I sold through car wow as they offered a better initial valuation for a car that was running and driving fine than we buy any car or motorway. As soon as the auction finished, we buy any car offered me 10 quid over the car wow final price, a couple of  thousand over their initial valuation…

I chose to stick with car wow as I didn’t like the fact they were obviously monitoring the other companies auctions..

I’m planning on doing the same…? 

Interested to hear what everyone else thinks of the plan.. 

I suspect you are planning to fit a tapered fork in a straight headtube? 👍

Like all(?) the above we use Starling for business banking for our Ltd company. I was suspicious whether it would work, but it does. I don’t deal with cash though.

Some families need 7 seats (and decent boot space). V90 has only 5….

I’ve got diesel one (2015) bought 2nd hand unseen during covid. It is a fantastic family car, my wife loves it. It’s rather large, width is more than the previous model. Not economical nor fast. Approx 32mpg overall with no city driving. Loads of boot space and seats, loads of toys (inscription model), nothing really has gone wrong in our ownership except a door handle stopped working and it was replaced under the 1yr warranty that came with the car as we got it from a volvo dealer.

I considered the electric hybrid, but read it wasn’t very economical unless you can do full electric journeys, which we wouldn’t be able to due to the short range.

Big service from volvo dealer (cambelt and service) was surprisingly cheap. Tyres not so cheap, even worse if you get the biggest alloys apparently..

Now done 40000 miles in our ownership, bought at 35k.

Depends what you are into? Most things will involve a bit of travel.
Kirkby lonsdale is worth a visit along with devil’s Bridge and a walk to ruskin’s view.
Hills nearby depending on weather for views and walking abilities – farleton fell and Hutton roof with limestone pavements.
Warton cragg and Arnside knott too with views over the morecambe Bay. nice coastal walk between the 2 also.
Silverdale has a holiday park at Holgates with swimming if weather awful, but it will be busy.
Greenlands farm near Carnforth for animals.
Lakeland oasis wildlife park on the a6 south of Milnthorpe too.
Sizergh Castle – national trust, Levens Hall for visits

I got it from highonbikes

It is a SM-PCE02 just be warned that there are different size di2 cables and the one that arrived didn’t match my bike! I had to get an adapter and length of correct cable which caused more delays and angst that I had bought a useless to me dongle!

Works fine now and software is free to download.

3 of us took a punt on the vitus ebikes (2x e-sommet vrx and 1x vrs) as there was nothing to touch them from a geometry, spec, value battery size and availability point of view at the time. We are all very impressed so far in their abilities and that is across a range of abilities and preconceived views of what a good mountain bike was.

Main concern was distance purchase and warranty issues but I purchased the shimano workshop dongle to cover diagnostic issues.

“They have their exits” by airey neave was good. He escaped from colditz

There is a pod cast on ww2 escapes called “for you the war is over” which I enjoy. Sadly one of the 2 men who make it died during covid but it continues to produce interesting stuff.

I’ve had the same letter in the same situation, car has been nowhere near Birmingham. I came to the same conclusion that my plates had been cloned as I’ve had a previous letter about a bus lane fine in Birmingham and it wasn’t me in the photos but I couldn’t actually read the plate. However car was wrong make colour and model so I got that dismissed.

I briefly thought about getting a private plate to swap onto my car as that would solve the issue for me, but then came to my senses as I think they are a waste of money, however if another occurrence of a letter appears I may think again.

150 quid for a crappy plate to make the issue go away?

Good tips, thanks

I’m a consultant anaesthetist. Both midazolam and propofol are dangerous drugs but very effective when used in experienced hands. It takes 14yrs minimum to train from medical school to consultant anaesthetist for a reason. Not something to mess with or ask for a prescription as they have no role in chronic use.

Effective sedation is what the OP wants. Both drugs can provide this which is why both are used commonly.

The effect of each is dependent on many factors. Simply put, alcohol can be used as a drug to sedate for such procedures, it is a very effective hypnotic, but has the slight issue of the lethal dose being very close to the effective dose for sedation…

The descriptions folk are using to describe the different effects, think about the first time you got properly drunk and how you felt.. Everyone probably would come up with a different description?

I suggest dictating to the people in the hospital what drugs they must use to keep you safe during the procedure is unwise, as what you want is them to use what they are most familiar using and use effectively?

I’d be happy to have either.

If she loves the bike, replace/upgrade the worn parts and carry on?

As an aside, my son loves his trek ex jnr – 26 inch wheel full suspension designed for a child. He’s probably 4’10

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/reducing-standover-height-on-childs-bike/

I asked the same question a while ago.. I have the hoy saddle if you want to give it a try?

I had suffered this at the start of lockdown in march after lifting my son onto my shoulders and was given the exercises by a physio over zoom. Couldn’t sleep or lift my arm with any strength at this point. This didn’t help until she saw me in person as soon as covid allowed in early May I think. She changed my exercises, released my pec muscle with the deepest most painful massage I’ve ever experienced and taped my shoulder blade back to improve my very poor posture. Slowly it started to improve from then on but probably took to September before I could sleep on that side. I’m now pain-free with a full range of movement. I’d suggest following the advice of a decent physio will work, but I was told to stay off the bike for several months which I followed and now I’m pain-free I am glad I took that seriously.

Agree with the above, my 3 Yr old loves riding on daddy’s bike much more than the trailer we have. Only issue is when he feels tired on longer jaunts..

I agree, get the fault codes read and go from there with a proper quote. I have a similar car with similar engine, similar mileage.

Swirl flaps are a common problem which can lead to loads of smoke. I know from experience. Usually around 60-80k miles from what I remember.

There are swirl flap repair kits available so you may find that they have been repaired once and need doing again? (my experience)

Complete speculation by a non mechanic – I may be completely wrong of course – diagnosis of the issue is the key.

“Velcro cable wraps. 12mm wide will fit the slots on a mudhugger perfectly. Takes about 30 seconds to remove and refit”

Perfect, at last a decent piece of advice! Thanks joemmo!

Those who have done DIY, where did you fly to? Rovaniemi? Or to helsinki where I believe you can get a train to rovaniemi? Has anyone flown to kiruna and then overland to rovaneimi?

As you can tell we are looking to do a trip this year..

I’ll just leave this here, a fine piece of journalism from Michael Johnson, looking at the mindset of Downhill racing and the challenges and consequences

https://www.polaris-bikewear.co.uk/Mini-Trail-Childrens-Cycling-Glove-p/pol01-5739-p.htm

I bought these for my 4yr old, seem to have lasted well

I would not buy a rallon without sitting on one at least. The sizing is bizarre, I’m 5ft 10 with short legs and the large I tested seemed very small for me. I wondered if it was just the new geometry of modern bikes as I was coming from a 26 inch Turner 5spot, but I went away, test rode a Bird AM9 in m/l and bought one as it felt just right. No regrets not getting the rallon..

Thanks for the tips, it worked a treat when I got the breaker bar fixed in the vice and turned the wheel. Right hand thread too.

I got the black Jacks when I had exactly the same problem. Much improved over the small block 8s..
Think I got them cheap from rosebikes or bikediscount.

Er, no, I just want to make sure I was using the best stuff for the job. Not had a brand new bike for years and probably going to keep this one for a while.. Unless wheel sizes change yet again?

26 may finally be dead…? 😁

Thanks

They took 6 months before coming back to me with an answer of no… You realise that the government raised the bike to work scheme
threshold to unlimited recently so they can remain with their current provider and give you a voucher for a larger amount than a grand? I think it became effective the middle of August. My trust is dithering whether they are going to put a local cap on the amount you can borrow which is crap when they have schemes for salary sacrifice for diesel cars and iphones/imacs/tvs in place with no cap that I can see..
I’m annoyed as I plan to get a bike ASAP, but not until they decide what they are doing.. Good luck sorting your situation!

Apparently according to an eminent sports scientist I heard talk recently, the biggest barrier to this is managing heat loss. If you get hot, you slow down. Acclimatisation to the conditions you run in is one of the keys to this along with other factors.

I found this surprising and interesting as it seems obvious when it is pointed out.

No idea if sub 2 hours is possible though.

How do those allegations of no history in F1 look now? 😁Whyte bikes tweet from 2014

I think they are all tiptronic of that vintage. Gearbox oil does need changing but I think it is at 80,000 miles.

Mine has now done 120,000 with not much else to report apart from the bulbs and cracked spring. Bought it at 75,000.

I have a 2008 3.0 quattro model, things I was concerned about were the chain cam on the 3.0 engine- a rattle on startup should worry you. Engine out job to fix.

The intake manifold flaps go often, which used to be expensive, but I think there are repair kits now.

The 2g MMI sound system is tricky to pair with Bluetooth unless you buy an expensive aftermarket kit.

Mine had a cracked rear spring which was expensive to replace, needs a special jig that costs 1500 quid, so specialist or AUDI dealer to do. Rear sat lower on one side with hindsight.

Door lock actuator goes on central locking. Only drivers door gone for me which is a pain but key still works

Large alloys are easy to kerb.

Bulbs at front are a pain to change due to access, but not impossible.

Led rear light clusters fail if fitted.

Love mine though, surprisingly rapid, massive boot, amazing road holding – with winter tyres so confidence inspiring. Best biking car I can think of.

Not particularly frugal though especially when in sport mode! 32ish mpg for me.

Thanks for the pivotal seat tip! They look like just what I had in mind

Ads678 Great, thanks – these are the sort of ideas I wanted.

I’ve also found that hoy bonaly seat and post are one piece and look promising for what i want to try.

I’ll get one or the decathalon one, stick it on and see how he gets on before i get my hacksaw out…

If I can reduce the standover height, I’ll assess it again.

Maybe you both are correct, but I’ll decide that when i’ve “adjusted” it, if that is ok with you?

Now does anyone have any ideas about a low standover saddle and seatpost?

http://www.en.tout-terrain.de/trailers/singletrailer/

This is the best way i could find, but it is a bit expensive unless you can find one second hand.. Fortunately i had bike mad colleagues whose kids had graduated to riding down the alps who were happy to sell theirs on..

It really is a quality piece of kit

We have a 2008 d5 se lux. Bought at 92000 4yrs ago, now on 167000miles. My wife hated the size of it at first, but now admits it is a great family car.

Rather agricultural in noise and refinement when going locally and parking, but equally will cruise long distances to the south of France with ease and probably the most relaxing car I’ve had to do this. Mpg is less than 30 overall for us.

Watch out for VED, I pay 450 quid when earlier ones are less and newer ones too…

Massive interior with family friendly seating, booster seat built in is very convenient. 7seats used occasionally for us.

Bought mainly for safety reasons by me as it appeared the first proper 7 seater designed for 7 from the start, rather than added on as an afterthought..

Mechanically they don’t have a great rep, with swirl flaps and 4wd issues. I paid 800 quid to get the swirl flaps sorted. Other than most spending has been consumables, discs, pads, a couple of suspension bushings and 3 engine mounts.

Big debate about auto gearboxes and whether to change the oil. Volvo say no, most independents say yes. I’m not  aware mine has been done, lots say they only last 135k if this is so, but obviously mine is on a lot more miles. If not done before 100k, changing the oil can make any problems worse I’m led to believe so I’m not going to bother and keep my fingers crossed.

Electrical issues with over 20 electrical modules can be an issue and they tend to be relatively expensive to replace. However there are companies that fix them now.

I got a copy of vida on a tablet, the volvo software which finds faults if present and it has been useful. The cable costs about 70-80 quid but it can be fiddly to set up on anything newer than Windows xp.

I use a rear mounted cycle carrier and it doesn’t appear to impact on Mpg due to the relative brick shaped nature of the vehicle.

I’m considering replacing it with another.

Volvo forums.org.uk is a great source of info and help. I’m not an expert by any means, but have read lots about them.

I have a moto g5 plus. Bought it on UK launch day to replace a relatively expensive Sony Xperia z5 compact.  It does everything I want it to,  battery life is great, I’ve not run out of storage yet with a sd card inserted. Operating system is kept up to date promptly and there is no apps to clutter the operating system. I’m a serial screen breaker (which finished off the Sony as they are more expensive and tricky to replace). I have yet to crack a screen.

I don’t see the need to spend a fortune on an android phone. The only thing to get used to is the size of the screen but bigger phones have bigger batteries in general. Recommended.

Thanks for all your advice.

Sorry to hijack the thread but the mention of ubiquiti unify kit got my attention.

I have a long thin house with multiple stone walls and struggle to get wifi throughout the house at the opposite end to the wifi router.

Would the ubiquiti kit sort this out? And if so what is the minimum “starter” kit I’d need? Do I just need a couple of access points and are there advantages of the pro access point?

Thanks

We have a second hand Burley trailer which has had some use, but we worried at putting an infant in it as there is no real isolation from rough ground. This leads to lots of head shaking as the kids travel.

Our family cycle rides have been transformed when we managed to get hold of one of these..

http://www.en.tout-terrain.de/trailers/singletrailer/

I bought it second hand and now our rides are limited by the 4yr old not the 10 month old. The youngest sleeps enjoying his plush 6 inches of xfusion cushioned suspension. It truly is a remarkable device if a little too pricey new for me to commit to buying one in the past. There is a separate seat for infants which can be fitted and it has a sturdy roll cage if the worst was to occur.

The previous owners have used it well, taking it to the Alps several times and it seems almost brand new. We are nowhere near as adventurous! 

I highly recommend it