I had the 1.5 130bhp in my 2019 partner van which I ran from new until I sold 6 months ago with 60k miles and it never missed a beat

That Rocky Mountain looks fantastic for the money

I’ve not carried a card in last 3 years.  Apple Pay for everything.  I’ve been all over europe in last 2 years with just apple pay.  I always assume the wife has a card in her purse….. but no issues touch wood

I’ve ordered a model y as a second car as I feel I need to scratch the electric car itch which I collect on Saturday. Genuinely quite excited about it and will be very useful for my biking trips. <br /

>Has anyone any experience of the British Gas hive home charger. It’s similar cost to everything else but includes a year of free charging. Should I wish to move to octopus after 12 months then it’s compatible with their cheap ev tariffs.  Seems like I can stay on my standard variable rate and not need to pay an increase for day rate electricity. Should be a good saving over the first 12 months

Sub for sure. This allows the beam to focus on improving dialogue and the overall sound stage rather than having to generate bass too.

There is also an option in the Sonos app to increase dialogue volume which I always have on.

also the rear speakers focus on rear/side sounds and no dialogue will come out of them unless the person talking is behind you

I’m running a beam 2 with a sub mini in a fairly large room with a 65g3 oled. Sublime. Was shockingly great with just the sound bar and at first I decided I didn’t need the sub mini.  I added the sub just so I could buy something and it takes it to another level. The soundbar doesn’t have to do the heavy lifting so then does a better job of dialogue and creating a bigger sound stage. I’ve had to pad the back of the mirror in the hallway as the bass was making everything vibrate.

I wouldn’t say it fires sound out in all directions like all the Atmos claims but from someone who just enjoys a good quality output with a load of powerful bass, I’m very pleased.

I purchased them under the Sonos return program and plugging the arc and beam in separately the difference was very small. The beam 2 seems to have stronger bass and a more punchy sound. The arc a bit wider but more fuzzy/tinny sound. Didn’t have the sub at the start which maybe the arc needed

I’ve added the cog and clicker to my normal Zwift hub. Cog is great if you want to switch between bikes, I however have gone back to the cassette to get a perfectly straight chain line and then I’m using the new clicker to change virtual gears. The 24 ratios are superb.  No being stuck between gears now and obviously an instant gear change without needing to ease off feels brilliant.

shame they don’t sell the clicker by itself as that’s all you need to start virtual shiting so the cod is just a waste for me.

Thanks for the replies guys. Looks like I best dig out my t&c’s. I don’t want to break the contract as the generation payment will be worth a lot over the next 13 years.   I’d be happy to lose my export money as they only pay me 4.82p per kw currently (for an estimated 50% of my generation) but my generation earns 69p per kw and rises to £1.22 per kw by the end of the term.

I’ll also checkout some reviews of local companies and get some prices and go from there. It should be an easy install everything is inside the garage with plenty of room for a couple of batteries

Thanks for the reply. I’m assuming I’ll need a new inverter. I suppose the display will still record what has been generated and I’ll add it to the closing figure of the old unit when it gets removed.

Looking for a little bit of advice if I may..

I’m lucky enough to have had my panels installed back in 2011 when the good feed in tariffs were around.  I’m looking to add some battery storage to my system but wondered if it affects my generation payment ?  I’m currently earning around £2300 a year in generation so don’t want to lose that.

I’ve recently added an iboost to my system so for 8 months of the year the solar panels heat my water tank so has made a nice reduction to my gas usage.

Next stage is obviously batteries to reduce my electricity bills further.

What should I be looking to pay for say a 9.5kw battery system ? Seems a bit of a minefield out there at the moment. E-on for example are quoting £9000. Assuming this is the higher end of the scale being a big business and offering incentives such as 0% finance bumping up the price ?

Also do we think there will be any schemes such as the ev tariffs for over night charging coming for people with solars and batteries? It’s very unlikely there will be an ev in my household at least in the next 5 years but would be nice to do some cheap over night charging when the solars haven’t filled up the batteries

I’m looking to get something setup for Easter time next year so time to start getting the wheels rolling

Thanks all!!

My ebike loves to stretch a chain. These fit mine a treat and at £11.99 are an absolute bargain. Luckily 118 links is exactly what my bike needs 😎

https://www.wiggle.com/p/shimano-m6100-12-speed-chain-110103458?color=silver&chainLinks=12+Speed+%7C+118+Links

Every 18 months they almost triple my broadband package and then I call up, cancel, then the following morning they call up and offer for less than I paid the last time. Currently on 250mb for £24 a month which ends in November and will go up £57. The cancellation team can’t get anywhere near on their deals so don’t waste your time on the first call. Just say it’s too expensive and put in your notice

ps, ref the shocking router, my wife works from home and had 18 months of her laptop getting kicked off the internet, phones reverting to using data as they decided it was better than the Wi-Fi. Because of lots of parts of the house having no coverage i setup a google mesh system with the 3 pods and it’s never dropped below 250mb or kicked a device off the internet in 20 months. Basically router gets switched into modem mode only and then the google pods do all the wireless magic

Cheers for the heads up. Love the latest single and my current biking playlist is getting very over played. Be nice to have something new to listen to

Touch wood I’ve had 2000 faultless miles with a focus jam2 with a shimano motor. Lots of mud, snow, snow foam and jet washing. Couple of sets of tyres, brake pads. That’s my only costs so far

Had Pfizer on Saturday. Planned a lazy day for Sunday having had Covid a year ago and expected vaccine to knock me about a little. Nothing, no bruised arm, no tiredness. In fact today I was wide awake at 4.30am and commented to the wife after work I feel better than I’ve felt all year. Maybe my Huel vitamins are having an effect 😂 or maybe seeing the uk coming back to life is having a positive effect on me

as above its not as good as it sounds, in the UK at least. I do some quite interesting work (well it sounds that way) outside but today was the first day since October where I’ve actually enjoyed the conditions. Spent most of the winter frozen, getting in and out of layers, often wet, hand and foot warmers, wind burn on my face. I’ll enjoy the next 6 months but not sure I have another winter in me, dreaming again of a warm canteen, coffee on tap and being nice and warm

Tried to watch the new witches movie last night as I loved the original as a child. Shocking. Lasted 30 mins before it got turned off

I just watch top gear so would much rather pay per episode rather than paying for everything else I don’t watch. Don’t listen to any bbc radio anymore, radio 1 and the music they play is shocking, radio 2 I find really depressing.

Some good series in years gone by, and then there were none and the night manager spring to mind but I think these days anything half descent gets snapped up by prime, Netflix, Disney and apple so can see bbc quality getting worse rather than better

I used to wake up to bbc news every morning for years but go sick of brexit a few years back and I switched to putting radio x on with my breakfast instead

We’ve had a heat pump one for the last 18 months that replaced a vented one. It’s not as useful for a quick warm (for example if I realise my work gloves are wet 10 mins before I need them- I think the way it recycled heat means it takes a while to get warm) but it’s brilliant from a dump the clothes inside, turn to cupboard dry and it tells us when it’s done. Plus it seems to use no electricity compared to the vented.

What’s all this fluff accumulation everyone is talking about ? Edit just seen. I will pay more attention to cleaning filters. Mine has a hose for the water to go down the drain which is very Useful btw

Think I’ll give it another go. Lasted about 15 mins into first episode and turned it off

Generally keep myself to myself so others rarely bother me.

However, 2 people who have me for the first time in my life wanting to smash up the tv when I see them…

Matt Hancock
Keir Starmer

Been running oled for a few years now. I knew after 2 minutes of use the extra cost was well placed. Perfect blacks, perfect viewing angles, great motion and no issues with brightness. I’d never consider anything else now (well if over 48” anyway)

For me it’s a disappointing product and I’m a mostly apple fanboy.

I was doing a renovation for a customer during the summer who had one of it’s big brothers and it very rarely responded to commands correctly. Asking it to play radio stations required a very slow detailed request or else you’d end up with something totally different. Couldn’t fault the sound quality but having used many google and echo speakers over the past few years, I find them to be far superior. iPhone Siri is just as useless. Pity apple cant just integrate Alexa, like apple maps, I don’t know why they waste their time when google maps are so much better, apple music vs spotify, Apple TV+ vs prime and Netflix. Love their hardware and os but seem to be wasting their time in other areas where the competition is in another ball park

I’ve been playing it on the Xbox series x in quality mode and I’ve been really impressed with it. Not come across any bugs and once you turn some of the graphics settings off (motion blur, film grain, chromatic aberration) it looks superb.

I’ll be getting some more hours in the weekend but a great game so far

I’ve ordered a 12 pro. Looks like a nice upgrade but my main motivation for changing from the 11 pro max is I find it a bit too big. Had a iPhone X before and think 6.1” will be the sweet spot for me. Also 11 pro max seem to be fetching and easy £750 on eBay so with wife’s currys voucher discount should be a smallish upgrade cost

The HomePod I can’t get excited about. Had the original HomePod and I can’t moan at the sound quality but I find Siri absolutely useless. Amazon and google are light years ahead with their assistants

I used to enjoy taking the wife out for a bit of shopping, spot of lunch etc but if it’s anything like food shopping, social distancing is making it far too much of a nightmare. And also the fact I still can’t have a bit of lunch. Once it drops to 1 meter and cafes open I will venture out

I’ve found using a mdf primer (it’s a bit like a weak pva glue mix) then a traditional undercoat (couple of coats of each) make applying the actual wood colour paint much more pleasurable. Of course if you have spraying facilities it’s far easier but should get good results with a small roller and brush

Dropped down to £200 a month for past couple of years for me and the wife swapping from Ocado to Aldi. Cost £320 before. Don’t drink so no alcohol but includes dishwasher tablets, detergent/softener etc which tends to come from Sainsbury’s or Morrisons

Love them. Replaced a ripped dhr on the front of mine and was a massive confidence booster. Much more grip in all conditions. The dhr on the rear will be replaced with one when it’s gives up. Front dhr was only 3 rides old when I ripped it. Usually run magic Mary combo and rock razor but will stick with Michelin’s as they feel indestructible.

Edit… where are they cheap?

Good choice. We have the makita dls110z which we use on sites at it uses 2 18v batteries and has been a superb tool (believe very similar to what you have ordered). We upgraded from the smaller 36v chop saw and it’s infinitely better. It’s only negative for our use is even though it’s portable, it’s still a big beast to move in and out of vans etc. What I would say is that the dewalt stand is much much better, the makita one is the worst makita tool I own.

We have a festool kapex set up in our unit. Can’t fault it’s cuts but I prefer the makita myself. Don’t like the triggers, the lazy slow start

I’d stick with heat only. Had a combi in my previous house, always losing pressure and problem after problem. Much more simple system with less to go wrong heat only. I Like having a hot tank of instant water. Nice having an effective airing cupboard and seems no more expensive to run even though it’s an old ancient boiler and the house is twice as big

As you seem to be a PlayStation man id stay stick with what you know and step up to the ps5. I’ve always owned an Xbox one and PS4 since they launched, upgraded both to the PS4 pro and the one x but always found myself using the PS4 more of the time. The Xbox one x is in theory technically superior but I just felt more comfortable in the PlayStation eco system. I’ve actually sold the Xbox during lockdown as demand outstripped supply and prices rocketed. I’m going to stick to just PlayStation in the future. I’ll miss forza horizon and gears but it’s the only 2 series of games exclusive to Xbox that I enjoy

I use Powerbeats pro’s. Get 3 charges from their charging case, can use just one if you wish and have full control of changing tracks and volume from each earphone. Oh and they sound brilliant and never move so no risk of losing them

I’ve had one a few weeks and really rate it.

Love the new flip out mounts. Mine is solid, not sure about the comment above. Colour needs less adjustment in post editing than the 7, much nicer look. Love no extra case, much better battery, more usable menu system. Can’t replace the lens only negative that comes to mind at the moment

We are obviously all different but I purchased the ikea mattress so often recommended on this forum the end of jan. Slept uncomfortably for 6 weeks until permanent lower back pain occurred. I’d wake every single night at 2am, took loads of pain killers, lay in agony for 2 hours until I managed to get to sleep again. Became very grumpy and very tired.

Unfortunately by now in lock down so couldn’t return my mattress to exchange under the ikea 90 day guarantee or try out new ones. I added and removed pillows, purchased at topper but 3 and a half weeks of no sleep later I gave in and ordered a highly reviewed mattress off themattresman website at 2am whilst in agony. 2 nights later I had the perfect nights sleep and have continued to ever since. No more back pain and I wake up happy again.

All I’ll add is just make sure you get a test drive. I often drive our work kombi. It’s a 19 plate 150 highline dsg with all the body kit, led headlights etc. Its a great looking beast and can fit loads inside, but if you’re used a nice car, it’s absolutely awful to drive and really dated inside. The 150 diesel and dsg box are lovely but the ride, steering, rattles, clattering, dash etc make it a miserable experience every time I have to use it. I notice they have just released a new one with a nicer interior but the looks seem to have gone backwards.

We watched Yesterday last night – a Brit/Danny Boyle fie about a pub singer who wakes up from an accident and he’s the only one that know about the Beatles. Really rather good with the exception of Ed Sheeran’s poor acting.

Love a Danny Boyle movie, love the idea of the movie but Beatles music makes my ears bleed so can’t bring myself to watch it unfortunately

I cannot wait for lock down to end so I can go to the cinema. Love the cinema as it’s a chance to get out the house, enjoy a nice costa or Starbucks, enjoy a new film with no mobile phones as a distraction. Aim for a date night with the missus every other week

2018 S3 has averaged 34mpg from new, always driven pretty hard

2019 130bhp partner van showing 48mpg from new. Again driven pretty hard as it doesn’t have a lot of power

When doing motorway speeds the van is low 40’s and the S3 sits around the same. Van will do 60mpg doing 50mph On country lanes but rarely happens

Check out east ridge and stiperstones once the trails dry out. One of my favourite rides