It all depends on your priories. Both cars have pros and cons.

In the Audi’s favour they’re bloody good at sitting on the motorway and devouring big miles in total comfort. They’re nice to sit in as well and the sound systems are anything between very good and brilliant depending on whether the previous owner was feeling flush or not. To it’s disadvantage I’ve no idea where all the space goes.

Mondeo will be a bit more engaging to drive and is much (much!) larger inside. They’re not quite as refined though (soundproofing, interior’s not quite as nice) but it will be that but newer, and lower miles for the same money as an A4. Also, you avoid the image problem that goes with any German car if you’re bothered by that.

They drive exactly the same as a Felicia / Ibiza etc only with better visibility, and you do ever so slightly notice the higher centre of gravity when pushing on on country roads. Nothing more to consider than that, really. All these B segment SUVs are designed to drive like regular cars.

Between the Skoda and the SEAT, I’d go for the Skoda. Volkswagen group took the decision to market Skoda as a more upmarket brand not long ago, and that comes across when it comes to how they feel inside.

Just to note, I picked up some of these this afternoon and hooked them up to my laptop and the Bluetooth connection seems pretty good for Skype / VoIP shenanigans. The sound quality’s pretty shoddy though. They’re acceptable for what I’m going to use them for but I wouldn’t want to listen to any music on them.

I like how they went to the effort of integrating the front radar sensor into the overall design so that it doesn’t look like a last minute on afterthought.

Too much? Probably not. Optimal? Possibly not. If I were in your shoes (and assuming you’re able to) I’d maybe try taking out something like a 140/150 and riding it back to back against something a little shorter and more trail / XCish like a 120/130 on similar stuff to the riding you describe. Anything like that will be more cable than your 26” hardtail due to geo etc.

Maybe look at 650b options too as they might suit your body type better.

Marin do the Rift Zone in a 27.5. Not sure on your budget or what spec you have in mind, but these guys have stock (I’m guessing at 5’6” you’d be looking at a Medium?)

https://deanforestcyclesshop.co.uk/marin-rift-zone-275-1—2021-289-p.asp

For a demonstration of how capable shorter travel bikes are, here’s Brendog ripping it up on a Scott Spark.

Any chance you could comment on how these are for VoIP / Skype call duties?

I could do with a pair of lightweight Bluetooth buds to pop in the bag for the few occasions I have to pop into the office.

I tried connecting my cheapie Anker earbuds to my laptop this week and the sound quality was shockingly bad, which meant I had to take my bulky USB headset, and a dongle thing ‘cos Apple in their wisdom don’t put USB-A ports on laptops anymore. I know, first world problems, right?

I second Kayak23 – ridiculous, and fun because of it. Don’t try and ride it like a modern mountain bike, more like an insanely capable hardtail.

I’m running 4.8s on mine too. I don’t bother with a pressure gauge, instead preferring to rely on the pinch test. For general trail riding I would best describe the pressure as “the tyre deforms when you compress the bike but you’re no-where near bottoming out”. It’s all about getting the tyre to the point at which it moulds over roots but is still supportive.

And yeah, as others have said, low body position with elbows out, heels well dropped and I wouldn’t be without my dropper post.

Finally, get used to all rides taking longer than they should because people want to talk to you about your bike.

Another “yes, yes, yes” for the podcasts. Keep them up. Refreshing also to listen to a podcast and not come away thinking I really ought to download Nord VPN or get a veg box subscription.

Pinkbike’s podcast is well worth a listen too!

MT-5s are allegedly 255g minus the rotor compared to 410g for an XT 4 pot. Must be something to do with their plastic, I mean Carbotech(!) construction

Mind you, being Maguras they’ll never bleed properly and thus will give you similar stopping power to a set of Tektro V brakes running Kool Stop pads in the wet on chrome rims.

If you absolutely positively want 4 pots I’d go for the XTs (if you can get them), but as others have said I’m not really convinced on the need unless you’re a fat lad hitting long decents, a lot, on a heavy bike. Sintered pads and big rotors will have a more dramatic effect than the number of pistons.

4 pots do look cool though.

If you do put it on eBay set the start price at something that discourages people asking if you’ll swap it for a PS2. I’d personally start the bidding on something like that at £200 to weed out the cretins.

Is there any advantage between this and a cheapie one? Never used one in the past (normally get on okay with baby-wipes. There is nothing a baby wipe won’t clean).

You know that little tab on the rear mech that prevents you mis routing the chain? The one where everyone gets it wrong once, hears it rubbing, fixes it and never does it again? Well after 25 years I’ve done it again – the reason the downshift was rubbish is because the chain was rubbing on the tab, not old age of the SP41 as I’d convinced myself.

In a similar vein I completely stripped and reassembled one of my bikes a few months ago in an effort to chase down a rogue creak. Everything greased and tightened up with not a creak or squeak to be found I patted myself on the back and went riding, only to find that there was a funny grinding noise when on the smaller cogs of the rear cassette.

Yep. I’d routed the cable for the rear mech around the inside of the seat stays.

First ride on them today,

I didn’t die

Lies. You’re clearly posting from beyond the grave. Top bodging. Personally though you’re braver than me. A new pair of lowers is a lot cheaper than a new pair of teeth!

Aces. Thanks for the confirmations. Was worried the pads would wear to the “signature” of the rotor.

and new mount adapter

…or a boatload of washers?

Conversely I really enjoy the challenge that comes when switching back to a hardtail from my full susser. Yep, it’s all a bit sketchy (and fun) at first, but I soon get to the point where there aren’t any of my FS lines I won’t ride on the hardtail. When I jump back on the FS I’m faster, smoother, and more adventurous in the lines I’ll tackle.

All said and done though, if I had to go down to one bike it’d be the fully that I’d keep. For those days when you wanna get out and ride but you’re not feeling like giving it full-send everywhere it’s a massive skill-compensator, and let’s me hit stuff in a manner that would have me picking bracken out of my helmet if I was as blasé on the hardtail.

As my bike has a big ol’ hole by the head tube, I just forced an outer through that alongside the rear brake cable, and routed it through the downtube, through the bb shell (over the top of the bb axle), and up the seat-tube.

It was a total ball ache and I probably lost three fingers and a pint of blood in the process, but works fine now and was a lot less scary than drilling holes.

Kia warranties are very good. My S.I.L just had the shocks replaced under warrenty on her 14 plate Kia Karen’s. The dealership changed them for her when she took it in for a service. She didn’t even know they were misting. Considering that’s a wear and tear part and my S.I.L hadn’t even mentioned it, I think that’s pretty good serrvice.

it’s also worth noting that like-for-like at 7 years old (not sure how long you’re intending to keep it) the Kia seems to hold it’s value better to the tune of about a £1,500 based on a VERY quick look on AT

You can’t hunt for a new role, and expect it to be kept secret from everyone at your current company. It’s just not a realistic proposition.

I dunno, I think that’s an entirely viable proposition. I work within a reletively incestuous industry where someone always know someone, and made a job move recently. When I told my (then) director that I was leaving it was a bolt out of the blue for him. I wanted to leave (for postive reasons), and the recruitment process for my new role for one reason or another took about a month, spread over the of six interviews (thank god for COVID and remote working / hiring processes). Throughout all of this though I kept my head in the game with my then current employer. I also stipulated that I would not allow my prospective employer to seek references before an offer had been made.

it just fundamentally seems wrong to ‘run’ from problems, however legitimate they might be.

With regards to stress and leaving jobs (especially ones that are driving you to consider anti-depressants), f*ck framing it as “running from your problems”. I spent a long time honing my craft and becoming very well respected in what I did. I moved from a company that I’d known for years to a competitor that had a very good name in the market. Little did I know that their corporate culture was utterly toxic. I spent 12 months there trying to “make it work”. The stress made me ill, drove me to lean on drink and drugs as a coping mechanism, put strain on my relationship, and made me doubt who I was. Eventually I was used as the fall-guy following the loss of a big account and was fired. I returned to my old employer (no hard feelings, they knew the toxic culture of the competitor) and I poached all the good staff (non-compete clauses don’t apply if they fire you, apparently!). Said competitor is now a shell of its former self.

Like I say, the best form of revenge is phenominal success.

I think the key thing to bear in mind when working with recruiters is that they’re working for themsleves, not for you. They have a pile of jobs that they need to find credible candiates for, they only get paid when they fill them. But they need you (the candidate) in order to get paid. You’re an important tool in their arsenal, but nothing more than that.

To that extent you will find that for the most part recruiters will give you positive “chat” when things are moving forward postively for you, but be aware that they’ll be giving this positive chat to a number of candidates all of whom are going for the same role.

There are good recruiters out there, and both for you as a candiate and for employers looking to hire, good recruiters are worth their weight in gold. There are a lot of charlatens out there though who, if they weren’t in recruitment, would be selling houses or second hand cars. Work out which your recuiter is, and treat accordingly. Also, be aware that most employers would prefer to handle recruitment direcrtly as a result of being burnt by said charlatens.

Good luck with the job hunt. I’ve been in sh*tty jobs before and they can really take over your life. If you’re talented though, you will get out and remember that there’s no better revenge than phenominal success.

Honestly it sounds like everyone’s acted pretty reasonably. Shop told you they can’t do anything now, but gave you goodwill on the labour to get you going (charged you for materials) and then reclaimed it from the manufacturer (You wouldn’t expect them to work for free). It was your call (and a good call at that) to drop $300 on a new hub, and at that price I guess it’s a snazzy one compared to the one that failed on you.

So you spent $400 but have $90 in credit against that – so really you’ve only “spent” $310 – I’d look at that as being “You got the wheel built onto the hub that you wanted for $10” = bargain. Obviously you have to apply a degree of man-maths to arrive at that figure. At least you’re riding!

Are you handy with a tape measure? If so then you’re a bathroom designer. There’s not really much that can go into the design of a bathroom – and unless you’re planning on moving pipes about you’re even more limted.

one thing I would say with regards hardware: don’t go to anywhere that looks like a “Bath Store”, or has any any assosiatoins with “Victorian Plumbing” unless you want your wallet lightening. One such place quoted me £3,000 for some absolute junk hardware. I ended up buying some really nice stuff including overhead rainfall shower thingy and a handheld jobbie, thermostatic three way valve, overflow bath filler, column-style rad/towel rail) and EVERYTHING including tiles came to less than £1,500.

https://www.ergonomicdesigns.co.uk/ – thank me later.

In seriousness, go on pintstagram, work out what you like, then go find the stuff you want (bath, sink, loo, taps for both, showerheads and the like, tiles for wall / floor, any rads or towel rails, silly stuff like waste units) and then find a plumber, tell them what you want it to look like, and show him the stuff you’re thinking of getting him to fit. He’ll soon tell you what’s good and what’s bad and what you’ve forgotten. Assuming you’re getting a fitter to do this…

I’ve got some Fox Enduros and I was between a Large and a Med. I went for the Med in the end, as like yourself had heard that they stretch a little. They were a little snug for the first couple of rides (as in, aware that they’re there but. It restricting movement) but have relaxed since. Not sure if that’s helpful.

If you egg me on enough I’ll post a photo of my thighs with them on

Send noods

I’ve heard you can also go NX 12 with a Sramano setup and it works fine. I was tempted to do the same to get more range (currently running XT 11sp 11-46, whereas NX 12 gives you 11-50), then I saw the weight of the thing. You’d need the extra range to drag the 612g lump up any hill. That’s over a third again the weight again of my current cassette @ 450g.

if you’re happy with the performance of the cassettes and the range you’re getting from them I’d be tempted to just drop some pocket money on some Deore 10sp shifters and mechs.

The upper needs to keep water out and not soak it up like a sponge.

5.10 didnt’ get the memo

Delivery mileage pre-reg Alfa Stelvio Quadfoglio. Bang on budget, 0-60 in 4.0 and you could get dogs AND bikes in the back.

Plus it’s available now.

And it’s red. We all know red ones go faster.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102259454250

In typical STW fashion I just took your budget and added 30%
<h1 class=”product-stage__headline”>Sennheiser PXC 550-II</h1>
I bought a set of Momentum’s from the Sennheiser outlet store a couple of years back and they’re still going very strong. The noise cancelling isn’t up to Bose / Sony standards, so maybe do some reading on the specs of these if that’s important to you, but the sound profile is lovely.

RARM

I’m assuming from your post you’re indicating that the differnece between the Salary Sacrifice deals that you’re able to get through Octopus EV and a private PCH deal is c. £200 (in favour of a private PCH deal). If that is the case it does seem rather expensive, but worthwhile investigating further as with SalSac schemes there’ll be a reduction in your tax and NI as a result of the benefit coming out of your salary before tax. Note that you will have to pay BiK, as it’s seen as a taxible benefit, but EV’s are only taxed at 1% at the moment.

take the stickers off

Amateur hour. Get the Dremel out and hole them like we did in the 90s.

Yep. Lashing it down here now. Much needed too. Looking at photos from last year the trees were covered in green flappy things. They’re still bare at the moment. I think they’re confused.

Like many on here I’m sure, I can track mentally when it last rained by the last time the trails were minging. I don’t think I’ve had a wet bum for about two months now.

Also, good to see a fellow Woburn rider!

…or 2022

If it were me I’d be looking at the things that are really holding back your riding whilst at the same time minimising outlay.

You might end up throwing c. £300 at the bike and then very quickly realising that you want something a bit more capable. You’ll be unlikely might not see much of that back, esp. if you’re fitting parts that aren’t the most up-to-date standards. To that extent I’d be looking at limiting the upgrades now to a cheap-as-chips dropper and good tyres, and throwing on the new crankset that you’ve already bought to change it to a 1x setup (have a think about gearing and the sort of terrain you’re riding though, as you won’t have a wide-range cassette at the back. I’d imagine a 28t chainring would be the way to go unless you want to buy a new cassette).

You’ll (probably) always be able to make use of tyres, and having a dropper will make a huge difference to the sort of terrain you can ride. You’re right, your fork’s probably not great, but it’s probably not that much worse than a £200 Judy/Recon.

Then just thrash the arse off it through the summer, punish it though the winter, put the money saved in the piggy bank and plan to sell the Carrera in the new year and replace with whatever takes your fancy so you can hit the trails in 2021 like a boss.

From what I’ve heard, the standard vaults aren’t exactly the height of durability. They’re also not super-light at 400g a pair. Burgtec MK5s (same sort of price) might be worth a look if they fit your foot-shape. They’re are lighter (even with a steel axel) and selectively well regarded when it comes to shrugging off rock strikes.

I’m in no way condoning the actions of the driver, but this is precisely why I don’t react when people act like d*cks – on the bike or otherwise. That’s not to say I’m a pushover and won’t stand up for myself, but life’s too short to get angry and try and prove a point all the time.

People like this, if they’re not getting mad and being shouty at “you” because of this incident, will soon get mad and shouty with someone else over the next incident that hurts their fragile ego. Let it be that someone else that corrects the shouty man’s attitude with their fist. I’d rather just get on with my life.

Plush turned my forks around in about a week recently: https://plushsuspension.uk

Don’t buy from Wren. Absolute junk with a big marketing budget. You think those big shops full of sales people pay for themselves?

I’ve used Howdens for kitchen design in the past. Very adequate but our kitchen wasn’t exactly complicated.

In the end we bought from DIY kitchens. Very impressed and about 2/3 the price of Howdens. Have a look…

https://www.diy-kitchens.com

Given your position, I’d be calling it new frame time and swap out any components that have seen better days – Add a bit of COVID tax to the bits you sell on and you could be riding something pretty Gucci for a relatively small outlay.

I can’t comment on the 34SCs but my bike came with Recons fitted, and it wasn’t long before I decided they needed swapping out.

The two options I was looking at were Pike Selects and Fox 34 Performance. I ended up with some Revelations chargers with a c1 air spring (so identical spec to the Pikes) and the difference is massive. The Recons were okay at taking the brunt of bigger hits but plush is not a term i’d use to describe them and in terms of setup they’d either bog down on repeated big hits, or if you upped the pressure to combat that they’d spike. The Revelations just soak up trail chatter and give massive confidence on repeated big hits.

If they’re in good nick, and assuming the steerer’s not silly short, you can flip the Recons for good £££. I thought I’d be lucky to get £100 for mine. In the end I got a lot of interest and someone bit my arm off when I said they could have them for £180, so factor that in.

If it were me, and the rest of the bike is pretty much what you want, I’d get the hacksaw out.

Would the motion control updated or same as the years old model

I was going to add comment but held back initially. Isn’t it about time RS started offering something a bit more sophisticated in their mid-tier forks than the old MoCo damper. I mean, N-Sync were in the charts, and we still thought white and brown were a good colour combo when the MoCo came out!

When I first build / buy a new bike, lots. I definitely have an optimal body-shape in mind that I’m trying to achieve on the bike and can’t work out whether I’ve found that when I’m propping myself up in the kitchen and spinning the peddles backwards. Normally though I’ve found that sweet-spot within a handful of rides and it’ll get left that way until a new contact point is fitted.

For what it’s worth, I find that small tweaks can make a big difference. I re-built a bike recently that I’d spent the whole winter riding in an effort to track down a rogue creak. Problem solved, I went for a long ride a few weeks back and came home with a very sore lower back. A quick tweak to the bar-roll and it feels great again.

No banner ads for me in Classifieds, but the new pop-up ads that I’m getting all over the site even as a full member are super annoying. I really like being able to hang out here in an ad-free space.