I had this, and I think it was because I’d folded the felt underlay back over and down the sides. I thought it would help protect the liner but I reckon it was wicking the water away. Not sure where I’d got the idea from to do that so probably not helpful to you. One idea might be to drop some small amounts of dye or food colouring in around few locations after filling it to see if that helps identify any holes?

I finally took it up in 2012 in my 30s, and did 5 years daily commuting into London from Surrey. I always felt that cycle commuting for years was great practice – taking to heart things like ‘everyone may try and kill me’ and ‘keep a particularly close eye on Addison Lee’ drivers! Aside from a couple of slow speed hiccups which were down to my own technique or failure to concentrate, all good.

After a break for a couple of years I have taken it up again. Commute is much shorter and doesn’t involve London, which is nice, and I now have time and enthusiasm for some occasional leisure rides. It’s great: relaxing, fun, and a brilliant way to explore and switch off from the day-to-day.

I have not taken any lessons – although I will do some bikesafe style something at some point. I have read the Roadcraft book which is excellent, and watched a lot of YouTube videos. They are useful for the odd little tip – one I took recently was to think every ride about how you can improve or practice something: smooth cornering, forward obs, whatever. I also sometimes try to ‘commentate’ the ride: describe what’s ahead and in my mirrors and what they may do. That’s hard but great for maintaining focus and developing road awareness.

You are vulnerable, of course. And the roads are busier and busier and drivers can be distracted, stressed, or stupid. But while there is a higher risk to biking than some other things, it doesn’t outweigh the significant benefits of it, for me. They are immense.

I think it was mentioned above, I find that a 5-minute wash-up of the day is invaluable before finishing work. I just write notes – what time I have meetings next day, what the main things are that feel like priorities, nagging issues, etc. Even noting down things I’m quietly putting off helps me to feel like I’m on top of them even if I still need to do them.

Longer term I find doing things like this encourages me to keep taking a step back from the work to appraise it, and get it in perspective. Particularly things also mentioned above like workload, managing up/delegating, etc.

Then I ride home!

Ouch, I hadn’t seen those reviews! Yep, credit card company charge back probably a good option. We did it after Curry’s PC World stopped talking to us about our two month old telly that stopped working, a bit of back and forth explaining the situation and we got a full refund.

Frustrating. But they’ve made the sofa and it’ll be on its way. I’d be giving them some grief and trying to get some kind of compensation for the inconvenience. Long shot but giving up and getting stung for cancelling won’t be worthwhile.

We sold our car to WBAC this afternoon. They emailed me saying the valuation had increased, so I looked into it and it had increased by about £3k since a couple of weeks earlier. I took it along, fully expecting to be smashed down by a fair chunk, but no, they paid pretty much what they’d offered. Saving me a trip to the bodywork guy for touching up and a load of hassle, and it was some way above what I’d anticipated getting privately. Possibly could have held out for more but I’m very happy to take it. What a weird market currently.

The WBAC guy was describing how vast the set-up is. Incredible really. He has return customers, buying themselves Porsches and stuff, deciding after a few weeks that they don’t like them, and chopping them in to WBAC.

I think I got lucky with the algorithms ultimately, but it’s a pretty straightforward way to sell the car. I’d be really interested to know what they get for mine when they do shift it on.

I have the Laufey, it’s a really nice bike. Came to it from an old 26″, so nothing modern to compare it to but I find it rolls (and bounces) over pretty much whatever I need it to. Very stable and confidence inspiring. I don’t think it’s the lightest but it’s well put together.

Yes! That did it. The mech is hanging at a different angle, and all looks good. I’ll deal with the chain too, good spot.

Thank you all, much appreciated!

That would need an extender then I reckon. I can see the tabs you describe, but there’s no space for the mech out the back at the angle the existing hanger tab seems to require.

I’ll try those, ta. Not the full beans bit though. It’s too hilly and my knees are too feeble!

<img src=”

” alt=”this (if it works) ” /> is what it looks like.

Chain has the writing on the outside, which should be OK.

@didnthurt it’s only one ring, and it looks pretty central in relation to the cassette. I can see it pulls outward to the highest gear about the same amount it pulls inwards to the lowest gear, if that makes sense.

EDIT: phew, photos worked, shame they’re not very useful :-)

It’s a RD-M5120-SGS. Says on the box it’ll go 1×46 or 2×42. Would a smaller front chain ring make any difference?

I did wonder about a goat link, might give that a go.

Hmmm.

Put the picture on the front of the TV and flip it behind when you have someone visit who needs to watch telly.

Having seen him bottle it totally a couple of times, I told my youngest I’d buy him a Nintendo switch if he got to the top of the climbing wall. Stupid me. Took him about 12 seconds.

I’ve just got one and it’s brilliant. Admittedly I came to it from a knackered 10+ year old 26er, so it should be better! It’s big but doesn’t feel it once you’re on it, it’s dead easy to climb, and feels really smooth and capable downwards. I’ve immediately found myself riding harder and faster and up against what I can actually do instead of what it feels like the bike will let me do. How much of that’s just progress in geometry and components in the last decade I don’t know, but I’d recommend the bike either way!

Not sure if if it’s the same people but they’ve lifted some small print from this bunch of jokers

I’m all for switching regularly and looking for the best deals, but I’ve definitely found service is the key differentiator with banking. First Direct and Nationwide in particular have always been great, so I’ve stayed with them despite the odd .01% here or there! They’re both, responsive and helpful, and phone and online banking just work. It’s one thing to faff around with some bunch of amateurs who can’t send a gas bill without jeffing it up, but not my mortgage!

Isn’t there a gov.uk page you can put the reg in to check?

Look at Liberty Shield. Used it for three years overseas, not a single problem. £80 (I think) per year for vpn router and mobile one too. Very good customer service and support.

LWB Transit Custom here. Fantastic vehicle. 9 seats, or flexible options down to 3 with gargantuan boot. As above, heated seats, very comfy, nice to drive (if a smidge snatchy and bouncy in 1st), sliding doors and tailgate. Slightly limits the number of places you can park, but never been a big deal. Bikes, tents, dogs, etc. no bother. Particularly fond of the high driving position and huge windows. Great mirrors and reversing cam. Has a plug socket for hoover/cool box/lava lamp/etc. We love it.

I was a kid through the 80s, and as soon as I got into music I was interested in ‘real’ music, which basically involved ignoring the decade entirely in favour of 60s blues rock and 90s onwards indie, dance and alternative. But more recently I’ve realised how much excellent music was around (duh!). Yes, some of it’s cheesy, some of it’s rubbish, but loads of music from the 80s stands up brilliantly.

Chromebook sounds like a possible solution.

Hollow Knight, spooky platformer
Super Smash Bros, manic scrapping
Streets of Rage 4, retro scrapping (good soundtrack)
Mario Kart, as above

All are good fun. But I really really really hope they get on with releasing BOTW2.

We’ve had a couple of those IKEA Lycksele Murbo ones, and they’re comfy to sleep on; certainly better than other sofa beds I’ve tried. Sofa-wise they’re fine.

Agreed on MAH. I like R6M generally but it’s teeth-itchingly earnest at times, and she’s the worst!

Used to love Keaveney in the mornings, then went off him, but he’s better now. Mainly for the guests. But I have to turn it off when they do the handover bit before his show. I’m sure they get on well enough but listening to the pair of them bantering is weirdly uncomfortable.

I got a Tog24 one from sport pursuit, it’s very comfy.

It’s usually best almost to pick anyone other than the firm the estate agents are being paid to sign you up to isn’t it?

We got ours from Aldi too, although it was weeks ago now.

Well done, it’s good. Little bit of Kings of Leon when they were good in there.

As above, although some of our games have taken a while to uodate/download.

And get Breath of the Wild. Even do that first maybe.

That’s devastating, I’m so sorry.

Curry’s, as above, are abysmal. We’re TV-less currently, awaiting a bloody voucher to enable us to replace the one that broke two weeks ago. Such an inefficient and frustrating experience.

We have an old but functioning fridge freezer you could have as a stop-gap, but it’s in Surrey.

Your plan seems sound. No harm in keeping what you can manage (although savings are preferable to c/c for emergencies – easier said than done perhaps), but I’d be cancelling any you don’t use. I’m not sure they would just cancel themselves, and I believe the number of credit lines you have open can impact your credit score.

Argos Casio for £15 as above, given how frequently it’s likely to get lost!

Yeah, with ours it just happened when it happened. Tried too early with the first, then it clicked 6-12 months later. It’s like drinking beer, one day you realise it makes sense.

Last Pass here too.

Plus the xkcd formula

E: Chicken Kevins, jacket souds, coleslaw.
D: Duvel.
L: 6 Music: the t shirt day thing has made for a more varied playlist than usual.

Podcasts/radio /audiobooks work for me nicely. Some random recommendations:

– Gormenghast (really long, and marvellous narration, so you can just listen to the language, and even if you lose the plot when you fall asleep it means you can listen to it a number of times and gradually piece it together!)
– In Our Time (I’ve listened to several of them numerous times and some are so dull that I haven’t got further in than about ten minutes)
– Anything with Tim Harford off R4, particularly the ’50 things’ series and More or Less
– Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry (Hannah Fry :-)
– The Life Scientific

I’ve found just embracing it the best policy. There’s so much good stuff to listen to, even just banging the World Service on usually does the trick – interesting but not remotely exciting or funny!

It’s one of the best things we’ve watched for ages. For the first few episodes I found myself anticipating that someone would try and do her over, or do something horrible; I think because cynical, horrible characters are so ubiquitous in lots of modern TV. This didn’t have them, and it felt refreshingly different. It was also stylish, well-produced and pretty gripping in parts.

Yep, the free Oakleys are still going strong here. Might splash out on new lenses for them, unless Oakley can be persuaded to replace them free… 😄