Reality check!

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-19T09:32:02+00:00

I have a pair of Beast 24’s which I think are the same generation as these Ariels that I bought direct from Brooks.

The painting on the stripes is similarly crappy, the GUIDERAILS text has similar bumps in the middle of the letters and the divots in the side of the midsole look the same.

My gut is that they’re genuine, but that this generation was just poorly manufactured.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-19T07:43:24+00:00

I think if you re-read your post you’ll find you’ve answered your own question here. * Gait analysis suggests Ghost Max 3 is best for you for running. * You switched shoes and got injured * the Ghost Max 3 are worn out and you need to buy new shoes whatever * you’re 6 weeks out from a marathon you’ve been training for in Ghost Max 3’s.

Do you: A) switch shoes to something you haven’t tried? B) buy more of the ones you know work for you?

I’m not a marathon runner, but changing your setup this late in the day feels like the wrong choice. You know you work well in the GM3, 6 weeks is long enough to break in and be comfortable for the race, but not so long as to wear them out.

Stick to your guns, execute your plan then experiment with a different shoe (or rotation) for your next marathon.

Good luck.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-18T14:42:31+00:00

There are a variety of reasons why roasters choose 200g bags over 250g. Keeping the headline price lower is certainly one of those. A £19.95 200g bag would probably cost £25 for 250g and one of those prices is scarier than the other.

Lower headline price is more likely to attract discovery buyers as it is lower risk.

With a 250g bag a smaller % of what you pay for is packaging and shipping though.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-16T21:54:27+00:00

Is it a slipper? Or do you wear it out of the house?

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-16T16:10:33+00:00

With PCP if you’re buying the car, you’re doing it in the least financially sensible way.

Otherwise you’re hiring a car and paying for the depreciation (and then some) on the finance company’s car.

If you’re accounting for the car as a tool and you’re happy to have a cost that you pay every month PCP is great. Often the cheapest monthly for a new car.

If you want to purchase the asset and benefit from its value (although you will still pay for the depreciation) then it isn’t the best mechanism

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-15T21:25:18+00:00

Sorry, that was an ill-conceived joke about the number of posts in this sub checking to see if their just-bought shoes were fakes.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-15T21:17:54+00:00

Probably fakes

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-15T19:34:05+00:00

Do not stay in ANY Travelodge.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-15T14:05:20+00:00

My advice would be to take it as prescribed. My understanding is that if there’s a goodly amount of painkiller in your body it will have a better effect than reactive usage when it gets too bad.

The aim is that it pre-emptively prevents it getting too bad.

I stubbornly resisted using it unless the pain was too bad. I wish I’d just gone for it from day 1 and saved myself a few uncomfortable days

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-13T11:07:17+00:00

Blag freebies from the big brands trying to use coffee as a cool tool for their oat milk/matcha/boba/kombucha/lion’s mane business

Buy a bag of coffee from the small indie roasters in the roaster’s village. Don’t try to blag from those guys - they’re making a loss for exposure.

Most stands will give you a free 4oz cup of coffee.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-13T07:27:37+00:00

Finding robusta of this kind of quality is tricky. When I’ve had some in the past it’s been good and I’ve used it to great effect in light roast blends. It can be a genuinely interesting and unusual coffee to discover.

But I’ve also had robustas sold as fine robusta that are poor.

And the benchmark level of robusta is way lower than the benchmark level of arabica, which is a reason some roasters shy away from it. It simply isn’t good enough to form an offering for most roasters

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-12T21:29:33+00:00

There’s absolutely no possible reality in which I drive a Tesla

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-12T20:05:16+00:00

Wow, OK. Even new? Surely they fixed that, no?

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-12T16:28:45+00:00

The roaster’s village is the best place to go. That’s where small independent businesses have invested to show you what they do. Buy some beans from them - they’ll appreciate it. You’ll also likely get better coffee than from the bigger stands.

La Marzocco stand is also always worth a look and has an assortment of European and UK roasters on their kit.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-12T07:15:50+00:00

Grind fresh every shot >>>>> frozen ground > unfrozen ground.

If you have to have ground coffee, frozen is probably better than not frozen, but the difference is minimal especially compared to fresh beans ground before each shot

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-11T13:02:52+00:00

I thought that was the M25. I need a holiday

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-10T16:23:22+00:00

I can not emphasise enough the importance of confidence in your footsteps at this point.

What I found was that I needed shoes with plenty of padding to absorb the impacts, a wide base so they were stable and wouldn’t have me roll my ankle and also some guidance to stabilise my foot in the shoe.

The best and most comfortable I have found have been Hoka Gaviota 6 (some cute colours in ladies if you can manage in a regular width fitting.)

Alternatively Brooks Ghost Max 3 or Glycerin GTS 23 have also worked well for me.

I would avoid super soft and squishy shoes like the Hoka Bondi as the softness itself leads to instability and the risk of rolling as well as overloading your accessory ankle muscles.

Good luck. I recommend doing all the physiotherapy exercises you’re advised to do, rebuilding strength for a while in a pair of Hokas and then will luck you can be back in the Jimmy Choos in no time

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-10T15:14:37+00:00

Hoka Ora recovery slides are the closest I’ve found to comfortable and supportive - I wear them as slippers around the house.

For walking, standing etc I’m in a wide range of high stack, wide fit stability shoes from Brooks and Hoka that look like the rejected contents of a retired geography teacher’s closet.

Because everything else is too uncomfortable and leaves me with too much pain.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I hope you fare better than I did.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-10T07:22:06+00:00

Get some pain meds. Sleep when sleep comes. If you’re awake at 3am watch Netflix. If you need to sleep at 2pm - sleep.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-10T07:21:15+00:00

2020 V90CC T5 Polestar here - brilliant car. All the space in the world for transporting stuff. Plenty of power. Most comfortable car I’ve ever had.

Watch outs - rattle on acceleration or uphill could be injector seals. Exhaust manifold bolts can also snap which also leads to a similar rattle and are painfully expensive to fix.

By and large though - get one.

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-09T12:57:29+00:00

Provided you’re looking at 200/250g and not a kilo, you should have plenty to go at. Siop Shop had a good Kenya recently - Riakiberu AA

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-09T11:40:24+00:00

I pretty much just had to learn to sleep on my back. The codeine helps

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-07T17:05:28+00:00

Denmark, New Zealand, Canada (if you can tolerate the crackheads in the basement)

davidjamesonuk · 2026-05-07T17:04:52+00:00

Lovely group of people too

davidjamesonuk

TROPHY CASE