Thanks Weeksy. Thats not as high as I had hoped for. Maybe I should just get a Passat estate.

I’ve been thinking about one of these. I’m in the market for something cheap and cheerful. No more than £1500. Something to slam bikes in and not worry about it. I was thinking of the Berlingo but I wanted cruise control. Anyone got the 2.0HDi engine? What kind of MPG are you getting?

Thanks Clink.

I’m also interested in the sizing. Whats the effective measurement on the TT on the 20″?

Thanks deadlydarcy, he’s a good lad. Very liberal.

I love both places and in an ideal world I’d take a bit of each place. I went over to see him at Christmas just gone and we had a great time together. I see him most nights of the week on FaceTime, but it’s not the same.

I’m just a bit sick of not know where I want to live. For what it’s worth he’s facing the same problem as me as he loves Europe as well.

Yes I know and I’m with you on that one. He’s 14 and very understanding of my dilemma. He often says to me go where your happy and I will be happy. He’s more of a man than me.

I moved to Alberta Canada in 2006 with my then wife and son. At first I loved the adventure of it, the Northern Lights were above my house every night of the week in the winter. I took a gap year from working and just enjoyed life for a while. Having seen most of Western Canada included the Yukon and NWT, we decided to move to Eastern Canada in 2007. I enjoyed being by the coast again and the pace of life in the Maritimes.

2011 wife decided that her ball was better off in someone else’s court.
I missed family while I was out there a lot and living near Europe also. So I decided to move back to the UK Jan 2012. Since being back my mum has become ill with Alzheimer’s and the beginning of this year we put her in long term care.

I went back to visit my son in Canada xmas just gone. Kind of miss Canada and the pace of life in the maritimes.

I was contacted by a Canadian company a few weeks back. I’ve had two interviews last week and they asked for references. I now face the prospect of going back out there.

Good bits:-
The space
Relaxed lifestyle
Affordable housing

Bad bits:-
It can get very cold in winter (obviously)
It can get expensive to heat houses in the winter.
Food I think is a little more expensive.

There is one overriding factor. Having lived another life in another country, I’m currently struggling to make a decision as to where I want to live? It’s not as if I don’t love the mother land. I love the UK.

Anyone else have that problem. I’m really struggling at the moment.

Thanks Paul. It certainly seems to have possibilities with the right fork on the front. Maybe a Salsa Cromoto or Fargo V2. It’s a shame those early frames didn’t have rear rack mounts

I quite fancy making a Fargo type thing out of it.

Apart from the short fork. How do you find the position / geometry of it when using the dropbars?

That Dropbred is exactly what I was thinking of doing. Thanks the inspiration Paul.

What fork is on it at the moment?

I’ve got an old 29er inbred with sliding dropouts that has me wondering about this. It’s a little short on the top tube length for me. Do you think it would be a good candidate? Anyone done anything similar to an inbred that could share pictures?

Ok, thanks. I was just wondering. I will keep my eye out on the 29th and I will have a look at John Lewis. Cheers

Does anyone know if the 1 year warranty on apple products is global? Only I’m in Canada visiting friends and I fancy buying a new iPad air.

hopefully this should work,

[/url]
Ansteys Cove Coastal Path 2[/url] by Tim Dart[/url], on Flickr

2008 Unit, love it!
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Not wishing to hijack the thread. I’m thinking of buying one of the older style Inbred 29er’s 2006 sliding dropouts. Anyone got one? What are dropouts like compared to the Kona one’s as the disk tabs are separate to the sliders?

I’ve been using my 92 Lava Dome a lot lately as my road bike is out of action. Such a great ride, I would be very upset if anything was to happen to her.

You’ve got to love the Joe Murray Konas! Icon frame designs if there is such a thing.

Thanks for all the advice. I’m going to get the forms filled out and start it next week. Lucky we have already got the financial stuff done and in a legal agreement. Hey I’ve got nothing else to give, she had it all. I suppose she could have all the rest of my shirts if she wants. :D

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve lived in Canada for 5 years and came back to the UK in December 2011. We were mortgage free with no loans etc. Basically what I did when we separated two years ago was to give her everything. We sold the house and she had all the money from that and the car, furniture etc etc. All I came out of it with is the bill for the separation agreement which includes support for our son. It was drawn up in Canada and is all above board and legal.

So by the sounds of it I can just do the divorce bit myself. I’ve got all the forms etc.

I’m thinking of going back to Canada and I’ve already lost my shirt over there with the separation agreement so I’m thinking of getting this sorted out over here while I’m still here.

I think I may look at swaping the frame. Loved the feeling of the bigger wheels when I’ve been out on it.

I was thinking of trying a shorter 29er fork anyway before going to a frame swap. So it gave me some idea as to standover clearance.

I’ve just tried slipping in a 26″ wheel at the front and a short fork with a 29″ wheel would give me about 2-3″ of toptube clearance.

It’s looking like I may swap the frame. Trouble is I really don’t like the look of many 29er frames and I’m really not a fan of layback seat posts.

I was thinking that maybe I should swap the frame out. Which is a shame because I love the sliding dropouts of the unit.

I’ll try a 26″ at the front, that’s a good option for trying out a shorter fork on the front.

Everything else feels great about the length of the frame and a layback seat post would make the saddle sit better.

Thanks. I was thinking to stay with the Mavic’s. But the Planet X seemed so cheap. I will avoid them.

Cheers

I swapped to a CC from Pomp frame, all the bits remained the same so it was a good comparison. The CC feels a little heavier than the pomp and not quite as nimble as the pomp, but the CC is still very good. The CC is also a lot more comfortable IMO, the on-one fork used to batter my wrists and the CC fork is lovely in comparison, the back end is also more comfy on the CC. Remember, steel may be real, but not all frames are the same. Saying that, id quite happily go back to a Pomp, id just not run the on-one fork.

Also worth noting the CC will take bigger tyres if you want to and come in bigger sizes for the tall folks.

That’s a great comparison thanks. Just got to decide now if it’s single speed or gears. Still wouldn’t mind trying a Pompino or Pompetamine. Is there such a thing as having too many cross bikes?

Why not just take a bike with you? One less thing to worry about and you can just enjoy the trip.

Canadian equivalent of Halfords would probably be Canadian Tire. Wouldn’t want to buy a bike from them. If your looking for second hand you could try kijiji or you could try Pink Bike.

Whats the Pompino or Pompetamine like compared to the Surly Cross-Check. Do they ride similar? I’ve been thinking of getting a pompino, but I already have a spare Cross – Check frame in the corner not doing much.

I’ve also been thinking / looking for a used XL pompino. What’s the biggest cross tire you could put in them?

From my experience they can be quite standoffish. But maybe that’s just me. I’d say go try it, it’s a great country. I was lucky enough to have traveled coast to coast. Some great places.

Speaking as someone whose Dad died with Alzheimer’s and whose sister died with MS recently I can tell you, DO NOT GO! Your Mum, your family and you need you to be around for the next few years. Your family is about to go through a distressing crisis.

Putting aside the obvious issue of abandoning all those responsibilities and running away, from an entirely selfish perspective you will feel guilty for the rest of your life if you don’t stay.

Thank you, it’s great to hear someones perspective who has gone through it.

Tough one. You are less likely to regret not going to Canada than not staying in the UK and being there for your mum.

That’s what I’m afraid of.

Do you a) live to work. Or b) work to live?
If a then it’s Canada. If b then stay.
My Mam passed away last year, due to my having a cold, could not see her. She was on Cemo.
Still can’t belive the bad luck, you really need to think what’s important in life

I agree completely, I lost my Dad to cancer whilst I was out there. Took me ages to get over it.

When will you ever get q better chance to pick somewhere you do love?

Exactly, it’s make my mind up time and they want to know on Monday!

You have to consider whether, if you go back, will you still be bored with the job, and after being home for a while, it could feel like you are quite isolated.

If you go back, do you have mates there or were most people joint friends with your ex wife? If she is still around it might be difficult to socialise with them if she is still on the scene.

I got bored with the 70 – 80 hour week that was the norm. A lot of the guys that I worked with I got on with really well and they didn’t want me to leave. A lot of what were our friends are now just my friends. But Canadian people can be strange. At least with British people you know we can be grumpy buggers

I would go back to Canada for the following reasons:

1. There is a job waiting.
2. You are familiar with the place.
3. You can always come home anytime you like.
4. You can always apply for a UK job from Canada.

If you stay …

1. You might be unemployed for sometimes because of current economy recession.
2. The longer you are unemployed the higher the chances you will be obsolete.

It seems like the sensible thing to do, or I could say stuff it and ride bikes all summer. :D

You could get a Apple Certified Refurbished one from the UK apple store? It’s a little cheaper than a new one. Also Apple are about to update the Macbook Pro if you want to hold on a bit. Not sure when that is.

Personally there is no difference in designing on Mac or PC. The programs are the same on both machines. If your costs are tight and you have a PC that will run the Adobe suite of programs use that.

Adobe now do a monthly subscription to there products if that helps with costs etc?

Cheers

Tim

If you just want to look at the files, select the file and press the space bar. You should be able to see the file now and you could take a screen shot.(Command, shift 3 or 4 if you want to select an area)

or
You could try gimp, it’s free. It’s more of a photoshop replacement. Not sure if it opens .ai files but you should be able to open .eps ones. Here is the link:- http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ . They do have a donation button if you love the program and want to send them a little something.

or
inkscape, never used it. Seems very much like illustrator. http://inkscape.org/

or
Adobe now do a monthly subscription service for their products if that helps.

Cheers

Tim

I have lived in Canada since 2006 and have been coast to coast. I’ll just add my 2 cents worth. One thing you have to remember about riding in the back country is the bugs. Mosquitoes and Black fly can get quite annoying even with bug spray protection. Plumber is right, Calgary is an expensive place to live, especially near the Rocky Mountains.