I’m between Chesterfield and sheffield.

I guess there is always YouTube !

Sorry I mean I do have a car but it’s a 2 door coupe :-/

I can’t actually play the drums inany real sense so it’s unlikely I’ll be joining a band :D

..I will need to also find someone to teach me…

Cheers chaps.

I did think about secondhand kit but I don’t have a car I could put drums in to collect them!

Hmmm

For biking as well as standing in the rain?

My Gore Alp X seems amazing at both!

HmmmmmMMmmMmmMmm

Unless they’re truly active designs and use extremely steep digital crossovers then I imagine they sound just ok. An awful lot of “presence” and “clarity” can be gained by doing away with the speaker baffle and trying to replicate a point source. However, as above – if it’s based on a passive design then like most domestic hifi it’s just a case of trying to refine to the nth degree what is fundamentally a flawed design.

In my opinion . Blah

Thanks peeps. I’m running 2X – not sure if I can be bothered faffing with matchmaker thingies. Think if I get one I’ll try the RH shifter on the left.

Aha! Interesting …

I do have old Avid Elixir CR’s .. Is there any particular advantage to getting matchmaker thingies for them if I can?

Next question .. What seat post size do I have on my Intense Tracer VP?! It’s at home and I’m sat at work with an itchy left mouse button finger and a credit card..

Thanks! What does the MMX bit refer to?

Generally if you’re a right handed do you have a RH lever?

I think my ideal car would be a bimmer wearing a 159’s body – they are flippin gorgeous

I can’t get our lass’s 1.4/140 Ibiza to do that.

Yeah it’s amazing considering it’s 7rs old and 170HP too:

.. And my petrol 320i can do 48mpg at 70mph, the diesels are even betterer. As much as I love the look of 159’s I can’t imagine one would be more economical or quicker or better handling than a 320d..

^ wot b r sed

I’ve been pondering this too of late as all of the roads near me seem full of expensive brand new shiny shiny cars of German origin.

I can understand how people can afford £200/£300 a month on PCP repayments but usually you’re required to stuff a huge wedge of cash down as a deposit aren’t you? I can’t imagine comfortable stuffing £5k in a dealer’s top pocket only to have the privilege of then making 48 monthly payments.

I earn a reasonable wage as does the wife who works part time, however I can’t ever imagine being able to afford a new X5/ Audi A6 / E Class etc etc

Well, our car has rear seats but no rear doors. As such we need to be able to spin the seat a full 180 degrees to get the boy rearward facing.

I wish I could remember which model we tried. Also, the cybex site doesnt list our car as compatible even though very similar cars are. I’ve emailed them for clarification .

As for where to try it – we’re limited to baby’s r us (who don’t sell it), mothercare who I think were rubbish or a Halfords with next to nothing of use. I might investigate john Lewis although it’s a bit of a drive.

My eyes. MY EYYYYESSS

I did wonder how many posts it would take to point out the inevitable ..

I think we may have tried that one already when we had a brief look. Whatever it was we tried wouldn’t spin properly and the staff refused to help fit it for “legal reasons” which was handy :-/

:-) yeah sorry I wasn’t suggesting using a mobile I was merely using it as an example.

My ancient Marantz CD player died and I’m using a PS3 which if anything is better.

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t get sucked into spending loads on a CD player as there’s no point really.

Slowjo are you sure the amp wasn’t always like that?! When I worked at Arcam stuff was sent out as new with all sorts of dodgy looking fixes in place. If kit passed the TDH/response tests it was sent out regardless of whether it was soldered together with a MIG welder … :D

At the risk of being flamed entirely – you do realise that most modern mobiles have DAC’s equal or better than virtually all high end CD players/DAC’s?

It’s really not worth spending a huge amount on a CD player these days.

Whatever you do I’d recommend testing things blind too – else it’s all pointless. Expectation has a huge effect on our perception of sound. Feel free not to believe me but unlike some self appointed experts I do have a degree or two in the subject :-)

Oh. I’ve misunderstood terribly then.

Ok I can do this –

Curry from the local southern Indian restaurant (very yummy indeed)

A couple of large bottles of Heineken and Aldi’s finest New Zealand Pinot noir (not bad at all).

The wife and then staring blankly at Family Guy

No?

Any ideas where to stay for this, hotels etc? If I do it I’ll be coming down from chestervegasfield ish..

Get quotes for fully comprehensive insurance too; surprisingly it can be cheaper! Your age should help considerably as you’re no longer in the “riskiest” group.

I passed my test at 32, insured an ancient Astra for £650 and then after ten months a bimmer 320i for ‘only’ £870 ish which I thought wasn’t too bad.

I think I went with Tesco insurance for the Astra btw. Also if you’re happy to ramp up the voluntary excess to £500 or beyond it can help loads with the premium.

Are you sure you need office 2010? I was going to do this but ended up downloading the fantastically free Open Office. It does everything I need and saves in MS file formats too..

When I did one (10 years ago ish) you couldn’t apply to the student loans company for postgrad funding.

I ended up taking a career development loan (Barclays/govt) and a professional studies loan (HSBC).

I imagine there are similar things available. One word of warning though – it’s not a great idea to do a Masters purely because you don’t know what else to do post graduation/ quite fancy it. I got in a lot of extra debt to do something I’m not entirely convinced benefited me in any way..

How about a baby (only-just-a) mountain like Kinder Scout in the dark Peak District?

Not too far a trek, accessible, still a bit of a challenge and has a nice flat plateau top to have your sandwiches on. Possibly even walk across the top to kinder falls or whatever it’s called!

Hmm those pods look interesting. I’d be happy in one but I’m not sure the rest would!

Fr0sty – well I wouldn’t perhaps make that much effort on my own but I’m taking a group of mostly newbie work mates. Tbh they’re just as keen on being away for a night and drinking loads of beer as they are on riding!

We recently had a trip to Dalby and stayed over – one third of the group dropped out after 6 miles, another third after a further 6 miles and that left the actual real bikers to complete it and ride back to Pickering!

Thanks. We did consider that travel lodge thingy. I’m not sure how they’ll react to muddy bikes being dragged into the rooms :-/

Any other suggestions anyone?!

Yes! Started on Christmas Eve and appears to be flippin Hand, Foot & Mouth disease! How I got it I have no idea as the main culprit (sprog) hasn’t had it.

I feel shocking, have spotty plagued hands and feet and a load of fetching sores on my face

Do I win?

You wouldn’t want to meet him down a dark alleyway. Flippin hoodies

Hmm

You could all be right but they did survive a 23 mile beating in the peaks a few weeks ago. They did have a pub stop to refresh themselves though.

Hmmm. I’m not even organising it more that I’m one of the few “proper” bikers…

Hmmm

It’s not sounding like it’s going to be a huge amount of fun!

I dragged the same group around the dark peak(s) and it took the best part of 7 hrs but that did include a 2hr lunch break in the pub :-/

The worst bit is that I know one of the guys won’t think to bring food, water or a jacket yet will
Insist he’s prepared (he did this last time, had to let him slurp my water all the way round).

I also need to convince the organiser that riding 6/7 miles each way from
Pickering isn’t going to be feasible / a good idea!

Ssssh

You don’t want everyone knowing you drive a VW pasta now do you? :D

Will someone please think of the bats?!

I mean they were just there, hanging about..

Cheers guys

Mini RRR is only 11 ish months old but already attempting to climb up the bookcase .. It’s heavy but I don’t think it’d take that much to pull it over as it’s on squishy carpet :-/

We do have a baby cage / playpen but only generally stuff him in that when we need to leave the room.

My speakers are tricky in that they’re floor- standers yet about a foot away from a wall .. Wonder if I can attach a chain or something but that in itself is a hazard.

I’ve not read the last 7 pages or so so I could be repeating what others have said..

When mini RRR was born (10 months ago), I felt very confused as did the wife. We both felt a strong protective instinct for the sproglet in that we obviously would do anything to prevent any harm coming to him. However, we didn’t feel any “love” in the normal sense. I don’t see it as surprising – this thing is thrust upon you and turns your world upside down, has no idea who you are and in turn you have no idea who they are!

All I can say is that no, it’s not unusual to feel like that and I’m sure you will feel better about things. We found the first 4 months or so the worst but after this started to get our evenings backs, sometime for each other , time for er physical relations etc etc.

10 months after mini RRR was born and the little man melts me when “waving” goodbye in the mornings and welcoming me with a repeated excited ‘dada’ in the evenings!

It does get better – it’s the hardest but the best thing you’ll do

“How was what for me?

I don’t want to ride my heavy bouncy bike around Dalby at all but it seems the new workmate group of newbies and new bikers want to, and want me to show them round!

I’d personally much rather visit welsh wales! Oh and a couple of riders have fully rigid bikes too . Joy

Any more suggestions?!

It’s probably worth noting the difference between personal contract purchase (PCP) and personal contract hire (PCH).

You can get some stunning cars for naff all on PCH but won’t have the option to purchase at the end (which will obviously be a good idea if it’s an Audi or a bad idea if it’s a Skoda ;-) )

Don’t forget that some dealers do PCP on USED cars too – this can often work out very well indeed on cars that have already taken a massive hit of depreciation in the first couple of years (Bimmers for example)