Until a couple of months ago I had a e91 330d.
Good car, lat of the BMW, BMWs if you know what I mean. They have progressively got less BMW as time goes on. (I have a g20 3 series now). More dull and inert, plus uglier.

The M-sport trim is the one to go for. The seats are better. You want the pro nav and cic iDrive, xenons are a must. The halogen lights are like candles in a black hole.
Mine was black with oyster leather. Really lifts the interior, the black leather makes it dark and gloomy.

I’d personally avoid 4 cyl bmw. At the age they are now service history and condition tump everything else. A LOT of them are total dogs and will be costly to run.

22mpg no bikes 20mpg with two bikes.

This has pipedream sirius s5 written all over it.

I wanted a 20 originally and got a scott dealer to find me one. None available until November (I think). The issue is getting the sram parts as they are out of stock.
That and the fact its a horrible pooey brown colour also put me off.

In the end I went for the 30 and have been told it was the last one in a size 54 that he knew about until next year. He had a 56 in stock about 3 weeks back but not sure if it’s still there.
He also said be weary of online retailers showing as in stock as they don’t physically hold the stock. They have scott ship them to the shop to be built and sold. Scott don’t have any. Unless you see the bike in person then assume it doesn’t exist.

Also if you are using it on the road predominately then I think 2x is the way forward. I’m glad I didn’t go 1x.

Enjoying it so far. Had a couple rides on it and I’m pleased with my purchase.
I’m not getting on with the saddle but that’s personal preference
I’ve also changed the bars for zipp sl xplr as I already had them plus they are 100g lighter.
With the big 45mm tyre it was definitely harder going than a 28c tyre but again thats expected.
With a nice set of carbon rims and 28c tyres I don’t think I’m going to be missing a pure road bike.

I’m glad I have 2x on the road as I think the jumps would be too much on a single ring. I never thought I was so sensitive to cadence but it turns out I’d definitely miss the 2 front rings.

Here’s a pick as nobody likes a wall of text.
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I have a flat 6 in my legacy. It sounds awesome.
There are maybe 3 other Subaru in my local vicinity 1 is a complete knobber with what sounds like no silencers and boots it everywhere. His can catch fire.

The other two have aftermarket boxes on but not offensively loud. Just a nice burble when driving along. I love the sound they make.

A few years back I nearly bought a spec c blobeye until I heard it and the equal length manifolds ruined the burble.
A decision I regret to this day.

I have a light that attaches to the saddle so a saddle bag is a no go unfortunately.

Sorry its a castelli xl saddle bag.
My phone (iPhone 12)just fits but pushes the sides out a bit too much. But it easily takes a pair of pedros tyre levers spare tube and Co2 can. Which is all I really want it to carry.
Food and the phone can go in the rear jersey pockets.

For no real logical reason I really wanted to utilise the top tube mounts.

Just had a quick spin with the bike on the turbo.

Pretty close but doesn’t interfere when pedalling.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Had a free hour this morning and an old broken castelli bag. This is the result.

All the ones mentioned are too big.
I want something small <0.5l. Something like a roadie saddle bag but for the too tube.

Cheers

A family member has an indoor pool. About 10 years ago it was costing him £15k a year to run it. Had a super duper filtration system that didn’t use chlorine I think as it never stung or smelt like a swimming bath.

An update.

I was initially set on the cervelo aspero but getting hold of one was providing dificult. Plus spec for spec it was £700 more expensive than what I’ve ended up buying. With cervelo reputation for lack of quality control I didn’t think it was worth it.
I’ve purchased a scott addict gravel 30. I think its the only 54cm in the country so had to be quick. New bike day is Friday.

It has a dual ring up front and with the stock wheel set and my deep carbon rims should be all the bike I need for road and gravel.

I think the crux is just too expensive to justify. I want this to be as close to a zero cost swap as possible. The crux would mean an extra £1450 on top plus an extra set of wheels.

So it looks like the aspero it is.The choice now is apex 1 or grx600. This will be upgraded to axs/di2 in time.
Plus for the sram is cheaper by £130 and in stock.
Negative is, will 1×11 be ok for the road.

How do you quote on this site?

@endoverend. The crux looks a good candidate. The price is a bit up there. I was looking at the 3k mark and a spare set of wheels for road for <1k.
The crux takes me instantly out of budget.

Ok. So a hardtail mtb is now called aggro graveling.

I’m from the Caernarfon area.
Welsh is the prominent language. To live there and get the most out of it you will need to speak it to some degree.

Ysgol syr hugh owen is the secondary school. Its also a welsh school.

I moved away for work. As the choices were limited in my field. Salary is lower but cost of living is as well.

There does seem to be a growing resentment towards the influx of newcomers buying up all the property. Houses have increased massively but the wages haven’t. I’m looking at moving back in the next few years and I’m surprised how much property prices have jumped up.

It’s a brilliant place for an adult with a car. It’s shit for teenagers as public transport is non existent. You will have to take them everywhere. Nothing is close.

I an easily see 55-60 mpg on a run in my 330e when charged
Same journey with an empty battery is 45-50mpg.

Summer range on battery is 27-30 miles
Winter range is 20-22

I have a pair. The only other carbon bars I can compare them to is hope.
To be honest I didn’t like the hope bars. They were to stiff and just not comfortable. Because I’d paid so much for them I persisted with them for 2 years.

I prefer the nukeproof bars in every way possible. Plus they are half the price of other comparable bars.

My total wheelset weight is 1470g.
On my new sirius I wanted to keep weight down so went carbon 28mm inner on 240 hubs. I also run vittoria barzo 2.35.

In comparison to hope pro4 xm481 rims and maxxis dhf/ aggressor they are unbelievable, they pick up speed so much quicker and I’m conscious that I’m fresher after a ride.

Light weight is winning for me now.

I did the same. Went from a mk5 soul to a sirius s5 via a Trek remedy.

The issue I had with the soul was the seat tube was too slack for the lls geometry. You really had to concentrate on body pisition when climbing. The sirius has a much steeper seat tube which puts you in the correct position for climing.
I’m very happy with my sirius and would recommend one to anyone looking for a versatile hardtail.

Check the voltage coming out the power supply.

Thank you. Found one on ebay. None in stock anywhere till August.

Bikes don’t cost 7k any more, they cost £100 a month.
Cheap credit is also to blame.

I have bought a few pairs of wheels from LB over the years.
All of them have been built well, strong and taken all the abuse I could give them.
I have a pair of 29er Lb rims on dt 240exp hubs on my sirius s5. They ride really well.
The 27.5 rims on my soul were harsher than the xm481 that I replaced them with but fine on my remedy.

I have a pair of ar47 rims waiting to be built up for my emonda.
I would recommend them to anyone looking for a good quality rim without the ridiculous price of big named brands.

Recommend what you have.
Pipedream sirius s5

Id phone them and let them know you are recording it.
Or just stop trying 2 years is more than enough chasing it.

No thank you to the cotton canvas tents, fine on the continent in dry warm weather but nah not for UK use.

Space is in short supply in the car with paddle boards and other stuff, that’s why I was looking at mountaineering tents, its the size more than weight which will be the issue. Big family tents are still big when packed away.

I used to work in a camping shop in my teens so know a little about what design is good and bad. I still have memories of families coming in after a rough night with shattered fibreglass poles and miserable faces after sleeping a family of 4 in a car because the tent collapsed. I want to avoid this at all costs!

There is only 2 of us so 3-4 would be plenty big enough. Inner or outer pitch first makes no difference to me. Pros and cons to both.

Light bicycle wr45 rims on dt swiss 240. No point spending more.

Plus the zipp are hookless so limited tyre choice for 28c

Dt swiss xm481 on whatever hubs you like.
I had a pair of xm481 on hope hubs for 3 years. Not a single ding and only trued once by 18bikes.

An orange 5 is a fine bike. It works best when you let off the brakes.

Inappropriate bike on a ride. New disk road bikes are quite capable.

You should have said you were trying to run over a cyclist. Probably get off with a warning then.

Shame you can’t find the original bits. Probably worth £150 as is. Might get more on ebay.

There is quite the following fir old orange bikes.

I’ve just put on some 30mm challenge strada bianca open tubular (quite the name) on a 20.5 internal width rim. For absolute aero I think a 25mm would be better. But for riding around on the terrible condition roads around me. I think the 30mm will be faster.

My parents spaniel has had to have its tail removed after cutting it. It just would not heal. Had 2 failed surgeries to fix it. Now he has a stump smaller than the other spaniel that was docked (working parents).

As cruel as it is. Spaniels tails just cause issues.

https://www.halowheels.com/shop/components/rims/vapour-29-inch-rim/

Halo vapour in 27.5 and 29. Available in silver and polished.

Good psa.
Ordered 2 for the girlfriend’s bike. Her maxxis disectors are super draggy on the commute to work.

I paid £50 for a knife from tk maxx. Can’t remember the brand but it’s Damascus steel and holds an edge. I have given it a once over on a wetstone about 3 months back and still sharp enough to cut cleanly.

I also found victorinox at tk maxx as well. Have a look on the website to see if they have anything.

For me it is considerably cheaper to have my company car.
For less than the monthly pcp of a medium hatchback I have a fully loaded bmw 330e with no running costs.

I don’t like big heavy tyres. They suck all the fun out of riding.
For a new build I’m doing I have purposely gone for light weight xc tyres (vittoria barzo) and hopefully ill get away with them. I have added rimpact to the wheels which add a 100 grams to see if they allow me to run a light xc tyre. I have also gone carbon rims for lightness.

A frame can weigh anything and I don’t notice it. Wheels and tyres are what I feel and judge when riding.