Tyres…I'd maybe go for Schwalbe City Jets. Fine for roads, gravel tracks and dry / non technical bridleways etc IMO

Tom, yes I do work at Pitsford Cycles, we are rather lacking good places to ride. I tend to just pootle around the Harlsetone Firs (although the current state of overgrowness is leaving my arms rather sore!)

I like badgers, and I wouldn't want to see them culled (I'm still yet to see a live one in the flesh!).

But, I'm not a farmer, and I know it costs them a lot of money. I'm sure vaccinations would be the way to go. Surely culling badgers will only solve the problem for a little while?

If you want a decent camera I'd say look at sony ericsons (the last one I had had reasonable interface for mp3 as well), although the new iPhone camera is supposed to be a bit better than the old ones.

Try going down to the library and ask if they need a reader for the kids

Ooo I hadn't thought I've that one, thanks!

And for all you lonely mountain bikers (or not so lonely mountain bikers!) my phone number is…

Very expensive!
But I'd love to have a play with it, it must feel quite different to the usual cable shifting?

Hang on, is this a personal ad in disguise?

darn it, less than 10 minutes and I've been figured out! 😉

Any local clubs for you to ride with? There's sure to be an old duffers ride or 2 you can tag along with. Do a bit of trail work? Volunteering?

All our local clubs seem to either ride weekends or ride roads, I was thinking about volunteering, but not sure who'd I'd volunteer for (nor am I sure I can work for free knowing that I am in dire need of money!)

Learn to spell proper like.

I thought my spelling was OK, just unfortunate that the one mistake I made was in the title!

Mumsnet, apparently.

don't you need to be a mum for that? or at least to be expecting a child soon?

If Becky is short for Rebecca I'm sure there are plenty of guys on here who'll consider themselves suitable entertainment for you.

yes Becky is short for Rebecca, if the guys want to come and ride bikes with me that would be fine, although I'm not sure what my name has to do with that…. 😉

Someone dropped my helmet onto a hard floor (i.e. concrete)
Could be wrong here but I would have thought if it was going to crack when dropped on the floor it wouldn't be much use in an accident.

not necessarily expecting a crack but there's barely a mark on the shell where it landed! And I would have thought the shell cracking is irrelevant in a crack as its the polystyrene that absorbs most of the impact?

If I don't use my camelbak its usually because its a short ride and my car is close enough that I can get back to it if I get a puncture or whatever.

If not, take 2 bottles, 1 with water and the other with your tube and stuff in!

Get a decent HD ready, and then look at Freesat or BT Vision

That doesn't surprise me… I've seen signs in a couple of poundland shops saying they're looking for store managers / supervisors and it meets national minimum wage. If their supervisors are only getting minimum wage, what about everyone else?

Out of your list I'd say the fuji is the best specced bike. Although, just to add the mix, for that money I'd have a look at http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/tricross-sport-2010-cyclo-cross-bike-ec020083 as well.

There are a lot of bikes you could chose from, most, for the same money, will be evenly specced (i.e one might have better wheels and another a better chainset) so pick a few you like the look of, and then if possible, test ride them and chose the one that fits best!

Definitely not too sentimental!
I've got Ivan the Inbred, the frame is a tad too big but I suspect I'll be keeping this one for a long time, even if various bits get changed!
There's Marvin the Myka, had some great times (although now up for sale because my rent is going to pay itself 🙁 )
And then there's the road bike which is suspect with be known as exactly that "the road bike" for at least the forseeable future!

I want one even more now I've read that! I may have to get on at some point…light enough to be my new race bike I think 😛 All I need is some money or a very kind friend, any one? 😉

Someone dropped my helmet onto a hard floor (i.e. concrete), but decided it looked reasonable on the outside and felt the inside to see if the polystyrene felt different on the point of impact. But it didnt so I'll use it until it gets another whack and then replacement time (also on a student budget so I feel your pain!)

wonder how it'd ride off road 😛

Following fast / better people is good. I find not only do I go faster, I'm more likely just to follow them over things that normally I'd be off and walking!

I find PMA works for me when I'm tired, i.e. in races if I tell myself that I'm not tired I can normally keep going a bit faster 😛

The look on his face says it all…

twice as long as half it 😛

There's so many factors to consider, depends on the rider, the bike and where you ride amongst other things.

Joe blow is good but Giant do some cheap ones that are good. I think control tower 4 is the cheapest, and if you want a pressure gauge, control tower 3 which is around £20 (or less if you shop around!)

In summary you must run both with and without shoes, and rest, and stretch all at the same time 😛

Sports physio sounds like a very good plan indeed!

Bike shops vary an awful lot. Although they all stock similar things they will all have their own specialities which they will probably keep more of. They all have different staff which obviously makes a difference.

The problem with independent shops is even when they do try and keep 1 of everything, it only takes 1 person to come in before you and buy it before its gone! And limited finances and space mean it is impossible to keep enough stock to satisfy everyone.

my local bike shop is awesome, i break it they fix it.

i needed a 31.8 to 25.4 shim for a handlebar, they had one, gave me it free, bar a deposit in the charity box.

same happens when i need them to sort out my tubeless tyres or any of the the other really rather annoying tasks i put their way.

pitsford cycles of northampton, top chaps

I'm biased, I work there on a Sunday 😛
never ceases to amaze me how much work/ random spare bits we do for biscuits/ charity donations 😛

I've got a 60mm, went down from a 70mm. If I'm honest I can't feel a difference in handling, but my bike almost fits me now!

If you don't like a saddle bag, what about one of the triathlon designed bags that sits on the top tube…like this?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Topeak-Tri-Bag-All-Weather_19305.htm

Watching Shrek this morning, and then this evening… http://fnssmtb.wordpress.com/

hehe 😛

Decent showers / toilets. Food (either cooked or to be cooked by campers) sold at reasonable prices on site.

so it is…darm it!
thanks 🙂

Find someone nice. Go travelling. Take lots of photos. Ride lots. And if I get time, become a space tourist.

'Spect I've got time to travel somewhere this summer, just can't afford to go anywhere that I really want to (like NZ).

I know of at least 1 company that offers women only courses for bike skills (along side mixed ones) and I don't think they've had any problems with the legal side of offering a course like that.

I wish you hadn't asked though, because now I want to go!

Sounds like you're pretty sorted out – test ride and pick which one you like best.

Can you stretch to a specialized stumpjumper? (maybe a bit out of your budget), if not maybe one of these is worth a look too?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/fsr-xc-expert-2010-mountain-bike-ec020337

Don't get used to it, I daresay in a couple of weeks (once the hose pipe bans start coming into effect!) people'll be getting flooded!

I'm with Boris on that one!

Don't know where you live but these people are very good with their dogs, and they have foster homes at various places in the county so worth keeping an eye on.

http://www.freewebs.com/manytearsrescue/

I've found a couple, but more by accident because I don't have a gps! If I get a gps…I think I'd try and find some more though 🙂

IIRC you can ignore copyright for a school project as long as you stick a link to the original on somewhere.

My powerpoint seems to have deleted itself and I can't remember off hand how to put videos onto it, can't be that difficult because everyone in my class at school figured it out a couple of years back!

Cocker spaniel (or a sprocker)? If you get the working type, rather than the showing type it ought to be good to ride with, good with kids but not too big.

That is the entertainment news, and judging by the rest of the stories are in that section then that probably is the biggest story!
Real news is "Police in direct appeal to gunman:
Police hunting a gunman wanted for shooting dead one man and injuring two others call on him to give himself up."