I have been all the way to the shops and back. Twice. Not on the same day though. Maximum speed was really fast – overtook Mr Marchant on the way down the hill and he was driving. He delivers the milk.

I've got Bontrager Mud X front and rear. Traction is great, front end tends to slide around a bit but hard to say if it would be much with a "normal" tyre. For the traction alone they're worth it for me – getting up hills where I was previously losing traction and spinning away all momentum.

Congratulations! I was told that your kids are the most interesting people you will ever meet. So far that's been true for me – and I once met Lionel Blair, so it's not like there wasn't competition…

Hope the early months go well. Bear in mind everything gets better by several orders of magnitude from about month 9 or 10 onwards…

This will sound like an urban myth but it is completely true. When I was a kid, our neighbour was a car nut with two lovely white Jags that he fussed over every weekend. Went to the extent of getting an inspection pit created in his garage. A friend of his asked if he could use the pit to investigate a strange noise his car was making, so our neighbour said help yourself and left the garage doors open for when he arrived. My and my brother heard a loud crash and ran round to see what was going on – to find a Reliant Robin nose down in the pit… Compared to that, I don't think you need to worry.

Was in Sherrardswood a couple of weeks ago on Bonty Mud Xs which were great. Walked there this weekend and they would have been overkill – drying out nicely…
:D

Was a great, if flawed film. I lived there for three years. Wierd place. A colleague who was a member of the local historical society once took me on a walking tour downtown, and recounted his childhood experiences watching ladies who lunch decamping out of limos to visit the big department store before going to one of the many fabulous restaurants. The street we were in was boarded up, windswept and desolate and there was a guy sleeping off something or other in a doorway. My host had to stop his commentary as he was in floods of tears. As a city it was both depressing and inspiring. but not an easy place to live as the residue of the riots is an unspoken but undeniable racism. Made for some very unpleasant experiences.

Easy to make. Pasta machine for rolling saves a lot of faff and they're not expensive, but try with rolling pin before investing. Proper OO flour makes all the difference too.
+1 re. Ravioli or other stuffed shapes. Takes forever. I do it once in a while as a treat (got a fab 4 cheese ravioli recipe) but need to be in the mood for an afternoon pottering in the kitchen. Good thing to do with the kids on a wet Sunday afternoon…

I am similar shape. Just got Army Surplus Goretex – working very well if you can get on with the non cycle specific cut and dodgy action-man-with-moving-eagle-eye type appearance. Waterproof and not too sweaty, and I have never minded how bad I look on the bike as long as gear is a) cheap, b) comfortable.

You can pedal standing up?. Why wasn't I told? This opens up all sorts of possibilities. You'll be telling me you have gears next – crazy talk…

Go buy some cheap bike stuff. Go buy some cheap outdoor stuff (Try REI on the wonderfully named "Big beaver Road" in Birmingham…). If Redwings not playing, take in a football (i.e. not "soccer") game if there is one on? Get a what's on from http://www.detnews.com and try something out. It's really not as dangerous as people say, and the accent tends to get you lots of leeeway from the natives once they have understood you.

Might I suggest a trip over to http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk. A great tent review database. Probably focused more on bigger stuff but should be plenty of smaller tents with real user reviews. They are to tents what STW is to bikes. Take that as you will.

SPDs. I have 'em on road bike plus MTB. Have no idea why you would need road pedals/shoes – SPDs seem to work just fine.

Congratulations! Hesitate to give "advice" to any new parent, but there is one thing I wish I had been told, so here it is. The first 6 months are largely rubbish. Don't panic. From then on, life is a blast. Just hang in there, and don't assume there's something wrong with you if it seems less than the most satisfying experience of your life. It'll get there, but not immediately.

Sorry if this sounds patronising, but as I said it would have helped me…

I went over to dark side (iMac) a few years ago and have never looked back. It just works. Always. Compared to a PC the user experience is light years ahead, though you have to accept some compromises in terms of software availability etc. Nothing in life is perfect.

Both. Crud guards front and rear for me, and I just ordered some army surplus goretex trousers after getting drenched on Sunday. That should do the trick.

Army surplus Goretex trousers…

Try riding without them.

I did that when the farmer cut the hawthorn hedges… Fixed that problem with some Dr Sludge tubes. As I said, I'm a newby.

Re. speed clearing the tyres, I found going uphill that didn't work, and going down it got splattered so badly on my beer goggles I couldn't see where I was going.

Anyway – thanks everyone for the relatively modest amount of abuse. The post was really aimed at fellow newbies who may be wondering, like I was, whether to splash out, but of course I knew no mention of tyres could be ignored.

Use two torches – one on bars one on helmet. Can't think of a cheaper way of getting so much light, and no reliability issues with mine. Shipping was a little slow but not as bad as many seem to have experienced. Overall I am very happy – can't afford the big name lights and have got same performance at price I could afford.

On a night ride last week followed a badger down a trail for 70m or so. Very cool. Bit smelly though – I shouted after him to get some rightguard but I don't think he heard me. Lots of those small ugly dog like deer too – muntjac? See loads since I got helmet mounted lights…

I've got a white bike with white forks. It came with white brakes. When I put some SPDs on it, I got some cheap white Shimanos. And for winter I've got white crud catchers front and rear…

No piccies as it's a Carrera so not the sort of thing I thought I'd need a picture of. Great bike, though. And very white.

A great buy at that price. Hope he likes it!

Try even a little south. It's pricey round there as it's commuter belt, but if you go past Knebworth to Oaklands it's not so bad (as no station), and lots of lanes and footpaths for some cross country exercise from your front door. Just don't expect any white knuckle DH…

Crikey – I'll dig out my old VRX from the shed and get in ebay sharpish. There was I thinking I might get fifty quid for it…

Mind you, mines a VRX200. I imagine the 300 is worth a lot more?
:roll:

Am I only one staggered that Pauls are doing Giant Yukon FX3 for £350? A full suss – albeit not the best in the world – from a Brand you've heard of for less than a Halfods hardtail? Bonkers. Almost tempted to get one just because…

I only noticed as someone on this thread directed me to their site to see the Anthem X3 for £825. Like another poster, wish I hadn't seen that.

Hmmmmm…

Pair of DX LED torches. Made it possible for me to get some exercise in after work during winter months. Best value bike investment I have made so far (and that's saying something as my bike came from the local motorfactors…).

Loved my Blackburn Mars, right up to the point last week when I lost it. B*gger. Might have to buy one of these Smart 1/2 watt thingies. They any good?
:wink:

Also have 12325. Wide flood type beam – very impressive. I use two – one on bars and one on bash hat, and can ride trails at daytime speeds.

A topical post. What about a Saab 9-3X? It's not an SUV but the petrol one has state of art 4WD system, and it's an estate so bike friendly. But Saab are being closed down, I hear the STW massive cry in unison. Except this evening they were sold to a mad bloke from Holland, so that's all right then…

I can also vouch for Spesh Allez. Got mine as first road bike in years and it's been great. Amazing how quickly miles slip by compared to an MTB, and very light compared to my old steel framed steed of years gone by…

Totally disagree Fopster. They're no better at the Magpie than the ones next door. Rick Stein was wrong all along!

:x
Bugger. Now I'll have to go and try the place next door, and it's a 400 mile round trip. Will have to concoct a camping weekend excuse with the kids…

The Benz is the cheap version! The Vauxhall system (and others, I expect) is the proper one – it doesn't use the fogs, there is an extra lamp in the headlights and it points sideways. My car has it and it works brilliantly. Automatically disabled above about 20 mph so you don't accidentally wake up people in the middle lane on the motorway…

On tight bends on country lanes it's fab.

And for the real geeks… They (Vauxhall) are working on a system linked to 3D sat nav. It will raise the lamps when you're at the bottom of a dip to light the other side, and dip them at the top of a hill to stop dazzling drivers coming the other way. And they have a steel frame too for additional flex. Probably.

Office Canteen for lunch. Fish (haddock, battered), chips, mushy peas. To be honest, I was surprised by the question – thought it was compulsory? In any event, if you find yourself in Whitby I suggest if you have never done so you try F&C in the Magpie Cafe. Life Changing.

Oh – Have Bizarre II on double album, clear coloured vinyl, gatefold sleeve. I love my iPod, but it has its limitations…

Special Beat Service – The Beat
Missed first time out by most, forgotten by the rest. Just transferred it from vinyl to mp3 after rediscovering it…

I baulked at the price and got a Trek VRX

Wow – still got one of those in the garage. If anyone fancies some retro fun being reminded what it was like to ride a bike that felt like a water bed full of blancmange, feel free to PM me with a reasonable offer. Or not…

Wireless headphones, but as souldrummer says, keep an eye on the volume. I have a little wireless headphone gizmo I got in the US, so can use any headphones wireless. Conected up to some Grado SR60s (cheap in the US, a bit more pricey over here) and sounds pretty decent. Better than any of the wireless phones that were around when I got them (maybe 8 years ago). Good luck whatever you decide – been on the receiving end of neighbourly music abuse and if you NEED to sleep (inflexible work hours that preclude too many late nights) it's pretty miserable. Impressed you are being considerate – kudos.

+1 for Carrera Fury. Amazing bike for the price. I bought one and no regrets (though will admit to considering swapping most bits over to an on-one frame, but that's the fashion police for you…).
:?

Know what you mean. Went out last night and t.b.h. it was rubbish. :cry:

A lot of hard work for little reward. Fell off mroe than in the preceding three months, and as a new SPD adopter had a lot of ignominious splats into the wet slush. Now got a gashed knee, torn trousers and bashed pride.

Going out tonight to extract my revenge…
:evil:

Mine were making terrible noise when not applied – high pitched squeel – but silend while braking. No discernible drag. Went away simply by removing pads and putting back in. I'd do that first – takes 60 secs and maybe all you need.

Had several. I'd avoid Morphy Richards – had one and for want of a small failed bearing it went in a skip. Now have the inevitable Panasonic. Works better, makes less noise, and you can buy spare parts. Accept no substitutes. I use mine several times a week for bread, pizza bases etc. If the "hole" left by the paddle bothers you (it doesn't me – tastes the same) you can set to a dough programme and transfer to another tin to bake in the oven. Did that for a while, but now 90% of the time let the machine do the lot – especially as I am using the timer more often (nice to get home on a dark damp evening to a warm loaf for teatime sandwiches).

Given the number of responses on this thread, is it time for a "share your bread recipes" thread. And perhaps a discussion of what tyres to use when making bread? :-)