Advantages: quality, use, price
Disadvantages: None

...Previously, I had a pair Of Ritchey WCS Ti spd pedals (i paid £60 on ebay, but the retail at £140!!). These were next to useless - the bearings failed within 12 months. They looked good and weighed not a lot, but didn't work very well, at all :O( I begrudgingly purchased the XTR spd's for £56.99 from wiggle, as I didn't want to go the "shimano" route again. First impressions of quality were superb, especially for under £60!!! The smoothness of the bearings is silk like. fitting is just like any other pedal. Adjusting the tension springs was also the same as any other spd, although I didn't have to do them as tight as previoud spd's I'd owned. Clicking in and out of the pedal gave a satisfying quality click. In riding i've done so far, they perhaps clogged more than i'd have liked, but the riding was very very extreme. After... Read review

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Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Extreme pain

...damage to the baby by taking anything stronger. Then one day I bumped into a friend who happened to be a nurse. By coincidence her daughter was also pregnant and she was suffering from a great deal of pain due to a condition known as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). My friend told me that their GP had also been treating her daughter for a urine infection, which is a common mistake as many doctors have little or no knowledge of SPD. She gave me a copy of a magazine article and the website address of the British SPD Support Group. She suggested Katy take this information to her GP and see if it might be what she was suffering from. We did this and fortuately the GP was honest enough to admit he hadn't come across the condition before and made an appointment for Katy to see a specialist. We have just returned from seeing... Read review

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Advantages: Strong, well made, functional
Disadvantages: Nothing yet.

...SPD INTRO Shimano M072 shoes are SPD cycling shoes so here's a quick explanation of what SPD is. For those who may not know SPD stands for Shimano Pedaling Dynamic. All very nice I hear you say, so to explain they are Clipless pedals. Basically you get a pair of shoes, bolt on some clips to the shoes, get a pair of SPD pedals which are like a clamp, step on the pedals and your feet are locked to the pedals. Rotating your feet to the side then releases you from the pedal. (not as dangerous as it sounds). GENERAL Shimano mountain bike shoes have been around for a number of years now and in my opinion if you are a user of SPD pedals then you can't beat Shimano PSD shoes for reliability. I have used number if different types over the years, most of which I cant remember the name off and ones that usually found the bucket because... Read review

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Advantages: Control, power transfer, efficiency etc
Disadvantages: You might fall off once or twice....

...If you're riding XC there is no other option, you should be riding clipless! Clipless pedals (so called because they do not require a toe clip & strap)improve bike control, power transfer, efficiency of pedal stroke (your foot is closer to center of spindle) & allow those that have trouble lifting the bike at the rear to cheat! Mainly used for XC not trials, downhill or duel, some platform types exist like the shimano m646's that can be good for all disciplines! There are two main players in the mtb emporium; these are Shimano who make the spd (shimano pedal dynamics) & Time who make the Atac. But I've seen loads of other makes I hear you cry - sure the list is endless, VP, Ritchey, Wellgo etc etc but at the end of the day they are all shimano copies & are usually adequate but not as good as the real thing! They are generally... Read review

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Advantages: Very fast great price
Disadvantages: needs a separate power supply

...This Philips SPD5100CC external hard drive does exactly as it says on the tin. I own this product and i have been using it for two years without a glitch. I love it .Let me tell you why. **ITS SHOCK PROOF AND PORTABLE** What would be the use of an external hard drive if you lost all the Data whenever it took a fall? This external hard drive comes in a tough but light aluminium shell. It makes it very robust . **IT LOOKS GREAT ON YOUR DESK** For those of you who are concerned about looks, i would say this hard drive is very good-looking its got this cool blue Led light that just makes you want to look at it. my three year old stares at it for hours on end! it has a very small form factor, this means it doesn't take up a lot of the precious real estate on your desk. Its like having a book sitting permanently on your desk... Read review

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Advantages: Looks/Sound/Playability
Disadvantages: Price (if your cheap)

...When it comes to hand-crafted guitars, the CF Martin Company does have a bit of a head start on its competition. It's that they've been making guitars since 1833 or so, and it just so happens that they are very much a part of acoustic guitar folklore in the minds of acoustic guitarists worldwide. While the stories of people haphazardly discovering old pre-war Martins may bring a mist to the eyes of many admirers and collectors, the C.F. Martin Company has worked hard to preserve that legendary hand-crafted status and to empower their current models to have that "something special" sound, feel and look about them. Sounds Good to Me The SPD-16W (the W stands for walnut back and sides) doesn't disappoint us as we put it through its paces. First off, the sound is F-U-L-L. The bass notes have this presence about them, not boomy... Read review

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Advantages: Perfect for sporting or casual use.
Disadvantages: None

...My guess is that 75% of the world's cyclists have never really paid much attention to their pedals. So long as they spin round, push the crankset in the right direction, and give you somewhere to rest your feet, they are of little interest. Remember your first bike? Maybe you do, but you could probably not tell me what the pedals were made of, what weight they were, how much they cost, what cleat system they used, or how easy they were to service.!! However, as bikes have become more complicated, and folk have more money to spend on personalizing them, the pedals have attracted more attention. Here is a good example - the Shimano A530 SPD's. 1 The Manufacturer. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Shimano are one of life's fascinating mixtures. I had been aware of the firm's fishing products for quite a long time. They have pioneered new... Read review

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Advantages: Impressive durability, adjustibility, reliable SPD mechanism
Disadvantages: Mud clearing not as good as other brands

...by mud, making either clipping in or clipping out more tricky. If you do choose to buy a set of clips, then practice, practice, practice clipping in and out until the process becomes second nature. I can slip my foot out of its clip almost as fast as I can off a flat pedal without evening thinking about it. What about the PD-M520's? These are Shimano's entry level SPD's. They can be picked up for as little as £15, sometimes even less on auction sites, at which price they are an absolute steal. Shimano redesigned the pedal to make the pedal body and clip mechanism more open so that it shed mud better - I don't know if this makes any difference, but the mechanism is generally reliable throughout a ride. Normally difficulty clipping in and out is caused when you get off the bike and get mud and stones jammed in the shoe... Read review

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Advantages: fast at cd/dvd writing, prints cd's/dvd's, dual layer so up to 8.5 gb
Disadvantages: Difficult to find lightscribe disks at high street stores.

...Prior to upgrading my desktop pc to an all-singing-all-dancing dual processor unit I had a more humble little Desktop model. However it had something my new machine didn't, a lightscribe dvd writer. I used this all the time for my cd's and sorely missed it within days of using my new machine. So I had a dilemma, I could add to the two provided DVD writers or replace one of them. I did the former although I opted to add to it via the external route rather than add to an already cluttered (but neat) front. So I went to PC World and found the Philips SPD3200. This is a stylish looking black machine which is currently sitting comfortably on top of my desktop PC. I don't think there is a format (other than Blueray) that this machine won't read or write. It does + or - DVD's and is a dual layer writer so it can potentially write up to 8... Read review

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Advantages: none whatsoever
Disadvantages: pain, agony, sleepless nights

...(This review has been amended at the end to let you know how SPD is since I gave birth). I am currently 34 weeks pregnant and since around week 20, I have been suffering with SYMPHYSIS PUBIS DYSFUNCTION, known as SPD for short. SPD is quite often known as PGP nowadays - Pelvic Girdle Pain. I had only heard of it before when my friend was diagnosed with it late in pregnancy. There are varying levels of pain and discomfort with SPD and I count myself "lucky" that mine pain is not so severe that I am in a wheelchair as some sufferers are. A lot of people have never heard of SPD and do not have much sympathy for anybody who suffers with it, so I would like to explain the condition, what can be done about it, and what the symptoms are. SYMPHYSIS PUBIS DYSFUNCTION From a medical website - The symphysis pubis is the joint... Read review

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