issue isn’t solely around pubs either. Are bus companies and train operators going out of business if you can’t have a cigarette while waiting for a train or bus?

Most Costa coffee shops have ash trays on outside tables. Will they go bust?

Play parks, should the kids need to inhale others second hand smoke whilst on the swings ?

It does appear that middle class smokers are few and far between. Those on low:income or benefits seem to spend the most on cigarettes, for reasons I don’t understand.

Ban smoking and the hospitality industry will have to adapt. Consider those who work in beer gardens, do they want to breathe in second hand smoke ?

**** hell, it’s not like you’re sat in the lotus position readying yourself for a reiki massage. You’re in a beer garden chucking poison down your gullet.

“enjoyment of a pint” – have it at home where you

Guess you are a smoker then ? Enjoying a drink in the fresh air, it shouldn’t be contaminated with cigarette smoke.

I guess if you are smoker, you are against the ban.  While there may be some considerate smokers who would leave the beer garden to go and smoke in a quiet area of the car park, most are inconsiderate and will happily light up in a crowded beer garden.  Even if they are in the minority.

Either way I don’t see why my health and enjoyment of a pint should be compromised due to others cigarette smoke.

Driving a car does pollute the atmosphere.  However I have never been sitting in a beer garden with a running ICE next to me.  Smoking is a choice and it seems acceptable to force others to inflict your passive smoke on others.    A car is a necessity to get to work.  I would happily have an electric car, but economics prevent it.

Agree vapes is a massive problem. A friend is a teacher and the problems it causes in schools is huge, with kids vaping mid lesson.

I’m not worried about the gearing, as I could built it with any groupset which works for me.  Apparently in the Giant range the Dyfi and gravel equivalent are identical geometry.

The other thing to remember, as this is the USA many people are trapped with employers due to health insurance.  I bet they have far slower staff turn over than the UK.

M and S look like the best bet for me. As one bike is over £5k, they cover it.  When shopping around a lot of insurance companies have a limit of £5k for an individual bike.

My original plan was a Giant dyfi, with electronic rival stuff.  Then I thought about the cost of replacing it all and decided against it, added to the headset issue!

It’s really the integrated cockpit, which is not an option!  2 hrs labour, plus new bar tape, plus brake bleeds to service a flaming headset!

Surely the engineers at the big brands must think, how can we include integration and make the headset easily serviceable?!

The cannondale might be an option, as might a gravel bike!

Good point about carbon plus threaded BB adding to production costs, I hadn’t thought of that.

For winter and having read Road CCs review of the Tiagra 10 speed, it seems to tick all the boxes! While a carbon frame should give a more comfortable ride than aluminium?

With all the woodburning stove chat, nobody has listed Chainsaw boots? Just me then?!

Thanks to the PSAs I have three pairs of 5.10s from Frasers!  Not helped that I decided to give flats ago.

Wow Laka is crazy money! £47-57 a month ! To insure one £6k bike.

It looks like most insurers are capping individual bikes at a limit of £5k.

As I said to the renewal team on the phone, if you have put the premium up by 25% due to rising costs, why hasn’t the cover limit been increased by 25%?

John Lewis is also up to £5k for an individual bike.

Aviva don’t cover bikes over £5k, (at least not from an online quote) a flag came up and said I would need to phone them!

If you couldn’t define what the EU was/is you shouldn’t have been allowed to vote.  Airport should have two queues, one for Brexit voters one for remain voters!  Never mind the roaming charges!

Yep – still no advantages, and I think there is a lot more pain to come.

Do tradesmen price in the 30 mins of cleaning time at the end of the day when they quote?  Most trades I have used tend to be fairly tidy, but I usually still need to vacuum more thoroughly or wipe down, but if I am doing that, I am not paying someone else to do that!

I do wonder in the apprenticeships, where the business and organisation skills are taught!  I had a recommended tradesmen come out measure up etc for a reasonable size job, only never to be seen or heard from again!

I sympathise with those of you who have had arrangements with tradesmen to turn up and then be let down.  How hard is it to phone and say sorry, I am caught up with another job, I will be back in touch to re-arrange!? Rather than wait in all day !

While I am sure you could spend mega bucks in Push Cartel, when I looked at them for a bike with Ultrega / force group sets, there was very little difference in price between what they could offer and the big brands, including Canyon.

It must be nice to buy a bespoke bike, but supporting a LBS, is never a bad thing.

They are both Giant dealers.  If it was a direct sales model where the manufacture sends to the lbs for assembly and a commission it might work, but I can’t see how it would be economically sensible for the larger shop to deliver to the smaller shop!

Not sure how that one would work? They are both independent shops.

There has been a lot of comparison between Orange and Canyon.  I like the “new bike day” feeling when very occasionally I get a new bike.  Last year I was lucky enough to get a new full suspension bike, my first one since 2010.   I travelled 80 miles each way to the shop, where I had had excellent service with (very) knowledgeable staff.  The shop are Orange stockists, however I came out with another brand, because I preferred it.  Equally I could have bought the Orange but didn’t.  Price wasn’t the only factor, it was more about the bike feeling!

With my road bike, I also valued service and travelled a long way to find a suitable shop.  A friend bought a Canyon, same group set, similar price, however he subsequently changed cassette, chain and mech to get his preferred ratios.  In addition while the wheels were great quality they weren’t the ideal section for UK roads, so again we’re changed.  The Canyon ended up being considerably more expensive than my equivalent shop bought bike, where they could advice on what works for the individual.  Unfortunately because society wants Canyon more than a proper bike shop service, this service is dwindling.

I have aP7 from 2017 ish, and it is great, I always wanted to pair it with a five or stage, but unfortunately that doesn’t look likely now.

I hope the staff are looked after.

Is it the start of a larger scale downturn?  Orange survived the 2008 financial crises.  I guess energy prices have hit them?

What does this mean? They have gone forever, or looking for investors so they can carry on? Bad news for the staff, but one local bike shop used to do a lot of Orange and has hardly had any in stock during 2023.

RIP Orange

Thanks for the replies.  I would be really scared using the plastic bag method, but I can see the logic.  

This is the horror story which puts me off soft shell bags, and potentially flying with a bike 

https://road.cc/content/news/uci-worlds-riders-cervelo-wrecked-when-flying-air-canada-303759

I suppose that’s why I am trying to find out if there has been a similar situation with a BBA? 

Thanks, I’ve booked a place in Pollenca, looking forward to it!

I’ve got a late 2019 version.  It replaced a Mondeo which I loved before that, but unfortunately there were no Mondeo’s left at the time I was looking.  I considered a Skoda Superb estate, but again at that time they were similar prices to the outback.

My long term average out the car is 34-35mpg.  I used the car for a daily commut of 15 miles each way, which included a mix or urban and dual carriageway.  On a long motorway run at 70 ish, I can get 41-42 mpg.  

Servicing costs have been comparable with other main dealers.  I paid £250 for front discs and pads last year, unsure if the price has changed for 2023.  A service seems to be £4-500 depending on what needs doing.

I do gripe at the fuel economy, but in context it is very similar to what my 1.6 litre focus was returning in 2005, with half the power and size.

They are great estate cars, comfy, everything is standard, they are easy to live with but not in the least bit exciting!  There is plenty of grunt if you put your foot down! 

I got mine a year old with 9k on the clock, it has now done 48k.  

What is there to stop anyone from Niddrie from applying for a job? It does look very deprived, but why does that mean it is acceptable to through petrol bombs ?

Certainly looks like a planned trap.  Why water canons werent used is beyond me.

Yep, if Charnwood are to be believed, it is the Country 12, so 12kwh.  It’s an 8m x 4m room, I keep the doors open so the heat can drift into other areas.  I’ve got a stove thermometer so always run it at operating temperature.

Has anyone got a Dik Geurts?

To keep the anti wood burner brigade happy, perhaps the government should set a cost cap for heat. So regardless whether you use gas, electricity, oil, lpg the unit rate you pay for heat is the same.  Nobody wants to be cold and using storage heaters.

I am using kiln dried wood at the moment, but also have some wood seasoning in the shed.

I have a stove top fan, it doesn’t increase efficiency, but does help spread the heat.

Our stove fitter said the same thing, Charnwood don’t make as bad stove.

The difference in efficiency is huge between the Country 12 and the Aire.  The place I stumbled across sold Charnwood, Contura and Dik Geurts among others, and they thought the Ivar 8 was the largest KWh clean burning, traditional looking stove there was.

The room is large, with no other heating, I keep the door open so the heat goes out into the hall as much as it can.

This year I have had a few small scale landscaping jobs on the go. In April Type 1 was £42 per bulk bag, I have just had two more delivered and it has jumped to £49 a bag, plus VAT.

It is ok though, Rishi and Jeremy are sorting inflation.

Thanks for the replies.  The octopus tariff looks interesting, however it could be pulled at any point, so basing what is an investment decision on one tariff is risky.

Definitely food for thought though.

What are the go to cheaper than Tesla batteries ?