We’d already done some ancestry stuff which confirmed we are from south-west yokel stock back many many generations. Older brother then got bought one of those DNA tests as a present, which said we are descended from Beaker people back at least 4500 years with a very high presence in south-west England. So no massive surprises but did find it quite interesting we’re still here and been here that long, and probably haven’t evolved much since then either.

John_l Forks are Columbus Minimals, very light and in keeping with skinny tube steel frame.
Wheels are 32h rear 28h front Dura Ace on Ryde Pulse Sprint rims, again pretty light for traditional looking wheels.
Might well change the bottle cages….I wonder if Ritchey do 17 degree stems, everything else is Ritchey WCS so would like to keep the same. Cheers

Update – got the traditional looking Rourke frame now, built with Dura Ace 9000 / Ritchey WCS, rides lovely it does. 853 Pro Team tubing, Columbus forks. Weighs bang on 8kg built.

Update – our local main VW dealership have come back and beaten the broker deals on a new one by a fair bit, so no probs with V5, well chuffed & now have on order. To get loads off you have to ‘buy’ on finance (which we’d pay off the next day), and they knock more off on their loyalty scheme if your new one is registered in the same name and address as the old one.
So we now have a 2016 black T6 SWB DSG T30 140 Kombi 30K miles to get sold in March. What’s best, Ebay? Gumtree? Autotrader? Cheers

Twin Dellorto 40’s worked well for me, much livelier response I found.

Pipe, slippers & cardigan? Or an Ebike.

Revs1972, thanks for the hj link, interesting reading. Maybe I’ll try pushing the local dealer first for best price and see what they come back with before doing anything else. Thanks

If down south new forest bike project has lots of stuff like this going cheap usually

If you look around you can get a late model Transalp within budget, this one highish mileage though, but they are out there:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-11-HONDA-XL700-VA-B-TRANSALP-XL-700-ENDURO-TOURER-HPI-CLEAR-HISTORY/113375750186?hash=item1a65b8a82a:g:hQkAAOSwyf1bR6Zh:rk:8:pf:0

+ 1 for a Honda Transalp, look for the later 700 version, should just about do within budget. Hard pushed to get a CB500x for this amount.

Certainly not Keaveney fans here, would always switch to R4 or 5 Live in our workshop when he was on in the morning. Thought Radmac were great in the afternoon so sad they’ve going and he’s now on instead. Gave him a go yesterday, music was okay but he sounded really subdued compared to his normal banal irritating self. Might give it a bit longer but have rejoined Spotify on their 99p a month deal just in case.

Pretty quiet leaving London driving back down the M3 today, wish it were like that more often.

+1 for Decathlon tarp, have used ours loads inc. off the side of the van as a shelter, still fine.

ESP one of many we love. Top bloke & band. Them, the Undertones and early Damned way above Pistols/Clash for us…

Thanks for info, yes all pretty similar, have ordered now one, cheers

Dodgy cable? Try replacing if not releasing back down the gears, squirt some GT85/WD40 down the outers first (checking these too aren’t kinked/split or rough edges where they end). Also squirt some of the same stuff up in the lever mech and work back and forwards a few times on both paddles. Try these before thinking of taking the lever apart or replacing. Might free things up.

Update – didn’t loosen up after say 100 miles on a few rides and became really annoying. Contacted Hope, posted back last Thursday, back today, fitted and all working fine now. Apparently they changed the bearings and free hub. Their customer service was really good, friendly and helpful, and very speedy at resolving.  Sorted.

Thanks for the info all, will share with him. Peekay that’s when he’s going.

I live here, as above, the official tracks are just that, gravel tracks that aren’t challenging, the bike shop in Burley has the crap maps or plenty to use via Strava. That said you can build some nice loops and it’s looking good at the moment with the autumnal colours. There are certainly places you can get more challenging rides near Burley ahem, it is getting much wetter though, but as 40mpg says might be best to contact Dorset Rough Riders or Newforce for local knowledge, and etiquette. Still bonkers there’s many miles of trails horses and walkers can go but not bikes, won’t go off on that one now.

If there’s a dog leg coming from the gutter to the downpipe that’s very often where the blockage is so if you can get that apart it’s worth checking first to clear that then as others say put some scrunched up chicken wire back in the exit off the gutter afterwards, makes it much easier to clear this every few months. Avoid acid on metal pipes.

Ever tried getting WTB tyres on Stans rims? Tight as ….

Not a good combination, very sweary making. Recently replaced with Maxxis, so much easier

Growing up abroad in a hot climate we always had an afternoon kip and never really got out of it. Still do, even when I was ‘working’ for a company, after lunch used to go out to the van and nod off for a bit. Feel much better afterwards. Much better than relying on coffee to fight through tiredness. Some people can’t though, Mrs goes psychotic after if she ‘accidentally’ kips during the day.

Thanks for info. Yes need the spacer. I’ll try a few rides to see if it loosens up, if not will try what’s suggested above, and contact Hope. A bit annoying for a new thing to do this. Cheers

Ummed and arred about a Ritchey Logic Road frame off the shelf but in the end for a bit more have gone to Rourke to get just what I want. See how long it takes now, hope it’s the right decision…Now to flog a load of old stuff to pay for it.

Went for the Maxxis Beavers in the end, much much easier to fit on Flow rims than the WTB’s, very happy

r

Thanks, anyone tried Specialized tyres too, they show 2.0 versions?

Just need 3 more..

Another vote for a Kinesis Crosslight pro6 v2, had a 55.5cm one for about a year now, it’s great. Seem to be still some out there at sale prices around £450.

I had similar problems at home and swapped to Three with wifi calling, works fine.

I find Charge Spoons uncomfortable too. As others say we are all different and it takes a bit of trial and error to find what suits you, for me I found this with Ritchey Vector rail ones, currently using a Skyline on one bike and Contrail on another, no complaints.

If petrol get a Honda for reliability, although our local garden machinery / mower shop does seem to be selling loads of the Lion battery ones these days.

We got an iMac a month ago, the 21” retina one, also got the ms office package, some extra speed/memory and AppleCare for 3 years. Very pleased with it , love the clear bright display , easy to use and speedy. Got using unidays account and it came with free beats headphones so once these flogged and the unidays discount the price was a bit more bearable.  Prefer it to the old windows thing it replaced.

I needed an auto van a couple of years back following a busted ankle, use for both work deliveries/collections and private use. There isn’t much choice I could find other than VW Transporter or Mercedes Vito or perhaps an older imported Japanese thing like a Hiace. Test drove the former ones and didn’t like the Vito because it has this sticking out by your left foot (transmission tunnel?) which meant you couldn’t move your foot about, no DAB and felt a bit cheaply made. Opted for a year old DSG T6 from a main dealer which was a much nicer place to be but it isn’t all roses, the DMF went at 12K miles, fortunately fixed under warranty. When the warranty runs out I’ll probably flog (for not much of a loss hopefully) and get another year old one with the remaining 2 years warranty left or a new one via a broker (seem to be c. 15-20% less than main dealer). It’s been handy having one over the summer for holidays and trips to festivals, carrying all our clobber, kipping in it etc. I’m surprised by people saying they get 40+ mpg, mine averages around 32, 36 on a long run driving very sensibly. Maybe it’s because mine is a DSG and always full of loads of crap though.

If you want easy family friendly riding and kiddy things to do, try Moors Valley CP near Ringwood, or out in the Forest an easy ride is the old railway line from Burbush Car Park (Burley, plenty of touristy tat shops and pubs), to Brockenhurst (ditto pubs and shops). Holmsley tea rooms is along this track too. This is a section of road though just after the tea rooms but those in the know know how to unofficially by pass this and get back on the railway line track further up, but a certain person on this forum wouldn’t approve of going off the official NF tracks. Take a waterproof…

My son’s Honda Civic used to leak and fill the footwell on the near side, never quite worked out how it was getting in but some of those Heko wind deflector jobbies mentioned above certainly made it less bad by diverting some of the water away from the window.  It also meant you could always leave the window slightly open to help air circulation etc.

Yes Henry, if you get something else 6 months later you’d wish you’d bought………a Henry

Mrs bought a new polo recently with this engine, she loves it. Have only driven a few times but it does go great, plenty of oomph and much better than previous 1.2 one she had.

Thanks for all the leads, they’ve taken note and gone today, Sykeside first then on elsewhere, and it’s raining of course…

Thanks all, that’s really helpful

Thanks all, gives us a better idea on what to look for