Mazda petrols are pretty much bombproof.

Diesels slightly less so.

Having driven a couple, I’d be looking at a petrol Mazda 6 estate.

Apparently your bumcrack is the same length as your foot, could be handy if you know the length of one and need to know the length of the other……

Thanks @Frankconway that sounds comforting, will explore further.

@ Bikerevivesheffield didn’t know that, thanks for the heads up.

Looks like sole trader as a side business is the way to go for now, can always change later if necessary.

Thanks Jeff, good point. I’ve already asked the question and it’s OK providing there’s no impact/conflict on my main job

As a York dweller I can’t disagree with any of the above suggestions.

Spark is a good shout IMO.

Micklegate is very good for independent food/drink places and is close to the station. Micklegate social is run by the same folks and the Fossgate one.

Lamb & Lion has a good beer garden, well worth giving their barbecue food a go if you’re hungry.

Generally the area towards Fossgate/Spark tends (IME) to have slightly fewer stag/hen dos as its further from the station.

Actual counterpoint… ;-)

I sold a couple of very inexpensive roof mounted bike carriers a few years ago on Ebay.

Bloke won them for £15 for the pair of them. Fair enough, they were 2nd hand to me, Under £30 each new and I just wanted shot of them.

He came to collect them and insisted on giving me £25 for them as he thought that was what they were worth. Tried to explain that wasn’t how it worked but he was adamant. Put £10 in the local air ambulance charity tin.

Yearsley is my local(ISH) riding spot.
Some ace little routes IMO but it really helps to know your way round.
Would be happy to show a them a few routes if diaries align. Drop me a PM if you like.

As TJ said, not road legal, attract a £100 fine AIUI.

In the late ’90s my work duties included being in charge of stationery supplies for a large office.

We were running low on small Post-It notes so added them to the order. The order unit was shown as “1” so, knowing they came in cellophane packs of 12 and also knowing we got through a lot of them I ordered 288, expecting 2 dozen packs.

We actually received 288 packs of a dozen, so 3,456 small pads because apparently 1 meant 1 cellophane pack, not one pad.

Stationery Co was a bit arsey but agreed to most of them back.

Roll on a couple of months and more post-its were needed and remember what had happened before and still wanting 2 dozen cellophane packs I ordered 24.

I’m sure you can see where this is going…..

Delivery arrives with 2 cellophane packs of 12.

I rang the stationers to ask WTF was going on and was told that a lot of people had been getting confused so they had changed it to 1 being 1 pad and not told us…..

I have a Skiddii Bob Yak copy which I picked up second hand via a local Facebook group.

It attaches via a QR axle with knobs on the end to which the trailer arms clip. Don’t know if there’s a through axle adaptor because I use it on a bike with QR wheels. 700c wheels are fine with it as it the rear mudguard.

I can do a week’s shop for 4 adults with it without any issues. Teamed with a pair of panniers and it’s amazing how much I can carry.

Would get a genuine Bob Yak if funds allowed but the current one is going strong after a year and only cost me £20 so it’s definitely a good buy for me.

Rolls nicely, don’t really notice it’s there unless it’s really loaded up and even then it rides well. Need to remember to allow more time/space for braking and also for the additional length when pulling out at junctions.

Would definitely recommend

@honeybadgerx YGM

what’s the difference between the Bomboloni and the Canoli?

Difficult to find comparisons online apart from the Vittoria sales blurb

Thanks for that, they look like a good option.

Just out of interest, what are you running on the front?

I’ve got a Minion DHF and it grips like a goodun so have been considering a 29×3 DHR but they may be a bit draggy….although the grip will almost certainly be excellent

I have a 2019 B75 with the extended seatpost and M bars as standard. From memory, with the seat at full height the saddle is about level with the grips.

I don’t have it with me just now but I can check the measurements this evening if you like.

Watching with interest, I currently have a Leatherman Charge Ti as my trailside pliers but its rather heavy and I don’t often use anything other than the pliers on it (and was a 40th birthday present so am a bit overcautious about losing it trailside….) so am after a lighter option with fewer tools I wont use.

Think I’ll put a set of the Knipex Cobra XS on my Christmas list…..

Carrying group leading kit for long days out so need 1st aid for the group, small toolkit/emergency spares, spare layers, emergency kit, pump, food/snacks for me plus drink.

It all fits easily in my 35l Osprey Raptor but that sits too high so the lid hits my helmet hits my helmet.
Can’t fit it in a 20l daysack so figured that something in between would be about right.

The Ortovox Freeride looks good.

I’ve sort of done half this over the past year.

I still have the car as I need it for work but have bought a Bob Yak copy trailer and use that with a couple of 20l panniers on a Dawes Galaxy for our weekly supermarket shop, 1 1/2 miles each way, could do it without the panniers most weeks. I’ve extended this to include pretty much all shopping trips within the city ringroad (York).

Perfectly possible to do this for our family of 4 adults.

The only exceptions are if I need to shift particularly heavy or bulky items but I’ve managed to deal with those as part of longer trips (so far) avoiding using the car for a specific shopping journey.

You could try emailing Taylor Swift for advice. Apparently her parents have a Christmas tree farm so some useful insights may be forthcoming (or not).

@Northwind That was my thinking too but I couldn’t convince myself that I was correct

Thanks folks, I’ve been thinking this through for a while now and couldn’t make up my mind what the answer was.

As I don’t have the spares/time/space to actually build one I though I’d ask here :-)

Tried that and it still won’t shift, even tried with a bleed cup in the caliper and no joy.

Following on from Coatsey’s suggestion I’m going to try winding the lever as far out as it’ll go with the travel adjuster and see if that helps

That sounds plausible, any idea how to free up the piston?

Training (or lack thereof) might be an issue if the test was this week but realistically it wouldn’t be until late this year.

I’m putting together a training plan with her over the weekend.

I recon we’ve got 6 months to get from very slightly built 5’8 and little exercise to passing an 8.6 and being able to press 35kg (it’s for the fire service, hence the 35kg press).

@bruneep Thanks for that, really useful :-)

Thanks @lewisdeacon that makes sense.

@bruneep yes, potentially

I’ve taken to wearing bob shorts under baggies, won’t be going back to liner shorts. Very comfy and removes the risk of grit in the crack if your baggies do slip down a bit.

Now if there were bib baggies, it would stop the short shifting…

Last year I got a pair of the Polaris baggies with elastic braces attached. Absolute revelation, so much more comfy than my Humvees and they don’t slip down at all so double protection against crack-grit.

IME the clip side works well but I’ve yet to find any with enough grip on the flat side.

I’d get a pair of Shimano M520s and give it a go, you can get them for under £30 and they’re pretty much bombproof.

I’ve had a set on my bike for 4 years and they’re still going strong after zero maintenance and several thousand miles.

I wear varifocal glasses and single vision contacts for riding/sport.

The contacts are set for my mid/long distance prescription but I can still read my phone/garmin fine with them in.

The optician said that for reading smaller print, like maps I was just as well buying a set of cheep magnifying reading glasses as there was no point in buying fancy readers for how often I would need to use them.

I bought some +1.5 readers from Boyes (I think) for under £5 and they’re absolutely fine, they’re not quite as comfy as my regular glasses but I’m happy to live with that as they were about 3% of the price.

Thanks for the replies.

Will be riding a steel tourer with mudguards and rack rather than an out and our road racer (2010 Dawes Galaxy), currently running a pair of 32mm tyres but probably have clearance for 35mm I think. Was thinking of keeping it on tarmac mostly but can handle a bit of the rougher stuff if need be

NCR66 looks good, didn’t think to look at Sustrans lol, I’m only a couple of km from the planet section to Selby.

Yeah, that was my 1st thought but unfortunately there isn’t availability at the YH for when I need it.

Thanks folks,
I have a 9 year old Nexus tablet which hasn’t had a software update for several years (think its 4 versions of Android behind by ‘phone) and still works OK, albeit a bit slowly. It’s the batter which is the issue with that particular device so I’m not too concerned about the OS updates.

Will have a look at the ASUS ones and see what’s available.

I assume it’s best to go for the most Ram and SSD space as possible?

Ummmm, didn’t think of the home schooling thing..
Would explain why stock is a little scarce.

Will have a look at Acers, thanks.

So sorry for your loss

Word Stacker is excellent if you’re after a card based word game.

Ok, I ordered a pair of the Ridge trousers I linked to to previously in a size Large (I’m usually a 33″ waist 34″ leg).

Plus Points
-Good quality material,
-Pretty stretchy and easy to move in,
-Zipped pockets,
-Cinch straps at the ankles,
-Subtle reflective detailing,
-Long length leg, fits a 34″ inseam about right

Minus points
-Extremely snug around the hips, thighs and calves (almost tights rather than trousers),
-Too tight to wear with padded undershorts/bibs,
-Flappy round the ankles
-Ankle straps to reduce flappyness don’t have long enough velcro so can’t cinch up the ankle enough to prevent flapping,

Sadly they’ll be getting returned which is a shame because the quality of the material and construction is pretty good and very good value for £25. If I went up a size to get more legroom they’d be far too big around the waist.

They’d be ideal for anyone with relatively small backside, skinny legs and wide ankles….

How about a couple of pieces of old towel?

A piece about 6″ square is plenty big enough to act as a pad between handlebar/seat and paintwork.

Virtually free, small and easy to carry, almost weightless.

Alternatively, put one of your riding *gloves over the bar end before leaning it against the vehicle.

*Socks also work but are much less convenient as you have to put your sock and shoe back on whilst holding your bike away from the car in a potentially wet and muddy carpark. You can probably get a friend to hold your bike whilst re-socking and shoeing if balance is an issue.

Yeah, it’s not a new mech. In fact it’s the original mech so has around 10/12k miles on it, perhaps time for a new one.

Thanks folks, will check those in the morning 👍

You’ll have to give me a few hours, I went this morning but didn’t think I’d need photographic evidence

csb
Full Member
Wombats now and their cuboid poo.

Pics or it didn’t happen

Posted 23 minutes ago

Appreciate they’re more commuter than offroad Gnarr but has anyone tried a pair of the Ridge Casual Cycle trousers from Halfords?

Ridge Trousers

I was given a Ridge l/s top for my birthday recently and am quite impressed with the quality and fit, especially given the price..