List your soul for sale for 0.99p start bid, no reserve, free postage on a 24hr auction. Get a friend to bid and pay. Bingo, you’re off the mark*

*Don’t do this if you’re superstition

On a serious note. As mentioned above, it’s like having a 3G only phone and putting a 4G SIM card in it. You’ll just not be able to access the 4G bandwidths but everything else will work (or that’s what I assume).
I’m not convinced of the need for 5G on mobile phones, however, once 5G is a viable replacement (in terms of cost/bandwidths) to fast fibre BB it could be a game changer.

Surely if you’ve had your vaccine you don’t even need SIM card or phone in a 5G area? I though the microchip ‘they’ inject means you can access the internet/call people telepathically? (Unless you block the signal with with a tinfoil hat, obvs)

Reverse TARDIS.

Very much budget end and limited sizes left. But these were good in recent subzero weather. Feel budget though so maybe more of a back up as I’m not sure you’ll get years of daily use out of them – but for the price they’re great.
Windblocker thermal bib tights

I have belt drive/Alfine 8 on my work bike, and for comparison a chain/Alfine 8 on my gravel bike. I find the belt much more draggy than the chain. Safe to say I’m not a convert, I’d go chain every time.

Bump for the evening crowd

Watching with interest. I bought my maps ages ago; full North of England in 1:50k (which I have to side load off a CD-ROM😳). Cost £50 from memory and even though I might have had my money’s worth, I’ll be annoyed if I lose access to them if the app is being retired. Esp as I have the maps on my main phone, tablet and my stem mounted ‘biking’ phone.

Poco X3 here. It’s amazing for the money. Came from vanilla Android with a Moto Z2 Force (former flagship phone so quicker processor). It’s not as quick as the Moto but no issues for my use. I’m used to the big screen and the Moto Z feels tiny now. The battery is immense (just over 5000mAh) and easily lasts all day even with the heaviest use. The Mui took a tiny bit of getting used to but I’m fine with it now. I’ve only noticed adverts when downloading new apps. I bought my eldest a Redmi 8 a while ago and was hugely impressed for the money, which got me looking.
I think Xiaomi are cracking vfm, the biggest issue is that the sheer number of models is confusing AF with loads of overlaps, and you can almost guarantee whatever you get will be cheaper next month or there will be a slightly better model released imminently. Look at HotUKdeals for… Well the name is self explanatory. I bought both phones direct from Xiaomi, delivery was a couple of days. Amazon also sell them. I paid £208 for a 128gb Poco X3, some free bundled Airpod copies and a Mi Band 5 (which was a £10 add on). Bargain.

Reading this with interest. My original CB Joplin 3 (90mm travel?) finally died last week and service kits don’t seem to be available (assuming it was even repairable). So my new cheap RSP 125mm post is now awaiting fitting. The Joplin always felt ‘enough’ so I’m interested to see what the new one is like (the older I get the more I drop my post😁). I just need a reasonably priced 27.2 for the gravel bike now, that riding position makes for ‘interesting’ steep descents 😂

Ooo, I’m looking forward to working my way through this thread properly. Will see how well my Spotify account and distinctly low/mid-range Sony BT/ANC headphones manage (I will get those QC35s one day…)

Audible is expensive, but…
You can pause your membership for up to 3 months at a time. Your membership is still classed as active whilst it’s paused so you can still get access to deal of the day (£1.99-£2.99 each). If you have any friends on Audible they can each ‘gift’ one of their books to you (at no cost to either of you). When you do finally quit they’ll try to tempt you back with a half price deal. So I wouldn’t discount it.
Also, if you buy a book and don’t like it you can request a refund (but you keep the book on your device, just don’t take the piss or they may ban you).

Needs to be able to tell me when I’m breaking the speed limit. I’m tired of getting letters telling me I’ve gone too fast. Again.

There’s probably an app for that. My old Garmin Nuvi would bong incessantly when exceeding the speed limit, it’s now redundant though as I use my phone though the Bluetooth for Satnav (Google maps) and music (Spotify).

I recently moved to Spotify Premium after Google announced they were discontinuing Google Music and tried to push everyone on to YouTube Premium. I didn’t get on with YT Music. Spotify seems ok, I love going down a rabbit hole with playlist and finding new songs/artist I’ve never heard of. Like Google Music, Spotify integrates nicely with my Google smart speaker things.
I’ve tried Apple Music and Amazon Music. Didn’t like either of them, but that’s just personal preference. It’s like the iOS Vs Android debate. All are probably as good as each other, it just depends which one you’re used to. Content wise I had some obscure songs on Google Music and they’re available on Spotify, I assume they’d be on Apple Music or the Prime Premium too.

I had smart meters fitted. The electric meter worked fine. The gas never worked and caused no end of problems when I tried to submit a reading when changing suppliers (the meter effectively reset to zero when you get a new one, but the system never updated because it never transmitted).
Now I’m stuck with 2 fancy looking meters that are difficult to read compared to traditional meters (the smart functionality isn’t transferable. What a farce)
I wouldn’t bother unless the industry has got its shit together. They’re the future. But maybe not right now.

IME (3 house purchases – including one completing this week) exchange and completion have always been on the same day. Makes it a very nerve wracking experience!

^Much more eloquently put than my semi-rant

I’ve had to have it previously. It’s cheap and not worth the risk of not getting it. As a fully fledged non-believer, archaic nonsense like this needs eradicating. Complete bullshit.

Wow, lots of hate and sanctimonious hand wringing on here (as per…). I wonder how many people dismiss pick ups for being too big and polluting yet drive round in converted vans and have their woodburners at home – this is STW after all (I’m guilty on both counts… 🤷🏻‍♂️).

I used to really want a pick up, but after driving a few LWB Hi-Lux with work I changed my mind as they were incredibly agricultural – I suspect newer pick ups won’t be. Just test drive one and if you like it and the numbers stack up, make your decision based on that.

@IvanDobski what does the NATO look like on the Orient? I’ve got the same watch, so I’m interested to see (though I like the standard block rubber strap much more than I thought I would)

Never knew Google lens did this. I’ve got a tree in my garden that was a suspect weed when I moved in and is massive now, I’m keen to know what it is.

Apparently 25k people have complained. Twenty. Five. Thousand. 🤦🏻‍♂️
I just watched it; I’m unsure what there is to complain about tbh. It’s not like the depictions in the routine were gratuitous or anything. The few posts I’ve seen about being anti-BLM on my FB feed were posted by known bigots/gammon/DM readers, but I wouldn’t want to slip into confirmation bias…
Anyway, I digress. What I meant to say was I’m amazed people can even be arsed complaining to Ofcom in the first place. There’s a ton of crap to watch on TV, it’s not like there’s only 5 channels any more 🤷🏻‍♂️

It doesn’t re-waterproof, it only gives water repellency. Once a coated or membrane garment is leaking there’s nothing you can do

👆 Basically this. Exactly my experience with Nikwax, Granger and other generic spray.

My van was only about £200 last year fully comp without any NCB (NCB was used on car). That was with Aviva, so might be worth a look. This year it’s insured as a modified campervan and it’s about £370 through Brentacre with 9+ years NCB. Big difference, but I was surprised how cheap the Aviva one was tbf.

OOS on Creation. Ended up just ordering from Amazon.it , much cheaper than Amazon.co.uk
For anyone else looking for similar things it’s often worth looking at Amazon .fr .de.es.it etc. The prices vary wildly and can be a lot cheaper, even with currency conversion and postage (at least for now whilst there’s no VAT/Duty!).

I think I’m going to hang on to it @tthew , I might try and swap the movement myself at some point in the future.

Got to add Duty/VAT and handling fee to Creation though. I got stung with it last time. It’s cheaper on eBay once that’s factored in. Next watch I get in double checking dust/lume under the glass before I start wearing and will be returning if not perfect. My Seiko was a Japanese made one which are supposed to have better QC 🙄

I’ve managed to knacker one of these 🤦🏻‍♂️. The regulation was all over the place from when I got it (from Creation). It’s a 2ish years old and recently started running 2hrs/days fast. When I tried adjusting I accidently moved the beat regulator (not that it was useable anyway). It doesn’t really work at all now. I looked at servicing costs but it’s similar to what the watch costs. It also has a tiny bit of lume on the inside of the dial which has driven me crazy from the moment I noticed it 😬. Not sure what to do with it now 🤷🏻‍♂️ assume it’s worthless.

I’ve got my eyes on one of these now. Looking to buy from UK supplier this time though. Price alert set up on Camel Camel Camel. I know it it’s a bit of a Tudor rip-off, but I really like it:

👆That Heart version of Stairway’ is epic👌. And I didn’t even know Ricky Gervais played the drums

That Saab is cool… But aren’t they in the £500+ VED bracket? Not sure I could handle paying a third of a car’s cost just to tax it for the year. Does mean there’s some bargains out there in that bracket though.

I think they were being sarcastic….

If I could only keep one, I’d keep my Arkose Alfine. But add a dropper (😱) and change the tyres and get a removable rack/mudguards. All bases covered.

I’ve got a couple of 8 speed Alfine bikes. A belt drive Gazelle for commuting to work which feels draggy/slow as hell (not ridden in ages for obvious reasons), and a gravel bike -Pinnacle Arkose which is great. Had it over 3 years, never missed a beat. Been axle deep in mud, been used for road rides. I use it mainly for road riding from home with bridleways/non techy singletrack thrown in where possible – it’s so versatile. I find the gear range ok, could do with higher gears for spinning on the road but I’ve always managed to get up everything in 1st (or if I haven’t, I doubt I would have on a rear mech set up). It is noticeably slower than my old road bike, but I still choose it over my road bike for tarmac only rides due to increased comfort and hydraulics (losing 2-4mph average not an issue when riding solo). The bar end shifter thing works well. I’d prefer an STI type, but you quickly get used to it.

Nice. I like that.
I used to have a steel tourer for commuting, meant to tour but never got round to it. It was horrible to ride fast, but lovely to cruise along. It was at least 4-5mph slower than the road bike, but so much more comfortable. Hope you have some great trips on it when all this craziness is over👍

Do you use the cheap super market fuel?

Ah, the old supermarket fuel myth about to raise its head…

On a related note. I got an email from FC saying my Dalby annual pass would be automatically extended by the duration the forest is shut. So at least people won’t be out of pocket and will be able to continue enjoying the forest when this is all over. Assume similar applies to others with annual passes

Edit: hopefully this will satisfy the “I’ve paid for it so I’m using it no matter what brigade”

I really like that Spinnaker Tessei – I’ve had my eye on it since before Christmas. If it would have been that price then I might have bought it, but at full price (or just standard % off) it was more then I wanted to spend.

On an unrelated note. When did the retro metal G Shock become so bloody expensive??? (I’ve have the plastic version of this for years and it’s great, but £450+ for a metal case??!! Wow!)
https://g-shock.co.uk/full-metal

I’m growing a lockdown beard now. I may revert to cutting my own hair again with clippers

Train guy had been a shiny light recently. Love it.

Thanks. Will check out that Guardian link and the others mentioned.
I put a similar post on Facebook;
Recommendations so far only included Psyche and Scrabble.
If you’re into cars there’s a ‘game’ you can play using Autotrader. A bit like the start of a Top Gear challenge. Set some criteria/scenario, a budget and you’ve all got a few minutes to find and link the best car on WhatsApp. It was actually a bit of a laugh with a few of us yesterday, though the guy posting a Ssangyong Rodius wasn’t taking it seriously…😂