Did you see it. Even when they pitched it to Millets, it was falling apart. Fold-open board games that don't even stay flat?? Sorry, I know they were young, but that was one seriously flawed product.

As for those coffee cups, you wouldn't take them camping with you would you? Kicked around the tent floor for a few days and they're good for nothing, regardless of how waterproof they are. Criticism (of my criticism) FAIL

Can I use a PS3 as a HDD recorder? I want as few boxes as possible, so:

HD TV with built in Freesat
PS3 for HDD recording and DVD/Blu Ray plaback, internet, iPlayer etc (and of course my old PS2 games!)

The PS3 seems like a really good "one box solution" but I would like to have something like Sky Plus without paying any subscription

I'd also suggest that the alu poles will hold the tent up better in a typical Welsh gale than the fibreglass poles. I used to camp a lot on Anglesey and used to see many cheap tents flattened by the wind.

ideally I don't want a separate freesat box, so these things seemed like a good ideA

What's a "digital dish"? I thought a satellite dish was a satellite dish.

Sometimes you see them ear-wigging your post-ride conversations at the bar 😉

Agree. They are ace, but someone will be along in a minute to claim that this is not Merlin being fantastic, but the postal service 😕

It's about time we turned this discussion to tyres…so if I squidge a 30 PSI tyre with my thumb, which is the best tyre for compressing under tension???

Never ordered anything from them online, mostly because I have found their attitude in the shop to be – more often than not – a bit dismissive. It seemed to me that customers were a distraction to whatever it was they were doing rather than the reason they had a job.

Still, I'm still riding the Trek road bike I bought off them 10 years ago for £250

Any chance of the next issue having a different cover pic? 😉 I can never find the latest issue when in the loo 'cos they nearly all seem to be someone riding through a forest.

Also, the closing date for the Transition comp passed before I even got my mag

Otherwise, 8/10 😀

Relax and enjoy it. Assuming of course that she's the one for you, you will have the biggest smile on your face all day. Don't listen to everyone else above; it's kids that stop you riding, not wives!

Other tips?

Don't write your speech the morning of the wedding like I did. Spend the time with friends and family instead

Have a "quiet" stag do the night before. My wife had a meal out with mums and friends. I sat at home on me tod 🙁

If you've got friends/family taking pics/vids make sure you let them know what you want the pics and vids of. Our photographer was a semi-pro family friend on my wife's side. The pics were great, but most of them were her family and friends and not mine.

Relax and enjoy

soffits, fascias and new guttering/downpipes. Not cladding, complete replacement. Going to go with someone else now anyway. They were a bit expensive and a bit "hard sell" for my liking

For all those people who rave about how ace Scotland is, can you tell me a good circular route from Fort Bill that is doable by mortals in a day. No one else – in guide books or STW – has managed so far. Do you just keep them to yourselves? 😉

I can't see how it'd be easier than laptop for monging around surfing

That's exactly where I think it will be much better.

I "get" full sus bikes. I totally see the appeal of a Mount Vision, for example. Yes, it may be nothing more fancy than a bike with some springs at each end, but what a great way to ride. I've never managed to ride a downhill course with a hardtail…

…BUT…

£2K!!!

for the cheapest one. With no XT or XTR. You'd have to have some serious spare wonga or a serious bike obsession to justify that. Roll on the competition…

See what I did there? Horses for courses, different priorities etc. etc…

Er, no. There are lots of alternatives that will do the same or pretty damn similar job to a Mount Vision for all manner of prices higher and lower. How is that an analogy to the iPad? If someone tried to sell me a suspension unicycle for £4000 and tried to convince me that it was the future of trail riding, THAT would be a better analogy 🙂

okey dokey. I did say I'd send you some White Peak ideas for something a bit different, didn't I. Ooops 😳

I bought a 2nd hand Civic with a tow-bar attached, but it's one that you can remove the tow-bar end (the curved bit with the ball on the end). You can still see the socket but it's otherwise neater than most tow-bars and it is a doddle fitting the tow-ball and then the rack. I have a 3 bike Thule rack I bought from Halfords for £130 or so. 3 adults inside and 3 bikes on the back 😀

(fuel economy suffers a lot with 3 bikes on!)

Solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

I think surfing the web on a laptop is naff compared with the way the iPad (iPhone etc) do it. Most of my surfing is read and click and not lots of keyboard action. iPad = a good idea (but stupidly expensive)

Ooops, sorry for a boring dupe post 😆

I totally get the appeal of an iPad. I think the iPhone is a rubbish phone with great web surfing ability. Take out the phone and make it bigger et voila!

The appeal has wained with those prices 😕

I'm sure everything is a-OK and everyone's comments on here are the right reassuring type. In the interest of balance – and far from wanting to concern you – not all kids just get up and walk one day. Our first born struggled to sit upright. We thought nothing of it, but the nursery mentioned it. Anyone, cutting a long story – and many consultants and doctors later – short, it transpired he had a rare illness, one symptom being poor muscle tone.

He's 3 1/2 now and although he can walk in a fashion, it is in a falling-over-with-style kind of way. He still cannot stand unaided. The moral? If you are genuinely concerned, get it checked out. If you're not happy with the "it's nothing" response, insist on getting a second opinion. We assumed it was nothing and were wrong.

You must be super-fast and super-fit then. I did the MTL in a steady 7 hours. I know people do it much quicker but – yikes! – from Middleton Top as well is one big day in the saddle. I notice the Pennine Bridleway website mentions 3 – 5 days to cycle TO (not including) the MTL 😯

If you're serious good luck. I'd get sponsored and raise a bit of money. That's a big outing for a day.

No new peripherals plugged in

It's not plugged into a USB soundcard. It's just plugged direct into the external USB ports on the motherboard at the back of the PC

Yikes! Have I read this right? You're planning a route from Middleton Top – in the White Peak – up to and around the Mary Townley Loop? In one day? I'm guessing there must be another Middleton Top 😯

*bump*

Not very weird these…

…mine was Denise (Lisa Bonet) from the Cosby Show. Mmm

"GET A SPOON!"

I "get it" but I just can't do it very well! I've ridden plenty of very narrow trails with drops to the side and coped OK too. I think it's not being able to put my foot down that bothers me. Stabilisers??

I think I've seen that vid before Jedi. It's excellent. It's not that I don't like North Shore, I'm just a bit naff at it. You've given me some tips before on here and they did work, but the Mabie woodwork just seemed to go on and on… 😯

Chris – I'll take some training from you on the next Peaks Pootle 😉

I've followed Jedi's advice on this in the past and to fair I thought I did well at Mabie to get as far as I did. I had hoped and expected shorter sections to hone my skillz, but eventually I started to think about it – with some way to go – and that was when the bail-out kicked in

(I wasn't too hot on the table tops either, but it wasn't for a lack of confidence!)

50 miles does sound a bit "keen" for me to be honest. The only time I have done that much in a day was the Mary Townley loop. Not quite the same as the terrain up at Fort Bill

bump

B&Q do some screws that have an outer part that expands in the gap and pulls against the board inside the cavity when you tighten it up

I know what you mean. I have my shelves held up by those fellas

I always find it quite sad when that first hole gets created in new plasterboard. It's a bit like the first scratch on a new bike

Just lean the piccies against the wall… 😀

I ran full outers on mine, which meant having to drill out the cable stops so it would fit through. THAT was a bit nerve-wracking for a similarly ham-fisted chap like me. The fitting and set-up of the cables was straightforward though and I didn't even file the ends. 18 months or so later and the shifting is still fine. Personally I don't find them as slick as a well oiled "tradtional" cable inner and outer, but they are great for "fit and forget" shifting that remains indexed

the comparison with supermarkets is BS

Who's comparing with supermarkets? The point I was making is that I can't believe many of us would pay for a parking space if there was a free one available. I have NO PROBLEM contributing to the upkeep of trails through whatever charges are levied, but why on earth would I want to use a space where I needed to pay if I can park for nowt? If people can find a safe and legal space outside the trail centre that costs nothing and then cycle in the 100 metres, 1km, 10kms then why not? At what distance is it OK to "park and ride?"

I'm happy to pay car-parking fees, but if there's somewhere free to park that isn't going to inconvenience me, others or break any laws, why shouldn't I park there? We all have our own ways of saving the pennies. How on earth did I afford the nice bike in the first place? Not by giving my money up every time someone asked for it, that's for sure. Do we all park in pay and displays when shopping even though there are perfectly good free spaces to park in? I doubt it…

…we go to Tesco instead 😆

No consensus here, but I bet the rider will check on the next ride

From Hope Cross, up and over (NW) to cross Blackley Clough before going down to be spat out on a lane just off the Snake Pass below Rowlee Farm…or at least this is what I refer to as Potato Alley

Why does it have to be just one thing?

I'd prefer it if it wasn't, but something like Potato Alley in the Peak District is exactly that – one thing. There are no corners, very little change in gradient and just a loose and rocky surface. Perhaps that's the problem with a lot of the Peak District. The descents are often short and unvaried

wide open cornerless boulder gardens are OK I suppose but hardly a technical challenge

I refer you again to exhibit A – Potato Alley. I've ridden it by the skin of my teeth more often than not. All I had to do was hang on until I got to the bottom. Fun in a way, but not a patch on some of the long (and varied) descents I've done further afield