Hi Dave!

Long time no see…..

Have you thought about the Superstar wheels? Very impressed with mine.

@endurogangster – there’s no such thing as too young. I bought my son ‘his’ first Scalextric when he was seven……..days! A mate and I ‘broke it in’ for him and within a week we had upgraded track, cars etc. It was a bit tatty when he eventually got round to playing with it but, IMO that was a good thing as there was less of an issue when the inevitable happened and things broke. He had a massive amount of track etc too which was cool.

AVCs don’t apply for defined contribution schemes, they were generally for people with final salary arrangements. The idea is sound though, save as much as you can but get the balance right. Live for today a bit too.

The average pension fund at retirement is I think, sub £40k.

At age 65, a male has a life expectancy of about 23 years (increasing all the time).

All you need to do is work out how long £40k would last.

Oh yes, by the way, don’t forget the new flat rate state pension that comes in in 2017. They say you will get £150pw, but vast numbers of people won’t. I read something yesterday that said if you had contracted out at any time in your working life, you would be more likely to get £115pw not £150.

If you are in doubt about your state pension entitlement, get a BR19 online, fill it in, pop it in the post and you will get a free projection (of your state pension). It is a good place to start your pension planning.

What tthew said, plus you need to save enough to make it worthwhile.

The jury is out on the ISA/Pension question now. With the new pension freedoms, the rationale behind saving into an ISA has diminished somewhat, especially if you want to use it to generate long term income at some stage in your life. If you are saving up for some sort of capital expenditure however (paying off your mortgage etc) then an ISA is likely to be the better bet.

The new AE enrolment thing – take the tax relief and employer contributions but make sure you think hard about how much you are putting in. It is better than nothing but if you simply stick to minimum contributions you may find a sting in the tale when you retire. By having private pensions albeit ones with minimal values, some people will find they are excluded from certain benefits (pension credits for example). This is my understanding based on current legislation and I could be wrong but it is worth checking.

Retirement may seem like a long way away but it sort of rushes at you and before you know it……

I had some KCNC ones which lasted really well off road. I got sa couple of years out of them, with minimal wear. One day we went on a longish ride (120 miles I think) and long sections were in soft, damp sand. When I got home, they had worn away to nothing!

I have had a pair on my winter roadie for several years, they were on my crosser before that and I got them second hand on here. Apart from a few bits of anodising wearing off, they look like new.

Are they worth the money? Not sure really, but they look cool.

+1 for they are rubbish.

Mice + rat posion is a good combo. The thing is, we had so many of the blighters last winter I could have bought shares in the rat poison company.

We never had a problem when I had moggies. One (the female) lived indoors most of the time and caught mice. The middle one caught them outside and had the occasional rat, the big tom mainlined rats and rabbits. The farmer next door loved him to bits. Then he took on a car and lost, the others died in due course and the rest of the family declared their hayfever had gone with the cats so I wasn’t allowed another.

Now we have ‘pet’ mice that live in the roof, in the lath and plaster etc. Boo!

Thanks guys, plenty to go on there.

Booker Prize nomination for 2016?

Or maybe not.

I’m oot!

Don’t forget your hands.

I have always found silk glove liners work really well. About a tenner a pair in climbing or outdoor shops.

Think of it like riding your bike. No one is going to expect you to complete the TdF first time out.

iirc, my first piece of written work at uni was total pants, in fact most of the first term was best forgotten about. You get the hang of it in the end.

Just do your best.

4 Season Discs here. On my crosser. Love ’em!

Cracked frame? Twice, and successful both times. The only hassle was they didn’t want the old frames so I had to skip them. On the scale of hassle on a 1 to 10 basis, that didn’t even register.

FWIW I now insure with NFU. They have amended their policy wording (accidental damage)with relation to damage to bikes covered under the policy. The new wording excludes damage while racing if done so by a ‘professional’ racer and the same applies to liability. Otherwise, you pretty much have blanket cover for normal risks.

I guess the ‘professional’ aspect pretty much excludes all of us then. 🙂

I have a pair of Endura ones that have been ok. A bit like leg warmers, the problem with knee warmers is that they sometimes fail to grip that well and can be prone to sliding down your legs (especially if the grippers on your shorts aren’t that good any more). I have also found that soimne brands have seams in the wrong place and can be uncomfortable.

The Endura ones are ok…that’s about it. I wouldn’t rush out to buy another pair but these are now in their 4th winter….well, they soon will be!

If riding ‘trackers’ in the 70s doesn’t count…maybe about 1988 on a Spesh Hard Rock in Thetford Forest. I was so blown away by it all, I entered the first race I could. I was an ok roadie at the time so was pretty confident but thought I’d enter the fun race then move up to sport when I’d shown them what it (and I) was all about.

When I was lapped by the leaders of the women’s race I recognised hubris for what it was. When I say lapped, what I actually mean was blown away by them on the first lap! They passed me again before my race finished!

With the exception of the gammon and turkey, everything above reminds me of what I think of as ‘seminar food’ i.e. it is mainly a study in the delivery of uniformly beige food.

@meeeee

I have the Pro version. I have ridden it by mistake with the supports in, and it is a bit rockier than I’d like, but nothing you can’t cope with.

Noise….I have my music turned up to the max level anyway, so I can’t hear any noise! o)

Someone said the transition from level to climbing is smoother with the pro but at £210 I could live with it. I tried a classic when it was the only one available. It was way better than my iMagic which felt wooden when the ‘road’ tipped up.

Don’t ignore the Bkool. I have had mine a year now and really love it. The up tight reviews sniff at it as not being a ‘serious trainer for top level fitness’ whatever that means. It is fun, it hurts a lot, it is way better than my iMagic, and I keep coming back for more (pain).

It has all the racing options you can want from live racing, racing bots and historic rides and they have managed to game-ify turbo training. They have just introduced live track racing options to help with your speed work. I haven’t tried it yet but it is on the schedule for those dark evenings ahead.

Apparently there are over 500k rides online to choose from but I haven’t counted. You can create your own rides for general consumption too, if that works for you.

Downsides – once your initial premium subscription runs out (I think I got 3 months free) you have to pay on an annual or month by month basis. I think it is 8 euro a month.

Does it make me fitter? People notice the difference when I have been using it so yes.

I think they do a try before you buy thing too, plus you an pay over a year.

I operate a one in, one out policy. When Mrs slowjo sees bikes or a procession of bike bits being posted she knows another one is on the way. I don’t go silly with my bike buying and she doesn’t ask apart from questions like: ‘I haven’t seen this one before, when did that arrive?’

ATM the one in, one out policy has slipped a bit. I need to get over to Classifieds to try and shift a frame.

I have had both. I haven’t run either as a SS.

As a general comment, the SC is way better.

Not sure if that helps.

@fingerbike do you find 38 big enough? I run similar gearing in my highball but find I run out of gears on road sections.

I was contemplating a 48 up front, but there again, it is quite flat round here.

Thanks…

OMG……

I can’t ‘un-know’ that now.

I muist lead a pretty sheltered life, or the doggers round here are amateurs!

@ Rusty Shackleford – he looked very cross so I wasn’t going to hang around. He also looked a little bit Neanderthal.

My wife said it would have been a laugh if I had taken a photo of the car, number plate etc, or at least pretended to. The thing is, a car is a bit quicker than a bike and I wouldn’t have rated my chances!

I keep running across this sort of thing and no one seems happy to see me.

Big tree…cheap folding saw…..nah! :o)

Will this bump?

You aren’t thinking of selling them are you?

No…thought not ;o)

That is one Fugly bike.

Two years later, it is as big as it was before, with more dense growth.

Blimey!

At least I can eat the nuts…..all you can do is play conkers! Or is it a Sweet Chestnut?

Thanks chaps…..Jodrell Bank sounds worth a punt.

Much as I love the sound and look of Spits, I have a very soft spot for the Mosquito…just phenomenal.

I’m still waiting for my free bottle from when I subscribed when (I think) the mag was still in single figures. I reckon it is lost in the post! :o)

@ Mr Woppit

Meh the mag.

I still subscribe but I rarely read the mag all the way through. There’s not much in it nowadays to interest me. So….meh (a bit) +1

I have a Kinesis T2 for winter use and love it. I think Kinesis are doing compete bikes for under £800 at the moment.

Cracking machine, fast, comfortable and takes a full set of guards too. It also handles surprisingly well.

I have an orange 5T on order. I decided on that one because it was a

part time racer, do it all, sort of bike.

I decided on some Hunt 4 Season wheels and plan on a 1×10 setup.

The only thing yet to be decided is the brakes. I thought about BB7s (Road) but then thought I might go for the Shimano mechanicals and eventually upgrade to 11 speed with hydraulics.

Getting an auto seems to be like the proverbial moon on a stick request!

Re depreciation…..we tend to buy cars and run them into the ground. Our last new car was a 2001 Berlingo and it has been fantastic. A little bit scruffy now but as a do it all car it is/has been brilliant. It only has about 140k on the clock so is almost new by our standards but….as Mrs S needs to move to an auto it is sadly, due for the chop before its time.

Sadly, there seem to be very few of these cars out there (s/h), with an auto box.

If I had my way….

If you get to Dedham be sure to visit Hall Farm if only for the size and quality of the cakes! A frequent cake stop destination on road rides.

Hall Farm

Ta all!

I have one of these on the way…

Haven’t watched the video yet but slitting a girl’s eyeball with a razor, that was a motif first used in the 1920s or 30s…surrealists I think.

A quick google and hey presto Un Chien Andalou (1929)