Ikea kitchens really are excellent.

I’m Stephen Lawrence.

Spaniels – Gotta love them.

Mine are having a cuddle tonight after terrorising the forest today. Molly is 12 years old, Duggie is 12 weeks.

You have my sympathies – we lost our boy to a nasal tumour in March.

It’s obvious she’s had a wonderful time with you and that you care about her deeply, so without meaning to sound too cold, she’ll let you know when the time has come. You are however totally correct, the worst regret is leaving it too long.

She’s a beautiful girl, give her a hug from me.

Monumental Crouton.

Yep, I also have that exact Combo.

early noughties Fabia VRS/Ibiza FR TDI. They have VW PD 1.9 engine. £4K will get you a good one.

a reliable 170+bhp & 300ft/lb with a remap, practical, fun(ish) to drive, 50mpg. cheap parts etc

I have the same in a VW frock (Polo GT, but you’re unlikely to find one of those). Had an mk2.5 MX5 prior to that as a comparison. They’re proper little hot hatches with masses of torque.

That’d be perpetual motion :)

Any benefit in energy produced would be negated by drag and friction needed to rotate the extra 2 wheels.

My basic setup is in my garage in my garden. nearest neighbours are 100ft away, but with the windows shut, the wife can’t hear me in the house.

I’ve got a twin burner ‘Devils Forge’ they’re inexpensive, but actually have very good burners – avoid all the cheap copies. I can get through a full 19KG bottle in a day if I try…

Good knives require very little forging really, it’s all in the finish.

This is good advice;

I do a bit of smithing in the garage.

The catalyst for me was finding the Anvil! Any anvil under £300 is worth snapping up (assuming the top is in good shape, some people still think that a dead anvil is still worth ££££), their prices have gone up a little recently, but they’ve been £200+ for many years. That said, a ‘proper’ anvil is not needed – nice, but not 100% necessary. any large mass of steel will do. I’ve even seen large sledge hammers heads set in a large oak stump used to good effect.

What do you want to make? Have you priced up fuel? I have a propane forge and it can use a fair amount of fuel, but it’s neat and convenient, coal forges can create a right mess, and unless you live in the middle of nowhere, won’t make you popular.

A few hammers, tongs, angle grinder. After that you’ll figure out what you need.

But, like I said, what do you want to make?

that can be done with powdercoat too.

And the fella that we lost earlier this year.

<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

https://flic.kr/p/2mgggDX

I can give you those^^^

but the moment I click on the insert/edit image tag, paste the link all I get is a little box with no pic; I’m not totally computer illiterate! Maybe its because I’m on a chromebook. :(

Edit – works, but doesn’t how in the preview :)

Definitely not enough appreciation on here for your pup photo though, that is one lovely puppy.

I’ve tried to post pics on this forum but can’t figure it out!

Epic response, thanks all so far…

We do have a shortlist of names (no kids in our future) and it’s a boy; our current ‘best’ are Finn (Finnegan), Tucker, Huxley or Boyd. I think they all sound a bit pretentious?

FWIW, our old dog passed earlier this year. He was (and this as-yet-untitled pup is) a cocker Spaniel, so we know what we’re getting into!

what year Polo? you can get painted wings on ebay for about £100 a side on a lot of the 2000s models (9N & 9N3)

Compeed really are magic.

Sounds like sweaty feet, maybe, so as said, change socks often and dry the feet.

I’ve used Thousand Mile socks for years – basically socks with a thin liner sock built in.

I knew a couple of people that had used them, and they’re quite local, so I can actually attend aftercare etc.

As I said above, I was booked in for teh 10th (yesterday), and had the procedure at 14.30.

Had a check-up at 0900 this morning, and could easily read the lowest line = better than 20:20. My vision is still a tiny bit hazy, and I’m wearing sunglasses 100% of the time as my eyes are a little light sensitive, and apparently UV rays hamper the healing.

No regrets yet…

Edit; Lasik, Allowed to drive today, back to work monday.

I’m lucky to have got hold of some of my old unicorns, but still REALLY want one of the Raleigh Torus Titanium frames from the mid 90s.

Always loved the look of the cannondale Delta V with headshok too.

And Slingshots.

And proflex 856 with Girvin forks.

And I still want a DogsBolx…

You get the idea :)

Have you actually driven one…? I had suzukis for years for greenlaning all over the country and I whilst I’ve never owned a Jimny, I’ve driven a few. They’re not somewhere I’d want to be for long journeys.

Bottom line; cramped and underpowered. Great fun though and lots of ability off road.

I’m booked in for the 10th june… I guess I’ll let you know how it goes!

2 options in my book;

1. Heat until red hot then beat with a hammer while in vice (will require a decent torch to do this)

2. cut and weld.

That steel is overkill for anything bike related, surely?

steels may need different bolts if you have alloys.

the ‘normal’ wheel nut is a 60 degree taper, but a lot of manufacturers use their own standards,

to make life a little easier for you, Ford used a really unusual PCD on transits, so if you do find any 5×160 wheels they’ll probably be fine, especially if the width is less than 6.5 and the ET is between 55-65.

and wheel bore size. The weight of the car / van isn’t being born by the bolts but by the bit of the hub that pokes through the centre of the wheel – the bolts are just keeping it located on that. So a new wheel with the right bolt pattern can possibly either not fit if the bore size is too small or seemingly fit fine of the bore is too big  buy not support the van properly because the hub and wheel aren’t actually in contact. You can get adapter rings to solve the latter problem but not the former.

Normally this is the case, yes, but some cars are boltcentric rather than hubcentric.

Your PCD is 5×160, centre bore 61.5.

standard fitment is 5 to 6.5J (rim width in inches) with an ET of 60.

rim width depends on what tyre size you want to run.

This may help; https://www.wheel-size.com/size/ford/transit/2011/

What van?

I have loads of terrex shoes, mainly because I KNOW they will fit me; they just suit my feet.

I get through a pair of mids every year (Swift atm), and also have a set of skychaser GTX among others. Most of the terrex range falls firmly into the ‘lightweight’ category which means they have a finite lifespan, I normally find the tops start to wear as I wear the soles out.

The skychasers are a trail running shoe, most of their mids are good honest lightweight boots. Depends what you want from them, but I always wear the lightest shoe I can get away with, which means trail running shoes even for a full days walking in the mountains, unless it’s wet when I’ll go to the skychasers, or boots as it gets colder.

Another vote for Adidas terrex. If they fit you there’s a massive choice.

most lighter weight boots shoes aren’t expected to last very long any more – works for me as the soles are wearing out about the same time as the tops.

Micheal Wincott has played some really likeable baduns.

That’s a LOT of car for the money.

My Daily for the last few years (60 miles of country lanes every day) is a 2005 Polo Gt. Same 130PD engine, but remapped up to about 170bhp. It’s the torque on these that makes then nippy, mines about 300 ft/lb.

Totally trouble free so far, bought on 67k now on 110. 20K on the remap.

Another purple Karrimor Hot Rock here. I think I got it in 1993/4. I got a Vaude Hogan a year later and it’s still going strong.

Also a mid 90s pace fleece and a 20 year old Buffalo windshirt.

Something tastefully titled ‘Dried Meat’ available by the kg from the buckets in Jollyes.

I’d question the ‘Meat’ name, as many of the parts are identifiable, and I’d consider them ‘All Of The Bits Of Animal That Can’t Be Called ‘Meat”.

Regardless, they’re dry, smallish, and were the only treat our cocker would take when he was a Pup.

I also tend to find that a bit of UB-40 and a microfibre removes surface rust on bolds.

That’s Food For Thought. I bet you’re Wondering ‘Where Did I Go Wrong?’.

So it’s not about what it can do anymore, it’s all about the peripheral stuff that it represented BITD, and the warm feeling this nostalgia gives in ones cockles?

mainly, yep.

There’s also the ‘nod’ to the foundations of what is still a young sport. Bontragers were quite revolutionary BITD. I’d honestly recommend anyone rides a ‘retro’ once in a while. It’ll hone the shit out of your bike handling…

Onion Bhaji.

Seriously.

It’s epic.

Probably easier to staple the kids to the ceiling.

I assume you’re trolling, but I’ll bite…

The 30mph if there are street lights rule is a myth and not a law.

Absolute crap. It’s law.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/27/part/VI/1992-04-01?timeline=true

Mini logo bearings are every bit as good as reds for about £10.

I’m a long legged 5’8″ and find a medium Scott Scale (same geo, near as dammit) perfect, but certainly wouldn’t want to go bigger.