Sad times, I’ve come from a ford family and had escorts, mondeos a couple of focuses (foci?) a puma (old one) a C max, a Ka and I’m currently on a new shaped Kuga but almost unbelievably I don’t think I’ve ever even driven a Fiesta. The puma is as close as I’ve got.

We’re looking at getting a second car because the Mrs is going back to work soon was looking at Fiestas, but the new ones are too expend compared to the competition, so the record will probably continue.

I did my direct access over about 4/5 weeks but that was after doing my CBT nearly 2 years prior.

I did buy a 125 scoot after my CBT for commuting on, but didn’t really use it in between lessons for practice on, you definitely don’t have to have one to get through your test. I’d pick a local school and just have a chat to them. Some are weird and only do intensive courses, some don’t do intensive courses. Just pick whoever suits you best, from the sounds of it youve done more riding than I had before I did mine and should be fine with reasonably minimal lessons.

The only bit of advice I wish I’d ignored would be “skip lower powered bikes because you’ll get bored”. Probably fine if you’ve been riding 125s for a couple of years first, but I didn’t enjoy my 650 once I’d passed my test and I’ve enjoyed riding more since I’ve stepped back down to a 350, especially when the weather is crap.

That might not be an issue if you’re only riding on sunny days for pleasure, but commuting on a bike you’re not comfortable on in shitty weather is not fun.

Each referral to the ombudsman will cost more that the difference in your claim too so no way they’ll not roll over on that.

£495 fitted from my local place in Cannock. Extra £100 if you’ve over 70 miles but closer than 105. Outside that you’re out of luck.

I wondered what the fuss was about with Kirroughtree the first time I rode it, but as I was staying with the family in Carsluith it was my only option. Second time I drove to the red/black junction and was blown away by the descent from talnotry to the end. Then I went back and rode the red again and it all clicked.

not been able to go back since but would love to.

Facebook has a couple of active canoe/kayak selling groups too. Was just browsing myself. Just window shopping though

I’ve given up on incident detection, it goes off every time I stop on my edge, which nearly got me run over by a van trying to turn it off. Oh the irony.

Battery life on the Fenix 7 with touchscreen is better than the 6 pro, especially if you can afford the solar version. I’m really impressed with the 6, there’s not a lot more on the 7 from what I’ve read, mainly hardware improvements by the looks of things.

Maybe I’ll get a 7 when the 8 comes out (or 9!)

Yeah, and also I can’t accidentally hit find my phone when trying to activate dnd in the middle of the night 🤦🏼‍♂️

Fenix 6 Pro has arrived, initial impressions are very good. A bit of retraining required after years of touch screen watches, Fenix 7 would definitely be preferable for me, but not £300 worth.

looks pretty good too IMHO. 95% sure I’ll be keeping it, just need to dig out the my handlebar watch mount to see if it’s going to replace or compliment 530. Definitely won’t be using the 530 on the mtb anymore though.

I’ve ordered a Fenix 6 pro off Amazon for £315 to try on, if I don’t like it I can send it back. I interesting points on the 255, but I think the music variant is £350 so think I’d rather go for the Fenix, unless it’s too clunky and massive.

I hardly use any features of the 530, so it seems extravagant to have them both, only the training and recovery feedback, which I’m mission my other training.  Will see how I get on and report back.

It’s got to be Garmin though, I’ve tried branching out a couple of times, the Apple Watch lasted longest, other went back under the returns period. I just like how they work. My favourite thing is how the HR and Power zones work to a decimal place, why don’t any other watches do that?! Knowing where I am in the HR zone is really useful, it’s a big difference from 4.1 to 4.9.

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That The Sex Pistols Experience? Singers resemblance to JR is a huge part of their appeal.

had to google it 😂 The Sex Pistols Exposé apparently.

not surprised I didn’t remember, the last gig we did the sound guy asked me what our band was called and I had to admit I wasn’t 100% sure 🤦🏼‍♂️

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WTF?! Not even going to try and fix that.

We did a gig on Friday opening for a Sex Pistols tribute. They were good, the singer looked a lot like Johnny Rotten, he had the same eyes and mouth, and they all had a good good solid impressions and stayed in character the whole show. It was impressive.

The crowd lapped it up, and I think the venue owner was more than happy with the bar takings.

Just chipping in to say TiRed’s I put is exactly the reason I was happy to chip in with a membership. Keep it coming please.

I’ve followed road cycling since 2008/9 so I’ve been hoovering up quite a bit of forum chatter on doping but nothing close to this level of insight 👍🏻

Me and a workmate had a regular game of Alive or Dead going.

Chris Rea was the last one to catch me out. I think I was getting him confused with Joe Cocker though

Missed this post @kilo. That is nice, was in (on?) Corfu the other week and there were loads of pretty tidy cubs still blatting around. I was tempted to try and buy one and ride it home 😂

Bonus – the crappy ads have gone 🙌

I don’t frequent the site as much as I did, and I recently cancelled my subscription (which I’d already downgraded to digital because I wasn’t reading the mags.

I’d also missed Marks message (mainly because I come straight to the forum and ignore the front page) but I’d be gutted if it went.

I’ve just done a new digital sub, I need some inspiration to get my arse on my bike more anyway, and I’ve never found a magazine on any subject that seems quite so well fitted to my personal view.

Vive le Singletrack ✌🏻

The standard stem one works great, I’ve just bought two knock off moto mounts off eBay, one for my motorbike and one for my road bike.

Quadlock are the best mount I’ve tried (ram mounts, tigra, sp connect, topeak so far) but I couldn’t afford a proper one. I saw a review of the cheap one on YouTube and it came out pretty well, but the adhesive is crap so I bought a real quadlock case and 2 cheap mounts and they are perfect. I could pick up my bike road bike from the mount without it budging.

The only other one that I’d like to try is the rokform mounts but they’re really expensive and are apparently a faff with wireless charging.

I still put my phone in my bumbag for mtb if though.

bearnecessities
Full Member

I remember when air was free at the petrol station. That’s inflation for you

Nice 👌🏻

I had some Saxx boxers for Father’s Day after Mrs P heard about them on the off menu podcast. Not cheap, but soooo comfortable, I wore them yesterday and they were perfect all day.

About £15 a pair though, but I’m going to slowly replace all of my keks with them

I had a tuff top in the late 80s, didn’t wear it though was uncomfortable and looked daft.

Got a Specialized mtb helmet with a peak in the mid to late 90d because they were compulsory on club rides, only went on one of them though so didn’t get much use. Even after I knocked myself out in a crash.

I watched Chainspotting again recently and the amount of helmetless riding in that was jarring these days, looked really weird seeing people jumping and riding in the woods without helmets.

Road cycling wise I don’t think they were compulsory up and down until Andrew Killiev (sp?) in 2006 I think. CBA to google it, feels like cheating.

What a rollercoaster short thread. Glad things are looking more positive and hope you’re out and about soon.

Couldn’t help chuckling to myself at every one of your posts starting

Poopscoop – Full Member

Have you checked that it’s definitely not included with your car insurance? Lots of U.K. car insurance policies throw in Europe only breakdown cover as part of the standard comp covers.

If you can check your docs from abroad obvs.

I could’ve written this too I’m 40 just before Christmas. Not the worst shap of my life, but only because I properly let myself go in my late teens when I quit kayak racing and training 5 days a week.

I’ve got no motivation to get up and go for a run or ride or do weights I can’t atop myself from eating crap, everything hurts and I look like melted lard.

But I’m sure it’s just another phase, something will give me a kick up the arse sooner or later, always does. I’ve started racing the canoes again this year, time is the only thing stopping me doing more of that, I went for a trail run this morning and started missing my mountain bike so I might try and get out on that tomorrow morning before work.

Work is ok luckily, it’s not the most exciting of careers but just about pays the bills and doesn’t take up too much of my headspace.

If you’re anywhere near Cannock chase and fancy a steady early morning ride let me know.Not letting someone else down is great incentive to get out of bed in the mornings.

I really fancied a beer last night, but Mrs P had booked me as a taxi to drop her and a mate out for cocktails so I had an orange squash and played the drums for a couple of hours instead.

Don’t think I can resist tonight though.

You’re looking for V bars.

I’ve just bought a couple of sets of these from loom, not sure I’d want to carry a K2 on them, but for a k1 they’re great and much cheaper than normal Vbars.

https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/kayak-v-bars.html

Im assuming this is flat water racing if you’re looking at V bars, if you’ve got any questions feel free to PM me, I’ve just restarted racing after a 20odd year break.

Hereford marathon this weekend, and I cannot wait, it was always my favourite race.

As a drummer and a motorcyclist earplugs are one of my daily quandaries.

I’ve got Docs pro plugs, good but not comfy enough to sleep in. Some silicone ones which are good but go manky and are a pita to clean, and I’m now on a big sample pack of disposables to see if I like any of them.

The plain yellow 3m ones are decent, I’m currently using a set of Laser Lite plugs which I thought were crap, but I tried putting them in the wrong way (I’ve got big ear holes) and they’re almost too good on the bike, really comfy because they’re super soft and super cheap.

If you can afford it go custom, if not I think a big sample pack of disposables is a good bet, they’re more comfortable than the silicone type for me, the only real advantage of the silicone ones is how subtle they look at gigs and that.

@convert normally insurance policies exclude damage to item being worked on, so it’s unlike that this damage would be covered by insurance, probably why they’re trying to avoid coughing up. Whether they could argue that they were working on the seat post and not the frame I’m not sure, but from an Underwriting point of view I’d say probably not. If you install a turbo wrong on a car and it kills an engine, insurance would cover the engine, but not the turbo. But With this case the frame was damaged as part of removing the stuck post, so I think the shop would have to suck it up.

I’m in the shops fault camp, they’re supposed to be expert enough that they’ll know to stop before it completely borks it unless they’ve had the nod from the customer that it would be an acceptable outcome.

Congrats that is Very Nice™️

I love ADV bikes but I’ve really not got use for one at the moment, got my full licence back in June and the furthest I’ve ridden since was back from the test centre – and that was still on my old scooter.

Maybe one day though, my biggest issue is that I like too many bikes and I don’t know which one to buy, I’m hoping that in a couple of years I might be in a position to be swapping and changing used bike every few months for a bit until I settle on something. But for now I’m happy with my little meteor

Yeah I know what you mean, it’s the reason I hang around on forums really, luckily I don’t have anything major to worry about at the moment.

Are there any local charities that can help out with this kind of listening post service?

I’d volunteer my services but I’ve not got enough time for myself so anyone else has got no chance.

This reminds me of my former brother in law. He wasn’t quite so successful or ambitious in his bullshitting as this guy but a similar type.

Various previous successes numerous failed marriages and unclear numbers of children before divorcing/separating moving to a new area with a new career in a different industry entirely and a new personality type.

I looked him up of Facebook and he was running a just giving page to help with his living costs due to some illness or misfortune, had a new last name and was a devout Christian.

My nephew hasn’t seen or heard from him since he could walk and he probably drove a wedge between members of my family

Absolutely no sympathy for this Nick Clark chap when someone asks him what the colour the boathouse door is.

Dog owner will be covered under their home insurance even if they don’t have pet cover (a mate of mine doesn’t, he has a DD to a savings account to deal with vet bills)

Injured party needs to find any kind of legal cover they have be it home insurance BC or whatever if the dog owner isn’t playing ball, no idea how you’d go about finding out who their house is insured with but I’m sure a legal eagle should.

I’m up £50ish thanks to a good employer.

Obviously that’s better than a lot of people but a few months ago we worked out that we had about £200 per month of ‘expendable income’ when really it needs to go into the savings.

Gas/electric has gone up £100 (over double) food bills have gone up enormously. So it’s tight but we’re surviving. We’re in the lucky position that Mrs P isn’t currently in paid employment and the kids are getting old enough for that to be an option if needs be.

Planned but not booked foreign holidays for this year have gone, Easter week was 2 nights in a premier inn rather than a week all inclusive somewhere.

£5k bike? No way, not even close.
£30k car? Possibly, no idea what it’s actually worth. but it’s leased and is only costing money, but it’s more budget-able than the previous used car than needed regular repairs. No idea how anyone could afford to buy a £30k car, but someone must because £30k doesn’t go far when it comes to new cars these days.

Cheers 👍🏻

Have fun tomorrow, I’ll be looking at it wistfully every time I walk past my bike tomorrow but I don’t think I’ll have chance to go anywhere this weekend now.

Had to deliver a birthday card to a family friend tonight, I duly volunteered to go on the bike. Obviously it’s much cheaper than taking the car in these times of expensive fuel.

Still loving it, whether it’s because the bike is good or because it’s more my style I don’t know, but I like the pace of it, I’m confident on it and I like the way it looks. Wouldn’t hurt if it was a bit faster, but meh, maybe in a few years I’ll spring for that 1250GS

@golfchick I love the Street (and Speed) twins, if my ER6 hadn’t died I’d have been looking at either a Street or an Interceptor but circumstances dictated a lower budget.

Quite glad it did though, this weather has made going into the office a joy, I even went to band practice on it (drums were there luckily, that could’ve been a challenge) I would never have done that on my old bike or scooter when the car was available. It was happy at 50ish down the main A roads and unlit lanes, would recommend it to anyone who wants a cheap, very cheerful runabout as long as you’re not in a hurry.

Once it’s run in, I’ll be able to go everywhere at 60-70 but treating it gently now especially before the 300mile running in service. Should be done in a couple of weeks

fazzini

So based on my 40 mile per week commute, I’ve only got 25 more years to go. Bugger. 🤦🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️

😂

Worth a go sharkattack, I preferred the yellow one, but would have had to wait for that and needed a bike for work. I do like the Red though, it’s really grown on me, still deciding on the wheel stripes. I definitely prefer the matte black to the chrome, and I don’t like the sissy bar or screen, they make it look like you’re trying to be a big Harley boy on a budget.

I used MCN compare for my insurance, was with Hastings but they don’t have the meteor on their system at the mo so I had to set up a new policy and Devitt were cheapest. £154 comp £250 excess 39 with 2 years NCD. Kept on the drive.

That Ducati is lovely, I still list after big bikes, went out on the roadie this morning and saw a few GS boys out, I’d love one but can’t afford it or justify it for my use. I reckon a big modern bike would be more relaxing than mid size bikes because you’ve got the safety net gadgets you don’t get on 650s. TC and a rain mode would have been much more relaxing than a sticky throttle.

Mrs P is also solidly no motorbikes, hence me venting on here about how much I like it 😂 it took me 5 years of 200mile per week bicycle commutes to convince her it was a sensible idea.

C90s are cool, I showed Mrs P a picture of the new Dax they’re bringing out and she just rolled her eyes at me 😂 I’ve been told that I can only have one at a time so I need to stop looking now. Happy with this.

Tempted to get the tank wrapped in black gloss though and remove the wheel stripes for the full murdered out look.

@sharkattack this is even cheaper than the mutt I think £3850otr. I’ve got 2 years ncd from a scooter, comp cover is £154 a year pcp is £62.50 per month.

I did think I’d have liked cruisers, I didn’t like the seating position on the scooter, but it’s more than fine on this. I came home my least favourite way home tonight, NSL twisty, narrow and nadgery and it was super relaxing, I even think I carried more corner speed on this that the ER6