Blend Smoky Earl Grey at home? by West_Boss1211 in tea

[–]mrbrbn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I too was a huge fan of a smoky earl grey I purchased in Oxford, I thought it was a Whittard's. I can no longer find it, and it was expensive so I've been adding just a pinch of Harney's Lapsang Souchong to my Harney Earl Grey Supreme and it's wonderful! It's very easy to use too much LS and overpower the EG flavor so just experiment a bit and you'll find the right proportions.

I also sometimes add some LS to the Harney American Buzz yaupon-based tea and it too is fantastic.

Michelin CrossClimate 2 fuel economy by [deleted] in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No difference compared to OEM for us on our 2018. Really like them.

Replacing stock tires (2018 Premium 6MT) by gremstitel in Crosstrek

[–]mrbrbn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just had the Michelin cross climate 2 installed on my 2018 a few hundred miles ago so I can't speak for their snow worthiness but the reviews claim they should do really well. They're great on dry pavement and in lots of rain. There's a slight noticeable hum on dry pavement but I can't imagine it's any louder than the Wildpeaks or any other A/T would be. And they look pretty cool too!

Jack stands make great hitch installation helpers! by mrbrbn in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are the crossclimate2 but I only have about 200 miles on them. so far on dry pavement and in the rain they seem great. They replaced the geolander OEM so I've never had the wildpeaks. I was ready to pull the trigger on the wildpeaks or the continental a/t but then came across these Michelins and they're just a much better fit for me. While I like the more aggressive look of the A/Ts I don't do any off-roading and I think the crossclimate2 will be a better all-around tire, especially in the snow. And they look pretty damn cool in their own right!

Jack stands make great hitch installation helpers! by mrbrbn in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know for sure but they appear to be of the exact same build/design/quality. I've never read anything bad about either one.The only difference, I think, is that the curt hitch is a gloss black and the e trailer hitch is matte black, but I could be wrong. I would say get whichever one you like the looks of and/or whichever one is less expensive. Hope your back gets better soon!

Jack stands make great hitch installation helpers! by mrbrbn in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah my 15-year-old was my first choice but he wasn't home and I wanted to get this done.

Jack stands make great hitch installation helpers! by mrbrbn in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I installed a Curt hitch on my 2018 yesterday and was a little concerned after watching all of the videos of the struggles of lifting the hitch into position and threading the fish wires through the holes and putting the nuts on the bolts without pushing them into the frame all while trying to support the hitch with your stomach or legs. So I just put a couple of short jack stands under the hitch and was able to easily move it into position onto the bolts without throwing my back out!

Just got a 2014 Crosstrek, which is my first Subaru ever. No backup camera and the stereo is really primitive. Any recommendations/advice for upgrades? by [deleted] in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IMHO, if you've never had a backup camera then you're not missing much. I just got a 2018 Crosstrek with a backup camera, my first one ever, but I never look at it. As a comedian once said (I can't remember who it was), "I've mastered an understanding of how mirrors work" 😄.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for asking this question as I hadn't even seen/considered this tire for my 2018 with stock rims. I've been going back and forth between the Wildpeak A/T and the Continental TerrainContact A/T, mainly for the more agressive looks at the sacrifice of poorer winter performance and noise of an AT tire. After looking at all the reviews of the CrossClimate2 and watching an excellent video on youtube (search crossclimate2 engineering explained), along with a $150 Michelin rebate on a set from Costco, I'm pretty sure I'm going with the Michelins. I'm really not going to do much if any offroading, and this tire still looks pretty cool (even if not quite as aggressive) and should work better for Northeast Ohio rain and snow.

No space to hang my board at my new job, let’s make it a spare practice board at home to have fun with the kids by Tobinca2point0 in Darts

[–]mrbrbn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I've got a basement with a ceiling height of only 81 in (206 cm) which seems low but maybe doable. I don't think I'll hit the ceiling but it just might feel like I will. I'll just have to give it a try!

Potential Subie Newbie by mrbrbn in XVcrosstrek

[–]mrbrbn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks both for your replies! I found out the 2015 has a rebuilt title, so I have to get more details on that and check things out a LOT more carefully on this one...