Best – Shannon. Worst – Stansted.

I bought a Faireach one from Amazon which is fine for my 29er. I’m not a fan of Amazon normally but hard to go wrong where you might legitimately need to send it back if it doesn’t fit.

Just as a different point, I only use it on the van where the bike is protected from wind drag. On the car it is not good to use, much better to let the bikes get wet! It is like dragging a wall and blocks out all of the rear view!

Grateful beyond words.

Mine also caused a rash. I’ve replaced the strap. My previous Garmin watch was fine, so there must be a difference. Great PSA. I bought at the same price, seems much cheaper than anywhere else.

As others have said Bravecto or Simparica. Both require a trip to the vet unfortunately. Over the counter is over the counter for a reason ime 😕

How about a basic clamshell phone? Will answer when opened.

I have Blink cameras in the campervan. They are linked to a 4g SIM and both the 4g and cameras are powered by the van 12v battery that is hooked to solar. You can set the camera to off or motion detection.

When off – you can link into the camera remotely to switch them on and see live time. It is great for leaving the van fully loaded knowing it will message you and start recording if it detects anything. Being off most of the time it uses virtually no data.

I’m sure there are other options (that are not Amazon) but it works fine.

Reading through all of this and in the cold light of day – waiting 30 mins for an ambulance to be dispatched seems quick compared to what others have gone through – but it is wholly depressing.

At the time I posted, it was a few hours after and I was shaken by the experience which doesn’t generally happen easily.

These posts show we really do need change at a mammoth level to support the NHS as a whole.

A couple of things came into my head this morning (out biking on my own). I went through the person’s wallet and found his driving licence – so his daughter was quickly on the scene with family care and knowledge of medical history. The other is that he didn’t have emergency contacts on his phone and attempts to unlock it were unsuccessful.

I know it is a bit stupid but going through his wallet was really uncomfortable. I’m sharing that because it was important to push past the thought!

Thanks for sharing thoughts and experience. While it paints a hellish picture it has helped my understanding. I’ll be looking carefully at political promises come election time but that is clearly no silver bullet.

Same here as sparkerfix. The Nationwide flex plus account has a monthly subscription that provides AA cover for vehicles up to 7.5T. Very handy for anything over the standard 3.5T.

We bought the Octavia new in 2014 (2.0 vrs) and still have it. Before that we changed the car every 3 years or so. I still love it – over 100k it drives tight, no notion to swap. Both our kids have a Fabia. A big general statement is they are pretty reliable and comfortable (or have been for us). In reality all cars have niggles/known issues and I’ve heard the newer info system is terrible. Besides that regular servicing helps ime. 

Gutted that I missed him in Aberdeen, I thought it would be a good evening and this confirms it. I suppose on the positive side at least Mallorca had better weather!

I’m really quite sad about the likely demise of CRC/Wiggle. I’ve ordered a LOT of stuff from them over the years and they were my go to site.

I generally hate shopping but this was the one place for some reason I enjoyed working through the strange colours and extreme sizes to find what I wanted! As for standard parts, the offer of next day delivery for £20pa was really a no brainer until…

…the website change. I just couldn’t work it and have all but stopped buying from them. I wonder how many have done the same and at what cost to them?

I really feel for anyone who ends up losing work if it all comes to pass as expected. I’ve never had any major issues and the times I’ve contacted them the team have been helpful.

As an aside, I placed a small order on Saturday and it is out for delivery today.

Hi Chewie. Tadhg can offer tips on getting the best sleeping arrangements.

Adrian Flux have insured my van for the last few years. Never an issue but equally never needed to claim. It is a worry to see folk having bad experiences with these specialist insurers. It feels like a limited choice.

Sony are due to release their Xperia 5v later this month. Seems to be getting good pre-release reviews and would be a bit different to most.

Raiders Gravel Weekend 🙂

I recently came across this setup in a village near Glasgow. I had never seen anything like it before with a range of leads for different ebike batteries. While I don’t own an ebike I thought it was quite forward thinking for a small village!

https://www.drymen.org/ebikecharging

I can’t wait for the whole schedule. It will be an incredible couple of weeks. The Gran Fondo is right on my doorstep and should be a great day out in Perthshire. I’m hoping it will really showcase that we can do big cycle events at the highest level!

https://www.cyclingworldchamps.com/championships/gran-fondo/

Seems to be a hit and miss. I got paid by Ovo back in February without applying. I was never quite sure how they were going to identify people who are eligible!

Ready for summer

esure for me. Bikes over £1k are individually noted in the policy.

My first “mountain” bike 30 years ago was the Apollo Atomic. If you accept them for what they are then they will do a job just fine. I was about 14 when I had mine and covered countless miles with nothing other than normal tyre/cables/brakes/chains needing changed.
Like others I would avoid suspension models.

^^ This.

I’m not seeing any good fb deals or even half decent where I am in Scotland. Looking for a small frame emtb and new from lbs seems to be the best option.

During lockdown there was a lot of media chat about less cars on the road after lockdown and people turning more to bikes. Where I live that really hasn’t been the case and it’s back to “as you were”! Unfortunately some roads (like the A9) are just not safe imo for cycling without a significant change to the rules and attitudes.

all my bikes will be tubeless. and the distortion may not matter once inside the tyre but this is what I do – I’m not saying it is right.

It’s one of the very few things I don’t recycle/reuse. I can repair punctures and did this for years on the mtb. The only tubes I have now are 18-25mm and easily distort. Rightly or wrongly for the 1-2 punctures I get each year I replace and accept this is wasteful. Eventually all the bikes will be tubeless!

I tend to carry anchovies but also carry a tube tbh. Last thing I want is to be pushing a crippled bike for miles when the old tried and tested would let me peddle home!

Just trawled through 9 pages of lots of interesting points on either side of the debate! I’m now one of the many about to try Putoline and hoping for a good result. Chain lube is a constant annoyance for me – I’m forever worrying about having the wrong type on and either dry being washed off within a mile or wet attracting lots of crud!

The cycle lanes on Leith are a really bad joke. Much safer to cycle on the road!

For me a small air compressor is better value if you’re moving into the £100 mark or am I missing something?