You’d have to built appropriate fire rating walls between the flats – not a simple task within an existing building I’m sure.

Again, this is already the case. Legally if an employee wishes to work from home then the employer has to be able to justify refusing that request. Of course, there are many many reasons why an employee cannot WFH, but “because we say so” is insufficient.

I guess the point I was trying to make is that the WFH benefit would be the norm rather than the exception. As in, you don’t have to ‘request’ to work from home and your employer accepts it, you just do work from home as default and thats the expectation.

Whilst I’ve worked with many people who did 3 days at home, 2 in, or every friday at home, etc – these were all negotiated in their contracts and weren’t the norm in the office.

I fully expect the new norm to be these kind of arrangement by default. The exception would be the person who works in the office 5 days a week. In fact, you might have to get sign off to work 5 days in the office if they need desk space and to ensure social distancing!

I don’t think they’ll be this huge transformative cultural shift.

I do think however that WFH will be a benefit that every employer has to offer by default going forward.

Even 2 years ago when I was searching for my current job, a few places I interviewed at didn’t offer WFH. I declined to take those interviews further. (This is within software/tech in London, so you’d expect everyone to already be there, but no.)

I expect WFH will be much more casual and ‘expected’ for people 2-3 times a week. It’ll be commonplace to ensure everyone can come in to the office at the same time if you need face to face interaction rather than assuming everyone will be in the office that day.

You won’t see many businesses downsizing immediately as they’ll all be locked into 10 year contracts for their buildings.

This is probably one for a lawyer right, rather than a mountain bike forum.

Recently put Raceface Chester’s on both our bikes. Really impressive pedal. Super grip and light weight. Seem plenty sturdy enough for pedal strikes, also.

Yeah, it’s a good point – we don’t really know the area terribly well but I might look into that!

Okay thanks guys. That does question whether we’d bother – we’re also an hour away so it would be a shame to turn up and not get parked, although we would be looking to arrive at 11:00.

We were at Epping last weekend and it was carnage in the carparks – got lucky with a space as we arrived but yeh, it was pretty crazy. As above, lots of people without helmets. Passed one poor lady who had a washout on one of the downhill bridleways and was on oxygen – looked very nasty.

Thanks

This one is actually a slightly more interesting case which I think, for once, does warrant the coverage it’s getting.

You’ve got Amber Heard who, for years, told tabloids and glossy magazines that Depp abused her emotionally and physically. Amber then goes on to be the face of the early Me Too campaigns, speaking out against domestic abuse and violence.

Depp’s name gets dragged through the mud, he loses millions in a settlement and his career is all but over due to the toxic associations.

It then transpires that it’s actually Amber who has been abusing Depp – Depp has come out with voice recordings (which oddly, Amber used as evidence against Depp before hand, but just cutting out the bits where she abuses Depp to make it look seriously one sided)

Amongst other things Depp accuses Amber of:
– Shitting in their bed
– Taking the piss out of his dead mother
– Throwing a vase at his head

It’s one of the more interesting celebrity beefs, thats for sure.

One ton builders bag! Why didn’t I think of that.

Off to ebay I go, thanks!

Went past a few of our locals in Highgate. Lots of space, not really busy at all. We stayed for a number of pints.

Got a little bit busier later on, but generally speaking super civilised and safe. It was fun having a sense of normality back, and table service at a pub is kind of novel. No danger here and a far cry from Soho!

The purchasing patterns around hype watches (ie: Rolex sport models, Patek, etc) are so incredibly different these days.

If someone comes into a shop asking for a GMT/Daytona/Sub then they know what they want. You’re never going to sell that customer something from Blancpain or some other brand by showing them other watches in stock.

You gotta remember you were also probably the 100th person that day (Even in lockdown) to ask them (in person, over the phone, email, etc) if they had a Daytona in stock.

Watches are really weird right now.

Personally I’d hold on, fads come and go and watches will have their day soon. Also pick an AD and tell them your story (50th Birthday etc) and keep that story alive by consistently popping in and checking up.

It’s pretty dumb really what state its all in, by hey ho.

Also not a huge fan of Breitling, but this heritage limited edition is passable:

If you’re struggling with visualising owning a Speedy, try picturing it on a rugged leather strap from Bulang & Sons or similar. They look best on a rugged strap rather than the bracelet or shiny leather crocodile strap that Omega sell them on.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/

Click ‘Build guides’ in the nav there.

I can heavily recommend the Logitech Pro G –

Comes in a wireless version too if you’re so inclined. Wireless tech has moved on a bunch these days and it’s now on par with wired – that said I still run a wired Pro G because I just couldnt deal with another thing to keep charged, especially when it’s never really going to leave the mousemat.

ANYWAY.

You can go pretty deep on gaming mice performance research – there are many sites out there that do incredibly deep research and testing on various sensors etc. Contrary to what someone said earlier in the thread, there is a lot of difference in gaming mice as thats where you get the really high performance sensors.

The Logitech Pro G – when released – was widely held to have the best sensor in the market. This was around 3 years ago. I’m not sure if anyone has a better sensor out now but I bought one when released and its been the best mouse I’ve ever used – and I’ve used alot, including a Razor DA.

It is a smaller mouse, which if you’re coming from a Razor DA might be jarring at first as those things are huge. But personally smaller mice allow you to be more accurate – they’re often lighter too. I guess if you use a hard palm grip you might prefer larger mice but claw/hybrid smaller is the way to go.

Yeah, thanks all. ‘Mens’/’Unisex’ bike it is!

Indeed – and that’s what I’d like to understand more really – considering that we’re all different shapes anyway, will a unisex bike be fine for use (with maybe some cockpit adjustments) or are the differences between men and women that stark that there is immense value from having a women’s specific?

Yeh the top tubes are shorter and the head tubes taller (and less slack)… but do you want that?

I mean, these are all the things we have been making longer/slacker… so seems like a step back. Do the women in the UCI DH run women specific frames?

Yeah, if the heatsink isn’t properly taking away heat then even being in BIOS will overheat the cpu despite no load.

Really cool post, nice one!

I have both a Speedmaster and Explorer 1 in my collection.

Both are incredible watches and you can’t go wrong. I picked the Hesalite version as its the moonwatch with the hesalite.

I’d always advocate for 1 premium watch over a large collection of mid and low tier watches. The craftsmanship alone is worth it, and the heritage is an added bonus.

Holy crap that tyre!!

Tell your son something like:

“That BMW is not a flex at all, it costs £5k and looks awful. The wheels are shit and its slow AF”

Get a nice A3 black edition or something. Golf GTI. Idk, anything but that thing.

At full price the bike is 5500.
Crc make 1600 ish on that.(40% markup)
That’s a return of 30%

The bike was reduced to 4400
Crc make 1600 on that
That’s a return of 36%

That % figure is very important. Much more important than the £ & pence figure.

You’re looking at it backwards.

The cost of goods remains the same, so they make less on the sale.

The only time COGS wouldn’t remain the same is if the manufacturer/distributor is doing a rebate on the SKU, which is possible to be fair but impossible for us to know.

Arg, no it doesnt help!! Haha.

The footage on that trip looks epic. I just checked the site and there is no stock of the Strive in my size, so thats an easy decision made for me.

Thats interesting what you say. Thanks.

I’m a inch taller but have a 33inch inside leg. That might tip me into large size?

Anyway, I think the Canyon is winning me over. The spec is much better, and the shock on the YT is a bit… basic.

Cheers all :)

Hey thanks for the words.

I tend to like my bikes to be fun and flickable, if thats helps. I’ve read the Canyon is the more ‘all rounder’ and the YT is the more hooligan of the two, but suffers uphill/long distance because of that.

Most of my riding will probably be trail centers and the like with some full-day adventure style stuff in there. It really is a head vs heart. The heart says “Wow look at that YT frame and how FUN it looks” and the head is saying “The Canyon is the sensible choice that’ll be more than suitable for my riding”.

Sighh.

I’m 181cm / 5.11ish. Smack in the middle of the YT Large size and Canyon comes out as a large also.

Cheers

Yeah, probably a bit too much bike. I mean I guess I could just crack on with a 150/160mm thing but I kinda fancied a lighter and more poppy mid travel bike eh.

Th Jeffsy Base coming in at £2k on the nose is very attractive, though.

Yeah that Izzo looks great, not shipping until July, though! 66 HA is spot on with 130mm.

£2.5k makes it fairly competitive, but still a chunk more expensive. Maybe I’ll do some Googling around.

Thanks George – more than open to suggestions! I’ll check that YT out, quite like their stuff in the past.

Hard to beat Canyon’s value to price ratio, though!

Thanks guys – kind of confirmed what I was thinking.

I’ve been spoilt by my 456C over the past 5 years or so, this thing is long and fun (unsure how slack but next to your average trail bike, even today, it still looks hilarious.)

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes/spectral/spectral-al-5.0/2229.html?dwvar_2229_pv_rahmenfarbe=BK&quantity=1#!accordions=0_1

The Spectral has a 66 degree HA which is more on the money I guess, but I kinda fancied less travel as I tend to only ride stuff that can be done with an open face helmet, so probably wouldn’t need all that!

plyphon, thought that was your pic at first. Was going to comment on the Patek…

One day if im lucky! Currently on the Rolex and Omega level..!

Does anyone know of any watch stands? I have a watch box but end up leaving the two I wear most just on the top of the box, and then naturally any flat surface becomes a collection point for clutter (paperwork I need to file, mostly.)

I quite like these:
https://thewatchstand.com/

But refuse to spend that much on a metal rod, some cheap leather and a slab of marble. I also would like one that can old two watches comfortably.

I’ve also seen this on Instagram but no details as to what it actually is:

It looks really cool – and as I said earlier, my mates Timex Q is really nice, so this only adds to that.

Though I do wish they didnt bother with the transparent caseback – the movement looks rather… unrefined. A nicely brushed caseback that matches the rest of the watch would have been better imho.

Cool watch though, if the hype dies down I’ll probably grab one for shits.

I think I’ve still got a record somewhere where the center label moved during pressing, and got pressed into the grooves – I told the shop and got a replacement, and they said keep the ruined one.

It’s literally unlistenable, because it doesn’t play.

Thats a memory leak or something to do with addressing from storage.

50cc8d5a
e0000008
000000000003a839
2ad8
01d5dacaad8a2e15

These are memory/storage block allocations.

0eb7ea35-e847-4fd8-9512-346a7af2b21d

This is a registry key perhaps? not totally sure.

Looks like something to do with memory and/or storage.

Easy option is to remove a stick of RAM and give it a go for a bit. If it crashes try the other stick. If still crashes remove your GPU and run off the integrated graphics. If it still crashed your SSD is the answer.

Although, as above – SSD’s tend to work or don’t work. It could have been a dodgy install or corrupt driver install that is causing the memory leak – a format and reinstall of everything may fix it. You could try just removing the GPU driver first (there are cleaning tools out there also that’ll fully remove it) and reinstalling that if it seems to be related to visual output.

My friend has a Timex Q – it’s really cool. If I was after a new quartz I’d probably grab one myself.

Only downside is the bracelet does pull your hair something special. If you’re a hairy boi on the arms maybe see if you can try on one for a bit first.

—

Rolex really is in a shit position right now. Every steel sport watch is just beyond hard to get as a regular punter. Thing is even the AD’s don’t know when a certain watch will come in (and some have reported years between certain popular pieces) so the list is functionally useless as they always go to those who will buy a Datejust or something at the same time.

I was lucky to get my Exp1 6 months ago. I saw 2 in one day that day. But now even the low flying Exp1 is a rare-as-hens-teeth steel sports model just like the rest.

I’m happy with my collection so far – I’d love to add a GMT to it one day but I’m happy to wait another 5 years for all of this to calm down (or another brand to fill the gap)

Can you imagine if Rolex were to remake the Valjoux 72 movement, announce it would be restricted to 2000 units per year with one watchmaker overseeing each watch produced, then fit the ‘new’ movements into a modern yet faithful interpretation of the Paul Newman Daytona?

There’s no way the first one that appears on Watchfinder is going to be under retail.

Indeed. I had not realised initially that these would be 2000 units a year. This will be an incredibly exclusive watch that will sell like absolute hotcakes I’m sure.

It just stings paying 11k for a movement that isn’t COSC. But as you say, a lot of fan service here that will be incredibly popular with those who are into that kind of thing.

The more I think about it, the more I can’t get on board with that price…damn. There is so much competition at £11k. I’m not sure it would be the watch i’d buy if I ever had that to spend on a watch.

I wish Omega all the luck competing with Rolex, though.

Annnnd it here, the new Omega Speedmaster 321!

https://www.omegawatches.com/en-gb/watches/speedmaster/moonwatch/calibre-321/product

Expensive for a steel Omega, but damn it’s pretty.

Good knowledge, thanks Fudd.

Agreed on your last point – it’s an incredibly cool watch.