Spent a couple of hours on the cross bike in Brighton – did a loop of Wild Park, encountered some yappy dogs, then went to the Preston Park cycle track and did a few laps. Great fun.

Google for Alex Monroe. Nice stuff.

mastiles_fanylion – if you’re only playing campaign I’ve heard MW3 is better. That said, last year I made the move from Black Ops to Battlefield and the online multiplayer is leagues ahead, if you like bigger battles, more strategic play and not dying every five seconds. Play it properly and you feel part of a team. One minute you’re shooting people, the next your flying a chopper, and then you might be rescuing team mates with medipacks and a defibrillator. You can spend a whole battle simply spotting enemies with a long scope, earning points as they move in for the kill.

Epic game. Have only played multiplayer as it’s the main attraction IMO. Was a big Bad Company 2 fan and at first it took a while to get into BF3, but now I know the maps a bit more it’s incredible.
Rolling into the Caspian Border map in a line of vehicles is brilliant, as is badly flying jets, aiming them at building, and then ejecting before impact. The new class system makes a lot of sense too.

Such a good game. Writing this comment makes me sad that I’m not at home playing it.

Blimey- thanks for all of the responses.

Regarding gmail integration, I agree that it’s pretty great already, but a few simple things are missing like the ability to turn on/off my ‘out of office’. Also would be good if it changed signature depending on what email address I’m using, and some kind of google doc support would be ace (as we use this a lot at work).

In summary though sounds like it’s much of a muchness. Will see what Voda try and sell me, and go from there.

Kill Your Friends. Like American Psycho but English and properly hilarious.

And this one is always worth a watch, particularly given the current state of affairs in the financial world:

Subtle brilliance

I got 3M tape from ebay and it’s ace

I recently received a 2002 Rolex Datejust as a very unexpected 30th birthday present. Very subtle, very solid, small enough to fit under a shirt sleeve and absolutely lovely.
It looks like this one

Bumping this as I’m interested in learning Spanish so was hoping to hear good/bad views on Rosetta Stone.

i live in Brighton so will keep an eye out. Worth checking in the market off London Road – apparently quite a few local stolen bikes turn up there.

We’ve got a Liebherr fridge – can’t comment on durability as it’s only six months old but it’s lovely looking and feels solid.

what andrewh said.

As above, best way is to go with someone who knows their way around, but if not, you can find lots of the best stuff pretty easily.
The whole place divides neatly into two parts – from the uni car park you can head straight into the nearest set of woods and off the main fireroad you’ll see various trails – most of them result in fun twisty stuff. You’ll be going back on your self quite a lot though.

The other bit of woods on the other side (reachable by car off ditchling road) is where the Big Dog is set, and again from the various fire roads the trails are easy to spot.

Hope this helps.

We got one of these when we lived in a basement flat and still have it now in a three bed house as it’s great for drying out clothes. Super solid and simple to use.

Wow – thanks for all the responses – went for a ride* and came back to tons more advice.

Regarding the fork, I upgraded that with the frame, went from a Tora to a Revelation. Brakes are Hope X2, gears are SRAM X9 and chainset is SLX.

The friends bike I compare it to is a Charge Duster XT. It’s mega light in comparison.

Good to hear some support for Shimano hubs – to be honest I’ve fallen in love with the Hope clacky noise but depending on total cost it’s good to know there’s a solid alternative.

*managed to stack it into a tree stump, go over the bars and rip my saddle off so there’s another purchase to mull 🙁

Thanks all – always good to hear similar advice from a number of people.

Blown away by all the suggestions. Thank you again.

Thanks everyone. Plenty to look into and think about.
Any more recommendations / thoughts much appreciated.

The free mode of MindNode is pretty good.

Turnerguy – could I get a copy too? Have really struggled to get hold of a good swinley route. Email in profile. Thanks in advance 🙂

thisisnotaspoon – thanks for the offer but afraid i cannot guarantee a time and wouldn’t want to mess you around. We’re having a lager/curry fest the night before so our arrival time will be dictated by our hangovers.

Super helpful – thank you.

If it works as any kind of incentive I could return the favour with a similar guide for Stanmer 🙂

thisisanotaspoon – thought about that but will be there fairly early doors and fancied a quick quiet one.

Regarding the height question, i’ve got a large Soul and i’m 6’4”. It’s perfect. I’ve got a thompson layback post which helps.

I got a Focus Mares AX2, ex demo on Wiggle for just under £700. I think they’re £800 new. Lovely bike.
Kona Jakes also worth a look, and the genesis crossers if you can stretch a bit. If you could afford discs I’d recommend it as the canti’s on mine can be fairly scary.

People in restaurants who point at your food and make faces.
People in train stations/underground dragging minuscule suitcases on wheels.
People that find anything to do as they enter a pub to avoid going to the bar first.
Chuggers.
People who turn up at the dying moments of any uni house party with a guitar and start a ‘wonderwall’ singalong.
Chuggers with dreadlocks and/or comedy hats.

Whenever I’m out riding with a big group and we stop, there’s always a couple within the group that stand smack bang in the centre of the trail and are oblivious to others wanting to get past. I guess some people just don’t think. As soon as one of the more considerate members of the group notices we quickly move them out of the way.

Had mine a few months. Got the frame off ebay. Love it. Inspires confidence and the geometry does magical stuff to my riding.

I’ve only ridden the cayo but it was bloody lovely. Felt like a rocket.

Blimey – I’ve got some catching up to do.

what season are you on? We’re a few episodes into season 4.

I use mine for exploring as it will go anywhere. Have a slightly smaller frame than I would on a road bike as it feels nicer when I’m off road and a bit more nimble. If I was buying again I’d get discs as the cantis are pretty rubbish but they force you to think ahead more and chose your lines carefully. I’ve got a focus mares ax2 and love it. The genesis cross bikes look great.

Just got back from Stockbridge. Cracking STW recommendation. Ate at the Greyhound. Best meal I’ve had in a long time. Beautiful village.
Thanks!

Doing the oneder lap this year as I’m a wimp and a few of us who regularly ride stanmer fancy racing one another. Really hoping the weather is better as stanmer has been cracking for the last few weeks.

I did it in a team of three last year. It was my first bike race. Like it’s been said above the weather made it an impossible course. Hoping the weather holds out as stanmer is wicked when dry.
Don’t worry about people whizzing over you as the event has a nice all inclusive atmosphere. If you’re starting first in your team just make sure you’re not at the very front. After the first lap everyone is pretty spaced out.

Generally whoever buys most first wins unless they are really unlucky, in my experience.

Thanks for both of the suggestions. Trip Advisor wasn’t a big fan of the Three Cups but Stockbridge looked ace so have booked a nice looking B&B there. Will check out the butchers.
Thanks again. I love this forum