Congratulations. Have a great family Christmas.

My view of Topcashback is not the greatest at the moment – been waiting on over £100 from 2 purchases since September. One has been confirmed but never paid and the other has still not even been confirmed despite raising a claim.

I’ll not bother with them and will try Quidco in future.

Lol – this exact same thing happened to me yesterday. Called in to the Co-op on the way back from dropping last minutes items with the courier.

Walked in and was faced with a wall of £1.09 Tyrells – I only went in for some bread rolls and came out with 2 bags.

I have the same issue with M&S with their 2 bags for £2.50 offer and the M&S Sour Cream and Jalapeno Combo mix! Not a sweet tooth, savoury all the way.

These evil purveyors of salty snacks need to be stopped.

I find the most recent response from Royal Mail absolutely astonishing!

Having said that the item had been destroyed and disposed of, they are now saying that actually it has been sent to an auctioneer to sell!

That can’t be anything other than theft and Wellers Auctions of Chertsey are surely handling stolen goods.

If a courier service was on a whim selling off packages they were supposed to deliver all hell would break loose, yet Royal Mail can seemingly do as they please.

I’ll be avoiding using Royal Mail for both business and personal use for all but small low value items.

I have to applaud the OP’s restraint and maturity plus a massive thumbs up to Mojo for their amazingly generous gesture.

I’ve bought two frames from overseas sellers on eBay. One from France and the other from Malta. In both cases they arrived in less than a week and tracking was provided and good communications.

I would not hesitate to do the same again but you will sadly get dodgy sellers in every country the same as the UK.

If you’ve had no reply to any messages to the seller I would open an item not received query. This might prompt them to respond. Give them a few more days and then make it a dispute. You only have 45 days I think it is to open a dispute or you lose the opportunity.

If you’re squeamish stick to the head end. I actually quite enjoyed watching the baby come out with both our boys.

Our first boy was induced in the same way as your wife (he was 2 weeks late) and it still took another 36 hours before he made an appearance and even then he made things difficult – ended up being literally yanked out with a ventouse which was pretty scary.

It will be a magical Christmas in your house, all the best.

Anyone have a Berghaus Furnace jacket? looking to buy one as my only warm layer for Scottish bike packing next summer ?

The mate I referred to earlier and his brother in law both have them. Cracking jackets – light and surprisingly warm for their weight and lack of bulk.

Neninja dors said-shop stock berghaus per-chance?

Yes, but they also do Rab, Haglofs, North Face, Norrona, Monntain Equipment, Montane, Mammut, Columbia, Arcteryx.

His view is people still look at Rab and think of their jackets of 10 years ago and they simply are no longer as tough and the quality is not the same. The number of people outside the school gate now wearing Rab supports his idea that it is becoming the new NF.

In terms of Berghaus he is not talking about the mainstream items sold everywhere but the technical items you can only get from specialist outlets.

Let’s hope Jim Davidson’s next.

You’re going to be disappointed this time I’m afraid. Charges in another case against him will not be pursued –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25407395

A mate who runs an outdoor shop that sells all the main technical brands told me to look at the high end Berghaus jackets this season.

When I suggested that I might get a Rab or Montane insulated jacket he suggested looking elsewhere. His view was that Gooutdoors have turned Rab into the equivalent of North Face (basically it’s becoming a fashion brand worn by the masses) and the the quality of Rab is nowhere near what it was a few years ago.

In my own experience Montane sizing can be very strange.

M&S have got their ‘Ever So Posh’ crisps on offer (2 150g bags for £2.50) – the Lobster Cocktail and Asparagus with Parmesan Shavings ones are both rather nice.

This is always a kit with the boys – http://www.portablenorthpole.com/home

Keeps the magic alive for that little bit longer.

Our boys are 8 and 9 and both still believe. The youngest was acting up over the weekend and was told he was heading for the naughty list. He was sufficiently worried to offer to tidy his bedroom so he would be on the good list again (he is a nightmare for making his room a disaster zone).

His older brother, Max, is far more naive and still believes in the tooth fairy even though his friends at school keep telling him it’s us. He even leaves little notes to the fairy with his tooth asking questions about where she lives etc. We haven’t helped by replying and putting glitter glue around the edges like fairy dust.

Our 8 yr old, Ben, is a bit too sharp for his own good. He had suspicions about the tooth fairy so he didn’t tell us and put his tooth under his pillow. When it was still there after several attempts he told us about having lost a tooth and it was replaced by some money that night. He proudly announced that his experiment had worked and we are the tooth fairy. Max still refuses to accept this and leaves little notes.

I got an OEM Reverb earlier in the year (not from On-One) and that didn’t come with the spacer either.

You don’t actually need them but it just looked wrong without one so I bought a couple like the ones posted above.

Capello clear favourite (now 5/4 with some bookies)…….. oh dear for all you Spurs fans.

These are some specs taken from an Ebay auction –

– Full HD 1080p video
– 5 Megapixel stills
– H.264 video format
– Wide Angle 127 degree Sports Camera
– SDHC class 6 super fast memory card compatible [card not included]
– built in 128Mb flash Memory
– li-ion Battery
– Waterproof Casing
– Helmet Mount
– Chest Mount
– mini HDMI output + lead [included]
– USB output + lead [included]

Imaging Sensor – 1/3.2″ CMOS 5.0 megapixel sensor
Active Pixels – 5.0 megapixels
Built in 128 MB flash Memory
storage media – SD card, SDHC compatible up to 32Mb
Focus Range – 30cm > infinity
formats – JPEG / H.264 (avi)

Video resolutions;
1080p (30fps)
720p (60fps)
720p (30fps)
960p (30fps)
WVGA (60fps)

Dimensions 70.9mm (L) x 30mm (D) x 45mm (H)

Some Whyte’s used to – a quick look suggests that the T129 Works has Hope hubs with WTB TCS tubeless ready rims which very similar to Stans I think.

Some of the other Whytes have 23mm Carbon rims which are tubeless ready which sounds pretty good at the price point.

Got All Season Dunlops on my wife’s X-Trail. It’s never got stuck in snow so I guess they must be working well enough.

I considered winter tyres for it but they have always worked well in snow with 4 wheel drive engaged so are a good compromise.

The Magicshine one should be fine – it will charge at a faster rate than the one that came with the light. Is the connector not the same on that one?

I got a Yinding to test and it has the same connectors as most Magicshine packs (apart from the 880).

The battery pack is unlikely to have over charge protection so you need an 8.4v charger.

I’d be inclined to use the Yinding one in a metal box (extension lead with the charger and battery pack in it) or buy another.

Lithium-ion operates safely within the designated operating voltages; however, the battery becomes unstable if inadvertently charged to a higher than specified voltage. Prolonged charging above 4.30V forms plating of metallic lithium on the anode, while the cathode material becomes an oxidizing agent, loses stability and produces carbon dioxide (CO2).

North By Northwest for me

Homebase do an excellent German stand that we got this year. Fed up of the old metal one where you have to screw bolts in to the tree. Took ages and several attempts every time.

The German one is typically efficient – put tree in, push down foot pedal which clamps tree in place, fill with water until indicator shows it’s full, sit back with glass of wine – all in the space of a couple of minutes.

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=332331

Specialized registered trademark (which it still is)

The problem is that Roubaix was never their trademark.

It’s owned by ASI (Fuji) who license it so basically Specialized use the Roubaix name but with permission so have no rights whatsoever to be trying to enforce its use by others. That is the sole right of Fuji.

The fact that Specialized tried to trademark a name in Canada that they use under licence has probably got them in a heap of trouble with Fuji who could quite justifiably withdraw use of it for a breach of terms.

When ASI made their statement that as ‘trademark owner’ they were happy for it to be used by Cafe Roubaix, it made Specialized look like total clowns. Everything since has been damage limitation, there was no sign of Specialized conceding any ground prior to that point.

If you fit non-run flats you will need to notify your insurer or risk invalidating your cover in the case of an accident.

I recently got a full set of Nokian WR A3 225/50R17 run flats for my 520. I’ve been very happy with them. They grip very well in the greasy damp conditions we’ve had recently.

I got the full set for £500 delivered from Funky Tyres on Facebook. Delivered direct from Nokian Europe within 3 days of ordering. They also had great prices on most other brands.

Been stopped twice in 2 years on the exact same weekend (weekend after Easter) in Kirkby Stephen in the pickup for red diesel checks. They’ve never tested for chemical markers, simply just syphoned some fuel into a clear bottle and had a look.

They’re always very polite and it doesn’t bother me as I’d never use red.

There seemed to be VOSA checks all over the place round Co Durham on Wednesday. I passed 3 different check points with police pulling people over – 1 at the VOSA weighbridge just off the A19 and a couple more over nr Durham.

If you decide not to get it fixed, try http://www.tyreshopper.co.uk

I’m pretty sure they are part of National Tyres so ring your local National Tyres depot to check stock of what you want and then order through Tyreshopper. I’ve done that before and has the tyre fitted same day.

Just transfer the mounting hardware from the RP23 to the Monarch (except the bush)

I bought a Solarstorm for a test and found it was putting out well under 1000 lumens so clearly something wasn’t quite right based on feedback here.

I contacted the seller to ask about it and he contacted the factory. The response was ‘Actually if you need top quality headlight, you should by Fenix headlight, thanks’. 8O

Is converting to 12×142 just end caps too for pro2 evo?

Yes you need the X12 end caps

Is there a legal requirement to identify yourself to a Police officer or PCSO in relation to a cycling offence in the same way that there is for a driving offence? If not that would make it pretty difficult to issue the penalty if you wanted to be properly awkward. Probably not worth the hassle though.

You only need end caps if it’s a Pro3 or Pro2 Evo.

If you have an older Pro2 you need the kit with end caps and a new axle.

Awesome – total legends

I did actually give little cheers and applaud whilst watching it. If anyone had come in they’d have thought I’d gone bonkers.

I’m a bit disappointed with Nicolai’s current XC/Trail line up. I was considering a replacement for my CC and wanted to stick with Nicolai in 27.5

120-130mm travel with 27.5 wheels. The TB is 29er in my size (medium) and the AC has more travel than I want.

I’ll probably just stick with my CC a bit longer for now and hope that they revise the range.

Of those suggested I think any one of Tracey Moseley, Steve Peat or Fabien Barel would be excellent choices.

Alternatively how about Danny McAskill? He can turn his hand to all sorts of riding, has worked in the bicycle trade and is probably known by more people than any other UK MTB rider.

A few other to throw out there – Chris Akrigg, Hans Rey, Brian Lopes, John Tomac, Nick Craig

Got a Vaude Tiak which is lovely quality – seems fairly breathable but I sweat too much in any waterproof I’ve tried. It’s got pit zips which helps.

It has to be a real deluge and cold before I’ll opt for a waterproof. I tend to just wear my Gore Phantom. It’ll keep the worst off and I can remove the sleeves if I get too warm.

I was bitten in the face as a child by a ‘friendly family pet’. It turned out this lovely dog had bitten one of the owners children previously.

It wasn’t startled or frightened and relying on its instincts, it simply walked over and then launched itself at my face.

I have owned dogs myself since but am of the opinion that any dog that ever bites a human (without provocation) should be despatched. They’re just dogs.

I’ve got a B&Q one I got years ago. It’s very good – cuts bang on every time. Used it to build an understairs panelled cupboard and door and to cut all the downstairs skirting when I did the damp proof course a few year ago. Made easy work of it and cuts consistently once set up.

http://www.promobil.de/test/vergleichstest-winterreifen-bei-promobil.de-459963.html

This review rates the Nokian WR Van very well. (You might need to use Google translate). I would give them a little longer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elP_34ltdWI – check out from about 3mins for a Summer vs Winter braking test in the wet.

Just a thought, the WR C Van are asymmetric aren’t they – have you checked that the garage have fitted them the right way round – they will be marked ‘inside’ and ‘outside’