Nope, the Luddite movement, Tubed division, is alive and well with a significant membership.

If I have to use tyre sealant, and round here when the farmers are trimming the hawthorn hedges then yes I do have to, I prefer it inside tubes rather than all over the garage.

Another user of dual compound, folding Smorgasbords in 29 and 26. Used as both front and rear on a number of different bikes. Wear well, no real issues, good all round tyre, good price.

Hi,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but my early 29er Scandal does not appear to have any flat spots at or near the cable guide on the seat tube.

Got one in the garage and will try and have a look in daylight tomorrow.

Village barber, £8.50, North Yorkshire, when it gets long enough to be annoying so maybe 3-4 times per year.

17 and 13 and my initials are DB so sometime about 3 years ago I became Dozy Bear, sometimes shortened to Dozy and sometimes to The Bear depending on whether I am being dozy or grumpy.

P.S.17 year old wants to know whether

Sheldon

is named for the Big Bang Theory character or the tiny dinosaur that thinks it’s a turtle.

Another vote for Synology and 2 disks of your choice.

And the trabbie, the owners brought it across to do the Manx, that was the height of their ambition. Speak it softly but it became very sick with one stage to go. Luckily the rally finished at the stop line of the final stage, no drive back to base required and as it was running last on the road the rescue unit covering the stage felt it was only proper to escort the trabbie through on the grounds of safety. This they did with for the most part no daylight visible between their front bumper and the trabbie’s rear until they backed off just before the final brow and allowed it to travel to the line under it’s own steam so to speak. This was done with the full knowledge and approval of every one on the safety net. The owners had no money to take it home but were adopted by a national newspaper to do the RAC, which they completed without any close escort, and then by Toyota Team Europe who took them to several rounds of the WRC before their homolgation expired.

An early decision to trade my medical degree for a front row seat means I have now been pulling people out of badly parked rally cars for 30 years. Started with Sunbeams, Vauxhalls and Escorts and went right through the Group B era to the present day. Still got a soft spot for the Lancia Stratos and an evening spent in a cattle market somewhere in Wales as the works team serviced two of them either side of me.

Another Pentax user here. I had pentax film SLRs and therefore some lenses which guided my original choice. I bought a K10D as new about 10 years ago but have recently added a K30 second hand. Pentax forums has camera and lens guides but you can pick up decent lenses which are fully compatile with the cameras for not much monney. SRS microsystems have been a good source of guaranteed used stock if you prefer to buy from a dealer although I have also used Wex photographic and been happy. At the price range you are looking at second hand seems to be the route to go.

Just been through this with our 17 year old. Not insurable on either of our cars and most of the insurance companies that deal with old fogies like me don’t want to know. Issue seemed to be that there were plenty of companies that were happy to insure her for around 400ukp while she was on provisional, with 2 adults with clear no claims on as additional drivers, but most of them would then not insure her or wanted ridiculous amounts to insure her once she had passed. In the end went with Admiral as they were about the cheapest after she passed – around 750ukp – and a little bit less beforehand. Same price with or without a black box so we went without.

Only one of her friends who has done better turned out to be driving a car his mum bought a year ago and has now replaced with something more in keeping with her image, but without apparently informing the insurance company that she is no longer the main driver. Not recommended.

Last year’s work awards dinner was “Black tie” and everyone who had one wore their dinner jacket/long dress as appropriate. That left those who did not have the requisite worried about appearing out of step. I gave it a miss.

Thankfully, some common sense broke out as this year the dress code was “smart casual, (no jeans)”. I was due to go but ducked out at the last minute as someone had to mind the shop. Now seen the photos and those in a position of authority seem to have worn dinner jacket/long dress as appropriate. At least I now understand why they look appalled at my usual chinos/polo shirt get up.

Not sure what to go for if it’s smart casual again next year – a) Top hat white tie and tails, b) T-shirt, board shorts, c) give it a miss again.

Hankering towards (c)

I have a Rolex which is 30+ years old. It was a 21st present. I wore it continually for nigh on 25 years until the need to be bare below elbows at work meant that I didn’t fancy walking around with it in my pocket as it is now worth more than my car second hand. Still wear it when not at work though.

The elephant in the room is servicing costs. Rolex recommend servicing every 2-3 years as the lubrication used is said to only last that length of time. In fairness, the watch comes back like new with all worn parts replaced. Last time I had it serviced was about 10 years ago and as the glass had a scratch it was replaced as part of the service which then cost around 250ukp.

Cost of service now is 600ukp+ and once the watch is 40 years old that starting price goes up to 1000ukp. As it was playing up and only right twice a day it is off for service but I now have a couple of Seiko solar watches doing duty for work and play that between them cost a lot less than the service cost of the Rolex and should tick for 10 years plus without service. Not sure that I will get Rolex serviced again although I admire the brilliance of a business model that asks you to pay 3k+ for an item without mentioning that you may need to pay the same again every 10 years for the privilege of continuing to use it.

At that pricepoint one of the sellers of refurbished ex industry laptops such as Morgan is worth a look. I got a Lenovo X201 from them for less than 200ukp and it is excellent. Would meet the portable requirement but not the screen size but they did have some HP laptops that might tick both boxes.

No box, but this year a barn owl family moved in to our barn via an old dovecot entrance and raised 2 owlets. Wonderful to see them ghosting in and out at twilight and may try and put a camera up there over winter.

Just to complicate matters the POC VPD air are lighter weight than the VPD 2.0 but so far seem comfortable, light weight and durable. Already outlasted my race face dig and 661 rage both of which are a lot bulkier and fell apart quite quickly without any major impact. Gform are fine but are essentially leg warmers with protection and can get mighty hot.

If you are going for tools then agree felco secateurs are the bees knees. As far as other hand tools are concerned there are a couple of dutch firms that hand forge tools, Sneeboer and DeWit. The former are available mail order from Harrod Horticultural and the latter from Crocus although I am sure other outlets are available. The De Wit tools tend to be a bit cheaper but I have no personal experience of them. The Sneeboer spade I have is excellent.

If you want UK hand made then the lazy dog tool company on the NY Moors do some beautifully made hand trowels although their main line of products are agricultural weeders for the organically inclined.

Just been through this with daughter who is learning to drive. neither of our care insurable for her so she is now proud owner of a 2010 Skoda Fabia 1.2, 60bhp. Both mum and dad on as named drivers. Issue was not insurance as a learner which we could of got for around 400ukp but what it was going to cost when she passed. Best deal was Admiral and it made no difference to price whether she black boxed or not. Came out at around 700pa rising to 830pa when she passes. We were looking at a Clio and that would have been more expensive to insure by about 50ukp although that was not the reason we didn’t go for it.

The only ones amongst her contemporaries who have got better deals have been those who have been happy to start their driving careers by committing insurance fraud and pretending it is mum’s car that they only drive occasionally, as in every day to college.

As above, find a local specialist grower. In North Yorks I went for Rogers in Pickering and took their advice of what would work best, helped by the fact that they were growing the plants 20 miles down the road.

Conference is the commonest self fertile although even that will benefit from the chance of cross pollination. Other varieties are self sterile and need another tree to pollinate from and nurseries list pollination groups so you can pick trees that will be in blossom at the same time.

Wesley Barell – but they are not cheap. If they have a store near you worth looking at what they have on sale. They will rebuild any sofa they have made – we bought a suite from them that they had made for a photo shoot – it was white and about half price. When sofa got damaged in a radiator leak they took the sofa back and rebuilt it. The two chairs are 18 years old and are just about run in.

Other option listed above is Ercol. We have one that I paid full price for about 20 years ago – needs cushions re-covering but otherwise has survived childen and pets. They were horribly out of fashion a few years ago and we picked up a couple of small sofas for 100ukp plus delivery – probably a 20th of what they were worth originally. Now a bit more sought after and I haven’t looked recently on ebay but if you can find a decent one and be prepared to get cushions recovered you will still have a bargain.

Doing day 1 as part of the NYMBO league.

Out round Wykeham and Dalby in the last couple of weeks it has been slimy in patches. We did have a reasonable dry spell but some fairly torrential rain showers in the last couple of weeks have left some patches of mud and puddles on the singletrack although the bulk of the forest road is dry and fast. I am hoping that a few more days of sun will dry up the softer ground although on some areas of the moor you need an exceptionally dry summer to get rid of all the mud and this has not been one of those summers.

Velo Ratadog at the top of the Singletrack league and just outside the top 100 overall. Never happened before, never to be repeated.

I want to know why trucks can now do 50mph on single carriageways .

Statistically it is safer. As I understand it, there was research to show that when trucks traveled at 40, cars following behind were likely to get impatient and try to pass, whereas at 50 they were happy to tuck in and follow. Less dodgy overtaking resulted in fewer accidents and fewer deaths.

As above, it depends on the car. Audi had a problem with the design of some of their petrol engines that drank oil and then had issues with the timing chain tensioner which was kept under tension by the oil pressure. I had a 1.8T Audi built engine in a Skoda which gave endless trouble including a very expensive engine rebuild at 60k miles to which Skoda UK contributed despite it being well out of warranty. Once I started asking around I found plenty of friends and acquaintances with a selection of Audi’s who all had similar engines and similar problems. Diesels said to be fine as are the smaller petrol engines. Don’t know if problem now solved as cars concerned are 5-8 years old.

Tried a variety over the course of 2 kids. Seats in front of the adult gave little support and generally got in the way. We didn’t find one that worked in any useful way.

Hamax were fine if the bike would take the adapter, although the adapter was heavy and the points made above about derailleur mounts etc. all apply. Also tended to flex on its supports which protected child but was a bit disconcerting until you got used to it. Wouldn’t fit on an XS womens MTB frame, although don’t think you will have any problem with a 15 inch.

As a result we went for a CoPilot Lima which sat on a Blackburn rear rack and was probably the best of the bunch if I am being honest. They are still around and Topeak make a similar set up as well. Only issue is making sure that your bike has rack mounts and there is no clash with disc brake position.

Used the Excess Baggage company to ship a bike to NZ three years back. Cost approx 130ukp for freight and insurance and then 150nzd for inspection, fumigation and customs fees in NZ. This was despite the fact that it was a new bike and had been cleaned to within an inch of its life before leaving here. Whole process went seamlessly otherwise, door to door with company providing box and packaging.

Partial to a Black Sheep or a Tanglefoot but preference for Golden Ales so Badgers Golden Champion, Wold Gold, Golden Sheep or Thwaites Wainright will all be very acceptable.

North Yorks Moors?

Or try the Southern end of the Moors. I live 20 minutes by bike from Dalby, York and leeds 30-60 minutes away if you need the shopping/city. YAS will be happy to have you.

Went through this with our 17 year old lab a couple of years ago. Very difficult and I feel for you.

Yorkshire, God’s Own Country apparently.

Hope ao.com worked out OK for the sake of the OP. Have to say that we have dealt with them 3 or 4 times and been very impressed each time.

You are asked to see a 25-year-old white man who experienced marked weakness and dyspnea 4 days after being admitted for a compound arm fracture after falling from a tree. Estimated blood loss from the initial fracture …………………..compatibility tests show no new erythrocyte antibodies in the patient’s serum and that, when they attempted to elute antibody from the patient’s RBCs and test against normal RBCs, the results were negative. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Frankly, I come here to get a break from work, however, if this is real life then the answer is that the diagnosis is whatever the on call consultant haematologist tells me it is.

Taking cheer, but only a little, from the fact that I am not the only one. A week off with the flu in January. Just about got back on the bike when the second bout started much as described by OP,that was mid February. Finally began to feel better last week and was really looking forward to getting out in great weather this weekend and woke up on Saturday with hacking cough and headache. Grumpy doesn’t begin to cover it.

Or get a pair of waterproof hiking boots and don’t bother about changing the sole.

I have been using inov-8 roclite 286gtx goretex boots for a few years. Lightweight, lasted well, sole works with flats, waterproof and a bit of ankle protection. rrp is 125ukp but if you hunt around you can often find them for a lot less.

Rata the labrador was our family dog for 17 years until she died in 2014. In between sleeping, eating and farting she handled all social media duties.

We have gone from Manchester as it is more convenient for us, but that does limit options. Singapore and Emirates have both been fine and I would recommend either.

Heavily depends on the clearance available in fork and frame and your intended use but here are some I have used that seem durable in my hands and I weigh a lot more than you.

At the cost effective end of the scale, Halo Freedom Discs, 28mm width, fairly light and seem highly durable. They are around for about 40ukp a rim. Not sure about the UST ready as I don’t run tubeless. Stans Flow EX 29er are about the same width, slightly lighter and designed for tubeless but also more expensive. In my experience they are excellent but tyre choice is important as some tyres can be a nightmare to get on them.

If you want to go up in width, Velocity Blunt 35 make for a seriously wide tyre footprint, are not that much heavier than the Flows and Velocity list them for cross country and all mountain but the rim tyre combination may be tight for space in frame and fork.

I also have some Mavic TN 719, only 19mm width which rather bucks the modern trend and restricts you to 2.3 tyre width but they are light and UST ready. I use them as a lightweight wheelset for summer MTBO.

Lots of suggestions on previous thread here

Bel Air and anything from Charge do not meet the width test. Ergon SM3 has hard padding and a definite sweet spot, find it and it is very comfortable, lose it and it is excruciating. I found I averaged roughly 25% of any ride in the sweet spot so it followed the bel airs onto ebay. Spec Henge gets rave reviews but I think they were for the mark1, current one I found fairly short on padding and after an hour was like sitting on plywood.

Wide WTB Rocket V seems the best for me. Various options for price and padding as well as width. For armchair comfort on the 29+ rigid I have a Terry Figura Max Gel bought from Rose.

I looked at the Brooks Cambium but decided they might have the capacity to be seriously painful. Thanks for doing the experiment Ton.

Worn specs since long before I rode MTB and short sighted enough that riding glasses/inserts can’t take prescription.

Now take advantage of deals that opticians offer to get a pair of variable density sunglasses with as much coverage as I can sensibly get given my prescription and use those for riding.

1×10 with a range extender on the 29+, 2×10 on the Scandal I use for MTBO – because the 3×9 wore out and I decided to try something different, 3×9 on everything else until it wears out.