We took a Vango Spirit 200+ on a long distance cycle tour. It was excellent – under 3kg, room enough for 2 and a massive porch for all your bags etc.

Hi All, The Author here! Sorry not to have replied to emails but I've been away for 2 weeks. The Tracklogs download does seem to be causing some problems. Anybody who wants copies of the GPS files can email me and I'll send them out direct. There's a link to me on the Beyond Hamsterley website.
Sorry you got lost Quirrel – where was that?

– er, I think that settles matters! Thanks all!

Another vote for the Mars

We took a Barclays Travel Money Card and the whole thing was a shambles – from trying to get one in the first place to topping it up.
Every time we tried, we got stuck in their phone answering system for ages – and one of an increasingly bizarre list of excuses why they couldn't answer their phones right now – from "all our lines are busy" to "bomb scare".
In the end we had to go back to debiting our current account with the usual outrageous charges attached.
Needless to say we have complained and asked for a refund.

On a modern bike with Cartridge bearings what ACTUALLY needs to be serviced nowadays?
Forks, Rear shock, Bleed Brakes, true wheels (is this part of a service), indexing. Anything else?

Replacing cables, pads; greasing headset or at least checking for play. Checking chain wear and replacing if necessary – ditto cassette, chainrings. Checking tightness of all bolts. Clean and lube transmission. Check straightness of rear mech hanger (and even frame or forks). Many, many bikes still don't have cartridge bearings (any Shimano hub for a kick off) – so degreasing and repacking those is a service job – which means removing rear cassette and having the right cone spanners.

I know most of this stuff is basic for regular riders but it's beyond a lot of less "serious" cyclists.

Thanks folks –
It's interesting to compare what bike shops claim to do for the money – a lot of the basic servicing seems to consist of "checking" things – eg brake pad wear, play in bearings. Once you actually want them to fix something it's extra!
Interestingly Evans looks very expensive (£12 to fix a puncture anyone?) but their service schedule is a lot more comprehensive than eg Edinburgh Cycles.

What would people want done as a basic level of service?

The brake lever's got squeezed in the car. Push the pads apart again with a blunt tool (some plastic tyre levers are good. A screwdriver if you take care not to chip the pads). In future, put a plastic spacer between the pads. Your bike shop should be able to provide some free. Or use some thick card.