Yeah the frame is lifetime but carbon components are less (must be a mis-print) I would probably be happier with an allloy fork (more secure in the knowledge it will last) but I don't think it's too much of an issue, not had a crash since I was 12 and I am like 60-65kg, and my plan is to use it for leisure riding & use my current bike for commuting so any damage to the fork would only be from some kind of crash.

£650 is a bit of a stretch for me but apart from going up to at least 28mm tyres it is exactly what I am looking for, (and I was hoping when next years models come out they might drop it to £500ish)... That greenway is a good deal though, not come across that brand/site before, but as a minimum upgrade I would definitely need to change the cassette. Even assuming it's a compact crank with 34T I think I'd need more than 25T for climbing on a 13kg+ bike. & I'd need to know if it's possible to put bigger tyres.
I swear when I first clicked on the link it was £166... now it's £200

Anyhow thanks for the links.
I'm not in any rush so I think what I will do is leave it for now, keep checking for discounts and if I can snap up something with a 105 group for under £550 I will, if that doesn't happen I may wait till next year or try out somethin cheaper and make sure it is easily upgradable.
I definitely want a decent groupset upgrade though, my current bike which I don't think I have mentioned yet is a Raleigh Strada 2 and has Shimano Acera which is roughly equivalent to Claris, I would be happy with Tiagra except I like having a nice high top gear for downhills and for some reason Tiagra cassettes only go down to 12T.

People still use miles and leagues?

I don't know about leagues but yes miles is the most common measurement for distance in UK and US I believe. 

I'd use km if I could... but all the road signs are in miles.
I suppose it's not too bad a conversion for a cyclist though, there are only 2 important speeds relevant to me. If I keep it to 33kph in 20mph zones, and 50kph in 30mph zones it's nice and easy to remember. I'd need one hell of a hill to even get to 40mph so I don't think I need to worry about that.

leagues though, not even sure how far a league is, I only ever hear it in reference to the book/film

I've been averaging around 200mi per month since April when i got back on the saddle. Gaming has suffered a great amount as a result, i do lots of night riding.

My endurance/climber:

2017 BMC TEAMMACHINE SLR02 Carbon 
Full Shimano 5800 105 11 speed groupset, 52/36 Semi Compact, 11-32T

Campagnolo Zonda C17 wheelset + Specialized Turbo Pro 26c rubber

My race bike:

2013 Giant TCR SL1
Full Shimano Ultegra 6700 10 speed groupset, 53/39 Standard ,11-30T
Cockpit:Easton EC70 SL3 carbon, Shimano Pro PLT stem,Zipp Service Course tape
Giant P-SLR1 Carbon wheelset
Continental GP4000s II 's 28c

My hybrid hardtail/MTB:
2017 Giant Roam 1

RIP: 2010 Cannondale CAAD 9 5 105...she was one size too big so killed me on distance rides, but i loved that bike. Tried to hold onto it as it was a mint last year of the 'Handmade in the USA' Cannondales. ...but i cave in and it helped fund the BMC . It will be missed.

Inspired by BotW map trail I decided to make a map of everywhere I've got to so far.

It was a bit more work than I estimated, and still waiting for that "explored 1% of your country" achievement to unlock. This openworld game is too big!

It's mostly 6 major routes that I follow with all kinds of variations based on the available time. I prefer upto 80km round trips, upto 3 hours, yet occasionally go to Lake Erie (110km round trip South) and Lake Ontario (125 km round trip East)

The red paths are the main bicyle paths, mostly on converted old railway beds, and some other bicycle/dirt paths. Blue roads are gravel and asphalt, country roads to 80 kph highways. I couldn't draw in the mountain bike trails, not enough room. I only use them in spring and fall, in summer it's all overgrown and full of mosquitos.

I wouldn't like to cycle here at night, I don't trust other drivers enough for that. I've seen plenty near accidents from people recklessly passing into oncoming traffic, and had a few cars get very close to me. The law states to pass one meter from bicycles, yet most people cannot judge distances. On the main roads I stay on or right of the solid white line and keep my ears out for traffic, and sometimes go on the gravel shoulder to let trucks pass safely. The roads are wide enough, it's just that a lot of people's driving skills suck. So I prefer to stay on the gravel roads with almost zero traffic. It's not as fast nor smooth to ride, yet peace and quiet is comfort too.

Well, I uh... I bike to school and around town whenever I have something to do there... does that count?

Today I learned Google has some funny idead about bike routes. I already noticed earlier that it has no problem sending you the wrong way down oneway streets and sometimes refuse to take roads that are perfectly legal to follow, instead it likes to make detours like this:
Google 'street' view of the other end of a path it send me on. The actual path is a tiny dirt path through fields and bushes, completely overgrown in summer. I managed to follow it yet where this picture was taken there are big red signs, no trespassing, a gated community. So I had to turn back through the overgrown field again.

Another part of my route following the grand river ended up like this

The nice actual bike path I was following deteriorated into this and apparently I had to cross throgh the swamp to continue. I followed the more main looking path and dead ended on the left,b turned back. I only had a zoomed out printout with me. The trail looked fine at the start at the end so I didn't finecomb through the whole thing beforehand. Kitchener has some funny ideas about bike routes!

I found my way in the end. Multi million dollar houses overlooking the river there and a dirt trail lol.

I had a similar issue near me...
There is a nice mostly tarmac canal towpath route I wanted to try, I hadn't been on it before as to get to it I have to go about 2 miles by a relatively narrow and busy A-road which leads to a multi-lane roundabout there to serve the motorway. (which doesn't even have pedestrian paths)

After looking it up on GMaps it gave me a route along another river/canal towpath which would take me under the motorway and into the back streets on the other side. As usual I checked street view and noticed at the far end where it joins the back streets there was a "no cycling" sign followed by "private land". From what I could tell it was only the last few hundred metres though so I while I assumed it would likely be a dirt track I figured it would still be better to cycle it for a mile then if need to walk a couple hundred metres than use the roundabout.

Once on it though it is actually blocked off at the very begining by a building certainly older than GMaps. No idea who allowed that route onto Google unless they have taken them from some very old OS maps.

---

I managed to find an alternate road route around which isn't too bad on the way there (maybe an extra 10-15 minutes) but there is a long steep climb for when I am returning home.

Normally I don't mind roundabouts yet one of my routes has the exact same problem. The trail along the river has been closed for the third consecutive year now for widening the motorway, adding bridges on the sides. (Not sure what they're doing, it looks wide enough for 12 lanes now lol). The first year they put up an alternative, which was later closed off as well, useful. Since then I has just said find alternative route.

Google's shortest alternative takes me over one of the busiest access point in Cambridge, with a left turn over a dual lane roundabout to get back to the trail. It's not just the roundabout, 3 lane bridge crossings with lanes merging and splitting off for the motorway.
There are no real defined rules for bicycles in those situations. Merge left or stick to the side and cross at the last moment, unclear. As long as traffic is not too fast you can keep up with them, makes merging a lot easier. I prefer a longer detour to the north on rural roads, yet sometimes that bridge over the 401 is closed for construction as well.

Bicycles seem an after thought here in Canada. I grew up in the Netherlands where there are bike paths everywhere. Here it feels like the wild west. This is basically it.


And this inside towns


Only motorways are off limits for bicycles, at least in Ontario. In British Columbia you can cycle on the emergency lane.