What happens – do the boys in blue arrive on your doorstep within 2 mins? Seriously though, how much is it worth and is it valid for multiple people?

I’m interested in this as well. Like Olly, see it as an investment so should see me out.

There seem to be quite a few around £60 – £70, and then another load around £130 – £150. What are the mail differences and is it worth paying the extra if its going to last a lifetime?

It’s only good news if you work in the tourist industry. The UK is suddenly a cheap place to go – some friends run B+B’s and holiday cottages up here in Scotland and bookings are well up compared to last year. Every cloud has a silver lining

Yes. It’s just like having a PC with wi-fi, so you can log in through any free hotspot.

All phones are GPRS. 3G is the latest version of GPRS and gives you the fastest download for surfing if you are using the mobile network (not wi-fi). Worth going for a phone that has HSPDA, sometimes referred to as 3.5G, as it is faster still – all new smartphones have it. Turn the wi-fi off when you are not using it as it is a huge drain on the battery

Don’t get a cat. They give nothing back, teach the kids nothing about living with animals, and they are the biggest single contributor to the decline of the songbird population. Best estimate is that across the UK cats kill 15 million birds a year

River Lyon, top end of the Tay valley a couple of my local singletrack descents and… suddenly its all disappeared in a blizzard

Have a look at the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Its WM 6.1, made by HTC. The GUI is better than HTC IMO, especially if you download the free SPB stuff. Huge high res screen, full slideout QUERTY keyboard, 3.2mp camera, wi-fi, GPS etc and pretty good battery life. I was very sceptical before I got it, having sent back both the HTC Touch Diamond and the touch Pro, but after 2 months I am sold

Sorry :? I was expecting to attract various rants about overpaid knobs paying for overpriced stuff they couldn’t actually use except to prop up outside the pub after riding to collect the papers on a Sunday.

Others will be along with other suggestions, but I get all my stuff from HERE[/url] as its local. They also do mail order

Duntstick, just to be picky, Scotch is spelt “whisky” whereas all others are “whiskey”

Worth having a look at the Scottish Field Whisky Challenge HERE[/url]– they run this competition every year. All divided up into price categories as well as notes on styles so should provide some good pointers

Like any maturing competitive market, manufacturers try to prevent price erosion by offering better performing products for the same price rather than the same performance at lower prices.

At the same time, especially in a growing economy there is more opportunity to offer premium products at premium prices to people who either need the performance or (probably the majority) those who can afford what they don’t actually need.

Bottom line is we have better products and more choice at a given price point than 5 years ago.

Complete blizzard earlier – now stopped but can see the next lot coming down the valley.

hora, got it from VW main dealer in Edinburgh. Much better deal than my nearest dealer in Perth so shows it is worth running around a bit. Because they are selling off remaining MK V stock they are giving huge discounts on the car. The finance was VW PCP over 3 years – subsidised by VW to help shift metal. Only 12K miles per year though. They happily quote for higher mileage but of course would increase the monthly price because the GFV would be lower

If you’re riding Scotland, Cumbria, Lakes or Peaks, try MWIS MWIS. It is very specifically for walkers/bikers and gives stuff like visibility, wind speed direction etc. I’ve found its invariably 10 times more accurate that other forecasts

Thanks everyone. Top advice as usual. Think I will go for that Makita ski. Bit nervous about only having one battery, but 3.0ah is dead good, and as its Li-Ion I am not so worried about frequent recharging knackering it too quickly

As a slight aside, I could replace my old Hitachi 2.0ah battery for £70. How stupid is that when you can get a complete new Hitachi drill with 3 x 1.4ah batteries for £117?

Agree with the De Walt comments – wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. Elu routers were great though before they and De Walt got taken over by B+D

3rd vote for plain chocolate hobnob, and bourbon definitely beats custard cream, but you got to put plain chocolate digestive and jammy dodger in the top 5. They are all time classics, although I do accept the JD is a shadow of its former self

In my experience holdalls are OK if you are not taking smart gear. I am on a plane every week on business. I get a suit and tie, 2 shirts, 1 pair of shoes, running shoes and running kit in a cabin legal wheelie bag. And you can pack it pretty tight if you are careful with the suit and shirt folding. Other bits like washbag etc can go into the 2nd small bag you are allowed

Can’t talk from experience as I am pretty cr*p at both, but all the articles I have seen say get wheelies nailed first before going on to manuals

Go for a wheelie bag instead. The suit will fold up nicely inside, you can get loads of other stuff in, and it is much easier to lug around the airport. Go for the maximum size permitted as carry on and you won’t need another bag.

One warning. Ryanair allowed cabin bag dimensions are thinner that regulation so they can screw you at the airport

Small plate. One good dollop each of Patak’s hot chilli pickle, hot lime pickle, and mango chutney. Take a bit of each in turn – mmmm

Also beans from the tin, but with plently of Worcester Sauce and Tabasco mixed in

druidh, why are they less likely to rub paint off?

Try a Golf MK V. 10 times better than an Astra. The MK VI has just launched but the VW dealers should still have a few of the old ones left in stock at silly prices and v good finance deals.

Got myself a brand new R32 with options for £290/month with GFV

hora – you are right, but the monthly cost is mainly the loan interest payments which you would have to pay if you bought the car outright (assuming you needed a loan)

Absolute boll**ks. The rubber does degrade, but anything les than about 5 years is fine. When they are worn enough to change, you will find the main dealers are ridiculously expensive for tyres. Ring round the local tyre places and with 30 mins work you will get at least 15% off their first price, especially if you have expensive low profile tyres

Yeah, quick bleed. Very good videos on the Hope web site

Not exactly what you are after, but I tested a Reign 0 back to back on consecutive days against a BLT1, so may give you some pointers.

The Reign was very good: good small bump absorbtion, good pedalling efficiency, taught handling, well built and well specced. Downsides were riding position (very upright), horrible grabby Hayes brakes and for some reason not totally confidence inspiring on technical descents.

It seems very subjective but the BLT1 was just seemed a little better at everything and a less clinical feeling which translated into putting more of a grin on your face and to go looking for hops and drops, plus more planted on the technical descents. Golf GTi vs Golf tdi.

I ended up buying a BLT2 even though it was a fair amount more expensive than the Giant

53 next month. Took up mountain biking seriously 2 years ago. Fitter now than any time in last 30 years. Just trying to pluck up the courage to do small drops and jumps properly. Only trouble with getting older is that when you do come off you go splat, crunch rather than boing.

Search HMRC. From memory bikes are 20%, then add on the VAT.

Need – more skill
Want – some new SPD shoes
Or should that be the other way round?

The 454 Pike lowers are aluminium, whereas the Rev lowers are steel. Therefore Revs are lighter despite having heavier lowers so must be much less beefy overall

Pikes only available in coil version for 09, confirmed in a thread a couple of days ago, even though the air Pikes still show on the RX website.

Dunno exactly what this means as RS have not said anything officially but I guess we have to assume Pike = coil, Revs = air? Just looked at the website and see that RS put Pikes under all mountain and Revs as trail. Also Revs are Maxle light

Don’t go with a combi boiler. Not at all suitable for all the showers plus heating if you have a reasonable sized house. Electric showers are not going to be a good as a proper power shower unless you want to burn huge amounts of electric. Depending on how much room you have, the easiest/quickest solution would be either a bigger tank, or simply a second tank sitting alongside which would have the same effect. If you go for a new tank, go Megaflow

Also try a Giant Reign or Trance X. To me they are a bit to sit upright, but if you are looking for something short in the top tube you might like it. I am 5′ 8"

Oh yes, and agree with GF and OMITN. If you have a job, you have more disposable income than this time last year. Personally even if I do lose mine, which is a distinct possibility, I will still find a way to keep the bike in top condition as it is the one thing that keeps me sane.

Love my BLT2 – its my only bike and does everything I want it to.

And Stoner, I think you will find that the written word is libel, not slander :-)

Don’t know what’s going on with Stif pricing. Leisure Lakes list the BLT2 at £1792 for an ano frame with RP23. Prices pretty comparable with other "niche" makes like Intense and Yeti.

The price point for any product in any market, not just bikes will depend on:
Cost of goods sold (including mfg cost, shipping, distribution, packaging etc)
Margin you need to make to run the business profitably
Price point of competitors’ products
Any performance/quality differentiators compared with competitors

SC/Jungle obviously reckon their ratio of number of sales vs margin is about where they want it. SC are expensive, but not sure that there is a bigger difference this year than last year, as everyone’s prices have gone up.

The list price of a BLT2 ano frame last year was £1569 with an RP2 or £1649 with an RP23 – still a big hike but not quite as bad as £600. Unfortunately we are suffering from higher raw materials prices and the exchange rate.

I got a reasonable deal last year even though I got the bike just after it came out. No discount on the frame, but was able to negotiate on the build kit bits and pieces, plus some extra gear

1) political correctness
2) the Scottish midge
3) children – specifically when my mates have to ferry them around all bloody weekend so they cannot go out riding

How do you fix these things to helmet/bars?

Santa Cruz Skidmark is a kind of goldey brown. Otherwise, as others said, get something and have it sprayed

Maybe I like fiddling too much, but I do mine every couple of weeks. Why would you not check it reasonably regularly – only takes 1 minute. Same with forks.

With air shocks the pressure will vary according to air temp, so if you were riding over Christmas when it was really cold it will be running lower. Also, when it is really cold don’t check the pressure if the bike has been sitting indoors – you will get too high a reading