The North Face Women's Esker Ridge Mid

Advantages: Looks, Weight, Robustness,Price, Brakes
Disadvantages: Not a commuter in standard form

...Marin themselves are known world wide for making fantastic mountain bikes and the rocky ridge is no exception. I have had mine for over a year and have travelled through France both off and on road with the only problem being one puncher. The frame is one of the strongest I have felt giving you total confidence when navigating difficult obstacles leaving it down to your own abilities not the bikes. The Julie disk brakes front and rear which take a while to bed in are very good but a little slow in the wet. This is a bike that I use everyday from commuting to work in the week and off roading at the weekend. It does it all and what's more its hard to remove the smile off your face.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Great wind resistance and great ultralight fly and footprint only pitching
Disadvantages: seamtape on the fly peeled/crumbled and inside of the fly became sticky

...I bought my Tadpole 23 in 2005. I've been camping for more than ten years and owned and used many tents, including the 1999 Tadpole model. For me this tent is emblematic of the decline of The North Face's quality. I used it only one time and one time alone last year. When I inspected it before an upcoming trip I found the inside of the tentfly extremely sticky and the seamtape started to crumble and peel. This didn't happen to the other two tents in my closet. I put it away clean, dry and folded neatly and I can't think of a plausible explanation for it other than that the materials were hi-tech but of inferior quality. I also had problems with two other North Face products i had bought along with this tent: the Patrol Pack Duo and the Venture Hyvent Jacket.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Prices take some beating, good quality stock, well established
Disadvantages: not much space in store

...Whitby Angling Supplies has been trading in the Haggersgate / Pier Road area of Whitby (North Yorkshire) for longer than I can remember (though apparently it's over 30years), and I recall the days long ago (about mid to late 1980's, when my age had yet to hit double figures) looking in at the stuff in the window, and wanting the chain of fluorescent squid lures to try next time my Dad took me for another hopeless session off Sandsend Beach (he always claimed it was more of a challenge, when it was more likely he was too cheap to buy the permits for going freshwater fishing instead... how the hell I stuck with the sport I'll never know). Fast forward to the present day, and that tackle shop is still there, though the window display has been largely taken over by a large selection of rods & reels (all of them at a REAL bargain price... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful