I’ve bought from them without issue, so it’s not all bad.

Back to the OP, if you use the email form on the website the bloke you get through to is:

luke@tritoncycles.co.uk

I’ll endorse Honda as well.

Interesting post from Nickjb. If it was my garden I’d consider a proper, old fashioned scythe. Get looking on YouTube, there’s plenty about them from fitting one to yourself to the many benefits.

Are we talking about riding up past the tea rooms then turning right at the junction? Cudos to anyone that ride up that. I rode down most of the way in thick fog on Saturday on a rigid bike, the rocky bit at the bottom is beyond my skill set on any bike. All I have to practice on is clay covered fields in Herts, I’m always impressed with people that can ride rocky stuff.

North Essex is OK, plenty of sleepy villages and decent country pubs plus you can use it as a base to visit Suffolk and Cambs. I live in a village on the Herts side of Bishop’s Stortford and usually cycle into nearby bits of Essex and south Cambs, there really isn’t anything to complain about.

Bloke I used to work with married a Thai prostitute half his age. They stayed married for a couple of years, I think it was mainly to do with his acquiring land in Thailand or something. He was a proper sex case though.

Sorry, haven’t the thread but it’s the internet so here’s my take. Israel is a Jewish state, any criticism of Israel is a criticism of Jews and therefore anti-semitic. So, to be pro-semitic (is that a thing?) you have to be in favour of Israeli troops shooting stone throwing Palestinians, or the settlement of occupied lands, etc, whilst condemning anything the Palestinians do.

Then you’ve got the chief rabbi congratulating his “long standing friend” on becoming leader of the Tories whilst at the same time condemning Labour as being anti-semitic and the whole lot being repeated by the right wing Tory supporting press. Really??

Living in the middle on nowhere (Hertfordshire) I have no mobile signal and an Internet connection that drops several times a day. I have to divert my mobile to the home phone, if I forget it’s a 5 minute walk to get a signal, 10 minutes for 4g. I’ve got BT Superfast Broadband that delivers a fantastic 12mbps. The broadband is on years freebie upgrade, when it’s up I’ll go back to ADSL, almost as fast and cheaper.

And now a history lesson. Back in the 80’s BT had two factories producing fibre cable and the associated hardware. The plan was to replace all the copper on the phone network with fibre, Britain was, at the time, the World leader in fibre technology. Thatcher ruled it uncompetitive and put a stop to it, the factories were closed and the technology sold to the Japanese. So here we are in the dark ages thanks to Thatcher and the Tories.

onewheelgood

The question wasn’t about passports, it was about living there.

Good answer, I didn’t read the question properly.

DrJ
I think that we (British citizens) have the right to live in the Republic of Ireland, no?

No is correct. The way it works is: if you have an Irish parent you are considered an Irish citizen and can apply for an Irish passport. If you have an Irish grandparent you can apply for Irish citizenship and once granted an Irish passport.

If you are married to someone who either has or is entitled to an Irish passport the bad news is you’re not. To get one need to have been resident in the Republic for three years out of the last five (there are conditions on that), then go through the normal citizenship application then passport.

In the US they have about 1.3 million miles of dirt roads, mountain bikes are overkill, CX bikes are almost perfect but need bigger tyres for comfort and to cope with washboard. What’s needed is an easy riding, fatter tyred CX bike, a bike for gravel. (What’s actually needed is a do it all bike like a Jones imo).

So all the bike companies start making “gravel” bikes then market them World wide. People buy into the marketing and new craze starts. Being a bit easier to manage off road and with allegedly better manners than a CX bike when loaded they hit a spot with several types of rider. Those that want a more compliant ride on the road, those that want to do some light trails, those that want to do a bit of light touring, a sort of jack of all trades bikes.

I’ve never ridden one so this is purely my opinion.

I got made redundant 2 years ago (not my fault, the company got taken over). Despite my best efforts there seems to no space in the job market for IT techies in their mid 50’s, or if their is I haven’t found it. I put an ad for garden maintenance in a couple of the local village newsletters and have been picking up work that way, I could do with proper job though.

If redundancy is an option my advice would be to have solid plan before volunteering. If it’s compulsory but a few months off, same thing, plan and hit the ground running so to speak. If anyone has any ideas for the non-business minded (me) I’d love to hear them.

I’ve eaten Elk.

I cycled onto a campground south of Pie Town, New Mexico a couple of years ago. It was bow hunting season and a group had killed 3 elk that morning and were busy butchering them. They cut off a steak for me and put it on the BBQ. It was a nice treat, very lean, not a “gamey” meat, but OK.

My parents are both mid 80’s and live in Ireland. My mum had a brain tumour, I’m guessing around 20 years ago. It was operable but left her with impaired balance and hearing loss. The balance thing sort of stopped her going out and doing much, except eating, she does like a biscuit. Roll on a few years and her back starts to crumble with osteoporosis, so she’s in a wheel chair when she goes out, spends most of the day shuffling about between the living room, bathroom and kitchen with her walking frame and has a home help every morning to get her washed and dressed. She’s got her special chair in the living room and is now so heavy she barely has the strength to heave herself out of it.

Dad had esophageal cancer about 10 years ago. Lucky boy, he was getting a yearly camera down the throat for a hiatus hernia and it was picked up really early. He’s one of the very rare survivors. He’s also got osteoporosis of the spine and is more stooped every time I see him. They’ve both got exercises to do but neither bother. The old man would benefit greatly from doing them as he struggles with mum, more so now that that he can’t stand up properly.

Just to add to the cancer thing, little sis (3 years younger) got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 3 years ago. Caught early and not the usual type she seems to be doing well. She had what’s known as the whipple procedure and takes a cocktail of digestive enzymes before every meal. Hopefully her life expectancy will be much longer than normal 5 years. She’s now 53.

If you’ve read this, look after yourself. Weights, stretching and aerobic exercise (in that order) are the key to a healthy old age.

If you are going to play around with geometry it’s worth have a tinker on Bike Cad.

https://www.bikecad.ca/

I’ve used water based both inside and outside the house with no issues. It dries as fast as emulsion and leaves a good finish. It does need proper prep and 2 coats, outside I use 3 coats. The stuff I’ve got is Bedec Multi Surface Paint.

I’d love to own a house with woodland. You’ll very quickly get bored with any trails you create but manage the woods and you’ll get free firewood for the rest of your life (after 6 or 7 years if you do it properly).

90k of those are admins, the other 308 are either banned or suspended.

There’s quite a few rigid steel bikes been through my garage in the never ending search for biking heaven, there’s three I’ve kept hold of that will be with me until I die. They are:

A Niner Sir 9. Bought as a secondhand frameset from Ebay, it’s running singlespeed. I can’t pin down what I like about it other than it’s really nice to ride. I’ve owned the usual suspects, Charge, Cotic, Genesis etc, none are a patch on the Niner.

Jones. I bought this specifically for the Divide but it’s so good at just about everything I’ll never get rid of it. If I only had one bike this would be it. It’s the original 29er before the LWB/SWB stuff came out. The do occasionally come onto the secondhand market, it’s always worth asking on the Facebook group. The new SWB fit’s the OP’s brief perfectly, it’ll take B+/29er wheels and has bosses galore.

Lastly I’ve got a Jones Spaceframe. It’s as capable as the diamond and rides exactly the same, mine as a 3.0 front tyre, just because. It gets a lot of comments when it’s parked up, wifey seems to have first dibs on it as her bikepacking ride. The frame bag is smaller but we never carry that much stuff anyway.

I’ve just used Paisley. Booked on Tuesday, the email said pick up Wednesday but no show. The courier called on Thursday when I was out. I contacted Paisley who said pickup was scheduled for Monday (today), the courier turned up on Friday. The bike was delivered today.

Do they sort of work.

Did mine about 4 weeks ago. I got a new picture taken at a place in town, they emailed a link which I used on the online application. I think from the date of submitting the application to the passport being delivered was 10 days.

I’ve been through the card on wide shoes, currently using a standard fit Fizik, the best fitting mtb shoe I’ve owned in a long time the fit is on par with North Wave winter boots.

Other shoes I’ve tried but not got along with are Sidi Mega, Lake wide fit, Giro high volume. There’s a few more that I can’t remember at the moment. I’ve got a pair of Specialized wide fit road shoes I bought in the US which are a superb fit, on par with my Fizik MTB shoes.

I bought an Elise a few years ago. After 06 they’re fitted with Toyota engines, mine was the 111R with the 190hp motor. Good for 0-60 in 4.5 seconds with superb handling and I think they look fantastic.

Cheap to run, you pay Toyota service costs even at the Lotus dealer. Cheap to insure, fully comp for me was £200. Fuel consumption was around 40mpg, could go a lot lower depending on how it’s driven. I used it year round, commuted, toured, went to the shops, etc.

The downsides, it liked rear tyres, I didn’t bother with the recommended Lotus fitment, went with Toyo Proxes. There’s a definite knack to getting in and out but it’s quick to get the hang of. I’m 6’1″ and about the height limit.

I used Virgin, no restrictions on dirt roads or altitude.

If it’s brambles a strimmer won’t touch them, as mentioned above a brush cutter is best. If you’re going to spend money get a multi-tool with strimmer, brush cutter and hedge cutter attachments.

I’ve commuted on motorcycles most of my working life, a large part of it 80 miles a day and I do like Fireblades. One thing I’ve always done is analyse every bit of my riding and driving. Could that corner have been better, why did I not spot that car at the junction sooner? I think I’m over half a million miles on motorcycles and despite my constant analysis there’s still things that I could do better.

Have a good long think about the corner in question. What was your approach like, was road positioning OK, how was speed, were you looking at the bend or distracted? Analyse the mistake (there might be more than one) and don’t make them again.

Tents only here, we have several. I did float the idea of a small teardrop trailer a few days ago, she liked the look of it so one might appear in the future.

Chris King’s in both the BB30 bikes here. Add in the cost of the grease tool and it’s not a cheap option, they do last forever though.

Wifey bought a Mii four years ago, when we were looking then the Citigo only came with the 65hp engine, Seat and VW offered a 75hp motor which we bought. Fantastic car although a little wheezy on hills. She swapped it for a VW Up GTi last year, best small car ever.

When I’m not IT contracting I do a bit of work for a local gardener to keep me out of trouble. The going rate is £15 an hour, if he’s done a good job then bung him £30.

Mexico arches were standard on the 1300E. You would also have had a better carb and exhaust manifold.

Mine started out as a 1300XL, same six dial dash but without the walnut trim and cloth seats. Outside was standard Escort with drum brakes. Left the inside standard, outside fitted Mexico arches, quarter bumpers and square front number plate. Mechanical upgrades were disc brakes and servo, 13 inch wheels same as the E (standard was 12 inch). Lowered with stiffer springs. Engine was swapped for a 1600 unit from a 1600E Cortina a mate wrote off, with head work and different cam.

I think with a lot of these things it’s a case of rose tinted spectacles. I remember it as great car to drive, it’d probably be horrible if I drove it now. For modern stuff, my Lotus Elise was how I remembered the Escort only more of everything. Wifey has just bought an Up GTI, which is huge fun to drive.

I’ve got a Rotor 3D double chainset with oval rings that has very little use. It’s 175mm arms and a 24mm spindle, can’t remember what the rings are without getting up in the loft but they’re MTB size. PM me if you’re interested and I’ll take some pics.

I’d recommend a new one with a guarantee and everyfink.

I’m not a dog lover, I had to look on YouTube to see what a Border Terrier is. They do seem like good fun, I hope you find him a decent home.

Dartmoor doesn’t count. I believe it used to be woodland once upon a time, cleared in pre-history for grazing/farming. The nearest “untouched” places will be Iceland or northern Scandinavia.

Once there’s enough electric vehicles on the road you’ll get charged for using a charging point, there will be a huge amount missing from Treasury funds otherwise. If the charging points remain free then it’ll be some sort of GPS based road pricing based on mileage, or VED will go through the roof EV’s, anything to keep the cash flowing in.

A bar bag is more stable than a seat bag. Load the seat bag badly or put too much weight in it and it’ll sway from side to side.

I bought Michael Mosley’s new book “The Fast 800”, so far I’ve dropped 9 pounds in 6 days. It takes a bit of willpower to get going but seeing a weight loss on the scales every day is enough motivation for me to keep going.

As mentioned above, Gummi Pflege.

DezB

Does anyone do these? I do sometimes… but just received an email to review my recent purchase from Google Store… check my order history, last thing I ordered was a Chromecast in 2015. Is that ‘recent’?

I had the same thing this morning, my last purchase from the Google store was November 2015.

In the event of a no deal Brexit UK registered airlines will still be able to fly into and out of the EU. What they won’t be able to do is make internal flights inside the EU. This was part of the statement made by the EU when they announced measures for a no deal Brexit, I believe this is the case until the end of the year.

Ryanair are an Irish airline and won’t be affected, I believe Easyjet switched to being EU base last year. No idea what the others have done.