OK. It was awful but it was all I could afford and you could get all the required bike and boarding equipment in it. It had incredible understeer and went left all on its own. Its also not quite an estate or a shooting brake but that doesn’t seem to matter on this thread.

Replaced it when I moved to Oz with a 1992 Subaru Liberty with air suspension(that leaked). That was great (compared to the astra)

Entirely possible that nobody in the world is interested in this but I’m posting it anyway.

Cues crankset arrived and works very well with SRAM chain and microshift cassette/mech. (I cannot comment on whether this would work as well with a crank that had multiple rings that required some shifting)

Very happy child who has a great deal of satisfaction at having built his own bike from scratch from a variety of ebay parts, stuff from our spares bin, some new bits and the remains of his old bike (wheels, seat, bottle cage!!)

I know I could likely have got something in one piece for around the same money but the pair of us have had a great time cobbling it all together and solving the compatibility issues it has brought.

We’re planning on a gravel bike next!!

Yep. It’ll either work brilliantly or I’ll have to buy a new bb and crankset that are compatible!

Thanks. That’s reassuring. 10 speed was a little more expensive and he goes through mechs like most people go through underpants. I may well regret but microshift is a good price so I can upgrade at some point if needed.

The age range I referred to was 1-17 though in all honesty does it matter!

If you want a sobering read without any graphic imagery or narrative then just look at the causes of death for children in the US. Guns are by far the leading cause with near 5000 in a year. Here in the UK we had 8 in the same year and it was ranked 15th in causation. Even though the population is much higher in the US the simple maths still show its all wrong there. My brother in law lives there and when he takes his daughters out to a ‘venue’ he likes to know where the exits are! Frighteningly the deaths are rising rapidly with death from ‘assault by firearm’ rising quickest.

Newcastle upon Tyne

Blue bin (with bottle caddy) – A mix of select plastic, glass, card, paper, tins, tetrapacks

Green bin – Landfill

Brown bin – Garden waste – no food (for a fee)

We deposit all the food packaging that is now recyclable at the supermarket.

Small electrical, batteries, metal, hard plastic, wood, bulbs, plasterboard, waste oil etc all taken by ourselves to the local recycling hub

Food waste composted in the garden.

Frighteningly large amount would go to landfill if we didn’t take the initiative

I managed 40mm WTB Nano on my 2018 for the dirty reiver one year. Guards wouldn’t fit and the front mech on the tiagra groupset would rub when in the big ring (unless you adjusted it to just be a fraction out of alignment). Normally have 35mm Gravel king with guards. Tempted to go up to 38mm.

Yes. Got bike new with this BB. Possible not enough grease but has the same sound as previously worn out BB’s on other bikes. Still feels smooth. May just buy replacement parts as it will undoubtedly fail at some point. If the Dub looks ok might try a bit of grease to extend the life!

Thanks all. Really helpful re the hope converters and hadn’t seen the wheels BB before. Looks like I might need new tools too!

Kevin Winter, Ferryhill, Co Durham. Have his email. He is local to me and just fixed my Croix de fer when I finally snapped the gear hanger off. Reshaped the dropout and did a really nice respray with perfect colour match. Fair number of good testimonials scattered through the internet and he makes lovely frames from scratch.
He works from a shed in his garden. Brilliant craftsman.

When it comes to family I tend to take the most time efficient mode of transport otherwise I won’t see them. I try to make my carbon savings elsewhere. I cycle to work and to the supermarket. I keep the house at the same temperature as the fridge (at least that’s what the rest of the family say). I try to avoid rampant consumerism and I recycle as much as I can. All holidays have been in the UK for a few years (there are of course other significant contributory factors there).
I think you just have to do what gets you there in the right amount of time with the most economy and least stress. Its scary how much my parents have aged in the last 3 years. I don’t want to deny them or myself and my kids time with them.

Just done this on nationwide (flexaccount). £48 for wife’s conditions and £45 for adding mountain biking (which must be with a guide!!!!). Whether it’s a good policy is something I am keen not to find out

Exactly the same experience as Oldfart. Lovely pre-finished oak doors having bits shaved off to fit into door frames that have never seen a spirit level. Costing about £3000 for doors and fitting but that also includes fixing stairs and fitting a new attic hatch and ladder plus a couple of other smaller joinery jobs that require more finesse than I’ll ever have.

Didn’t say it wasn’t a good pension but the tax situation is clearly crazy where you have no control over what goes in and rack up massive tax bills without an option not to. As I said I wouldn’t have made the choice hunt did. I’d have been happy to have been able to control my pension input and predict my taxes rather than waiting for the Brown envelope with the crazy sums in it. Re easier ways to make money I’ve been doing this since I was 22! I have limited experience of the world outside the NHS. However my brothers in law who are plumbers, builders and architects all make way more than me.

Been a Doctor for 24 years. Consultant for 12. Have no private practice and never will. Paid to work for 52 hours a week (40 pensionable) and work an average of 60 (better than the 90-100 hours 20 years back (£4.90 an hour)). Have no control over what goes into my pension. Yes I’ll have a good pension at the end (presuming I don’t die young from being up all night every 8th day on call).
At 44 I got a chunky 4 figure pension tax bill as the pension input amount had exceeded the allowance. No control over it.
Predicted, until Jeremy made his changes, that this would happen every year or so until I was in my 50’s then it would get rapidly silly moving into substantial 5 figure sum every year. I was planning my exit!
Would I have done what Jeremy has done. No.
Has it made my financial situation better. Yes.

What should he have done. Not sure. Perhaps more nuanced approach allowing people to control what goes in meaning the rest just goes through the normal tax system. However that would have been difficult and a cynical person might think the rather more broad based approach has allowed them to wrap up a bung to the rich as an NHS saving step!

Yes there are a good few NHS consultants who do private. In my specialty they are not common (outside the SE). I know very few who do. Many of us are driven by motivations other than money alone (There are easier ways to make it) but at the same time we want to live comfortably (who doesn’t)

NHS doesn’t do meniscal arthroscopy as there is no good evidence for it. Private still do as you can bill for it. Monetisation of healthcare is an issue. Having said that where there is a need for elective healthcare private will get you done quicker. However the caveat is that it can be a lottery and I don’t think they have the same level of governance and safety as the NHS (No matter what the media say)
I should disclose I am a full time NHS Doc (Not Ortho) and have never done any private work.

Best of luck with the knee. In my case I am trying to work out how long one of my hips will last!!

I put a ZTTO 9 speed 11-46 on my youngests old bike. Had to swap the mech to a 2nd hand alivio as the XT (also 2nd hand) on it didn’t have a long enough throw to cope with the range. I could potentially have used a range extender instead. ZTTO do similar in 10spd. They are a wee bit heavy and I don’t know what the longevity would be like but the loads applied by a child would be less. Having said that he did sheer the mech off so maybe I’m wrong about that. Hes back on the original setup now as he got stronger very quickly and keeps up (when he wants to) very well.

Budget quality street🤣

Used to do a helicopter retrieval job moving sick babies between hospitals. We had a delayed departure once because the locals had stolen the pilots helmets from the helicopter!! It wasn’t Liverpool

For some reason at work we ended up being given many many boxes during xmas a couple of years back. I set myself a challenge of eating a box of 6 a day for the whole of December. I completed the challenge with ease though i don’t remember being able to pick out a favourite. Didn’t seem to improve my performance on the bike either!

Could just be the o ring. Thats what leaked on mine. Replaced and worked perfectly. Having said that shortly after it started leaking at the plastic tgrough fitting where the hose leaves the tank and enters the pump. I replaced that with a nice brass connectorand then it started leaking at the float switch. I can’t find a float switch but can find a new pump motor with integrated float switch. By the time i’ve done all of this i’ll have spent more than a new pump and will probably have a leak somewhere else!! Theres a moral in there somewhere but i like fixing stuff

Have been txting some biking mates on this very subject today.

I have two lovely scars in my leg from a weimaraner. It was off the lead and the owner said it was my fault for trying to ride past.

I’ve since been a wee bit wary of dogs off leads when riding. Thankfully most chavs where I live seem to go for stumpy legged mutts that I can currently outrun. I do think they can sense my wariness and come for the kill. I don’t particularly blame the dogs but its the owners shuffling along the trail with the dog off the lead, headphones in and focusing on their phone. I suspect they’ve been like that since they got the dogs which is why they’re so unruly.

I’ve been caught out swearing at owners and it definitely makes things worse as they’re almost invariably the wrong kind of owner. I now (if I can’t get away) stand with bike between me and the mutt and try and work out when is the right time to club it to death with a bicycle all the while politely addressing the loving owner to see if they might be interested in taking control. Occasionally they manage.

I do my best to be courteous to other trail users but there are a minority of dog owners who do not.

Sorry to hear the hip x Ray is not normal. To some extent the mri will give you a better idea.
No running could mean more biking. Always important, though not easy, to try and look on the bright side. Best of luck

I would get a referral to orthopaedics. An X-ray will show some pathology but not everything. A proper assessment by someone with the right skills will get you the right answer, probably with an MRI. I have impingement and have had surgery on a torn labrum (Andy Murrays issues). I’ll end up with a hip replacement somewhere down the line. Stopped running 10 years ago. Still riding, SUP, Snowboarding. Get the odd flare up and I think I’ll be lucky to get to 50 without a new hip (44 now).

Parents had a bright yellow 1.6 from 1976.lasted 7 years and literally dissolved. My mum kept a hammer in the glove box to hit the solenoid to start it. The passenger door didn’t open so you climbed across the front. In the last year you could only use it during daylight on dry days as the electrics were so unreliable you never quite new what would happen when you flicked a switch or pressed a button. No lights, no wipers. The petrol tank fell off due to rust and I remember seeing the sparks on the road as my mum kept driving with it bouncing off the ground under us. Other than those issues it ran fine and we all loved it. Still feel happy when I see one drive past.

Just got the vortex pro a week ago to replace a 12 year old hope vision 2 (which still works but the battery is old and I wanted USB charging for work). The vortex is nice, light, good crisp beam. Lots of modes. Too many modes and cycling through is a bit of a pain. Came with remote switch and helmet mount. The remote switch is very useful with gloved hands as the switch on the light is tiny. This makes flicking through the modes when you want to get back to full beam a pain. Seems robust enough but only time will tell. Suspect my hope might still outlive it with a new battery.

I accidentally grew a new fuschia by throwing the cuttings from one in a compost heap. I have a 6×10 ft fuschia where the compost heap was inside 3 years.
I think they might be impossible to kill as nothing else I touch survives

Bilateral impingement here too.

First noted in 2008, aged 32, while cramming in a full summer of big routes before firstborn arrived. Felt a pop in the right side while climbing a very steep hill. It settled and didn’t give any issue till training for a fell run in 2010. Off to the surgeon in 2011 for trimming of labrum. This seemed to help a bit but 6 months later the left popped while standing up from desk. I decided to ignore it as I wasn’t convinced about the first surgery. I’ve looked at surgery again (labrum trimming, resurfacing and total replacement) and decided that it will be necessary sometime but best avoided as long as possible. I have slowly and steadily increased my riding, have competed in a few races and done ok (enough for me), done some bikepacking and generally done more than the majority of the UK population with perfect hips will ever do. I stand up paddle boarding, rock climb (bouldering) and sail. All to an acceptable level for a 43 year old.
I never ever run. It will get me to the surgeon years before I am planning. I don’t walk anywhere that I can’t get to on a bike. I’ve given up kayaking as my legs go to sleep after hurting like hell for a while. I try not to stand in one position for a long time.
I am a doctor and remember when I was being used as a demonstration for hip examination at med school being told by the consultant teaching that I had anteverted femurs. Basically I’m further to the left on the bell shaped curve of ‘how long will your hips last’!

Nice jacket. Doesn’t last long. Mine has disintegrated inside 18 months. I’m 6’5″. The xl was too big.

Shin pads are helpful for snake strike. First hand experience of that, though probably a large dose of luck involved too!!

Manly dam in Sydney. Good circuit around there though not huge. However easy to find. Now some other tracks nearby. Blue mountains is a day trip but Anderson fire trail from Wentworth falls down to Woodford then oaks from there to glenbrook. Both just fire trails but reasonable fun. Certainly different from the UK. You can get the train up to Wentworth then pick it up again at glenbrook to get back to Sydney. There is also a reasonable xc circuit at yellowmundee at the foot of the blue mountains. Ridden all of them a lot when I lived there 15 years ago. Bike hire. Can’t help. Suspect Google will help with the hire and the finer details on the trails. Hope you enjoy

We had the same hutch and plastic cover. Lasted 3 years. The rabbits ate the hutch from the inside and the plastic cover disintegrated. Built a new hutch with double layer walls with polystyrene insulation and a big a frame roof. Lovely dry Bunnies. May move in there myself. The key bits however are being dry, windproof and having lots of hay plus being fox proof and most chicken wire isn’t. Building the hutch was way more entertaining than the rabbits are