[Closed] Stuff that exceeds expectations.

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I have had half a dozen french cars in the last 20 years and never really had any problems with them which flies in the face of most of the things you would read on here.

A Peugeot 205 diesel that I paid £100 for

Indestructible

Mould Spray.

I live such an exciting life.

My mini chopper.

My El Mar. Bought and set up to cover road and jeep track/fire road miles, turns out to be great at that but also to handle absolutely superbly in the technical stuff.

I once volunteered for a home that provided support to men from Haiti, that suffered in verbally abusive relationships. If I ever met them in the street with my GF at the time though, she would mock them to their face.

Well one day once of them gave her a right mouthful in reply, she was completely stunned and never did it again.

That ex heeded my next pecked hations.

(I am so, so sorry)

Montane featherlite smock.
Buff.
Sierra Nevada pale ale.
Highland Park.

[i]My mini chopper. [/i]

See, it's what you do with it that counts.

Google Inbox and Now. Thought it would be a bit gimmicky but it's actually really handy "pinning" emails and having reminders within Inbox and then Google Now to plan journeys etc...

You should be ashamed (although I admit, I let out a little chuckle) 🙂

bearnecessities - Member
I once volunteered for a home that provided support to men from Haiti, that suffered in verbally abusive relationships. If I ever met them in the street with my GF at the time though, she would mock them to their face.

Well one day once of them gave her a right mouthful in reply, she was completely stunned and never did it again.

That ex heeded my next pecked hations.

(I am so, so sorry)

Keela clothing - cheap, functional & robust
Merlin hand built wheels

oh and Catherine Ryan - 1986 😀

XMI X-Mini Max II speakers. Wires are a bit old hat I guess now, with all the Bluetooth speakers. But these were dead cheap, put out a decent sound, battery lasts ages (not having to Bluetooth, I suppose) and have proven pretty durable.

My car, Seat Ibiza 1.9 TDi - paid £7500 for it in 2006 and have put 228,000 miles on it since then. Nothing major has gone pop or bang; still on original clutch & DMF, exhaust, turbo, injectors. It's only just had it's third set of front discs and pads put on and the battery was only replaced last year at 10 years old. 55mpg is an easy target, with low 60's achievable through the summer months. Aiming to keep it until at least 300k miles and then see how it's faring.

I've got a very basic 65 litre rucksack by Gelert that I bought for £30 for a short trip back in 2008 when I lost my usual one.

I've now got a cupboard full of comparatively expensive bags and rucksacks (bloody loads of them!), yet the Gelert is still one of the most comfortable and with the exception of one buckle there isn't a bit of damage. It's been half way round the world and is packed full of kit every other weekend.

Considering I practically throw money at outdoor companies for shiny new kit, the fact I still use the bag rather than buy a replacement is incredible!

[i]Bought some shoes a couple of years ago from M&S[/i]

you you get a complementary pair of slacks?

one from me is Innov8 off road trainers, made a massive difference running in winter offroad.

+1 for french motors.

had a couple - will continue to have more.

my old frontera exceeded my expectations too - got laughed at when i bought it for being a hairdressers faux by faux .... turned out to be a decent recovery vehicle when the laughing folk were stuck 😀 - got that in exchange for a golf with a badly warped cylinder head after waterpump failure.

my steel on one 456 - bought it as a cheap used long travel go to france bike to flog on when i came back - 3 years later i still use it for fun riding and big days on technical trails where the rigid SS is out of depth.

I bought a cheap thermal top from Bad Boy (fight gear!) in the sales - £10 it was. For the commute, so didn't matter what it looked like. But it's fab, strategic venting so don't get too hot, really comfortable and fits like its made for cycling (long arms, dropped tail). Love it
http://www.badboy-uk.com/clearance/bad-boy-thermal-half-zip-top-blue.html

I once volunteered for a home that provided support to men from Haiti, that suffered in verbally abusive relationships. If I ever met them in the street with my GF at the time though, she would mock them to their face.

Well one day once of them gave her a right mouthful in reply, she was completely stunned and never did it again.

That ex heeded my next pecked hations.

(I am so, so sorry)

Thanks. I am now crying

Plain Bounties.

my libido

edit: sorry, just read title properly.....

Shish kebab from a good Turkish kebab shop - for just £4.50 at my port of call.

Tunnocks. Anything by Tunnocks.
2003 Toyota Yaris.
17' Novacraft Prospectors.
King of Shaves kinesium oil.
OS Maps.

Sennheiser HD 201s, bought as a christmas present, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but much better than there £20.00 asking price would suggest.

(I am so, so sorry)

I am so, so stealing that. It'll go nicely with the Story of Ghandi, Frog at the Bank, and Couple in a Restaurant jokes.

+1

Best puns I've seen for ages

Chapeau old chap

+1 on the montane featherlite, I've got two now!

AKG451s recommended to me on here, thought they'd be ok, but they were perfect for my needs.

My Voodoo Bokor. Bought to try 29ers on the cheap, but I love the way it handles. No original parts left now!

Rapha merino fixed long sleeve jersey from back in 2006/2007? - one of my favourite items of clothing and i'll be bereft when it finally dies but thankfully it shows no sign of death yet.

Apple unibody aluminium Macbook 2.4 GHz (2009) , last year i maxed out the memory to 8GB and fitted a 960 GB SSD and treated it to a new genuine battery, been everywhere with me from sweaty clubs to damp marquees, dropped on the floor, vibrated/bounced off DJ stands, used every day plugged into a 27" monitor and loaded with all my Native Instruments music software. Never let me down once, never locked up or frozen on me. Just one of those bits of kit that may seem expensive to start with but worth every penny.

At present; life

MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology)

After the break-in period (my stretching calves and wobbly balance, not the shoes) I can now stand wearing shoes for a very long time, and actually get excited about going out in them. Feets breathe a massive sigh of relief every time I pull them on. Amazing. Look weird but so did Crocs, my joints won't let me wear regular shoes to walk in, so i have to be a laughing stock but not bitter.
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Hardcore History Podcast by Dan Carlin

The Blueprint for Armageddon series about the First World War encapsulates the horror, madness and pitiless logic superbly.

the best history of this period I have come across.

701arvn : yeah ^ , his other history podcasts are well worth listening to as well, his recent common sense podcasts have also been good. Keeps me sane at work as they have westsound (local dumfries & galloway) radio station on all day/everyday so i tend to plug my earphones in and listen to podcasts/music 8 hours a day.

My Shimano cable cutters. An extravagant tool purchase in 1997,still working as new today.

Those Fox Attack t-shirts from 2012. Bought four from Alpine bikes and they're all still perfect. Apart from the blood.

AM41's. Every day for 2 years on the bike plus endless scree/slate scrambles in them. Only just now do they need a replacement.

Minion DHF 40a. The only appropriate word is adhesive.

Aldi Merino base layer, £15.99 wear it for cycling, garnening, wood chopping. Kept it's shape and still looks good, much better than my Endura Baa Baa.

Although talking of Endura I realised the other day when slipping on my Endura thermal tights, that I have had them more than 15 years and other than a bit of freying on the straps they are still in very good condition. Same with my 15 year old bib 3/4s.

Rab Microlight vest, bough it cheap in a sale and it has been amazing, wear it every day, keeps me warm, packs small, cannot fault it. I know have a Microlight Alpine jacket, I'll report back on its performance in a couple of years, but I am sure it will be immense.

I'll second the M&S footwear.

I bought some M&S leather boots back in 2000 or thereabouts. Wore them pretty much every day at some point. I've just replaced the soles for the first time. Awesome boots.

But partially on theme would be my Chameleon. Utterly faultless bike. SO much fun, must be as old as the boots and still my favourite bike.

Cannondale Fleece Gilet with Headshock Bloke on the back bough in a sale at lesuire lakes for £8.00 in mid 90's still going

M and S thermal leggings bought in Edinburgh as I was freezing before watching the rugby six nations

Aldi base layer simple man made wick the sweat away, slight petrochemical smell

Frank Turner...really surpassed my expectations

Oakham Citra ale. Blimey, that made me sit down and think.

Yo Dez - do those shirts come pre-inflated

I could do with looking rrrrriiiped

Bought a light "protective" wind proof jacket about 8 years ago, cost £18. Still going strong. Been through a lot and shows the scuffle and scars of a few offs. But roadies are in awe of how beat up it is.

A Peugeot 205 diesel that I paid £100 for

Indestructible

Mine cost £400 four years ago and has done 60k miles (Portsmouth to Plymouth every weekend until recently, now 250 miles commuting per week) and it just keeps on going. This is despite being used as my main wood lugging vehicle over long distances.

Lidl long sleeve mtb specific top - when they were branded Movement. can't remember how much but less than a tenner and still looks as good as new after being worn hundreds of times over at least ten years. I've had tops costing £75 that haven't washed as well

Everything I've bought from Montane although to be fair my expectations have risen with each purchase so its becoming difficult to exceed them now!

Karrimor KMM (Mountain Marathon) sac. Donkeys years old, been abused on walks, climbs, fell runs, bike rides. Refuses to die.

Oh and plain bounty of course.

An old 2006 Trek 1200 SL road bike I brought from a mate for a couple of hundred quid. I think only the frame is the same now but it does sterling service as my winter trainer.

Also a Panasonic bread maker. Mrs blobby wanted one but I thought we'd use it a couple of times and it's be forgotten about, but now use it all the time and make some lovely breads (a 50/50 rye and white is current favourite) and doughs.

mrblobby - Member

Also a Panasonic bread maker. Mrs blobby wanted one but I thought we'd use it a couple of times and it's be forgotten about, but now use it all the time and make some lovely breads (a 50/50 rye and white is current favourite) and doughs.

I've got a Kenwood one, it's in a state of absolute collapse but it never quite fails- obviously was built for exactly the "use it twice" market but I've used it every second day for about 3 years now. I really want to buy a new one but I can't reward such bravery with betrayal.

Aldi New Zealand Pinot Noir - it's as good as a lot of burgundies 5x the price

Kona Ute - I thought I would use it twice a week to take the kids to nursery and maybe the odd trip to a supermarket to justify its purchase; oh no, I've commuted on it every day since I got it, I've had a variety of stuff in the bags (shopping, recycled veg packing crates as kindling for the wood burner*) and I totally understand why the bloke who sold it to me is sad to have let it go. a lot quicker and more nimble than I expected.

*possibly the most STW niche activity I have ever written about here

Also a Panasonic bread maker. Mrs blobby wanted one but I thought we'd use it a couple of times and it's be forgotten about, but now use it all the time and make some lovely breads (a 50/50 rye and white is current favourite) and doughs.

Same here. Great bit of kit.

Got a Braun Trizone Electric Toothbrush for Christmas- I was a sceptic but it is like going to the dentist.

Various Chinese mtb, neoprene, full finger gloves for less than a fiver from flea bay that never seem to wear out?

The 'original' (haven't they already updated it three times?) mucky nutz fender bender.
Fox antifreeze gloves.
Specialized defroster boots.
On-one merino armwarmers if you only paid a fiver for them.
On-one smorgasbords, even the single compound wire ones.
New slx brakes.

Kenn ward (old folks acute medicine at Royal Devon And Exeter)
Sparks (the band)
Oh and Lidl in general.

+1 Montane featherlite smock
+1 On One smorgasbord - does what it says on the label (mind you, does squirm a lot in really slimy mud)
Scarves in general - who'd have thought they could make such a difference
£50 light from bright bike lights.
Hope customer service (as always)

Specialized pedals, now 10 years old and still running without any servicing. Bought another pair in 2010 for just in case, they are still in the box.

Ultimate bike spray. Awesome.
Gopro mount for my helmet light.
New 888's

Some Clarks shoes I bought for £15 in the sale. I usually wear Grensons or Loakes with welted soles but they can feel clumpy when driving. Saw these Clarkes and 6 months on wish I had bought more pairs.

Narrow-wide chain rings.

I was very sceptical about running a single-ring bike with no chainguide in the Alps, but I haven't dropped a chain since I fitted one (Hope Retainer Ring).

Halfords, lately. For bike stuff.

STW joke and pun threads 🙂

LoveHoney's delivery times.

JulianA - Member

LoveHoney's delivery times.

Came in seconds?

Northwind - Member
JulianA - Member
LoveHoney's delivery times.

Came in seconds?

Very good!

teasel - Member
At present; life

Yes. Mine not yours, though I'm sure yours is good too. That and very much related to it - my fitness/capacity for endurance. Four years ago I never could have thought for an instant that things would get to where they are now.

On a more mundane level, the cheap padded jacket I bought from Millets for the winter. Worn every day and not been cold in it at all, despite what this winter is throwing at me. If someone made one that could be regulated for letting heat out when biking uphill, it would be perfect.

7800 Dura Ace.
I know it's supposed to be good, but mine has covered 40,000 km which must be [i]half a million[/i] shifts at least, and it's still perfect. I am awestruck.

Rab down jacket purchased about 22 years ago, down still has its loft and pertex outer doesn't look aged or worn.
Have just treated myself to a Canada goose parka though so I'm hoping to get 20 years out of that too.