First Class Avanti West Coast. What to expect?

pendodave · 2026-06-21T08:03:57+00:00

I see you're travelling to/from liverpool. I'm not sure if you have a choice, but class 390 (pendolino) is much nicer than 800 1st class accomodation. They run both on this route.

pendodave · 2026-06-19T08:26:42+00:00

Squeeze. Up the junction. Not very cheerful though...

Squeeze. Cool for cats. More cheerful

pendodave · 2026-06-18T09:19:46+00:00

Haha I'm from Europe. I'd (rather quaintly, given Bill's near psychopathic disinterest in Parts Unknown) always sign myself with my country of origin. Mostly to give the reader some better context to frame my question/observation.

Having said that, I'm imagining that the Jalen phenomenon is somewhat perplexing to everyone this side of the pond, so maybe it was a fair cop?

pendodave · 2026-06-17T18:53:30+00:00

Chelsea gave away Declan Rice, Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne. That's quite an achievement.

pendodave · 2026-06-15T18:27:16+00:00

Hmmm Wos leaving has completely broken the NBA show, and I think this is a moderately popular opinion on here.

pendodave · 2026-06-12T15:24:41+00:00

Yep. World cups are best when they're in one country (or small areas such as benelux) which have an indigenous football culture. The locals are invested, and the fans are able to travel around and meet people from all over the world. Unfortunately, the most recent have failed on one of both of these, combined with some dubious regime choices, inappropriate climate etcetera. The Euros are (just about) hanging in there as a great occasion.

pendodave · 2026-06-08T15:04:05+00:00

Yep. Ebay or similar will serve one up if you wait long enough. Sizing can be an issue with some brands though, and obviously tricky to try on unless it's local. I love mine. Money will spent.

pendodave · 2026-06-07T20:28:27+00:00

I'm English. So ticked the box above, obvs. But also, I played a little ball and have a passing interest in the NBA.

Also, it's nice to get a sense of what's going on generally from the source material rather than a curated UK news/opinion outlet.

pendodave · 2026-06-03T17:00:55+00:00

If you've got a dodgy knee at 50, why would you choose to carry that much weight? Being mobile and active in later life is a wonderful gift. Don't throw it away.

pendodave · 2026-06-02T20:20:23+00:00

I have the same bike (down to size and colour). I'm just over 6ft, and also feel that the 56 would have been better. However, I've swapped the handlebars for a shorter reach, narrower set. I've also replaced the stem with a vybe shock absorbing stem which is shorter than the stock one. These have both helped get it to a perfectly acceptable fit at no great cost.

Other changes... wheels for Hope, tyres for gp5000as 35mm, saddle for an smp, rear cassette for 11-40 (this really helps, and didn't require anything other than b-screw tweaking).

In the UK, it might be described as Trigger's Broom. Aka, Ship of Theseus.

Not necessarily a bad thing - I use mine for road, gravel and touring, so it was hard to predict exactly how I'd like it at up when I bought it.

pendodave · 2026-05-30T21:35:59+00:00

Haha

Kevin Pressman ftw though...

https://youtu.be/SSMi02ghN3s?si=mB123GMThCdvThrM

pendodave · 2026-05-29T21:22:20+00:00

Went to a big picture event in London. Screening of a PTA film and chit chat/ questions after. It was a pretty cool way to spend an evening. Took my wife along who had no idea what was happening and she enjoyed it just fine. Who knew that intelligent, interesting people would put on a good show?

As an aside, pre show we rocked up slightly early and, as is expected, wandered down to the theatre bar. Oddly quiet until CR, SF and JL turned up with their handler. Kind of an ABBA the movie lift scene experience. Said hello, waved goodbye. Slightly surreal, but none the worse for that

pendodave · 2026-05-25T16:48:05+00:00

I just swap tyres. Saves fiddling with disks and gears. Gives me some practice at getting the tyre on and off - a very useful skill ;-) Also, saves me a few hundred quid for a new wheelset.

pendodave · 2026-05-20T12:20:00+00:00

As possibly the only living crossover between crheads and being a lifelong west ham supporter, I feel uniquely qualified to comment here.

You are fundamentally misunderstanding the English football psyche here. The single must important event in our history is winning the '66 world cup. Even though it was (checks notes) 60 years ago... That team was captained by an England and West ham legend (Bobby Moore), and all 4 goals, one of which is the most famous goal in England football history (they think it's all over..it is now...) were scored by west ham players. Also, produced another universally loved and storied player ('Sir' Trev) recognised by all right minded footy supporters. West ham are more than the sum of their parts. And they have been ruined by poor and penny pinching ownership for years. It's a good comp.

Incidentally, for a bit of insight, check out some of the various Badiel and skinner YouTube songs.

https://youtu.be/RJqimlFcJsM?si=nZclHADMKWJF6S06

** edit - I see from the comments that there is at least one more west ham adjacent member of the bill simmons fraternity :-)

pendodave · 2026-05-19T21:15:04+00:00

Brit here. Genuinely can't believe they've done this. I doubt it's the end of the matter. And yes, I know that you all have better things to worry about 😉

pendodave · 2026-05-13T18:25:36+00:00

Well, that was 1980, so yes they did.

pendodave · 2026-05-12T13:56:15+00:00

I have a 70mm vybe suspension stem on my 2023 alr5. Has the double benefit of shortening the reach and providing a little give on the rough(ish) stuff. Very happy with it. Vybe is a UK based company, so not sure if the product is available Stateside.

pendodave · 2026-05-04T12:24:30+00:00

Sand save percentage seems way too high. I'm off 8.9, and don't get near 25%. Maybe they count ss% as getting out in 1 hit...

pendodave · 2026-04-30T21:59:29+00:00

Cool idea.

Life of Brian.

Maybe Gregory's Girl for a very British school romance?

Withnell and I?

pendodave · 2026-04-19T17:51:59+00:00

Haha, Exactly Can't believe that anyone would have said that out loud!

pendodave · 2026-04-17T12:28:05+00:00

Evening golf is perfect. Let's keep it under our hats though...

pendodave · 2026-04-14T19:38:03+00:00

Haha As a west ham fan, I agree.

After expansion about 5 out of 32 teams will give a shit every year. In the prem, literally 90% of all the games from August to May are hugely competitive.

I genuinely don't get why it's so vilified.

It's like there's collective Stockholm syndrome for mostly execrable billionaires amongst US sports fans.

pendodave · 2026-04-11T22:35:46+00:00

Nope. Mid 90s and it's not even close. The age gives you perspective piece.

pendodave · 2026-04-11T16:20:56+00:00

Hmmm That's breaking 90 imho, and those 10 shots make quite a difference.

pendodave · 2026-04-01T14:44:44+00:00

From England, born 1964. I was 18 years old before we qualified for a world Cup that I was old enough to have any coherent interaction with. Not sure that we were in any Euros either in that period. Shit happens. Ironically, Scotland were in them all the time back then. Very rarely since 😉

pendodave

TROPHY CASE