Cheers Paule

Hmm, might be worth a look then. I was tempted to ride out but my big bouncy bike isn’t too much fun on the road / bridleways.

Having ridden (badly) wharncliff downhill quite a bit I wonder if I might be a little underwhelmed ..

Not the bike you’re after but I have a 2016 carbon tracer. Mine comes in just under 30lb which isn’t bad including a dropper (doesn’t have any fancy parts on it either!)

But more relevantly – saddleback (UK distributors) were amazing when I had an issue with my rear triangle – collected bike, swappers triangle and sent complete bike back within a week all FOC.

Btw – have you checked out the bargains on the OUtlet page – sooo “cheap” some of them.

Looks good but..

… have you considered looking at the Intense Outlet site?

Lots of carbon loveliness for not that much (and amazing frames to upgrade the bits on)

Just a thought

Intense outlet carbon dribble fest

Thanks everyone.

The hot water tank is in The Cupboard Of Doom, hidden behind a door hidden behind a desk. We tend to open the door a tiny bit, throw stuff in and run away (we have no idea what lurks within).

Sounds like it might be worth it and presumably I’ll gain a bit of loft space with the cold water tanks gone?

I just need to make sure the plumbers don’t “helpfully” take away all the copper for me..

Insulation – loft has been done and walls are being “improved” hopefully next week.

I’m not actually *too* worried about the longevity of a new boiler as plan to move within 4 years.

old nick – maybe maybe. Maybe you’re Nicklouse eh? Hmmm? 🤔

Out of interest, why are you changing the old boiler – is it broken?

Well, it’s about 30 yrs old and seems as efficient as a very inefficient thing – our gas bill is about £85 a month on average and we hardly have the heating on!

I have the opportunity for a free/ heavily subsidised new one so it makes sense.

Could just be pipes knocking rather than a pump?

It sounds whirry and pump like?!

@johnners

Well, there’s one horrendously noisy pump that comes on when the heating is on and another unknown humming that’s on when the hot water is “on” but not actually being heated, if that makes sense?

I’m not sure I trust myself with spanners…

I’m tempted to pay the £350 and get a Combi.

How much does a scrap yard give you for a hot water tank?! :-)

I guess it must depend on the individual franchise but our local one (chesterfield) was pretty amazing at sorting out our Mundano after my wife introduced 5 feet of it to a brick gate post :-/

The work was guaranteed for the life of the car too.

Crag – nope, it’s the number on the flyer posted up top. The guy I spoke to said he’d visit us personally but then another firm would probably do the install.

I’m just south of Sheffield so not a million miles from you – worth a call!

It seems to have Black force forks (aftermarket?)

Any idea how i know which year it is? It has black bar tape rather than the red but I’ve no idea if it’s original..

Ta

It’s a Ribble Nero Corsa (made by Dedacciai ) if that makes any odds?!

FYI we claim child benefit but have an income over the threshold listed on websites. I just rang the guy and he’s convinced the earning cap has been removed – he’s visiting at the weekend so I guess we’ll see?!

Hmm, I don’t really know if it’s been in direct sunlight for ages but I doubt it.

My brother bought it from an old lady ok his village (apparently belonged to her son).

It is a raw carbon finish but looks like lacquer is intact.

It doesn’t sound unmanageable to me but obviously I don’t know your personal circumstances.

If it’s any help, I jacked in a 12 yr career in IT to return to uni full time for 4 years, spend 3 hrs a day in the car, every spare minute studying and have a 2 and a 5 yr old.

I guess it depends how much you want the degree, how long it’ll take and whether your happy to make sacrifices for that period of time?

Tell me more? I didn’t even know this was possible! This is almost exactly my situation and what I’ve been thinking about.

PM’d you fatdaddy!

I yearn for a job where I feel like I’m actually making a difference to things, rather than just helping a rich firm get richer. Naive, perhaps, but it’s a real concern to me at the moment.

That’s exactly how I felt. I’d say look for a change sooner than later else you may convince yourself it’s too late then!
It’s not easy but it’s not impossible to go from a well paid employee to student/trainee/lower paid job. We have two small mini RRR’s , mortgage , cat, hamster , debt and so on..

We only get once chance at all this after all.

Hmmm

Well, I worked in various network engineering and IT security roles for one of the biggest companies in the world for 12 years (an evil bank).

It paid well and was easy (usually). However, I had this overwhelming feeling that if I stayed doing that all my life I’d look back at retirement and think “wtf did you with your working life? You could have done so much more!”

So… after much deliberating, entrance exams and interviews I started a Graduate Entry Medicine accelerated med degree in September last year at the ripe old age of 38.

With a bit of luck (and so so much work) I’ll be a very, very, very, very junior doctor in 3.5 yrs.
I’ll be earning a lot less than my old salary for a further 5 yrs post graduation but *hope* that I’ll feel I’m fulfilling my potential and am doing something useful!

Eek.

Hmm. I’m no mechanic but it sound very similar to when my 320i had a coil pack / injector failure. It threw up all sorts of intermittent warnings including limp mode.

But yes, as others have said – ger it plugged in. I think the service requirement alone is unlikely to make it go into limp mode.

Errrm, what diameter / thickness is it?

ive got a couple of old pseudo magic shine lamps around (Chinese import ones).

im sure I could bung a lense in an envelope … email me if interested

Why not an e90 bimmer? I’ve got an 18 plate A6 avant (not latest model) after an F31 BMW 320d xDrive. The BMW was much more refined.”

Well, that’s what I’m returning to the pcp people – a 2012 E91 320d. I love it and am very sad indeed to be getting rid of it. I don’t think I can find another for my meagre £3.5k budget that’s not very very high mileage?!

^^doesnt sound good.

soo.. car is back from garage. Mechanically it’s in great condition for it’s age.

but .. there are a few electrical issues such as spannered door opening assembly, washer motor dead, one air con fan dead.

codes 00657, 00156, 00420, 02115 for anyone excited by it?!

Have mentioned all the above to the dealer so will see what they come back with..

^^ it’s a good point but it looks like a brand new tow bar. Apparently the previous owner fitted it then traded in for a proper 4×4 towing monster.

i can’t stretch to an avant alas and I think the petrol engines would cripple my wallet given the miles I’ll be doing …

anyway, I’ve booked it in with the local garage for a check over this afternoon.

we shall see..

Wow, that A8 is a lot of car for the cash! I do think however that mrs RRR would refuse to drive it given it’s size (she’s already having a bit of a fit about the A6).

one of my main issues is that I don’t have the time to drive all over the place shopping for a car.

So what do people think about the last owner only having it 2 months? I mean, there could be a legitimate reason for it and if it’s got issues these would *hopefully* be seen when I get it checked over at a local garage?

^^ yep, I’ve so far not had any outrageous bills with the two BMW’s I’ve owned (avoiding main stealers like you say).

I just don’t knows. It doesn’t have folding rear seats and isn’t an estate *gasp* but does have a tow bar so I could stick a bike rack on that (it’s a pain putting bikes in the car anyway as I have about 40kg of baby seats to remove each time).

i did see a cheap estate version but it greeted me with a handbrake failure warning ..

^^ yep, probably next spring.

I’ve just given up a 12yr career and started an accelerated 4 year Medicine degree aged 38.

it seemed like a good idea at the time….

no advice to offer apart from you only live once etc, better to try than to regret later etc

Cheers guys. Three weeks in and I’m wondering quite what I’ve signed up to 😬

Erm… not quite as exciting as all the above but mine is….

giving up a 12 yr, relatively well paid job in IT for a mega global Corp and studying medicine for 4 yrs.

It’s going to cost me at least £70k ..

:-S

TiRed – I tried what I think was a halfway in a bike shop and it was too small. It could have been a giant something else I guess.

BigEls – I’m just north of chesterfield.

Thanks guys. As I’ve just given up my 12 year career to go back to uni I’ll definitely need something cheap! I figured the Brompton would work but there’s no way I can afford that.

It looks like the go outdoors own brand ones might be the closest I can find to fitting but they still feel a couple of inches too short. As this will need to be slung in the car daily and my parking spot changes I’ll need a foldy one.

i looked at those folding MTB’s in Argos but they look pretty awful …

Well not exactly Leeds but we used Dickinson Wood in Doncaster. A few of my family have used them and we used them remotely for our house purchase in Sheffield / chesterfield.

They seemed reasonably priced, relatively efficient but sometimes needed poking with a stick as all of them do.

Hope that might help a bit

Thanks everyone. I’m really not sure where staff park (perhaps they get a parking subsidy?)

My in laws live about 4 miles from the hospital so in the longer term I could maybe look at the folding bike solution, although getting out of a warm car and onto a soaking wet/cold bike in mid winter is going to be no fun!

I just need to find a side street *just* outside of the residents parking zone but it’s quite hard to figure out exactly where it is!

Embarrassingly I was conflicted for the few seconds I saw them – part of me wanted to steer my car and my family safely away from them.

Part of me was trying to see if they decent bikes and more importantly, better than mine …

Be honest, was it yours? :D

I did think it might be easier to not notice it happening on a camper or caravan.

The police said that someone rang in as we did. It’s be a “bit stressful” I imagine to get to your destination and wonder where your bikes are and whether any baby robins were injured as a result ..

Pm’d

Erm nope – I wasn’t referring to a random fire on a hillside more a controlled fire pit on a paving slab in a campsite…

Thanks guys. That Calibre rail looks good. I might have to investigate. I just can’t face a steel frame, V braked halfrauds Apollo special ..

Thanks guys, that’s great.

Now to persuade the grandparents they want to be ran ragged for 2 days…

I know plenty of people do it but just bear in mind that your car’s suspension will not be designed to use non run flat tyres if it had them fitted (usually).

Stopping distances can apparently be severely increased by fitting non run flat tyres to cars specifically designed for run flats.

You may also find your insurance invalidated.

Also, watcha going to do if you get a puncture and have no spare?

***you’re definitely not too old**

I’m 37 and in about a month have an interview for an accelerated 4yr medicine degree. I’ve worked for around 12 years in IT and have largely found it entirely unfulfilling.

If I’m successful I’ll spend the next four years earning nothing and then will be a further 5 until I earn what I do now. However, if I graduate at 42 I could have 25 yrs working in something I want to do and feel has a value. I also have two small children and a wife to consider..

If I don’t make the change I’ll just look back and think “oh that was my career then”.

It’s not easy but if circumstances allow you, find something you’re passionate about and do it. If circumstances don’t allow you then do what you need in the short term to allow you to pursue your long term goals.