matt_theforce
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Posts posted by matt_theforce
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Had a real blast yesterday. There has to be a joy to working a late shift!
Warm up going up the TPT to Woodhead Pass, then down the Northern HorseShoe Loop, back along the Longdendale trail, up Woodhead to the Old Road, down the Old Road, around Langsett Res then back across to the TPT and home in time to go to work
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I'm no stranger to cycling but for a lot of years have been mainly Road/Gravel focussed after falling out of love with hike a bike MTB climbs here in the Peak District.
My son is almost 15 and I have no chance keeping up with him now on the up-hills & as he is getting into MTB racing (XC and Downhill) I need to be able to keep up with him/challenge him on his training rides.
I test rode a 2021 Trek Rail 5 at Dalby Forrest and the geometry was so close to my Trek Top Fuel (but with extra suspension travel) it felt so familiar but so much more capable so I took a trip to my local Trek dealer (only 8miles away) & bought a 2022 Trek Rail 7. Its a great spec & doesn't need any upgrades although in time I may change the Bosch Purion screen for the Kiox (I don't need the mapping but would like a better battery gauge/clock & info on my energy used vs power provided)
I've only had it for a week & its fantastic, I forgot how much I actually enjoyed mountain biking & now being able to climb stuff I've never been able to before its giving me a whole new world to explore
Matthew
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I cycle those lanes often, the camera's don't do the steepness and the terrain justice (especially the 1st climb from Riding Wood Reservoir & the last one at Hill Top).
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On 05/03/2022 at 12:31, Warrior193 said:
Hi Matt, glad that you found a satisfactory solution.
Given the present delays in lessons, will you be the primary instructor for the time being?
Yes, I know the driving instructor so he has been giving me guidance so I don't teach my son bad habbits from the start.
On 05/03/2022 at 15:25, skomaz said:Sounds like your sorted which is good. I'm just back from taking my daughter out to practice round a nearby trading estate that is empty at weekends. It's slow going as she's distracted by A levels at the moment but I'm sure she'll get there eventually
It's my sons birthday today and he is in a similar position, doesn't want to go out for a drive as he has so much A level work to do.
There's no rush & I'm not going to pressure him as I want him to enjoy his experience.
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On 10/02/2022 at 21:46, skomaz said:
Hi Matt... Just done this for my daughter who's 17 and learning and did her as a named driver on the swift. Went with the post office as it was cheaper than the renewal offered by others without her.
For a laugh I asked about putting her on the Kodiaq with GA... £135 for me and SWMBO only... £1350 with my daughter added!!!
I rang the AA to see how much they would charge to put my son on my policy while he learnt to drive but they don't insure anyone under the age of 25.
On 11/02/2022 at 08:35, AnnoyingPentium said:Talking from experience...
To have me on my Mum's policy for the Dacia Duster 1.0 it was £650 with a telematics box as a learner. For me to cover that car itself as the main driver it was £300 without a box. It was £251 for me to be covered as the main driver for the Fabia with my Mum and Granda as named drivers, also without a box.
Try Collingwood, that's who I was with.
Hope this helps.
I gave Collingwood a call but they couldn't come close to other learner quotes 😞, they also came recommended by the AA who I'm insured through.
On 14/02/2022 at 15:46, robt100 said:You lucky things up north. When I was down in essex I was looking at £2.5k+ for a policy on any car back in the late 2000's. Only dropped below £1k after about 3-4 years😬
I moved to St Albans from York in 1997 @ 19yr old, my insurance went down when I made the move, when I moved to South Yorkshire (Penistone) in 2006 my insurance went up!
Quick Update..
After lots of looking around we took a policy out in my sons name through Adrian Flux. The price was extremely competitive & I've had insurance through Adrian Flux before with my modified cars and always had a good experience.
As there is long delays in driving lessons, we felt a 12month policy in his name was a good idea as the policy allows for a 1yr no claims bonus too
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The v5 can remain in my name but my son will be using it as his own car until he buys his own car and then will be used for my younger son to learn to drive in in a couple of years time.
Another benefit we've found to buying a cheap car to learn in, the boys & I are carrying out the maintenance & servicing together, giving them valuable skills for the future (should they chose to use them) but at least they will know the basics of checking oil/coolant/washer fluid etc etc.
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Hi All,
My son is 17 in March and I'm looking for an insurance solution. He is in full time education & doesn't need a car but would like to get his license before he needs one so is currently in no rush to pass.
I have a 2007 Polo (V5 is in my name) & this will be the car that I will take him out in.
So far I can see 2 possible solutions
* named driver on my policy
* he takes out a learner driver policy (and my policy will remain on the car as the V5 is in my name)
I like the idea of him having his own policy & I've done an online check for a policy of his own which was around the £270 mark for 12months (with NCB being given at 10months), what I can't find out is, if he passes his test during the 12months will those months count towards his next policy (as he will need to cancel his learner policy and take out a full policy)
What have you done with insurance for your young drivers? Any recommendations/pit falls?
The V5 is in my name and I have no objection to changing it to my sons name, it will not become his car though as it will be kept in the family as his younger brother will also use it to learn in.
Thanks
Matthew
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I'd forgotten all about this thread
How is everyone this morning?
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On 21/11/2021 at 13:00, Liger1956 said:
What is he going to use it for?
What size prints does he want to make?
Its something that can get him started with being able to design & build scale models, more to aid with his creativity so size isn't overly important at the minute.
We've been doing lots of googling and watching youtube and the Creality Ender 3 & v2 get some very good reviews as a starter printer
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My son is at 6th form and studying Maths/Science/Design Technology as he would like to become an architect.
He has asked for help towards financing one. I have no idea where to start at what to look at.
What are peoples thoughts/experiences?
Thanks
Matthew
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I prefer the 3door seats as they make it easier for cleaning under them 👍
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1 hour ago, bonelorry said:
Not all but I think the Majority of people nowadays that get Cars on PCP and then hand them back after 24/36 Months just don't look after them, They use and abuse them and then hand them back.
Then I come along and see a 1 Owner Car at a Main Dealership, Full Main Dealer History and then go and view it and its a total shed and when some of these Cars are over £20K in Money I really expect perfection for my money because if I had bought a Brand New Car and ran it for 2/3 Years it would be going back onto a Forecourt wanting nothing.
I have bought £4000/5000, 10 Year old Cars in the past which have had 4-5 Owners and have been Cosmetically and Mechanically better looked after.
I'm of a similar opinion to you on the PCP/Lease thoughts.
2 years ago we bought a low milage (55k) FSH '13 plate Yeti from a main dealer, sold to us on what excelent condition it was in etc etc, the amount of rust (common problem on the doors) but also the roof & all the scratches and dents certainly didn't come across as excelent. I've just purchased an '07 Polo with 111k on it with FSH and there are a couple of stone chips, no rust & less dents/scratches than the Yeti!We looked at replacing the Yeti last month & visited a main dealer to see a 1 owner FSH '17 (I would like a DSG Yeti) but again the one on the forecourt was in worse condition than the Polo
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On 16/07/2021 at 00:58, JohnMcL7 said:
Good to hear you're getting on well with the Garmin as I have a Fenix 5s myself I bought at launch pretty much, worn it every day and still working great.
I was using it with Zwift for HR as well as broadcasting to an Edge and when I'd compared it against the chest strap I found it a bit slower to respond and underread a bit but that was fine for me. However I started with Zwift last year to make up for not being able to go out group rides and I was getting suspicious about its heartrate figures and was concerned because I'd had thyroid issues just before the pandemic and never got a proper all clear because I couldn't get tested any more. So I bought a new chest strap and I was shocked at how different the results were, the watch showed an average of 83bpm and a max of 136bpm while the chest strap showed an average of 168bpm and a max of 184 bpm. I'm sure the chest strap was right because I was doing a race and going hard at it which made me wonder is the watch faulty but the resting/24 hour monitoring looks good and out on an MTB ride it also looked good with an average of 140 and max of 190 which felt about right.
I'm curious how your watch is doing? Whenever I read anything online it's not helpful because people just rubbish optical HR monitors and that's the end of it.
I'm still quite pleased with my watch, the heart rate monitor is still giving me results that are similar to what I used to get with my chest strap.
My watch has been kept up-to date with software updates and I've not noticed any differences in performance/battery life etc.
The only sporadic issue is when starting an activity, sometimes the GPS connects straight away, other times it can take 5-10minutes & it happens across both walking & cycling activities.
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I can't offer any advise for towing with a mk3 but there is nothing wrong with your van
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On 27/08/2020 at 09:20, Magget said:
Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it.
I'm looking at the MK3 pre-FL, 184bhp, with a dsg. I guess what I'm worried about most is that it'll feel like a boat in corners, especially as it sits higher than any other octy. But I guess I'll need to just try and buy a few octy estate parts and see what can get fitted.
There doesn't seem to be any online info on what fits and what not from an aftermarket parts perspective. Most companies just say parts fit octy MK3 estate, but there's no further breakdown of vrs, normal and scout, so I guess I was hoping someone here tried replacing some of the parts and had some experiences to share
Did you get anywhere with this?
I've had my fair share of vrs's and other models and fancy something different so have been looking at the scout with 184bhp, like you I don't need the ride height (yet) but the 4x4 & DSG is a must. Although there might not be any aftermarket suspension specifically available for the scout did you look down the octavia vrs 4x4 route?
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Another neat feature found, I can broadcast my HR from my watch via bluetooth to my laptop when using Zwift
chest strap no longer needed (battery life is reduced slightly using this feature though).
I've turned the auto start walking off and now only start it when I want it and have noticed an improvement in battery life which is now out-weighed by broadcasting my HR on Zwift.
I'm still very happy with this watch
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I too did the 17" S3 alloy change on my Octavia, they didn't stay on long before I went back to the standard 16" Elegance alloys
My Octavia was sat on KW Springs & Dampers, the mk1 Octavia's make fantastic looking sleepers
I can't comment on the 1.8t maintenance/tuning as I only had my mk1 vrs for 18months before buying the above PD130, that said, my PD130 had 185bhp & 343ftlb and handled the power fine with the standard 205/55/16 tyre size & allows the 312mm brake upgrade to fit nicely
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3 minutes ago, J.R. said:
The battery is starting to age a bit on mine but its autonomy is far longer than you seem to be getting, running 3-4 hours a week and with the bluetooth on all the time I was getting more than 10 days autonomy, my activity profile is different with the lockdown but its down to a week or less with similar activity tracking.
I recall there was a GPS setting that did not use all the different satellites that would use the battery less.
I guess that you use the same Garmin connect app as I am beginning to see several features that my watch does not support, I'm still very pleased with it though and am not one to change something that is still functioning.
I should be able to get an extra couple of days out of the battery with some GPS tweaks as I haven't looked at them yet, GPS is used for around 1-2hours everyday just with dog walking.
Just changing the auto start for walking from 10min to 15min has increased the battery life by a day, I pop down to feed the horses twice a day and that is a 10min walk each way so got picked up as an activity too.
I've still lots of features to look at and no doubt some to disable, I turned everything on when I set it up and slowly turning off things that aren't of use to me.
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19 minutes ago, J.R. said:
It does seem to have new features that I would like, my Garmin Forerunner 235 will not give me the option of walking or hiking as an activity, I have to log it as a run & then remember to edit it to a walk when uploaded to my phone.
Also i was dissapointed to find that the analogue watch face has to be paid for and downloaded, without glasses I cannot read the LCD time whereas an analogue time display is readable even in poor lighting.
Both of these things could probably be resolved by someone that does not mind spending their life using their smartphone.
I like the O2 monitoring, I had been considering buying an oxymeter.
My sister has a Forerunner and has said the same about her activities. The only tweak I sometimes need to do is if I use a different bike (known as Gear, possibly on the Forerunner as you can have multiple running shoes)
The VivoActive allows you to manually start a walk or have it start automatically, it is very slow to finish the activity though so best done manually.
Analogue watch faces are free on the VivoActive 4
The VivoActive 4 does seem quite adaptable to multiple sports
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Update.
I made the decision to buy a Garmin and bought the VivoActive 4 Black/Slate, after a little shopping around I managed to get it for just over £200 which I'm happy with.
I've been using it now for just under a month and thought I'd share a few things about it.
I've compared the GPS & Heartrate monitor against my MIO Cyclo 315 & chest strap at the same time while out on a number of hikes & bike rides & the Garmin is very impressive, no missed data/no high or low data & almost identical to my MIO
Likes
* It's a nice lightweight watch (compared to my old Samsung Gear 3 Frontier)
* Application integration to & from Strava/Zwift (more Garmin Connect that the watch)
* Sleep Tracking and Body Battery seem quite accurate & often mirror my mood that day
* Easy to customise the menu's/data displayed during activities & access the app you want
* When manually starting an activity the GPS picks up really quickly (tried from several different places)
* Battery - charging time is very quick & lasts very well (approx 4 days for me). I walk 3-4miles every morning(with GPS due to a very active dog), I also do a similar length walk in the evening too & sleep with the watch on (only take it off for showering). I have disabled PulseOx. I only turn bluetooth on once a day to sync my activities & its on for approx 10min (not that it needs that long).
When on being used for an activity the battery life with just GPS will certainly outlast what I'm capable of, I've done a few 3-4 hour rides/hikes & I've been very impressed at how little the battery is used.
Dislikes
* It is advertised as supporting Turbo Trainers but I found out after I bought it that it doesn't support smart turbo trainers (never mind), I can still use my chest strap and my rides auto sync with Garmin Connect & incorporated into the watch
* The screen is a little sensitive and often lights up when moving around in bed
Overall I'm very happy with my choice & for the odd 1hr ride I now don't take my MIO bike computer and just use my watch.
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On 22/11/2020 at 21:16, skomaz said:
Microwear H series??
I've never heard or seen them so will do some investigating
On 22/11/2020 at 23:29, MarkyG82 said:I have a polar vantage m that is bang on budget. Battery love is 2 weeks with multiple activities. Links to my cadence/speed sensor on the bike so should do your trainer. Should work with swift too.
Activity type is really customisable. You can set the poling for GPS to really long to give more battery. I have done this for walking although not used it for that much this year.
Wore it daily up to a couple of weeks ago when I got a smart watch for birthday. Still use it for exercise though.
I have a friend who has been using Polar devices for years, he is currently using the Polar M430 and he really likes it, I have to say I much prefer the look of the Vantage M though.
On 23/11/2020 at 12:57, Gissin said:I'm a big fan of the Suunto range. I've got a peak 3 which I use for sport and it's been good, albeit a bit old now.
I've a couple of customers who use various Suunto sensor's & they seem to be extremely reliable. I do like the look of the 5 all black
My wife went to work and forgot to put her Garmin Vivoactive 3 on yesterday so I went out for a ride to try it out, I was really pleased with the data I could see from it, the heart rate and GPS tracking was pretty much identical to my MIO315 cycling computer & chest heart rate monitor. The Vivoactive 3 is lacking in some features that I would like but that has got me researching the Vivoactive 4.
At the moment I have the following
Comparisons to be done on : Polar Vantage M / Garmin Vivoactive 4 / Suunto 5 all black
Investigation to carry out on the Microwear H series
so many choices out there!!
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For the last 2 years I've had a Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and I've had nothing but trouble with the sports side of things.
I'm looking to replace it, I'm not looking for a Smart Watch as I don't use half the features.
Requirements
* Built in GPS
* Budget £250
* Cycling/hiking stats
* Good battery life when used for activity tracking
It would be nice if I could link it to a Saris h3 turbo trainer or Zwift but not essential.
What are your experiences/recommendations?
Matthew
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On 07/08/2020 at 16:17, ColinD said:
After considering where to put a heath/wellness subforum, I opted to extend the cycling club.
Partly as a lot of health benefits can be gained from cycling.
Renamed the forum to health hub, so keeping one finger on a cycling/car word play as per other subforums.
The other option which is a bit more drastic, is to enable a feature in the forums called clubs, which kind of hides the content away in clubs... but would make fewer sub forum categories... I opted for the above first though.
Any thoughts or comments, please do, as ever, just say.... right off to upset the wheel and tyre wagon cart.
I like this idea, it opens up a whole new area for people interested in health/wellbeing/sports
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My full service would include
a conversation with the owner to asertain the type of cycling/weather/mileage etc to get an idea of what components should be used to provide the best value for money/longevity.
removing all components
Bearings (Clean & re-grease) or replace (no cost for caged bearings unless specific bearings were specified)
cleaning all threads and applying fresh anti-seize
Tyres & Tubes removed and inspected (inner tubes replaced at no extra cost)
All inner & outer cables replaced (no cost for parts unless specific cables were specified)
Brake fluid changed (no cost for the fluid)
Wheel truing done
supply/fit new chain (no cost for chain unless specific chain was specified)
Rim brake blocks replaced (no cost for parts unless specific brake blocks were specified)
Service sheet with torque settings listed for each component
Collect & Drop Off service as a full service requires an extra clean environment
Replace any required components (no labour charges)
Everything that is removed will be cleaned prior to being refitted
I also give the customer the choice to have their removed components back
As part of this, should a customer want a new gear shifter/chainset/cassette etc etc or an upgrade of certain items, I would only charge for the part
As part of my initial conversation it may reveal that a full service isn't required.
Make sure you speak to the mechanics, find someone who is willing to take the time to listen to what you use your bike for, that way you are more likely to get the correct service for your bike and your needs.
Matthew
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RIP Ken Block
in The Roadside Hotel
Posted
What a rubbish start to 2023
https://www.hooniganracing.com/