Thanks for the advice folks…
The £2k includes getting to LHR/LGW, transfers to Grand Junction from Denver (or hiring a minibus) and we’d be staying in the Best Western (Gonzo) in Moab for an extra night at the start, possibly one at the end due to the timings of the inbound/outward flights.

It all seems like too much dosh to me too, but I’m also told that the riding is epic. Decisions decisions…

I think I might go another year when the family funds are better – but I’m 40 this year so I might start another thread – epic bike holidays in Europe!! No doubt I’ll end up going guided in the Alps…

Thanks again for the input…

£2k is for 5 days of riding and EVERYTHING else. Beer, planes, transfers, food, bikes, etc.
We only have to rock up with shorts and a helmet…

Yossarian – I’m already part of the Romney Marsh Mountain Rescue Team…

Thanks for the advice on camping etc – but we’re going as a big group, so I’ve got to tag along with the group’s plans. We’re going with Trektravel.com as it’s being organised by our LBS who are Trek dealers and we’ll be on Remedys.
http://www.trektravel.com/trip/moab-ride-camp-bike-tour/

Looks like I’d better start getting stuff on eBay to pay for it!

You’re right – she’s wrong (in my opinion).
We eat at the table where food is to be enjoyed not endured. You have to eat, so you may as well enjoy it!
Clear plate = desert/yoghurt/fruit.
Eating in front of the TV is a very bad habit and makes the food secondary to the TV – like only getting up to get a drink during the adverts (if you watch ITV/SKY!!!).

Good food is an event, not a chore.

Akira, The stupid owner travelled back home 250 miles with his lovely friend (and her bloke in his draughty van) and then got the train back to Port Talbot the next day with the spare car key…

Steradent tablets. Available from any supermarket or pharmacy.
Fill it up with hot water and leave overnight, repeat if necessary.

For those using their GoPro as “cock-cam”, the App has recently been upgraded with new firmware for the camera.
So now, not only can you watch your money shot, (and then the 4-second delayed repeat on the iPad), but now you can save the image via WiFi from the GoPro to your iPhone or iPad to distribute it to the www.

I fly hot air balloons for a living and use a GPS iPad and an altimeter/variometer. The altimeter/variometer uses barometric pressure and is by far the most accurate. If you can find a GPS that fits your needs and has a barometric sensor then your in business.

We bought a 7m 5-berth motorhome for £6500 May 2012, sold it for £7000 May 2013.
Did work on it, engine work and bits inside like new covers and water pump etc so it probably cost us £500.
We used it lots as a family, and had some great holidays.

HOWEVER!!!! It was a 1991 Renault Trafic based mtorhome. Parts are getting scarce and I spoke to a friend who pointed out that his caraven could be as old as the hills and it didn’t matter. Whereas if the engine on our elderly (but very low mileage) motorhome expired, we’d have a rather large ornament on our drive worth sod all and not much more than sod all if we sold it in pieces. I got cold feet and it went. I loved it and when our kids leave ome we’re getting another one and we’re going round Europe, but if I were to get another old one, id make sure parts are readily available…

+1 for the Gin
Hold a bulbous glass close to your ear and pour good wine into it from a full bottle. The glug-glug noise is fantastic!

At 4:50 I actually shouted out “What the xxxx just happened?”!!!
Awesome!
You’d have to lead a pretty rubbish life not to be impressed by that.

I’m not sure I’d want to sit on a bus seat after a naked bloke…

I got pulled over on my way home to Manly (Sydney, AUS) and they were breath testing everyone coming out of the city on that road. If you’d been drinking you had no opportunity to u-turn once you’d realised the cops were ahead.
I was riding a motorbike at the time and pulled up and raised my visor… “Been drinking?” Said the cop. “On a 900cc with a pillion? Not bloody likely!” I replied. “On your way then.”
Seemed sensible enough to me.
Then again there was the Aussie urban myth….
A guy stumbles out of a bar, staggers to his car, fails to get the keys in the door, drops the keys, spends ages looking for them, fails to get then in the door again, but eventually manages to get in the car where he remains for a while. Meanwhile everyone else has left the pub…. After a while he gets the car started and finds first gear. Blue lights come on and he gets pulled. After being blowing into the breathalyser, the cop is amazed to find the guy doesn’t even register. The cops are dumbfounded. “I’m tonight’s designated distraction!” Says the bloke.
Class!

Initial thoughts were Piccolax, but you wouldn’t get to see the results.
It would be nice to rig something up to scare the crap out of him/her, but you’ve got to get it on film. That sort of stuff goes viral (or at least would get you £250 on You’ve Been Framed!).

With two small children to worry about and some well tended raised beds I got annoyed with the mad French witch next door and her four cats. Our garden was their loo.
So, I started lobbing the shite back over next door. It didn’t bother me if she was sun bathing in the garden either.
The problem was solved within a couple of months when she moved house.
Job(bie) done.

Remove wheel and tap hub with hammer. I tried the ‘floor it’ method and the ‘drag it’ method before and ended up wearing my clutch and flat spotting my tyres.
Jack it up, remove the wheel and give it a tap. Job done.

£110…
Lets see where this goes!

A friend of my wife got a guys banjo string caught between her teeth… Apparently when that happens there’s only one thing for it and its not driving to the hospital whilst still attached. She said the scream was horrendous as was the blood loss…
Makes you want to cross your legs doesn’t it?

It depends on the deal. Limited mileage means that the manufacturer can estimate the cost of servicing/tyres etc and some work it into the price or it can be negotiated…
You’ve really got to do your sums with the exact vehicles that your considering.

Audi A3 Sportback (silly name for 5 door) – £181 per month on PCH, 65mpg
We were running a Discovery II 24mpg (my work vehicle), as a primary car and an old Mercedes C240 24mpg (V6 2.4 petrol which we got for free) as a run around.
The Mercedes got smashed in the snow in February so we got thinking about PCH/PCP etc or buying an ’07 Golf 45mpg.
After numerous spreadsheets we worked out that the money we’d save by not running the Mercedes or Discovery as a primary car would save around £200 a month in fuel costs alone for the mileage we currently do. That’s at today’s fuel costs which are only going to go up, probably at a rate higher than inflation. Plus the running costs of the Discovery are terrible! So it was a choice between the Golf or a new A3…
Our calculations showed that IF we got a peach of a Golf, then that car made financial sense. However IF we got a ‘Friday afternoon’ Golf then the A3 would make more financial sense. Purely for piece of mind (servicing included) and to have a newer (better) car on the drive, we went for the A3.
Do your figures and take into account everything (mileage, tyres, servicing, estimated future fuel costs, resale etc etc) and make your financial decision. Chances are, your heart will overrule your head/wallet and you’ll be able to justify to yourself why you need a shiney new car!

If it’s not the mech hanger, (or you fancy some garage / shed / man-cave time), check that the freehub is ok. I’ve had it before where the bearings inside have imploded and this was causing the free hub and therefore the cassette to ‘wobble’. Depending on which side of the cassette was loaded, depended upon whether or not it indexed correctly…

Tell her to lighten up, let’s face it, she’s not getting any younger, (or thinner), so she needs to learn how to take a joke.

Regarding the On-One Reverb offer, it is for a pre-2012 Reverb isn’t it?
I think I read somewhere that the ones with the silver collar are the older version. I’m not sure if the newer ones are appreciably better for the extra cost, but I am currently in the market for one too…
Has anyone had new/old versions for comparisons?

If the organizers of the Rat Race want any more of my cash, they’ll have to prise it from my cold dead hands…

I’ve only had great warranty experience throughTrek, via my local bike shop / Trek dealer, which is ACTiV in Folkestone. I know of several people who have had frames replaced and one of those (I’m sure from memory), was because a cable guide had popped out and made a hole in the frame.
When I had mine replaced, they sent the frame off and Trek examined it. Perhaps send it to Trek directly rather than your local dealer sending photos….?

Larsen over the Crossmark. I think it’s grippier, especially if you have it on the front for braking… I also like the extra volume and the shape of it just seems to make my Fuel Ex turn in so nicely…
Never used an Ikon

Oncoming dog walker (ie one that’s seen me and therefore doesn’t need me to ring my bell) – “Where’s your bell?”
Me – “Where’s your bags for picking up your dog shit?”
9 times out of 10 they don’t reply.
The 1 in 10 that do show their poo bags get a ring of the bell, then everyone’s a winner!

When I went, I was advised (by someone with more money than sense), to purchase the “Q-Bot” queue jumping thingy. For £70 pp, (yes an extra £280 for a family of four!!!) it allows you to go down a VIP lane straight to the front of every queue.
I thought they were mental, but when we arrived half an hour before the gates opened and the car park was already filling up, we thought about getting it. I’m not one for queuing at the best of times and the idea of 45 minutes in a queue for a 2 minute ride filled me with dread. Whilst I know how to keep my children occupied, games/cards/books/food etc, but I still didn’t fancy the queues… So….. We paid the money.
One the day we went, it was rammed and therefore it was worth every penny. Most rides were at least 45 minutes wait, some like the underwater thingy (Atlantis ?) were longer… We just strolled up and got on. One ride we did four times and the look on one particular woman’s face as we kept going back for more as she slowly crept around the snaking queue was priceless – I’m sure she’d have knifed me if she could have! The reality was that she had the opportunity to do the same, but she chose to stand shuffling along in queues for 90% of her day and keep the £280 in her pocket.
After the day was over, we worked out that we did loads more rides per £ we spent, which was the point of going there, so it was worth it on the busy day that we attended. If its not so busy, it might be a waste of money, but worth bearing in mind. Personally, I’d rather stay in a cheap/budget hotel and save my money for the day itself.
Have fun!

I wrecked a carbon rear triangle on my Top Fuel… The carbon stay separated from the aluminium lug at the BB end. I’m fairly sure it was because I used a kids trailer attached at the rear axle on that side. It cost me about £400 fora new rear triangle – oops!
I now use tag-a-longs on my Fuel Ex, but they attach on the seat tube, (aluminium replacement rather than the standard carbon) and I’ve had no problems…

Small Block 8’s are incredibly fast tyres – you really will notice a difference, but as mentioned above, they’re strictly for dry only.
+1 for the Ardent/Crossmark combo…
My favourite summer rubber has to be Larsen TT in 2.35 ( the 62a option). Light fast and grippy and the profile of the 2.35 just seems to make my EX Fuel corner really well. More volume than the above tyres too giving a more supple ride.
Bontrager are doing some good copies/variations of the above tyres and are tubeless ready if you’re into that sort of thing…
(Bear, if you’re still reading this post and you’re still awake, I knew you’d go ty nerdy in the end – it’s inevitable!)

“She looks like she’s been set on fire and put out with a cricket bat.”
If ever we drop things or some small moment goes wrong, our 5 and 7 year olds have picked up on, “How do you think that went then?”
About as much use as a… Chocolate fire guard / Ashtray on a motorbike etc
“Keep on the pavement and mind the buses”
“You can give the pencils out tomorrow”
“Worse things happen at sea” – ALWAYS said to me by my Grandfather, just before I’d go windsurfing! However my personal favourite and one of his overused sayings is I like to use a lot is….
“It’s nice to be nice”

They’re hard work and having very little in the way of structure are uncomfortable to paddle in the correct way. If all you want to do is muck about near the beach, they’re fine, but if you have any intentions of travelling any sort of distance, give them a wide berth!
If you’re stuck for room, try a Tequila multi section kayak….
http://www.point65.com/kategori/5052/tequila-tandem.html

I got permission, bought the ring and then waited for the right weather.
I fly hot air balloons for a living and the right weather didn’t appear at a convenient date, so I just got drunk at my sisters wedding and then asked her on the sofa when we got home…
Moral of the story, don’t plan too much as it might not happen as you (or she – in her girlie fairy tale kind of way), had planned.
All those that have asked while in my basket at work, have all had the correct response. However another balloon pilot in Oz, had a girl say “No”. Apparently it was the longest one hour flight of his life!

Thatcher will be buried next to Saville, in the “I’ve screwed miners” section of the graveyard…

Just waiting for the oldies to die so I can retire…
Actually inheritance is a massive issue, with the Government wanting 40% after the first £325k. So if you’re oldies are thinking of giving you a wedge when they kick the bucket, get them to do it now! If they give you the money within 7 years prior to their demise the rules still apply, so even more reason for them to share the love/cash ASAP!
You might not want to cut and paste this response in an e-mail to them though…

Climb up the Franz Joseph glacier, (or take the helicopter!)
Eat lots of mussels accompanied by some decent local wine.
We went diving there with manta rays and that was in my ‘top ten best ever’…. I think it was near the White Isle which is an active volcano, which we also visited.

As I said, I have a Discovery for loading up with kit or rubble sacks.
I also have a 5 berth 7metre motor home with a roof rack big enough for 5 kayaks, a Fiamma 3 bike rack plus a tow bar for more bikes or trailer, (I also have 4 trailers up to 5m in length).
Neither of which I wish to use “as the one and only family car in the household”, for anything above 10 000 miles P.A..
I realise that a T5 can move sofas, (although you can’t get one into our local tip), and is good for lugging stuff inside and out.

HOWEVER…
As for running a T5 as a family car, you could probably get another car with the fuel savings by not using it day in day out. Plus a small family car shouldn’t have as high service costs and it would give greater family flexibility. So why not have both?
With fuel expected to rise to £2/litre in the next few years, vehicle mpg should not be an after thought.
Just chucking in my two pennies Trail Rat!

We’re getting rid of an old 2.4 V6 (C240) Mercedes and I’m going to stop using my Discovery II (Landmark Edition with all the bells and whistles), as our primary car.
Nothing exciting in that…
However with the saving on fuel of £200 per month, (both did around 24mpg), we’re lease hiring a brand new A3 Sportback for free (67.5mpg claimed combined cycle). In fact by putting the A3 through our business it only works out at around £180pcm.

My point is that for everyday transport, a T5, (nice wheels in my opinion) doesn’t make financial sense…

Got one – love it!

Thanks for the info.
I think I’ll go with the WingBars as I’ve already got the mounts therefore it’ll be cheaper than buying the WhispBars from scratch.