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I think it depends on how you need to carry loads. If it's occasional big loads (supermarket/taking stuff to the tip/etc.), then a trailer is fine, but if you're going to daisy-chain various errands, then having a shopper/utility bike you can just sling stuff on is helpful. I think the appeal of the Omniums is that they feel nippy when unloaded or with moderate load? For me the max load on the minis would be an issue, plus they're a bit nice/pricey to leave locked up around town. Since I got rid of my bakfiets, I've been meaning to get an Elephant Bike (refurbed Pashley Pronto/PO bike), which should cover 95% of my shopping needs at a fraction of the cost of a posher cargo bike.

Italian delis may have canned or jarred friarielli - e.g. https://www.adimaria.co.uk/italian-foods-1/pulses-other/friarielli-in-oil-800g - but sauteed rainbow chard or other bitter greens work equally well.

This is something I go back and forth on; I usually end up taking a D-lock and cable, not needing it for 95% of my tour, and resenting the weight. For some/most tours I'd probably be fine with a cable lock, but for visiting museums etc. in urban areas, where the bike's going to be unattended for a while, paranoia compels me to take something more secure. Has anybody tried the alarmed cafe locks? I keep meaning to get one to try out.

Looks amazing, but I worry that with that front beam you'd want a good relationship with your dentist...

Possibly a bit late now, but in this weather I've had good results with 0.25-0.5% active dried yeast and a ladle of sourdough starter (ideally active, but have had luck even straight from the fridge). I've been getting decent enough dough in 5-6 hours; not quite as good as multiple-day slow ferments, but more than acceptable results coming out of the Ooni.

Depends on the calipers; e.g. BB7s come in road (would be ok) and MTB (not ok).

https://www.prendas.co.uk/products/prendas-il-grande-black-cotton-cap (also available in white, red, blue)?

(Somewhat belatedly)
Before Brexit, I'd have said this one: https://www.dutchbikebits.com/80mm-ding-dong-bell (has a recording of what it sounds like on the page), but AFAIK they no longer ship to the UK.

This looks like it might be the same item: https://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/accessories/safety-equipment/traditional-dutch-style-bicycle-ding-dong-bell

Otherwise I like the sound and sustain of my https://www.lionbellworks.co.uk/ brass pinger.

Good placement of reflectives there, though without a decent shot of the back it's hard to tell if it would be a bit sweaty.

Had to chase daughter's test yesterday morning - 'sorry, nothing here, we'll have to chase it up with the lab and someone will get back to you within 24 hours' - and got the negative result first thing this morning. So that's Wednesday evening to Monday morning for a result; guess the system's under a fair amount of pressure?

Now to desperately try and catch up on the work I'm behind on...

Is that design better than other adjustables? Otherwise that seems pricey - a 6" Bahco can be had for under £20.

Not quite; macadam is the 18th-c. invention of Mr Macadam, viz. a carefully laid roadbed of different grades of crushed stone: larger stones as a foundation layer, and smaller stones on top. This could be laid on surfaces other than bedrock, drained well, and stood up to the passage of vehicles; tarmac was a later invention, which sprayed tar on top as a binder to keep dust down. Modern asphalt lays the aggregate and tar in one.

Yeah, but AIUI you get much less flex if direct-mounted? I could possibly be tempted by something like the Compass centrepulls, but at £200 per brake my rational brain tells me they'd have to be significantly better than cantis.

Yeah, I'm still a bit torn about this - current bike has 35mm hyper voyager tyres, which are great, but are on the edge clearance-wise for my current frame (esp. as they come up slightly large on my current rims). But as a big lad I wonder if slightly bigger would be even better for day rides and bridleway-bashing.

Ta all; am in the early days of speccing a custom frame - basically a light tourer with touring clearances for #plush and #supple big rubber (700C) - so am wondering how big to go. I guess I'm either looking at ~38mm tyres and 45mm guards, or ~40-44mm tyres and 52mm guards. Not sure I need to go wider than that, so it looks like going for canti bosses will give me lots of options.

I figured FBPNA is the best place to ask about this: what are the normal max clearances for tyres and guards & pros/cons for various rim brake types suitable for wide tyres?

Calipers are about 35mm; are mini-vs the same? V-brakes are about 40mm + guards, but require linear-pull levers or a travel agent; trad cantis are up to about 50mm+guards? And then centrepulls are about 42mm+guards, but require special bosses (and mostly have old-style lever cable pull?).

An acquaintance with needle anxiety had her #2 jab yesterday, and apparently took beta blockers to get her through it (from her GP?).

Aaaand daughter had a temperature overnight, so we're self-isolating until her test comes back. Fingers crossed it's just one of the other children's bugs that have been going around...

Cases graph looking like it's heading vertical, but deaths don't seem to be up at anything like the same rate; as per the gov.uk dashboard, the 7-day increase for both is ~70% and ~12% respectively.

These are all brilliant. I really like the top ones here - just the right balance of looseness and detail.

Ha, I was thinking of hundreds rather than thousands - make that 'terrifyingly expensive'!

Posh crimpers are frighteningly expensive, but if you're doing lots of wiring looms (and discounting your own labour, which you probably are if you're building your own race car...), they will pay for themselves fairly quickly.

The beer selection at my local supermarkets seems really variable in regards to the variety and 'interestingness' of the beers on offer, even with branches a couple of miles apart:
Asda: 1 ok, 1 poor.
Sainsbury's: mediocre
Morrisons: 2 ok, 1 excellent
Tesco: 1 pretty good, 1 excellent
Waitrose: 1 ok, 1 excellent (now sadly closed)

There don't seem to be any obvious factors (location, age, size) for predicting which branches will have better beer selections; maybe it's just down to the enthusiasms of the branch managers?

Those are purpose-made bar-end shifters, rather than modified DT ones. To use DT shifters on the bars, you'll need some kind of cable stop to run the outer round the bends. Kelly Take Offs are one off-the-shelf solution for mounting DT shifters on the bars; there's been various threads about homebrew versions on the CTC/Cycling UK forums.

Yeah, looks like they're standard frames built to order with the option to customise. Not particularly cheap, but their ex-display bikes look like good value for what they are; thankfully this is too small for me: https://www.stanforthbikes.co.uk/product-page/kibo-ex-display-with-quill-stem-1 (edit - beaten to it!)