Personally I'd love to have one of these all singing/all dancing Garmins which you can use as a cycle computer but also GPS.

I had a Trek one fitted to my road bike when I bought it 3 years ago. Not sure of the model. It does the job but I don't really like it. If you stop for any longer than 5 minutes the computer can sometimes decide to stick meaning that it takes another 5-10 minutes for it to re-set. I also lost the link up with the cadence monitor very early on and have never been able to re set it.

Personally I'd take the bike to your local bike shop and get their advice (it's what I should do to be honest) on what you're after, what you want it for and how much you're prepared to pay.

Oh dear - looks like old Bertie could be riding the Tdf. With the CAS appeal being heard at the start of August this now opens the door for Bertie to ride. I know he said at the weekend that he might not but can you really see Riis not taking the opportunity to stick two fingers up to the Schlecks and Nygaard?

How do I feel about this? Fecking angry to be honest. He had a positive dope test at the 2010 Tdf. A title he should be stripped of in my opinion. He also should not have been allowed to contest the Giro as he should have been sat at home eating more Spanish beef whilst serving a ban.

Cycling fans are facing up to a Tdf where any positive news about the race will be over shadowed by the fact that a doper is in the yellow jersey.

I have a Garmin 706 with cadence and HRM

It's the older version so you could probs get one at a good price albeit maybe more than you want to pay.

It gives you gps and mapping ( like a sat nav) so it's great for mapping a route out in advance and then following the directions as you ride. You can have it record your rides and log all the details on it. It then saves those rides and you can race against a virtual rider next time you do the same ride.
You can also use it as a training tool in many ways using the HRM and cadance both out on the road and indoors on the turbo.
Via Garmin connect you can look at all the schematics and share them with your friends and all other users of the system. You can also use the huge database of rides logged by others to give you new routes to ride.

It's quite simply an awesome piece of kit which has made my cycling much more enjoyable.

If you just want a simple speed, distance, timing comp then decathlon do a great one with HRM. I had it before the garmin. It's much less expensive than a cateye etc... but just as good.

I think a much worse position will be when he is hopefully found guilty in August and they then have to strip him and give the real titles to the others who will not have recieved the recognition they should have at the time.

To be fair the ASO aren't very happy at the prospect of him ruining their tour this year. It'll be interesting if he does ride to see the reception he gets if/ when he eventually podiums. I think the boo's he recieved after the andy schlek chaingate scandal could pale into insignificance. And rightly so!

If he does ride then I hope its a very unpleasant experience for him. It would be great if he was gobbed at constantly by the jeering French fans on the roadside.

Anyway - I talk too much about doping. Wish it would go away once and for all. I still firmly believe cycling has a far better handle on it than most other sports.

Another topic - cycling podcasts. Do you listen to any at all? I was listening to the Flammecast on the way into work this morning and they have a great interview with Jonathon Vaughters. Always thought he was a bit of a c@ck before but really impressed by the guy and his views for improving cycling.

Flammecast would have to be my favourite cycling podcast right now. Closely followed by Real Peleton, Velo Club Don Logan. I download the Spokesmen as well but it isn't the most entertaining of listens.

Wow - Bradley Wiggins. How different does he look this year compared to last year? Was listening to Real Peleton this morning which had been recorded just after his time trial win and they were talking about 'when do you think he'll have to give the yellow jumper to someone else'. They reckoned it would be the weekend with the 2 tough days of climbing.

Well all I can say is - Hat!!

OK, it isn't the Tdf. OK, maybe other people are keeping their powder dry. OK, you could say the main protaganists are at the Tour de Suisse but.......he won a class race with a class field.

I think this will do wonders for Brad at the Tour. He looks lean and I also think he looks ready to give his best in July. I also think a massive amount of weight has been removed from his shoulders this year that was sitting way to heavy in 2010.

Can he win it? No, absolutely not. Can he get on the podium? I can't see why he can't. I hope that Andy Schleck can win it. I think the Giro will have hurt Contador. If it hasn't then either he was soft pedalling and/or he's still as dirty as ever.

I've never listened to a podcast ever! What do they have on them?
As for the Wiggo. Absolutely AWESOME win for him. I watched each day live screaming at the telly. The rode such and intelligent race. EBH was superb on Saturday he buried himself for Wiggo. I 'm pretty sure that if not for his efforts the attcking would have come earlier and maybe have forced Wiggo to blow up trying to chase the attacks back down.

So for the TDF. He'll definitely be a marked man now. I suppose it comes down to how the mountains get attacked. He doesn't have an explosive kick so relies on his fast tempo to keep him up there. Should the big mountain boys attack in strength then he'll get blown off the mountain and at best make top 10. If the attacks are limited and the tempo is kept high then with his proven TT record a podium is a outside posibility. He needs Uran to be on top form as I feel he could make an great lieutenant for him up in the mountains.

Depends entirely on the podcast really but I find that they help fill the gap left by the coverage cycling receives in the UK. Consider it a bit of a 'Boots n All' or 'The Super League Show' for cycling. A bit of good old fashioned cycling related punditry mixed in with some hating of doping and a few useful tips for when it comes to selecting the all important fantasy cycling team.

They're always negative towards anything Team Sky related.

Read somewhere that EBH was supposed to ride 500m on the front and ended up doing 5k. Agree about the importance of Uran, Michael Rogers' absence will also be a big loss for Sky.