Like the ‘flexy’ Enve wheels?

We had a bit of a chuckle but it hasn’t stopped the rattle!

Ticks all the boxes….thanks

Cheers

Plug plug plug

Nephew writes the music and plays lead. They are only young so I guess they are doing ok though they have yet to be paid for a gig. :o)

They will be in NME next week apparently. I was always a Sounds man as NME was too ‘establishment’ but I guess loads has changed since the 70s! ;o)

Or you could always spend about £9K upgrading a £3k Fiat Doblo like someone I know!

No pix available I’m afraid…until I spot it in the car park again.

Now that’s what I call a waste of cash.

apologies….she seems to have a cover over her spare tub too!

Quick wheels…..and tubs

…and not an aero bit in sight.

Extending the range of this a bit further (sorry) are there significant enough advantages from an 800 or 810 over a 705?

My 705 is fine but the screen is a bit mullered now. I could persuade myself to upgrade if there is a significant enough performance differential but there again, if I could get a new screen then maybe I’d stick with the 705.

I have a Duster on my shortlist to replace the Berlingo when it dies. It is a 51 plate and while things looked iffy a few months back, it went to the garage and came back good as new…well, sort of.

It refuses to die.

So far we have not had any significant bills.

It is scruffy, scratched and dented and is doing a very laudable impression of the stereotypical French car (in France).

The Berlingo cost me £7,500 cash payment (new) so it has been as cheap as a Dacia. I have nothing against cheap cars as long as they start, stop and cost me as little as possible to run. If a Duster did as well as the ‘Lingo I’d be well pleased. Would I worry about being seen in one? No.

Has anyone asked Mumsnet what they think?

Or is this a Mumsnet troll?

Not expressing an opinion, just asking. 🙄

@muppetWrangler, interesting distinction…certainly more interesting that some of the gratuitous name calling.

I replaced my tired old Tacx iMagic with one after Christmas.

I have been concentrating on ‘easy’ and ‘moderate’ rides but working on a time rather than a distance basis. So far I have not bothered with the 3D or the multiplayer races. I am enjoying the video routes too much. I am not ready for the difficult or extreme routes yet though I am pretty fit/strong atm.

While I used to die of boredom on the iMagic, the variety of routes on the Bkool keeps me interested enough to actually look forward to evening sessions.

Is the Wiggle one the old style (white) unit? These are supposed to be a bit wobbly and the new, black, ones have extendable legs making it more stable. I got mine from Fishface Cycles for £380 for the new, black, trainer.

I use mine on a laptop and it is stable as anything. The only issue is that sometimes their servers can be quite busy so you can’t upload your ride data immediately.

Otherwise…I really rate mine. If you get one and like it, we could set up a STW group maybe.

I couldn’t listen, it just made me cringe.

What was the saying about Pi$$ Poor Preparation? Someone needs to tell her!

My sister has a Sportage. I think it is 3 years old now. Apart from getting it repaired when she has hit stuff (bollards etc) it hasn’t put a foot wrong.

Like a lot of these crossover/4×4 alike cars, I think it is Fugly. But there again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc etc.

With any luck, today’s fat bellied ex golfist will ride whatever bike he buys for long enough that he will become a mere shadow of his/her former self.

I totally agree with PeterPoddy re having the right tool for the job. If someone buys the ‘wrong’ bike first time round however, they may end up buying a more suitable one when they work out there is something more appropriate out there. Welcome to the world of n+1.

As for aesthetics though….well that’s another ball game. It is terribly subjective though and that is why we end up arguing about it all the time.

54 and a mere whippersnapper.

Recovery from a hard ride takes a little longer than it used to but generally I’m on the go again within a day or so. In the summer I manage getting on for 200 miles a week – about 80 off road. Mileage is less in the winter but only because I lose the will to live if I head out night after night in the cold and wet and mud. I have been night riding since before Vistalights were innovations therefore the novelty has worn off a bit.

What epicyclo said about keeping your wheels on the ground!

Plenty of stretching helps keep any aches and pains at bay.

Illnesses take a little longer to sort themselves but I just make sure I have properly recovered before launching back into a mad exercise regime.

I haven’t really slowed down yet. IMO passing 50 hasn’t proved to be that disastrous!

@Ropeyreignrider – I can’t claim to be an expert but there was evidence of ‘tampering’ when I got it which I should have looked into at the time. The screws securing the case were all over the place and it sort of rattled inside when I moved it… For some unknown reason, I chose to ignore all this.

It kept blowing fuses too.

So….you may be right but there’s always a chance they weren’t being totally economical with the truth!

Can I throw a spanner into the works here?

Some time ago I bought an Arcam Alpha amp. It was pants and a channel kept dropping out. In the end I rang up Arcam (just up the road in Waterbeach) and said I’d bought one of their amps second hand and it was awful, could they help? They suggested I pop over or send it to them and they’d see what could be done. One Friday afternoon I dropped it off and waited.

A cou[le of days later they rang up. At some stage, someone had ripped the guts out of the amp and replaced it with junk and they hadn’t done the job very well either. They said they’d see what they could do, if I didn’t mind taking a chance. By the end of the week it was finished and I wandered over to pick it up.

One of the engineers popped out to see me. He had tried to sort the components out to make them work but couldn’t so he replaced the whole thing with brand new Arcam components, put it back in the existing box and it was as good as new.

The bill? £48. He suggested they were more than happy to repair old kit so….that might be an option for you. Give them a ring.

One advantage of buying British IMO.

Fragile paint…I had a SC resprayed under warranty by Argos. I chose my colour but got a call from them to the effect that it was not a very good idea as some of the brighter, more sparkly paints were too fragile for MTBs. The recommended palette was basically black or black. In the end I went for black….it was durable enough but went flat really quickly and looked terrible.

The original paint on the SC (silver) was so fragile, bu the time I had finished my first ride, the paint had somehow worn back to the primer. Anyway, the moral is…beware fragile paint.

My Swift is in need of a respray too so I’ll watch for interesting pictures.

Hurrah for CRC!

Package arrived six hours after contacting them. It may have been coincidence but I prefer to think CRC came through for me.

Hurrah and Huzzah!

Driving along the A14 to the coast. It is blowing a hoolie and I have my nice new shortboard and carbon mast on top of the car (sails etc inside).

Massive gust hits the car, crack! The board flies off the roof (safety rope on the front of the car snaps) and into the patch of an artic. Lots of smoke and swerving, lights flashing, horns etc. OMG someone’s going to die!!!!!! F***, F***k, F***!

In a nano second, my board and mast disappear under the lorry and are spat out onto the side of the road. I manage to retrieve them and strap the debris to the roof. Then I spot the damage to the roof of my (new) car.

It seems that when the gust hit, the clamps on the roof bars turned to cheese and straightened out. Moral of that story – never buy Paddy Hopkirk roof bars, they are (were) rubbish.

All in all a very expensive day of (not) sailing.

I have just spoken to them….they are going to deal with it now. :o)

I have several vouchers and none of them have ever worked. Gave up trying in the end.

There’s a concoction my Mum always called ‘Schoolboy’s Dinner’ which I loved, when my son was young he loved it too and we still eat it now. It may be no good for this evening but this is basically it:

Get a large ovenproof dish

Chopped onion lightly fried
Sausages browned
Bacon cut up into (about) 1 inch chunks – lightly cooked
Tin of baked beans
Tin of tomatoes
Worcester Sauce
Pepper to season
(Mushrooms can go in there too if desired)
Chuck them all in the dish together, put them in the oven at a lowish temperature and cook slowly for several hours. As you get to within an hour or so of eating, turn it up.

Serve with baked potatoes.

it is a great post (winter) ride meal too.

Exams….usually A Levels or finals at uni even though I graduated in 1983.

It gets worse when I have to sit exams for work. It has turned me from a basically lazy studier into someone with a pathological fear of failing because I haven’t revised enough.

I know several people with a Duster. They only have good things to say about them…as long as you go in with your eyes open and don’t expect a BMW/Audi type vehicle, it seems you will be fine.

On my list for when the Berlingo goes to the scrapyard in the sky! Having said that, it is a 51 plate , >140k on the clock and apart from a dead battery, and a servo belt going hasn’t missed a beat since day one. At £7.2k new that was a bargain!

If there’s a queue for XL shorts…..can I join the back?

Just spoke to a chap in the States. No shorts but they did have my shirt.

Cancelled my order.

Boo.

I have got grumpy on Twitter @Belkincares

At least we are opening up lines of communication. I suggest you take to Twitter too. They promise to ring me today some time. I’ll keep you abreast of progress.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

I bet you I miss out and they decided they’d sell it to someone else ;o)

I got 2 emails, one confirming submission and a second one saying it will be ‘shipping soon’. That was 4 days ago!

My tracking number doesn’t even work!

I’ll try again

Your mind is wrong

😆

OK thanks.

ok thanks….postie has been do there is still hope for today (tho’ tomorrow would do really….)

Nothing here yet. Order confirmed but that’s it.

Were they delivered by the postie or a courier?

I’d say a Swift with a nice carbon fork. Have done several 100 milers on mine. It sounds ideal for what you describe.

It is the software that is the problem. 32 bit only. The new 64 bit version is pants and keeps crashing.

I am exploring alternatives. If I can find something that runs remotely via a browser, then I’ll dump Winxx and stick to OSX

The thing is…Win 7 licences are somewhat difficult to get hold of and most folk I know hate Win8. I am waiting for Win10 in the hope that it works better than 8. If it does, then I’ll change.

I use it every day. OK it is on a virtual machine via OSX but it is absolutely fine.

+1 for the Shimano shoes. It is rare for a single brand to work for me (i.e. road and mtb) but I find Shimano shoes just suit me down to the ground. Love ’em.

I have 3 pairs of Shimano mtb shoes on the go atm and one pair of the R170 for the road.

Free postage if over £40. I got 2 x shorts and a shirt which was just under £40 and it was cheaper to buy a polo shirt and get free postage.