manuel

The new bike is awesome. I can almost now do a bunny hop on it I love it, it just seems to bulldoze over everything.

1:10 -

Mines failing too

Oh nice - I’ve been looking at building some of their road bike rims for aaaages. Might get some for the new 29er at some point.

Unexpectedly a new wheel arrived today! So if the weather's ok, me and Griff will go have a gentle roll around somewhere tomorrow.

I guess, we don’t know what ‘covid only’ on the death certificate really means. It could be that a large number could have pneumonia listed alongside covid (for example)? The only other thing I would say is how many people have an underlying health issue that they don’t know about? I'm not really adding anything here other than these stats might not be ultra reliable. But certainly they point towards health being massively significant, which is why I would be on a vaccine side (as a sort of healthy person) as it decreases transmission to those at higher risk without putting me at increased risk. (Sorry vax chat)

How did you go through two sets of brake pads in 300miles?!

That’s a small number is my only thought. However, not hugely surprising as underlying health conditions are very likely to be mentioned?

bike arrived and its great - odd to ride but seems to steamroller over anything! Downer is the rear wheel has to be replaced on warranty as the rim join is completely out of line. So I have to wait for monday/tuesday for a proper ride.

high top all the way. if you are paying a premium to get a van in the first place - may as well get a biggie. Big vans are so easy to drive, Ive driven loads of sprinters and they are much more manoeuvrable than my estate thanks to the driving position and the steering that almost puts the wheels at right angles. I would also suggest converting a bigger van might be cheaper in the long run...

Bike build happening Wednesday! Hurrah!

Seems like having ineffective heating in a flat you are renting probably shouldn’t be allowed? I think the landlord has to supply heating to all rooms, no? insulating on the inside is likely to be pretty ineffective, although pictures/a drawing showing which bits are cold or outside walls etc might help. And also it’s something the landlord should really fix.

Casino royal is pretty good, and skyfalls home alone bit is fun too. Those are worth a go.

Thought it was a bit pants to be honest, and a bit arrogant (no spoilers). It’s entertaining sure, but the story is nonsense. Follows tradition of each bond movie by an actor generally getting worse after the first one.

Emailed px and they responded pretty quick. SRAM cancelled or plain just didn’t send a shipment they were expecting. Apparently another due on the 20th, but they haven’t said what’s actually in it . They said they are still confident of within a month but put the long times on the site as a ‘just in case’. I still think a bit more honesty could have been in order, given it was ‘in stock’ and people had been waiting since October for bikes. Here’s to hope.

Still no bike news. Build time on the website has gone from within 14 days, to within 60 days, and now 90 days The sun has been out for two days and I just wanna go for a ride now.

I’ve had this - bit of a shit one. If you can provide evidence to the lender of similar properties at the price you have agreed that would probably change the decision, as a lot of the time they don’t seem to base it on anything other than a drive by and an average value that might be a bit out of date/skewed.

I know right! I figure my lack of any kind of mtb riding might help this not be as weird, but if I hate it its potentially pretty cheap to get something a little more normal!

I'm cracking on through the christmas walnut whips and ferrero rocher if that counts ? If work ever returns to a sensible amount I'll be better but Im currently on 25k steps a day 220 floors of stairs carrying 15kg bags. I remember when Martyn turned vegan - he was disappointed at just how easy it was to do, but then he was really good about being able to control calories and protein etc in his 'normal' diet to keep him in pretty mega shape. I would probably be vegan if there were better options at restaurants, it wouldn't affect my diet that significantly, but the menu if we ever go out for dinner just looks terrible in most places.

Think he shouldn’t be allowed to play unless he fits in with the rules of the country he wants to play in. If it turns out he doesn’t qualify for the exemption then - Byeeeeeeee. Separate discussion as to whether those rules are the right rules.

Yeah I thought £1400 seemed pretty decent for all the stuff that comes on it! Only downside is it might not fit in the bike shed as it’s longer than a bus.

Is life insurance required by lenders now? I assumed it was just an add on that brokers tried to sell you? I didn’t take out any when I bought our house but since we got G, we did get some. Did the moneysavingexpert thing and it was good ish value.

I went rogue and got a hello Dave. I figure it’s been over 10 years since I rode a mountain bike and if I buy a small light one I’ll just try and ride it like a trials bike. Also it was cheap.