I’ve had a Fitbit Surge for about 18 months now

Bought it second hand on EBay for about £65, reasoning that if I didn’t use it then I could sell it on and get most of my money back

I don’t use Strava so can’t comment on whether they sync well

Mine has the built in GPS

Battery life is very good when not using the GPS (about 8 days between charges), using the GPS results in a daily charge being needed

Replaced the strap once during ownership

App works well and gives useful information, it’s also reliable

I like the fact that it auto tracks exercise regardless of whether I start an ‘exercise’ running

Auto start/stop would be useful when running the GPS and I have managed to accidentally end ‘exercise’ when I didn’t want to (easily done when you pause the activity)

Mine has a minor software glitch where you sometimes get limited menu access (this doesn’t matter much in practice as almost all of the time I just want to track activity and this is always accessible) – letting the battery run totally flat fixes the problem every time

I’m with Elephant (Admiral in disguise)

They always put my price up every year, a quick telephone call usually brings this down to a similar price to what I’m currently paying (which is as cheap as the cheapest quotes on comparison sites)

Been with them for at least 5 years now as a result

I briefly ran their floating rotors and wasn’t that impressed

The the disc brake rotor started to separate from the carrier so there was a couple of millimeters of play under braking (happened after about 4 months use)

They did warranty them without issue, but it was enough to put me off so I went back to Hope instead – the replacement Hope ones were the same size and have performed without any issue since

I’ve got a Whyte S150 C RS up for sale if you’re interested

I drive past Swinley fairly regularly so could arrange a meet if you wanted

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2479637/

I’d agree about arriving together if you wanna camp with your mates – we were lucky and ended up right next to ours by random chance – last year they were directing people to particular sections of the fields depending on when you arrive

Other useful tips…
The queues for beer were very long last year (I reckon 15-20 minutes to get served) so bring your own with you
Phone signal is rubbish (I think except EE) so finding your mates isn’t that easy – maybe take walkie talkies?
I’d fit sturdier tyres if I were you (I ran double down maxxis last year which were fine)
Showers cost extra (either one or two pounds – can’t remember) so bring change
There’s not much in the way of shops nearby, so bring any food you want with you

Can’t comment on Wind Hill as I’ve never been

For BMCC I’d be happy on a trail bike or DH, but I’d probably take the DH (I’ve only ever ridden DH at BMCC)

For BPW I’d be happy on a trail bike or DH, I’d make my decision based upon which grade of trail I mostly wanted to ride (I’ve ridden both DH and trail bike at BPW)

For Revs I’d definitely want to be on a DH bike (I’ve only ridden trail bike at Revs)

Yep – bought a new bike earlier this year, took all the SRAM drivetrain off it and sold it, fitted Shimano instead

Mostly done as I prefer Shimano, but the cost of replacement parts was a factor too

So after somebody tried to break into my house in September last year I went through a round of security upgrades…

1. Alarm – I had an old one which didn’t work – desptie the box being on the wall at the front of the house this didn’t appear to deter the would be thieves, so I fitted a wireless Yale one – I added extra sensors and would suggest you get ones for every door which opens to the outdoors. I’ve been happy with it and would buy the same one again

2. Front door – this was damaged when they tried to break in so I replaced with a more secure composite door

3. Locks – my other external doors had euro cylinders – these are very weak and easily broken (just google lock snapping) so I changed all my locks to Yale 3* anti snap locks

4. Lighting – I already had two outdoor security lights, but these were old (one normal bulb, one halogen). I swapped the existing ones for high power LED units, moved the wiring up the wall and added an extra one too

5. I’ve added a dusk til dawn light by my front door (the police suggested this when they visited)

6. I swapped one of my exterior door handles for a high security model (more lock snap deterent) – I also wanted to do the same for the patio door, but couldn’t find a handle in the right size

I’m certainly hoping they do manage to survive – I visit the Milton Keynes store fairly regularly – staff have always been helpful whenever I’ve visited (mostly click and collect orders)

Since this news first surfaced I’ve been rapidly spending the gift cards/vouchers I’d built up via Tesco Clubcard – last one has just been spent today

Until fairly recently I had a KS Supernatural 150mm drop externally routed dropper – paid about £170 new (from CRC – now sold out)

So I’ve been running a set of the latest Nano Evo X pedals since Christmas (these replaced a set of Nano Evo’s)

Initially the pedals didn’t spin that freely, but did loosen up – the right pedal definitely spins more freely than the left hand one

There is also already some play in both pedals, so it appears the seals aren’t any better than the older design pedals they replaced

For me shame to see both Keaveny and Mary Anne Hobbs moving to slots where I’ll no longer be able to listen to them live

Can’t really call what the Lauren Laverne and Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s new slots will be like as I rarely get to listen to them

Agree about Liz Kershaw – can’t stand listening to her – one of the rare occasions I switch to Radio 2 instead

Third year in a row in the main Enduro for me – assuming I can get be quick enough when the entries go live I’ll be back again next year – a great event and pretty much the only race I do every year.

Definite thanks go to the marshalls – those who I spoke to were great – sounds like they deserve better treatment than they got.

The queues for food and drink were pretty bad – the amount of people at the event was definitely more than last year, but it looked like the amount of food and drink outlets was the same – definitely need to improve this – luckily we had sorted food out to bring with us, but I managed to leave the beer I bought in advance at home.

Thanks for all the advice everyone – quick update on the outcome

In the end I took the advice of zerolight and sent it to Jungle (spoke with them on the phone and they advised me to send it in)

Turns out they don’t deal with warranty issues for CRC (I wasn’t asked where I bought it from before sending it in) so they just sent it on to CRC (Jungle were very helpful)

CRC attempted to fix the post but were unsuccessful, so refunded me in gift vouchers

I was waiting on a Sunrace 11-50t speed cassette which seemed to be endlessly getting delayed

They agreed to refund, then promptly went bankrupt about 10 days later

Bought on a credit card (Tesco Bank) and they’re sorting out a refund – process was pretty straightforward – one phone call followed by text message updates and a final confirmation it’s all complete (still waiting on this – meant to take 45 days)

I used this place to get a linkage for my Tracer a while back https://brilliantbikes.co.uk/188-intense-spares

Good to hear you’ve got the car back

I am also in MK and burglars attempted to break into my house last September while I was away on holiday

Luckily my front door did its job and kept them out (damaged sufficiently to need replacing)

I took it as a sign that I needed to do some security upgrades (lighting, alarm, locks)

If you have standard UPVC doors with a euro cylinder make sure you upgrade these to 3* rated locks (anti bump anti snap) – they’re about £35 a lock

The cheap basic locks are very weak and prone to lock snapping (just search youtube to see how it’s done)

I’ve had all versions of the Superstar Nano over the years

The original Nano and Nano thru were both very good (still got a set on one bike), bearing life, durability etc. were very impressive

The bearings on the Nano X are prone to developing play fairly quickly – mine had play in the axle after about 6 months use – the seal to where the bearing is doesn’t look that great to me

I’ve just bought the new Nano X Evo pedals which look like they have an improved design around the seal area – I got mine just before Christmas on one of their daily deals and paid about £33

Those friends who have or still do own Banshee Runes have certainly put me off ever owning one

Both had problems with bolts coming loose in the linkage/dropouts (even with correct torquing and threadlocker)

The top hats for the bolts are also way too thin (prone to snapping – again precise torquing needed)

Other mates who own Transition Patrols seem to have few issues. Only negative I can see is the location of the pivot on the seat tube can limit the dropper size you can fit (one mate has a medium frame and can’t run anything larger than 125mm)

Evil – expensive, ugly, reputation for cracking and poor customer support
Cannondale – just never appealed to me
Banshee Rune – couple of mates have/had them and the bolts/washers/top hats holding the frame together are awful – seem to be prone to coming loose and very sensitive to precise torque to stop this happening
Yeti – couldn’t justify the price to myself

I’m into the main Enduro for the third year in a row

Three of us up trying to score an entry at 6:30am – as the only one to get a slot I bought entries on behalf of them

Agree that it did seem to go live a little bit before 6:30

CRC aren’t what they once were – my recent experience has been orders are reportedly despatched same day/next day, but seem to take much longer to get through to Royal Mail

As a general rule nowerdays I have to make sure I’ve ordered by Monday evening to make sure it arrives by Saturday – used to be pretty much everything arrived next day

KMC have been good for me – been using them for about 3 years now ever since I switched from SRAM drivetrain to Shimano

Used the X11-93 since I moved to 11 speed without any problems

Little later than you had intended on starting but the Nirvana Cycles Sunday ride goes out at 11am every Sunday

Guided ride (it’s free) – just turn up at the shop in Westcott by 11am

£12 a month for standard broadband and line rental with Sky

This was featured on BBC Watchdog a few weeks ago

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1mnPm3grkQ2KhtSbH0BZ5RP/vw

My recent energy suppliers in order I was with them: –

Sainsburys Energy (current) – British Gas in disguise – on a 12 month fix, no real issues
GBEnergy – changed to them, then they hiked prices significantly, so I started the process to leave, then they went bust. Switch still went through and they even auto-refunded my in credit balance
Southern Electric – fine – no issues – had to request a refund of my credit balance on leaving, but this was paid without issue
Scottish Power – fine – no issues – had to request a refund of my credit balance on leaving, but this was paid without issue

I’d never ever consider having NPower – they sent debt collectors after the previous owners of my house, despite me telling them on several occasions they had moved on. I was told it had been resolved numerous times before they finally got it sorted.

Finished just outside the top third in my age group (30-39) – improved my times compared to last year on 3 stages which was pleasing – no mechanicals or punctures

Agree that they could do to try and encourage riders to enter the event most appropriate to them – was held up on stage 2 by two very slow riders through the steep section who didn’t seem that keen to let me by once there was space to do so – secondly despite giving one chap over a 30 second head start on stage 5 I still passed him. Other than that everyone I caught let me past pretty quickly – somehow (luck) managed not to get overtaken on any of the stages

Thought stage 5 was a great addition

Could have done without the early morning loo cleaning, combining that with the church bells it wasn’t conducive to a good nights sleep

Last year camping and parking weren’t separated, there were a few different fields last year, which one you were in depended on your arrival time

Portaloos, a shower block (bring £1 coins I seem to remember) and running water were all that’s supplied

My brother built a couple of raised beds in his garden with his – did a good job of it too (don’t have any pictures unfortunately)

I’ve just finished my first week with a Fitbit Surge – picked it up second hand on the bay for £65

Been very pleased with it so far – used the app on my phone and the windows app for the PC – it auto syncs via Bluetooth – I don’t use Strava so I have no idea how easily you can get it to work with that – battery life seems to be about 2 days (I am tracking some exercise every day) – it was straight forward to get up and running

Does have a proprietary USB cable – only negatives so far are its a little chunky and a couple of times I have managed to accidentally pause the tracking while riding

Also considered the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ and Vivoactive HR before getting the Fitbit

Not a fan of personalised plates myself

My advice – find the plate you like, see what it costs and donate the same amount to charity instead of buying the plate

Keep the coil and get rid of the air would be my vote

I’ve had a CCDB coil for just over 2 years now and it’s been excellent (on my main bike which gets ridden all the time)

From what I’ve heard the air shocks are less reliable. Mate who had one on his Rune had his fail 3 times in two years. He’d had enough by this time and bought a CCDB coil to replace it, which has run without issue ever since

My first ever dropper was a Joplin – it died roughly every 9 months and after the last time it was repaired (which was just before the warranty ran out) I decided it was time to replace it

Current dropper is a KS i900 – it’s just over 5 years old now (been used pretty much all the time on 3 different bikes) – has been very reliable overall – had to service it once in that time (it got stuck down after 3 1/2 years without a service)

Based on past experience a CB dropper would be my last choice

The only feed station last year was after stage 3, cliff bar, some water and haribo from memory

There is one other point you can get water – theres a tap near the pub after stage 2

I ran thicker casings (super gravity – that sort of thing) and upped my pressure

Phone signal was awful for me (Vodafone) on the campsite

Assuming you’re camping then decent bedding – the Friday night was pretty chilly last year (I did have a decent sleeping bag)

Some coins for the showers (think it was a quid last time)

No official bike storage

I actually saw and had a brief chat with Brendan Fairclough while out riding – normally see him a couple of times a year out on the trails. He joked with one of my mates that it was good of us to let him ride with us given he was on a 29er – co-incidentally that same 29er was up for sale a few weeks later

Not sure if you count them as famous, but similarly seen and spoken to several of the MBR guys (Muldoon, Danny Milner, Roo Fowler)

A few others I’ve seen while out riding, but not met them so that doesn’t really count

I’ve got the Weldtite kit and have used this a few times – it’s generally been pretty good, but I have had to make the hole a little larger on occasion

I got a tip from one of the guides at Basque MTB recently – he used old inner tube and cut small strips to use instead of the anchovies – this means you can cut to size rather than just having the fixed size plug – I actually put this in to practice recently and it worked really well (used the tools from the Weldtite kit to fit it)

Can’t see the justification for the expensive Dynaplug kit

BasqueMTB are excellent – went once last year, been once already this year, going again in October

Get in touch with Doug via the website as I think there’s only limited availability left this summer/autumn

Just come back from a Basque Trip (http://www.basquemtb.com/) which was excellent (IMHO they’re the best I’ve been with so far)

For the time you’ve specified you’d be looking at the Basque Coast trip (which only includes breakfasts) – we had three people who’d come out solo on our trip and they joined us for evening meals & we had a good laugh, so I wouldn’t let this put you off

I’ve also been to Ridgeline this year (http://www.ridgeline.bike/), who were also very good – Rich has got a really good setup & I will definitely be going back again

Get in touch with Rich (Ridgeline) or Doug (Basque) to check availability – I know both only have limited availability for the remainder of the year

Changed some money for a biking trip I’m going on this weekend to Spain yesterday

Lady behind the counter said she had been really busy all day – queue was about half a dozen people when I arrived and was when I left (you normally get served immediately) – said she thought people might be changing money ahead of the GE result to get a better rate